Zia Sheikh – Ramadan Khatira Day 20
AI: Summary ©
" in the Bible, as it is not commonly taught." The importance of learning the Bible and finding the original scripture in its original form is emphasized.
AI: Transcript ©
Last night we completed the 21st Juz' which
comprised of Al-Ankabut and Surah Rum, Surah
Luqman, Surah Sajdah and a portion of Surah
Al-Ahzab.
Today I'm going to just talk about a
few verses at the beginning of the 21st
Juz' and these are verses from Surah Al
-Ankabut.
And these are addressing the Prophet ﷺ.
These verses are talking to the Prophet ﷺ
and indirectly addressing us also.
Allah ﷻ commands the Prophet ﷺ, أُطْلُوا مَا
أُحْيَ إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ Recite what was revealed
to you from the Book.
وَأَقِمَ السَّلَاةِ And establish the Salat.
So the veracity, the authenticity of this Book,
the Qur'an, the words of Allah ﷻ
are being confirmed here by Allah ﷻ Himself.
The Prophet is being told that without any
kind of doubt, without any kind of shame,
you should read these Books and know them
to be the truth and portray them as
the truth and tell people about the truth
of these words of Allah ﷻ.
So recite these words to the people and
also establish the Salat.
And the Prophet is being told but we
as an Ummah are being indirectly told to
establish the Salat.
And I've mentioned many times before that Allah
whenever He tells us in the Qur'an
to pray, He doesn't use the word in
Arabic for praying.
صَلُّوا Or صَلِّي for an individual.
صَلُّوا for a collective audience.
He says أَقِيمَ السَّلَاةِ Establish the Salat.
Perfect the Salat.
Complete the Salat.
Maintain the Salat.
Again and again.
There's only one place where Allah ﷻ uses
the word صَلُّوا And that is in a
situation which is known as صَلَاةُ الخَوْف In
Surah An-Nisa, Allah ﷻ describes how the
Salat is prayed on the battlefield.
And in the course of praying on the
battlefield, obviously panic is everywhere.
Everybody's in a rush.
Everybody's life is under threat.
So this is a very precarious situation.
It's a difficult situation to be in.
So at that point, He says صَلُّوا But
at the end of those selection of verses,
He also says فَإِذَا اطْمَعَنَنْتُمْ فَأَقِيمُوا السَّلَاةِ Once
you have attained peace and you are not
in the battlefield anymore, Then again go back
to أَقِيمُوا السَّلَاةِ Go back to establishing the
Salat.
Perfecting the Salat.
Making sure you are praying with full concentration
and devotion.
So أَقِيمُوا السَّلَاةِ again the Prophet ﷺ is
told Establish the Salat.
And then it goes on to say إِنَّ
الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ The Salat, it
prevents a person from فَحْشَاء وَالْمُنْكَرِ فَحْشَاء refers
to those sins which are related to lewdness
and things which are regarded in most societies
which have any kind of shame or any
kind of modesty as being immodest actions.
That's فَحْشَاء And مُنْكَرِ refers to evil in
general.
So Allah says that Salat, it prevents from
فَحْشَاء وَالْمُنْكَرِ According to a hadith, the Prophet
ﷺ said that whoever's Salat does not prevent
him from فَحْشَاء وَالْمُنْكَرِ فَلَا صَلَاتَ لَهُ Then
he's not praying Salat.
This is not a Salat that is worthy
of being called a Salat.
Why is that?
When a person is praying with full concentration
and devotion to Allah SWT he is actually
conversing with Allah.
Knowing full well that Allah knows what he
did between this Salat that he's praying and
the previous Salat.
So in the meantime if he's committed any
sins, if he's disobeyed Allah SWT then he
knows that Allah knows about that sin that
he's committed.
So standing in front of Allah, it's a
very difficult thing to do when a person
is guilty of committing a sin.
That guilt, that remorse is supposed to push
a person to think I have to meet
Allah SWT in the next Salat.
How can I face Him when He knows
when I've been committing sins and now I'm
standing in front of Him pretending to be
very pious when I know my reality that
what I've done between this Salat and the
previous Salat.
So this understanding is supposed to push a
person away from sin.
And if a person is persisting in his
sin then that means that he's not praying
the Salat properly.
He needs to focus on the devotion, he
needs to focus on concentration on his Salat,
he needs to work on his Salat.
And the remembrance of Allah SWT is greater.
The remembrance of Allah is greater.
This has been interpreted in two ways.
