Zia Sheikh – Tafseer Of Surah BaniIsrael Session 11
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
In the beginning, when I was a child,
I used to say, I am the companion
of the first hour.
I was married to him, and I lived
in love with what God revealed to me.
And I competed with my brother in his
recitation.
And when I met him, I met him
and I had a sheikh who inspired me.
I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed
Satan.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious,
the Most Merciful.
And when you recite the Qur'an, We
place between you and those who do not
believe in the Hereafter, a hidden veil.
And We place over their hearts a cover,
lest they understand it, and in their ears
a rain.
And when you mention your Lord in the
Qur'an alone, they turn their backs in
hatred.
We know what they hear of it, when
they listen to you, and when they are
in conversation, when the wrongdoers say, You follow
only a bewitched man.
See how they give you examples, and they
go astray, so they cannot find a way.
And they say, When we are bones and
ashes, will we be resurrected as a new
creation?
Say, Be you stones or iron, or a
creation of that which grows in your *,
and you will see who will bring us
back.
Say, The One who created you the first
time, and they will come to you, saying,
When will it be?
Say, Perhaps it will be soon.
The Day He calls you, you will answer
by praising Him, وَتَظُنُّونَ إِن لَبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا
InshaAllah we are starting from the ayah number
45 of Surah Bani Israel.
And last week we talked about the different
things that Allah SWT has created, whether they
are rocks, or trees, or animals, etc.
They are all somehow and someway doing the
praise of Allah SWT.
But we do not understand their tasbih, and
we do not understand the praise that they
are doing.
Today's first ayah, Allah SWT addresses the Prophet.
And the recitation of the Quran, just like
the tasbih of the creation, that we cannot
hear it, and we don't understand the tasbih
of the creation.
Similarly, the disbelievers, despite the fact that they
hear the Quran, and they can hear the
sound of it, but they don't understand it.
So this is the connection between the previous
ayah and this one.
Allah SWT basically starts to talk about the
mushrikeen of Mecca, and the fact that they
don't understand the Quran that is being recited
to them.
Allah SWT says, وَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ جَعَلْنَا بَيْنَكَ
وَبَيْنَ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ حِجَابًا مَسْتُورًا When
you recite the Quran of Prophet of Allah,
we make between you and between those that
do not have iman, a hidden hijab, a
hidden curtain, or a hidden barrier between you
and them, so they don't understand what you
are reciting, meaning they don't get guidance.
They hear everything, but they don't get guidance
from what you are reciting.
It is mentioned in a hadith that a
woman, she came to the Prophet SAW, whose
name was Umm Jameel, Al-Aura, her name
was Al-Aura, but Al-Aura basically means
a person who has one eye that functions.
So this one-eyed woman, whose name was
Umm Jameel, she came to the Prophet SAW
with the intent of hurting him.
So the riwayah says, جَاءَتِ الْعُرَىٰ أُمُّ جَمِيلٌ
وَلَهَا وَلْوَلَةٌ وَفِي يَدِهَا فِهْرٌ In her hand,
she had a heavy stone.
Fihr is, in medical terms, it is a
stone that was used to grind medical things,
medicine.
So this was Fihr, like a mortar and
pestle.
So you have this stone that was used
for grinding things, and she came with the
intention of hurting the Prophet SAW with this
stone.
She was saying in her mouth, she was
repeating a statement.
مُذَمِّمًا أَبِيْنَا وَدِينُهُ قَلَيْنَا وَأَمْرَهُ عَصَيْنَا This person
who has been insulting our forefathers, meaning the
Prophet SAW, his deen we have rejected, we
found it to be faulty.
Meaning we have rejected this religion that Muhammad
SAW is explaining to us.
وَأَمْرَهُ عَصَيْنَا And his command, we have disobeyed.
Meaning we are not going to obey this
person with what he is saying.
وَرَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَى اللَّهَ وَسَلَمَهُ جَالِسٌ وَأَبُوبَكَرِ إِلَى
جَمْرِهِ The Prophet SAW was sitting and Abu
Bakr RA was right next to him.
فَقَالَ أَبُوبَكَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ وَقَدْ أَقْبَلَتْ هَذِهِ وَأَنَا
أَخَافُ أَنْتَرَاكُ This woman is coming and I
am afraid that she is going to see
you.
Meaning that she is going to see you
and hurt you.
فَقَالَ إِنَّهَا لَنْتَرَانِ The Prophet SAW said, she
is not going to see me.
And he read this verse.
وَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ جَعَلْنَا بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَ الَّذِينَ لَا
يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ حِجَابًا مَسْتُورًا When you recite the
Quran, then we make between you and between
those people that don't believe a hidden curtain.
So basically he became invisible to her.
And she came right in front of him.
