Zia Sheikh – Tafseer of Surah AnNahl Ayah 101 onward 332016
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AI: Transcript ©
And when We replace a verse with another
verse, and Allah knows best what He sends
down, they say, You are only a forger,
but most of them do not know.
Say, The Holy Spirit has sent it down
from your Lord with truth, to make firm
those who believe, and as guidance and glad
tidings for the Muslims.
And indeed, We know that they say, He
is only taught by man.
The tongue of those who ascribe divinity to
Him is foreign, and this is a clear
Arabic tongue.
And those objections that the kuffar of Quraysh
and even the kuffar of today, the disbelievers
of today, have put against Islam.
And today, two very important discussions will take
place, and two objections that the disbelievers have
put over the time, over the ages, and
even to this day, they have put those
objections, they will be discussed.
One of them is the issue of naskh
of the Qur'an, naskh of Qur'anic
verses, and the second is the accusation that
the Prophet a.s. learned the Qur'an
from non-Muslim sources, Christian and Jewish sources.
So both of those things will be discussed
in detail today.
First of all, when we say naskh of
the Qur'an, what does it mean?
Naskh basically means that Allah a.s. brings
a command, and then after bringing that command,
He brings a different ruling to that command.
So this is found in a couple of
places in the Qur'an, and there are
a couple of examples of it.
For example, firstly, that previous nations, previous nations,
they had a certain ruling.
For example, the ruling for the Jewish slaughter
and the Jewish ruling, the diet ruling, is
much more stricter than the ruling that we
have for Islam.
So what Islam does, it changed the ruling
slightly, and made that ruling a little bit
relaxed.
So this is a form of naskh.
The second form of naskh is that when
the issue, a ruling is there, and there
is a lenient ruling, and then slowly, what
Allah a.s. does is, He brings a
ruling which is more strict.
But the strict ruling doesn't come down immediately.
Allah a.s. brings down the ruling in
stages, so that it becomes easy for people
to implement.
And a classic example of that is the
prohibition of khamr, the prohibition of alcohol.
So this took place in three stages.
Allah a.s. describes in Surah Al-Baqarah,
the people asking Him about two things.
They are asking you about khamr and maysir.
Alcohol and maysir, meaning gambling.
And ironically, both of these things are very
addictive.
And both of these things, they have, in
this country, support groups for people that are
addicted to both things.
Alcoholics anonymous and gamblers anonymous.
So, even in those days, the people felt
that these two things, there is something wrong
with them.
That's why they came and asked the Prophet
a.s. about them.
So Allah did not reveal the prohibition immediately.
So, in the beginning, Allah a.s. says,
He said, there are harms and there are
benefits.
But, So, for example, somebody drinks alcohol.
He forgets his sorrows for a while.
He feels good for a little bit.
And then after that, he comes out of
that situation and he has a hangover.
And then he becomes addicted to it.
So, on the one hand, there is slight
benefit.
And then after that, a person goes back
into this vicious cycle of drinking alcohol again
and again.
Also, the issue of wine comes up from
time to time.
Doctors say that if you drink one glass
of wine every day, it lowers your cholesterol
and it's good for you.
But, again, the same doctors, they will tell
you that if you don't drink alcohol, if
you don't drink wine, then don't start.
Yes, this is our research.
But, if you do not drink, then the
better option is for you not to even
drink.
So, this is the issue of alcohol.
And then the issue of gambling.
Sometimes a person wins, but the majority of
the time, a person loses.
So, sometimes there's benefits, but the majority of
the time, there are harms.
So, in this ayah, Allah said, So, this
was the first mention of alcohol.
The second stage of prohibition was when Allah
revealed, Do not come close to Salat while
you are in the state of intoxication.
And this took place after one of the
Sahabi, he had been drinking, he came to
lead the Salat, he led the Salat, and
he mixed up the verses to such a
degree that the meaning completely changed.
He said, So, he changed the meaning completely,
and then after that this verse was revealed,
and then people started avoiding drinking alcohol while
coming for Salat.
So, if you imagine, five times daily a
person has to pray the Salat, and now
he's being told to avoid alcohol during those
times of Salat, so all day basically, he
has to avoid it.
The only time he can drink now is
at night.
So, this was the second stage, and then
finally, the third stage of prohibition was Allah,
He prohibited it completely, So, this
was the stage in which the prohibition became
complete.
So, why did this take place over three
stages?
Because Allah knows the humans, He knows that
because of their weakness, for them to go,
as the saying is, we call it here
in the West, to go cold turkey.
