Zia Sheikh – Tafseer Of Surah Bani Israel Session 14
AI: Summary ©
The Prophet A.s. and Shims are powerful and powerful figures. The Shims are designed to destroy people and steal warfare, while the Shims are designed to protect sh rooms and children from shrooming. The sh matter is the means that the shrouds are acting, and the sh matter is the way they act. The sh matter is the way they act, and the sh matter is the way they act.
AI: Summary ©
We are going through the tafsir of Surah
Bani Israel or Surah Al-Isra.
And today inshallah we are going to be
starting from ayah number 60.
And if you remember in the last session
we had, we talked about different issues related
to the gods that people worshipped.
And there we declared that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala is the thing that everything is
trying to head towards.
All the statues, all the things that you
claim to be worshipping, Isa a.s. They
all want to get closer to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
So when they are in need of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, then what about you?
Why are you worshipping those that are in
need of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala themselves?
In today's lesson we are starting off with
an ayah which addresses the Prophet a.s.
And in this ayah Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala tells him that Allah is in charge
and he is watching everything.
And he will take care of these disbelievers
that are saying bad things against you.
And are basically oppressing you and giving you
a hard time.
So the connection between this ayah and the
previous ayah was that basically they are committing
shirk, continuing to commit shirk, even though the
Prophet a.s. is giving them dawah all
the time.
So here Allah is consoling the Prophet a
.s. to tell him to calm down, to
take it easy and don't be upset at
these people's attitudes towards him.
So Allah says, وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لَكَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ
أَحَاطَ بِالنَّاسِ And remember O Prophet of Allah,
when we told you, when we said to
you, that indeed your Lord is encompassing these
people.
He is encompassing meaning he is gathered around
them, he is covering them, meaning that they
have nowhere to run.
Ultimately what's going to happen, if they don't
get punished in this world, then they will
get punishment in the hereafter.
They will not be able to escape from
any kind of punishment, unless and until they
make tawbah and repent and start listening to
the message that you have brought O Prophet
of Allah.
Indeed your Lord has encompassed and gathered around
these people.
In addition to that Allah says to the
Prophet, وَمَا جَعَلْنَا الرُّؤْيَ الَّتِي أَرَيْنَاكَ إِلَّا فِتْنَةً
لِّلنَّاسِ And the thing that we showed you,
and here it's talking, the very first ayah
at the beginning of this surah was what?
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ
إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَةِ Okay, it talked about Isra
and Mi'raj, the miracle that happened to
the Prophet ﷺ, where he went from Makkah
to Jerusalem and then up into the seven
heavens.
Here Allah is saying that this event that
took place and the thing that you saw
and all the things that you saw on
that particular night, this was a trial for
the people, okay?
What kind of trial?
When the people heard about what happened to
the Prophet ﷺ, there were two sharply divided
groups that came about.
One was the group like Abu Bakr Siddiq
ﷺ, when he was told by the kuffar
of Quraysh that, do you hear what your
friend Muhammad is saying?
Okay, he's saying that last night he went
to Jerusalem and then he went up into
the seven heavens.
Obviously, this was before high-speed travel and
jet travel and airplanes and all that kind
of stuff.
So, these disbelievers were saying to Abu Bakr
Siddiq ﷺ, this is what your friend is
saying.
Now, do you believe him?
Abu Bakr Siddiq ﷺ, he said very calmly
that, did he actually say that?
They said, yes, he actually said it.
Abu Bakr Siddiq said, then I believe him.
Simply, I believe him because he is truthful,
he never lies and I believe what he
is saying.
And obviously the people that were relying upon
the things that they saw with their eyes
and they felt with their eyes and they
weren't thinking of miracles that can happen to
Prophets, they said, no way, we cannot believe
that this happened.
So, this was a fitna, it was a
trial for people, okay?
So, the people that were weak of Iman,
they basically rejected this event and the people
that were firm in their convictions, they accepted
that this actually happened, like Abu Bakr Siddiq
ﷺ.