That when you pray the Salat then Allah
SWT remembering you is greater.
Allah SWT says remember me, I will remember
you.
So Allah SWT remembering you should be a
cause of happiness for you that Allah is
mentioning you in His company of angels that
look at my slave, look at my servant
he is actually devoting himself to me in
such a way that he is humbling himself,
he is praying, he is waking up in
the middle of the night while everybody else
is sleeping.
So Allah SWT remembering you is something greater
to think about.
And another meaning is the apparent meaning that
remembering Allah Himself is greater.
Meaning that the remembrance of Allah all the
time, not just in Salat but remembering Allah
SWT at all times it's an even more
important thing to be thinking about it's not
just focusing on the Salat but remembering Allah
through making Tasbeeh, Tahleel, Takbeer, Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah, Allahu
Akbar, La ilaha illallah all the time this
is something that is important.
Allah SWT knows what you are doing.
Do not dispute with the people of the
book except in a way which is good.
So talking to the people of the book
inviting them and discussing with them having a
discourse with them having a debate with them
should be done in a way which is
which is polite and not rude in any
way, shape or form.
Call unto the way of your Lord with
wisdom and with a good speech.
So especially with the people of the book
because the people of the book already have
a familiarity with the message of Islam.
The Prophets that they were sent they preached
the same thing they preached the same message
and the books that they were that were
sent to them they had the same message
that the Quran has.
So even though the books may have been
corrupted but the gist of the message is
still there you know the worship of Allah
the stories of the Prophets it's still there.
Even though it's corrupted and it's not a
source for reference for us at least anymore.
But still keeping that point in mind that
they were sent, the Prophets true Prophets before
us there is a level of respect that
they have to be dealt with.
Another meaning of is that do not dispute
with the people of the book except with
meaning the focus should be only and only
Tawheed and the oneness of Allah SWT if
the people of the book are going against
that then they are going against the principle
of Islam the foundation of Islam.
So this is the main main thing main
argument that needs to be put forward against
the people of the book that we are
only focusing on the worship of Allah SWT.
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْهُمْ except for the ones
that are wrongdoers from amongst them.
Okay now we are living in the United
States and we've probably come across different kinds
of Christians.
You get the kind that are humble enough
to sit with you and talk with you
and then you have that kind that are
stubborn minded and nothing is nothing will go
into their mind nothing will go into their
head except that Jesus saves and the only
way through salvation is through him and anything
that you tell me is blasphemy and it's
not something that I can accept.
So these are very stubborn kind of people.
You cannot talk to them.
So Allah SWT says these are wrongdoers these
are doing wrong.
It's difficult to deal with them in a
good way so avoid them.
There's no need to indulge in that kind
of discourse with them.
وَقُولُوا What are you supposed to say to
the people of the book?
وَقُولُوا آمَنَّا بِالَّذِي أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَأُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ وَإِلَاهُنَا
وَإِلَاهُكُمْ وَاحِذُ وَنَحْنُ لَهُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ Tell them we
have belief in what was revealed to you
and what was revealed to us what was
revealed to us and what was revealed to
you.
The wording is very special.
It's not that we believe in your book
meaning the one that you have right now.
It's not that we believe in the Torah
that you have now.
We don't believe in the Torah you have
now but we believe in what was revealed
to you and what was revealed to us.
Meaning the original wording it's part of our
Iman.
It's part of our belief that we believe
in all of the books sent down by
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
However the corrupted forms of the books that
we have now we don't believe in those.
And the Prophet ﷺ actually mentioned in the
Hadith that when the people of the book
address you then don't denounce anything that they
tell you.
Tell them this word.
We believe in what was revealed to us
and what was revealed to you.
So there are actually three kinds of verses
that you will find in their books.
Verses which agree with what the Quran says.
We would say that this is probably and
possibly something that was in the original scripture.
Words which completely contradict what the Quran says.
We would say that that's not something that
could be from the original words from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And then words which are neutral that are
not mentioned in the Quran and they are
only found in their books and about them
we remain silent.
The Prophet ﷺ he gave us this he
gave us this method when when talking to
the people of the book and addressing them
about these verses that this is how we
understand the previous book.
And on top of that the Prophet ﷺ
also said for the normal person the Quran
is sufficient as a guidance.
Even if Musa ﷺ was to come down
he would follow the Quran.
Once the Prophet he saw Umar ﷺ reading
the Torah and he told him that this
is not what you are supposed to be
doing.
