Zia Sheikh – Tafseer of Surah BaniIsrael Session 20
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We are going through the Tafseer of Surah
Bani Israel and today inshallah we are starting
from Ayah number 90.
In this selection of verses Allah SWT is
talking about a discussion that took place between
the disbelievers of Quraysh and how they put
up a few challenges to the Prophet SAW
that if you do such and such thing
for us then we will have Iman on
you.
We will believe you that you are a
Prophet of Allah and if not then we
will reject you.
So I am going to go through the
brief translation and then I am going to
go through the detailed story which is mentioned
in the books of Hadith.
And they said that we will never have
Iman on you, we will never believe you
until you make flow for us from the
earth streams.
Streams meaning a flowing stream.
So basically we have barren land, we have
desert and we have difficulty in making plants
grow in this barren land.
So why don't you ask Allah SWT to
make streams flow in front of us so
that we can utilize them and use them
for plants.
Or that you would have for yourself gardens
of date palms and grapes.
And in between those gardens there are rivers
flowing.
And not only flowing but flowing strongly.
So we want to see also this.
In addition to the streams around the desert
we want to see you have gardens full
of date palm trees and grapes.
And within those gardens we want to see
flowing rivers.
Or we want you to make the sky
fall on top of us in pieces.
So you claim that there is going to
be a day of judgment, everything is going
to be destroyed.
So why don't you let it come ahead
of time so that we can actually see
it happening.
So we want to see the pieces of
the sky falling down in front of us.
Or you bring Allah and the angels right
in front of us so that we can
see them.
Or that you should have a house made
out of gold.
You live in such squalor and such poverty
and such difficulty.
Why don't you just ask Allah to give
you a house made of gold so that
we can believe that you have some kind
of connection with Allah SWT.
Or that you should go into the skies.
We should see you go into the skies
and high into the skies.
And on top of that, Even if we
see it with our own eyes, we are
not going to have iman in your ascension
until you bring down a book from Allah
SWT so that we can read it.
Kitab can also mean a letter or a
message.
So we want you to not only ascend
into the sky but bring back a book
after you come back.
Allah SWT tells the Prophet SAW, How pure
is my Lord from all defects.
I am simply a human being sent as
a messenger.
You want me to do all of these
things?
I am simply a human being.
I cannot facilitate this for you.
And in fact Allah SWT gave him the
option that if you want we can have
these things brought, these miracles brought in front
of their eyes, but with the condition that
if they still continue to reject you, then
the punishment of Allah SWT is going to
come, which was the thing that used to
happen to all previous nations.
They asked for miracles and then after a
while they continued to disbelieve and then the
punishment of Allah SWT came.
So there is a story narrated about this.
That one day Utbah, Shaibah and the two
sons of Rabi'ah, Abu Sufyan ibn Harb
and Abu al-Bukhtari and Waleed ibn al
-Mughira and Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, Abdullah ibn
Abi Umayyah and Umayyah ibn Khalf, Aas ibn
al-Wail, they all gathered after the sun
had set near one of the sides of
the Kaaba.
And they started saying to each other, Send
somebody to Muhammad so you can talk to
him and kind of take him away from
the blame that is associated with him.
Many people are talking about him and indirectly
the whole tribe is being blamed for this
kind of rebellion that they perceived that the
Prophet SAW was leading.
So they said let's take a group and
just get everything out in the air and
try to sort things out and clarify.
They sent for him and told him that
the leaders of your people have gathered and
they want to talk to you.
The Prophet SAW got excited that maybe somewhere
along the line his message had hit home
and they were going to accept Islam.
So he got excited.
He thought that maybe there was some kind
of light bulb that had gone off in
their heads and they had decided to accept
Islam.
And he was eager for their Islam.
He wanted them to be Muslim.
He wanted their guidance and any difficulty that
came to them, it was hard for him.
These are the qualities of the Prophet SAW
mentioned in one verse of the Quran.
He wants you to be guided and difficulties
that you endure, they are heavy for him.
He finds them difficult.
So this is the quality mentioned here.
They sat close to him and they started
saying these things.
We've been sent to you so that we
can kind of free you from these accusations
that have been placed upon you.
We've never seen any man from the Arabs
that has put into his people what you've
put into your people.
Meaning you've basically split up the community in
many different ways.
You have cursed our forefathers.
And you've maligned the deen, our religion.
And you've declared our wise people to be
meaning foolish.
And you've cursed the gods.
And you've split up the community.
And there's no fault that could be anticipated
except you've brought it between ourselves and yourself.
If you want wealth, we will accumulate as
much wealth as you want so that you
can become the richest person amongst us.
If you want leadership, then we can make
you our leader.
If you want to be a king even,
we can make you a king upon us.
And if you think that you have some
kind of a jinn with you, which is
making you say these strange things which we
disagree with, then what we're going to do,
we will get the best of the doctors
so that he can treat you and take
you away from this illness.
Now, the Prophet ﷺ heard all of this
and he said, Whatever you say about me,
it's not true.
I didn't come here for wealth, I didn't
come here for leadership or kingdom or anything
of the things that you've suggested.
Allah ﷻ sent me as a prophet, as
a basheer, as a nadheer, as a giver
of glad tidings and as a warner.
He gave me a book and I have
given you the message and I have advised
you.
If you accept what I brought for you,
then you will get your share in this
world and in the hereafter.
And if you reject the message that I
brought, then I'm going to be patient until
Allah decides between us.
And if you reject the message that I
brought, then I'm going to be patient until
Allah decides between us.
He said, These people said, Okay, if you're
not going to accept our proposals, then you
know that our situation, financially, and in terms
of the crops that grow around here, and
all of the situations that you see, meaning
it is very difficult.
