Zia Sheikh – Tafseer of Surah BaniIsrael Session 22
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Today, I am going to give you a
lecture on how to read the Qur'an
in the Qur'anic style.
Before I start, I just want to let
you know that there is a Sajdah ayah
that I recited.
Before I start, I just want to let
you know that there is a Sajdah ayah
that I recited.
Today we are going to be starting from
ayah number 100 of Surah Bani Israel.
In the past couple of lessons, we discussed
the objections that the disbelievers had against our
beloved Prophet.
In the past couple of lessons, we discussed
the objections that the disbelievers had against our
beloved Prophet.
For example, they were asking him to bring
a book from the sky, or to dig
up wells for them, or to move the
mountains, or to bring gold from the earth,
and so on.
for example, they were asking him to bring
a book from the sky, or to dig
up wells for them, or to move the
mountains, At the end of that, Allah told
the Prophet, At the end of that, Allah
told the Prophet, And all of these things
that you are asking me to do, they
are miraculous in nature, they are superhuman, And
all of these things that you are asking
me to do, they are miraculous in nature,
they are superhuman, and I cannot do them
exactly as you are telling me to.
And in addition to that, the answer to
those challenges are being given in these verses
that are being recited today.
The first one, Allah says, tell them, tell
these people that are giving objections to you,
and they are giving these challenges to you.
You are asking to be given gold and
silver and you're asking for the mountains to
be moved so that you can grow the
plants and crops in Makkah.
But if this was even given to you,
then you would hold fast to it for
fear of poverty.
The word in fact actually means to spend
but it can also mean meaning poverty and
not having something.
Also, the meaning can be taken from it.
Okay.
So if the thing that you're asking for
you can spend them in the path of
Allah meaning that it would not increase your
Iman in the least just because you've got
those treasures just because you've got that those
blessings just because you've got that gold or
you have the ability to grow all these
plants, still your Iman will still be deficient
to such a degree that you will not
have Iman in Allah and the Hereafter and
the promise of Allah that if you spend
it, then Allah is going to return it
back to you in the Hereafter.
So there's no point in me providing these
miracles for you.
That's the first thing.
Indeed, the human being is Qatoor.
Qatoor in Arabic refers to that person who
even does not spend upon his family for
fear of becoming poor.
Okay, when a person spends on anything, the
first thing that he thinks about it is
his family.
Okay, charity begins at home, but some humans
are so stingy and so miserly that when
it comes to spending upon their own family,
they are too stingy for that even.
So Qatoor means that kind of stinginess that
prevents a person from even spending on his
family.
So Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala says indeed the
human being is so stingy.
He is Qatoor, he is so stingy that
he doesn't even want to spend on his
family.
In addition to that, the next ayah, it
talks about the previous nations who were given
such miracles and shown such miracles that were
completely a sign or signs of the Majesty
and the power of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala.
But still the people that wanted to reject
those miracles continued to reject those miracles.
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala describes specifically the story
of Musa a.s. When he was sent
to Bani Israel and he was sent to
Firaun, how Allah sent miracle after miracle to
the people of Firaun and each time that
miracle came, they said and each miracle was
in the form of punishment in fact, difficulty,
hardship.
So nine miracles were sent, nine signs were
sent to Firaun and his people and each
time a sign was sent, they would say
to Musa a.s. Remove this problem for
us, remove this difficulty from us and then
we will have belief in you, we will
believe in you and then each time that
difficulty was removed and that hardship was averted,
they went back to their ways and said,
no, we're not going to follow you.
We're not going to have iman.
So Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala is saying that
again, it is not the miracles that you
need.
It's internally, you don't want to believe in
the first place.
So just like previous Nations who were shown
miracles, miracle after miracle and they didn't accept,
you are also the same.
It's not the issue of miracles that you
need.
It's just that you don't even want to
believe.
So these next verses talk about Musa a
.s. He was sent to Bani Israel and
to Firaun.
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala says, indeed, we gave
Musa a.s. Nine signs that were very
clear.
What were those nine signs?
First, his hand which shone into his armpit
and took it out.
It shone like a beacon.
The second sign was his asa, his stick
that used to turn into a snake and
so on.
We know the story behind that.
There were many years of drought that took
place during the time of Musa a.s.
And again, when this took place, Firaun begged
Musa a.s. to remove that hardship and
it was removed and then ultimately he still
didn't have iman.
And then next, the deficiency in the crops,
okay, there were droughts and then the deficiency
in crops.
Tufan, meaning wind, that came and destroyed everything.
Again, it continued.
They begged him to have it stopped.
It stopped and then they went back to
their own ways.
Wajaraat, locusts, locusts everywhere.
Basically, each time they try to take a
morsel, a locust comes into their food and
it eats all their crops and basically making
their lives a misery.
Ummal, which means the lice, the lice that
came in people's hair, make them scratch and
itch and also in the animals.
Okay, so they had an infestation of these
lice everywhere.
