Qur'an 30 for 30 | Season 2
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Juz' 7 with Ust. Nuriddeen Knight | Qur'an 30 for 30 Season 2
As Surah Al-Ma’idah closes and Surah Al-An’am begins, Allah demonstrates the parallels of the prophethood of Isa (pbuh) and Muhammad ﷺ, preserving their greatness while maintaining His integrity. Ustadha Nuriddeen Knight, Dr. Omar Suleiman, and Sh. Abdullah Oduro reflect on this and other themes of juz 7—and end with an impromptu poem.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Dear brothers and sisters, welcome back to Qur'an 30 for 30. Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen. We're joined by our special guest for the very first time, Sheikh Abdullah Oduro. It's an honor. Alhamdulillah. I'm speechless. How does it feel to be a guest on Qur'an 30 for 30, Hameed? I don't know. It feels really different. I mean, last year there was some other guy. He was okay, but I think this year we're going to try to make it better and improve every year, inshallah. He would face Qur'an a lot, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was always acting kind of shy or something. I don't know what his deal was. Maybe it was the Qur'an and the verses and those kinds of things. But, alhamdulillah. Yaakallah, Sheikh Abdullah. So, Sheikh Abdullah, of course, is a regular every night, alhamdulillah. Ustadh Nuruddin Naeem will be joining us tonight, inshallah ta'ala, but she is running a bit late and having some technical difficulties. But inshallah ta'ala she'll be able to join us bi'l-nayih ta'ala. And we will get started, though, for the sake of time, inshallah. To remind everyone to please do download the Qur'an 30 for 30 e-book, which is a companion guide. So that covers last season. This year we're doing a seerah focus, but that covers the structure and overviews of the surahs. Inshallah ta'ala, every year we'll be able to add to our Qur'an 30 for 30 bi'l-nayih ta'ala. Also download the Dua a Day, Prophetic Prayers book with Sheikh Tahir Wyatt. We promised not to go an hour today, inshallah ta'ala. This was a... we had one... you know, just a one-off, bi'l-nayih ta'ala. So, we will, inshallah ta'ala, keep to our time, bi'l-nayih ta'ala. But please do download it and please do continue to support Yaqeen. We are very grateful to you for your du'as, for your donations, as everything we do is free, bi'l-nayih ta'ala. And so the more support that you give to us, the more we're able to, bi'l-nayih ta'ala, produce these free resources for the benefit of the community.
With that, inshallah ta'ala, I'll go ahead and I'll get started, bi'l-nayih ta'ala, with introducing now the seventh juz' of the Qur'an. SubhanAllah, we're already now a week in. The seventh juz' continues with surah al-Ma'idah, but then it goes to surah al-An'am. So I'm going to actually focus on surah al-An'am. I know Ustadh Nuruddin had planned to talk about some of the verses of surah al-Ma'idah. I'll just say one of the things that's very powerful about surah al-Ma'idah in regards to the prophetic life, the life of the Prophet ﷺ, we said it is the last revealed surah, major surah, right, to the Prophet ﷺ. And what's very interesting is it's talking about the departure of Isa alayhi as-salam, Jesus peace be upon him, giving his final words to his followers, to stay upon truth, to abide by the message, to keep themselves connected to the divine revelation and that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would send them another prophet. This is the same message that we saw with Ibrahim alayhi as-salam in surah al-Baqarah and then with Ya'qub alayhi as-salam. So the prophets telling their children, telling their followers that they are departing, but that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has something in store for them. And so in the case of Isa alayhi as-salam, it's his message to them, his farewell message to his followers. What's very interesting is that it parallels the farewell of the Prophet ﷺ because the Prophet ﷺ started to speak in a different way with his companions, giving them hints that his mission had been completed, therefore his time on earth would now be limited even though there was no observable sickness with the Prophet ﷺ. So subhanAllah it's just a beautiful connection if you think about the mindset again of the sahaba as they're receiving these words about the departure of the Prophet before the Prophet ﷺ being Isa alayhi as-salam, Jesus peace be upon him, and now the departure of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is to follow.