Until she stood next to Abu Bakr and
she didn't see the Prophet SAW.
And she said, يَا أَبَا بَكْر بَلَغَنِي أَنَّ
صَاحِبَكَ هَجَانِ This word has reached me that
your friend, meaning the Prophet SAW, has been
insulting me.
Abu Bakr SAW said, لَا وَرَبِّ هَذَا الْبَيْتِ
مَا هَجَاكَ He said, I swear by the
Lord of this house, meaning the Kaaba, he
did not insult you.
قَال فَانْصَرَفَتْ وَهِيَ تَقُولُ And she turned away
while she was saying, لَقَدْ عَلِمَتْ قُرَيشٌ أَنِّي
بِنْتُ سَيِّدِهَا Now Quraysh has found out that
I am one of the daughters of the
leaders of Quraysh.
Meaning, she was showing her bravery that she
could come right in front of people and
basically run her mouth and insult people and
show her bravery that way.
So she basically at the end, right at
the end she said, Now the people have
found out that I am really somebody.
So basically the lesson of the story is
that in this case what happened, Allah SWT
actually put an invisible curtain between this woman
and the Prophet SAW.
But what it actually means is, if you
look at it from the understanding that most
Mufasireen have, is that the people don't get
guidance from it.
There is a curtain between the people and
the Qur'an, meaning they don't get guidance
from it, which is reflected in the next
ayah.
وَجَعَلْنَا عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَن يَفْقَهُوهُ وَفِي آذَانِهِ
مَقْرَىٰ We put on their hearts a kinah.
A kinah is the plural of kinan.
And kinan, it means something which is hidden.
Something which is hidden, something which hides something
else.
And that's why the word kinanah refers to
a quiver.
A quiver in which the arrows are kept.
Which we call in Urdu tarkash.
You put the teer, the arrows, inside and
they become hidden and protected.
So Allah says we put a protection over
their hearts or a seal over their hearts
and because of that the guidance does not
get into their hearts.
وَجَعَلْنَا عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَن يَفْقَهُوهُ So that
they don't understand it.
وَفِي آذَانِهِمْ مَقْرَىٰ And in their ears there
is heaviness.
The word waqr really means, literally translated, if
you look at the literal translation of it,
it means a split in a rock.
So if there's a split in your ear
somewhere, something sensitive, the curtains of the ears,
or the drum of the ear, eardrum, it
has some damage, obviously it's going to damage
your hearing.
So waqr means deafness.
In their ears there is deafness, meaning they
can hear everything fine.
But they don't hear guidance.
They don't get what the message of the
Quran is and they don't get the message.
So it is just like they're deaf people.
وَإِذَا ذَكَرْتَ رَبَّكَ فِي الْقُرْآنِ وَحْتَةً When you
remember your Lord, or mention your Lord in
the Quran, alone, which was the whole message
of the Quran was dawheed, the oneness of
Allah SWT, not committing shirk.
Oh Prophet of Allah, when you mention your
Lord alone in the Quran, وَلَّوْ عَلَىٰ أَدْبَارِهِمْ
نُفُورًا They turn on their backs, nufoorah, in
the state of hate.
Meaning they hate the message that is being
given to them.
They don't want to hear this issue of
tawheed and only one Allah.
They want you to believe in the statues
that they've been praying to for all of
these years and they don't want you to
insult their statues.
The next ayah, it is similar in nature
and it has a bit of a story
behind it.
The story is, the hajjah is reciting the
Quran.
So these people, Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, Abu
Jahl ibn Hisham, and Akhnas ibn Shariq, they
set out with this intention.
So all night they sat there listening to
the Quran.
And then what happened?
فَأَخَذَ كُلُّ وَاحِدٍ مِّنْهُمْ مَجْلِسًا يَسْتَمِيُّوا فِيهِ Each
one of them, they sat in a particular
place listening to this Quran being recited.
And it's dark, so they cannot see each
other.
وَكُلُّ لَا يَعْلَمُ بِمَكَانِ صَاحِبِ None of them
knew about each other.
So they're sitting in the darkness and none
of them knew what was going on.
فَبَاتُوا يَسْتَمِيُّونَ لَهُ حَتَّى إِذَا طَلَعَ الْفَجْرِ تَفَرَّقُوا
The whole night they continued listening to the
Quran.
And in the morning, when the sun rose,
or the tulul fajr happened, the dawn came,
they split up and suddenly they bumped into
each other.
حَتَّى إِذَا جَمَعَتْهُمُ الْطَرِيقِ تَلَاوَمُوا When they basically
collided in the street, they started insulting each
other.
What are you doing here?
What are you doing here?
What are you doing here?
Okay, so basically each one knew what they
were doing.
They were all listening to the Quran.
وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ They started telling each other,
لَا تَعُودُوا Do not come back.