Cold turkey means that you just stop drinking
immediately.
It is very difficult for people to do.
So, therefore, Allah SWT revealed the prohibition in
stages, and then it became easier for people
to follow.
And even certain things that the Prophet SAW
did, and prohibited, that kind of made people
lose, psychologically, lose touch with the alcohol too.
For example, there were certain utensils that people
used to use to put wine in to
ferment them.
So, initially, what Islam did was prohibit even
the use of those utensils.
And particularly what it was, you may have
seen the gourd, gourd which is like a
pumpkin, and if you hollow it out, it
becomes hollow and you can bang on it.
People use them for decorative purposes.
If you go to, like these house decoration
stores, you can buy these gourds that have
been hollowed out, and you can put them
for decorations.
So, initially, what people used to do, they
used to use those utensils, those gourds, to
put wine in so that it could ferment.
So, initially, the Prophet SAW even prohibited the
use of those utensils.
Why?
Because he didn't want people to kind of
lapse, relapse, into using those utensils, thinking about
wine, and then starting to drink again.
And that prohibition was temporary.
The Prophet SAW removed the prohibition after the
people, they completely stopped drinking alcohol.
So, that's the second kind of prohibition or
naskh that takes place in the Quran.
However, the Quran, in other things, it will
never change.
For example, about the issue of the planets,
the sun, the moon, things about the creation
that Allah SWT mentions, different rulings relating to
Aqidah and Tawheed about Allah SWT, these things
always remain constant, and they will never change.
However, the things that do change are from
Sharia to Sharia, meaning from previous religions to
our religion, or within the religion, for a
particular type of wisdom, like I've mentioned about
alcohol.
Otherwise, Allah SWT, He is not forgetful, and
He doesn't change things without a reason, there
is a reason for His change.
Now, people that make the objection, particularly against
Islam, about the issue of naskh, usually it's
like hardline Christians, but if you ask them
the question, that why is it that you
consume pork?
They say, well, it's in the Old Testament,
and the New Testament, it says, you know,
you're allowed to, for whatever reason, they have
a way that they justify it.
Or, there are very hard and strict rulings
in the Old Testament, and then in the
New Testament, there are very lenient and soft
rulings.
So, if you ask them the question, well,
who gave you the Old Testament?
God.
Who gave you the New Testament?
God.
So then, why is there a discrepancy between
the two?
So, you can answer the question and objection
against those people by using this kind of
understanding.
Anyway, so, Allah SWT says, When we change
one ayah in place of another ayah, and
Allah SWT, He is more knowing of what
He reveals and what He sends down.
Allah SWT is fully aware of what He
is doing, fully aware of what He is
revealing, fully aware of the verses that He
is sending down.
They say, and this can be anyone, and
in this case, it was the Kuffar of
Quraysh, and it can be even people of
today.
What was that?
They say, You are indeed fabricating things.
You are inventing things.
In the Quran, it said one thing at
that point, and at this point, it said
one thing, why are you fabricating things?
And again, a classic example of that, the
Jews of the time of the Prophet SAW,
they objected to the fact that the Prophet
SAW, he changed the Qibla from Baytul Muqaddas
to the Kaaba.
And because Baytul Muqaddas was the holiest place
for them, and they were facing their Qibla
at that time, even now the Orthodox Jews
face Jerusalem when they pray.
So they had an objection against the Prophet
SAW changing the Qibla.
But again, this is an example of the
Sharia changing, so the ruling for the Sharia
also changing, for the Prophet SAW, and also
an indication for the Ahlul Kitab, the Jews
and the Christians, to understand that Prophethood, that
was up until this time in Baytul Muqaddas,
in the area around Jerusalem, it has now
transferred into the Holy Land of Mecca, where
the Prophet SAW was born.
So this was the reason that the Tahwirul
Qibla took place, and the Prophet SAW himself
wanted the Qibla to be the Kaaba.
So initially, in Mecca he used to face
the Kaaba in such a way that both
Baytul Muqaddas and the Kaaba were faced at
the same time.
And when he moved to Medina, then he
couldn't do it, because Jerusalem is in the
north, the Kaaba is in the south, so
he has to decide which direction to face.
So initially the command was to face Baytul
Muqaddas, and after that the command changed to
Mecca.
So Allah SWT, He describes what the people
say about the Prophet SAW, Indeed, you are
just fabricating things.
Allah SWT responds to them and says, in
fact, most of them, they do not know.
