Zia Sheikh – Tafseer Of Surah BaniIsrael Session 3
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
In the first moment of my life, I
met him.
If I knew the meaning of words, I
would have said, He is the companion of
the first hour.
I was in love with him.
I lived in love with what God revealed
to me.
And I kept repeating his recitation.
And I cried when I met him.
He is a saint.
When I look at him, he makes me
proud.
I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed
Satan.
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the
Compassionate.
This Qur'an guides to the right path.
And it gives good tidings to the believers
who do good deeds.
Because they will have a great reward.
And for those who do not believe in
the Hereafter, We have prepared for them a
painful punishment.
And man prays for evil, his prayer is
for good.
And man is hasty.
And We made the night and the day
two signs.
And We erased the sign of the night.
And We made the sign of the day
visible.
So that you may seek grace from your
Lord.
And so that you may know the number
of years and the reckoning.
And everything We have detailed in detail.
And every person We have bound his bird
in his neck.
And We will bring out for him on
the Day of Resurrection a book that he
will find spread out.
Read your book.
Surah Al-Baqarah.
Today InshaAllah we are starting from Ayah number
9 of Surah Bani Israel.
We started the Surah a couple of weeks
ago.
And we discussed first the issue of Mi
'raj.
And the relevance of Baitul Muqaddas, Jerusalem to
our religion.
And then after that Bani Israel were discussed.
And how Allah SWT destroyed the temple in
Jerusalem two times.
Because of the disobedience of the Israelites.
Now Allah SWT then turns to this Ummah
and talks about the Quran.
So the connection between the previous Ayah and
this Ayah.
Is basically that the previous Ayah talking about
the previous religions.
And then Allah SWT saying that the Quran
is the thing that we need to turn
to now.
And all of the previous religions they are
supposed to be turning towards the Quran itself.
And then after that Allah SWT will then
talk about certain aspects of His greatness.
As is the norm in Makki Surahs.
Allah SWT talks about His greatness, His creation.
So that we can focus on the creation
and by doing that understand the greatness of
Allah SWT.
And then after that Allah then talks about
the issue of the things that are written
for people.
InshaAllah as we go along we will do
the Tafsir.
So the first Ayah says إِنَّ هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنَ
يَهْدِي لِلَّتِي هِيَ أَقْوَمُ This Quran it guides
to those in such a way that is
the straightest.
So the previous nations basically corrupted the books,
corrupted the teachings.
Now this Quran it teaches in a way
that is the most straightest and the thing
that people need to turn to.
وَيُبَشِّرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ الَّذِينَ يَعَمَلُونَ الصَّالِحَاتَ أَنَّ لَهُمْ
أَجْرًا كَبِيرًا And it gives the glad tidings
to those people that do good deeds that
for them there will be a huge reward.
Now keep in mind you know you get
again and again those people that have Iman
and do good deeds.
One of the biggest points which Christians attack
us with nowadays is this issue of the
fact that Allah SWT talks about deeds all
the time.
You do deeds you get Hasanat, you do
deeds you get Jannah, you don't do deeds
you go to Jahannam.
This is the way it's portrayed by the
people that criticize Islam.
Keep in mind this very important point that
the deeds are simply a means of attracting
the mercy of Allah SWT.
That's all.
The Prophet SAW very clearly he said that
none of you will enter paradise through his
deeds.
The Sahaba said وَلَا أَنْتَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ
Not even you O Prophet of Allah.
The Prophet SAW said وَلَا أَنَا Not even
me.
إِلَّا أَنْ يَتَغَمَّذَنِي اللَّهُ بِرَحْمَةٍ مِّنْ Except if
Allah SWT covers me with his mercy.
So we do not enter paradise through our
deeds but the fact that Allah SWT mentions
deeds all the time.
It is basically an inspiration for us to
try to make us do good deeds so
that we become better people.
And then through those good deeds we attract
that mercy of Allah SWT.
And then through that mercy we enter into
paradise.
Now if we were just using the deeds
as a form of currency to get us
into Jannah.
Then Allah SWT can tell us that okay
you are bartering with me.
You are trying to do a trade with
me.
Okay talk about now the blessings of your
eyes.
The blessings of your hearing.
The blessing of the fact that you can
speak.
The brain that I have given you.
Okay the fact that you can walk.
The fact that you can hold things.
The fact that you can react as an
instinct.
The fact that you can think.
The fact that you can plan.
All of these things they are given to
you by Allah SWT.
And you think that just praying for five
minutes each time for five times a day.
It is going to cover and pay off
Allah SWT for those blessings that he gave
you.
It is impossible.
So really the deeds are simply a sign
from us.
Oh Allah we are humbling ourselves to you.
And we are doing what you told us
to do.
It doesn't pay back what you have given
to us in blessings.
