Yousuf Raza – Ramadan Nights 2021 Day 26
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The series of disconnected conversations between various speakers highlights the importance of following guidance and advice to avoid misional behavior and trusting Allah to achieve results. The speakers emphasize the need for finding one's dream in order to gain insight and protect oneself from the virus, and the danger of a lightning strikes on people as a way to avoid harm. prioritizing effort over responsibility, knowing the process of discovery, and engaging in it are emphasized as important for achieving one's dream. The importance of trust and engagement in learning from the process of discovery and finding one's own dream is emphasized.
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وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِن شُرُورِ يَنفُسِنَا وَمِن سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا
مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُبِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْهُ
فَلَا هَدِيَ لَهُ وَنَشْهَدُ وَلَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ
وَحْدَهُ لَا شِرِيكَ لَهُ وَنَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ
وَرَسُولُهُ وَدَخَلَ
مَعَهُ السِّجْنَ فَتَيَانَ قَالَ أَحَدُهُمَا إِنِّي أَرَانِي أَعْصِرُ
خَمْرًا وَقَالَ الْآخَرُ إِنِّي أَرَانِي أَحْمِلُ فَوْقَ رَأْسِي
خُبْزًا تَأْكُلُ طَيْرُ مِنْهُ نَبِّئْنَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ إِنَّا نَرَاكَ
مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ قَالَ لَا يَأْتِيكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِ إِلَّا
نَبَّأْتُكُمَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَأْتِيَكُمَا ذَلِكُمَا مِمَّا
عَلَّمَنِي رَبِّي إِنِّي تَرَكْتُ مِلَّةَ قَوْمٍ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
بِاللَّهِ وَهُمْ بِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ كَافِرُونَ وَاتَّبَعْتُ مِلَّةَ
آبَائِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ مَا كَانَ
لَنَا أَنْ نُشْرِكَ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ ذَلِكَ مِنْ
فَضْلِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى النَّاسِ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ
لَا يَشْكُرُونَ يَا صَاحِبِي السِّجْنِ أَأَرْبَابٌ مُتَفَرِّقُونَ خَيْرٌ
أَمِنْ لَهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ
إِلَّا أَسْمَاءً سَمَّيْتُمُهَا
أَنتُمْ وَأَبَاؤُكُمْ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِنْ
سُلْطَانٍ إِنِ الْحُكْمُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ أَمَرُ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا
إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ ذَلِكُ الْدِينُ الْقَيِّمُ وَلَكِنَّ
أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ صدق الله العظيم رَبِّ
اشْرَفْ لِي سَدْرِي وَيَسِرْ لِي أَمْرِي وَأَحْلُ لُقْدَةً
مِنْ لِسَانِي يَفْقَهُ قَوْلِهُ اللهم انفعنا بما علمتنا
وعلمنا ما ينفعنا اللهم أرنا حقيقة الأشياء كما
هي اللهم أرنا الحق حقا وارزقنا اتباعا وأرنا
البغض لباطلا وارزقنا اجتنابا آمين يا رب العالمين
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته Moving right along
we left surah Yusuf as Yusuf عليه السلام
was being sent to jail so he had
actually asked to be sent to jail asked
Allah to be sent to jail the women
were kind of getting out of control and
he wasn't okay with that at all and
on seeing whatever was going on obviously the
society was pretty degenerate and they had no
other way or they couldn't face the embarrassment
that it was their women, their married women
who were going around trying to trap Yusuf
one way or the other and so, long
story short they decided to just accuse him
despite all evidence being in his favor and
send him to jail again, very dissimilarity between
that and Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم in
that all the evidence was in his favor
that he is telling the truth that he
is on the side of justice yet the
decision was against him and as for the
incarceration of Yusuf عليه السلام that corresponds to
the incarceration or the boycott that Rasulullah صلى
الله عليه وسلم and not just him, the
entire Banu Hashim had to face at the
hands of the Quraish there's a lot of
similarities none more so they don't become any
more apparent towards the very end of the
surah itself and we're going to talk about
it as we get there so as he
gets to jail وَادَخَلَ مَعَهُ السِّجْنَ فَتَيَانُ two
young men also joined him in prison قَالَ
أَحَدُهُمَا إِنِّي أَرَانِي أَعْصِرُ خَمْرًا one of them
said, I saw this dream that I am
squeezing or I was squeezing to extract wine
وَقَالَ الْآخَرُ and the other one said إِنِّي
أَرَانِي أَحْمِلُ فَوْقَ رَأْسِي فُبْزًا I saw in
a dream that I was carrying bread in
my head تَأْكُلُ الطَيْرُ مِنْهُ and that birds
were picking from it نَبِّئْنَا بِتَّأْوِيلِهِ please tell
us the interpretation of it إِنَّا نَرَاكَ مِنَ
الْمُحْسَنِينَ we see you as a person of
excellence we see that you are this great
man so Yusuf Alayhi Salaam how he carries
himself he distinguishes himself and it is apparent
for those watching that this person is trustworthy,
knowledgeable and so they approach him they ask
him about these two very clear dreams that
they've seen that they want to know what
they mean قَالَ لَا يَأْتِيكُمَا طُعَامٌ تُرْزَقَنِهِ Yusuf
Alayhi Salaam responded you will not be served
the food that you are provided إِلَّا نَبَّأْتُكُمَا
بِتَّأْوِيلِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَأْتِيَكُمَا but before that I
will tell you its interpretation ذَلِكُمَ مِمَّا عَلَّمَنِي
رَبِّي that is the basis on what my
Rabb has taught me إِنِّي تَرَكْتُمِ اللَّةَ قَوْمِ
اللَّهِ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ I have in fact forsaken
the religion of those who do not believe
in Allah وَهُمْ بِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ كَافِرُونَ and they
even deny the hereafter so Yusuf Alayhi Salaam
sees this as an opportunity they've approached him
for help in a matter that concerns them
that they feel Yusuf Alayhi Salaam can help
them with and Yusuf Alayhi Salaam says that
of course I can help you with that
but before I get there let me tell
you how it is that I have this
ability to help you where is this ability
coming from and there he starts to introduce
himself and the primary introduction that he gives
of himself is that of a Muwahid that
he is he understands for Allah to be
his Rabb now again we said this yesterday
when Yusuf Alayhi Salaam is being attacked by
the seduced by the wife of the Aziz
he has all the reason to give in
the injustices that he can highlight that have
afflicted him can be the rationalization the excuse
the justification that a victim who is going
to perpetrate an injustice himself typically uses and
they can be the ones that Yusuf Alayhi
Salaam uses but he doesn't he is able
to through all of that identify his place
as an avd his responsibility the values that
he has to hold on to and he
does what he has to do and he
holds himself to it even here in jail
now for God knows how long and he
doesn't know how long that his stint in
jail is going to be either the why
me and why the * do I have
to go through this and this is not
on and this is not fair and it
is not fair and it is unjust whatever
he is having to go through it is
very easy to project the injustice of people
that how people the freedom that Allah has
given them use that incorrectly use that irresponsibly
and then others have to suffer it is
very easy for those who are suffering to
project that injustice or the source of that
injustice all the way to God this injustice
is coming to me coming at me because
of God God did this and so any
loyalties or any anything that they owe him
of Tawheed of his Rububiyah of this it
seems it gets very very difficult but Yusuf
Alayhi Salaam has this incisiveness to be able
to distinguish to be able to see the
injustice of people and to see it distinct
from the overall justice of Allah the justice
that allows for that accommodates a meaning even
in the injustice of irresponsible people such that
you can make something incredibly beautiful out of
it and so Yusuf Alayhi Salaam carries himself
in a way even in jail such that
not only does he inspire others when others
come in communication with him he continues to
talk to them that which is most important
to him and so he tells them that
I first up let's be very clear I
got nothing to do with the way that
things are carried out by people that you
usually see around yourself in this place the
people who don't believe in Allah I am
not one of them and those who don't
believe in the Akhirah I am not one
of them either وَاتَّبَعْتُ مِلَّتَ أَبَائِي Who am
I?
I follow the way of my forefathers Ibrahim,
Ishaq and Yaqub مَا كَانَ لَنَا أَنْ نُشْرِكَ
بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ It can never be it
is not for us that we take anyone
other than anything other than Allah for worship
we cannot do this shirk with Allah ذَلِكَ
مِنْ فَضْلِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْنَا and how is this?