Now when we get into surah al-An'am, I mentioned this last year, in fact I think I'm pretty sure, remember we had Sheikh Tahir last year for surah al-An'am, that one of my teachers actually taught us aqeedah through surah al-An'am, so it's a very interesting way of learning Islamic creed by going through surah al-An'am because it really is a surah that covers aqeedah, that covers the creed of Islam in a profound way. But it's different in that this is actually a Meccan surah, so this is a surah that was revealed in Mecca. However it resembles Medina in terms of its length and its style. So in terms of the themes being the theme of aqeedah, the theme of creed, it resembles Meccan Quran in that sense, and it is Meccan Quran, but in terms of the long verses, the long surah, this is very much so a Medani style of revelation and therefore it also fits within these first few surahs. So it's interesting as you're reading through the Quran, as we said al-Ma'idah is, it came down, it finalized the ahkam, completed the religion, and then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes us back to Mecca, to the original creed and the purity of that creed, and why people don't believe. SubhanAllah, we talked about the categories of people so far, why some people turn away, and surah al-An'am, the seerah is rich with surah al-An'am as well. So let's just go through this inshaAllah ta'ala, as much as we can bi'dnahi ta'ala. If you go to verse 7, so we said the whole surah is tawheed, is emphasizing monotheism, and our answers from the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, or rather to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, to give to Quraysh with their objections to the oneness of God and their objections to the message. And so verse 7, where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
walaw nazalna alayka kitaban fee qirtasin falamasuhu bi-aydihim naqala lathina kafaru in hatha illa sihrun mubeen That, O Messenger of Allah salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, had we sent down to you this book, inscribed already on these special pages, right? If the book was to come down to you in a special way, and they were to touch it with their own hands, they still would have said this is just magic. What this is actually referring to is that Quraysh, in the excuses that they were giving to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, they told him, look, we have a condition to believe you that this is the book of Allah. So they challenged the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam in multiple ways. And this was one of them where they said, we don't believe this is divine revelation. And in order to prove that this is divine revelation, they said to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, we will not believe until you receive a book from Allah accompanied by four angels testifying that you are the Messenger of Allah. So we need to see the book coming down from the heavens, and we need to see four angels coming down with it, and those four angels testifying that you are the Messenger of Allah. And so this ayah, verse 7, is actually an answer to them to say, even if that happens, all you would say is that this is sorcery, this is magic. You would dismiss it right away. You'd say those aren't really angels. This is an optical illusion. That book is not really coming down from the heavens. So the problem is not in any lack of a miraculous nature of the revelation coming to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. The problem is in the deficiency of the hearts of the people that are around the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam and their unwillingness to relinquish the power that they are afraid of losing if they believe in this message. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala dismisses that claim, and I think a very beautiful tie-in as well to the seerah is that Surat al-An'am was revealed to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam in the most miraculous of ways.
Ibn Abbas salAllahu alayhi wa sallam says it came down to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam in one shot with 70,000 angels, not four angels, 70,000 angels praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as they were bringing down Surat al-An'am. And when the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam was receiving Surat al-An'am, he looked up at the sky and he saw the angels filling the horizon as they were bringing down this beautiful long surah in one shot to our beloved messenger salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. So not just four angels but 70,000 in fact brought it down in the most miraculous way, but of course the people would always find a way to disbelieve. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala goes on to say, wa qalu law la unzila alayhi malak and they say had it not been an angel sent down to this Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam or sent alongside him, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that had we sent down an angel alongside him, meaning an angel that speaks to you alongside him, then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, la qudiyal amr thumma la yunzaroon that surely the matter would have been long decided and there would be no respite that would be granted to them. So there would be no excuse for you at that point, even though there is no excuse for you now, but you know you would have just been wiped out right away for your unwillingness to believe because you would have surely found a way to still disbelieve even in that regard. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala goes on to tell us if we go to verse 25 of Surat al-An'am, wa minhum man yastami'u ilayk, wa ja'anna ala quloobihim akinnatan an yafqahoohu wa fee aadhanihim wa qra wa in yaraw kulla ayatin la yu'minoo biha hatta iza ja'ooka yujadiloonaka yaqulul ladheena kafaroo in hatha illa asaatirul awwaleen This is where the Mecca part of this really shows, this surah. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, and of them there are those who appear to be listening to you,