فَلَوْ رَآكُمْ بَعْضُ صُفَهَائِكُمْ لَأُقَعَةٌ فِي نَفْسِهِ شَيْئًا
Don't come back because if these people, meaning
the Muslims, see you, then they're going to
suspect something is up.
They're going to suspect that you believe in
the Quran that is being recited, so they're
going to have something in their hearts.
ثُمَّنْ صَرَفُوا And they went away.
حَتَّىٰ إِذَا كَانَتِ اللَّيْلَةُ الثَّانِيَةِ عَعَدَ كُلُّ رَجِلٍ
مِّنْهُمْ The next night, all of them came
back again to listen to the Quran.
فَبَاتُوا يَسْتَمِيُونَ لَهُ They continued to listen.
حَتَّىٰ إِذَا طَلَعَ الْفَجْرِ تَفَرَّقُوا وَجَمَعَتْهُمُ الْطَرِيقِ And
again, in the morning, they bumped into each
other.
فَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ مِثْلَ مَا قَالَ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ
And they said the same thing that they
said the night before.
We're not supposed to come back here and
nobody is supposed to see us.
ثُمَّنْ صَرَفُوا Then they turned away.
The third night, the same thing happened.
And again, finally they declared to each other,
they promised, لَا نَبْرَحُوا حَتَّىٰ نَتَعَاهَدَ لَا نَعُودُ
We're going to stay here until we have
made a commitment.
And we promised each other that we're not
going to come back again.
فَتَعَاهَدُوا عَلَىٰ ذَلِكِ ثُمَّ تَفَرَّقُوا They made this
commitment and then they split up.
فَلَمَّا أَصْبَحَ الْأَخْنَسِ بْنَ الشَرِيقِ أَخَذَ عَصَاهُ ثُمَّ
خَرَجَ حَتَّىٰ أَبَا سُفْيَانِ بْنَ حَرْبِ فِي بَيْتِهِ
أَخْنَسِ بْنَ الشَرِيقِ The next morning, he took
his walking stick and he went to Abu
Sufyan Ibn Harb and said, let's go to
meet Abu Jahl.
So what's going on here?
He's going to come to Abu Jahl and
say that, look, our tribes have been competing
with each other for so long.
You've been taking care of the hajis, we've
been taking care of the hajis.
You've been feeding people, we've been feeding people.
And we've had this competition between us for
so long.
And now, one of your people suddenly turns
up and says that he's the prophet.
Now how are we going to compete with
that?
There's no competition here that we can compete
with.
Okay, you bring a prophet, where are we
going to get a prophet from?
And just on the basis of this argument,
he said, we're not going to have iman
on this person, because that would automatically mean
that our tribe is lesser than yours, because
you have a prophet and we don't have
a prophet.
Okay, so this is basically the gist of
the statement that he made to Abu Jahl.
He says, Ya Abu al-Hakam, maa rayuka
fee maa sami'ata min Muhammad?
O Abu al-Hakam, what's your opinion about
what you've heard from Muhammad?
So Abu Jahl said, maaza sami'at?
What did I hear?
He said, We have always had a competition
between us and Banu Abd al-Manaf, which
was the tribe of the Prophet, peace be
upon him, in honor.
Okay?
They fed people, we fed people.
We gave people camels to ride.
They did that, we did the same thing.
And they gave in charity, and we gave
in charity.
Until it got to a point that we
were down to our knees in trying to
compete with you guys.
What happened?
Farsi Rahan means, this is a saying in
Arabic, when two people, or two horsemen, basically
literally translated, are rushing towards the same goal.
We became like these two horsemen that are
rushing towards the same goal and trying to
achieve something.
What happened?
We have amongst us a Prophet to whom
the Wahi comes from the sky.
Where are we going to get this from?
Where are we going to get a Prophet
from?
How are we going to compete with that?
And then, We're not going to have Iman
on him, and we're not going to believe
him.
So, Akhnas got up and walked away with
this declaration that I'm not going to have
Iman.
So basically, this episode of them getting together
and listening to the Quran is what is
mentioned in this ayah over here.
Allah SWT says, إِذْ يَقُولُوا الظَّالِمُونَ إِنْ تَتَّبِيُونَ
إِلَّا رَجُلًا مَّسْحُورًا We are fully aware, Allah
is saying about Himself, about what they are
listening to, when they are listening to you,
O Prophet of Allah, and when they are
in discussions, Najwa, meaning hidden, secretive discussions with
each other.
إِذْ يَقُولُوا الظَّالِمُونَ When the wrongdoers say, إِنْ
تَتَّبِيُونَ إِلَّا رَجُلًا مَّسْحُورًا Indeed, you are only
following a person who is the victim of
magic.
You are following a person who is a
victim of magic, meaning the Prophet SAW.