this is because of this great this grace
of Allah that has been bestowed upon us
وَعَلَى النَّاسِ and the grace that he bestows
upon people وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَشْكُرُونَ yet
most people are not grateful the special privilege
that of course the family of Ibrahim عليه
السلام has especially the prophets from within the
family of Ibrahim عليه السلام he acknowledges that
فضل but also goes on to add that
this fadl of Allah is universal this is
for everyone to experience provided they have that
attitude of gratitude يَا صَحِبِي السِّجْنِ so my
fellow prisoners أَرْبَابٌ مُتَفَرِّقُونَ خَيْرٌ tell me are
multiple different أَرْبَاب you have different masters are
they better أَمِ اللَّهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ or Allah
the one, the irresistible again Yusuf عليه السلام
more than anybody else has this recognition of
how irresistible القهَّار Allah سبحانه وتعالى is ما
تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِهِ those whom you worship besides
Him إِلَّا أَسْمَأً سَمَّيْتُمُهَا أَنْتُمْ مَا آبَاءُكُمْ are
nothing but mere names which you and your
forefathers have invented what is the truth what
is the reality backing up your claims that
all of these are deities other than Allah
where is that coming from you got nothing
other than claims of your tongues and at
best the claims of your forefathers tongues ما
عَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ Allah has revealed
no authority for them no evidence no ayat
nothing إِنِ الْحُكْمُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ and the decision
rests with Allah alone when you do this
you take this right away from Allah give
it to yourself give it to yourself unlawfully
without sanction without authority authority rests with Him
how in the world did you elevate yourselves
to this position of authority where what you
think without any evidence without any possibility for
anybody else to not to even disagree with
you there how do you just hold on
that just that's reality because you say it's
reality it's something of a God because you
say it's a God how dare you play
God yourself إِنِ الْحُكْمُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ that حُكُم
that decision that authority that power belongs to
Allah alone أَمَرَ He is the one who
has commanded أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّا that there
should not be any worship nobody else should
be worshipped other than Him that this عِبَادَة
relationship you should have with Him ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ
الْقَيِّمُ that is the right religion وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ
النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ but most people just don't
know يَا صَحَبِي السِّجْنِ my fellow prisoners أَمَّا
أَحَدُكُمَا فَيَسْقِي رَبَّهُ خَمْرًا as for one of
you His Master He will serve His Master
wine His رَب meaning His Master meaning His
King وَأَمَّا الْآخَر as we see later that
what was referred to as His Master was
His King was The King other than that
regularly we've the word رَب is used to
allude to the Master of the slave in
that society as well وَأَمَّا الْآخَر but for
the other فَيُسْلَب He's going to be crucified
فَتَأْكُلُوا الطَيْرُ مِنْ الرَّأْسِ and birds will pick
from His head قُضِيَ الْأَمْر the case has
been decided الَّذِي فِيهِ تَسْتَفْتِيَان concerning which you
are inquiring مَقَالَ لِلَّذِي ظَنَّ أَنَّهُ نَاجِمْ مِنْهُمَا
and so He said Yusuf A.S. said
to the one who was going to be
released تُذْكُرْ مِنْ عَنْدَ رَبِّك mention me with
your Rabb to your Rabb when you get
out of here and serving him wine let
him know about you know there's this person
in jail فَأَنْسَاهُ الشَّيْطَانُ ذِكْرَ رَبِّهِ and but
Shaytan made him forget to mention his Rabb
again two ways that this has been looked
at that either the person to whom Yusuf
A.S. is speaking to when he does
get out of jail when he is serving
wine when he is giving become the servant
to the king he's he forgets he forgets
to mention Yusuf A.S. to him and
the other way that it has been read
in that Yusuf A.S. forgets to mention
Allah in this particular case in any case
فَلَبِثَ فِي السِّجْنِ بِضْعَ سِنِينَ and so he
stayed in prison for a few years وَقَالَ
الْمَلِكُ and one day the king said إِنِّي
أَرَىٰ سَبْعَ بَقْرَاتٍ سِمَانٍ I've seen seven healthy
cows يَأْكُلُهُنَّ سَبْعٌ عِجَافًا which are being eaten
by seven weak ones وَتَبْعَتْ سُنْبُلَاتٍ خُضْرٍ and
I have seen seven green spikes of grain
وَأُخْرَ يَابِسَاتٍ and others that were dry يَأَيُّهَا
الْمَلَىٰ sheeps أَطُّونِي فِي رُؤْيَايَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لِلْرُؤْيَا
تَعْبُرُونَ tell me the meaning of this vision
of mine of this dream of mine if
you can interpret dreams قَالُوا أَبْغَاثُ أَحْلَامٍ they
replied these are confused false dreams وَمَا نَحْنُ
بِالتَّأْوِيلِ الْأَحْلَامِ بِعَالِمِينَ and we do not know
the interpretation of such dreams and that is
so typical first you relegate the authenticity of
a field altogether that it is no good
it is a bunch of confusion it is
just mumbo-jumbo and there is nothing to
it and then go on to add I
don't know anything about it by the way
I have no knowledge of it I have
no understanding of it but I do know
this that it's all mumbo-jumbo it's completely
false so أَبْغَاثُ أَحْلَامٍ confused false dreams now
we know from Rasulullah ﷺ and we know
from the surah as well that there is
a truth to dreams there is a lot
of truth to dreams that this capacity that
human beings have the قَلْب of the human
being we are endowed with an ability to
to see more than what we have seen
during our with our eyes and in our
waking hours as well as in our sleeping
hours we spoke about that intuitive capacity as
being something that is very important in the
process of of acquisition of knowledge of discovery
of scientific phenomena even of course religious phenomena
of course revelation is the most refined most
protected most safeguarded form of that intuitive capacity
of a human being but then there is
other forms less protected less reliable but nevertheless
there is truth in them as well and
the truth value of that which is intuitively
perceived it can then be confirmed checked so
one form in which this intuitive process and
we know for a fact Mendeleev the person
the Russian scientist the Russian chemist who gave
us the periodic table he was stuck at
a particular point in coming up with a
periodic table he had been struggling with the
process for quite some time and the point
where he was stuck the solution for that
he saw formulated in a dream so we
know that that ended up being true we
know for Tesla that he too had these
intuitive flashes Einstein spoke of these flashes in
his work Henri Poincare another mathematician he describes
his process very very elaborately although the three
people that I just mentioned they didn't specifically
talk about dreams but nevertheless the intuitive process
in their mathematical discoveries in their physics in
their physics or their development of physics in
the way they took it they were all
there John Nash the Nobel laureate and eventually
he went on to apparently develop schizophrenia as
well he says that one of the difficulties
that he had with schizophrenia was that it
was coming to him from the same source
that all of the science that he put
forward came from so it became difficult for
him to distinguish because he took it the
intuition for what it was saying and that
helped in science that proved true in science
anyways the way this process manifests itself in
dreams and we know how much how critical
dreams can be in getting to understand a
person getting to understand parts of a person
that are specifically hidden areas that a person
is not really paying attention to and things
that are more of a national import or
concern the entire community or the entire country
those are the lot of the leaders of
those people it doesn't necessarily have a lot
to do with being righteous or not righteous
necessarily the king does not seem to be
a very you know very saintly person as
such seems to be a fairly reasonable person
but not exactly saintly people like Yusuf are
in jail you know all of the other
stuff that's going around so in any case
he sees this dream and there's more to
this dream than he can understand than the
people around him can understand and so they're
asking around thereupon one of the two prisoners
who was released now at length he remembered
I can tell you it's interpretation just send
me where did he ask to be sent?
Send me to jail send me to prison
I'm going to see Yusuf, ask him and
Yusuf, ayyuh al-siddiq Yusuf, oh truthful one
worthwhile to Siddiq because the interpretation that he
offered came to be true tell us the
meaning of a dream in which there are
seven healthy cows يأكلهن سبع عجاف which are
being eaten by seven weak ones وسبع سنبولة
قدر and there are seven green ears وأخرى
عبسات along with seven others, dry لعل أرجع
إلى الناة لعلهم يعلمون so that I can
return to people letting them know قال, Yusuf,
responded تزرعون سبع سنين دأبا you will cultivate
for seven years continuously فما حسدتم فذروه في
سنبوله during this time, whatever you reap, leave
it in the spikes إلا قليلا مما تأكلون
except a little of what you eat ثم
يأتي من بعد ذلك سبع شداد and the
period will be followed by another seven hard
years يأكل لما قدمتم لهن they will consume
what you have stored for them إلا قليلا
مما تحسنون except that which you may have
specially set aside ثم يأتي من بعد ذلك
عام after that there will come a year
فيه يغاث الناس in which people will receive
abundant rain وفيه يعصرون and they will press
press from grapes and olives now Yusuf عليه
السلام has this incredible ability on account of
being a prophet but as the Quran acknowledges
in the very beginning it is not just
on account of being a prophet, this is
not just prophetic interpretation that is taking place,
of course it is prophetic in a lot
of ways but the knowledge that Yusuf عليه
السلام has acquired being raised in that house
of that minister which gives him a good
idea as to how the world works how
this sort of stuff works, fields, crops harvest,
people, food economics, you know whatever it is
that would needed to have been known by
Yusuf عليه السلام in order to give this
particular interpretation as quickly as he did give
it this is now coming to light we
are now coming to see how Yusuf عليه
السلام is able to bring it all together,
again the value, the truth value of dreams
as we understand it, it fits in when
you have the conception of the divine the
deceptive value of dreams it makes sense when
you have a conception of the demonic right,
again something that lends credence to how these
facts fall in place given these age old
understandings of religion of monotheism in particular and
then of course there is the mumbo jumbo
part of the dream as well which is
or maybe a whole lot of ice cream
that you had all of these possibilities are
there but for the truth, for that for
the idea that there is truth in dreams
and it is inexplicable with respect to whatever
you, however you try to explain it in
the form of reason or the reasoning ability,
the conscious reasoning ability of the human being,
the conscious experience that a human being has
in his or her waking hour, it cannot
be explained, the truth is coming from other
than that right, it is, there is so
much more that has already gone on before
that vision comes to a person in his
or her dream, right, so that there is
a truth value there, that's fact, that we
can't contest for we have seen how that
truth value has been verified, validated in waking
hours right, so and we know the therapeutic
value of dreams as well, that how in
so many interactions, in so many places, particularly
when you're stuck in the process of therapy
dreams to the rescue, there is so much
content there is so much that dreams tell
you about a person that otherwise you may
not know and if you go in with
the understanding that it's all mumbo jumbo, you're
losing out on a very rich therapeutic resource,
in any case so the king said, bring
him to me so when the king's messenger
came to Yusuf Yusuf said go back to
your master and ask him what was the
case of the women who cut their hands
for sure my Rab is in full knowledge
of their scheme Yusuf is getting a free
ticket out of jail the king is the
king, he has the authority he doesn't need
justice or evidence and weighing of evidence to
see can he come out, can he not
come out is it okay, are you guys
going to be okay with that if I
hire him or give him an important post
or whatever come on, let me know, he
doesn't have to do that, he's the king
like whatever, justice can go to * Yusuf
on the other hand does not he doesn't
play like that even if it is in
his own favor, he says no, I want
that if I'm being taken out of jail
nobody's doing me any favors no, the rules
or the laws are not being bent that
you're not playing around with justice just to
get me out even though I know I
am innocent I want for everyone to know
that I'm innocent, that I'm not to blame
and that the king is not giving me
any special favors, okay so ask about the
affairs of the woman now the king said,
now it has become a case to be
dealt with or addressed in the royal court
of justice, the king said what was the
matter with you when you all sought Yusuf
for yourselves, of course the king is already
he knows as well and he says to
them straight up what was going on with
all of that and they said this is
their confession hasha lillah, oh my god ma
alimna alayhim and so we don't know him
to have any evil on his part and
the wife of the minister said now the
truth has become established it was me, I
tried to seduce him and he is for
sure absolutely truthful that liya'lama anni lam
akhunhu bilghayb Yusuf alayhi salam said, I asked
for that I wanted this to take place
I wanted him, I wanted her to say
this or I wanted this process to take
place, why?