Meaning that there is a wisdom behind the
changing of these rulings, that only Allah SWT
knows about, and that's why He changes these
rulings and brings about changes, but the majority
of the humans do not know.
And an easy example of that to understand
is a person, he gets afflicted with some
kind of illness, so for a certain amount
of time, the doctor gives him a certain
type of medication.
And then after that course is completed, he
gives him another course of medication different to
that.
And so nobody accuses the doctor of not
knowing what he is doing, but they trust
the doctor's judgment, and they go along with
the medication that have been prescribed, and this
is actually Allah SWT, He is the most
wise of the wisest, wisest of the wise,
and the fact that He gives us these
rulings, we have to put our trust in
Him, that He knows better than us.
After that Allah SWT says, Tell them of
the Prophet of Allah, This Quran, it was
not something that I fabricated and pulled out
of my pocket, but Ruhul Qudus, meaning the
angel, the most blessed angel, Jibreel AS, he
is the one who brings down this Quran,
from who?
Mir Rabbik, from your Lord.
It is not something that I have invented,
it is not something that Jibreel AS invented,
in fact Allah SWT describes Jibreel AS in
another verse as, The Ruh who is trustworthy,
meaning he brings the message exactly as Allah
SWT gave it to him.
He doesn't invent and fabricate and introduce his
own things inside it, in fact he brings
the message as Allah SWT gave it to
him.
So Ruhul Qudus, meaning Jibreel AS, he brought
it from your Lord, with the truth, he
brings the truth and nothing but the truth.
And the reason, This is the reason that
Allah SWT brings down different rulings at different
times.
So that he can strengthen those people that
have Iman, so that they can remain steadfast.
Why?
Like I said about the issue of alcohol,
if the ruling had come immediately, then it
would be difficult for people to take and
grasp that ruling, but what happened was it
came over time, so it became easier for
people to remain steadfast on that ruling.
So, And it is a guidance and glad
tidings for the people who submit themselves.
So all through the Quran Allah SWT gives
glad tidings for people that are believing, that
obey, that follow the command of Allah SWT,
that follow the sunnah of the Prophet SAW,
they continue to get glad tidings, and when
they read these things, they become happy that
Allah SWT has prepared for us a Jannah
and a reward that we will get in
the hereafter.
After that Allah SWT says, Indeed we know
that they are saying that the Quran was
taught to the Prophet SAW by a human
being.
So who is this human being?
There are various interpretations or various opinions as
to the accusation that they made against the
Prophet SAW.
Firstly, one opinion, Salman al-Farsi.
Another person, his name was Ya'ish.
Another name, Udaas.
And another name, Balaan.
All of these names were the ones that
people put forth as people that they suspected
that the Prophet SAW was learning the stories
from the previous scriptures from, and Allah SWT
is responding to that charge over here.
According to other riwayat, it was a person
who was amongst the Quraish, and the Prophet
SAW used to sit by him, he used
to sell things at the Mount of Safa,
and the Prophet SAW used to sit with
him and talk to him, and this person
was an A'ajami.
A'ajami means he was not an Arab.
And the Prophet SAW used to sit with
him.
So, this accusation was brought against the Prophet
SAW that he was copying the stories that
that person knew from the previous texts and
just putting them into the Quran.
So, Allah SWT responds to that.
Before I get into the response, there is
also an accusation that Khadijah RA, who did
she take the Prophet SAW to see when
the Wahi started coming to him?
She took him to see Waraqa Ibn Nawfal,
who was related to Khadijah RA.
And this Waraqa was a person who was
familiar with the previous scriptures, Christian teachings, Jewish
teachings, and he told the Prophet SAW that
I wish that I could be there at
the time when your people turn you out
of your city.
And the Prophet SAW at that time was
very surprised that how could my people turn
me out of my city when I am
supposed to be Al-Amin, I am the
Sadiq people, you trust me and they love
me and have affection for me.
So, Waraqa told him that every person that
has stood up with this message of Tawheed,
he has been thrown out of his city
and he has had a difficult time.
I wish I was alive when this thing
happens to you so I could come to
support you.
So, this Riwayat which is in Bukhari, it
says at the end of it, at the
end of that Riwayat, it says that after
a while Waraqa died.
Waraqa died and then the Wahi stopped coming
for a while.
The Wahi stopped coming for a while.
So, people have jumped upon this wording in
this Hadith in Bukhari and they say that
the Prophet was actually copying from Waraqa the
stories and when Waraqa died, then the Wahi
stopped coming because he was copying from him.