So, this ru'ya or this thing, this
event that took place, usually ru'ya refers
to a dream, but here it means ru
'ya al-'ayn, something that was seen with the
eyes.
So, physically it actually took place, according to
the majority of the scholars, that whatever we
showed you, it was a trial for the
humans.
And also, another trial is, وَالشَّجَرَةَ الْمَلْعُونَةَ فِي
الْقُرْآنِ The accursed tree which is mentioned in
the Qur'an, which is the accursed tree,
it is known as شَجَرَةُ الزَّقُومِ It's mentioned
in another verse, in another surah, إِنَّ الشَّجَرَةَ
الزَّقُومِ طُعَامُ الْأَثِيمِ كَالْمُهْلِ يَوْمُونِ It's mentioned in
also surah As-Safat, okay?
So, this tree is also a form of
trial for the disbelievers and for the humans.
How so?
The Qur'an describes this tree, which is
in the middle of the hellfire.
Okay, so, the hellfire burning, supposedly burns everything,
and 70 times more powerful than the fire
of this world.
Abu Jahl, and people like him, when they
heard these ayat, describing شَجَرَةُ الزَّقُومِ being a
tree in the middle of the hellfire, he
said, what kind of a tree is this?
You're saying that there's a hellfire, and then
this tree is not being burned in the
middle of the hellfire, how can that be?
You're just making up stories.
And according to another riwayah, he said that
the only زَقُوم that we believe in is
meaning that the only زَقُوم that we're going
to eat, because the Qur'an says that
the dwellers of the hellfire will be made
to eat from this شَجَرَةُ الزَّقُومِ which is
basically nettles and thorns and rough sticks and
twigs, they're going to be made to eat
this tree.
So, Abu Jahl, ridiculing what the Prophet ﷺ
said, said the only زَقُوم that we're going
to eat is cheese and dates.
And he said to his servant girls, slave
girls, bring dates and cheese so that I
can eat from my زَقُوم.
Okay, ridiculing the Qur'an and what the
Prophet ﷺ told him.
So, and also a trial and tribulation is
this accursed tree which is mentioned in the
Qur'an, meaning, again, people either believed or
disbelieved.
وَنُخَوِّفُهُمْ Allah says, we have made them afraid
of this tree, we have put the fear
inside them, but instead of taking that fear
and acting upon it and becoming Muslims, what
is happening to them, فَمَا يَزِيدُهُمْ إِلَّا تُغْيَانًا
كَبِيرًا It only makes them increase in their
transgression a great deal.
Okay, so they keep on transgressing and they
become more embedded in their كفر and their
disbelief instead of taking a lesson from it.
After that, who is the one that makes
them stay embedded in their كفر and disbelief?
It's the Shaytan.
And this story of Shaytan, which is mentioned
in two or three places in the Qur
'an, is mentioned again, how Allah ﷻ created
Adam ﷺ from soil and told all the
angels to prostrate.
Here it's told in a kind of a
different way, so inshallah we're going to hear
what is mentioned here.
Allah says, وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ
قَالَ أَسْجُدُوا لِمَنْ خَلَقْتَ طِيْنًا When we told
the ملائكة, the angels, prostrate to Adam.
And this prostration was not a prostration of
worship.
It was a prostration of تَكْرِيم It's a
prostration of respect, which was permissible in sharias
before us.
In our sharia, we're not allowed to prostrate
to a human.
We're not allowed to make sajdah to a
human.
Okay, prior to this, we look at the
story of Yusuf a.s. His brothers, they
came and prostrated in front of Yusuf a
.s. Right?
And he saw in a dream, the 11
stars and the sun and the moon are
prostrating to him.
So his brothers basically prostrated to him at
the end of the surah.
So prostration, it was permissible in previous religions,
in previous sharias.
But our sharia, it was a sharia of
prevention.
So this even sajdah of respect has been
ruled out and is not permissible.
So Allah SWT told the angels to prostrate
to Adam a.s. out of respect.