but upon their hearts they have these coverings, so they can't understand it, and in their ears they have this barrier so they can't really hear it. And even if they were to witness every sign from you, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, they still would not believe it, so much as when they come to you, they dispute with you, those who disbelieve would say, these are just the fables of ancient times. Now what this is referring to is actually an incident where the mushrikeen, those that were fighting the Prophet ﷺ, were getting caught by each other, secretly listening to the Qur'an, and they would admit to each other in private, there is no way this is poetry, there is no way this is magic, there is no way this is sorcery, that this is clearly miraculous speech. So amongst themselves they would actually admit that, but because their hearts were already oriented to reject it, because they had decided to reject it, they would keep making these excuses. So in this particular incident, you find a man by the name of Al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, so you've heard of Abu Sufyan, you have heard of Umayyah, you have heard of Al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, you've heard of these sort of prominent names, Al-Akhnas, Ibn Shuraik, Ubayy ibn Khalaf, all of these different people, Uqba ibn Abi Mu'id, but as they're speaking amongst each other, Abu Jahl amongst them, and they're deciding how they're going to respond to this message, they go to a man by the name of Al-Nadr ibn al-Harith. Al-Nadr ibn al-Harith was a particular storyteller of the fables of the past. So when they say it's Asatir al-Awaleen, these are just the fables of the past, that was what Al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, his specialty was, was just to share the fables of the past, just to make up mythology and share fables of the past. So they couldn't accuse the Prophet ﷺ of being possessed, they couldn't accuse him of being a liar,
they could not dismiss this as sorcery or sihir, they're just looking for different things. And the way that they eventually came to it was, they went to Al-Nadr, Al-Nadr said, these are Asatir al-Awaleen, I do this all the time, this Quran is just like what I do, just stories from the past. So they kept finding excuses to do away with it. And then Allah ﷻ, we go to verse 31, Qul laa aqoolu lakum AAindi khaza'inullah, wala a'alamul ghayb, wala aqoolu lakum inni malak, in attabi'u illa maa yuhaa ilayh. SubhanAllah, this is one of my favorite verses in this surah. Say to them, O Muhammad ﷺ, I don't have the treasures of Allah, nor do I have knowledge of that which is beyond my perception, nor do I have knowledge of the unseen that Allah ﷻ has not revealed to you, nor am I even claiming to you that I am some sort of an angel. Rather, I am only following that which is revealed to me. And in that, by the way, is a miracle. The fact that the Prophet ﷺ was a human being, the fact that he walked the marketplace, the fact that he ate and he drank, the fact that he was known to the people, the fact that he was fully human ﷺ is actually a miracle. So the Prophet ﷺ is being told to say to them, I'm not claiming to be an angel, I'm not claiming to have knowledge of the unseen beyond what Allah reveals to me. And it is your foolishness that you are thinking that in order for this message to be a miracle, I have to be some sort of a miraculous being. And that is your limitation, that's not a limitation on the message or on the messenger ﷺ. So SubhanAllah it's a beautiful line of response to them that, look, you're going to make up excuses, and even though you're making up these excuses, let's not get wrong about what I'm claiming because you guys are trying to find excuses every single time. I'm being very clear that I am a human being, a messenger of Allah
who receives the revelation and who Allah ﷻ has made a human being so that I could manifest this revelation in a way that human beings can follow it for all time. The last verse I'll mention here, verse 52 in Surat Al-An'am, wa la tatrud alladhina yad'uuna rabbahum bilghadati wal-ashi yureeduna wajhah ma AAalayka min hisabihim min shayt wa ma min hisabika AAalayhim min shayt fatatrudahum fatakuna min al-dhalimeen Allah ﷻ says, and do not drive away those who invoke their Lord in the morning and in the evening seeking His pleasure. You are by no means accountable for them, just as they are by no means accountable for you. If you drive them away, you will surely be from the wrongdoers. This is speaking about those arrogant people coming to the Prophet ﷺ and saying, you want us to come and sit with you? You need to get rid of Bilal, get rid of Salman al-Farisi, get rid of Suhaib al-Rumi, get rid of Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqas, get rid of all of these people that we feel are beneath us. We don't want to sit with these people. And so if you want us to listen to you, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, get rid of these people because it is not befitting to us to sit with them. And so Allah ﷻ says, do not drive away those people who worship Allah day and night seeking His pleasure. If you drive them away, you will surely be from the wrongdoers. So don't fall for their trick, Ya Rasulullah. They'll find another excuse anyway, and those people are not of less value in the sight of Allah because they're in the sight of these people with less value because of the false ungodly standards that they have. So SubhanAllah, stick with those people who believe and status is given through that belief and those that cling to this message. And that was a powerful message that Allah ﷻ gave to His Messenger ﷺ in Surat al-An'am. So with that, inshaAllah ta'ala, I'm not sure if Ustadh Nuruddin is here yet. I know Shaykh Abdullah is still here, I hope. He hasn't left us just yet. Shaykh Abdullah, are you there?