Even if Musa ﷺ was alive then he
would follow what was revealed to me.
Meaning the Quran.
So this for a person who is studying
the previous religions with the intention of Dawah
and all so that's fine.
But for a lay person the Quran is
sufficient as a guidance.
But at the same time when talking to
them this is what we need to say
that we have Iman in what was revealed
to us and what was revealed to you.
Our God and your God is the same.
And we submit ourselves to him completely.
We only submit ourselves to him.
Only to him we submit.
So this Lahu there's a difference between us
and the previous people of the book.
You know the previous people of the book
Allah says They took their Rabbis and their
priests as Arbab, as Lords other than Allah
ﷻ.
Allah says We only submit ourselves to Allah
ﷻ and nobody else.
Whatever Allah says and the Prophet ﷺ says
indirectly which is also the words of Allah
ﷻ, we submit ourselves to that.
Again the Prophet ﷺ is addressed directly O
Prophet of Allah, just like we gave these
previous nations books we gave you O Prophet
of Allah the book, the Quran.
Those people that we gave the book to
they have Iman in this Quran too.
They realize that these are the words of
Allah ﷻ.
At the Iftar the other day I was
talking to a pastor and he says he
reads the Quran regularly.
He says that I've read the Quran from
cover to cover and he says that there's
only a couple of things, two or three
things in the whole Quran that I disagree
with.
And this is obviously the issue of the
Trinity, the issue of the Son being Isa
ﷺ the Son of God and things which
we clearly differ.
These were innovations in their religion which were
invented 300 or so years after Isa ﷺ
and they're not part of the true teachings
of Christianity.
They're not the true teachings of Isa ﷺ.
So obviously these things are going to contradict,
right?
But other than that he says I agree
with everything that's in the Quran.
So this is what Allah says فَالَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ
الْكِتَابَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ A person who really knows
what his book is about if you give
him the Quran they will have Iman in
it, they will believe in it.
وَمِنْ هَٰؤُلَٰئِ مَنْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهِ And there are
also some from amongst these people, meaning the
Kuffar of Quraysh, the Arabs they also are
people that accept it and they have Iman
in it.
وَمَا يَجْحَدُ بِآيَاتِنَا إِلَّا الْكَافِرُونَ The people that
deny our Ayat they are disbelievers.
So any person who denies anything of the
Quran, in this case the pastor, he denies
anything of the Quran, even those two or
three things, that takes him out of Iman
and keeps him in the boundary of disbelief.
If he accepts those two or three things
which are still lingering in his mind, then
that's it, he's a Muslim.
So Allah says that whoever denies any of
our Ayat, any of our verses, he's still
a disbeliever.
وَمَا يَجْحَدُ بِآيَاتِنَا إِلَّا الْكَافِرُونَ Then there's a
very special verse here.
Allah says وَمَا كُنْتَ تَتْلُو مِنْ قَبْلِهِ مِنْ
كِتَابٍ وَلَا تَخُطُّهُ بِيَمِينِكَ إِذَا اللَّغْتَابَ الْمُبْطِنُونَ O
Prophet of Allah, you didn't used to recite
anything from before and you never used to
write anything with your hand.
وَلَا تَخُطُّهُ بِيَمِينِكَ If that was the case,
if that was the case, اللَّغْتَابَ الْمُبْطِنُونَ then
the people who falsify would have been put
into doubt.
What this means is that O Prophet of
Allah, you were never taught how to read
or write.
One of the specific things which was special
about our beloved Prophet ﷺ is he's ummi,
he's unlettered.
He was never taught how to read or
write.
Yet, the Qur'an that has been brought
here, the Qur'an that he's given us,
is complete, it's perfect, grammatically correct and an
example of literary magic or a miracle, literary
miracle that has been given to us through
the Prophet ﷺ.
So where the Qur'an tells us فَأْتُوا
بِسُورَةٍ مِّن مِثْلِ bring a surah similar to
the Qur'an, it's not just bringing verses
which rhyme and then presenting it and saying
look, here I brought a surah for you,
you know, I'm, I've completed the challenge of
the Qur'an.
This is not what the Qur'an is
challenging us to do.
What the Qur'an is challenging us to
do is to bring a person who's never
learnt how to read or write and tell
him to write words or to bring words
which are pure and pristine just like the
words of the Qur'an and obviously nobody
is able to do that.
Nobody has been able to do that from
the time of the Prophet ﷺ since this
challenge has been produced and nobody will be
able to do that until the Day of
Judgement.