And again, they begged Musa a.s. to
remove it.
He did and ultimately they did not accept.
Dhufadi, basically means frogs, everywhere frogs in their
food, in their drink, on the streets, frogs
everywhere.
So again, this was one of the signs
given to Musa a.s. And the last
one, Dab, blood, blood used to just appear
out of nowhere in everything.
You know, if you see some people are
so sensitive to blood, right?
They see blood, even one drop and they
faint.
Okay, even if they see the sight of
their own blood, they cannot see it.
Just imagine there's just blood, blood on the
streets and blood in the food and blood
raining down on the houses, just blood everywhere.
So again, this was one of the signs
given to Musa a.s. But Firaun did
not accept.
So these signs came, people that didn't, didn't
accept.
So this is a message to the people
of Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, that it's
not signs that you need.
It is you that you need to change.
If you want to believe, if you want
hidayat and guidance, you will accept guidance even
without these signs that you're asking for.
Ask the Bani Israel when Musa a.s.
came to them and Firaun said to Musa
a.s. I think that you or Musa
a.s are mashoor, mashoor means you are
the victim of magic.
Somebody's put a spell on you.
So meaning he didn't accept, nine signs, nine
miracles, then he still said that I think
you are mashoor, you are the victim of
magic.
Musa a.s. responded and said to Firaun,
he said that you know These miracles, who
sent them down for you?
Who sent them?
The Lord of the heavens and the earth.
He sent them down to you, basair, open
and clear for you to see with your
own eyes, basair from the word basar, something
that you see visually.
It's not even something that's hidden anymore.
Clearly you can see with your eyes.
Oh Firaun, I think Musa a.s. is
responding back to Firaun saying, oh Firaun, I
think that you are mashoor, mashoor, it has
different meanings.
One meaning is mal'oon, meaning cursed.
Another meaning is destroyed.
Okay.
Another meaning is maghloob, meaning defeated.
It's a different meanings of the word.
Musa a.s. said that the time will
come that you will be defeated.
I think you're going to be defeated because
you're not accepting the message that was given
to you.
So Firaun intended to annihilate them from the
earth, to remove them from the earth.
So we drowned him and whoever was with
him, every single one of them.
So this is actually a sign to our
beloved Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
This is a murki surah, right?
This surah was revealed in Mecca and the
Prophet is being told by Allah subhanahu wa'ta
'ala that these people that don't want to
accept your message, they're going to want to
remove you from Mecca.
Okay, and this is exactly what happened.
They tried to kill him and ultimately he
migrated to Medina.
So but the outcome of such people who
tried to remove their Prophet and tried to
destroy him was what happened to Firaun.
So the message is clear that these people
when they try to do that ultimately the
defeat will be upon them when you come
back and conquer Mecca 10 years later.
Okay, they will be defeated one day.
And we told the Bani Israel after him,
after Firaun was destroyed.
We said to the Bani Israel, stay in
the earth and then when the promise of
the hereafter comes, we're going to bring you
Lafeef.
Lafeef is means when you combine things, put
things together.
This is known as Lafeef, from Lafayalufu, Lafa
means to fold something up.
So you're combining something, you're folding something up.
Okay, so Lafeef here in this sense, the
scholars say is that when many different tribes
come together and they gather at one place,
this is known as Lafeef.
And what's going to happen in the hereafter
that everybody when they're resurrected and they come
out of their graves, black, white, Arab, Ajam
and Muslim, non-Muslim, everybody is going to
come combined and they're going to be presented
in front of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala and
then after that they're going to be separated
according to their different religions and their beliefs
and so on, but the time will come,
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala is saying everybody is
going to be standing in front of Allah
subhanahu wa'ta'ala all combined.
After that Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala then says,
starts talking about the Quran, that you want
a miracle, really the real miracle is right
in front of you.
And that is the Quran itself.
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala is saying that with
the truth, we sent it down and with
the truth it came down.
What does it mean?
What does it mean when Allah subhanahu wa'ta
'ala gave the revelation to Jibreel alaihi salam,
he brought it and he was protected from
the influence of the shayateen, from influencing this
revelation.
It came down completely intact and pristine as
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala taught him and it
was given to the prophet alaihi salam in
a very pristine and clean condition without any
contamination.
So with the truth, we revealed it.
We sent it down and with the truth
it came down.
No contamination in the middle, pure and clean.
O prophet of Allah, you've been sent as
a mubashir, meaning a giver of good tidings
and a warner against the punishment of Allah
subhanahu wa'ta'ala.
One of the objections that the disbelievers had
and probably many people have now also, why
was the Quran revealed piecemeal over 23 years?
Why not at one time?
Why wasn't the book given to the prophet
alaihi salam all in one go?
Okay.
So the response to that is in this
ayah.
The Quran we separated, separated it so that
you can recite it to the people slowly.
Makth means slowly, patiently.
Okay, and not in a hurried way.
