Yousuf Raza – Ramadan Nights 2021 Day 3
AI: Summary ©
The history and implementation of the Qiosha scripture, including its impact on people and culture, is discussed. fulfilling spiritual needs and bringing others to the fore are important drivers of growth. The extension of the Bani Israel's leadership is also discussed. The importance of fulfilling a claim to Islam is emphasized, along with finding success in every choice, including returning to Islam and finding a meaning in their experiences. The Quraysh story describes the historical and cultural events that occurred during the time of Jesus, including the creation of heaven, the birth of the beast, the discovery of the Bible, the discovery of the Bible, the discovery of the Bible, the discovery of the Bible, the discovery of the Bible, the discovery of the Bible, the discovery of the Bible, the discovery of the Bible, the discovery of the Bible, the discovery of the Bible, the discovery of the Bible, the discovery of the Bible, the discovery of the Bible, the discovery of the Bible,
AI: Summary ©
Okay, bismillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah,
alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, Asalaamu alaikum warahmatullah,
wabarakatuh, we concluded the first 12 passages of
surah al-Baqarah.
We're continuing with the 13th passage, the 13th
ruku.
Again, these 10 rukus, the first four we
said are more of an introductory nature.
They summarize some very important principles, the cornerstones,
if you will, of attaining guidance from the
Qur'an.
In a sense, a summary of the Maqam
Qur'an is presented in the first four
passages, given that Surah Al-Baqarah is pretty
much not only the beginning of the Mus
'haf for us, the Qur'an as we
know it in this day and age, it
was also the beginning of the Qur'an
in the Madinah time period.
Most of what was revealed, beginning of Madinah,
became Surah Al-Baqarah, right?
So that's Surah Al-Baqarah as we know
it, as we see it, as we go
with it.
All of it, as we know, as most
of us should know, that it's not that
Surah Al-Baqarah was revealed alif, laam, meem,
all the way to the last ayah in
one go.
It was revealed in patches, as was relevant,
as the different incidents in the life of
Rasulullah ﷺ were taking place, different ayats were
coming in accordingly, right?
So it is not a continuous big revelation
of the entire Surah, it is always in
patches.
So in any case, it serves as an
introduction to the Madinah time period at that
time, or a summary of the Maqam Qur
'an, and also as an introduction to the
person reading the Qur'an now, starting from
Surah Al-Fatihah, going straight into Baqarah, it
gives us an introduction as to the themes
that are going to be coming in detail
much more later on.
And after the first four passages, we get
the next ten passages, which are an address
to the Bani Israel.
And through the Bani Israel, to any religious
people whose religiosity, specifically religion around scripture, a
religious people whose religion is scripturally oriented, people
of the book, people who have been given
revelation, people who are custodians of a revelation,
people who claim belief in a revelation, but
their belief in that revelation, their adherence to
that scripture, they've lost it somehow.
Its social effect, or the presence or the
impact that they were supposed to have as
a people, the positive function that their religiosity
was supposed to perform in the society, it's
not happening anymore.
The source of good and justice that those
people were supposed to be, not happening anymore.
Rather, they're becoming a source of evil, they're
a source of wickedness, right?
So that community is being addressed.
And as we've known from Rasulullah ﷺ that
the Muslim ummah is going to go astray
the same way as the previous ummah, as
the previous nations, the Jews and the Christians,
right?
So everything that is addressed to the Bani
Israel is addressed to us.
What we see them doing in their history,
we will find ourselves doing in our past
and in our present as well.
So what is relevant for the Jewish tribes
around Rasulullah ﷺ in Medina that they should
have paid heed to, is relevant for us
today in the 21st century for something that
we have to pay heed to.
We will find after sufficient deliberation and reflection
that we are manifesting those diseases within ourselves
as a society and as individuals, right?
So we saw a list of those problems
with Bani Israel, Allah's favors upon them, how
Allah preferred them, Allah chose them, the responsibilities
Allah gave them, and how they evaded those
responsibilities in different ways.
What attitudes they manifested and what practices resulted
from those attitudes.
So for example, believing in a salvific right,
a salvific exclusivity as we've been calling it,
that they have exclusive right to salvation, day
of judgment, who's going to paradise?
They're going to paradise.
Who's not going to paradise?
Everybody else.
And why?
How does that work?
Just merely by association.
Just by association.
They are the favorite of God.
They are the preferred people.
What does that being preferred mean?
Does that have anything to do with responsibility?
Maybe, maybe not.
But most importantly, that means we're the people
of paradise, right?
Even if we do go to the hellfire,
it'll be for a little bit.
It'll be for some time here and there.
Other than that, as far as responsibility is
concerned, taking, reflecting, changing, repairing our actions, our
communities, that's not to be seen for the
most part.
There's going to be bloodshed, there's going to
be an absolute distortion of priorities, what is
projected to be religiously important.
They're going to go into hair-splitting logic.
They're going to go into the minutiae of
things that they're not required to go into
the such minute details of, but they'll do
that.
And as for doing the, what's required of
them, that'll be lost.
That'll be lost.
The few good that they do will be
exaggerated as such a big deal.
And how important that good was, and the
big chunk that they've neglected, that they've ignored,
is going to be, is not even going
to be talked about.
What is the role of scripture in all
of this?
Scripture is either going to be edited to
suit these patterns of behavior.
And if you can't edit it, you interpret
it such that it suits your, whatever is
already prevalent, the status quo, the status quo
of the religious elite, the status quo of
the society in general.
It maintains that.
It sustains that.
It creates this in-group mentality of superiority,
that this group that we are, we're the
best.
We're the most guided.
Everything outside of us is misguidance, and we're
not going to engage with anyone outside of
us.
And how that reflects within themselves as well,
that there is no repair going on.
There is no islah going on whatsoever.
So either edit the Bible, change it, hide
parts of it that are not suited to
your own whatever interpretations or whatever certainty you
have professed.
Hide parts of the Bible.
When others come in pointing out to you
your own inconsistencies, and the others, their claims
are consistent with certain parts of the Bible,
hide those parts.
Hide those parts.
Don't let them see it.
Don't let anybody see it.
Interpret them.
Twist and distort them so that whatever is
coming from the others is in no way
validated, is in no way affirmed.
Just keep quiet on that, twist it, distort
it, such that you continue to maintain that
certainty that gives you that feeling of security
at all costs.
And don't let anyone ask you to question
that, because once you start doubting that, once
you start swerving there, you have to have,
this is not certainty about what you believe
in.
This is certainty about the belief itself, that
my belief is absolutely true.
And we started from the very beginning that
that is the attitude of the munafiq.
That is the attitude of the munafiq, the
attitude of the believer.
The believing attitude is one of suspicion about
their own beliefs.
As far as the articles of faith are
concerned, there's conviction, but as far as the
act of believing is concerned, do I really
believe in it?
There is a suspicion, there is a fear
there, which makes them move cautiously, reflecting, repairing,
listening, watching, learning, always improving.
So we see the exact opposite in the
Jewish people, that there is certainty with respect
to how can there be anything missing in
our belief.
We already have all of guidance, the entirety
of it.
Anything that proves otherwise, turn a blind eye
to, even if that is in line with
some of your own biblical sources, write those,
interpret those such that they fall in line
with what you've already professed certainty in.
And for the most part, since there's going
to be too many questions to answer, ban
the Bible.
Edit the Bible, interpret the Bible, ban the
Bible.
Don't let the masses read it.
The more they read it, the more questions
they're going to ask them.
What is their need from the security?
They want to feel that this anxiety that
they have about salvation, just let them know
that they're good.
Just by associating with us the label that
they have on account of being our members
of our particular understanding or belief, they're good
on the day of judgment, they're going to
go straight to heaven.
Just tell them this much, sing them this
lullaby, sing it to them on a weekly
basis, on a regular basis, whenever they meet
you, just tell them that they got to
do a couple of things here and there
to make sure that this association lasts.
And usually those couple of things just happen
to be such that they fulfill the vested
interests of that religious elite or the political
elite, whatever the case may be.
And that's it.
That's pretty much all that they're required to
do.
Anything else that's going on in their lives?
Whatever.
Who cares?
Who cares?
All they know from the book is their
wishful desires.
Reinforce those wishful desires.
The reason they associated with you to begin
with is to fulfill certain fantasies, fantasies of
salvation on the day of judgment.
Give them that.
It gives them a sense of security.
And they will do so much to maintain
that sense of security, to not lose that,
to not go back into that state of
fear about what's going to become of me
on the day of judgment.
They don't want to go back there.
And if to maintain that sense of security,
they have to say lebayk to every single
slogan that you come out with, especially a
slogan, which is against all of those outside
of your group.
Oh, they would love to do that.
So just keep at it.
Keep at it.
And everyone outside is the demon.
Everyone inside is heaven bound.
And so within this structure and with this
them, scripture loses its potential, its incredibly powerful
potential of keeping people's conduct in line.
Scripture loses that.
Rather, it becomes a source of reinforcing people's
deviant, people's immorality.
The day of judgment loses its potency of
maintaining people's action, maintaining people's morality, people's sense
of justice and goodness.
It's gone because they're already forgiven.
They don't have anything to worry about over
here.
And any prophet that comes in or anyone
living in accordance with or teaching in accordance
with the legacy of the prophet, he has
to be shut up.
He has to be locked away.
If he has to be killed, he has
to be killed.
That's how your fatwas work against him.
Launch the fatwas.
Your swords work against him.
Launch the swords.
Nobody should challenge that citadel of certainty that
you have protected yourself with or in.
Nobody challenges that.
And so corruption proliferates.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقُولُوا رَاعِنَا You
who have believed, do not say رَاعِنَا.
Right?
So this was an Arabic expression, which was
used to say, excuse me, pretty much.
In a gathering, you say رَاعِنَا to mean,
can you say that again?
I wasn't listening or I couldn't catch that.
Can you say that again?
وَقُولُوا انظُرْنَا Rather say, انظُرْنَا, look towards us.
So now the يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا, meaning
the address is changing.
First with يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِلِ, now the Muslim
community in the presence of Rasulullah ﷺ is
being addressed.
And what we are being told is already
you have started internalizing those hypocritical habits that
we've just been criticizing about the Bani Israel,
that the Bani Israel were just being called
to account for.
You've internalized those habits.
They went into that, they conquered that land,
and they were told, be humble, ask for
forgiveness.
Say حِتَّةٌ, they're like, no, no, no, we
want food.
They're twisting the words around, playing around with
them.
And here too, a particular group within the
Muslim community of Medina used these words to
disrespect Rasulullah ﷺ.
That rather than saying رَعْنَا would mean excuse
me, but they would change it around such
that it would mean our shepherd to look
towards Rasulullah ﷺ in a derogatory way, to
send out a message to him and to
the others in the surrounding that they're not
willing to acknowledge his position.
So the authority of Rasulullah ﷺ would be
challenged in this way.
And as far as the believing community at
that time is concerned, the respect for Rasulullah
ﷺ is a cornerstone.
And we saw that the disrespect that the
people of Bani Israel had for Musa ﷺ
and the prophets later on, what that was
a reflection of and what that led to
in the society.
That was a reflection of that arrogance that
they're not willing to take this person seriously
and to learn from him and to repair
themselves, fix themselves up, mend their ways in
response to what he has to teach them.
And additionally, it was a way of them
reinforcing that attitude in the rest of the
society as well.
So Allah says to the believing community, you
know what, let's just do away with this
word that they can play around with and
disrespect Rasulullah ﷺ.
Just say, pay attention to us.
Another way of saying pretty much, you know,
excuse me, can you say that again?
Or we would like to have that repeated
without having that potential for being distorted.
And listen carefully.
When you're in the gathering of Rasulullah ﷺ,
it shouldn't have to be that he has
to repeat himself for you.
Pay attention.
And there is a painful punishment for the
disbelievers.