أُنظُرُ كَيْفَ ضَرَبُوا لَكَ الْأَمْثَالِ فَضَلُّوا فَلَا يَسْتَطِعُونَ
سَبِيلًا Look how they are giving examples for
you.
Meaning, they are calling you names, and so
on and so forth, and they are becoming
misguided, and after that, they are not on
the right path.
Meaning, they are staying misguided, and they are
not adopting the path.
And according to the story, simply because he
is from a different tribe, they don't want
to accept his message, because your tribe is
going to be higher than ours, because you've
got a Prophet, and we don't have a
Prophet.
Like, you know, they say keeping up with
the Joneses, okay, they want to keep up
with them in everything, even in having a
Prophet.
So when they cannot produce a Prophet, they
say, okay, we're not going to have Iman
on him.
Because if we admit to him being a
Prophet, then it means that we've admitted to
you being better than us, so we're not
going to do that.
وَقَالُوا أَيْذَا كُنَّا عِظَامًا وَرُفَاتًا أَإِنَّا لَمَبْعُوثُونَ خَلْقًا
جَدِيدًا This argument has come again and again
in the Qur'an.
That once we've been dead for so many
years, are we going to be recreated?
And they say, their argument is, that when
we become bones, and رُفَاتًا, meaning we become
rotten, are we going to be recreated, new?
إِنَّا لَمَبْعُوثُونَ Are we going to be resurrected,
خَلْقًا جَدِيدًا, in a new creation?
قُلْ كُنُوا حِجَارَةً أَوْ حَدِيدًا Tell them, O
Prophet of Allah, become stone, or become metal.
It doesn't matter to Allah SWT.
Become stone, or turn into metal.
After dying, if you turn into stone, or
if you turn into metal, what's going to
happen?
أَوْ خَلْقًا مِّمَّا يَكُلُ فِي سُدُورِكُمْ Or any
creation that is big in your hearts, that
you think it's huge in your hearts, you
can become any creation you like.
Okay?
Still it's going to happen, meaning you're going
to be recreated.
فَسَيَقُولُونَ مَنْ يُعِيدُنَا And they're going to say
to you, who's going to make us come
back again?
Who's going to make us come alive again?
قُلْ Tell them, O Prophet of Allah, أَلَّذِي
فَطَرَكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةً The one who created you
the first time.
How did he create you the first time?
In the wombs of your mothers.
From nothingness, you became something.
Now there is something.
You have bones and you have at least
a shell that Allah can work from.
Initially he created you from nothing into something.
Now at least he has bones to work
from.
At least he has material to work from.
So shouldn't it be easier for him now
to do it?
It's irrelevant really for a person of Iman.
Whether Allah creates us from nothing or he
creates us from something.
It is all easy for him.
But just by way of example to make
the disbelievers understand the folly of their understanding
that Allah can create us from anything and
he created us from nothing.
Now he can create us from something.
It's much easier for him.
قُلِ الَّذِي فَطَرَكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةً Tell them, the
one who created you the first time.
فَسَيُنْغِيْدُونَ إِلَيْكَ رُؤُوسَهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَاهُمْ And they're going
to shake their heads towards you.
Okay, in a kind of insult.
This word, in Ghad, it means to shake
your head in an insulting way.
Okay, when's it going to happen?
Okay, فَسَيُنْغِيْدُونَ إِلَيْكَ رُؤُوسَهُمْ They shake their heads
towards you and they say, مَتَاهُمْ When's it
going to happen?
قُلِ عَسَىٰ Tell them, O Prophet of Allah,
it's going to happen very very soon.
قُلِ عَسَىٰ أَن يَكُونَ قَرِيبًا It's very very
close that it's going to happen.
يَوْمَ يَدْعُوكُمْ فَتَسْتَجِيبُونَ بِحَمْدِهِ وَتَظُنُّونَ إِن لَبِثْتُمْ
إِلَّا قَلِيلًا On the day that he's going
to call you.
Meaning, he's going to resurrect you, he's going
to call you to him for the judgment
and you're going to reply with his hamd.
You're going to reply with his praise.
That, you know, you're going to be shocked
that you've been woken up and you're going
to praise Allah SWT for raising you again.
وَتَظُنُّونَ إِن لَبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا And you're going
to think that you only stayed for a
little while.
Meaning in your graves, it would seem either
in your graves or in the worldly life
your stay was a very minimal amount or
a very short amount of time and now
you realize that the eternal life is in
front of you and that 70 year life
or 80 year life is going to seem
like it was a very very short time
indeed in comparison to the life of eternity
and you're going to think that you stayed
for a very very short time.
With that, we finish today's lesson inshallah.
We'll continue the tafsir.
Next time I pray that Allah SWT gives
us tawfiq to understand and practice what has
been said and heard.
Al Fatiha.