Yes, I'm here. Alright, at least you didn't leave me, you know, like alhamdulillah man. I don't know what I'd do without you. I'd probably have to start like recycling khutbas and stuff. Alhamdulillah. We hope Ustadh Nuruddin will join us inshaAllah. But inshaAllah Shaykh Abdullah, any reflections on that? And of course, build with, you know, just go into what you're going to go into, bi'nanaik ta'ala. Tafadhal mashkoor. Wa alaikum salam. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Salamu ala Rasulullah. No, it was mashaAllah at the very end, you know, the verse that you mentioned at the very end, that's a very beautiful extraction that you mentioned and benefit from the wording of the verse that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned, you know, prohibited the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam from pattard, from pushing away, from diverting away from, or for disregarding the ones that have those characteristics. And that subhanAllah is a characteristic of the muttaqi, is a characteristic, generically speaking, of the Muslim, of the one that is expected of him or her with good thoughts of anyone that says ashadu an la ilaha illallah or ashadu anna Muhammadur Rasulullah, anyone that has that belief in their heart. And the way that they would actualize that is through i'da'una rabbahum, they would call on their Lord. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam, prohibits him from turning away from those people and do not, do not in any shape, form, or fashion disregard them when they have those characteristics. And that's important because subhanAllah, you know, to be totally real, and I know I'm speaking for a lot of people, whether it's from either side, when we see a lot of people that are incarcerated and they get out of incarceration and then they go and seek help, and they go to organizations, subhanAllah, and they're disregarded.
They're not looked at. They're looked at as a lower form of society because of what society has claimed that they are and has given people a fixed mindset on something that they may have done in the past. And they sought tawbah, not even, you know, forgiveness from people, but tawbah with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And they became Muslim while incarcerated. They come out and they're trying to do something better. And this verse is particularly for those, not saying every organization, but the individuals that tell the person, just tell them, no, we can't, you know, in the office. And there's no valid reason. This ayat, subhanAllah, they really need to really contemplate on this ayat. When they turn away from people that are in need and they don't have the status, the stature, the money, the reputation, but they call on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in a way that only Allah knows and maybe a couple of people know. But what's important for you to know is that there are people that are Muslim and they are trying to seek help. So that's one of the first things that subhanAllah comes to my mind because I faced that countless times, countless times, particularly from those that have had a past as all of us have. All of us have. We've had things that we regret and subhanAllah, Allah exposes us in different ways. But what's most important is when you contemplate over that, when you contemplate over that mistake, what do you do about it? And people try to do things about it for themselves. And subhanAllah, there's nothing like being turned away, whether it's turned away from your parent or turned away from someone that you expect to be your brother or your sister. And that is a segue to a verse that I want to talk about. Chapter verse number 34 in the chapter of Al-An'am, where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about a very important concept.