And they all prostrated, except for Iblis, except
for the shaitan.
He refused.
And he said, أَسْجُدُ لِمَنْ خَلَقْتَ طِينَةً Should
I prostrate to that what you created out
of soil?
So this is again mentioned many places how
he became arrogant.
And how he disobeyed.
It was arrogance that took him out of
Jannah.
It was arrogance that took him out of
being with the angels with whom he spent
thousands of years.
He just said, أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِنْ I'm better
than him.
This is the only thing that he said
that took him out.
And this is how dangerous arrogance can be.
Okay.
So he said, Should I prostrate to that
what you created out of soil?
And then he carries on.
And the wording is very very strong here.
The shaitan, how he talks to Allah SWT.
And it's you know, if we have a
boss or a superior, we cannot imagine saying
the words that the shaitan said to Allah
SWT.
He says here, قَالَ أَرَأَيْتَكَ قَالَ أَرَأَيْتَكَ هَذَا
الَّذِي كَرَّمْتَ عَلَيْهِ This word, أَرَأَيْتَ It's sufficient
to say, Do you see?
Do you see?
But this قَ at the end, it makes
it a little bit more stronger.
Do you see?
You know, the way it's, I would say
it, or a person would say to somebody
who is insulting, Do you see?
أَرَأَيْتَكَ This is what تَكَ means.
If I say أَرَأَيْتَ Did you see?
But أَرَأَيْتَكَ Did you see?
Or do you see?
This is so disrespectful, and when we think
that who is being addressed here, Allah SWT
is being addressed.
So this ق is for emphasis, so the
Shaytan is giving this emphasis to Allah SWT.
And he's saying, Do you see?
هَذَا الَّذِي كَرَّمْتَ عَلَيْهِ This thing that you
have given honor over me.
Again, so much disrespect to Allah SWT, and
so much disrespect to the creation that Allah
SWT just created, and told the angels to
prostrate towards, Did I prostrate to this thing
here?
This thing that you created?
So much disrespect.
Then he says, لَإِنْ أَخَّرْتَنِي إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ
لَأَحْتَنِي كَنَّ ذُرِّيَتَهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا If you were
to give me just some time until the
Day of Judgment, then I would, لَأَحْتَنِي كَنَّ
is this word, it means to take something
and rip it from the root.
So, حَنَك it means when an animal actually
takes the pasture, the grass, and eats it
so much that it gets right to the
root of the plant itself.
That's how, what حَنَك means.
So لَأَحْتَنِي كَنَّ means, I'm going to basically
rip these people up from the root and
take them and where they should go is
Jannah, but I'm going to take them and
rip them and make them go to the
Hellfire.
So, if you give me time until the
Day of Judgment, I would rip up the
progeny of Adam except for a very few,
meaning the few that did not listen to
me, the few that do not fall for
my tricks, I will not be able to
fool them into going into the Hellfire, but
I'm going to try my level best to
rip everybody from the root and basically take
them from Jannah into Jahannam.
So Allah SWT responds to him and says,
قَالَ اذْهَبُ Allah SWT said, اذْهَبُ go.
فَمَن تَبِعَكَ مِنْهُمْ فَإِنَّ جَهَنَّمَ جَزَاءُكُمْ جَزَاءٌ مَوْفُورًا
Whoever from amongst them follows you, then indeed,
the Hellfire is going to be your reward,
a complete reward, meaning complete punishment is going
to be given to you in the form
of Hellfire, whoever follows you.
And, in many many places in the Quran,
Allah SWT says, اِنَّ عِبَادِي لَيْسَ لَكَ عَلِمٌ
فُلْطَانٌ My slaves, you're not going to have
control over them.
You're not going to be able to do
anything to them.
So the Shaitan can only put wasawis in
our hearts.
He can only put whispers in our hearts
and thoughts in our minds, but he cannot
really grab our hands and force us into
doing something.
Ultimately, it's us that actually do the action.
So the Shaitan has very limited powers.