so that he knows, who knows the minister
anni lam akhunhu bilghayb that I did not
betray him in his absence wa anna allaha
la yahdi kaydal kha'inin and that Allah
for sure does not guide the plan of
those who betray wa ma ubarri'u nafsi
and I do not absolve myself from sins
I do not elevate myself to this position
of utter purity this absolute purity for sure
the nafs always instigates towards evil again Yusuf
alayhi salam this wa ma ubarri'u nafsi
is attributed both ways that this is Yusuf
alayhi salam saying it or this is the
wife of the aziz the wife of the
minister saying this either way the truth more
so if this is coming from Yusuf alayhi
salam given that he is a prophet but
even as a prophet the human part of
the prophet and you can only be a
prophet a prophet prophet if you're a human
being on baseline you have to be human
being there's angels prophet but there's the prophet
prophets are humans the rusul the anbiya and
how the acknowledgement the self consciousness the self
awareness there is no denial there is no
personal exaltation of being utterly free of all
proclivity towards evil that the nafs does command
to evil very strongly too at that and
so Yusuf alayhi salam's acknowledgement so informative when
it comes to the vagaries of the human
personality there's so much that is going on
in there inside of ourselves there's so many
different directions that different parts of ourselves different
dimensions of ourselves are pulling us in the
ambivalence and the the multiplicity within what looks
like a unity in a human being is
pretty incredible except one whom my Rabb has
mercy on again this phrase came with respect
to the ikhtilaf that people generally have as
well and now there is all of these
tendencies ikhtilaf tendencies or conflicting tendencies within again
the mercy the rahma of Allah as a
rabb something to reflect on and most definitely
my Rabb is forgiving and merciful and now
the king said bring him to me I
will specially give him a special position next
to myself a special privileged position given to
Yusuf so they had their conversation something like
a little less than a job interview but
nevertheless a conversation that they're having he's more
than interviewing him telling him the job is
yours you are today established and trustworthy Yusuf
said appoint me over the storehouses of the
land again this is what Yusuf had in
mind he's heard of the dream and he's
given the interpretation of the dream and he
knows these people he knows that these idiots
are going to mess it up tough times
that are coming this king and his clout
they're no good they're good for gossip they're
good for other messed up stuff they're good
for sending the wrong people to jail but
taking care of the gravity of the situation
being able to appreciate it I don't think
they're going to be able to do that
and I need to take care of this
myself pretty straightforward in what he has but
the truth nevertheless this is what it is
I'm the most qualified person for the job
acknowledging this putting this up but he can't
do that if he's not already trustworthy if
there is a blemish on his record ah
ex-con he went to jail no he
wants to be very very clear that that
record is clear for the trustworthiness of the
position or the trustworthiness that is necessary for
him to carry out the responsibility that he
has ah that he wants to take up
he said he said appoint me over the
storehouses of the land I am definitely knowledgeable
and competent I know what I'm doing as
a custodian and this is how we established
Yusuf in the land he could live wherever
he wanted again the word
it comes from the same root as right
so it is not just calamities that afflict
mercy afflicts as well mercy also strikes I
mean all of those words have too much
of a negative connotation which you are touched
by the mercy of Allah just as you
are touched by suffering by trials and tribulations
we touch with our mercy whoever we want
or whoever wants and we do not let
the reward of the go to waste and
when is the reward for Yusuf coming in
when did he finally get space to breathe
at least at least a decade if not
two decades at least it could have been
way more than that it could have been
way more than that that's how much time
he had to continue on his practice of
Ihsan before the Ajr sprouted through we do
not let the reward of the go to
waste and of course the return of the
hereafter is better for those who believe and
they are the people of Taqwa and the
brothers of Yusuf came and they appeared before
him so Yusuf his responsible administration managing
the affairs of the king and the country
the economic affairs particularly have resulted in the
fact that Egypt has food when nobody in
the adjoining areas has food the famine is
pretty widespread all the way to where Yaqub
and his sons live and so not only
did Yusuf end up saving for himself for
his own people in Egypt he ended up
saving for the people in adjoining areas as
well and he is administering such that they
have enough to share they have enough to
give out again an indication that the prophetic
value of Yusuf the prophetic values rather his
ability that he has on account of being
a prophet his ability that he has on
account of being raised in the house of
the minister the moral sense that he has
the responsibility with which the trust with which
he carries himself that with which he performs
his duties it is pretty obvious that this
is there's a this worldly benefit that the
economic affairs that's as profane as you get
quote unquote as secular as you get are
being managed in the best way possible that
he is in a position to say that
my Zohid my religiosity my spirituality it has
empowered me to do what none of you
can do and what has it empowered me
to do is something which is something very
material it is part of this material world
it is an economic affair and I can
do it better than anybody else this fruit
or this utility this root of of the
truth that you stand on this speaks louder
than any any slogan this speaks louder than
any any other claim that you can possibly
make of of the truth that you have
Yusuf did it Rasool Allah of course he
was able to show that what he has
to offer on account of being rooted in
the Quran is something which is a mercy
to everyone far and wide and if we
can't do that if we are anything but
a mercy and we still continue to claim
rootedness in the Quran then we are the
fitna that drives people away the people of
this religiosity people of this spirituality they got
nothing to offer except corruption, treachery, betrayal unreliability
if that's what they're good for, thank you
very much we don't need this scriptural rootedness
if they can't solve any of our problems
then they can keep their religion to themselves
Yusuf on the other hand his religiosity is
not degenerate and he has something of value
to offer to the people in his world
regardless of who they are and where they
come from so he recognized them وَهُمْ لَهُمُ
مُنكِرُونَ while they were not able to recognize
him وَلَمَّ جَهَذَهُمْ بِجَهَازِهِمْ and when he provided
them with their provisions all he said اِتُونِ
بِيَخِلَّكُمْ مِنْ أَبِيكُمْ next time when you come,
bring your brother from your father your half
-brother they've had conversations in this transaction that's
taking place and they've told him about a
brother that they have who hasn't come with
them Yusuf said next time bring him اَلَا
تَرَعُونَ don't you see اَنِّي أُوفِ الْكَيْلِ وَأَنَا
خَيْرُ الْمُنزِلِينَ I am the best of hosts
again this is it is what it is
right there's no boasting there's no arrogance there
it's fact and so he's not beating around
the bush stating it there's no artificial humility
there this is who I am I'm such
a wonderful host and I'm so just but
if you don't bring him to me فَلَا
كَيْلَ لَكُمْ عِنْدِي I will not have anything
for you of your share, you're not getting
anything وَلَا تَقَرَبُونَ don't come near me قَالُوا
We will try our best to get him
from our father وَإِنَّا لَفَاعِلُونَ and we're most
definitely going to do it وَقَالَ لِفِتْيَانِهِ اجْعَلُوا
بِضْرَعَتَهُمْ فِي رِحَالِهِمْ place their merchandise back in
their saddle bag what is this going to
do?
they're going to go back home all their
merchandise is going to be with them so
now they don't even have to wait until
they have something to buy more grain from
so now they can immediately return to Yusuf
I mean it's been quite a number of
years it is completely understandable if Yusuf wants
to hasten the process and get to see
his parents again اجْعَلُوا بِضْرَعَتَهُمْ فِي رِحَالِهِمْ place
their merchandise back in their saddle bag secretly
لَعَلَّهُمْ يَعْرِفُونَهَا إِذَاً قَلَبُوا إِلَىٰ أَهْلِهِمْ so that
they see it only when they get back
to their family they're going to be hesitant
of taking it back if they see it
immediately maybe we're stealing it back we want
to give it to them and so when
they come to their family لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ so
hopefully they'll come back again فَلَمَّا رَجَعُوا إِلَىٰ
أَبِيهِمْ so when they returned to their father
قَالُوا يَا أَبَنَا مُنِعَ مِنَّ الْكَيْلِ that we
won't get a share next time until فَأَرْسِلْ
مَعَنَا أَخَانَا so send our brother with us
نَقْتَلْ so that we get our ration our
share of grain وَإِنَّ لَهُ لَحَافِظُنَا for sure
we're going to take very very good care
of him قَالُوا يَا أَقُوبَ الْإِسَلَامُ هَلْ أَمَنَكُمْ
عَلَيْهِمْ should I trust you with him إِلَّا
كَمَا مِنْسُكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ قَبْلُ just like I trusted
you with his brother فَاللَّهُ خَيْرٌ حَافِظًا Allah
is the best of protectors if I am
letting you take him not because I trust
you, it's because I trust Allah وَهُوَ أَرْخَمُ
الرَّحِمِينَ and he is the most merciful of
those who show mercy and if there is
anything of trust that I am extending towards
you, it's because of my trust in Allah
وَلَمَّا فَتَحُوا مَتَاعَهُمْ and when they opened their
bags وَجَدُوا بِضَاءَتَهُمْ رُضَّتْ إِلَيْهِمْ they found that
their money has been returned to them so
they're like oh my god قَالُوا يَا أَبَى
نَا مَا نِبْغِي what more do we want
هَذِهِ بِضَاءَتُنَا رُضَّتْ إِلَيْنَا our money has been
returned to us our merchandise is with us
we can now use this to go back
وَنَوْمِرُوا أَهْلَنَا and we will buy more food
for our family and more of our brother
وَنَزْدَادُوا كَيْلَ بَعِيدًا and we will have an
extra camel load of grain ذَلِكَ كَيْلٌ يَسِيرٌ
that is such easy and easily achievable measure
قَالَتْ لَنْ أُرْسِلَهُ مَعَكُمْ Yaqub alayhislam said I
am never going to send him with you
حَتَّى تُقْتُونِي مَوْثِقًا مِّنَ اللَّهِ حَتَّى تُقْتُونِي مَوْثِقًا
مِّنَ اللَّهِ until you give me your strongest
oath in the name of Allah لَتَأْتُنَنِّي بِهِ
that you will definitely bring him back to
me إِلَّا يُحَاطَ بِكُمْ except that you are
surrounded from all sides by an enemy and
some sort of misfortune whatever that does not
let you come back to me فَلَمَّا آتَوْهُ
مَوْثِقَهُمْ So when they gave their pledge قَالَ
يَاقُوبَ الَّيْسَلَامُ said اللَّهُ عَلَى مَا نَقُولُوا وَكِيلُ
Allah is a guardian over all of what
we are committing to وَقَالَ يَا بَنَي and
Yaqub A.S. said my sons لا تَدْخُلُوا
مِنْ بَابٍ وَاحِدٍ do not enter through one
entrance وَادْخُلُوا مِنْ أَبْوَابٍ مُتَفَرِّقَةٍ but enter through
different gates twelve brothers coming in from one
gate that's you know way too much attention
that's way too much attention that's a source
of envy they're gonna be seeing that this
particular bunch of people is gonna be going
returning with a lot of food or is
coming with a lot of money so you
don't wanna attract that attention separate different gates
وَمَا أُغْنِي عَنْكُم مِّنَ اللَّهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ and
remember that I will not be able to
avail you against Allah one bit if something
of a calamity or some misfortune is going
to afflict you my planning, my suggestions, my
advice they're only so good keep to them
do the best you can in following them
but understand that إِنَّ الْحُكْمُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ the
decision, the authority rests with Allah alone we
do whatever we know and we follow it
to the best of our abilities but at
the end of the day is it going
to bear fruit?
is it going to bring the results we
want for it to bring?