And particularly when I embraced Islam, this is one of the concepts that really, really drew me towards Islam in a profound way. The concept of the dunya, you know, many times in Jahiliyyah or even subhanAllah in Islam, you know, we may be in certain gatherings and, you know, you may see people that may be of a higher status, higher stature, higher income, a career that's very respected and things of that nature. And subhanAllah, you may feel sometimes that you're lesser than them because of what society may make them out to be or the person that is at that position. They may look down upon those that are not or that those that don't have that kind of education or from that particular tribe or nationality or level of education. SubhanAllah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reminds us, even though what you may possess is something that is virtuous, it all goes back to your niya and how you deal with people with what you have. Because the dunya, subhanAllah, is something that is temporary and it is a passing vehicle. It is something that we are here for temporarily. As the Prophet ﷺ said, مَا لِوَلَ الدُّنْيَا إِنَّمَا مَثْلِي وَمَثْلِ الدُّنْيَا كَمَثْلِ رَاقِبٍ إِسْتَظَلَّ تَحْتَى الشَّجَرَةُ ثُمَّ رَاحَ وَتَرَكَى The Prophet ﷺ, he said, in an authentic hadith by Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه, he said that what is for me in this dunya, what is for me in this life of this dunya, verily an example of me and an example of the dunya is like a traveler that is sitting under the shade of a tree then gets up and leaves it. He compares the dunya to the shade of a tree. It is something that is temporary that you will use in order to continue your destination. In the hadith that the Prophet ﷺ told Ibn Umar رضي الله عنه, when he grabbed him by his shoulders, he grabbed him by his shoulders,
and many scholars talk about the methods that he used to talk to people with a physical touch. He grabbed him by his shoulders and he says كُنْ فِي الدُّنْيَا كَأَنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ أَوْ عَابِرِي سَبِينٌ He says be in this world as though you are a stranger or a wayfarer passing by. So what Allah ﷻ says in this beautiful verse after عَذْبِ اللَّهِ وَشَيْطَانَ الرَّجِيمِ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا لَعِبٌ وَلَهُمُ وَلَدَارُ الْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَلَّذِينَ يَتَقُونَ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ Allah ﷻ says after the context of speaking about the regret of those that disbelieve in Allah ﷻ, and if you notice in this chapter Shaykh Umar mentioned two different situations where Allah ﷻ will mention the future of those that disbelieve and the things that they will say. And that's interesting in regards to predestination of Allah ﷻ which is the sixth pillar of our Iman. To believe that Allah knows what would happen from the hypotheticals if you will. What would even take place and that is a sign of His complete knowledge. Later on, if you see in the beginning before this verse, a couple of verses before that, Allah ﷻ talks about what they would say. وَلَوْ رُدُّوا لَعَادُوا لِمَالُهُ عَنْهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَاذِبُونَ Even if they were to return to the earth, they would still disbelieve. Verily they are lying by making this claim, if they were to come back, that they would be of those that are truthful. At the very end of this, the veil or the last verse in this context of what he's talking about, he mentions the dunya. وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا لَعِبٌ وَلَهُ And this is very, very important for us that are in this life. As we know the word dunya means life, which linguistically comes from that which is, as scholars mention, الدنو في الزمن أو الدنو في المرتبة والفضل He says الدنو means that which is proximal, that is close,
or that which is demised or low or not valued to a high standard or degree. How is that? When we look at dunya from the proximity of time, of zaman, it is close to the akhirah, right? As Allah ﷻ mentions numerous times that the dunya is something that is temporary. As He mentions وَمَا أَمْرُنَا إِلَّا وَاحِدَةٌ كَلَمْحٍ بِالْبَصَرِ When He talks about the time span of the dunya, He says وَمَا أَمْرُنَا Our situation is nothing but the time span of the blink of an eye. The dunya is something that will pass quickly. And I think we face that at times in our life. So Allah ﷻ is saying that this dunya is لعبٍ له So the dunya in proximity to the akhirah and the dunya in regards to its fadl and its virtue, that is something that it shouldn't be valued to a high degree to the point to where if we prefer the things of this life over the actions and virtues of the next life. So for instance, if we prefer our profession over prayer, when it's time to pray, do we even have any feeling in our heart that it's time to show Allah ﷻ the ultimate form of gratitude for the profession, for the intellect, for everything that He has given you? And that is what is important, which is a small example of preference of the dunya over the akhirah. When we mean that, we mean the actions of the dunya over the actions of the person of the akhirah. It is not all, does not contrast in every single form or fashion, but again, it goes back to ultimately the intention. So Allah ﷻ says when He compares this dunya, He says, what is this dunya except for لعب وله? And in Arabic, this is the strongest form of negation. What is this except for this? وما إلا And then He says لعب وله
Two things, لعب, like a game and playfulness, and له, distraction or diversion. The scholars mention that this distraction is distraction of the abdan. له في الأبدان وله في القلوب لعب في الأبدان وله في القلوب That it is لعب, it is a game pertaining to your body and the actions and the things that you do. And a distraction from the akhirah. As I always tell particularly the young men and women, it's important for us to know what is a distraction, particularly in social media, what is considered a distraction, that which distracts you from what is beneficial for you in this life and in the next. So it's very important to distinguish those things because Allah says the dunya is nothing but that. So when we hear that, we should be very diligent in asking, what is it in this life, in this temporary abode that will benefit me for the next life, for the last life, for the final abode? And that's why Allah calls it the akhirah. Akhir means the end because it is the last stage of life or even the other life, right? So that is what is important here that Allah says it is these two things and that's how we should look at it and always regard the dunya as a place of istithmar, of investing for the akhirah, for the next life. Then Allah says to conclude, we're short of time, Allah mentions, and the akhirah and the abode of the akhirah is better for the muttaqeen, is better for those that have taqwa, as we talked about yesterday, it's better for those that have mindfulness of Allah. So when we look at the daar, he calls it daar al-akhirah, the home of the akhirah. You never hear daar al-dunya, he says daar al-akhirah for who? It is for a particular type of person.
