Qur'an 30 for 30 | Season 2
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Juz' 20 with Dr. Ovamir Anjum | Qur'an 30 for 30 Season 2
When Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his companions faced increasing challenges, Allah sent down clear guidelines and stories to exemplify the message. Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro are joined by Dr. Ovamir Anjum to reflect on the stories revealed about the other prophets that helped guide the early Muslims through not one but two migrations and the many instances in between.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Everyone, welcome back to Qur'an 30 for 30. Alhamdulillah, before we get started inshaAllah, just a reminder that because we have the webathon inshaAllah ta'ala tomorrow, we're going to be doubling up Juz 20 and Juz 21 inshaAllah ta'ala. So we're going to be doing Juz 20 now inshaAllah ta'ala, and then you can log back in inshaAllah ta'ala at 11pm Central Time, midnight Eastern Time inshaAllah ta'ala for Juz 21 bi'idhnillah. So that way on Sunday you can join us for the webathon and remain inshaAllah ta'ala plugged in throughout the day bi'idhnillah ta'ala. So again inshaAllah ta'ala 11 o'clock Central Time tonight, we'll be Juz 21. Please do also join us for the webathon bi'idhnillah ta'ala. And one of the guests for the webathon and one of our beloved instructors, one of our beloved researchers, our chief editor alhamdulillah, Dr. Uweimer Anjum is with us tonight. Hayakallah Dr. Uweimer, how are you? Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah, wa alaikum, it's a pleasure to have you. And for those that don't know alhamdulillah, so make sure that you check out the Art of Worship paper that Dr. Uweimer wrote. Alhamdulillah, on top of being our chief editor, he has written some extremely valuable pieces alhamdulillah, on the Madani society, and he chose to come in with a very light topic. His first paper for Yaqeen was just a very neutral paper he wrote on Khilafah. Nothing too controversial just came right in. It was a powerful paper alhamdulillah on Khilafah and provoked a lot of discussion that's still ongoing and then wrote up, you know, multiple papers. But this one on Art of Worship alhamdulillah is a beautiful line of tadabbur. Dr. Uweimer, can you just talk just maybe a minute about a snapshot of that paper inshallah on the Art of Worship that you wrote?
So, you know, I was thinking last Ramadan after of course translating Madarij al-Saliheen, what do I learn from Madarij about worship? Is it a science? You know, what is it? And the idea came to me that it's really an art because it's a it's a thing of beauty. And you have to think about your relationship to Allah as you would if as if you were creating a piece of art. And, you know, everybody comes with different strengths. And Allah gives you freedom to do so many different things in so many different ways. And just as, you know, a piece of art, if you will, you see its beauty once it comes together at the end. And then others witness the beauty of it, like people, you know, witness the beauty of your character. As there is a hadith about the people of Allah, وَإِذَا رُؤُوا ذُكِّرَ اللَّهِ When they are seen, Allah is mentioned. So as if they are a piece of art that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has created. And anyway, that's what that's what inspired the piece. Alhamdulillah. So inshallah, I hope that everyone reads it. JazakAllah khair for that. I have one question for you, Dr. Awaimur, before I start. How do you feel about people that call you O-Vomer? Does it bother you? Well, I know one person who calls me O-Vomer, but he, you know, but my name is Awaimur. There we go. Alhamdulillah. You know, but everybody, including my mom, they call me different things. Whatever is easier for them, because the name isn't the easiest. So I actually, Alhamdulillah, do not mind. I'm not offended when people try. Okay. Alhamdulillah. But for trivia for everyone, Abu Darda'a radiAllahu ta'ala, whose name was actually Awaimur. So you're named after a great companion. TabarakAllah.