we don't know the decision rests with Allah
عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ so I put my trust in
Him alone وَعَلَيْهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُتَوَكِّلُونَ and on Him
I think that those who would rely rely
whenever you're planning whenever you're dealing with the
future you're dealing with a situation of uncertainty
your knowledge your understanding your experience the best
of the advice that you can possibly get
from the most reliable of sources it can
help you only so much in dispelling that
uncertainty only to a certain degree you follow
the course which dispels the most uncertainty which
gives you the most confidence never look for
that 100% confidence you're never going to
get that if you are getting that then
that's probably something to be suspicious about but
however much you can do follow the knowledge
the experience the understanding best of the advice
that you get and the remaining piece of
the uncertainty or the remaining portion of the
uncertainty you trust Allah and that's why pretty
much every decision is a risk that you
have to take the more you do it
out of the knowledge that you know the
less the risk but then the gap that
still remains that's covered with this trust in
Allah which allows for you to then be
decisive and move on what is crippling is
indecision not being able to do something because
you're not sure and why are you not
sure?
because you're chasing after this wild goose of
100% certainty doesn't happen doesn't happen not
going to happen go forth and make a
decision you miss 100% of the shots
you don't take take a shot and when
you miss you learn a lesson not doing
anything that's the worst place to be in
and so the tabaqol of Allah helping you
facilitating in this process of being more decisive
وَلَمَّا دَخَلُوا مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَهُمْ أَبُوهُمْ and they
entered the way their father advised them مَا
كَانَ يُهْمِي عَنْهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مِنْ شَيْءٍ but
did not bring them any fortune against the
will of Allah they're in for it whatever
planning that they had even though it was
coming from as prophetic a source as you
get nevertheless they're gonna be up for some
trouble إِلَّا حَاجَةً فِي نَفْسِ يَعْقُبَ قَضَاهُمْ it
was a desire that Yaqub Alayhi Salaam had
and so it satisfied that got satisfied وَإِنَّهُ
لَذُوا عِلْمٍ لِمَّا عَلَّمْنَاهُ and he is possessor
of knowledge he for sure possessed knowledge because
of what we had taught him وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ
النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ but most people don't know
وَلَمَّا دَخَلُوا عَلَى يُوسَفٍ and when they entered
before Yusuf Alayhi Salaam أَوَى إِلَيْهِ أَخَار he
called his own brother in privacy قَالَ إِنِّي
أَنَا أَخُوكَ he told him it's me I'm
your brother فَلَا تَبْتَئِسْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ so
do not grieve at whatever they've been doing
so clearly and Yusuf Alayhi Salaam knows this
from experience that it's not like Binyamin was
having the hang of his life with the
rest of these brothers they are who they
are they're the ones who threw Yusuf Alayhi
Salaam in a well sold him off they're
not giving Binyamin the best treatment and loving
him and cuddling with him no they probably
bullied him growing up and so Yusuf Alayhi
Salaam tells him don't worry about it don't
worry about all of what they've done to
you let's see what we can do فَلَمَّا
جَهَذَهُمْ بِجَهَازِهِمْ and when Yusuf provided them with
their provisions جَعَلَ السِّقَايَةَ فِي رَحْلِ أَخِي he
placed the royal cup the drinking cup of
the king into his brother's baggage ثُمَّ أَذَّنَ
مُؤَذِّنَ and so a crier called out أَيُّتُ
أَيَّتُهَا الْعِيدِ people of the caravan إِنَّكُمْ لَسَارِقُونَ
you are all thieves قَالُوا وَأَقْبَلُوا عَلَيْهِمْ they
turned back and asked مَا فَتَفْقِدُونَ what did
you lose قَالُوا they responded the king's cup
we've lost that وَلِمَنْ جَاءَ بِهِ حِمْلُ بَعِيدٍ
Yusuf Alayhi Salaam announced the one who brings
it the prize for him is going to
be a camel load of grain وَأَنَ بِهِ
زَعِيمٍ and I guarantee it قَالُوا تَا اللَّهِ
لَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمْ the brother said by Allah you
know very well مَا جَئْنَ لِنُفْسِدَ فِي الْأَرْضِ
we never came to create mischief in the
land وَمَا كُنَّا سَارِقِينَ and we are not
thieves قَالُوا فَمَا جَزَعُهُ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ كَذِبِينَ they
said but if you prove to be liars
what should we reward you with then what
should be the compensation then قَالُوا جَزَعُهُ they
responded the compensation for such a person مَنْ
وُجِدَ فِي رَحْلِهِ فَهُوَ جَزَعُهُ whoever you find
that cup in or whatever that is stolen
in his baggage he's yours, keep him you
do with him whatever you want إِذَلَكَ نَجِزِلْ
غَالِمِينَ that is how we punish the wrongdoers
فَبَدَأَ بِأَوْعِيَتِهِمْ قَبْلَ وِعَاءِ أَخِيهِ and so he
started searching their baggage before searching his own
brother ثُمَّ اسْتَخْرَجَهَا مِنْ وِعَاءِ أَخِيهِ and so
finally they found it in his own brother's
baggage he found it in his own brother's
baggage كَذَلِكَ كِدْنَا لِيُوسِفِ we planned for Yusuf
this way we conspired with Yusuf this way
مَا كَانَ لِيَأْخُذَ أَخَاهُ فِي دِينِ الْمَلِكِ he
was not going to be able to detain
his brother according to the law of the
king as far as the king's law was
concerned in Egypt Yusuf would not have been
able to punish the thief by keeping him
so he had to extract it from the
brothers themselves what is their law and they
stated their law and so once they had
stated it that became the established law that
was going to be followed and so Yusuf
was then going to keep Binyamin Allah was
planning this with Yusuf there's a whole lot
of deception going on الحربُ خُدَة again there's
uncanny similarities between this and what Rasulullah ﷺ
and how he has to deal with the
Quraysh when they're at war when they're in
open conflict there's a whole lot of planning
and plotting going around نَرَفَعُوا دَرَجَاتِهِمْ مَنْ نَشَانَ
we exalt in ranks whoever we will وَفَوْقَ
كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٍ and above everyone with
knowledge there is another one with more knowledge
again this the nature of knowledge being such
that no one knowledgeable source can be placed
as an absolute authority and of course wherever
however far you go above everyone is going
to be Allah as the most knowledgeable and
so there is nobody who can make this
claim of absolute superiority in any realm of
knowledge and we will see hopefully inshallah if
and when we get to Surah Kahf with
respect to Musa ﷺ and Khidr how that
plays around and it is this recognition of
having a relative store of knowledge rather than
an absolute authority or absolute access to knowledge
that allows for this plurality that allows for
this relationship to develop that you are more
of a community of people who are the
mutual corrective mutually informing each other mutually learning
from each other وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٍ
قَالُوا they said يَسْرِقْ if he has stolen
فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخُلَّهُ مِن قَبْلٍ his brother also
did so before so in all of these
years rationalizing the crime that they had committed
they have painted a picture of this evil
person that Yusuf ﷺ was again محمد رسول
الله ﷺ and how he is depicted by
the Quraysh he broke our families the relationships
that we had the values of our forefathers
yada yada yada yada he's being portrayed as
this evil person power hungry and whatnot فَأَسَرَّهَا
يُوسُفُ فِي نَفْسِ Yusuf ﷺ suppressed his feelings
within himself وَلَمْ يُبْضِيهَا لَهُمْ and did not
reveal anything to them he felt that triggered
him but he controlled himself قَالَ أَنْتُمْ شَرٌّ
مَجْهَانًا and he said you are an evil
people وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ Allah is in
best knowledge of what you describe قَالُوا يَا
أَيُّهَا الْعَزِيزِ Yusuf's brothers requested O minister إِنَّ
لَهُ أَبَنْ شَيْخًا كَبِيرًا he has a really
really old father فَخُذْ أَحَدَنَا مَكَانًا take one
of us instead إِنَّنَا رَاكَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ we
see you as a person of excellent character
a مُحْسِن قَالَ مُعَذَ اللَّهِ Yusuf Alayhi Salaam
responded the refuge of Allah أَنَّ أَخُذَ دَتْ
We hold إِلَّا مَنْ وَجَدْنَا مَتَعًا عِنْدَهُ We
hold anyone except the one in whose custody
we found our stuff إِنَّ إِذَا اللَّهُ ظَالِمُونَ
We would really be unjust if we do
so فَلَمَّ اسْتَيْئَسُ مِنْهُ خَلَسُ نَجِيَّا But when
they lost all hope of convincing Yusuf Alayhi
Salaam they got aside to discuss privately قَالَ
كَبِيرُ The eldest of them said أَلَمْ تَعْلَمُ
Don't you know أَنَّ أَبَاكُمْ قَدْ أَخَذَ عَلَيْكُمْ
مَوْثِقًا مِّنَ اللَّهِ that your father took this
oath from you in the name of Allah
وَمِن قَبْلُ مَا فَرَّدْتُمْ فِي يُوسِفِ And what
you did in the case of Yusuf before
this how you failed in that case فَلَنْ
أَبْرَحَ الْأَرْضَ حَتَّى يَعْذَنَ لِي أَبِي And he
said I'm not leaving this, I'm not going
back I can't face my father until he
permits me أَوْ يَحْكُمُ اللَّهُ لِي Or Allah
brings a decision for me وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الْحَاكِمِينَ
And Allah is the best of all judges
The situation of the Quraysh throughout Medina the
Medinan phase of Rasulullah ﷺ how the strength
of Rasulullah ﷺ the power of Rasulullah ﷺ
the victories of Rasulullah ﷺ how they are
making the people of Quraysh one by one
fall on their knees accepting how humbling them
so that they are now being able to
see the error of their ways the evil
of what they had done prior to Rasulullah
ﷺ's migration how he was able to by
that process that took place from Badr actually
even before Badr all the way to the
conquest how literally he brought them to their
knees in submission and acceptance their Tawheed was
becoming more and more of a reality it
wasn't that way before their Ithikbar wouldn't let
them see it wouldn't let them see the
evil of what they were doing to Rasulullah
ﷺ and the Sahaba now the best of
them had started responding and we see this
in the case of the brother of Yusuf
ﷺ the eldest brother the same one who
said don't kill him rather throw him in
a well وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الْحَاكِمِينَ اِرْجِعُوا إِلَىٰ أَبِيكُمْ
فَقُولُوا so go back to your father and
tell him يَا أَبَانَا إِنَّ بَنَكَ سَرَقَ that
father your son stole وَمَا شَهِدْنَا إِلَّا بِمَا
عَلِمْنَا and we do not testify except to
what we knew this is very different from
how they came back from the Yusuf ﷺ
incident after throwing him in the well the
way they came back in the conviction and
the promise and what they carried with themselves
and how confidently they asserted themselves that no
no no this is what it is and
look we have evidence and all of that
now they're just going and saying we're not
telling you except what we know they're more
humble in how they're communicating the truth they
weren't as humble when they were communicating a
lie وَمَا شَهِدْنَا إِلَّا بِمَا عَلِمْنَا وَمَا كُنَّا
لِلْغَيْبِ حَافِظِينَ and the unseen is beyond our
reach وَسْأَلِ الْقَرْيَةَ الَّتِي كُنَّا فِيهَا as the
people of the town in which we were
residing now they are open to external verification
now they are open to شَهِدَ شَهِدُ مِنْ
أَهْلِهَا what we spoke about before somebody from
the family of her family witnessed against her
and witnessed in favor of Yusuf ﷺ now
