Zia Sheikh – Tafseer of Surah Nahal Session 5
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Allah SWT He knows what you are hiding
and what you are doing openly.
So Allah SWT is fully aware of what
you are doing.
In another verse of the Quran Allah SWT
says, Allah SWT knows the hidden and the
thing that is even more hidden.
He knows the hidden and he knows the
thing that is even more hidden.
What does that mean?
Before a thing becomes hidden in our mind,
even before the thought crosses our mind, it
comes into our heart.
Allah SWT knows about it before it even
comes into our mind.
So He knows the hidden, the things that
are hidden from us, the secrets.
But He knows even more the things that
are even more hidden and more secret.
So here Allah says, Allah SWT He knows
what you are doing secretly and what you
are doing openly.
Again in this ayah Allah SWT denounces the
worship of the statues.
Allah says, So
the issue is that something that is created
by itself, something that is carved out of
wood or carved out of stone or carved
out of metal, all of these things are
created.
That thing which is created cannot create something
else.
As we can see, as we saw in
the story of Ibrahim AS, when he destroyed
all of the statues while his people were
away, and he left the biggest statue, and
he hung the axe on the neck of
the biggest statue, and when they came back
they said, you know, who did this to
our statues?
And then they thought amongst themselves and they
said, that there is somebody called Ibrahim who
maybe it's him.
So then they called him in front and
they said that Ibrahim AS said, the biggest
one, he must have destroyed all of the
other statues, why didn't you ask the biggest
one?
It was basically a challenge for them to
basically realize that what the thoughts that they
had and the worship that they were doing
of those statues, it was pure folly and
it was false, it was something that they
should leave.
They themselves, they said, that you know that
these statues don't talk and they don't do
anything, so how can you worship them?
So Ibrahim AS said, well that's the whole
point.
That's the point that I'm trying to make.
Why do you worship something that cannot do
anything, that cannot talk, that cannot respond to
you?
So here again, وَالَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ
Those that they call other than Allah SWT,
they cannot create anything while they themselves are
created.
Allah SWT says in Surah Al-Hajj, the
end, يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ ضُرِّبَ مَثَرٌ فَاسْتَمِعُوا لَهُ
O people, an example has been given to
you, listen carefully to it.
وَالَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ لَن يَخْلُقُوا ذُوبَابًا
وَلَا وِجْتَمَعُوا لَهُ Those that you call other
than Allah SWT, they cannot create even a
fly, even if they were all gathered together
to make that fly.
They used all of their resources, all of
their intelligence, all of their energies, all of
their strengths, all of their technology, they cannot
create one single fly.
وَإِن يَسْلُبْهُمُ ذُوبَابُ شَيْئًا لَا يَسْتَنْقِذُهُمْ إِنْ And
then what they used to do, they used
to put food in front of their statues
as offerings, and the flies used to take
that, as we probably see in temples worldwide,
that food is sitting there, it's rotting, and
the flies and the insects are eating from
it.
And the statues cannot even take it away
from the fly that is eating that food.
وَإِنْ يَسْلُبْهُمُ ذُوبَابُ شَيْئًا لَا يَسْتَنْقِذُهُمْ إِنْ The
one who is seeking, he is weak, and
مطلوب, the one that they are seeking from,
he is also weak.
So, again, the folly of worshipping the statues
is mentioned in this verse.
Allah says, أَمْوَاتٌ غَيْرُ أَحْيَاءٌ They are dead,
not alive.
So it was sufficient for Allah to say
that these statues are dead, right?
He doesn't need to say غير أحياء after
that.
Dead, not alive.
The scholars say what it actually means is
that they were dead.
But when we say dead, it can also
have the possibility that they were alive at
one time.
So we have many people who are in
their graves right now, we say to them
that they are dead, they are أموات, but
they were alive at one time, right?
But Allah SWT specifies and clarifies by using
the word غير أحياء that they have never
been alive.
They have never been alive.
غير أحياء Not in the past, not in
the present, and never in the future are
they going to be alive.
وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ And they do not feel anything.
أَيَّانَ يُبْعَثُونَ How and why are these statues
going to be resurrected in the hereafter?
Because Allah SWT is not going to resurrect
something which is dead because it is not
going to be held accountable.
In fact, these statues and all of the
things that used to be worshipped, Allah SWT
is going to give them a tongue on
the Day of Judgment.
And then those same statues are going to
be burned in the hellfire.
And Allah SWT is going to make a
point of telling people that these are the
statues that used to worship, you used to
worship, look at them now, they cannot even
protect themselves.
So, they will not be resurrected in terms
of being held accountable as people who are
alive are going to be held accountable.