JazakAllah khair for being with us. And inshallah ta'ala, we'll go ahead and get started. Bismillah walhamdulillah wa salatu wa salam wa rasool Allah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. So now as we're in Juz 20, we're still in Meccan Quran, and I want to mention one particular verse from Surah al-Qasas, and then I'll move on to Al-Ankabut. And the reason being is that I had told you all to please pay attention to a ayah that connects to the previous Juz. In the previous Juz, we saw, wa anzir ashirataka al-aqrabin, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says in Surah al-Shu'ara, to warn your closest relatives, to call your closest relatives to Allah first. And we sort of talked about how the Prophet ﷺ built, starting from himself, alayhi salatu wa salam, and then his immediate family, and then his extended relatives, and then he called the tribes that were closest, salAllahu alayhi wa salam. And that was a tarteeb, that was a divine order of how to actually broadcast the call of Islam. And in Surah al-Qasas, you find a very painful ayah upon the Prophet ﷺ, and that is verse 56. innaka da tahdi man ahbabt, walakinna allaha yahdi man yasha' It is not you who guides whom you will, verily Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, or it is not you who guides whom you love, verily it is Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la who guides whom he wills. And this is something that's very profound, because it comes in relation to the pain of the Prophet ﷺ at the time of the death of Abu Talib. Prophet ﷺ loved Abu Talib, and Abu Talib loved the Prophet ﷺ and protected him, but Abu Talib was insisting on his ways, the ways of his forefathers. And we know that in those last moments, Abu Jahl, and if you're watching the Meeting Muhammad ﷺ series, we talked about Abdullah ibn Umayyah, both prompted Abu Talib and caused him to be conflicted in his last moments,
where the Prophet ﷺ was saying to him, just say, la ilaha illallah, just give me that testimony, and I will be able to defend your case before Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la on the Day of Judgment. And they continued to prompt Abu Talib so that he would not give the Prophet ﷺ that word, and it hurt the Prophet ﷺ deeply. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la revealed this as a comfort to him, and Allah knows who the muhtadeen are, Allah knows who those who truly are guided are. And this is something that when you think about the Prophets that came before, we see the pain of Ibrahim Alayhi Salam with his father. We see the pain of Nuh Alayhi Salam with his wife. The pain of Lut Alayhi Salam with his wife. The pain of various Prophets with their children, Prophets with their parents, Prophets with their siblings, and almost all people, all the Prophets had issues with some of their people that they loved dearly. And this was Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la saying to the Prophet ﷺ and to us by extension, that guidance belongs to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, and so we call and we call and we call, and we leave the rest to Allah Azza wa Jal. And of course this is one test of the multiple tests, and so we get into Surat Al-Ankabut. When I'm asked what my favorite surah in the Quran is, and of course we've said that some of the sahaba would mention their favorites, Al-Ankabut is one that I often think about, because it starts off right from the back, Ahasiban nasu an yutraku an yaqulu aamanna wa hum la yuftanoon Do people think that they just simply say we believe and they are left alone, that they are not to be tested? And in reality, walaqad fatanna allatheena min qablihim Everyone that came before you was tested, the righteous were tested before you, whether they were prophets or martyrs, or righteous people that were within the stories, the context of those prophets, falayAAlamanna allaha allatheena sadaqoo wa layAAlamanna alkathibeen And that's how Allah knows the truthfulness of a person, and we ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to make us amongst them,
and not amongst the opposite that Allah Azza wa Jal mentions. Now Surat Al-Ankabut talks about tests as a whole, but I'll mention just a few things about the surah inshaAllah ta'ala, then I'll move on to Dr. Uwaimar ibn-An-Nahi ta'ala. Surat Al-Ankabut speaks to both, it's very interesting because it's Meccan, but the Mufassireen say that part of it is Mecca prior to the hijrah to Abyssinia, and Mecca prior to the hijrah of Madinah. So it's interesting because the difficulty of migration, and Allah is addressing two separate contexts, but within the same category of good deeds, which is migration for the sake of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, hijrah for the sake of Allah. So you'll find actually both, some mid-Meccan ayat in the surah, and some late Meccan ayat, but both sets of ayat are preceding a very difficult choice for the believers, to have to migrate for the sake of Allah, to flee with their religion, and escape persecution. And you think of the hadith where the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam mentions the shaytan coming to a person, and in the context of the believers, when a person is going to become Muslim, the