And ultimately we do rely on your mercy
to get us into paradise.
Okay so we should not fall prey to
these kinds of accusations that we are basically
bartering with Allah SWT.
And we have to do these things so
that we build up our amal and our
balance of deeds.
And that will get us into paradise.
Yes we do as many deeds as we
can.
And that will be weighed on the day
of judgment.
But ultimately it is the mercy and only
the mercy of Allah SWT that gets us
into paradise.
Okay so Allah says here again that he
gives glad tidings to those people that have
iman.
And they do good deeds that for them
there is a huge reward.
And those people that don't have iman in
the hereafter we have prepared for them a
very painful punishment.
So that is very clear.
So the ayah talks about the Quran being
a guidance for us.
And also the fact that it is important
to do good deeds.
To have iman in the hereafter.
And those people that don't have iman in
the hereafter they will have a painful punishment.
After that Allah says, The human being he
calls for evil through his duas instead of
khair.
Instead of good.
What does this mean?
When people become frustrated or angry what do
they do?
They start cursing.
Cursing not meaning swearing.
Rather cursing or saying things like, For example,
it is very common amongst women.
That if they get mad at their children
they start cursing them.
That may you not see the light of
day tomorrow.
May you not wake up tomorrow.
Or may I not wake up tomorrow.
You are bothering me, may I not wake
up tomorrow.
So they make a dua against themselves.
So this is what Allah SWT is saying.
That instead of khair, the human being because
of his frustration.
He makes dua of shirk.
And this is something that the Prophet SAW
forbade.
And we really need to think about the
things that come out of our mouth.
Especially when it comes to duas against our
children.
Prophet SAW he said that when the father
prays for his child.
There is no barrier between it and Allah
SWT.
It goes directly to Allah SWT.
So instead of making a curse against our
children.
We should make a dua for them.
You know it is one of the Imams
of the Haram.
The first black Imam of the Haram.
He says that when my mother used to
get frustrated at me.
She used to make a dua.
May Allah make you the Imam of the
Haram.
So he became the Imam of the Haram.
This was the very strangest thing.
So when she got angry at him.
She made a dua for his good.
Rather than a dua for something that is
bad for him.
The Prophet SAW he mentioned in a hadith.
لا تدعو على أنفسكم ولا على أموالكم أن
توافقوا من الله ساعة إجابة يستجيب فيها Do
not make dua against yourselves.
Or against your wealth.
Wealth meaning all your possessions.
And that includes your family also.
Don't make a dua.
Why?
Because it can sometimes correspond with an hour
in which Allah SWT is accepting a dua.
And Allah might accept that dua.
And then you will be in big trouble.
So many cases the dua is accepted.
And you know the child gets into trouble.
Or the person that you make dua for.
It gets into trouble.
He gets into trouble.
And then you know afterwards the person becomes
upset that why did I make such a
dua.
Very important to make sure that we guard
our tongues.
So this is what Allah is saying here.
That the human being he calls and makes
dua for evil.
Instead of making dua of khair.
Making dua of goodness.
وَكَانَ الْإِنسَانُ عَجُولًا Indeed the human being is
ajul.
Ajul means impatient.
So because of impatience a person makes these
kinds of duas.
Because a person doesn't have sabr he makes
these kinds of duas.
So we need to be patient and make
sure that we don't say things which we
will regret later on.
After that Allah SWT then talks about a
very important thing that we take for granted.
The changing of the night and day.
Never think about it.
But the night comes and then the day
comes and the night comes and the day
comes.
It happens often so often that we take
it for granted.
We think nothing of it.
The reality is that this is a huge
blessing from Allah SWT.
And I ask those people that live in
the extremes in the north pole, the south
pole.
And they have to live during the summer
time for six months in the day.
And during the winter time it's six months
dark.
So during the summer time when it's day
all the time people have a hard time
going to sleep.
Their body clocks they just cannot function.
So this is a thing that Allah SWT
has created within us.
That when darkness comes automatically tiredness comes into
us and we feel like we should go
to sleep.
And those people that have to deal with
six months of day time.
What they have to do is make sure
that they get very dark blinds, curtains.
And to make sure that there is darkness
within the house.
Artificially created darkness so that they feel at
least that it's night.
And so that they can get some kind
of rest.
But the reality is that Allah has created
the night for us for resting.
And the day for us so that we
can seek the fazl from Allah SWT.
And this is the natural thing that we
should try to do.
If you've ever seen people that work at
night.
That they do their night shift.
You know you'll see them.
They may come after the night shift.
And they may sleep for eight hours.
But if you look at their faces you
will see that there always seems to be
like tiredness in their face.
Why?
Because they didn't get the night sleep.
The day sleep is different to the night
sleep.
So even if you sleep for eight hours
during the day.
If you don't sleep at night you won't
get that same kind of relaxation.