So, this is something again, another point that
Allah SWT is making that only alive things,
things that are going to be held accountable
are going to be resurrected.
إِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ Your Ilah, the one that
is worthy of worship, we usually translate it
as God, but the word Ilah actually means
مَن يُتَوَجَّهُ إِلَيْهِ the one that you turn
towards and you turn your attention towards, the
one that is worthy of worship.
So, for the lack of a better word,
we just translate it by saying the word
Ilah.
Your Ilah is one Ilah, إِلَٰهُمْ وَاحِدٌ So,
here the word وَاحِد and in other surahs
like قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ أَحَدٌ means also
one, but in the sense that he is
that one that cannot be split up into
different parts.
That's what the word أَحَدٌ means.
Here the word وَاحِد is being used to
instill into the people that he is one
in the concept of not sharing or not
being equal to others that people are equating
with him.
So, that's the difference between أَحَدٌ and وَاحِدٌ
أَحَدٌ means that one who cannot be split
up into parts.
That is what أَحَدٌ means.
And وَاحِدٌ means one in the sense of
nobody is equal to him in terms of
other things or other entities.
So, here the word وَاحِد is used to
denounce the shirk that people are committing and
using the style of worshipping them.
So, Allah is using the word here إِلَٰهُكُمْ
إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ Your Ilah is one Ilah.
فَالَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةٌ قَلُوبُهُمْ مُنْكِرَةٌ وَهُمْ
مُسْتَكْبِرُونَ Those people who don't have Iman in
the hereafter, their hearts are denying.
Their hearts are denying while they are also
being arrogant.
So, the first thing is that they are
denying.
What does that mean?
Their hearts don't want to believe in the
hereafter.
Okay?
So, they are in denial.
When a person is sure or he's finding
things difficult to believe and he doesn't want
to face the consequences, he can solve the
problem.
So, say for example, you run a red
traffic light.
And you know in that particular city, in
Arlington for example, there are red light cameras
everywhere.
And as you cross the red traffic light,
you see the traffic lights turn off.
You realize that maybe that the car's picture
has been taken and I'm going to be
getting a ticket in the mail.
So, over the next two weeks, you are
in a state of denial that maybe that
flash was not for my car.
It was for the car that was behind
me.
Okay?
So, you are in this state of denial.
You don't want to believe that you actually
ran the red traffic light even though you
know you did.
And you know that that flash was for
you.
And you know that the picture of your
car has been taken.
You know that the ticket is going to
be coming for you.
But you don't want to believe it.
So, you are in a state of denial.
So, these people, their hearts were in a
forced state of denial about the hereafter because
they didn't want to face the consequences of
their shirk.
And on top of that, they were arrogant,
making istighfar, arrogant.
What is arrogance?
Arrogance is only worthy of those that have
no faults and have no weaknesses.
And that is only Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
Okay?
That is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is known, one of his qualities is Mutakabbir.
He is Mutakabbir.
Because he is worthy of being Mutakabbir.
He is worthy of having that arrogance and
grandeur because he has no weaknesses.
However, the human being, he just gets something
which is called a virus.
What is a virus?
Something invisible that you cannot even see until
you put it under a microscope.
It gets afflicted by a bacteria, a germ.
You don't see it unless you put it
under a microscope.
But a person getting afflicted by that puts
him in bed for three to five days.
So, how can a person be arrogant when
he is in that kind of a situation?
He is so weak.
A person, if he doesn't set his alarm
clock in the morning, he can't wake up.
He cannot see or hear beyond the walls
that are around him.
If a person is in the corner whispering,
he cannot hear.
These are the weaknesses that a human has.
And I've mentioned before the saying of Ali
r.a that I'm surprised and astonished at
that person who has when he was created
from an impure demon and his rotting corpse
and in the middle he is walking around
with filth inside his stomach.
How can that person be arrogant?
The saying of Ali r.a. So, istighbar
or takabur is not for human beings.
There is no right to have takabur.
But these people, they, in addition to denying
the hereafter and standing in front of Allah
s.w.t and accountability, they on top
of that, they have arrogance and that is
something that Allah s.w.t does not
like, which is mentioned in the next ayah.
There is no doubt that Allah s.w
.t knows what they are doing secretly and
what they are doing openly.
He repeats it again, just two ayahs before
and again it's repeated here.
No doubt Allah s.w.t knows what
they are and what they are doing openly.
So why does Allah s.w.t say
this?
Because they used to openly challenge Allah.
And they used to say, Why doesn't Allah
s.w.t punish us for what we
are saying?