shaytan comes and he says, are you going to become Muslim and abandon the religion of your father, and your forefathers? And that person, abaa fa-aslam, that person disobeys the shaytan and becomes Muslim anyway. Now sometimes that doesn't happen, right, which we just talked about one of those incidents, where the shaytan's messaging penetrates. But then if that doesn't work, when it comes time for hijrah, the person is about to make hijrah in this sequence of hadith, and subhanAllah the shaytan comes and he says, are you really going to leave behind your place of safety, and everything you've earned, everything you've worked for in your homeland, and verily an immigrant lives like a neutered horse. It's a very interesting terminology, right, the way that the shaytan describes the vulnerability of the refugee, and the vulnerability of an immigrant in this situation. And the Prophet ﷺ said, abaa, or asaa fa-hajir,
that that person disobeys the shaytan and makes the hijrah anyway. So it wasn't easy to make hijrah, especially when all you knew was Mecca. And so that's where you're seeing the difficult choice of hijrah, or to renounce your faith and stay in Mecca. Just a few ayat, wa qala allatheena kafaru lillatheena aamanu, attabi'u sabeelana walnahmi alkhatayaakum, wamaahum bihamireena min khatayaahum min shayt, innahum lakathiboon. Verse 12, that the unbelievers say to the believers, follow our way, and we will carry the burden of your sins. And they say so, and they're not even able to carry their own sins, right? They're liars. They're not able to even carry their own burden of sins. They don't even believe in the hereafter, right, for them to say that we'll carry your sins on top of ours. It's part of their mockery. But that's the way they thought about in terms of trade. innahum lakathiboon, and verily they were liars. And according to some of the riwayat, this was a last-ditch attempt with Umar bin Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhum before the hijrah, that Abu Sufyan and some of his peers came to him and said these things to him directly. They said, listen, just follow us, come back to us, we'll carry your burden on the Day of Judgment if there is one, don't worry about it, come back to us and we'll take care of you. And of course they succeeded in taking Ayyash bin Abi Rabi'a. They took his cousin, the half-brother of Abu Jahl, away, not by telling him that you can renounce Islam. Some people did renounce Islam, but telling him that your mother is worried about you and come back to your mom. And Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhum stayed firm and he continued his way. And this is one of the ways that shaitan comes to a person in vulnerability in the story of Ka'b bin Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhum, when Ka'b mentions that as I was being excommunicated and waiting for the revelation to come in my regard that the king of Ghassan, a Christian, sent me a letter and he said, qad balaghna anna sahibaka qad jafaaka walam ya ja'alaka Allahu bidari hawanin wala mudhaya that it's come to us that your companion, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
has abandoned you and Allah did not put you here to be humiliated or lost. And he said, I took that letter and I burned it in the oven. But that's how shaitan tries to come to a person when they're in that low point, follow our ways instead. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, waladheena jahadu feena lanahdi annahum subulana wa inna Allaha lama'al muhsinina and those who strive in our cause, we will guide them to our ways. We will open the doors of goodness for them in terms of their paths to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. We will open for them ways in this world as well. Finally, wala tujadil ahl al-kitabi illa billatihi ahsan illa allatheena thalamu minhum wa qulu amanna billathee unzila ilayna wa unzila ilaykum wa ilahuna wa ilahukum wahid wa nahnu lahum muslimoon Verse 46, as the believers are about to make their way to Medina, Allah says particularly with the da'wah to the people of the book, argue not with them except in the best of ways and do not, except for them that are oppressive towards you, those that are nasty and utterly unjust towards you. And say to them, we believe in what was revealed to us and we believe in what was revealed to you and our God is your God and we are amongst those who submit ourselves to Allah. The scholars say this applies to the believers going to Habasha, Abyssinia, and this applies to the believers going to Medina, Allah giving them the methodology to start with the Christians in Abyssinia, to start from a place of we believe in what was revealed to you in its original form and we believe in what was revealed to us. And with the Muslims that were migrating to Medina and dealing with Jewish tribes in Medina, we believe in what was revealed to you and we believe in what was revealed to us. Ibn Abbas says that this was the methodology for dealing with the people of the book prior to both of the Hijras, since both of the Hijras were to places where the people of the book resided. So with that inshaAllah ta'ala I will pass it on to our beloved Dr. Owayman inshaAllah ta'ala to take it from there bidna. Jazakum Allah khair.