The only revenue that they used to have
was the revenue of hajj.
People used to, even in those days, perform
hajj along with the shirk and everything that
they used to do at the same time
during that hajj.
But they still did use to perform the
hajj and that was the only form of
revenue.
So, these mountains that are around Mecca, remove
them from us, so that the land becomes
flat.
And also, we want rivers to flow within
these lands, so that the land becomes fertile
and we can start growing things in this
land.
And also, what we want from you is
to make our forefathers come alive.
And one of them is Usai ibn Khilab.
Usai ibn Khilab is one of our respected
forefathers, who we believe in, and who we
respect.
If he comes alive, and he testifies to
the truth of what you're saying, then we
will believe you.
So, we're going to ask him, what you're
saying, is it true or is it false?
If you do what we ask you, and
we will believe you, and we will recognize
your position with Allah SWT, and we will
recognize that he sent you as a prophet,
as you are claiming.
The Prophet SAW said, I've not been sent
with these kinds of things.
I've come with what Allah SWT sent with
me.
Nothing else, nothing more, nothing less.
I have given you the message that I've
been sent with.
If you accept it from me, then you'll
get your share in this world and the
hereafter.
And if you reject it, then I'm going
to wait until Allah SWT decides between us.
If you don't want to do that, tell
your Lord to send an angel, who we
can talk to, and he can testify that
you are telling the truth.
And we will ask him, and also, That
he should make for you, this angel, he
should make for you gardens, and treasures, and
palaces made out of gold and silver.
And that will be sufficient for you from
the things that you are seeking.
We see you seeking those things.
In poverty, you don't need to be in
that kind of poverty anymore.
We see you seeking sustenance, just like we
seek sustenance.
We see you working, just like everybody else
works.
So what's the difference between you and us,
that you cannot even get from the treasures
of Allah SWT?
So, they basically kept on asking these questions
again and again, more and more impossible things,
until the Prophet SAW, he got up from
them, and he left, and he was so
despondent.
Why?
Because he had come with the hope that
they are maybe becoming Muslim, and instead, they
challenged him with so many different kinds of
things.
The Prophet SAW was actually, like I said,
the Rewaiah says at the end, that Allah
SWT told him, that if you want, we
can give them all of the things that
they requested, but if they still disbelieve, then
they will get punished.
And why Allah SWT did not also grant?
Because he knew that they were not intending
to, they were not intending to accept Islam,
they came just with the intention of bothering
the Prophet SAW, and harming him, and hurting
him, and not having any kind of intention
towards actually accepting Islam.
So this was the background to the ayat
that were revealed, and after that Allah SWT
said, قُلْ سُبْحَانَ رَبِّي هَلْ كُنْتُ إِلَّا بَشَرٌ
رَسُولًا that my Lord is pure from all
defects, I'm simply a human being sent as
a prophet, I'm not a miracle worker, I
am a person who is being sent with
a message, I'm just giving the message to
you.
وَمَا مَنَعَ النَّاسَ إِنْ يُؤْمِنُوا إِذْ جَاءَهُمُ الْهُدَىٰ
إِلَّا أَنْ قَالُوا أَبَاعَثَ اللَّهُ بَشَرٌ رَسُولًا Another
objection that people used to have about the
Prophet SAW, and in fact, about all the
Prophets in general, they used to say, why
didn't Allah SWT just send an angel to
us so that he could talk to us
and guide us?
Why did he have to send a human
being?
And in other verses in the Quran Allah
SWT says that they objected, ما لِهَذَا الرَّسُولِ
يَأْكُلُ طَعَامٍ وَيَمْشِي فِي الْأَسْوَارِ What's wrong with
this Prophet?
What kind of a Prophet is this?
He eats food, and he goes around in
the bazaar, meaning he does shopping.
So what kind of a person is this?
He's just like us.
There's no difference between us and him, so
why should we accept his message when there's
nothing unique about him?
So Allah SWT responds to that.
قُلْ لَوْ كَانَ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَلَائِكَةٌ يَمْشُونَ مُطْمَئِنِّينَ
لَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَلَكَ الرَّسُولَ If the
Prophet was being sent to angels, then Allah
SWT would have sent an angel as a
Prophet.
And the reality is that if the Prophet
had been sent, what would they have objected?
They would say, you're an angel, you don't
need to eat, you don't need to drink,
you don't have a wife, you don't need
to sleep, you have no bodily need, you've
been made for the obedience of Allah SWT,
you don't know how to commit any kind
of disobedience to Allah SWT.
So you are different and we are different.
We have needs, we have families, we need
to sleep, we need to earn, we need
to eat.
So how can we do the worship that
you do when you are completely different from
us?
This would be the objection that they would
raise.
So the need for Allah SWT to send
a human as a Prophet was simply this,
that look, I am a human being like
you.
I have wives like you, I have children
like you, I have to eat like you,
I have to sleep like you, I have
all these needs just like you.
And I am showing by example that I
can worship Allah SWT, I can wake up
for Fajr, I can wake up for Tahajjud,
I can fast in the heat of the
day as a human being with the same
needs as you have, the same necessities that
you have, with the same difficulties that you
have, so just follow in my footsteps if
you want to be successful.
So that's why Allah SWT sent humans as
Prophets and He didn't send angels as Prophets
to humans.
So this is what Allah says, If on
the earth there were angels walking around peacefully,
then most certainly we would have sent angels
to them as Prophets.
But because you are humans, that's why we
sent humans to you as messengers and not
angels.
With that inshallah we finish, I pray that
Allah SWT gives us the strength to understand
and practice what has been said and heard.
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