the brothers the truth being on their side
they are more willing ask anybody else they
wouldn't have said that in the case of
Yusuf ﷺ it was their standard that they
had brought and it was their claim their
standard their claim and they wanted that to
be accepted as evidence here they are like
no no no we are telling you what
we know and we don't have access to
the unseen again now acknowledging their fallibility which
wasn't the case before belligerent certainty is usually
a cover for not having enough of an
evidence or not having enough truth in your
favor now you see them to be more
humble acknowledging fallibility and open to an external
source outside of themselves verifying them وَالْعِيرَ الَّذِي
أَقْبَلْنَا فِيهَا so ask anyone ask the caravan
in which we traveled وَإِنَّا صَادِقُونَ we are
speaking the truth all Yaqub ﷺ said بَلْ
سَبُّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكْ مَمْرًا he said again your
nafs has forged this story for you they're
the boy who cried wolf they lied the
first time so nobody's gonna believe them the
second time even Yaqub ﷺ is not believing
them فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ patience is most fitting what
else can I do عَسَى اللَّهُمَ يَأْتِيَنِي بِهِمْ
جَمِيعًا it may well be that Allah brings
them all back to me three of them
now Yusuf ﷺ, Bin Yamin and Yehuda Yehuda
is the best of the lot he's the
most reasonable of them three of his best
sons Yaqub ﷺ doesn't have them with him
إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ he is certainly the
most knowledgeable the wise وَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ وَقَالُ and
he turned his face away from them and
said يَا أَسَفَ عَلَى يُوسِفٍ my grief for
Yusuf in all these years he hasn't forgotten
him all these years the pain is still
there because he doesn't know where is he
dead or alive he doesn't know and that
uncertainty is even more painful than knowing that
he's gone or that he's died يَا أَسَفَ
عَلَى يُوسِفٍ وَبْيَضْبَطْ عَيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْحُزْنِ فَهُوَ كَفِينٌ
and his eyes turned white because of the
grief which he was suppressing the more you
suppress grief and this is genuine grief this
is real pain the more it manifests itself
as physical symptoms as physical signs of illness
in the case of Yusuf it was blindness
for he could not bear to see a
world without Yusuf in it and so he
wouldn't see anything at all and how this
pain and the physical symptom that it expresses
itself as the symptom is very symbolic it
is very telling of the nature of the
pain of what it's representing what's the world
without Yusuf when you can't see his face
what's there to see and so he loses
his sight altogether crying from grief in his
memory and this is years at least a
decade if not more of Yusuf Alayhi Salaam
being gone Allah said and the sun said
By Allah تَفْتَأُتَّذْكُرُ يُوْسُف it appears that you're
not going to stop remembering Yusuf حَتَّى تَكُونَ
حَرَضًا until you make yourself fatally ill you're
going to kill yourself in his memory أَوْ
تَكُونَ مِنَ الْهَالِكِينَ you just kill yourself you
become fatally ill really chronically ill or just
dead قَالَ إِنَّمَا أَشْكُبَتْي وَحُزْنِي إِلَى اللَّهِ Yaqub
Alayhi Salaam responded I complain of my distress
and my grief to Allah وَأَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ
مَا لَتَعْلَمُ and I know from Allah what
you don't I know for one thing as
far as Yaqub Alayhi Salaam's relationship with Allah
is concerned it is more nuanced it is
more it is far deeper than how you
would typically relate with Allah there is a
space in this relationship for complaining there is
a space in this relationship for venting or
expressing your grief there is a space in
that relationship and then there is that space
from where he has this confidence as well
this hope that he's going to come home
يَا بَنِ يَذْهَبُوا فِي تَحَسَّسُ مِن يُوسِفَ وَأَخِي
he says my sons go search for Yusuf
and his brother وَلَا تَيْأَسُوا مِن رَوْحِ اللَّهِ
and do not despair in the mercy of
Allah this at the psychological level Yaqub Alayhi
Salaam is grief stricken as anything suffering like
we can imagine at the physical level his
suffering has manifested itself in blindness but at
the spiritual level he complains to Allah though
not to anybody else about Allah to Allah
but then he is hopeful he holds on
to faith and he keeps going again like
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam two narrations one mentioning
his son and the other mentioning his grandson
when they pass when one of them passes
away either his son or grandson or perhaps
on both occasions he is seen to cry
and the Aba رضي الله تعالى عنهم of
course they're growing in their understanding of what
it means to relate with Allah what religiosity,
spirituality in its prophetic manifestation really means they're
learning that from him but they're surprised Ya
Rasulullah you're crying at a loss shouldn't we
not do that isn't this against sabr, against
taqwa against iman Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam clarifies
this understanding of how you are to carry
yourself in episodes of grief is far more
nuanced than a simple don't grieve you're not
allowed to grieve no, he said the heart
is sad again at the psychological level grieving
the eyes are teary at the physical level
literally responding to the grief crying but the
hands and the tongue do not say anything
against the will of Allah that's the spiritual
level accepting the attitude of positivity how all
of this can be at the same time
in the same person and not recognizing this
results in all kinds of problems all kinds
of judgments of the self or others which
further pathologize the whole situation so so
for sure no one despairs of the mercy
of Allah except the disbelieving people hoping against
hope when everything at the psychological and physical
level is pointing towards there being no hope
yet he holds strong because he has the
spiritual capacity to do so and that's what
makes human beings human so when they appeared
before Yusuf they said minister picture Abu Sufyan
begging Rasulullah renew the path renew the treaty
of Hudaibiyah have mercy on us you're very
merciful minister adversity has stricken us and our
family and we have brought goods of poor
quality but give us full measure and be
charitable to us Allah for sure rewards those
who are charitable he asked do you know
what you did to Yusuf and his brother
when you were ignorant this is Yusuf revealing
himself again the very beginning of the surah
when Yusuf as a kid as a child
he's in the well and Allah tells him
there will come a day and you will
inform them of this when this surah is
being revealed Rasulullah is in that situation and
this surah is Allah telling Rasulullah that there
will come a day where you will be
telling them about this where you will be
coming standing in front of them reminding them
of the evil that they did and then
they will finally acknowledge your greatness they will
finally accept that you deserve to be the
chosen one something that they could not swallow
20 years ago something that was simply unacceptable
for them how could he be chosen not
us all of this whatever goes around from
migration all the way to the conquest of
Mecca breaks all of those layers of arrogance
and self-deception and they are able to
accept and humble themselves and say yes we
accept Allah made the right choice in choosing
you to be the prophet and so here
Yusuf reveals himself to his brothers do you
remember what you did to Yusuf and his
brother when you were ignorant overwhelmed by these
by these instincts of envy these passionate drives
for power or your own authority that was
not letting you see anything at all knowledge
was staring you in the face you couldn't
see it you couldn't read it they said
Yusuf is it you are you Yusuf all
he replied I am Yusuf and this is
my brother Allah has certainly favored us for
sure those who are those who observe Taqwa
and are patient Allah does not allow the
reward of the Muhsineen to go to waste
at the time in the 10th year of
prophethood it seems like all the reward of
all the Muhsineen is not bearing fruit it
is not it seems to have been going
to waste to get this reassurance at that
time what does it mean what does it
mean to Rasulullah ﷺ the brother said by
Allah Allah really has preferred you over us
and it was us we were the one
that fault we made a big mistake picture
Abu Sufyan picture the people in Mecca begging
Rasulullah ﷺ for mercy asking him renew the
treaty please we can't do this anymore we're
grief stricken we're poverty stricken we can't fight
he's going to his daughter why don't you
talk to him he's going to Ali ﷺ
why don't you talk to him Yusuf ﷺ
said no blame on you today Allah will
forgive you and he is the most merciful
of those who show mercy now that Rasulullah
ﷺ is conquering Mecca with his head bowed
down in Sajdah on his ride and when
he sees the people of Mecca he says
the same ayah that Yusuf ﷺ said when
his brothers came back how he had been
holding on to this for the entirety of
the struggle from migration all the way to
the conquest and how it expressed itself rolled
off of his tongue in an expression of
unprecedented mercy unprecedented forgiveness he
is the most merciful of those who show
mercy and he says go take this shirt
of mine and put it on the face
of my father his sight will return to
him and then bring to me all members
of your family and when the caravan departed
from Egypt their father said I feel the
scent of Yusuf even though you're going to
think I've lost it it is the weakness
of my mind my old age that I'm
demented but I feel the scent of Yusuf
those around him they said you're suffering from
that same delusion of yours and when the
bearer of glad tidings arrived he cast the
shirt Yusuf's shirt on Yaqub's face his sight
returned now the source of grief which was
the loss of Yusuf his shirt comes back
the shirt of Yusuf makes an appearance in
the story three times once with false blood
once torn from the back and this time
has a remedy, a treatment for the blindness
that Yaqub Alayhi Salaam had been suffering from
his sight returned Yaqub Alayhi Salaam said did
I not tell you I know from Allah
what you don't in which Allah says I
am as my thinks of me for all
that time for all that time for all
those years over a decade, perhaps two Yaqub
Alayhi Salaam held on to that hope and
there was really no reason to hold on
for all practical purposes hope should have been
lost but he was hanging on to it
and Allah pulls through they said Ya Abana
our father forgive us our sins we were
definitely guilty ask Allah to forgive us forgive
us again the tawbah of the people of
Mecca the tawbah of Abu Zufyan Yaqub said
I will soon ask my Rabb to forgive
you like right now still angry not doing
the rightness but I'll get over this anger,
I'll eventually do it Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
as far as Wahshi was concerned his Islam
was accepted but Rasulullah could not accept seeing
him, it was just too much for what
he'd done to Hamza and so Yaqub said
I will soon ask Allah to forgive you,
my Rabb to forgive you most definitely is
him he is most forgiving, ever merciful don't
expect me to immediately be able to forgive
you I'll get there so when they all
entered upon Yusuf he took his parents to
himself and said enter Egypt secure by the
will of Allah he raised his parents to
the throne they all fell down in prostration