Jazakum Allah khair. Bismillah alhamdulillah wa salatu wassalamu ala rasulillah. So the juz that we have today has two main surahs, surah Al-Qasas and Al-Ankabut. And as Sheikh Omar pointed out, these are surahs that came toward the end of the Meccan period and some of the Mufassireen say before the first Hijra to Al-Habasha as well. And what I want to talk about is how to conceptualize what the Quran is doing. You see these middle smaqen to surahs. This is the epitome, the height of the Tarbiyah by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala of the Prophet alayhi salam and of the companions of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And this is the time when a lot of surahs are being revealed in Mecca. And these surahs, some of them are long and they seem to have a more calm demeanor like surah Al-A'raf and Al-An'am. They are long surahs that the Sahaba, perhaps this was a time when people had time to memorize and reflect on these long surahs and then you have some surahs toward the end of the Meccan period when the pitch is higher, you know things are really, really difficult and the message that these surahs are giving is dealing with both very particular circumstances and the general message to the Ummah and to humanity at large as the Ummah is going to turn to the Qur'an year after year until the Day of Judgment.
So I want to make two points about how to receive these surahs of the Qur'an and any surah of the Qur'an. The first point is that these surahs are, especially in the Meccan period, are creating the mental furniture of a believer. That is how the mind of a believer is structured and what kind of, if you will, rooms and furniture it has. As a believer and a group of believers confronts difficult challenges in life. The challenge may be that your parents are non-righteous or even Mushrikeen and you are on the one hand indebted to them, on the other hand they're asking you to leave your faith. The challenge may be that you are like Musa, alayhis-salam, helpless, raised in the house of a pharaoh and then is now having to go back and confront the pharaoh. The challenge may be that you are a leader of a community, a lawgiver, as Musa was. You may be a leader and you find that there are challenges, behavior that contradicts faith within that community, within the community of believers. You may be Ibrahim, alayhis-salam, a lone muwahid, a sole worshipper of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the house of an idol maker in a society and community and a kingdom that is not willing to abandon, to turn away from its idol and from its desires. You may be Nuh who has called on his people year after year after year.
And so if you look at these surahs, surat Ash-Shu'ara and An-Naml and Al-Qasas seem to have almost a continuous theme. And the central story in these surahs is the story of Musa, alayhis-salam. Different aspects of the story of Musa, alayhis-salam, are developed. And then in surat Al-Ankabut, there are other prophet stories are brought in. Now all of these stories had been mentioned, all of these prophets had been mentioned before in Al-A'raf and earlier surahs Al-Anbiya. But now they're being brought back to deal with the specific situation, which is now the things are difficult. How are you going to deal with when you are being driven out like Musa, alayhis-salam, had to run away? And how are you going to deal with the situation in your life as Al-Ankabut speaks of Lut, alayhis-salam, who believed in Ibrahim, alayhis-salam, and that he was sent to his people who committed a grave fahisha, such a grave fahisha. And Mulut is an outsider. He is perhaps the only prophet who is an outsider to his people. So all of these different circumstances are commented on through the stories of prophets so that the mental furniture of a believer is is made up of stories and examples of Prophet Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, first and foremost. And then for the prophet himself, the role, his role models are Musa and Ibrahim and Isa. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. So this is one theme that stands out in all of these Makkan surahs.
And they are, if you will, the madrasah of the Quran. The Quran is a school. And like in a school, you have different grades and different topics and themes. When you're reading the Quran with attention to these different themes and to how they relate to the prophet's life, different phases in the prophet's life, they actually teach you enormous lessons that you might at first think are not. When you're not paying attention, that this is just repetition. The second thing I want to mention is how Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, in the short span of 23 years of the mission of the prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, exposed Muslims individually, as well as as a group to new circumstances, new situations, new challenges, and then commented on them. And Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, did not leave any significant, any important situation that the ummah was going to face that was not brought up by the story of an individual, sahabi, by a woman complaining to the prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, the prophet responding back to her, by some of the sahaba having difficulty in confronting the very difficult situation like a war or something. And that Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, made it happen so that Allah could comment on it. And Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, did not need to do that. He could have just given us a book of theory, but Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, made it so that all of these stories come to life so that they are felt as a strongly felt emotion, that so that you can fully absorb the message of the Quran.