It is for the muttaqeen. As Allah mentions, it starts the Quran off, we see the beginning of Baqarah, hudan lil-muttaqeen. You may try to tell your friends, your family, people, that you would expect them to understand what impacted you from the Quran or from the sunnah or from an Islamic practice or action, but it just doesn't. And that's what we have to remember, that it goes back, ultimately everyone has a level of responsibility of seeking guidance from their Maker, learning who He is and who He is not, and trying to make an effort. So Allah says that this daar al-khayrun for the ones that are the muttaqeen. As the Prophet ﷺ says, that jannah, that the dunya is the sijnul mu'min. It is jail for the believer. It is jail for the believer. It is the one that really wants the akhirah, because they're not totally pleased with being in this dunya, from what they see from all of the distractions and too much playfulness that takes them away from the akhirah. So Allah ﷻ continues on, He asks the question, أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ Do you not ponder, do you not understand? And when we say understand the aqal, there is a place for the aqal in regards to the intellect that He has given you. But when we use the intellect to a degree that may defy the revelation or the direct cause of revelation, that's where we have to understand our place as human beings and as forms of creation. So He's asking you to use your intellect in that which benefits you in regards to the one that created intellect in general, and your intellect in particular. Use that intellect to ponder over this life. Take a step back and see, how is this benefiting me in regards to what Allah wants for me? How is this benefiting me in regards to my purpose, fulfilling my purpose in life? How is this benefiting me in regards to the relationship with my family
and this wife that I may choose or husband that I may choose? How are they going to help me get closer to Allah ﷻ? How are they going to help me realize that this life is temporary to where things that we do will serve as an investment in the next life? So the beauty of this verse again is in regards to the dunya and looking at the reality of this dunya, and it'll make us pleased with what Allah has given us. And know that anyone that strives for things that are temporary, that in itself is a level of deficiency in regards to looking at the bigger picture because there is something after this physical life, inshaAllah. May Allah ﷻ protect us all. JazakAllah khairan Sheikh Abdullah. Alhamdulillah, Ustadh Nuruddin has joined us. Welcome back to Quran 30 for 30, season 2. BarakAllahu fiqi. We're glad you could join us. Good to be back. Allah'u'barak fiqi. And for the sake of time, inshaAllah ta'ala, Sister Nuruddin, Bismillah, just take us away inshaAllah. Okay, alhamdulillah. InshaAllah, I'm really grateful to hear the reflections. Alhamdulillah, we're in this blessed month of Ramadan, a time of reflection, a time of returning back to Allah ﷻ, where we're either doing extra deeds or we're trying to take bad deeds away from maybe what was part of our normal life. We're trying to take some things away and inshaAllah ta'ala, many of us are likely doing both. And so I wanted to focus in the Quran, we're in Juz 7. I wanted to focus on Isa ﷺ, his disciples, and Allah ﷻ, the oneness of God. Alhamdulillah, we have many non-Muslims who watch yaqeen, inshaAllah, and we are grateful that you watch us and inshaAllah learn and Allah ﷻ allow this message to reach you.