before him and he said my father this
is the interpretation of my dream that I
saw earlier my Rabb has made it come
true the Rabb of Allah overseeing this entire
process from the moment Yusuf saw the dream
all the way to the fulfillment of the
dream with all of what his brothers did
with all of what the minister's wife did
the minister did the other women did the
forgetting of the person who was supposed to
have him out of the jail for just
mentioning him to the king but he forgot
for that forgetfulness and now finally Yusuf's dream
comes true and the dream did not come
through or come true with Yusuf as a
passive onlooker he's sitting in this rollercoaster and
holding on and going up and down he
has nothing to do with it his ihsan
is acknowledged his taqwa is acknowledged throughout the
surah the attributes of Yusuf the conduct of
Yusuf that Allah acknowledges and said that is
how we reward the people of ihsan that
is how we reward the people of taqwa
the fulfillment of this dream this dream that
Yusuf saw as a possibility in the future
it was fulfilled by a collaborative effort Allah
and Yusuf worked together to make this dream
come true which was one of the highest
possibilities as far as the destiny of Yusuf
was concerned and this is the one that
fell through despite all of what everybody else
did even their conniving demonic envious criminal behavior
was by the will of Allah and by
the sabr of Yusuf something so beautiful something
so fruitful came out of it that the
suffering of Yusuf in the well as a
slave as a prisoner where he is a
victim at so many different levels yet he
is a survivor yet he is a hero
and because he is a hero through all
of these various forms of victimization and suffering
the fruit the meaning of his suffering or
in his suffering when it's actualized it ends
up literally feeding all of Egypt the adjoining
areas tribes lands people all of them the
famine that would have killed so many it
was life giving what was potentially death giving
as far as Yusuf was concerned but his
freedom and he didn't have anything that he
could do he was powerless at the social
level he was powerless at the physical level
at the psychological level but he was incredibly
powerful at the spiritual level and how using
that power to stand upright and maintain that
attitude that he had to the meaning that
he actualized extended far beyond his person in
space in the sense that people hundreds of
kilometers in the vicinity of Egypt benefited for
it for years to come and the entire
generation of Bani Israel the entire generation of
Bani Israel through how the story was eternalized
in the Bible and then all the way
to Rasulullah ﷺ that the toughest year of
his life Yusuf's meaningful conduct in his suffering
is a solace is a consolation is that
Ahsanul Qasas that helps Rasulullah ﷺ stand strong
and if it helps Rasulullah ﷺ it helps
all of us all across the 14 centuries
until the day of judgment we owe this
debt to Yusuf ﷺ for standing strong and
how his meaning in suffering is to this
day a consolation and a solace in so
many different ways it is incredible the suffering
was no joke it was no temporary suffering
it was the inspiration for Rasulullah ﷺ how
he actualized the meaning in all of what
he had to suffer and then he literally
walked in the footsteps of Yusuf ﷺ and
said the very words that Yusuf said when
he's conquering Makkah يَا أَبَتِ هَذَا تَأْوِيلُ رُؤِيَيَ
مِنْ قَبْلِ he said this is the interpretation
of my dream that I saw earlier قَدَ
جَعْلَهَا رَبِّي حَقَّ again the same attitude of
the people of paradise that this is all
thanks to Allah my Rabb has made it
come true وَقَدْ أَحْسَنَ بِي and he has
been very kind to me he's reassuring his
father that I've been looked after Allah looked
after me إِذْ أَخْرَجَنِي مِنَ السِّجْنِ when he
brought me out of prison he starts the
story from when he's coming out of prison
he skips all the steps before that إِذْ
أَخْرَجَنِي مِنَ السِّجْنِ when he brought me out
of prison وَجَاءَ بِكُم مِّنَ الْبَدْوِ and he
brought you from the desert مِنْ بَعْدِ أَنَّزَغَ
الشَّيْطَانُ وَبَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ إِخْوَتِ after Shaytan had stirred
up a rift between me and my brothers
إِنَّ الرَّبِّ لَطِيفٌ لِّمَا يَشَنِ my Rabb is
subtle so so present yet so imperceptible
in all of these affairs as they go
on Allah being Latif as how it beautifully
springs from this story, how subtle in so
many delicate ways he's a part of all
of this إِنَّ الرَّبِّ and he's part of
all of this as the Rabb, as the
nurturer as the one who is looking to
to bring you to your feet teach you
how to walk run, fly through all of
this إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْحَكِيمُ he is he is
definitely knowing, the wise رَبِّ قَدْ عَتَيْتَنِي مِنَ
الْمُرْءِ he said my Rabb you have blessed
me with kingdom مُعَلَّمْتَنِي مِن دَأْوِيلِ الْأَحَدِيثِ and
you have taught me the interpretation of dreams
فَاطِرَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ the originator of the heavens
and the earth أَنتَ وَلِيْجِي فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ
you are my protector in the life of
this world and in the hereafter تَوَفَّنِي مُسْلِمًا
وَأَلْحِقْنِي بِالصَّالِحِينَ make me die as a Muslim
and join with the righteous again, the humility
that Yusuf Alayhi Salaam is expressing when victory
is his when he has gotten back and
his brothers taught them a lesson that they
deserved and yet when he places himself before
Allah and how he identifies himself his presence,
his life he identifies the greatest gift that
Allah has given him and he is able
to place those gifts and himself as they're
relevant in the grand scheme of things as
Allah's as Allah being فَاطِرَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ finding
your place in the universe finding your place
in the world that this world is meaningful
and there's stuff that I've been given that
is awesome that there's a place that I
have in it, there is something that I
have to do and to be able to
see that in your friendship with Allah وَلِي
جِي فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَ you're my friend in
this world and in the hereafter and to
be able to see how those gifts as
they add up as they line up, as
they make sense with everything else going on
in history of the universe and to be
able to see the fulfillment of that meaning
and really being grateful for those gifts and
the recognition of their value in the grand
scheme of things in remaining Muslim till you
die and to want to be in the
company of the righteous again the humility before
Allah but humility for that community of good
people ذَلِكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الْغَيْبِ this is from
the news of the unseen نُوحِيهِ إِلَيْكِ which
we reveal to you, Ya Rasulullah وَمَا كُنْتَ
لَذَيْهِمْ you weren't with them إِذْ أَجْمَعُوا أَمْرَهُمْ
when they agreed their plan if you were
to take a cross-section of the whole
story and Yusuf brother is making their plan
like oh my god humanity is all evil
people are all bad this sucks this is,
what's the point in all of this وَهُمْ
يَمْقُرُونَ while they were scheming how Latif Allah
is even there how he's able to draw
something so incredible, something so beautiful out of
that وَمَا أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ despite
your desire, most people will not believe عَرِيصٌ
عَلَيْكُمْ that's who Rasulullah is, right Allah acknowledges
that here as well as much as you
want, most people will still not believe they'll
hear your story, they'll see how beautiful it
is it still won't make a difference to
them وَمَا تَسْأَلُهُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْلٍ you didn't
ask any money for them from them for
this إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌ لِّلْعَالَمِينَ this is
just a reminder for all the people وَكَأَيْجِ
مِنْ آيَةٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْعَرْضِ now are you
surprised that they don't take the story seriously
are you surprised that you haven't responded to
their challenge, again you didn't ask them ask
me this question and then I'm gonna give
you this answer no, they came up with
the question and you gave such an elaborate
response that has crocked them off guard they
didn't expect this but still they're not gonna
listen don't be surprised they ignore every single
ayah in the heavens and the earth everyday
anyways وَكَأَيْجِ مِنْ آيَةٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْعَرْضِ how
many signs in the heavens and the earth
يَمُرُّونَ عَلَيْهَا which they just pass by وَهُمْ
عَنْهَا مُعْرِضُونَ and they pay no attention to
it وَمَا يُؤْمِنُوا أَكْثَرُهُمْ بِاللَّهِ and most of
them don't believe in Allah إِلَّا وَهُمْ مُجْرِقُونَ
except that they commit some shirk they're believers
in Allah maybe they're even monotheists with some
level of shirk some zayn وَفَأَمِنُوا so they
do they feel secure وَتَأْتِيَهُمْ عَظَّاشِيَةٌ مِّنْ عَذَابِ
اللَّهِ that there will not come to them
an overwhelming event from the punishment of Allah
أَوْ يَأْتِيَهُمُ سَعَةُ بَغْتَ or there comes to
them the moment that hour أَوْ يَأْتِيَهُمُ سَعَةُ
بَغْتَ قُلْ هَذِهِ تَبِيلِ tell them this is
my way أَدْعُوا إِلَىٰ اللَّهِ I call towards
Allah عَلَىٰ بَصِيرَةٍ with insight أَنَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي
I am those who follow me وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ
and exalted is Allah وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينِ
and I am not of those who commit
shirk وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ and we did
not send before you messengers إِلَّا الرِّجَالَ نُوحِي
إِلَيْهِ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْقُرَىٰ except men to whom
we give revelation from the people of the
town we chose them from the human beings
living there أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْصُ haven't they
traveled through the land فَيَنظُرُوا تُسِيكَيْفَ كَيْفَ كَانَ
عَقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ how was the end
of those before them وَلَدَارُ الْآخِرَةِ خَيْرُ لِلَّذِينَ
التَّقَوُّ and the home of the hereafter is
definitely the best for those who have the
taqwa of Allah أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ so are you
then not going to use your reason حَتَّىٰ
إِذَا اسْتَيْأَسَ الْرُّسُلُ until when the messengers gave
hope again the whole story is ringing with
grief and suffering رسول الله ﷺ at that
point is in the midst of suffering and
he is being told that yes that time
does come when even the messengers give up
hope وَالضَّنُّونَ and start thinking at least at
the level of thought this possibility is entertained
and you will find in a lot of
translations and explanations it's hysteric or this bracket
that says that no no no the prophets
weren't thinking that it was the other people
thinking that if you want to demonize even
the possibility of these thoughts so much that
it's so unprophetic it is so impious to
even think this knowing that as far as
thoughts are concerned you're not held to blame
they're a reaction to your environment so until
the prophets gave up hope the messengers and
started thinking أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ قُذِبُوا that they were
being lied to that this promise of Allah
this help of Allah the clouds became that
dark that it was pitch black that to
trust that the sun was still there it
required every ounce of faith you could possibly
muster جَاءَهُمْ نَصُرُنَا it was at that point