Already it is being highlighted that this hypocritical
tendency is bordering on disbelief.
It is bordering on kuffar.
Neither the disbelievers from those given the books
nor the mushrikeen.
So now the people of the book, the
Bani Israel, the Ahlul Kitab, their kuffar is
being highlighted already.
They are becoming people of kuffar.
They're rejecting.
They've already rejected, right?
A fair chance was given.
The call was presented.
It's how it aligned with their scripture was
shown to them.
They refused.
So now they're becoming allatheena kafaru, right?
And the believers are being warned that what
do they want?
That just like the mushrikeen, the disbelievers from
the mushrikeen, these people, these kuffar from the
people of the book, what do they want?
They do not want any khair to descend
upon you from your Rabb.
His special mercy, whomever he wills.
And this is a tendency that superiority complex,
that sense of entitlement, that sense of religious
entitlement brings in, that how can anybody other
than us have any good sent down to
them?
This tendency of controlling God, this idolatrous tendency
as it creeps in into people who apparently
claim monotheism, people who apparently claim tawhid, that
they start interpreting for them.
We spoke about how their attitude towards the
day of judgment is altered such that it's
rendered impotent in terms of the impact it
has on people's morality and behavior and social
good and justice.
It completely takes that away because they're already
forgiven.
We spoke about what attitude, how that attitude
is towards the book, towards scripture itself, edit
it, ban it, interpret it.
Now, and we spoke about how that attitude
looks towards prophethood as well.
It's looking at starting to blame Jibreel, attack
the prophets, disrespect the prophets, right?
All of that coming in.
What does it do with Allah?
It looks to control him.
It looks to put words in his mouth.
It looks to say quite explicitly that if
at all there seems to be any good
outside of us, people of our scripture, can't
be, cannot be.
It has to be a deception.
It has to be a deception.
It has to be falsehood.
They have to be lying.
So they don't want any good to come
to you.
So for them to see Rasulullah ﷺ receiving
revelation, no.
Any sort of social upliftment, any sort of
benefit, any growth that's taking place, it pains
them and hurts them.
They have the hegemony over all of this.
They can't see this manifesting itself, Allah favoring
anybody else.
So, وَاللَّهُ يَغْتَصُ بِرَحْمَتِهِ مَنْ يِشَاءُ Allah chooses
by His special mercy, for His special mercy,
whoever He wants.
How dare they try to control Allah?
وَاللَّهُ بُلْفَضِّ الْعَظِيمِ Allah is a possessor of
great bounty, grace.
If He wants to give it to the
Jews, He will.
If He wants to give it to the
Christians, He will.
If He wants to give it to the
Muslims, He will.
If He wants to give it to an
atheist, He will.
What's your problem?
مَا نَنْسَخْ مِنْ آيَةٍ أَوْ نُنْسِهَا We do
not abrogate any of our ayaat or let
it be forgotten.
نَأْتِ بِخَيْرِ مِنْهَا أَوْ مِثْلِهَا But we replace
it with something better or similar.
أَلَمْ تَعْلَمَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٍ
Don't you know that Allah has power over
everything?
So, one of the things that they attacked
Rasulullah ﷺ with is like, you're bringing revelation,
we already have revelation.
Are you trying to say that the revelation
we have is now redundant and good for
nothing?
That it is completely irrelevant?
Is that what you're trying to say?
Are you trying to say that the God
that revealed that revelation to us back in
the day didn't know any better?
His knowledge is perfect.
There's still more to learn.
There's still more knowledge to give to humanity.
Didn't He know any better then?
Now He's sending an updated version of the
revelation.
There's more knowledge still to come.
There are ayaat outside of the ayaat that
we have.
How dare you make those claims?
This is against the perfection of Allah.
This is against the perfect knowledge of Allah.
He's abrogating or He's replacing.
Allah says, hang on, wait.
This is our prerogative.
And if we do do that, if we
do abrogate anything, if we do update anything,
or we cause for it to be forgotten,
a portion of ayaat forgotten.
There were so many scriptures, we only have
a few of them in our midst.
The Old Testament, New Testament, Qur'an, that's
not all there is.
There was so much more.
There was so many, there were so many
more prophets.
And we don't have all, and those were
revelations of Allah, ayaat of Allah.
Right?
So there's so much that was there.
And then we have within the Qur'an
as well, ayaat updating commandments, just within fasting.
How fasting was prescribed initially, originally, and how
those commandments were updated.
As far as Allah is concerned, that's how
He operates.
That's how He works.
That's how He has made the world to
work.
It evolves, it grows, its needs evolve and
change.
And so He accommodates.
But no, no, no.
They want to, in exalting the perfection of
the knowledge of Allah, exalting it to such
a great height that Allah Himself is bound.
Allah Himself cannot move here or there from
what He has already done or said or
revealed or known.
Right?
So Allah says, no, Allah is free.
Don't try to restrict Him.
Don't try to, in the name of exalting
His perfection, take away His active involvement, His
active involvement in the world as the world
moves forward.
He is actively involved.
If He wants that there is an upgrade
necessary, an upgrade will be provided just to
suit your or conform to your standards of
perfection.
He can't just be bound.
Oops, already said that.
Can't change it.
Can't upgrade it.
Oops, already sent the Bible.
Can't send the Qur'an.
What does that mean?
Where did you get that from?
Oops, already revealed the Qur'an.
Now new knowledge, other ayaat, people discovering truths
from other places, non revelatory sources, can't happen
anymore.
What do you mean?
Where is that coming from?
Just the qulubuna ghulf.
Our hearts are sealed.
All knowledge is perfect.
All guidance is complete.
To assert this just so that that certainty
of that you have for yourself, that you
want to safeguard no matter what.
You want to bind God.
You want to restrict God's authority, His freedom,
His qudrah.
It's an absolutely predetermined world.
In an absolutely predetermined world, the first one
to lose freedom is God Himself.
He can't sway hither or thither from that
what has been predetermined.
Alhamdulillah.
Don't you know that Allah has power over
everything?
Alhamdulillah.
Don't you know that Allah is the one
alone who has sovereignty of the heavens and
the earth?
And you don't have any protector, any helper
besides Allah.
This is Allah's retort, Allah's reaction to them
trying to control, constrict Him, because that was
working for them in the maintenance of their
status quo and vested interest for all this
time.
Do you intend to question your messenger?
The way Musa was challenged.
Questioning in the form of challenging.
There's different forms of questioning.
There's a form of questioning that is highly
encouraged and we will see that come up
as well.
For now, we've seen two forms of questioning.
One form of questioning projecting this desire to
learn so much.
These nerds coming up, we want to know
exactly, precisely, what does that now look like?
We really want to get this done well.
That's one form of questioning.
It goes so much into the details that
the spirit is lost.
Ideally, the action is lost from there in
hand.
Second, a form of questioning which is audaciously
challenging the messenger, challenging the Rasul, disrespecting the
Rasul, challenging his authority, challenging the truth that
he's bringing.
So do you want to do that?
Saying you get revelation, why can't we get
revelation?
You see Allah.
We want to meet Allah as well.
And so the hypocritical tendency that is sprouting
in the believers in Medina is being addressed
here.
You have difficulty acknowledging Rasulullah ﷺ's authority?
Be careful.
Whoever exchanges iman with kufr, he
has definitely lost the right way.
This manifests itself even to this day when
we have statements just thrown around.
Where are these statements typically coming from?
These statements are coming from a very superficial
reading of religious tradition.
Oh, it's just a hadith.
It's not Qur'an.
What do you know about the Qur'an?
What do you know about the hadith?
What you learned like back in eighth grade
in your Islamic book, that's leading for you
to make these hierarchies and then disregarding, disrespecting
the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ, not giving them
that position that there's values that come from
there, that there's commandments that can come from
there, that there's the interpretation of Qur'an
itself, the primary one, not one done by
Rasulullah ﷺ.
You don't want to give it any weight.
فَقَدْ غُلَّ سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلُ وَتَّكَثِيرُ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ
Many of the people of the scripture wish
لو يَرُدُّونَكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ إِيمَانِكُمْ كُفَارًا if you
could revert to infidelity after having belief.
Straight up warning being given to the people
of iman, don't think this iman is a
permanent commodity that you have that you can
keep for as long as you want to
in forever, all the way to paradise.
No.
This is it's vulnerable.
There's threats.
People are going to try to take this
away from you.
Internal, external forces trying to take that iman
away from you.
And if you fall for it, if you
choose to let go of it, and when
do you choose to let go of it?
When you're not cautious, when you're not, when
you don't pay attention or you're not, there's
no vigilance, when there is no effort, when
there is no fear that it may be
lost.
Fear is a good thing in the sense,
it keeps you, it keeps you keep your
guard up.
So you constantly look to learn, you look
to improve.
Out of a selfish jealousy, they can't see
the growth that you're showing all of a
sudden.
For the people of Medina, the three Jewish
tribes that are surrounding, they're looking at the
Aus and Khazraj.
They're like, where have these people come in
a span of two years?
They're looking at the Quraysh having migrated from
Mecca and they're looking at them talking about
prophets.
They're talking that there's a discipline that they
exhibit.
There is an order in their society.
There is a conduct and morality that we
never saw from these mushrikeen before.
What we did see from them that was
of value, that was great, that was honorable,
is increasing even more.
They're learning so much.
They're engaging in conversation with our scholars and
they have some good things to say.
What's going on here?
We were the custodians of all of this
civilization and good and truth and morality and
all of that and now all of a
sudden we see their graph rising at such
an incredible speed and we're still there.
We're a couple of years ago.
There's no growth in us.
After the truth has become clear to them.
See, all of this growth is a sign
that there is truth in the other camp
and because it is such a fixed other
camp that we don't want to have anything
to do with, it's lost on us.
So let it go.
Overlook.
This is not the time strategically and where
Rasulullah ﷺ and the Sahaba are in Medina,
the mushrikeen of Mecca are already, you know,
they're getting ready.
Anything can happen.
It's a very unpredictable situation.
They're going to want revenge.
They're going to want to come back.
Anything can happen.
Rasulullah ﷺ, his own eyes are towards Mecca.
He's not going to do that.
This wasn't, he wasn't running away.
Okay, you do whatever you want.
We'll do whatever we want.
No, no, no.
He, his people are deprived.
His people have been killed unjustly.
Blood has been drawn.
Yasir and Sumayya were killed.
All the Sahaba that have come from Mecca,
their households, their belongings have been taken away
from them.
They were given * for migrating.
Rasulullah ﷺ is not going to turn the
other cheek.
He is not going to turn the other
cheek.
Mecca, Kaaba is the legacy of Ibrahim ﷺ.
It is house to idolatry.
Rasulullah ﷺ is not going to stand for
it.
Right?
So at this time, picking up another battlefront
with the Jewish tribes does not make sense.
So initially they were given the warmest of
invitations you can possibly imagine.
Open arms with open hearts.
And the Treaty of Medina was a significant
representative of that attitude that we want an
alliance, we want a friendship, we want a
relationship.
But repeatedly what was manifesting from their side
started producing doubts in the heads and minds
of Rasulullah ﷺ and the Sahaba.
Can we really trust them?
They're giving these small signs here and there.
Allah says, for now, no.
Let it go.
Let it go.
Unless there is something unforgivable, something huge, something
feverish, then we'll take care of it.
For now, there is no wisdom in opening
up more battlefronts than you can manage.
Until Allah brings about His decision.
So if that does happen, then yeah, then
we'll see.
Inna Allaha ala kulli shay'in qadirin.
Allah most definitely has power over everything.
Waqeem as-salat wa atu zakaan.
Establish prayer and give zakah.
Wama tuqaddimu li anfusikum min khayrin.
And whatever of good you send ahead of
you, for yourself, tajiduhu indallah.
You will find it with Allah.
So there is this tendency to get caught
up in these squabbles and these battles and
this mudslinging.
And this gets frustrated as to the level
to which these people are going to stoop
to bring you down.