So, we have to always ask Allah to
protect us from the tricks of Shaitan.
Remember Allah has declared him اِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لِلْإِنسَانِ
عَدُوٌ مُّبِينٌ Indeed, the Shaitan for the human
being is an open enemy, a clear enemy.
And even the Prophet ﷺ was not immune
from the tricks of the Shaitan and how
the Shaitan tried to hurt our beloved Prophet
ﷺ.
I mentioned this a couple of days in
Fajr, how when the Kuffar of Quraish were
gathered around and they were planning what should
they do with this threat of the Prophet
ﷺ which they thought and perceived to be
a threat.
What should they do?
A group of them gathered and the Shaitan
came in the shape of an old man
and they basically had suggestions.
Some said we should just imprison him, some
said we should get rid of him and
then the opinion was, and to all the
opinions he said no, this is not right,
this could happen.
And finally when they said that all of
us should gather together and all the tribes
should simultaneously kill Na'udhu Billah the Prophet
ﷺ so that revenge cannot be taken against
all of us, the Shaitan said yes, that's
the best idea.
That's the best idea.
So even the Shaitan was trying to do
something to harm our beloved Prophet ﷺ.
So who are we to think that we
cannot be tricked by the Shaitan?
We need to know that he's our enemy.
After that Allah says, وَاسْتَفْزِزْ مَنِ اِسْتَطَعَةَ مِنْهُمْ
بِسَوْتِكِ Incite them, meaning you try to attract
them.
Allah is telling the Shaitan, you try to
attract them with your voice.
So what does that mean with your voice?
Scholars have said with things which are لَهُوَ
اللَّعِب Things like music, things that misguide people
and waste people's time.
Incite them with your voice.
وَأَجْلِبَ عَلَيْهِمْ بِخَيْلِكَ وَرَجِلِكَ And attack them with
your خَيْل and your رَجِل.
Attack them with your armies that are riding
and also armies that are on foot.
So the Shaitan has his what we call
minions or little Shayateen.
Some of them they ride animals or whatever
they ride and some of them are on
foot.
Allah SWT is saying, you take these minions
of yours and you attack as many of
my slaves as you want.
وَأَجْلِبَ عَلَيْهِمْ بِخَيْلِكَ وَرَجِلِكَ وَشَارِكْهُمْ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ
وَالأَوْلَادِ And you become part of their wealth
and their children.
Amazing.
Allah SWT allowed the Shaitan to become part
of the wealth.
Meaning we are always going to be tested
through our wealth.
Whether we are earning halal or whether we
are earning haram.
Whether we are engaging in making money out
of interest or gambling or haram means or
stealing, you know, cheating and so on.
The Shaitan, he tries to intervene in all
of these ways in trying to make sure
that we are only earning from the wrong
sources.
We have to understand and remember that whatever
Allah SWT has written for us, we are
going to get it anyway regardless.
The means that we use, the means that
we adopt, make whatever we are going to
get either haram or halal.
There is a very famous story about Ali
RA who stopped at a place and he
told a person who was by the door,
he said, look after my horse, I'm going
to be inside for a few minutes and
I'll come out and then I'll go and
continue on my way.
So when he came out, the horse was
there but the saddle was gone.
The horse is there, saddle is gone.
So he realized that the person, he actually
stole the saddle.
So he carried on, you know, his way
and he found later in his journey, few
hundred yards later he found the saddle was
at the side of the road being sold
by a third person.
So basically that person stole it, sold it
to another person and now Ali RA comes
across the saddle and he says, you know,
where did you get the saddle from?
The person says, such and such sold it
to me for X amount of money.
So Ali RA said, subhanAllah, the amount of
money that he sold it to you for,
I was going to give him exactly the
same amount of money for looking after my
horse but he was impatient.
So basically what this means is that whatever
Allah SWT has written for us, we're going
to get it but the means that we
adopt make that thing either haram or halal.