But also so that you can find, if you will, you could you could find the right furniture for the right situation. And that is the great wisdom that the Quran teaches us. And especially you find them in surahs like surah al-qasas and al-ankabut. JazakAllah Khayran. SubhanAllah, very powerful. And I think it's, I love the mental furniture concept. And I think that one thing that one of my teachers had once mentioned is that when it comes to Nabi Allah, the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, his sunnah gives us guidance in everything and we relate to him in everything in our lives. But the stories of the prophets were not just there to make Rasulullah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, firm. They are there as timeless lessons. And you know that you're connecting with the stories of the prophets when you start to experience certain things. And like you said, you immediately go to the room of Musa alayhi salam, to the room of Nuh alayhi salam, to these different places. JazakAllah khayran. Dr. Oweimer for those beautiful reflections. InshAllah ta'ala, Shaykh Abdullah, take us away and then we'll get to have some little discussion inshAllah ta'ala as well. Fadla Shaykh Abdullah. Bismillah wa salatu wa salam ala Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala amma ba'd. Just as he was mentioning the different rooms and the furniture with the prophets and their experiences and their natural, the way Allah has created them, their fitrah. It's interesting how within the knowledge of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He gives them different characteristics. I mentioned Lut and Ibrahim. It's okay for him to be alone. He's totally fine with that. But then it's like, okay, you know, Haroon akhi, you know, lamma raja'a Musa ghadbana asifan. He came back and he was angry, right? La taqhud bil lihyati wala bi raasi. When Moses grabbed Haroon's, his beard and his head and he yajurruhu ilay.
So you see the personalities that are different with the prophets. And that's comforting. As I mentioned before, the stories of the sahaba is the same situation. You see the different personalities, even within the four khulafa ar-rashideen. They have characteristics that has been given subhanAllah. And that's a shameless plug for one of the papers that I really love. Phenomenal paper called I think it's spiritual personalities. I can't remember the exact name of it, but it really speaks about that. So we have the very beautiful paper in regards to that. MashaAllah. So what I want to touch on inshallah is of Haroon. It speaks about in the chapter of Qasas, verse number 76 and 77, but primarily verse 77, where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is giving a form of advice to those that he has blessed or have been blessed with an abundance of resources. And we can say money, but I would like to say resources because when we think money, we think of the paper money a lot of times. But as we know, money was the dinar and the dirham. And there was also the barter system, gold and silver. And there was also the barter system that we we see today, but not as as prevalent as we did in their times. So we can say belongings or resources. Those that have that many resources are plentiful. It's important to listen to these forms of advice that was given by by the people of Qaroon to Qaroon. Qaroon, as was mentioned in the Quran, as Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la mentions, he says, indeed Qaroon was from the people of Musa. But he tyrannized them and we gave him treasures to whom the keys would burden a band of strong men. That is Mufatir who that the keys that he had were so big and huge that it would burden a pair of strong men that would try to hold these keys to show the level of his his wealth. But with that wealth, he tyrannized people. And he said, thereupon, his people said to him, do not exalt any.
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la does not like those that are exultant, those that indulge and embellish themselves themselves in the extravagance to the degree that it can become tyrannical. And this is this the verse that follows that is important because many times we may say as Muslims in regards to the dunya, in regards to this worldly life, the tangible life that we see in front of us that is temporary. We may say that is in contrast with having money or with having an abundance of resources. But that's not the case from an Islamic perspective. Rather, it is whatever you have been given, whether it's one dollar or one million dollars. How do you use that money? When we look at the ahkam of this shari'ah, the rulings of the shari'ah, it really is what deals with the af'al al-mukallifeen, the actions of the responsible parties, primarily. There are some things that are intrinsically haram, but when we talk about the actions of the mukallifeen, that is what is important here. So these forms of advice is firstly where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says that the relay says after Azr ibn Ash-Sanajeen, Wabitaghi fee ma a'taakallahu