Zia Sheikh – Tafseer Of SURAH ALWAQI`AH Session 4
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And everybody's overjoyed and by the second or
the third baby, you know, it's an everyday
thing also for them.
Okay.
So, we have to appreciate the fact that
a life has been created.
A life has been created.
Arms, legs, eyes, nose, head, you know, the
feet, the toes, fingers, all created in perfect
formation, equality, and everything in the right proportion
and in the right place.
And this is for 99.9% of
all births that happen and on the odd
occasion that there is a deficiency, deformity, that
is only for us to appreciate the fact
that Allah SWT, if He wants, He can
do that also.
So, this day-to-day miracle, Allah SWT
is telling us about.
And the relevant thing in this also is
that when you, when we put this *
inside the uterus with the hope of having
a baby, do we see anything?
All we see is a liquid.
Unless we use a micro microscope and we
basically put it under the microscope, we can
see the little sperm cells running around and
swimming around in the liquid.
But that is something that is completely invisible
to our eyes.
From that invisible thing, Allah SWT creates a
human being.
So, the relevance within the previous ayat is
that Allah SWT, He created from an invisible
thing, He created a huge life.
He created a life, a walking, talking human,
that human that is going to become walking
and talking and a person who is going
to go from place to place, is going
to have eyes and ears and everything.
So, that same creator who created this life
from nothing, He is the one who can
recreate the human after death also.
So, this is the purpose of these verses.
Allah says, أَن تُمْ تَخْلِقُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْخَالِحُونَ
Do you create it or do we create
it or are we the ones who are
the creators?
So, the question is this very clearly.
Who is the one who does that?
We don't go into the womb and basically
determine what kind of a baby we're going
to want and all these kinds of things.
This is something that is only from Allah
SWT.
So, Allah is the one who makes that
creation happen.
نَحْنُ قَدَّرُنَا بَيْنَكُمُ الْمَوْتَ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ عَلَىٰ
أَن نُبَدِّلَ أَمْثَالَكُمْ مَنُنْشِئَكُمْ فِي مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
Allah says that we have put the death
between you.
We have made it between you.
We have written it between you that all
of you are going to die and you
will be recreated again.
This is what it means that the death
is going to come and the next step
of after death it will be recreation.
So, Allah has written death for us and
the death basically is written, but we don't
know when it's going to take place.
In most occasions, you know, the parents pass
away before the children and then the children
pass away, then the grandchildren pass away, then
the great-grandchildren.
But Allah sometimes has it written opposite to
that.
Sometimes the parent has to bury his own
child.
It's a very difficult thing to do.
So, Allah says نَحْنُ قَدَّلُنَا بَيْنَكُمْ الْمَوْتِ We
have written this death between you and also
وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ We're not going to be
beaten.
We can do something else.
عَلَىٰ أَن نُبَدِّلَ أَمْثَالَكُمْ Firstly, we can replace
you with something else.
We can replace you with another creation.
We can replace you with another race.
We can replace you with other people who
will do the bidding of Allah SWT, as
He has done.
History tells us that sometimes, you know, for
many years it was the Arabs who took
the banner of Islam and spread it far
and wide.
Then Farsi-speaking people, they took the banner
of Islam and spread it far and wide.
Then Turkish-speaking people.
Then people from the Indian subcontinent.
So this responsibility changed hands many many times.
إِن تَتَوَلَّوا يَسْتَبْدِي الْقَوْمَنَ غَيْرَكُمْ If you turn
your backs away, Allah SWT can change people
who are other than you.
So, عَلَىٰ أَن نُبَدِّلَ أَمْثَالَكُمْ Allah can replace
you with people similar to you.
And also, وَنُنشِئَكُمْ فِي مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ And
recreate you in a way that you didn't
even know.
So what's going to happen in the hereafter?
Now, we only have tongues that speak.
Our mouths speak.
Our vocal cords speak.
So Allah is telling us that in the
hereafter, what's going to happen?
Our body parts are also going to speak.
Which is something that, you know, shouldn't be
too much of a surprise to us.
We've made so many things speak, right?
We've made videotapes speak.
We've made TV speak, radio speak, internet speak
and telephone speak.
So all of these sounds, they're being recreated.
So the same Allah SWT who gave us
the intelligence to do those things, He can
make our body parts also talk.
So, Allah will create us in a way
that will be different to the way that
we were created first time, in the way
that our body parts will be allowed to
talk and also bear witness for us or
against us.
So, وَنُنشِأَكُمْ فِي مَا لَا تَعْرَبُونَ And recreate
you in a way that you did not
even know.
وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ النَّشَأَةَ الْأُولَىٰ بَلَوْ لَا تَذَكَّرُونَ You
have known the first creation, so why is
it you don't take heed?
So, النشأ, نشأ, it actually means to create
something from nothing.
So, you've seen, oh human beings, that Allah
created you from nothing, created your children from
nothing, created your brothers and sisters and all
humans from nothing that you can see apparently
with your eyes.
You've seen that.
Then, why is it that you don't believe
that Allah can recreate you and give you
another life in the hereafter?
What's so difficult about that for Allah?