that our help came to them فَنُجِّيَ مَنْنَ
شَاءَ so we saved whoever we wanted وَلَا
يُرَدُّ بَأْسُنَ عَنِ الْقَوْمِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ and our punishment
cannot be repelled from the criminals at the
level of thought entertaining the possibility that maybe
the promise of Allah is not going to
come true at the level of emotion losing
hope but at the level of practice and
attitude the two which are from your spiritual
dimension of your personality standing strong as best
as you possibly can that's when help comes
لَقَدْ كَانَ فِي قَصَصِهِمْ عِبْرَةٌ لِأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ in
their stories there is a lesson for the
people of understanding مَا كَانَ حَدِيثًا يُفْتَرَى this
is not a narration this is not something
that is just invented وَلَكِن تَصْدِيقَ الَّذِي بَيْنَ
يَدَيْ but it is a confirmation of what
exists before it other scriptures have their versions
of the story of Yusuf Alayhi Salaam if
anything they're being corroborated تَفْصِيلَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ and
it explains everything وَهُدًا وَرَحْمَةً it is a
guidance and a mercy لِقَوْمِ يُؤْمِنُونَ for a
believing people what do we do from here
on in Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and Sahaba
that's a very real question for them and
they're hurt where do we go from here
and we're hurt we're in pain so we
see this surah giving hidayah and we see
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam following that hidayah and
we see this surah placing that expressing that
mercy that shoulder for Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
to lean on that arm around his back
that it's okay that's mercy لِقَوْمِ يُؤْمِنُونَ for
the believing people moving right along with surah
Ar-Ra'd these are the
ayat of the book and that which has
been revealed to you from your Rabb is
the truth وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ نَاسِ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ but
most people do not believe اللَّهُ الَّذِي رَفَعَ
السَّمَوَاتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا and Allah is the
one who raised the heavens without any visible
support ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْقَرْشِ and then He
established Himself on the throne وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ
and He subjected the sun and the moon
to the service of humanity كُلُّ يَجْرِ لِأَجَلٍ
مُسَمَّى each running its course for a definite
time يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرُ Allah arranges each matter يُفَصِّلُ
الْآيَاتِ and He spells out the ayaat لَعَلَّكُمْ
بِلِقَاءِ رَبِّكُمْ تُغْفِنُونَ so that you may have
a conviction in meeting your Rabb the more
you reflect over the ayaat of Allah the
more you're able to see the تَدْبِير in
the ayaat of Allah as to how they
are representative of the أَمْرُ of Allah and
the more you reflect over the imminent death
or how all of it has there's like
there's this inherent boundedness to it, there's a
deadline that this is this is not just
going to go on forever each human being
has one each community has one and then
of course the world itself has one and
so for you to recognize that as you
recognize all the beautiful ayaat of Allah وَهُوَ
الَّذِي مَدَّى الْأَرْضِ and He is the one
who spread out the earth وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَةً
وَأَنْهَارَ and He sat there on mountains and
flowing rivers وَمِن كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ جَعَلَ فِيهَا زَوْجَيْنِ
اثْنَيْن and He created all types of fruit
in pairs يُغْشَ اللَّيْلَ النَّهَارِ He covers the
day with night نَفِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتِ لِقَوْمِ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
for sure there are signs in that for
a people looking to reflect قَوْمِ يُؤْمِنُونَ people
looking to believe if you are in fact
looking to believe then there is a lot
that you have to chew on so as
to be able to conclude think through so
that you are able to reach those conclusions
come to those beliefs and then there is
those reflections that the possibility for which these
ayaat are inviting you to وَفِي الْأَرْضِ قِطَاعٌ
مُتَجَاوِرَاتٌ and on earth there are traps side
by side وَجَنَّاتٌ مِّنْ أَعْنَابٍ and vineyards وَزَرْعٌ
and crops وَنَخِيلٌ صِنْوَانٌ وَغَيْرُ صِنْوَان and date
palm trees with single roots or otherwise يُسْقَى
بِمَاءٍ وَاحِدٍ and all of them are irrigated
by the same water same water yet all
the diversity that you see in front of
you, around you وَنُفَضِّلُ بَعْضَهَا عَلَى بَعْضٍ فِي
الْأُكْلِ yet we make some of them excel
over others in taste some taste better others
not so much even from within the same
root إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ and
for sure in all of this are ayaats
for a people of intellect a people who
use their reasoning ability a people who use
their reflective capacity a people who are prone
to belief a people who are looking to
believe again any one of these goes missing
and whatever you're going to come up with
is going to be deficient as a representation
of reality which is fine but that's worse
when it's made worse it's incredibly problematic when
that which is deficient is claimed to be
the absolute that this is the entire description
of reality or understanding of reality that there
is nothing else to reality than this so
if you are amazed فَعَجَبٌ قَوْلُهُمْ then amazing
is their comment when they say إِذَا كُنَّا
تُرَابًا what when we are all dust إِنَّا
لَفِي خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ could we then really be
raised to a new life if they're amazed
by this possibility of being resurrected Allah is
amazed at how can they not believe in
the sense of course he knows but it's
just why that's what's there to be amazed
about there's so many amazing things around you
why does it amaze you that you're gonna
be resurrected it is amazing that you're amazed
given all the amazements around you I hope
that made sense إِنَّا لَفِي خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ أُولَئِكَ
الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ These are the ones who
deny their Rabb وَأُولَئِكَ الْأَغْلَالُ فِي أَعْنَاقِهِمْ and
these are the ones who will have iron
collars around their necks again fitting the arrogance
that they're depicting the high-headedness that they're
depicting we're gonna put collars around your necks
to match your attitude وَأُولَئِكَ أَوْصْحَابُ النَّارِ and
these are the companions of the hellfire هُمْ
فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ and they'll live there forever وَيَسْتَعَجِلُونَكَ
بِالسَّيْجِئَةِ قَبْلَ الْحَسَنَةِ and they are urging you
to bring about the evil rather than the
good i.e. the punishment they want the
punishment to be brought for them وَقَدْ خَلَتْ
مِنْ قَبْلِهِمُ الْمَثُّلَاتِ while similar punishments have already
been given out before them they want a
sample, they already have samples to see it's
best that they learn from those rather than
asking for their own وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو مَغْفِرَةٍ
لِّلنَّاسِ عَلَىٰ ظُلْمِهِمْ and your Rabb is full
of forgiveness for mankind despite their injustice, their
oppression, their dhulm if this demand that they're
making if Allah was to fulfill this that
would've been the end of it but He's
still forgiving, forgiving, forgiving وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَشَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ
and for sure your Rabb is stern in
punishment, you have evidence for that وَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ
كَفُرُوا and the disbelievers object لَوْ لَأُنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ
آيَةٌ مِّن رَبِّهِ why was there no sign
sent down to Him from His Rabb again
that same ayah as they describe ayah on
their demand that supernatural, that miracle thing that
they want إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ مُنذِرٌ you're just a
warner يا رسول الله وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٌ and
for every people there is a guide اللَّهُ
يَعْلَمُ مَا تَحْمَلُ كُلُّ أُنْثَى Allah is the
one who knows what every female carries وَمَا
تَغِيضُ الْأَرْحَامُ وَمَا تَزْدَادُ and He is fully
aware of how much the wombs fall short
or exceed of the term the term of
the pregnancy, how pre-term how post-term
وَكُلُّ شَيْءٍ عِنْدَهُ بِمِقْدَارٍ and everything with Him
is measured عَلِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ الْكَبِيرُ الْمُتَعَالِ nor
of the seen and the unseen He is
the Great, the Highest ثَوَأٌ مِنْكُمْ of you
it is all the same to Him مَنْ
أَسَرَّ الْقَوْلِ the one who speaks secretly وَمَنْ
جَهْرَ بِهِ and the one who speaks openly
or aloud وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ مِنْ لَيْلِ and
the one who is hidden by night وَسَارِبٌ
بِالنَّهَارِ or walking around in the daylight لَهُ
بِمُعَقِّبَاتِ He has angels supervising مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ
وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ from before Him and behind Him
يَحْفُظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ They guard Him with
the أَمْرَ of Allah again so much of
what goes around in our daily lives and
then there is these incidents that make you
realize, whoa that was a close call that
if you were really to reflect upon those
close calls by all measures of probability that
should have been an end by all measures
of all the odds that you can possibly
consider what went around in that accident or
that near death experience it should have been
an end it is pretty inexplicable how we
continue to survive it is not a wonder
how many people have accidents and get injured
and die it is a wonder how many
people don't given the circumstances are pretty similar
given what they experience are pretty similar events
and incidents again it is not a wonder
that there is so many people who get
infected get diseased and the infection gets the
better of them and they die, that's not
a wonder given the load of pathogens that
we're aware of that are all over us,
all around us, inside of us it is
a wonder how so many of us do
not get infected, ill and die that the
fraction that do is a very disproportionately small
fraction than the viral load or the bacterial
load that is actually out there it is,
that's what surprising, that is what is amazing
and so what explains that is the amr
of Allah that it is his the meaningful
end towards which your lives are preserved there
is stuff for you to do there is
functions that you have to perform there is
meaning that you have to actualize there is
a uniqueness that you have to bring to
the fore يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ
لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ
مَا بِقَوْمٍ and for sure Allah never changes
the condition of a people حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُ مَا
بِأَنفُسِهِمْ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ within themselves very
interesting that this phrase of the ayah is
part of the phrase that talks about that
grace of Allah that is protecting in the
form of angels protecting human beings from before
them and from behind them you have a
change to bring about and this is one
of the couplets of Allama Iqbal where he
talks about it's in Farsi and I'm going
to mess it up if I try if
I attempt the Farsi but nevertheless something to
the effect of قُفْتَمْ كَجَهَانِ مَا that Allah
said to me that my world, did you
like it?
did it please you?