ad-daar al-akhira, and seek the life to come by means of what God has granted you. Wabitaghi fee ma a'taakallahu, and to desire from what Allah has given you, ad-daar al-akhira. So using what you have been given from ar-razaq, al-wasi, al-wahab, the bestower, the one that is full of abundance, what he has given you, make sure you use it, again the verb, you use it in that which is in a way that is beneficial to yourself, by doing it in a way that is pleasing to Allah, to yourself and to others. And in this case, Qarun, because he was a tyrannical individual with the wealth and belongings and resources that he had, they are reminding him, what you have, make sure you use it in that which is beneficial to people. Second form of advice is when they say, wa laa tansa naseeba kamina ad-dunya, I want to mention the perception of the dunya here is interesting because linguistically,
the scholars may say that of two different understandings of the word dunya. Dunya is that which is a dunu fil manzilah, meaning that it is something that is low and something that shouldn't be valued to the high degree, to the degree that one neglects the akhira, or the actions of the akhira, or the actions that are beneficial for their akhira. Dunya means proximity as well, being that it is proximal to the time when everything will perish, or the akhira, or the next life. Therefore, what's interesting here, Allah says, don't forget your portion from the dunya. Another understanding of this, because there are many understandings from the scholars of tafsir, is that your portion of this dunya is that which is temporary. Even though you have a portion of it, don't forget to take from it and that which is beneficial to you. But the word naseeb means portion, meaning that your portion that you have within this dunya, or the portion of the dunya in and of itself, being that the dunya is something that is temporary and it will not last. It's a beautiful statement that someone mentioned, I mentioned it earlier, is subhanAllah, if we think about this concept, you are dead longer than you are alive. SubhanAllah. So when you think of the dunya, as Ummar ibn Khattab even mentioned, when he passed by a place that was a masbalah, he passed by a place that was a trash can, and he looked at his companions, and he pointed to the trash can, he said, hadhi dunyakum allati tahrisuna alayha. He said, this is the dunya that all of you cherish. So when he's talking, they're talking to Qarun, they're saying, look, everything that you have, faan, it is going to end. But what is most important is how you use this to invest in the next life. Third form of advice is where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, wa ahsin kaman ahsanallahu ilayk. So remember, firstly, that Allah is a razzak, as we mentioned earlier, and that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la gives you everything that your senses can encounter. Even your senses itself has been given to you by Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. In the beautiful verse that we always mention,
wafee anfusikum afalatu bisiroon. And in your own selves do you not look and ponder. So whatever you have been given, just remember, do good with that which you have been given. Give back to people. If you have resources, make sure that you take from it and give to people that are in need by educating them, by financially supporting them, or by giving your time and expertise. Ahsin kaman ahsanallahu ilayk. And that is the way that it is in the Arabic language is to remind you that every single thing that you have has been given to you. As a matter of fact, it is not reciprocal. It's a gift. It's a fadlu and a ni'ma. Fadlu min Allahi wa ni'ma. Last form of advice is where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, wala tabighil fasada fee al-ardi inna Allaha layuhibbu al-mufsideen And do not cause corruption on the earth. Do not desire, tabighi, do not desire the fasad on the earth, the corruption on the earth. For verily Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la does not love the ones that cause corruption. Beautiful here because they end the advice with what Allah loves. It's reminding Qaroon, look, you are here temporarily. And it's as some of the Mufasireen said, this advice was for Qaroon, lakinahu fee kulli wa dee kulli khuroon It is for every generation. It is for every individual. But particularly those that have the awsaf and the characteristics of Qaroon being that they have been given an abundance and resources. innaka kadihun ila rabbika kadahan fee mulaqeeh Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says that really you are those that struggle and work hard for, you know, you work hard to obtain things and tuhibbun al-mala hubban jamma You love money in abundance. You love these things in abundance. But make sure that whatever we work hard for, that that work has been given to us by Allah. The faculties that he's been, that he's given to us physically, mentally, intellectually have been given by Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la.