Something, a story similar to this, I'll tell
you this, sometimes I get into debates with
Christians about issues and one day a Christian
woman, she said to me that there's such
and such a person who started memorizing the
Bible.
Okay, so basically trying to push my buttons
to say look, you guys memorize the Qur
'an then we also, we have people who
are memorizing the Bible.
I said no, this is not how it
works.
The way that you can come anywhere close
to being what we do is first and
foremost you have to find the original scripture
of the Bible in its original linguistic form
in Aramaic the language that Isa A.S.
spoke, first you have to find that and
then you have to take that and learn
how to read it.
Second step.
Then the third step is that you have
to memorize that in its original form.
In that language.
Not the English Bible.
Anybody can do that.
This is what we do with the Qur
'an.
Little kids, 6, 7 year olds that don't
know how to speak Arabic.
It's not their original language.
Allah SWT enables them to memorize and learn
the Qur'an.
This is a miracle because we see it
on an everyday basis, it becomes kind of
normal for us.
The reality is there's nothing normal about it.
It's a miracle.
So, if you want to do something similar
to what the Muslims do, then do what
I've mentioned, which is original language, learning the
original language, at least how to read it
and then memorizing it and having your 6
or 7 year olds and 10 year olds
memorizing that then you're up to the challenge.
Then you're doing what we do.
Otherwise, you're very far away.
So this is what Allah SWT says about
the revelation of the Qur'an to the
Prophet SAW.
The miracle was that he didn't know how
to read or write.
And yet, this issue still, people who criticize
Islam, they bring it forward.
They say that what the Prophet did, he
took the stories from the rabbis and the
priests that were around him and he copied
them and he put them into a book
form and he presented them to people.
This is just copying from the Bible.
Historically, you'll find that Christians were not interacting
with the Prophet SAW.
Neither were the Jews in any great in
any great way, shape or form.
So, there was really no interaction.
In addition to that, their teachings had not
been translated into Arabic.
They were in their original scripts.
The Prophet SAW didn't even know how to
read or write Arabic, let alone Hebrew or
Aramaic or any of the previous languages.
So, it's very impossible to prove that the
Prophet SAW actually did that.
So, Allah says that you didn't used to
write, read anything before that from any book
and you couldn't even write anything with your
right hand.
If you did that, then the people who
falsify things, they would have been put into
doubt.
بَلْ هُوَ آيَاتٌ بَيِّنَاتٌ فِي صُدُورِ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا
الْعِلْمِ وَمَا يَجْحَدُ بِآيَاتِنَا إِلَّا الظَّالِمُونَ In fact,
these verses of the Quran, these are clear
signs, these are clear verses in the hearts
of those people that we've given knowledge.
So, Allah SWT is praising the Huffaz, praising
here the people who take time out to
memorize the Quran and is referring to them
as the people that have been given the
true knowledge.
وَمَا يَجْحَدُ بِآيَاتِنَا After seeing all of these
miraculous aspects of the Quran, who can deny
it?
Allah says, nobody denies our ayat except الظالمون,
the wrongdoers.
وَقَالُوا لَوْ لَا أُنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ آيَاتٌ لِلرَّبِّهِ قُلْ
إِنَّمَا الْآيَاتُ عِندَ اللَّهِ وَإِنَّمَا أَنَا نَذِيرٌ مُبِينٌ
أَوَلَمْ يَتْهِمْ أَنَّا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابِ يُطْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ
إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَرَحْمَةٌ وَذِكْرَىٰ لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ The
next objection was, why doesn't he bring any
miracles?
Isa AS had miracles, Musa AS had miracles,
we don't see him performing any type of
miracles.
Allah SWT says, isn't it sufficient for them
that we revealed upon you, O Prophet of
Allah, the book that has been recited upon
them.
Indeed in it, there is mercy and a
reminder for people of Iman, the people who
have Iman.
This book is sufficient as a miracle and
all the things that I've mentioned already, these
are all miraculous aspects of the Quran.
So that in itself, the Quran in itself
is sufficient to be a miracle from the
Prophet SAW but obviously in addition to that,
there were many miracles that the Prophet SAW
performed but if none of those miracles were
here, then the Quran itself is sufficient as
a miracle.
InshaAllah we're going to stop here and we
will continue our lessons tomorrow.
May Allah SWT give us Sufiq to understand
and practice what has been said and heard.
Al Fatiha.