So we have to be sometimes patient for
our halal risk to come through and when
we are tested with haram, we should say
no, I don't want this haram and I
want only the halal that Allah SWT has
written for me and that will have barakah
in it and this will have khair in
it for me.
So, wa sharikum fil amwal, Allah SWT told
the shaitan, intervene in the wealth and also
intervene in the children.
This is again in amwal also, Allah SWT,
He allows the shaitan to intervene whenever we
are eating.
If we are saying, if we start the
food without Bismillah, then what's going to happen?
The shaitan comes in and intervenes and he
joins in which results in lack of barakah.
And as for being part of the children,
when we are having intimacy with our wives,
there are duas that we are supposed to
recite, that protect us from the shaitan.
Allahumma jannibna shaitan, wa janna bish shaitana ma
razaqtana This is the dua that we are
supposed to recite.
O Allah, protect us from the shaitan and
protect us from whatever you have blessed us
with in the womb of the wife, protect
us, protect the shaitan, protect this progeny from
the shaitan attacking it.
So, that will prevent the shaitan from intervening
and becoming part of the progeny.
This is again one of the duas that
we should recite.
And again, this shows that everything that has
been taught to us by the Prophet SAW
is for our own good.
So, wa sharikum fil amwali wal awlaad, intervene
in the children means that one meaning is
that at the time of intimacy, when the
husband and wife are together, then you come
and intervene and try to affect the progeny
yourself.
And again, another thing is that what do
we do?
Whatever we do in our lives, we do
for our children, right?
Somebody says to you, why are you earning
haram money?
I'm trying to make a nest egg for
my children so that when I leave, they're
going to enjoy themselves and have a comfortable
life.
We do it all for our children.
And sometimes, even doing it for the children,
we neglect the fact that we're doing halal
thing or haram thing.
So, Allah SWT is saying that this is
again something we need to be very careful
about.
Wa sharikum fil amwali wal awlaadi, wa'idhum,
and also make promises to them.
What does the shaitan make us promise?
He promises us a long life, 80 years,
90 years, 100 years, you're going to live
for.
You don't have to become a mullah right
now.
You don't have to sit in the masjid
right now.
You don't have to perform hajj right now.
You don't have to give sadaqa right now.
You have a long life ahead of you.
But at the same time, we see people
in their 20s and 30s and 40s dying
in front of our eyes.
And yet, it's not enough for us to
realize that the shaitan is making us fooled
into thinking that we do have a long
life.
The reality is nobody knows when we're going
to leave this world, and our life could
be shorter than we think.
And the shaitan promises us all these forms
of enjoyments.
Do this, you will enjoy it.
Eat this, you will enjoy it.
Meet this woman in a wrong way, you
will enjoy it.
So, the promise of the shaitan again and
again in different things, wa'idhum.
Allah SWT gave him permission to make these
promises to us.
We have to be aware of that.
Allah declares that whatever the shaitan, he promises
the people, it is simply deception.
He's deceiving us, he's fooling us, he's tricking
us.
We have to be aware of that deception
and not fall for his tricks.
And then, this point also Allah SWT says,
I've given you the power to do all
of these things, but there are a group
of my slaves, a group of my servants,
that you don't have the power over.
And you will not be able to control,
and you will not be able to give
them these false promises.
They're my slaves.
Indeed, my servants, my slaves, you do not
have any power over them.
And Allah SWT is enough as a waqeel
for them, to look after them.
Waqeel means somebody that we turn our affairs
to.
An attorney, in this day and age, we
call a waqeel, muhami, a person that we
give full responsibility to.
The best waqeel, Allah SWT, who we turn
our affairs to, and because we turn our
affairs to him, he protects us from the
shaitan, he protects us from evil, and we
should always ask Allah SWT to remain our
waqeel, and to protect us from the tricks
and the wiles of the shaitan, so that
we don't get failure in this world, or
the hereafter.
I pray that Allah SWT gives us tawfiq
to understand and practice what has been said
and heard.
InshaAllah we'll continue with ayah number 66 next
week.
Al Fatiha.