فَلَوْ لَا تَذَكَّرُونَ Why is it that you
don't take a lesson from this?
Why is it that you don't pay attention?
أَفَرَأَيْتُمْ مَا تَحْرُثُونَ Do you see what you
are harvesting or you are farming?
أَأَنْتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الزَّارِعُونَ Do you grow
it or do we grow it?
So, what does the farmer do?
All he has to do is throw the
seeds out, prepare the land and put the
seed in its place.
Is it up to the farmer now to
make it grow?
It's just in the hands of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala now.
He does what he does and then the
rest is up to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
Allah is asking us this question.
Do you make it grow or do we
make it grow?
Undoubtedly, it is only in the hands of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And Allah in His infinite power, He makes
these plants grow and through making those plants
grow, He shows us His power.
Allah says, ثُمَّ شَقَقْنَا الْأَرْضَ شَقًّا We make
the earth split up.
So, if you see the first buds of
a plant that come out and if you
were to basically just touch it with your
fingertip, it would become squashed.
But that same bud is the one that
pushed itself out through the ground.
How did that happen?
How does that small soft bud push itself
through sometimes a very hard, sometimes a very
rocky ground?
It does that because Allah tells us that
it's not the plant that splits the earth
and allows that bud to come out.
It is only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
ثُمَّ شَقَقْنَا الْأَرْضَ شَقًّا We are the ones
who split the earth to allow this bud
to emerge from underneath.
So, يَأَنتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الزَّارِيُونَ Allah asks
us this question.
Do you make it grow or are we
the ones who make it grow?
لَوْ نَشَاءُ لَجَعَلْنَاهُ حُطَامًا فَظَلْتُمْ تَفَكَّهُونَ If we
wanted, we could turn it into a dry
waste product.
حُطَام, it refers to the chaff of the
wheat, basically, which is the peeling of the
wheat, which is dry, unusable.
And also, in Arabic, حُطَامُ الْبَيْضُ refers to
the eggshells.
Eggshells, very dry, unusable, basically not edible.
So, Allah says that if we wanted, we
could turn these plants of yours into the
lush, green and growing plants that you are
seeing in front of you, that you are
using and utilizing and eating and selling and
buying.
If we wanted, we could just turn it
into a dry waste type of crop.
فَظَلْتُمْ تَفَكَّهُونَ And you'd be astonished, you'd be
shocked, you'd be in a state of shock
at what's happening.
Just imagine, one year of drought, one year
of poor crops that emerge from the land
and how difficult it becomes for the society
with this drought and this poor yield of
crops.
It becomes very difficult.
فَظَلْتُمْ تَفَكَّهُونَ So فَظَلْتُمْ تَفَكَّهُونَ You're going to
be in a state of shock when that
happens.
إِنَّا لَمُغْرَمُونَ Indeed, we're at a loss.
What does غَرْم mean?
مُغْرَمُونَ مُغْرَم It refers to a person who
loses his money and doesn't get anything in
return.
That's مُغْرَمُونَ A person who basically loses it
all.
So they all say إِنَّا لَمُغْرَمُونَ All our
time, our effort, our seed, our water, our
land, all of the energy that we utilized,
we put into this land, yet what happened?
We got nothing back in return.
So our investment came out useless.
إِنَّا لَمُغْرَمُونَ Indeed, we're at a loss.
بَلْ نَحْنُ مَحْرُمُونَ Indeed, we're at a loss.
And then the next step is that not
only are we losing out, not only are
we basically losing everything, we are also being
deprived of using anything that we could have
used ourselves.
So مُغْرَمُونَ The money that we lost, the
energy that we lost, we lost it, and
on top of that, we are also being
deprived of using this crop because it was
useless.
After that Allah SWT then says فَرَأَيْتُمُن مَا
الَّذِي تَشْرَبُونَ Do you see the water that
you drink?
The blessing of water.
Something about which people are saying that in
a few years, just like people are fighting
over oil, the next treasure that people are
going to fight over is water.
About which the Prophet SAW he said, to
a person who is making wudu at the
edge of a river, you should not waste
the water.
You should not use more than is necessary.
So the person, individual who is thinking that
what difference does it make if I use
a little bit more?
Just one person, of course it doesn't make
much difference.
But if every single person thinks the same
thing, what difference does it make if I
use a little bit more?
Then collectively, it's a lot of people thinking
the same thing, a lot of people wasting
resources and wasting energy, wasting water, resulting in
this lack of water and being deprived of
it.
So wastefulness is something that we need to
avoid.
So Allah SWT reminds us about that.
Do you see the water that you are
drinking?
Are you the ones who make it descend
from the sky or are we the ones
who do that?
Allah is the one who sends down the
rain.
Nobody can do anything.
The hands are tired.
So many countries go through droughts for year
upon year upon year and nobody can do
anything about the droughts.
Only it is from Allah SWT.
So, If we wanted, we could have turned
this water into salt water.
So why is it you are not grateful?
So if Allah had turned that water that
comes down in the rain into salt water,
then it would not be able to be
utilized.
Why you cannot drink the ocean water?