You can just be overwhelmed by that.
Allah says, maintain focus.
Eyes on the prize.
You have work to do.
Maintain your salah.
Maintain your zakah.
Keep doing the good that you have to
do.
Do not become a reactionary people who are
just frustrated and angry and irritated.
And they're giving you all the reasons to
be frustrated, angry, and irritated as well.
Just maintain focus.
What work you have to do.
Keep doing that.
Keep doing that.
Keep doing that.
Inna Allaha bima ta'maluna basirun.
Definitely, Allah is watching all of what you
do.
In due time, your efforts, your good, the
smallest of goods that you're doing every day,
not getting caught up in their whatever useless
argumentation they want to engage you in.
The good that you're doing, you'll see it
pile up.
You'll see it come back to you.
You'll see it come back to you as
a reward of how the society is going
to grow and how it did grow, becoming
a stronger and stronger community.
And how it then led to the conquest
of Mecca.
How it then led to the justice that
the Arabian Peninsula saw.
And then from there, the rest of the
world.
But that good came back.
Those small, apparently small, acts of kindness and
charity.
Because they had a big aim, they came
back.
And of course, then they come back on
the Day of Judgment itself.
Wa qalu lain yadkhula al-jannata illa man
ta'na hudan aw nasara.
And they claim no one will enter paradise
except a Jew or a Christian.
These are their wishful beliefs.
And it's very funny that you read these
ayat as criticism about the Yehud and the
Nasara and you exclude the Muslims from this.
They say no one will enter paradise, either
a Jew or a Christian.
They don't have a right to say that,
but we do.
How does that make sense?
Whenever the Quran brings up Islam, it does
so alluding to the attitude and the action
that it entails, rather than a title, rather
than a camp that you need to belong
to.
Belonging is important, but not a guarantee for
salvation, whether Jew, Christian, or Muslim.
So what is their attitude of, we're guided,
we have the absolute truth, we have all
the knowledge that is necessary.
What does that result in?
Paradise belongs to us, nobody else.
Nobody's going to enter Jannah other than a
Yehud or a Jew or a Christian.
Allah says, tilka amani juhum.
These are their wishful beliefs.
Qul hatoo burhanakum in kuntum sadiqeen.
Tell them, Ya Rasulullah, bring your proof if
you really are true in your claim.
Where did you get that from?
Bala man aslama wajhahu.
Allah does not say that no, rather Muslims
are going to paradise.
He says man aslama wajhahu, the one who
submits themselves completely, commits themselves to Allah.
Wa huwa muhsanun, and are the people of
ihsan.
They take it to the level of excellence,
trying to become better and better and better,
do it as beautifully as they possibly can.
There is an aesthetic of action.
There is a beauty that is to be
aimed for, that you continue to try to
attain to within your deeds, within your conduct,
within your personalities.
So there has to be this husn that
you aspire for, and that's something of a
constant struggle, a continuous battle.
Falahu ajruhu inda rabi.
For such a person is there going to
be a reward with his Rab.
Now he's in line with what the rabubiyah
of Allah intends, his growth.
Wala khawfun alaihim wala hum yahsanun.
And they will have nothing to fear nor
grief.
You want to get rid of the feeling
of fear and how grief completely overwhelms you
and puts you off, and you do so
by telling yourself lullabies, singing yourself lullabies and
telling yourself these fantasies about salvation.
It doesn't work.
You want to dispel that feeling of insecurity,
that fear.
You work for it.
It should inspire work.
It should inspire effort.
Islam ihsan, practically.
Wa qalat al yahoodu laisat al nasara ala
shay.
And the Yahood say the Christians have no
standpoint.
They don't have a basis.
Wa qalat al nasara laisat al yahoodu ala
shay.
And the Christians say that the Jews have
no standpoint.
Wa hum yatloona al kitab.
And they all recite the same book.
This is that cultish understanding that cannot see
truth in any other camp, that cannot see
truth in other than themselves.
See, throughout from the very beginning, it's we're
113 ayats in.
Quran has not said at all that the
Yahood and Nasara stand on nothing.
Its beginning of the conversation with them is
that this prophet who is coming is attesting,
verifying, validating, confirming what you have with you.
Whatever you have with you, he comes affirming
it.
He comes affirming the truth of what you
have and what you stand.
It is a cultish mentality.
A cultish mentality that is incapable of seeing
truth in the other.
And the default presupposition is that they're outside
of us.
They have absolute misguidance.
They have absolute falsehood.
There can be no truth, definitely no truth
that I can benefit from, that I can
learn from, that I can grow with.
Or that can be from the same family
of truths that I have.
No way.
A cultish mentality cannot see that.
It only sees things in the terms of
we guided, you misguided, we paradise, you hellfire.
That's it.
So when the Yahood see the Nasara, they
say they got nothing.
The Nasara see the Yahood, they say we
got nothing.
And both of them are doing that on
the basis of the Kitab that they have,
the scripture that they have.
That is the use that scripture has now
been put to.
We're right and you're wrong.
Our source tells us we are great.
Oh, awesome.
What a wonderful way of proving yourselves.
Your own source says that.
It has to be true.
Those who are ignorant also say something similar.
Their claims, how are their claims any different?
They say we, the rest are on nothing.
We're on everything.
Everyone citing their own sources to lay claim
to their own truthfulness and the falsehood of
the other.
Brilliant.
You become the same.
What was the point of the book?
What was the point of the scripture if
that's what it has turned you into?
You're saying the same stuff that the people
without scripture are saying.
The Mushrikeen used to say that as well,
that they already have all of guidance.
Now you're saying that with the scripture in
your midst, using scripture, bravo.
Allah will judge between them on the day
of judgment because you can't have a conversation
with these people.
They have literally closed themselves off from any
conversation based on this kind of an attitude.
So Allah will judge between them on the
day of judgment.
In all the issues that they disputed about.
Who is more unjust than the one who
prevent people from the masajid of Allah.
That his name is mentioned in them.
Again, this attitude that you've taken up is
the attitude of the people of shirk and
these people of shirk, what have they done?
They turned Rasulullah and Sahaba out of haram.
They disallowed them.
This is a value that they held.
It is not something that Islam is bringing
to them as a new value.
Their openness and tolerance is something that they
prided themselves over that you can worship whoever
you want to in this house of Allah.
And Rasulullah cannot worship Allah in the haram.
How does that work?
How does that work?
They went against their own principle just to
safeguard.
We're right and they're wrong.
And they strive to ruin them.
It is not appropriate for such people that
they enter in a state of awe.
That they enter these houses in a state
of humility.
But there is no humility.
There is arrogance.
They use these masajid.
They use these houses of Allah as if
they are their palaces and they themselves are
kings.
For them in this life is humiliation.
For them in the hereafter is a great
punishment.
It's really interesting.
All these symbols of religion, all the articles
of faith in religion, how they become distorted
in when a religious people deviate.
When a religious people deviate.
What becomes of belief in Allah?
We spoke about that.
What becomes of belief in the hereafter?
We spoke about that.
What becomes of the role of scripture in
among these people?
We spoke about that.
What becomes of the houses of Allah?
Their worship of Allah is forbidden in them.
Worship of Allah is forbidden in them.
They become these authorities.
These political or religious authorities use these as
strongholds to launch attacks on all others.
And to Allah belong the east and the
west.
So whichever direction you face, there is the
presence of Allah.
Allah is all-encompassing, all-knowing.
And they say Allah has begotten a son.
He is exalted above such things.
So with this attitude of safeguarding your certainty
in the face of the ayaat of Allah
even, to the point that you have to
reject the ayaat of Allah, and rejecting the
ayaat of Allah outside of yourself leads you
inevitably to reject the ayaat inside of yourself.
The way it distorts your understanding of Allah
himself is such that he is unrelatable.
It is difficult for you, next to impossible
for you to relate with him, to communicate
with him, to form any meaningful personal relationship
with him.
Idolatrous practices become necessitated.
Some form or the other of something relatable
will have to be fabricated.
You'll have to come up with it.
And for a lot of people, for a
lot of religions in history, it was to
ascribe children to God.
It was to ascribe children to God in
some twisted way that makes up for that
need, that desperate need to relate with the
divine.
Because you have exalted the divine so much
that you have distanced him to the point
of making him irrelevant to your society and
to your personal selves.
What do you do?
Where do you go?
How do you fulfill that genuine spiritual need?
You fulfill it from deviant sources.
God has children.
How does that make sense in your own
tradition?
Doesn't matter.
The need has to be fulfilled.
You can make sense of it.
You can rationalize anything, everything.
And you just, you have that incredible eloquence
anyways.
Subhanah!
He is exalted above all such things.
This is what he needed to have been
exalted above.
This exaltation, you're not ready to do.
بَلَّهُمَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ To him belongs everything
in the heavens and the earth.
كُلُّ اللَّهُ قَانِتٌ Everything, all of them are
devoutly obedient to him.
بَذِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ He is the originator of
the heavens and the earth.
وَإِذَا قَضَىٰ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونَ
And when he decrees a matter, all he
has to say to it is, be, and
it is.
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ Those who do not
know.
لَوْ لَا يُكَلِّمُنَ اللَّهُ They say, why doesn't
Allah speak to us?
Who are the people who do not know?
The people who have not been given scripture.
They don't have a history of revelation.
Their attitude, why does Allah not speak to
us?
Why is he speaking to this guy who's
claiming to be a prophet?
أَوْ تَعْتِينَ آيَةً Or why does there not
come to us a sign, an ayah?
We need an ayah.
كَذَلِكَ قَالَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَوْلٍ That's exactly what
the people before them demanded.
مِثْلَ قَوْلِهِمْ Similar to what they're saying.
تَشَابَهَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ Their hearts resemble each other.
Their attitude is exactly the same.
Their words are exactly the same.
قَدْ بَيْيَنَّ الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمِي يُقِنُونَ We have already
given, shown clear signs to the people looking
to be convinced.
To the people looking for conviction.
These people are not looking for some, for
the people not looking for conviction, who already
have all the conviction and certainty to begin
with.
Ayat are going to bounce off.
The people who are actually genuinely inquiring such
that they do reach conclusions and convictions.
There's two types of people who are not
going to take the ayat seriously.
One type of people who refuse to acknowledge
that there need to be any more ayats
to begin with.
They already have what makes them certain.
They already have that, right?
And the other type of people who they're
in so much doubt about ayats or truths
that they don't care anymore.
They don't care anymore.
And that attitude is inspired by the constantly
fighting camps.
One camp gets up and its certainty, it
professes it and its sources that it identifies
and its truth, it elaborates at the expense
of the other in opposition to the other.
The other gets up, does the same.
The third gets up, does the same.
Yahud, Nasara, Mushrikeen, all of them getting up
and now add Muslims to that camp.
All of them getting up.
You're wrong.
I'm right.
I'm right because A, B, C.
I have A, B, C.
You're wrong.
Why?
Because you don't have A, B, C.
And the other gets up and says the
same.
No, no, no, no.
I'm right because I have X, Y, Z.
Look, X, Y, Z.
And the person watching from outside, like what
the * is going on?
They're all making exactly the same claim using
exactly the same methodology.
And they're like, you know what?
* with everything.
* with everything.
They're all equally right or they're all equally
wrong.
That's the world we're living in today.
That's a very simplistic way of saying that
being post-modern.
This is all gibberish or this is all
truth.
The complete relativism seeps in.
So these two types of people, one who
already have all the truth, they're not looking
to be convinced.
And the other group of people who thinks
you can't really get to the truth ever
because they're all, and that is you can't
get to the truth ever.
There is no truth to get at.
There can be no meta-narrative.
There cannot be a worldview that makes us
understand all of what's going on.
There is no meta-narrative.
That in itself is a meta-narrative, is
an inner contradiction that a lot of them
will not point to.
A lot of them will point to and
say, it is what it is.