So, Allah is repeating and saying that whatever
they keep in their minds, in their hearts
and whatever they say openly, Allah s.w
.t will hold them accountable for it.
There is, you know, there is a time
for it.
It will happen but for sure it will
happen and this is the promise.
Again, Allah s.w.t says in this
verse, Allah s.w.t does not like
the people that have arrogance because they are
not deserving of that arrogance and yet they
display that arrogance in front of other people
and in front of Allah s.w.t.
The next verse, When it is said to
them, What did your Lord reveal?
What did your Lord send down?
So the question is, if you look at
the question, who is being asked?
The people who are committing shirk with Allah
s.w.t. And the question is being
asked to them that what did your Lord
reveal?
So they believe that Allah s.w.t
is their provider and sustainer and He is
above everything.
He is the creator and all of the
rest of the qualities that Allah s.w
.t has.
The only thing is, they associate partners with
Him.
So when they are asked, What did your
Lord reveal?
On the one hand, they believe that He
is the Lord, but then in response they
say, They say, these are old fabricated tales.
Asatir, basically false tales, fairy tales, old stories
that have no relevance.
So asatir al awaleen, this is how they
respond.
Allah s.w.t says that the consequence
of this attitude is going to be very
dangerous for them.
What is it going to be?
They are going to be carrying the weight
of their sins on the Day of Judgment.
They are going to be carrying the weight
of their sins on the Day of Judgment.
The word wizr, the plural is awzar, wizr
means weight.
And here it refers to the weight completely
on the Day of Judgment.
So the sins, they will see the consequence
of them, they will be holding them, they
will be carrying them.
And on top of that, not only their
own sins, but they will be carrying the
sins of those people that they led astray.
Some people are influential.
One person says something and a hundred people
are willing to listen to that person.
So those people that listen to them and
were led astray because of their actions and
because of their sayings, their sins they will
also carry.
So this is again something we need to
keep in mind.
We should not understand the contradiction.
In another verse of the Quran, Allah SWT
says, وَلَا تَزِيرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَةٌ Nobody will
carry anybody else's burden.
That's in the Quran.
What that means is that a person who
commits a sin by himself, I'm not responsible
for that person's sin.
But if I ask him to commit a
sin, then I will be held responsible.
And it's very dangerous certain types of businesses,
which are not halal, not permissible.
For example, he opens a convenience store, inside
the convenience store there is alcohol, and there
are lottery tickets, and all forms of haram
being sold inside that.
So he opens up this store, people see
that after a few months he starts driving
a nicer car, and he buys a bigger
house.
And people think to themselves, you know what,
this is a very profitable venture here.
This seems to be very profitable, I think
I should do exactly the same thing.
And he, following the footsteps of this person,
he decides that he's going to do the
same thing.
So now, instigating, by leading by example, he
is making or opening up the pathway for
other people to follow in his footsteps.
So in this case, he will be held
accountable for it.
And there's something, and on the other hand,
something good.
And people start following him in doing good.
For example, he comes to the Hajj of
prayer, and people say at the time, and
there's a few brothers coming, why don't I
come and join them?
Okay, so, starting something good, and being a
good example for other people to follow, a
person will get the good deeds for everyone
that follows in his footsteps.
But here, in this case, people are doing
certain actions that are leading them to shirk.
So, these people who lead others to shirk,
they will be carrying the sins of those
people also.
So here, So, They will be carrying their
own sins on the Day of Judgment completely.
And also from the sins of those people
that they misguided them without knowledge.
Be aware, that's a very bad thing that
they are going to be carrying.
It's a very bad thing that they're going
to be carrying on the Day of Judgment.
Meaning, the consequence, the weight, the sin, everything
that they're going to be carrying on the
Day of Judgment, obviously, that is something bad,
and something not good for them.
Because if they're going to be questioned by
Allah SWT for it, and they're going to
be punished for it, then obviously, they're going
to be in major trouble for many, many
centuries.
From this, this lesson, we learn certain things.
The statues, their reality is that they are
created, they cannot create anything by themselves, and
that Allah SWT emphasizes He is One.
He emphasizes that people who deny the existence
of the Hereafter, they do so because they
are in denial.
They don't want to believe in something that
is going to certainly happen to them.
And on top of that, they're being arrogant.
Allah SWT knows everything that they do.
These same people, even though that they believe
in the existence of Allah SWT, they still
don't believe the wording that Allah SWT has
revealed to them.
They will be held accountable for their sins,
and for the sins that follow in their
footsteps on the Day of Judgment.
With this, we finish, inshallah.
And we will continue with this next week.
May Allah SWT give us the ability to
understand and practice what has been said and
heard.
Al Fatiha.