How are we giving back to people, to others, and not being tyrannical by the resources that has been given by the king and the bestower, al-wahhab, of all resources. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la make us of those that are thankful for every blessing that we have been given. May He allow us to realize that it is a blessing and that we be people of influence and change for the good, inshaAllah. JazakAllah khair. SubhanAllah, in the Quranic terminology, everything that Allah gives to any group of people is relevant to people on both sides of the coin. So, wa la tahsabanna allaha ghafilan na'ma ya'manul dhalimoon Do not think that Allah is unaware of what the oppressors do. It's comfort for the oppressed and a warning to the oppressor. And so when Allah is talking to a tyrant, it's comfort for the one that's a victim of a tyrant and a warning to a person who acts like a tyrant. When Allah is talking to a prophet, it's comfort to the one that is following in the way of the prophet and a warning to the one that oppresses or that obstructs righteousness in their society. So it's a beautiful connection, subhanAllah, as we're thinking about the way that the Quran seamlessly brings in these two categories of people. Dr. Oweimer, would you like to share any reflection on what was just shared? You're on mute, sorry. JazakAllah khair, beautiful reminder. So when you were talking, I thought about a couple of things. First, the fact that Qarun is a believer, right? He belongs to the community of Musa alayhi salam. So he's a Muslim. And so he acts the way he does, right, with his tyranny and his excess. And what I think is quite remarkable about the story of Musa alayhi salam, which is why it's the most developed story in the Quran,
and really it's a model for which Allah ﷻ sets up those stories so that Muslims can learn from it. And his story is most complex because he has to deal with, right, from the very beginning we learn of his story since he's a baby and being thrown into the river by his mother. And so he's born into this tyranny and fear, and he grows up in the palace of Fir'aun. And then when he, of course, he confronts Fir'aun's tyranny, but then when he has to confront his own people, he has to confront his believers, and they, as Allah ﷻ says in the Quran, in Surah As-Saff, that they harm him, they annoy him, they as if torture him, right? And that's the nature, I think there's something to be learned for any da'i, anyone who wants to give guidance, whether somebody is a teacher or a parent or a da'i to Muslims, that it is your people whose hurt is going to be, is going to get to you more than anybody else's. When Fir'aun does it, you know, you can wear it as a feather in your hat, like this is an honor for me that I'm being tortured by Fir'aun. But then it is people who just passed, they crossed the Red Sea with you, they saw the greatest miracle, and as Allah ﷻ says in Surah Al-A'raf, as soon as they got on the other side, after seeing all of the miracle and the believers, and they've seen all of this, they say, يَا مُوسَىٰ جَعَلْ لَنَا إِلَاهًا كَمَا لَهُمْ أَلِهًا Make us a god, make us an idol, like they have an idol to worship, turning away from Allah ﷻ who gave them the greatest miracle.
So that's one thing we learn from the story of Korah or Qarun, that this is an internal Muslim problem. And, well, I'll just stop there. I know what's in your heart, or I don't know what's in your heart, but I feel what you want to say, and I think it strongly resonates as it's become abundantly clear when we see the situation of the ummah today, that it is our own brothers, unfortunately, that stabbed the backs of their brothers that render us in a... you know, when hypocrisy and betrayal is just so... Khayyana is so shameless, just open, you know, like you're not guessing anymore, it's not just people that will support the enemies against their brothers and sisters and assist in the oppression. That's at the global level, and I know that that's something near and dear to your heart as a cause, and we see it everywhere, you know, and it becomes overwhelming. So may Allah protect us from the hypocrites of our ummah and protect us from being hypocrites within our ummah and an army within. And something, Dr. Wehmer, you know, I just thought about Umar al-Khattab radiAllahu anhu, and he was stabbed, and he asked who stabbed him, and when they told him it wasn't a Muslim, he said, Alhamdulillah, the person who stabbed me was not someone who says La ilaha illAllah, because it does hurt. It hurts in the physical sense, and it hurts in the emotional sense when the adha, when the harm, emotional harm and mental harm comes on their own, and that is a serious tribulation. So again, may Allah protect us from being on the harming side and protect us from the harmed as well, from being harmed in a way that could shake our faith. May Allah keep us firm and unite our hearts and purge from us that which is displeasing to Him, from within us and from without. JazakumAllah khair. Beautiful reflections, powerful reflections, Alhamdulillah.
Dr. Wehmer will be with us for the webathon as well, inshaAllah ta'ala. We're looking forward to having you. And just a reminder to everyone else inshaAllah, to please join us inshaAllah ta'ala, support us inshaAllah if you can, and go to yaqeeninstitute.org.com to download the e-books as well as the papers, including Dr. Wehmer's paper that just came out. And join us tonight inshaAllah ta'ala for the second half of this Juz 21 inshaAllah ta'ala, 11pm Central. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. And to also feel like they can talk about Allah in a safe and a thoughtful space. And we've structured these conviction circles over the period of a semester, so that these modules actually take into consideration that student's schedule. So that you feel like there's something that you're working towards every time you start a module, and by the end of it you feel like you've gained some literacy in that topic, and at the same time you've identified the proper parameters that are given to us through the tradition, as to how we should look at these issues. And you also have some mature discussion, and the bonding that takes place through that mature discussion with other classmates, and other students that probably have the exact same concerns, and the exact same questions about our tradition. Our goal is not just to have a place for critical thinking, we also want to encourage self-reflection. This is not just some sort of intellectual playground, this is meant to be a camp for self-development,
because we believe at Yaqeen that conviction directly leads to contribution.
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