This is what it has resulted in.
Inna arsalnaka bil haqqi basheerun wa nazeera Ya
Rasulullah, we have sent you with the truth,
a bringer of good news and a warning,
as a bringer of warning, a warner.
wa laa tus'alu an as'hab al
jaheem So do not, you will not be,
wa laa tus'alu an as'hab al
jaheem You will not be asked about the
companions of the hellfire.
Rasulullah becomes worried about all of this.
What is going to become of these people?
Allah says, don't worry about it.
wa lan tab'da'an kal yahudu wa lan
nasara hatta tattabi'a millatahum They're not going
to be satisfied until you become exactly like
them.
The yahud and the nasara, you have to
be exactly like them until that point, they're
not pleased with you.
qul inna hudallahi hudah Tell them, Allah's guidance
is the only guidance.
wa lain ittaba'ta ahwa'ahum And if you
still follow their desires, Allah lifts the veils
over what they're calling iman.
What they're calling guidance.
Allah says it is their desires.
ba'da allathee ja'aka minal ilm After what
has come to you of what you have
received of knowledge.
ma laka minallaha min waleen wa la nasee
No one will be there to protect you
and help you against Allah.
Contrast this with the attitude that has been
portrayed so far.
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is being told to
tell people that I have no standing with
Allah if I don't stick to this, what
I'm required to do.
allatheena a'taynahumul kitaab Those to whom we have
given the book.
yatloonahu haqqa tilawati They recite it as it
ought to be recited.
From within their camp, again, within the Jews
and the Christians, the ones we have given
the book, there are those.
The Quran does not fall for the same
cultish attitude saying that they're all off the
track.
They're all bad.
They're all wrong.
No, there are from among them good people
who recite their scripture as it ought to
be recited.
They do give it its right.
ula'ika yu'minuna bihi These are the ones
who really believe in it.
wa ma yakfur bihi But as for the
one who rejects it, fa ula'ika humul
khasiroon Such are the losers.
And with this rukoo, pretty much the address
to the Bani Israel concludes.
It concluded more or less with the previous
passage, but with these two ayat and these
two ayat would remind you of how this
address began pretty much in the same, using
the same phrases.
The first ayah would be pretty much exactly
the same.
The second as well, with a slight shift
in the order of the phrases.
Ya Bani Israel, athkulu ni'mati allathee an'amtu
alaykum So just like their address began, it
concludes Bani Israel, bottom line is, remember my
favor, that I blessed you.
Remember the source of where this came from.
Alhamdulillah wa annee fabwaltukum alal aalameen And it
was me, I exalted you above all others.
It wasn't something just random.
It wasn't something that was just you.
It was a choice that Allah made.
It was Allah exalted you.
So shouldn't that result in some sort of
gratitude?
Wattaqu yawman And save yourselves from a day.
La tajzee nafsun an nafsin shay'a Where
no one will benefit anyone else.
No one will benefit anyone else.
Again, whatever conceptions that you have, that you'll
be saved by this or that, or that
or this, or him or her, nothing.
You're, it's a very solitary place.
It's every man for himself, every woman for
herself.
Wattaqu yawman la tajzee nafsun an nafsin shay
'a wa laa yuqbalu minhaa adlun Nor would
anyone's compensation be taken, wa laa tanfa'uhaa
shafa'atun No one's intercession will be accepted.
wa laa hum yunsarun And they will not
receive any help.
wa idh ibtalaa Ibrahima rabbuhu bi kalimatin And
remember when Ibrahim, alayhi salam, was tested, when
his Rabb tested him with certain kalimat, with
certain commandments.
fa abhamahun And he successfully fulfilled them.
Now, the common ancestry of the Bani Israel
and Bani Ismail goes to Ibrahim, alayhi salam,
right?
Bani Israel come from him, the Bani Ismail
come from him.
So it is appropriate that the transition as
it takes place, it alludes to the forerunner
or the father of both nations, who is
Ibrahim, alayhi salam.
And so when Ibrahim, alayhi salam, fulfilled all
of the kalimats of Allah, all the commandments
of Allah, all the opportunities that Allah gave
him, the challenges or the trials or whatever
it is that was put before him.
And we know, and we will talk about
it in detail as the more detailed passages
come up as well.
What was those kalimat and what was the
fulfillment of the kalimat what they entailed?
If it entailed standing up to his father,
he did that.
If it entailed standing up the king of
the time, the dictator, he did that.
If it entailed facing the death penalty, he
did that.
If it entailed being exiled from his land,
he did that.
He got exiled.
If it meant wandering from place to place
in search of fulfilling Allah Subh'anaHu Wa
Ta-A'la's kalimat, he did that.
If it meant leaving his wife and child
in a desert, he did that.
If it meant taking the knife to his
son, he did even that.
Allah said, I will designate you a leader
for the people.
And Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam said, Ya Allah, from
my offspring as well, from my children.
Allah said, okay, from your offspring as well.
But my promise does not extend to the
unjust ones.
Where does the deviation of the Bani Israel
extend from?
Where they think that they are entitled to
paradise, that even if they go to the
hellfire, it's going to be for a couple
of days.
Their claim, it's because of the greatness of
Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam.
Ibrahim asked Allah for this.
Allah gave this to him because we are
the preferred of the preferred.
Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam preferred us and we are
therefore the favorites.
They even have tradition saying that Ibrahim Alayhi
Salaam is going to be standing on the
way to the hellfire.
And anyone who is circumcised Israeli, he will
say, no, no, no, he's with me.
He can't go to the hellfire.
So they even have these aspects in their
tradition.
We have similar stuff in exalting Rasulullah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam in proclaiming his greatness, his awesomeness,
how close he was to Allah, how much
his sacrifice was honored.
All the attributes of Rasulullah which are completely
true, but how they extend to alleviating us
from all kinds of responsibility, exempting us from
all kinds of accountability.
How that happens in a very subtle way,
using truth, using truth, using truth.
And then somewhere in there, the idea of,
I don't got to do anything because you
already did everything.
I just have to associate myself with him
and I'm good.
This is exactly what the people of Bani
Israel did that led to all of what
Allah specified.
That when Ibrahim did make that dua, I
told him clearly that the Zalimeen, this promise
is not going to extend.
And remember when we made the house, the
Kaaba, an assembling place for men, for people,
and a place of safety.
Take the station of Ibrahim as the place
of prayer.
And we imposed upon Ibrahim and Ismail to
keep my house pure for those who circumambulated.
This is what the place of worship was
supposed to be for and what has it
been turned into.
And to those who stayed in and those
who bow down and prostrate in prayer with
Allah Ibrahim and when Ibrahim requested and Ibrahim
said, interestingly, the word used here was Linnas,
but the translation I have in front of
me translated it as men.
But generally it means people or all humanity.
But then again, the older translations would have
this.
Men would mean human beings in any case.
وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ جَعَلْ هَذَا بَلَدًا آمِنًا
And Ibrahim said, my Rab, make this town
a secure town.
وَارْزُقْ أَهْلَهُ مِنَ الثَّمَارَاتِ مَنْ آمَنَ مِنْهُمْ بِاللَّهِ
وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرَةِ And provide those of its residents
who believe in Allah on the last day
with all types of fruits.
Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam, this is the culmination of
an experience of a lifetime, right?
Of making Tawheed possible for future generations.
That's one of the grand achievements of Ibrahim
Alayhi Salaam.
That before him and his sacrifice, Tawheed as
we know it wasn't possible.
That's what makes him so incredible, right?
And he, Alayhi Salaam, after becoming imam, being
designated imam, asking Allah to place that leadership
in his progeny as well and seeing that
Allah made an exception, he makes another du
'a.
He understands that it's not just leadership, spiritual
leadership that will suffice.
The concrete manifestation of that du'a was
spiritual leadership in the form of prophethood was
within the progeny of Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam.
Whether the Bani Israel or Bani Ismail, from
Bani Ismail, it was Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
It was within the progeny of Ibrahim Alayhi
Salaam.
Because an exception was made by Allah that
the Zalimeen are not going to be part
of this promise.
Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam asks for the other necessary
prerequisites for Tawheed really to become a living
reality in the community.
And those are two, faith and prosperity.
That the place is secure, it is a
place of aman, right?
It is safe and people have provisions.
People have adequate livelihood.
There's food to eat.
And there will be food to eat when
there will be safety and security.
The way the community is going to make
Tawheed a living reality, it is an altogether
different level.
So he asks for these prerequisites as well,
right?
رَبِّ جَعَلْ هَذَا بَلَدًا آمِنًا وَارْزُقْ أَهْلَهُ مِنَ
الثَّمَرَاتِ مَنْ آمَنَ مِنْهُمْ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ Only
those who believe in Allah on the last
day, give them all types of food.
So he's making that exception, the way Allah
made the exception before.
قَالَ اللَّهُ رَسْبَنِدُ وَمَنْ كَفَرَ فَأُمَتِّعُهُ قَلِيلًا Even
those who are ungrateful or those who disbelieve,
or those who do not bring iman, I
will give them as well.
They will have the safety and security and
the provisions as well in this world.
For that, there's no exclusion.
ثُمَ أَذْفَرُهُ إِلَىٰ عَذَابِ النَّارِ Then I'll drag
him to the torture of the hellfire.
وَبِأْثَ الْمَصِيرِ And it is a wretched destination.
وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ الْقَوَائِدَ مِنِ الْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَاعِيلِ And
while raising the foundations of the house, Ibrahim
and Ismail prayed, رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا Rabb, accept
this from us.
Again, the humility of Ibrahim and Ismail contrasted
with the arrogance that is being criticized in
the previous passages of a religious people.
Ibrahim and Ismail, all of what they've done
their entire life, what kind of sacrifice have
they not given?
The word sacrifice finds meaning because of Ibrahim
and Ismail.
The word is meaningful because of what they
did.
And yet when they're making the Ka'bah
after having done all of that, then saying,
Ya Allah, accept this from us.
إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ سَمِعُونَ لَلَّهِ You are the most,
the one who hears and knows all.
رَبَّنَا وَجَعَلْنَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ And they said Arab
make us Muslim.
Aren't they already Muslim?
Hadn't they already proclaimed their Islam?
Why are they asking to be made Muslim?
Again, alluding to how it is an attitude,
a consistent action that Islam entails rather than
a simple one-time event.
That one-time event does make you a
legal Muslim, but then there is legal in
the terms of citizenship.
But then as far as the afterlife is
concerned, it is a consistent, constant effort.
Ibrahim and Ismail are asking to be made,
to remain, to continue, to continue to persevere
on the path of Islam.
وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِنَا أُمَّةً مُسْلِمَةً لَكَ And from our
offspring, a Muslim ummah, a group of people
who have submitted to you.
وَأَلِيْنَا مَنَاسِكَنَا And show us our rituals, how
to commemorate you, how to connect with you,
how to remember you, how to relate with
you.
وَتُبْ عَلَيْنَا And turn towards us, accept us.
إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمِ Surely you are the
one, the one who accepts, who is relenting,
who turns to people again and again and
merciful.
This is their humility, asking Allah to accept
them, to forgive them, to make them remain
on the path.
رَبَّنَا وَبْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِنْهُمْ And then our
Rabb appoint from among them a messenger.
يَتْلُوْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِكَ Who recites to them your
ayat.
وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ And teaches them the Kitab
and the Hikmah, the wisdom.
وَيُذَّكِّيهِمْ And purifies them.
إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ You and only you
are the Almighty, the All-Wise.
So Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam asked for peace, prosperity.
He asked for himself, themselves Ibrahim and Ismail
to remain Muslim.
He asked for Islam to continue through their
generations.
And then finally a prophet that would come
when humanity is ready.
And that prophet would perform these four functions.
What are these four functions?
These are going to be repeated.
This is the first time they're mentioned in
the order of the Mus'haf as we
have it right now.