And Isa, Jesus, is an important figure both in Christianity and in Islam. He is upheld as this righteous man who was God-fearing, a lover of God, and pointed people towards Allah ﷻ. So let me just sort of restart. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Allahumma salli ala sayyidina Muhammad. So, Isa ﷺ, he's an important figure in both of our faiths. However, Isa in Islam, he is known to be a prophet. And all of the prophets point people to Allah ﷻ. And Alhamdulillah, Shaykh Abdullah was just speaking about distractions in this world. And when we think about what we call shirk, or believing in a god other than Allah ﷻ, we can almost say that it is a major distraction. It is distraction to the point of extremes, so that you're so distracted by someone else, by something else, that it completely takes you away from Allah ﷻ, and you begin to worship someone other than Him. And subhanAllah, often we think about this in a negative way, which happens all the time. As Shaykh Abdullah just mentioned, we're into social media or whatever it is that distracts us from Allah ﷻ. And so we want to turn away from that and turn back. But sometimes we are actually distracted by the good of people. And so we, or even the good of action, so we can become distracted by salah and think that that's the end all be all. Instead of reminding ourselves that this is a means to Allah ﷻ,
that it's not the salah, it's not the fasting that is the ultimate purpose, but using that, obeying Allah ﷻ by doing that and utilizing that to reach Allah ﷻ. And the same is true for Isa, that Isa, may Allah be pleased with him and give him peace, then he was a messenger given amazing miracles, similar to our prophet, our prophet Muhammad, they're both being our prophets. And such an upright, righteous person. But to the point that people got distracted away from his message and absorbed in his person, and to the point where some actually began to worship Isa, not seeing him as a man with a message to bring us to Allah ﷻ, to remind us of Allah ﷻ, but seeing him as the end all be all. And this is something that Allah ﷻ talks about in the table spread, a chapter of the Quran called the table spread, a surah known as Al-Ma'idah. So, SubhanAllah, Allah, He first, He begins, not begins, we're in verse 111, so the part where we're beginning, Allah ﷻ talks to the disciples. And this is important because we want to not be like those who get distracted by the means and forget the ends, right? And the disciples were people who were not distracted by the means, but remember the end. So they followed Isa, peace be upon him, to Allah ﷻ, to reach Allah ﷻ, and they did not make a deity out of Isa. And so Allah ﷻ says, I inspire the disciples, believe in me and my messenger.
They declared, we believe and bear witness, and we fully submit to Allah ﷻ. And this is such an important reminder, whether it is something neutral or bad or good, we have to remember, ultimately, we're moving back to Allah ﷻ. So, further on in the table spread, then Allah is having a conversation with Isa, peace be upon him. And it's so beautiful because, of course, Allah ﷻ is all-knowing, right? He knows this information, so this conversation isn't for him, but for us, a reminder for us. And so, Allah ﷻ says, and on the Day of Judgment, Allah will say, Jesus, son of Mary, did you ever ask the people to worship you and your mother as gods besides Allah? So, first, it is presented as Isa, peace be upon him, is being questioned, right? Isa is being asked, did you do this? Because Isa, just as every other human being, every other human being is responsible to Allah ﷻ. He, too, is responsible to Allah. He is a prophet. He was given miracles, but he is responsible to Allah. And so, Allah is questioning him, but also giving us this conversation as well. And so, he will answer, glory be to you. How could I ever say a thing I have no right to say? And then he goes on to say, so first, looking at himself, I have no right to say such a thing, so I would never say it. But then he goes on to say, if I had said such a thing, you would certainly have known it. You know what is hidden within me, and I do not know what is within you.
Indeed, you alone are the knower of the unseen. So, reminding us, because again, Allah ﷻ is sharing this conversation with us, reminding us that Allah ﷻ is the all-knower. Allah is the one in power. He is just a man. He is just a messenger, despite the amazing miracles that he was given on earth. Isa is just a man. He is a means to Allah ﷻ. So, Isa, he also says in the next verse, in the following verse, he says, and look at all of this, that it's a conversation between him and Allah ﷻ, but he's also indirectly speaking to us, right? So, he says, if you punish them, they belong to you after all. And if you forgive them, you are surely the Almighty, the wise. So, he goes from first saying, I have no right to say that, and then to say, if I said it, you would know that I said it, because you are the all-knower. And then that those people who would believe such a thing, ultimately, that is for you to deal with. So, also clearing himself as well, right? That this is not his doing. He did not tell people to worship him, but those who came up with that on their own, if Allah wills to punish them, he can do so. And if he wills to forgive them, he can do so. And Isa reminds us that Allah ﷻ is almighty and all-wise. So, Jesus ﷺ, Isa is reminding us, don't forget the end. The end goal is Allah ﷻ. We know in fasting, the end goal is not to starve. The end goal is not to be hungry.