So the fact that it comes down bit
by bit, it's easier for people to accept,
to take, to memorize, to internalize, and then
the next ayah is revealed after that.
Learn that revelation also.
So slowly, slowly, and from that, we also
understand that people should not hurry in the
recitation of the Quran.
Many people what they do, especially in our
countries back home in India, Pakistan, the best
masjid is the one that has the fastest
hafiz reciting the taraweeh.
Okay, people rush to that masjid.
Why?
Because the taraweeh finishes the quickest.
This is not how the Quran is supposed
to be recited.
The Quran is supposed to be recited slowly
and with the correct tajweed.
Wa rattilil quranat tartila, Allah SWT commands in
surah muzzammil, make tartil of the Quran, recite
the Quran slowly, even if you don't do
khatmul quran in taraweeh, but do it in
such a way that there's enjoyment, there is
tranquility, there is peace, and people can actually
enjoy the recitation of the Quran.
It should not be hurried in any way,
shape, or form.
So here again, Wa quranan faraqnahu litaqraahu AAala
annasi AAala mukth And the Quran, we revealed
it, we separated it so that you could
recite it upon the people slowly and surely.
Wa nazzalnahu tanzeela, and we also sent it
down, tanzeel, there's a difference between inzal and
tanzeel.
Inzal means to basically send it down in
one go, and that's why actually in the
ayah before that, Wa bil haqqi anzalnahu, this
inzal is referring to the Quran coming down
all in one go from the al-lawh
al-mahfuz to the first sky.
It all came down in one go.
So there Allah SWT used the word inzal.
Inna anzalnahu fee laylatul qadr, we revealed it
on laylatul qadr, all of it came down
from the seventh sky onto the first sky
in one go, and then from the first
sky to the prophet a.s. It was
tanzeel, bit by bit.
Okay, so that's the difference between inzal and
tanzeel.
Wa nazzalnahu tanzeela, we sent it down bit
by bit and piecemeal.
Qul aaminu bihi aw la tu'minu, tell them,
O Prophet of Allah, have iman on this
or don't have iman on this.
It's your choice.
What I've given to you is a message
from Allah SWT.
It is clear.
La roiba fee, there is no doubt in
it.
It is the word of Allah SWT.
Have iman in it or don't have iman
in it.
It is your choice.
But ultimately people who don't have iman, they
will be punished by Allah SWT.
Inna allatheena otul ilma min qablihi, itha yutlaa
alayhim, yakheeruna lilathqani sujada.
Indeed, those people that were given the knowledge
before the Prophet alayhi salatu wasalam, when the
Quran is recited upon them, they fall down
in prostration upon their chins in sajda, in
prostration.
Okay, so referring to is the previous nations,
the people of the book that were waiting
for this messenger to come, our beloved Prophet
salallahu alayhi wasalam to come.
They realized that the Quran is exactly the
same revelation as the previous scriptures.
Even today, I have given the Quran to
so many pastors and priests, they actually after
reading the Quran, they say that really there's
not much difference between the Bible and the
Quran.
We actually agree with the majority of the
Quran and obviously the stumbling block is the
only thing that the Quran disagrees with the
Christians is the issue of the divinity of
Isa alayhi salam and the fact that he
is according to their belief the son of
God and we say that he's not.
Okay, so that's the only thing that they
disagree with.
I had a very evangelical pastor.
He's a close friend of mine.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala guide him.
He says that I believe in 97%
of the Quran very clearly.
He said it and in one gathering and
interfaith gathering other people maybe more than a
hundred people that were leaders in their respective
churches.
He told them very clearly.
He told them make sure you read the
Quran.
He said that this was coming from an
evangelical pastor.
Evangelical are basically the hardline Christians.
Okay, he told them after he read the
Quran that every one of you should read
the Quran because it will give you an
understanding what Islam is all about and then
he said that I believe and I think
that the 97% of the Quran agrees
with my beliefs already.
There's nothing different between my beliefs and that
97%.
So the people before before that came before
and were waiting for this message to come
down they when they hear the Quran they
realize it is from Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala and they fall down in prostration.
Okay, and this is what Najashi said, right?
He said when he heard the Quran that
the Quran and the Bible seem to be
two lights from the same source.
And they say our Lord is pure indeed
the the promise of our Lord has been
fulfilled.
In Kana, this in is known as people
who know Arabic grammar.
This means indeed.
It's not inshallah.
It is not if it means indeed indeed
the promise of our Lord has been fulfilled
meaning he promised that he would send a
messenger.
This is indeed that messenger and we believe
in him.
And they again Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
emphasizes that these people when they believe they
fall down on their chins in prostration and
the Quran increases their khushu.
When they hear the Quran being recited, it
increases their khushu, it increases their submission, it
increases their devotion to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
They've realized that this is indeed the message
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
with that inshallah we finish and we will
continue next week.
I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
gives us tawfiq to understand and practice what
is being said in here.