Allama says قُفْتَمْ كَجَهَانِ مَا I didn't like
it and then he said the response I
got from Allah is change it بَرْحَمْ زَن
destroy it turn it upside down, change it
اِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ Allah does
not change the condition of a people حَتَّى
يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِأَنفُسٍ until they change what is
within themselves what is that amr of Allah
that is holding it together for us despite
all the probability that we shouldn't be we're
still here we survive we thrive we have
the gross irresponsibility with which we lead our
lives with how we disregard our physical health
yet we continue to drag ourselves along there
is something there is something we gotta do
and that something is that يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ
that change that has to come in your
own because you have to change yourselves how
you identify that as the meaning or the
reason why and that's all of the survival
and all of the amazing ways in which
human beings continue to thrive amazing as it
is it is amazing towards a direction a
meaning live it do it change it what
you don't like what Allah doesn't like either
what Allah wants you to change He took
a step back in not changing it himself
because you could step forward and you change
it so you grow and you become worthy
of Him يَتَّى يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ وَإِذَا أَرَضَ
اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ سُوءًا and when Allah decides to
afflict people with ill, with pain, with punishment
with distress then there is no averting it
there is no running away from it وَمَا
لَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ مِنْ وَالَىٰ and they will
have no protector by Him وَالَّذِي يُرِيكُمُ الْبَرْقِ
He's the one who shows you lightning creating
a fear and hope وَيُنشِيُ أُسْتَحَابَ الْثِقَالِ وَيُنشِيُ
أُسْتَحَابَ الْثِقَالِ and He also raises heavy clouds
وَيُسَّبِّحُ الرَّعْدُ بِحَمْدِهِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ مِنْ خِيفَتِهِ and the
thunder exalts Allah praising Him and the angels
as well are fear for Him وَيُرُسِلُ السَّوَائِقِ
and He sends the thunderbolts وَيُصِيبُ بِهَا مَنْ
يَشَىٰ and He strikes with it whoever He
wants وَهُمْ يُجَادِلُونَ فِي اللَّهِ and the disbelievers
dispute about Allah again, isn't it a wonder
this lightning that is a carrier this harbinger
of hope but it is also an expression
of His power it brings you rain but
that thunderbolt may as well strike someone and
at times it does but that striking of
someone is very infrequent that's not the norm
usually people don't get struck by lightning most
bolts of lightning they don't hit anyone but
they can they have that He's continuously showing
you His strength and His power of what
He can do but He doesn't so that
you think about it reflect over it do
what you gotta do this thunder is exalting
the praise of Allah, doing the tasbih of
Allah Allah wants for you as a people
of the Quran to be able to appreciate
Allah in the world around you the way
you look at lightning after you read these
ayats should be different similarly, the way you
read these ayats after you've seen lightning reflected
over it delved into it the processes around
it they should be different they have these
arguments about Allah and He is severe in
assault to Him alone is the supplication of
truth and those whom they invoke besides Him
it is justified it is truthful to rely
on Him, to call on Him to dedicate
your tawheed to Him, but then all of
these others that you're banking on other than
Allah they don't respond to them one bit
Allah responds the call towards Him or calling
Him, supplicating before Him, it is reciprocated, responded
that those that you accord that power, that
strength to, they can't do that lightning and
thunder and rain those du'as are going
nowhere لا يستجيبون لهم بشئ إلا كباصة كفاه
إلى الماء they're but like someone who extends
his hands towards water ليبلغ فاه wishing that
water should reach his mouth but it is
not going to reach him just as incapable
as water is to just jump up and
spring into your mouth that's how useless your
deities are to respond to you like standing
like water come here alohomora forgot the charm
that you bring stuff asio water doesn't work,
doesn't happen what are you smoking thinking that's
going to happen and that's so much of
what you're calling on all of these deities
other than Allah is about so that you
don't have to get off of your backside
and get the water yourself it's not going
to happen, you have to get up and
bring it yourself part of supplicating to Allah
is that it's supposed to make you proactive,
not passive as you're sitting on your backsides
and just do this no, get up and
get it get up and do it and
yes then there is so much other than
you that has to be done for the
effect to really come about he'll take care
of that وما هو ببالي it is not
going to reach him وما دعاو الكافرين إلا
في ضلال and the call of the disbelievers
is completely lost وَلِلَّهِ يَسْجِدُ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَالْأَرْضِ and before Allah alone prostrate whoever is
in the heavens and the earth ثَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا
willingly or unwillingly the brothers of Yusuf were
not prostrating before Allah when they're planning and
conspiring against Yusuf that wasn't exactly the most
Muslim attitude that wasn't exactly what they were
supposed to do nevertheless Allah was able to
incorporate their demonic unnerving envious plan into his
grand divine plan as unwillingly as unwilling as
it was it ended up being a sajda
before Allah because he has that capacity to
bring life out of death ثَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا وَذِلَالُهُمْ
as do their shadows بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْأَصَالِ in morning
and evening وَالْمَرَّبُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ask them who
is the Rab of the heavens and the
earth قُلْ لِلَّهِ say it is Allah قُلْ
أَفَتَّخَطْتُ مِنْ دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَةً tell them then do
you still take others as protectors besides him
لَا يُمْلِكُونَ لِأَنفُسِهِمْ those who do not control
even for themselves نَفْعٌ وَلَا بَرًّا any benefit
or harm قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِى الْأَعْمَى وَالْمَصِيرِ ask
them is the blind and the one who
can see are they the same أَمْ هَلْ
تَسْتَوِى الظُّلُمَاتُ وَالنُّورِ or can darkness be equal
to light أَمْ جَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ شُرَكَةً have they
those whom they ascribe as partners with Allah
فَلَقُوا كَخَلْقِهِ can those partners have they created
like his creation his creation is around you
in front of you what is it that
is a reflection of the power of those
that you have relied upon, depended upon with
the exclusion of Allah فَتَشَابَهَا الْخَلْقُ عَلَيْهِمْ so
the creation seemed similar to them and they
got confused what's going on قُلْ لِلَّهُ خَالِقُ
قُلِّ شَيْءٍ tell them Allah is the one
who is the creator of everything anything that
you end up relying on, again for the
people of Arabia it's pretty plain and easy
to see that it's idols that they have
replaced Allah with that the relationship with Allah
this relationship of Tawheed this interaction it is
very demanding it asks of you to be
more responsible, to be more disciplined and to
be more cautious especially of your relationships with
others, with other human beings those distant from
you, those lower than you in finances or
social status or whatever and that's quite a
lot to ask, it is so much simpler
and easier to have your spiritual needs fulfilled
with all of these other deities who are
not going to ask of you to do
any of those things any of those responsibilities
it's like all profit no loss it's like
it's a relationship of it's friends with benefits
all benefits no responsibility that's the kind of
relationship this that's the infidelity that's how this
is infidelity this idolatrous relationship that you you
have all the fun but you have no
responsibility and so it is very convenient to
assume that these lifestyles these all benefits, all
perks and no responsibility lifestyle is going to
be enough for you for your needs in
the long run it is very convenient but
it doesn't work it keeps coming back at
you in various forms of physical, psychological spiritual
distress that you have to face and seeing
how that lifestyle lets you down your deities
let you down your idolatrous ways of life
let you down and all you're left with
is the dog that you're living with and
nobody else around you because you didn't want
any responsibility so now you have no no
real personality no real roots of that you
can benefit from later on because you didn't
choose the path of real relationship you chose
the path of immediate gratification with nothing on
your end and so why would you do
that what evidence of strength what evidence of
power do your deities have to offer you
or do these concepts have to offer you
that they have actually pulled through and really
given something substantial to those who follow those
idolatrous ways those concepts, those lifestyles did it
work out for them did they really grow
were they really people who were substantially contributing
in the world that you're living in and
they lived up to their potentials, were they
really able to do that the need that
they felt that all of these idolatrous ways
would fulfill for them, were those needs actually
fulfilled or did they always have to fall
flat on their faces more lost than when
they started that when they absolutized that and
they placed in the place of God that
thing or that person or that whatever goal
that they set for themselves did it work
it wasn't going to so what makes you
think that you're going to continue to put
your fingers in the fire and it's not
going to burn you the 11th time or
the 100th time or the 1000th time when
will you learn قُل لِلَّهُ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ
قُل لِلَّهُ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ Allah is the
creator of everything وَهُوَ الْوَاخِذُ الْقَهَارِ وَهُوَ الْوَاخِذُ
الْقَهَارِ وَهُوَ الْوَاخِذُ الْقَهَارِ أَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً
Allah sends down water from the sky فَثَالَتْ
أَوْضِيَةٌ بِقَدْرِهَا فَثَالَتْ أَوْضِيَةٌ بِقَدْرِهَا and valleys flow
according to their capacity فَاحْتَمَلَ السَّيْلُ زَبَدَ الرَّابِيَةُ
فَاحْتَمَلَ السَّيْلُ زَبَدَ الرَّابِيَةُ and so the torrents
rise carrying foam وَمِمَّا يُوقِضُونَ عَلَيْهِ And similarly,
when they heat up metal in the fire,
Ibtigha'a hilyatin aw mata'in, in order
to make ornaments or utensils, utensils, zabadun mithlu,
there is a foam similar to this.
kathalika yadribullahu alhaqqa walbaatil.
That is how Allah depicts truth and falsehood.
fa amma zabadun fayadhabu jufa'a.
As for the foam, it just disappears.
wa amma ma yanfa'un naas.
As for that which is going to be
beneficial, fruitful for humanity.
fayamqusu fil-awd.
That stays on earth.
kathalika yadribullahu alhaqqa walbaatil.
That is how Allah presents examples.
That is how humanity progresses in its understanding.
That is the progressive nature of truth as
to how through this process, this filtration process,
through examples of which you were given, one
depicting truth coming from the skies, the other
depicting truth coming from the earth, and how
both processes or both sources of truth are,
they go through this filtration process that because
the truth gets mixed up with falsehood, but
then as time proceeds, progresses, you're able to
filter out the truth from the falsehood, just
like you're able to filter out pure gold
from its ore or any other useful mineral
from that which it is clumped up with.
And that process of acquiring knowledge is similar
of understanding haqq and filter it out from
bapu.
Whether it is haqq that came from the
skies or haqq that came from the earth,
it has to go through those processes for
human understanding because either way, human beings are
the interpreters of that haqq.
They have to have it go through that
process of filtration for that foam to dissipate,
to settle, and so as to be able
to extract that which is pure, which is
true, and this continuously happens.
This continuously happens.
The capacity of the valley, the rain, as
far as it's concerned, it can be very
overwhelming.
How much can you retain?
And there's only so much you can retain.
And once the rain has fallen, it has
gotten mixed up.
With all the gunk that was there and
the foam has to dissipate.
We don't always have that capacity, especially when
it comes to knowledge coming from the sky
to assimilate all of it or to just
take it all in.
We can't, we simply can't, it's too much.
And so necessarily and naturally, as this process
goes forward, as this process goes forward, where
we have to learn step-by-step what
was that which was revealed to us and
to make sense of it progressively together as
a community.
Absolute claims to truth for that reason have
no space.
You have to trust the process.
You have to engage in the process.
And you have these fruits coming from multiple
sources that you have to give credence to,
allow them to come into this relationship.
lillazeena istajaboo lirabbihimoo alfusna And for those who
respond to the call of their Rabb is
the best reward.
wallazeena lam yastajeeboo lah Whereas those who did
not respond to him law anna lahum maa
fil ardi jameeAA Even though they own all
of what is in the earth, wa mitlahu
maAA And as much in addition to it,
laftadaw bih They will definitely like to pay
it as ransom.
wulaaika lahum soo'ul hisaab These are the
ones who will face terrible reckoning.
wa maa'wahum jahannam And their abode will
be the hellfire.
wa bi'sal mihaad And what an evil resting
place it is.
wa aakhiru da'wana anilhamdu lillahi rabbil alameen