That's why it stopped coming.
But the reality is the answer is here.
The answer is mentioned.
Allah SWT says, The tongue or the language
that they are accusing the Prophet of copying
from was A'ajami, meaning non-Arabic.
In Hebrew or Greek or previous Aramaic, whatever,
different languages, but not in Arabic.
So, first of all, the Prophet A'ajami
could not even read Arabic.
Forget about different languages.
And on top of that, the Bible and
the previous scriptures were not translated into Arabic
until many, many centuries even after the Prophet
A'ajami, not even during the time of
the Prophet.
So, to accuse the Prophet of copying from
the previous scriptures, it is foolish on its
face because why?
First of all, the Prophet, he doesn't know
how to read.
He doesn't know how to read Arabic, let
alone the other languages.
So, how could he copy the stories in
such detail?
So, the story of Yusuf A.S. is
in such detail.
The story of Musa A.S., different stories
of Musa A.S. are mentioned throughout the
Quran in great detail.
The story of Yunus A.S. is mentioned
in detail.
The story of Lut A.S. is mentioned
in detail.
Ibrahim A.S. is mentioned in detail.
So, time and again, all of these stories
are mentioned without any kind of discrepancy, without
any kind of problem between them, all corroborating
with each other.
So, how could the Prophet A.S. bring
and copy those stories in such detail from
a non-Arab when he doesn't even know
how to read Arabic, his own mother tongue?
It is impossible for it to happen.
So, Allah S.W.T. responds by saying,
لِسَانُ الَّذِيُ الْحِيدُونَ إِلَيْهِ أَعَاجَمِيٌ The tongue that
they are accusing the Prophet A.S. of
copying from is A'ajami.
The word A'ajami, by the way, is
the word that Arabs use for non-Arabs.
And this traditionally was and still is used
for non-Arabs.
And the actual literal meaning of A'ajami
is dumb.
They used to regard the non-Arabs as
people that didn't know how to talk.
Why?
Because the Arabs themselves were very famous for
poetry and literature and reading and writing, storytelling.
In fact, there were marketplaces where people used
to just gather just to recite poetry to
each other.
This was how famous poetry was and literature
was at that time.
So, any person who didn't know Arabic, he
was automatically known as A'ajami, meaning a
person who is dumb, doesn't know anything about
language, doesn't know anything about poetry, doesn't know
anything about linguistics.
So, this was why they were known as
A'ajami.
And while we're on this issue, the Anbiya
A.S. were sent to their nations and
the miracles that Allah SWT gave them were
in accordance with the things that people were
famous for at that time or what people
used to look up to at that time.
So, during the time of Musa A.S.
for example, magic was at a peak.
Black magic, magicians, illusions, all these type of
things, they were at their peak and people
looked up to it.
So, Allah SWT gave Musa A.S. the
ability to counter the magic with miracles that
look like magic but was more powerful than
magic.
The stick that was given that turned into
a snake and the shining hand, all of
the different things that happened during the time
of Musa A.S. but in response to
the magic of the time which basically made
people understand that this is not magic.
Isa A.S. was given miracles of curing
people.
At the time of Isa A.S., medicine
and treating people of illnesses, it was prevalent.
So, the miracles that Isa A.S. was
given were related to the treatment and the
cure of people.
So, the fact that he could miraculously cure
blind people, the lepers, the sick, even bring
people back from the dead.
It was a miracle, miracles which were according
to the thing that was prevalent at the
time.
The Quran was given to our beloved Prophet
S.A.W. in such a way, it
is a literary miracle which is complete in
every way, in a poetic sense, in a
story telling sense, in a powerful sense.
Why?
Because the people of the time, they used
to be into the poetry and linguistics and
literature and so on.
So, that is why Allah S.W.T.
says here, The tongue that people are accusing
the Prophet S.A.W. of copying from
is A'ajami.
It is a non-Arab language.
And this is a tongue which is in
clear Arabic, meaning the Quran that has been
revealed, it is in clear and beautiful Arabic,
open Arabic that can be understood by everybody.
This is what the Quran is.
And if the Prophet S.A.W. had
copied from other languages, then there would have
been problems.
There would have been, you know, differences that
took place in the stories, but there is
such detail that he could not have copied
it.
So, with that, Insha'Allah, we finish for
today.
I pray that Allah S.W.T. gives
us tawfiq to understand and practice what has
been said and heard.