So Allah says it again and again in
the Quran.
That the night is for rest and the
day is for seeking the fazl of Allah
SWT and working.
So this is what Allah says in the
next couple of ayat.
Allah says, وَجَعَلْنَا الَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ آيَتَيْنَ We made
the night and day as two signs from
Allah SWT.
They are a form of miracle from Allah
SWT.
That the sun rises at the exact time.
And it sets at the exact time that
it's supposed to.
So it's a miracle.
And you know the system that's in place
to make that happen.
The sun rising and the sun setting and
the earth rotating.
It's a huge system.
I mean if you imagine the hugeness of
the earth.
And how it has to rotate so that
it gets the sunrise at the correct time.
And what the sun has to do with
the orbiting and all that kind of stuff.
It's just the mind boggles if you really
think about it.
So it is an ayat from Allah SWT.
It is truly a miracle from Allah SWT
that it happens.
Then Allah says, فَمَحَوْنَ آيَتَ اللَّيْلِ We extinguish
the sign of the night.
وَجَعَلْنَا آيَتَ النَّهَارِ مُبْصِرًا And we have made
the sign of the day as a مُبْصِرًا
Meaning something to make you see.
لِتَبْتَغُوا فَضْلًا مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ So that you can
seek the fadl from your Lord.
Fadl means the blessing, the sustenance.
Meaning so you can go and work, have
a business and try to earn a living
so that you can seek a fadl, a
blessing from your Lord.
وَلِتَعْلَمُوا عَدَدَ السِّنِينَ وَالْحِسَابِ And another thing, again
we take it for granted so much so
that you can know the counting of the
years and also calculation.
So many things are based upon what?
Night and day.
So many things are based upon night and
day.
For example, the issue of work.
Go to work for a week for example.
You go to work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday.
If we don't have night and day, how
do you know?
The day came and it went.
Except for looking at the watch.
So that's one thing.
The other thing is debts.
If you take a loan from somebody, I'll
pay you back in a month.
If there's no way to calculate a month,
how are you going to make a calculation?
How are you going to pay back the
person within a month?
What's a month?
You don't even know what a month is.
So, ibadat, worshipping.
If you don't know when the month of
Ramadan starts and when it ends, how are
you going to do it?
The five times daily prayers.
They are all related to the sun.
Before sunrise, you have fajr.
When the sun gets to a peak and
after that, dhuhr.
When it gets to late afternoon, asr.
Sunset, maghrib.
An hour and a half or so after
sunset, you have isha.
What's it related with?
It's related to the sun.
All of it is connected to the sun.
If you don't have that, how are you
going to worship Allah SWT?
Then you have the issue of muamalat.
Dealing with each other.
Financial dealings.
Transactions.
I'll see you next week.
Let's make an appointment for next week.
When is next week?
If you don't have a week, if you
don't have days, then how are you going
to make the appointment?
Vacation time.
Three weeks vacation you get in a year.
If you don't have that issue, if you
don't have weeks to calculate, how are you
going to find out?
So, basically, night and day, it is a
sign with which our whole system is circulating.
The whole world is functioning on this concept
of night and day.
But it's something that we take for granted.
So, wa li ta'lamu adada sinina wa
li hisaab.
So that you could know the counting of
the years and the hisaab.
Wa kulla shay'in fasalnahu tafsila.
Everything we have explained in a clear way.
Everything we have explained in a clear way.
After that Allah SWT says, Wa kulla insanin
alzamnahu ta'irahu fi anuqi.
Every human being, we have connected his ta
'ir with his neck.
What does ta'ir mean?
There are two interpretations here.
Ta'ir actually means bird, ta'ir.
And one thing is, one meaning is, that
the angels, they are writing our good and
bad deeds.
They are standing right close to our necks.
They are writing our good deeds and our
bad deeds.
And they are basically connected to us at
all times.
So they are writing our good and bad
deeds.
And on the day of judgment, those good
and bad deeds will be spread in front
of us.
And according to that meaning, I'll do the
translation.
And every human being, we have connected his
ta'ir or his fortune with his neck.
Wa nukhriju lahu yawmal qiyamati kitaban yalqaahu man
shura.
And we are going to present or take
out for him on the day of judgment,
a book, yalqaahu man shura, which Allah SWT
will spread out for him, man shura, spread
out.
It will be spread for him, meaning the
deeds that have been written, they'll be put
in front of him.
And he'll be told, iqra kitabak, read your
book.
Kafaa binafsika alyawma alayka haseeba.
You yourself are enough as an accountant.
You account for your own deeds.
You read them and you see what you
deserve.
Whether you deserve to have mercy from Allah
SWT or whether you don't.
You read your own book and you calculate
by yourself.
So that's one meaning.