But we will see them come again in
Surah Baqarah pretty soon.
In Surah Ali Imran and then in two
other surahs later on.
Where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
tells us how Rasulullah ﷺ did what he
did.
Right?
So remember this.
We're going to come back to it.
وَمَنْ يَرْغَبُ عَن مِلَّةِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِلَّا مِنْ إِسْتَفْرِهَا
نَفْسَهُ And who would be averse to the
legacy of Ibrahim ﷺ except an idiot?
You have to be an idiot to let
go of the legacy of Ibrahim ﷺ.
وَلَقَدْ إِسْتَفَيْنَاهُ فِي الدُّنْيَةِ We had chosen him
in this world.
وَإِنَّهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ لَمِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ And he will
be, Ibrahim ﷺ will be in the ranks
of the righteous ones in the hereafter.
It is more an honor for the righteous
ones than it is for Ibrahim ﷺ that
he will be in their midst.
إِفْ قَالَ لَهُ رَبُّهُ أَسْلِمْ Whenever his Rab
told him, submit, قَالَ أَسْلَمْتُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ Ibrahim
ﷺ immediately responded, I submit to the Rab
of the Alamin.
وَوَصَّى بِهَا إِبْرَاهِمُ بَنِهِ وَيَعْقُوبُ And Ibrahim instructed
the same to his sons as did Ya
'qub.
يَا بَنِيَّ They said, my sons, إِنَّ اللَّهَ
اصْطَفَى لَكُمُ الْدِينِ Most definitely Allah has chosen
for you this very deen, this way of
life.
فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ So do not
die except in a state of Islam, except
in a state of being Muslim.
هَمْ كُنْتُمْ شُهَدَاء إِذْ خَضَرَ يَعْقُوبَ الْمَوْتِ Were
you present at the time when death approached
Ya'qub?
إِذْ قَالَ لِبَنِهِ When he asked his sons,
مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ بَعْدِي What are you going
to worship after me?
قَالُوا نَعْبُدُوا إِلَٰهَةِ They replied, we will worship
your Ilah.
وَإِلَهَ آبَائِكَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَقَ The Ilah of
your forefathers, إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَقَ وَإِلَهٌ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدَ
The only one God.
وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ And we are all submissive.
We are all Muslim before him alone.
تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَطَ That was a nation
that has passed away.
لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ For them is what they
have earned.
وَلَكُم مَا كَسَبَتُمْ And for you will be
what you earn.
You got to do your own work.
They can't have been enough for you and
you don't have to do anything anymore.
It was their legacy that you had to
relate to, connect with, and carry forward rather
than just their name.
They didn't exempt their own children from those
responsibilities.
How can you be exempted?
وَلَا تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ And you will
not be asked of what they used to
do.
مُقَالُوا كُنُوا هُدًى أَوْ نَصَارَةً تَهْتَدُوا They say,
become Jews and Christians, you will be rightly
guided.
قُلْ بَالْمِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِفًا But tell them that
Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam, his way was to turn
away from all that is false.
He was dedicated sincere to Allah.
وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْبِشْرِكِ And he by no
means was of those who commit.
Yet, how idolatry and shirk, polytheistic tendencies, activities,
attitudes become a part of a monotheistic scriptural
religion.
How that's turning away from the legacy of
Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam.
وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ قُولُوا So say clearly,
all of you who believe in the Quran.
آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا We believe in
Allah and not what has been sent down
to us.
وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ
وَالأَسْبَابِ Belief in the Quran does not entail
a rejection of everything other than the Quran.
So when their belief was coded, what do
they say?
They believe in وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا They said
that.
I think that's already come or it's going
to come in the next few ayaat, in
the next few passages.
And we do خُفر ما وراء Whatever is
other than it.
Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala says, Believers, Muslims,
claimants to the Quran, what are you supposed
to announce?
You say, yes, we believe in what has
been revealed to us, but also what was
revealed before us.
To Ibrahim, to Ismail, to Ishaq, to Ya
'qub, wal-Asbaab and their descendants.
وَمَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَى وَعِيسَى And whatever was given
to Musa and Isa.
We believe in all of that.
And this belief is consequential.
It has, it should reflect in our, in
how we, the respect that we give through
those revelations as well and identify the truth
and look to learn from that truth as
well.
وَمَا أُوتِيَ النَّبِيُونَ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ And whatever the
prophets were given by their Rab.
لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ We don't discriminate
between any of them.
Any of them was less of a prophet
or not a prophet and the other was
a prophet and he was a superior.
No.
لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ We don't discriminate
between any of them.
وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ And we are Muslims to
him alone.
فَإِنْ آمَنُوا بِمِثْلِ مَا آمَنْتُمْ بِهِ So if
they believe the way you have believed, they're
also believing in something.
You're also believing in something.
But this is not the same thing.
This is not the same belief.
It is not the same attitude.
The belief that they're manifesting is cultish.
The belief that you're looking or you're being
called towards or you're looking to develop is
that of an attitude which is open to
Allah's ayat.
فَقَدْ إِهْتَدَوْا Then they will be rightly guided.
If their belief becomes such, then they are
rightly guided.
وَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا But if they turn away فَإِنَّمَا
هُمْ فِي شِقَاطِ Then they are already in
dissension.
They're fragmented as it is.
فَسَيَكْفِيكَهُمُ اللَّهُ And Allah will suffice you against
them.
وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ And he is all-hearing,
all-knowing.
سِبْغَتَ اللَّهُ The color of Allah.
So within Christianity when a baptism is a
form of, you've been anointed or you have
been, once you've been baptized, this is supposed
to suffice you with respect to your salvation.
Salvation now belongs to you.
You have officially been initiated into the group
that is going to attain salvation.
Allah said no.
سِبْغَتَ اللَّهُ There is a color.
It has to be a color of Allah.
وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ مِنَ اللَّهِ سِبْغَةً And who can
give a better color than Allah?
What color can you ask for other than
the color of Allah?
Which is a dynamic relationship, which is a
personal relationship, which is a scriptural relationship, which
is a relationship open to truth.
وَنَحْنُ لَهُ عَابِدُونَ And we are عابد, worshiping
him alone.
قُلْ أَتُحَاجُونَنَا فِي اللَّهِ So ask them, Ya
Rasulullah, do you argue with us about Allah?
وَهُوَ رَبُّنَا وَرَبُّكُمْ While he is our Rabb
and your Rabb.
وَلَنَا أَعْمَالُنَا وَلَكُمْ أَعْمَالُكُمْ For us are our
deeds and for you are your deeds.
وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُخْلُصُونَ As far as we're concerned,
to Allah we are sincerely dedicated and committed.
وَانْ تَقُولُنَ إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ
وَالْأَسْبَاتَ كَانُمْ هُدًى نَوْنَ صَرَى Are you saying
that Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq, Yaqub and their descendants
were all Jews and Christians?
Is that what your claim to fame, your
claim to how right you are, your particular
way is, that it would actually lead for
you to make such claims.
It would actually, if you could pull it
off, you would try to pull it off.
Even though these entities, these labels that you
have now come up with and associated salvific
exclusivity to, the people who are going to
attain salvation to the exclusion of all others,
they are after all of these prophets.
These labels are after these great prophets.
And you have gone so far in ascribing
salvation only to the people who are in
this label, that even your own great ancestors
were excluded.
So what's going on there?
Are you saying that they were Jews and
Christians as well?
And if they could pull it off, they
would try to pull it off.
And we see this within our ranks as
well, that the insistence on a particular sect,
being the sect that has that, was going
to attain that salvation to the exclusion of
all other sects, all other factions, all other
religions, which is that one saved sect.
We go so far in that, that there
are actually, it's been, there have been attempts
to prove that when Isa Alayhi Salaam comes
again, he's going to belong to a particular
denomination.
They would list that denomination, that particular understanding,
that he would be that, that Isa Alayhi
Salaam is going to be Hanafi.
The lengths we go to, the lengths we
go to.
Qul anthum a'lamu amillah.
Asim, are you more knowledgeable or Allah?
Because really then, at some point, this battle,
this desperation to prove how you and only
you are right, goes so far that it
starts teaching Allah.
It looks to teach Allah.
It looks to contradict what Allah is, in
so many other ways, manifesting in booths, from
within your own texts, from within your own
sources.
But even that is going to be hidden.
Wa man adhlamu min man katama shahadatan indahu
min Allah.
And who is more unjust than the one
who hides the testimony that he received from
Allah?
Wa ma Allahu bi ghaflin amma ta'amalun.
And Allah is not unaware of what you
do.
Tilka ummatun qad khalat.
That nation has passed away.
Laha ma kasabat.
For them is what they earned.
Wa lakum ma kasabtum.
And for you is what you are going
to earn.
Wa la tus'aluna amma kanu ya'malun.
You will not be asked about what they
used to do.
Your examination on the Day of Judgment is
not going to be, okay, tell me the
names of the prophets.
What was the father's name?
What was their children's name?
What did they used to do?
Good, go.
No, it's your actions.
What have you done?
It's not the Tariq Aziz show quiz contest
where your general knowledge about all of that
stuff is being asked.
That proves how much of a, how strong
of your affiliation is with your camp.
That is going to get, no, it's what
did you do?
What did you do?
So yaqoolu as-sufaha'u min an-naas.
So the idiots from people will soon object.
Ma wallahum man qiblatihimu allatheekanu alayha.
What turned them away from the Qibla that
they previously faced?
So this is Madinah.
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam has migrated from Mecca.
When they were in Mecca, they were required
to face Jerusalem.
They were required to face Baitul Maqdis.
That was the Qibla.
That was the Qibla of the Bani Israel.
That was the Qibla of the Nasara as
well, right?
So Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, without any explicit
ayat revealed to change that, has to conform
with that.
And he did conform with that.
But the way he conformed with that, given
that he was in Mecca, he could face
the Kaaba as well as the Baitul Maqdis
at the same time.
And so no problems.
They would just do that.
A migration that is geographically not possible anymore.
You could either face the Kaaba or you
could face the Baitul Maqdis.
And this is a huge challenge.
The Meccans, the people of Quraish who have
become Muslim and the people of Mecca who
have become Muslim generally, they have grown up.
With the love of the Kaaba in their
hearts.
With the sanctity and sacredness of the Kaaba
drilled inside of them.
It is part of their very being.
And for good reason too, right?
But now this migration takes place.
There is a challenge.
There is that religiosity or idea of sanctity
and sacredness that is imbibed inside of you.
That is programmed inside of you.
That you have literally years and years and
years, decades of association with.
And then there is the command of Allah.
Which says, face this place called the Baitul
Maqdis.
Which none of them have really seen.
If at all, maybe one or two of
them.
A couple of them are there perhaps.
But none of them really has seen.
None of them has really heard of as
much.
Maybe one or two instances in the Quran.
And they're required to now face that.
And it is a process.
Remember when the Bani Israel were delivered from
Fir'aun.
And they still had that love of the
calf.
Of calf worship in their hearts.
The sacredness of what was sacred to their
masters, to their rulers.
When they had grown up holding sacred.
It was like a super ego love.
Love.
And they couldn't cleanse themselves of it.
At least a good chunk of them.
And they fell back into that worship.
The Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and the Sahaba
are explicitly being told.
Not Ta'ba, Baitul Maqdis.
So for a good 18 months, if I'm
not mistaken.
They had to face Baitul Maqdis.
Not the Ta'ba.
Okay.
Now the Qibla is about to change.
Is going to change.
The people of Yehud within Medina.
They already have an issue with new revelation.
Ayaat other than our ayaat.
They can't deal with it.
They've already said.
What kind of a god is this?
Didn't he know before?
Why couldn't he have sent this before?
They've already said this.
Now he is this Muslim god.
Or this god of the Quran.
He's showing another change.
He's bringing about another change.
He's changing the Qibla.
So what?
Did he have a change of heart?