The end goal is to draw nearer to Allah ﷻ. The end goal of our extra prayers, the end goal of removing either the sinful or even the makrud, the disliked from our life, is to move towards Allah ﷻ. So, in that same way, whether it is with righteous people or righteous acts, we don't lose ourselves in them. We draw near to Allah ﷻ. And so, that was one reminder that I got from this surah, and that we are thankful to Allah ﷻ for giving us this conversation so that we can remember our ultimate goal. Alhamdulillah, rabb al-aliyyul azeem. I'm just the man that's giving you the message. So, subhanAllah, the next surah actually builds on that same theme of Isa ﷺ reminding people that he is a messenger of Allah, the Prophet ﷺ, reminding people that as mighty of a man as he was, alayhi salatu wassalam, he is a messenger of Allah, and that the role of the messengers above all is to bring us back to our Creator. Jazakumullah khayran, ustaz Abdul Nurdin. We're very, very happy you were able to join us, alhamdulillah, with those very beneficial reflections. Shaykh Abdullah, do you have any thought in closing before we just wrap it up, inshaAllah? Alhamdulillah, that's the last page of I think al-Ma'id, if I'm not mistaken. That's one of my favorite verses, subhanAllah. I had the opportunity from Allah ﷻ to, as you mentioned, to our non-Muslim viewers, subhanAllah, for them to understand or just to get an understanding of the concept of Isa in Islam.
And I think this is paramount for those of you that may have parents that are Christian and may have a misunderstanding, especially those of you that have converted to Islam, reverted to Islam. If you have an opportunity to read this verse to them, to tell them, you know, this is the month of Ramadan, and I just wanted to read this to you if you give me the opportunity, and explain that to them, because it's very, very eloquent in regards to who Isa is and who Allah is, and the greatness of Isa, but maintaining the integrity of Allah ﷻ and the integrity of prophethood, the concept of prophethood in Islam. You know, I did this one time, subhanAllah, for a Catholic sister, and it translated in Spanish, and mashAllah, it was a short time afterwards, she eventually became a Muslim, because it was so profound for them. So, you know, reading this, every time I've had the opportunity to read this, particularly to those that may be of the Catholic faith, it's been something that has been profound for them, mashAllah. I like how she used the segue of distraction, and how subhanAllah, you know, when speaking to the youth or anyone in general, using the word shirk as a distraction. I mean, I like how she really touched on that, and even a distraction for those that do actions of khair, you know, actions of good, subhanAllah. And I was so inspired, sister Noura Deen, I wrote a little poem. I wrote a little poem. It's two lines, it's two lines, it's two lines, just check this out. Do not let the means be a distraction from your Creator while establishing a healthy interaction. MashAllah, mashAllah. You're fasting, right? You're not like secretly drinking like some, like Gatorade or some hydration energy drink. No, it was good, mashAllah. Very, very, very nice, very nice ta'liqat, very nice explanation and commentary on this beautiful, beautiful dialogue, mashAllah.
May Allah bless you. JazakAllah khair. Sister Noura Deen, very happy to have you, inshAllah. We hope to have you back in the future as well. Shaykh Abdullah, as always, jazakAllah khair for your reflections and your poetry, mashAllah. And to the rest, to everyone else, please do, inshAllah, again, yaqeeninstitute.org.slashramadhan, where you can download the e-books, as well as support this prophetic mission, bidna nahi ta'ala. We pray that Allah places us all on the path of our Prophet, salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, and grant us his companionship in Jannatul Firdaus. Allahumma ameen. JazakAllah khairan. Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. This is your brother, Ibrahim Hindi. It's a struggle for parents everywhere to raise our kids to be good, mature, independent adults who are confident, and also to be great believers who are confident in their religion and connected to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. How can we achieve this goal? Join me for this great series, Keys to Prophetic Parenting. We will take cues and keys from the Prophets and the righteous people on how they raised kids in order to inform how we can become better parents together, inshAllah.
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