The other meaning is that whatever was going
to happen to the human being, in terms
of his being a good person or a
bad person, or a person who was rich
or poor, everything has been written by Allah
SWT and nothing can change that.
Now the question is that, you know, why
then a person needs to do good deeds
if everything is written?
So basically what we do is, what we
know is that Allah SWT, he gave us
free will.
He didn't tie our hands up.
And he didn't prevent us from doing good
deeds or bad deeds.
But what is written is what Allah knew
from before what we are going to do.
Because of his knowledge of the future, he
knew that.
So this is something that has already been
written for us.
So that's the second meaning.
So every human, Allah SWT says, أَلْزَمْنَاهُ طَائِرَهُ
فِي عُنُقِهِ We've connected his طائر, meaning his
future, everything that is written for him, on
his neck.
And the word neck is used because, you
know, what used to happen was, in the
old days and probably even now in some
countries, when an animal is taken for sacrifice,
they basically used to put a necklace around
his neck.
And that used to indicate that that's it.
This person, this animal's death is now written
for him.
And he's going for sacrifice.
So this being around the neck, it indicates
that something is written for him.
And also, the other thing is that the
prisoners in the old days, they used to
have a tawq around their neck.
Kind of like a chain around their neck
to prevent them from moving and escaping.
So also, Allah SWT is giving that as
an example to show that whatever is written
for us, that is written in terms of
rizq, shaqawa, sa'ada, all of that is
written for us.
Just like this tawq that is around a
person's neck, it is going to happen.
So again, it doesn't mean that we don't
continue to do good deeds.
We do whatever we can in terms of
a'mal.
And I always give this example that a
person says, you know, if it's written for
me to have children, then Allah will give
me children.
It doesn't work like that, right?
So you have to get married.
You have to be intimate with your wife.
And then, if Allah has written for you
to have children, then you'll have children.
You don't say that if Allah has written
for me to have children, I'll sit in
the masjid and they'll drop from the sky.
It doesn't work like that, okay?
Similarly, a person says, if Allah has written
rizq for me, then I'll sit in the
masjid and it'll come to me.
Yes, it can happen, but that's not the
way that Allah SWT works.
You have to go out, find a job,
do some work, and then whatever Allah SWT
has written for you in terms of your
rizq, you will get it, okay?
But the effort has to be made, and
you have to keep on moving, and don't
just say that whatever Allah has written to
me is going to happen.
No, you try your best, and then if
Allah has written something for you otherwise, then
Allah will make that happen.
A person should not just sit and think
of these things.
So, وَنُخْرِجُ لَهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ كِتَابًا يَلْقَوهُ مَنْ
شُورًا We will present to him on the
Day of Judgment, a book that will be
presented and spread out.
اِقْرَأْ كِتَابَكِ Read your book.
كَفَى بِنَفْسِكَ الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكَ حَسِيبًا You yourself can
account for your deeds by yourself.
مَنْ اِهْتَدَى فَإِنَّمَا يَهْتَدِي لِنَفْسِهِ Whoever is guided,
he is guiding himself.
He is benefiting himself.
Whoever takes the path of guidance, he is
only benefiting himself.
He doesn't benefit Allah.
He doesn't benefit anybody else.
He is benefiting himself.
وَمَنْ ضَلَّ فَإِنَّمَا يَضِلُ عَلَيْهَا And whoever is
misguided, he is misguiding himself and he is
harming himself only.
وَلَا تَزِرُوا وَازِرَةٌ وِزِرَ أُخْرَى Nobody will take
anybody's weight on the Day of Judgment.
Meaning, if a person commits a sin, then
he is going to carry his own sins
and nobody else's sins.
Some people used to say that, follow us,
we will carry your sins for you.
And there are corrupt people nowadays also that
say this.
Pay us, we'll make dua for you and
we'll basically carry your sins for you on
the Day of Judgment.
Or we will vouch for you on the
Day of Judgment in front of Allah SWT.
It's not going to happen.
So, nobody is going to carry anybody else's
sins.
وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّى نَبَعَثَ رَسُولَ And we
never punish anybody until we send a prophet.
Okay, this last thing that I've just mentioned
that Allah has set a rule that He
will not punish anybody until He sends a
prophet.
This requires a lot of discussion.
So inshallah, next week I'm going to discuss
the different opinions of the scholars and the
different ahadith that talk about this issue.
Like for example, a person who never heard
of a prophet.
A prophet never came to him.
He was living maybe in the Amazon jungle
or somewhere where there's no contact with any
human beings.
So, what about this person?
Is he going to be punished on the
Day of Judgment?
How about a child that dies without reaching
the age of puberty?
What about him?
What's going to happen to him?
So inshallah, these things inshallah we'll discuss at
the beginning of the lesson next week.
I pray that Allah SWT gives us sufiq
to understand and practice what has been said
and heard.
Al Fatiha.