Did he not know before?
He knows better now?
What's going on?
What kind of a god is this?
What kind of a god does that?
Allah says straight out.
These are idiotic people.
These arguments that they're putting up.
Idiotic.
And so they will say.
What is calling these people to change their
Qibla?
Now that they have to face someone else.
Qul lillahi al-mashriku wal-maghrib.
Tell them straight out.
Mashriq and Maghrib belong to Allah.
Again, don't try to control him.
He's not your idol that you can just
fabricate.
And shape in whatever form you want to.
Yahbi man yashau ila sirat al-mustaqeem.
He guides to a straight path.
Whoever he wants.
Wa kadhalika ja'alnakum ummatan wasata.
And thus we have made you a balanced
ummah.
The middle ummah.
But with this change of Qibla.
For a good part, one of the reasons
why the Qibla wasn't changed.
Was to become.
Was to be more welcoming to the Bani
Israel.
To not ask too much of them.
As much as we say that this was
a super egoic.
Or something of a sacredness that they had
grown up with.
Allah accommodates that.
He respects that.
And so he respected that to the point
that.
You know what?
If this makes you feel more welcome.
We retain that Qibla.
We retain that Qibla.
No problem at all.
And a refusal on their part.
An audacity on their part.
A stubbornness on their part.
With continuously not.
Continuously showing that attitude.
Toward the Quran.
Toward Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
That door is closed.
And with that door closed.
That coronation.
Or that the Muslim ummah.
That small band of believers.
With Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in Medina.
And then those who will follow in their
way.
Are now given that responsibility.
That anni fadhultukum alal alameen.
That preference that the Bani Israel have.
Now the Ummah of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Is being given that preference.
They're being preferred.
They're being exalted.
They're being chosen.
Now they are becoming the chosen people of
the Lord.
And the ceremony of that.
Is the change of Qibla.
Baitul Maqdis to Shaba.
In Mecca.
So with this we make you.
That key link.
That ummah that forms that key link.
What is that link?
Litakoonoo shuhadaa alal naas.
So that you may become witnesses.
Against humanity.
What does it mean to witness against humanity?
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Wayakoonal rasoolu alaykum shaheeda.
And the messenger becomes a witness against you.
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
As the messenger of Allah.
As the recipient of Wahi.
In communicating that Wahi.
The message of Allah.
To the people.
Has in effect become a witness against them.
Now the people don't listen.
They don't pay heed.
They see all the ayat.
It makes sense in everything.
And it hits home.
It manifests itself for the truth that it
is.
And people refuse.
So that automatically means.
That Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
On the day of judgment.
Becomes a witness against them.
And I did my job.
I presented them the message.
If they didn't do it.
It's their problem.
They need to be asked about it.
They're accountable.
They're responsible.
If there's a punishment.
They deserve it.
That's him becoming a witness.
Against you.
Alaykum.
Who are being addressed?
The Ummatan Wasata.
The Muslims.
And Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
In doing his job.
Has passed on the baton to you.
Now the mantle.
The responsibility.
Is on your shoulders.
Now you have to take it forward.
If you don't.
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Is he's not.
He's done.
He's already played his part.
He did what he had to.
He played his part to excellence.
And the better he plays his part.
The more excellence.
With which he does his job.
The more the burden on us.
Those who claim to believe in him.
Right.
So now we're answerable.
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says.
Ya Allah.
My whole life in front of you.
I did this.
This.
This.
This.
If they deviated.
Not me.
And it's not that this came easily.
To Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
I can't.
He's.
His love for his Ummah.
Is incredible.
And so when he sees in the Quran.
That this is something.
That he will have to do.
He can't help but.
He can't help.
But stop the Qari.
I think Abdullah Bin Masrood.
He says don't stop.
Don't recite anymore.
He gets to the ayah in Surah Nisa.
Which communicates the same message.
Layfa idha ji'na bi kulli ummatin.
I'm forgetting the words.
Wa ji'na bika ala haa ula'i
shaheedah.
When we will bring you out.
As a.
Against these people as a witness.
So let's not do that.
Because he knows his testimony.
Mean our punishment.
Possibly.
He takes it that seriously.
And the first part of the ayah.
Li taqunu shuhadaa linna.
So that you are.
You perform that role of becoming.
Witnesses against humanity.
If you do your job right.
If you are.
The appropriate.
Custodians of this message.
Represented the way it deserves.
Then.
Then people don't listen.
They're not.
You've done what you had to.
What it means to represent the message.
Communicate the message.
How many ways it can be done.
There's there's there's a lot there.
There's a lot there.
But for now.
Somewhere or the other it has to be
done.
Somewhere or the other it has to be
done.
Not doing it means if.
If they're not accountable.
Then we are.
Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
One of the last things that he said.
To the congregation of believers.
In the farewell pilgrimage.
In the last Hajj.
He said alaahil balafto.
Have I not communicated the message?
And all the sahaba present says.
Bala nishat.
We bear witness.
You have communicated.
That was the burden that he was carrying.
If I don't communicate the message.
I'm going to be.
Accountable.
It's like even the sigh of relief.
I got it.
Can we leave the same sigh of relief?
Can we make the same claim?
On the day of judgment?
It means to be seen.
And we did not designate the Qibla.
Which you formally observed.
You had to face the Baitul Maqdis.
Especially for these past 18 months.
For the entirety.
But then.
First there was this way of.
Having both as Qibla.
But to distinguish between those.
Who would truly follow the message.
This was a trust.
Why would they have to.
What motivation would they have.
To face Baitul Maqdis.
It cannot be the motivation of.
Holding something in sacred.
From their childhood.
That can't be the motivation anymore.
That is not being.
Accommodated anymore.
Now the motivation is.
Trusting Rasulullah.
They're really truly following.
And respecting Rasulullah.
That's the only motivation it can be.
Because they.
Cannot identify with Baitul Maqdis at all.
What's in it for them.
They have no association with it whatsoever.
All their super egoic.
Associations are with the Kaaba.
That's what they grew up with.
That's been put to the test.
That's been put to the test.
And for those who would back away.
You know what?
Not happening.
It's too strong.
The previous ways.
وَإِن كَانَتْ لَكَبِيرَةً And it was definitely difficult.
What acknowledges these realities.
Within a person's psychology.
They're very overbearing.
They're very strong.
إِلَّا عَلَىٰ ٱلَّذِينَ هَدَّ اللَّهِ Except those who
Allah guides.
وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُضِيعَ عِيمَانَكُمْ And Allah will
never make your faith void.
So there's this thing that pops up.
Oh, so this is the real Qibla.
This was always the real Qibla.
Hmm, that means you've been facing the wrong
Qibla.
Your prayers are not going to be accepted.
What are you going to do?
Like, no, hang on, relax.
That's not how Allah operates.
He's not a robot.
No case-sensitive passwords.
You move hither thither.
Get, you know, capital P.
You do small p and it's not going
to be accepted.
That's not how he operates.
He's not a robot.
He's not a dictator.
Right?
He knows what's going on.
He's actively present.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِالنَّاسِ لَرَؤُوفُ الرَّحِيمِ Allah is kind
and merciful towards humanity.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِالنَّاسِ لَرَؤُوفُ الرَّحِيمِ Allah has this
capacity to entertain, to accommodate human being humanity.
He, رَؤُوف رَأَفَ When used from human to
human means empathy.
The ability to feel the other person's pain.
It's empathy.
So Allah knows fully well what the other
person or the human being, the human beings,
the difficulties that they're in.
He can fully accommodate that.
الرَّحِيمِ And he is gracious, merciful.
قَدْ نَرَى تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِى السَّمَاءِ So a
few of the reasons that came in.
Why the Qibla did change?
Why didn't it change before?
But one of the main reasons.
And it may well be that if not
for this reason, perhaps the change of the
Qibla could be delayed.
It could have happened years later, months later,
anything.
But what brought it on at this point?
The stubbornness of Bani Israel in its own
place.
It always had to happen in its own
place.
But why now specifically?
قَدْ نَرَى تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِى السَّمَاءِ Ya Rasulullah,
we have seen your face turn towards heaven.
So there is their desire to control Allah
and not have any ayat that displease them
be recognized as ayat of Allah.
Their desire to dictate and control Allah that
the way they would dictate and control an
idol, where they have absolute power, where they
have absolute control, where it's whatever they say
becomes religion.
And they speak from, they use God as
a front, put their words in his mouth.
That's idolatry, he spoke about that.
And for that reason, this is something that
is unacceptable to them.
All of a sudden, God is being taken
away from them.
Now somebody else is going to have what
they, their power is being taken away from
them.
So that's one extreme attitude.
And then there is that other in which
nothing whatsoever that the human being does or
say influences God in any way whatsoever.
But it is what it is, or actually
it is what it has to be since
eternity.
And that's it.
Nothing whatsoever is significant in terms of human
action, human dua, nothing.
Allah represents himself here as neither that idol
that you can control the way you want
to, nor that Firaun that is so super
transcendent, so, so, so, so, so exalted that
he is distant and far removed from anything
that's actively happening within the world and between
human beings.
Allah is so close and so actively and
dynamically involved, maintaining his individuality and his freedom,
not giving that up either, that he responds
to as much as a gesture from Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And that's all it was, a gesture.
It's not even an explicit dua, it's a
gesture.
It's just a longing.
And how that longing is regarded as well,
because Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam himself grew up
in Mecca.
His association is also with the Kaaba.
Now he has shown that his association is
primarily with Allah.
But then again, the other association that with
the Kaaba, and of course, he knows through
Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam's legacy that the Quran has
related to him, the significance of the Kaaba
as well.
It is not just something that he grew
up with, but what he grew up with
is important to him as well.
It is important to Allah as well.
And so just the gesture that he makes
results in this choice being made to change
the Qibla, and this is the announcement of
that choice.
فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةً تَرْضَاهَا So we will make you
turn towards the Qibla of your choice.
فَوَلِّي وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ So turn your
face towards the holy mosque, the Masjid al
-Haram, where the Kaaba is.
وَحَيْثُمَ كُنْتُمْ Now addressing in plural, wherever all
of you are.
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's gesture means, and Allah's
acceptance means that for all Muslims, for all
times to come, this is what the Qibla
is now.
فَوَلِّي وَجْهَكُمْ شَطْرَ Wherever you are, turn your
faces towards that.
وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابِ And those who are
given the scripture, لا يَعْلَمُونَ They know for
sure.
أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِن رَبِّهِمْ That it is no
doubt the truth from their Rabb.
وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ And Allah is
not at all unaware of what they do.
وَلَئِنْ أَتَيْتَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابِ And even if
you produce before the people of the book
بِكُلِّ آيَةٍ Each and every ayah ما تَبِعُوا
قِبْلَتَكْ They will not follow your Qibla.
وَمَا أَنْتَ بِتَابِعِنْ قِبْلَتَهُمْ You're not gonna follow
their Qibla.
وَمَا بَعْضُهُمْ بِتَابِعِنْ قِبْلَتَبَعْضُ Nor would they follow
each other's Qibla.
وَلَئِنَ اتَّبَعْتَ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ And if you follow their
desires مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ After
what has reached you of knowledge إِنَّكَ إِذَا
الَّمِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ Then you will be for sure
a zhalim and unjust person.
الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابِ Those whom we have given
the book يَعْرِفُونَهُ كَمَا يَعْرِفُونَ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ They recognize
this as they recognize their own sons.
It is that clear With respect to the
evidence that they have within themselves.
So the idea that this was going to
happen at some point The signs for that
they have With them But since this religion
that they have For the most part has
become fabricated In the shape of their desires
And is now being presented as religion You
can't reason with that You cannot bring the
ilm In the face of that وَإِنَّ فَرِيقًۭا
مِّنْهُمْ وَخْرِطًا جَاعَلٌۭينَ لَيَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ Hide
truth knowingly, intentionally ،أَلْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِك، the truth
is from your rabb فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ
So never be among those who doubt وَلِكُلِّ
وِجْهَةٌ هُوَ مُوَلِّيهَ Everyone has a direction which
they're facing.