You cannot drink it because it is full
of salt.
And if you do try to drink it
and you overdo the drinking, what happens is
you actually go crazy.
You cannot drink that water.
And if you go to the Middle East
now actually, they have what's called desalination plants.
So the majority of water that you get
in the Middle East plumbing system, the city
provides that water.
It is actually desalinized water.
That water which is taken from the ocean,
put through these plants that remove the salt
and then make the water usable to a
certain degree.
But that water is still not drinkable.
Even after having all this salt removed, you
cannot drink that water.
It is actually bad for you.
It will make you sick.
And if you ever get the chance to
go to Saudi Arabia, wash a cup and
basically what people tend to do, you wash
the cup and as it is still wet,
you put it on the countertop to let
it dry.
When you remove that after it is dried,
you will see actually a circle of salt
where you left that cup to dry.
So there is still salt content inside it.
You cannot remove it completely.
So they have done it to a degree
that it is usable, but still not drinkable.
So the fact that Allah SWT gives us
water from the sky, which is drinkable, which
doesn't have salt in it, it is a
great blessing of Allah SWT.
There is a dua related about the Prophet
SAW.
He used to drink the water and he
used to say, الحمد لله الذي سقان عذبا
فراتا برحمته It is all praise to you
Allah SWT, who made us drink this beautiful
sweet water with his rahma, ولم يجعله ملحا
أجاجا بذنوبنا and he didn't make it into
salt water because of our sins.
So the fact that Allah has given us
this water to drink, and he did not
turn it into salt, this is a great
blessing.
لو نشاء جعلناه أجاجا فلولا تشكرون If we
wanted we could turn it into salt, why
is it that you are not grateful?
And then he asked another question, something that
we all take for granted, أَفَرَأَيْتُمُ النَّارَ الَّتِي
تُرُونَ Do you see the fire that you
light?
The fire that you light, the fact that
you are using fire for cooking purposes, for
heating purposes, and nowadays for energy.
You are using that, so Allah says, أَأَنْتُمْ
أَنْشَأْتُمْ شَجَرَتَهَا أَمْ نَحْنُ الْمُنْشِئُونَ Did you make
its tree grow, or were we the ones
who made it grow?
So this goes back to the days when
people, what they used to do, they used
to take branches, they used to rub them
against each other.
Anybody who has been in Boy Scouts will
know how to light a fire by rubbing
sticks together.
You make a hole in a small stick,
you take another stick, you put it inside,
you rub it, until it starts smoking, and
then you put it inside some tinder, blow,
and it makes a fire.
So, the Arabs, they used to have two
specific types of tree.
They were, they had a special name, there
was one called Marakh, and the other was
called Ufar.
Marakh and Ufar.
And I'm sure people who are familiar with
this, you know, lighting of fires with trees,
they know that from specific branches you can
do it, not all branches.
For example, pine trees, they're very, very moist.
And if you try to light it, it's
not going to work.
So it has to be dry branches, dry
trees, and only from those branches you're allowed
to, you will be allowed to make the
fire.
So Allah SWT says, who made the tree
through which you guys make fire?
Only Allah SWT did that.
So, أَأَنْتُمْ أَنْشَأْتُمْ شَجَرَتَهَا أَمْنَحْمُ الْمُنْشِئُونَ نَحْنُ
جَعَلْنَاهَا تَذْكِرَةً وَمَتَعَ لِلْمُقْوِينَ We made it as
a reminder, we made this fire as a
reminder, وَمَتَعَ, a benefit, لِلْمُقْوِينَ, for the travelers.
مُقْوِي, refers to a person who travels, and
there are different interpretations.
One, it means that a person who is
either, a person who travels far off distances,
and particularly in barren lands.
That is what المُقْوِي refers to.
So, it becomes a benefit for المُقْوِين.
So, how does it benefit?
It benefits by, number one, providing heat, number
two, it provides comfort, and number three, it
scares off wild animals.
The fire, it scares off wild animals, so
a person, he can be relaxed next to
this fire.
So, it is a benefit for the traveler,
that Allah SWT has enabled us to do
that.
So, then Allah tells us, فَسَبِّحْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ
الْعَظِيمِ After hearing all of these things that
have been mentioned to you, the creation of
a baby, the crops that you eat, the
fruit that you eat, the plants that you
eat, the water that you drink, the fire
that you light, all of these things you
are taking for granted, and you see them
happening in front of your eyes, then how
is it that you still disbelieve in Allah
SWT?
After hearing all of this, you should do
nothing but praise Allah SWT.
فَسَبِّحْ تَسْبِيحْ Glorify, purify Allah SWT from all
false, who is your great and exalted Lord.
Praise Him, glorify Him, meaning, have faith in
Him, believe that He exists, believe that He
has the power to do all of these
things, and believe that He will resurrect you
in the hereafter, after your deaths, and this
is the purpose of all of these verses
that have been mentioned, to make us understand
the greatness of Allah SWT by pondering into
His creation.
With that, inshallah, we finish, and we will
continue with the lesson next week.
I pray that Allah SWT gives us tawfiq
to understand and practice what has been said
and heard.