Every single human being, it is by our
very nature, we have to have a direction.
This is what it means to be human.
And the Kaaba just brings that, the importance
and the significance of that in front of
you.
فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ So compete with each other in
good deeds.
What is your facing the Kaaba remind you
of?
What is it supposed to remind you of?
How does it bring you together?
فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ That remember where this house, what
this house is a culmination of.
Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam and Ismail Alayhis Salaam's submission
to Allah.
And so when you're facing this, when you
are directing your attention towards it, when praying,
what should that inspire you towards?
More good, more خَيْرَاتِ And خَيْرَاتِ is general,
it's open.
More and more good, more and more good.
Different time periods, different situations will require different
forms of خَيْرَاتِ from you.
That is the legacy of Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam.
Again, you can turn this prayer and turning
towards the Qibla as an identitarian thing, a
rigidly identitarian thing.
This is what associates me with the group
that is going to attain salvation and that's
it.
I'm cutting it off from the other areas
of your life.
And it doesn't inspire the race towards good,
that it should.
اَيْنَمَا تَكُونُوا يَأْتِي بِكُمُ اللَّهُ جَمِيعًا Wherever you
are, Allah will bring you all together.
اِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٍ Allah is
powerful over everything.
وَمِنْ حَيْثُ خَرَجْتَ And wherever you come from
فَوَلِّي وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ Turn your face
towards the Masjid al-Haram.
وَإِنَّهُ لَلْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّكَ And for sure, it
is the truth from your Rabb.
وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغَفْلِ نَمَا تَعْمَلُ Allah is not
at all unaware of what you do.
وَمِنْ حَيْثُ خَرَجْتَ So wherever you come from
يا رسول الله فَوَلِّي وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ
Turn your face towards the Holy Mosque.
How many times has this phrase been repeated?
In the singular and in the plural.
Addressing Rasulullah and addressing the community at large.
And just a gesture that brought it on.
Just a gesture of Rasulullah ﷺ that brings
this response from Allah.
And he looks and Allah says again, and
again, and again, turn your face to the
Ka'bah.
Turn your face to the Ka'bah.
Wherever you are, turn your face to the
Ka'bah.
وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنْتُمْ فَوَلُّوا وَجُهَكُمْ شَطْرَ And wherever
you are, all of you, Muslims, turn your
faces towards it.
لِأَلَّا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَيْكُمْ حُجَّةٌ So that people
may not have any case against you.
Because it was the same people who were
later on going to bring forth that evidence
and going to say, aha, they didn't do
it.
This was supposed to be their original Qibla.
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ أُظَلَمُوا مِنْهُمْ Except the unjust ones
from among them.
If somebody has it against you and they're
out to get you, they'll find something or
the other that they, to criticize, to lash
out.
Nothing's gonna stop them.
Just, unjust doesn't matter to them.
فَلَا تَخْشَعُهُمْ So don't worry about them.
Don't fear them.
وَإِخْشَوْنِي But you should fear me.
وَلِيُتِمَ نِعْمَتِي عَلَيْكُمْ So that I may complete
my favor upon you.
وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ And so that you may be
rightly guided.
كَمَا أُرْسَلْنَا فِيكُمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْكُمْ Before going on
to this, now, the Qibla represents so much
more.
It represents for sure, Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam and
his legacy.
But our facing the Qibla, also represents that
Allah's acceptance of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Now his gesture of looking up towards the
sky, for all of this about.
So between, from Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam to Muhammad
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and how the Kaaba,
becoming the Qibla, in every single one of
our prayers, and how that binds us as
a community of followers and lovers of Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam who hold him beloved, who
hold Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam beloved.
How that entire legacy is, and Allah's acceptance
of that legacy, is reflected when all of
us face that one direction.
It binds us to each other, to them,
and to Allah.
This wonderful, incredibly beautiful manifestation of Tawheed, how
it connects, of how it relates, across history,
across time, across space, and brings together, forms
a community.
Wa la'allakum tahtadoon.
Kama arsalna feekum rasoolan minhum.
Just as we sent among you a messenger
from you, yatloo AAalaykum ayatina, who recites to
you our ayat.
Again, how did this happen?
The Qibla happened, or the change of Qibla,
there was a lot of decisions and choices
that Allah made, but there was a lot
of effort, sacrifice, and dua that human beings
made.
Particularly Ibrahim Ismail and Muhammad Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam.
And even in the coming of Rasulullah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam is the fulfillment of a dua.
What was that dua, Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam's dua?
A dua that finds fulfillment millennia later.
Millennia later, not just centuries, millennia later.
What was that dua, Ya Allah, raised from
among them?
But we've studied a couple of passages of
it.
Hima usalna feekum rasoolan minkum.
Just as we sent among you a messenger
from you, yatloo AAalaykum ayatina, who recites to
you our ayat.
When the first function, wayuzakkeekum, Allah changes the
order from how Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam made the
dua, Allah changes the order.
Wayuzakkeekum, and purifies you.
WayuAAallimukumul kitaba wal hikmah, and teaches you the
book in wisdom.
WayuAAallimukum ma lam takoonu ta'lamun, and teaches
you what you never knew.
Fadkuruni, so remember me.
Fadkurkum, I will remember you.
And how remembering Allah by Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam
leads for Allah to remember him.
And how that's eternalized.
And how remembering Allah by Rasool Allah Sallallahu
Alayhi Wasallam, results in Allah remembering him.
How that is eternalized.
And how this mutual remembrance shapes the course
of human history.
That is the power that this divine and
human relationship has.
Allah opens it up in ayah number 152,
to say that, don't think that this is
just for Prophet and God.
This is an open offer.
Fadkuruni, this is going out to everyone.
To the listener right now.
Fadkuruni, remember me.
Fadkurkum, I will remember you.
I will remember you.
This is the communication relationship of free individuals.
Free individuals.
Washkuruli, and be grateful to me.
Wala takfoorun, do not be ungrateful.
Ya ayyuhallatheena aamanoo, you who have believed.
Again, this particular address is now going to
be frequent, that we have entered the second
half of Surah Baqarah.
So the first half of Surah Baqarah, we
spoke about the first four passages being introductory.
The next 10 passages being an address to
Bani Israel, and a mirror in which our
current state is being reflected along with our
history.
And then following that were the four passages
that we just concluded, which were an interlude,
which were a transition or transitionary passages from
Bani Israel to Ya ayyuhallatheena aamanoo.
The coronation, the common connection to Ibrahim Alayhi
Salaam is established.
Appropriate legacy as what kind of an association
should you have with Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam is
established, that of proactivity, that of effort, that
of being focused on your responsibilities, on doing
stuff, right?
Not just salvation by association.
All of that is brought in light.
And then the changing of the Qibla is
highlighted as another, as like officially the transition
has taken place.
From Bani Israel, the baton, the responsibility shifted
over to Ya ayyuhallatheena aamanoo.
They had a chance, they were given opportunities
after opportunities.
The last ones in those first two years
of Medina, there's still time, respond, respond.
And even still, of course, they can, as
in when they want to enter into the
ranks with Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam as well,
but the changing of the Qibla is now
the, literally the mountain of Tur being raised
over the Muslim community, right?
This is, it is what it is.
This is a responsibility that you have to
carry.
And so with this transition, the address, Ya
ayyuhallatheena aamanoo, is now an official address.
It is an official address, and like, it
is referring to a people who have accepted
the responsibility or claimed to accept that responsibility.
Right, they have been, they have accepted that,
that baton being handed over to them.
Ya ayyuhallatheena aamanoo includes the Sahaba radiAllahu ta
'ala anhum, across the entire spectrum.
All the way to the hypocrites in Medina,
all the way to Abdullah ibn Ubayy, from
Abu Bakr radiAllahu ta'ala anhum to Abdullah
ibn Ubayy, everyone is included in Ya ayyuhallatheena
aamanoo in the immediate, as the immediate recipients
of the address of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
as the Wahi is coming to him.
And then of course, all of Muslims for
all times to come.
Ya ayyuhallatheena aamanoo covers the entire spectrum.
It is for everyone.
It is not necessarily, again, Ya ayyuhallatheena aamanoo
is not all you people who are headed
to paradise, no.
Ya ayyuhallatheena aamanoo, those who have claimed iman.
That claim can be true, that claim can
be self-deception or an attempt to deceive
Allah and the believers.
It can be any of those.
It is to live up to that claim,
you're now being told what it is that
you should bear in mind.
Ya ayyuhallatheena aamanoo ista'eenoo bisabri wa salat.
First of all, again, the Yabani Israel had
this as well, that when they were gonna,
when they would defer the fifth ruku, when
they were called, they were told this as
well.
What you've taken upon yourself is, what you
have accepted responsibility for, asks quite a lot.
How do you fulfill it?
And it can be very daunting, very intimidating,
very overbearing.
How in the world do we get this
done?
This is quite a lot to ask.
Little old me, ista'eenoo bisabri wa salat.
Persistently asking after trying your best with sabr,
with salat.
With sabr, with salat.
Sabr, in the context of, again, we can
put our passive escapist lenses on.
Those attitudes can reflect in how we read
these ayahs.
Sabr karo, namaz paro.
Sabr karo, namaz paro.
Just, you know, wait and watch, bear, whatever
you go through, and just continue to pray.
And that's not what it is.
The way sabr is highlighted, depicted in the
Quran, as we're going to see, is very
proactive.
Sabr in the form of perseverance, constancy.
Sabr in the form of keeping at it
no matter what.
Trying your best, trying your best.
Salat in the form of an active reflection,
constant engagement, a dialogue.
Inna Allaha ma'as sabreen.
For sure, Allah is with the people of
sabr.
wa la taqooloo limain yuqutaloo fee thabeelillahi amwaat.
Do not say about those martyred in the
way of Allah that they are dead.
bal ahyyaa.
No, they are alive.
walakin la tashkuroon.
Only you do not perceive.
Only you do not perceive.
So what in this, the mantle that you're
being asked to take on, the responsibility that
is being given to you, this responsibility is
such, or the fulfillment or walking this path
is such that even death in this path
is life-giving, quite literally.
Death in this path is life-giving.
Such is the potential of when tawheed inundates
a human personality.
That human personality, even in dying, is alive.
Not only alive, is a source of life.
wa la nabluwannakoon.
And we will definitely test you.
And bala or testing in the Quran is
not a simple examination, prove your worth.
It is an opportunity for growth.
wa la nabluwannakoon means yes, we will test
you for sure.
But within that is the implication and connotation
we will give you opportunities to become stronger
and stronger.
Those will continue to come to you.
That part of this package is those opportunities.
Again, very different from the typical call that
we put out in our sermons and when
we're preaching and in our street dawah, the
call to attain peace and tranquility.
The Quran is putting out the call and
saying, what you're signing up for, as a
consequence of this, you're gonna get opportunities of
what?
bishay'in minal khawth, with something of fear.
wa lju'a, and hunger.
wa naqsim minal amwal, and a loss of
wealth.
wa al-anfus, lives.
wa al-thamarat, and fruits.
That through all of this, you are going
to be tested.
And once you sign up for this, once
you log on for this, don't expect angels
with harps playing in the background, red carpets
being laid out for you.
You're just breathing through all the way to
paradise.
Allah doesn't make any such promises.
No false promises.
No, just accept this and everything will be
okay.
No, get ready.
You will have that state of la khawfun
alayhim wa laahum yakhzaloon.
To get there means a lot of hope
on the path, a lot of chuzan on
the path.
There's going to be, that's going to be
an inevitability.
And if you start identifying Islam as a
state in which you have already attained la
khawfun alayhim wa laahum yakhzaloon, that there is
no fear, there is no grief, and then
on the path, you experience fear and you
experience grief.
Then you go, oh my God, no Islam,
no Iman.
What do we do?
And judgments and fatwas.
Where does that come from?
Allah is promising that this is part of
the path.
But Allah wants the best out of you.
And the best out of you means you
have to go down the path.
And this is the path.
Wabashshir assaabireen and give glad tidings to the
people of sabr, the people who persevere despite
all of this.
Allatheena itha assaabathum maseebah.
Those people, when they are afflicted, with a
maseebah, with a calamity, aloo, they say, inna
lillaah.
We, for sure, belong to Allah.
Wa inna ilayhi raji'oon.
And most definitely, we are going to return
to Him alone.
These are the people who are able to
identify within experiences of intense suffering, the bigger
picture of their relationship with Allah.
And in that context, they're able to make
sense of that suffering, find a meaning in
that suffering.
That they recognize that belonging to Allah and
returning to Allah necessitates having to go through
pain, having to go through loss, having to
bear all of that and prove equal to
it as best as possible.
Be worthy of that suffering.
You think returning to Allah is going to
be that easy?
That your worthiness and what you will have
to sacrifice in order to get there, what
you'll have to bear through in order to
rise to that level, it's not gonna be
anything.
To belong to Allah and to return to
Allah.
In other words, to develop within yourselves the
attributes of Allah, to follow in the footsteps
of Rasulullah.
You think it's going to come that easy?
That it's not going to involve any pain,
any distress?
It's just going to be a walk in
the park.
Nobody else had a walk in the park.
Those who did return to Allah, those, the
best of those who chose, Allahumma fir-rafiqil
a'la.
Allah, the highest companion, their path was marred
with pain, suffering, loss, time after time,
time after time.
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajeem.
You've made that claim of belonging to Allah
and wanting to return to Allah.
And then that's a path marred by suffering
and loss.
Wulaika alayhim salawatun min rabbihim wa rahmah.
These are the ones upon whom are the
salawats from their Rabb and mercy.
Wa ulaika humul muhdadoon.
And these are the people, they are the
rightly guided.
Again, who's, we know salah, right?
To be what we pray to Allah.
But then there are salawat that come from
Allah himself.
We spoke about, farkuruni yadkurkum.
For example, Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and Ibrahim
Alaihissalam and how that possibility of being remembered
by Allah is open to all, even non
-prophets, even us.
But then to earn those salawat of Allah,
to have our khudi at that level in
which khuda bandeh sa khud poochhe batat teri
raza kya hai.
You want the Qibla changed?
You want there to be a prophet who
recites my ayat on them, does their tazkiyah,
kitab and hikmah, okay.
You want peace and prosperity for them, okay.
You want there to be five prayers, okay.
Then that's the path that innalillahi wa inna
ilayhi raji'oon is your constant companion on.
What is the motivation to bear through suffering?
What is the motivation to the incredible pain
that is inevitable on this path?
Why, why bear it?
Because we belong to Allah.
Because we belong to Allah.
It's like asking somebody, you're so strong, you're
so brave.
How incredible, how is that?
I'm Bhutan.
Whatever race or nationality that they belong to,
they will proudly acknowledge the positive attribute that
you've identified in them and associate that with
their, with the legacy of that particular race
or that particular ethnicity that they belong to.
You're claiming to belong to Allah and to
want to return to Him.
There is a return that is going to
be, whatever state we're going to return to
Him, fair enough.
But then there is returning to Him in
that attaining His qurk, attaining closeness to Him,
a desire to be with Him, next to
Him, of the Muqarram-e-Zunar.
And then why bear through the pain?
Why the struggle?
Why the sacrifice?
Because we want to be with Him, because
we come from Him.
That's the motivation.
That's the motivation to love, even though love
is painful.
That is the motivation to take risks in
every choice that a free individual has to
take and taking stands if you will have
to take.
Why do all of that?
Because we belong to Allah.
That earns the salawat.
That earns from Allah Himself.
See, salah is when you are committed, directed,
focused, it's supposed to be, towards one, the
one that He is.
To earn His salawat is when He is
directed, focused, committed to you.
So yeah, does that make it worth it?
Inna as-safa wal-marwata min shaAA'irillahi
The mountains of Safa and Marwa are among
the symbols of Allah.
Fa man hajjal bayta awiAAatamara So whoever performs
Hajj or Umrah, fa la junaha AAalayhi There
is no blame on him an yattawafa bihi
maa if he does tawaf around them.
wa man tatawwaa khayran Whoever volunteers to do
something good fa inna Allahash-shakirun AAaleem That
Allah is appreciative, knowing.
So there was this story or this event
that had taken place in the history of
the Quraysh for which, and it was something
that made the Safa and Marwa popular for
very different reasons among the Quraysh, right?
Some sort of, I don't remember the story
exactly, but something that some couple had done.
And for that reason, the Muslims were a
little skeptical.
Should we really hold Safa and Marwa in
that high of an esteem?
Because the kind of story that's associated with
it is, you know, kind of shady.
And so Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A
'la revealed the ayat, don't worry about it,
because where it originally comes from, the couple
whose love it embodies originally is Ibrahim AAalayhi
Salam and Hajra FabiAllahu Ta'ala Anhum.
And so it commemorates their love, their love
of Tawheed as well, or their Tawheedic love.
So if you commemorate that on Hajj and
Umrah, that's perfectly fine.
fa inna Allahash-shakirun AAaleem Allah is appreciative
and knowing.
This is Allah's appreciation for the sacrifice that
Hajra had to give.
For what she had to do.
So he will be appreciative if you commemorate
that.
inna allatheena yattumoona maa anzalna Those who hide
what we have sent down minal bayjinati wal
huda of clear proofs and guidance min ba'dima
bayjannaahu linnasi fil kitaab After we have made
it clear for humanity in the book, oolaika
yalAAanuhumu Allah These are the ones whom Allah
will curse.
wayalAAanuhumu allaa'inoon And these are the ones
who, those who are designated to curse will
curse.
Like all of what they have to do
is curse and they will curse.
Why?
Who?
The people who hide from the book.
The people who sit on portions of Allah's
kitab.
illa allatheena tzaabu waaslaahu wa bayjinu Except those
who repent, reform, and make clear what they
were hiding.
Simple repentance does not suffice.
Reform, and then whatever was being hidden has
to be shown.
faoolaa'ika atubu AAalayhim For them, I will
accept their repentance.
waa'anaatawwaburraheeb And I am atawwab, the merciful.
As heinous as their crime was for hiding
ayat of Allah, as long as they're willing
to repent, Allah is very tolerant.
Allah is very accepting.
Allah is very open to receive them.
Again.
illa allatheena kafaru Those who refuse to believe.
wamaatu wahum kuffarun And die while they are
disbelievers.
They refuse to open up what they've been
hiding.
hulaa'ika AAalayhim laAAnatu Allahi waalmalaa'ikati waalnaasi
ajmaAAeen These are the people who will earn
the laAAna, the curse of Allah, the angels
and all people altogether.
khaaladeena feehaan They will live in it forever.
laa yukhawfafu AAanhumu alAAathab Their punishment will not
be decreased.
walaahum yuntharoon Nor will they be given any
respite.
wa ilaahukum ilaahu waahid Your ilaah is only
one ilaah, Allah.
laa ilaaha illaahu There is no ilaah except
Him.
huwal rakmaanun raheem The compassionate, the merciful.
So the culmination of that entire discussion with
tawhid, with Allah's being the ilaah, the God,
the only one worthy of worship, love, dedication,
right?
And the nature of worshiping Him, loving Him,
dedicating yourself to Him is that it is
comprehensive.
Or in one word, relating with Allah, establishing
that as the most important relationship will necessitate
that you incorporate other relationships.
Whereas short of Him, anything less that is
made ilaah will naturally demand that you break
off, that you close off unjustly.
Others do not give them their rights.
inna fee khalqis samaawati wal-qad Most definitely
in the creation of the heaven and the
earth.
waqtilaafil layli wal-nahaa And the alteration of
the night and the day.
wal-fulkillati tajree fil-bahri bimaa yanfa'u
al-naas And in ships which sail upon
the sea, carrying what benefits mankind.
wa maa anzalallahu mina al-thamaa'i min
maa'in And in what Allah sends down
from the sky in the form of water.
fa-akhyaabihi al-ardha ba'da mawtiha And with
which He revives the earth after its death.
wabatha feehaa min kulli daabba And He dispersed
throughout the earth all types of moving creatures.
watasreefi al-riyaa And so in the change
of wind, in their directions, in the changing
of hidden.
wath-tahaabil musakhari bayna al-samaa'i wal
-ard As well as in the obedient clouds
between the sky and the earth.
la-aayaat These are definitely signs.
liqawmi ya'tiloon Or of people who use their
aqal.
Or people of reason.
So after establishing a continuity with what was
before the Quran, which is the Bible, the
Old Testament, New Testament.
Old Testament more because the address was Bani
Israel.
And affirming the truth in there.
And offering a rectification for what was ignored
or distorted.
The Quran begins its address to the Muslims
for what we just saw.
The struggle that is necessitated by committing to
this iman.
It opens itself up to its past.
It opens itself up to more than that
outside of itself, especially to that which is
the ayaats that are to be expounded later.
Now, of course, these are not revealed ayaat.
These are not scriptural ayaat.
These are not ayaats revealed to a prophet,
to an angel, the way revelation is.
And that culminates, perfects itself and ends with
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
But it culminates, ends itself and perfects itself
with Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and as a
consequence of that, opened the door to the
exploration of ayaat in nature, the way no
other scripture opens that door.
And it was this opening to the world
of nature, taking it seriously, as seriously as
the ayaat of the Quran.
The word is the same.
The Quranic verse is an ayaat.
qalq al-samawati wal-ard wa tasrifi al
-riyakh wa sahabi al-musakhri All of these
also ayaat.
Ayaat in the Quran, ayaat outside of the
Quran.
Signs, signs.
Signs of who?
Signs of Allah.
Signs of Allah.
So revelation paves the way, the culmination of
revelation of prophethood.
Perfection entails that this other aspect of knowledge
alluded to, implied in that fourth rakuh, the
ilm al-ismah, the acquired knowledge, is human
beings are directed towards that.
That truth is in all of these areas
as well.
Truth which is part of al-haq.
Quranic ayaat, part of al-haq.
Biblical ayaat, part of al-haq.
The Quran is not insecure, as unfortunately the
custodians of the Quran have become insecure.
That the moment you start going outside of
it, oh my God, our iman is threatened,
our iman is threatened.
The Quran wants for the human being, for
its follower, for its reader, for its reciter,
to accumulate, relate all these ayaat of Allah
and come to more mature understandings of who
Allah is, of His beauty, of His creativity,
of what He requires of us.
To keep our eyes and ears open to
all of these ayaat.
That is what tawheed means.
That is what tawheed means.
Relating to Allah is not cutting off everybody
else.
Relating to the Quran does not mean cutting
off to all other sources of knowledge.
Rather affirming them, becoming more committed to them.
The Quran should not make its reciter, its
reader, insecure so as to turn away from
everywhere else.
The Quran should make its reader, its reciter,
so secure and confident that it goes through
and across all of these ayaat and brings
them back and understands the Quran better.
And then goes to them and looks at
them better in a way that others can't
precisely because they don't have what the Quran
is to offer.
That is a legacy that Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam left us, a task unfulfilled that was
for this community to carry forward that we
do have flashes in our past, in our
history that it has been brilliantly carried forward.
And for the most part where it is
required the most in this day and age,
there is a criminal silence.
There is a criminal silence.
And so the Quran which can be a
light in post-modernity not being appreciated for
what it is because those sitting on the
Quran are hiding these portions of it in
which this validation of the ayaat in nature
is so explicit, is so undeniable.
We continue with this from tomorrow, inshallah, wa
-akhiru da'wana wa-akhiru da'wana wa
-akhiru da'wana