Keeping Connected with the Qur'an
1 / 20
The Light of Sincerity and the Fire of Hypocrisy | Qur'anic Parables Episode 1
Tune in for the first episode of Qur'anic Parables with Dr. Omar Suleiman, Dr. Osman Umarji, and Ustadha Tesneem Alkeik.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. So subhanAllah in the midst of everything that's going on and in the midst of feeling the departure of Ramadan We have an entire month inshallah ta'ala where we're going to now be connecting or reconnecting with the Qur'an bi'ithnillah ta'ala in a way that hopefully will give us a greater appreciation for it, a greater connection to our recitation and allow us to connect to different elements of the Qur'an. So this is the first episode of Qur'anic parables, the amthal that are in the Qur'an and the way that this is going to work inshallah ta'ala is that every week we're going to take one mathal, one of the parables and we're going to speak about it from three aspects. One is the historical context, the other the second thing we're going to talk about is the parable itself and the third thing are some of the practical elements that we can derive in our day to day from this parable and inshallah ta'ala the three of us Dr. Uthman, Ustadh Tasneem and myself will be rotating what we talk about in regards to the parable every week inshallah ta'ala and tomorrow we'll have Qur'anic miracles and if you look at the schedule below you'll see that every night we have something but I do want you to pay attention to tomorrow in specific which is going to be the miracles of the Qur'an that's going to be exclusively on Yaqeen's platform so same time but make sure that you're watching on Yaqeen's platforms inshallah ta'ala so either through Yaqeen's Facebook or YouTube and inshallah ta'ala will be uploaded to all other Yaqeen platforms and then Wednesday night inshallah ta'ala will continue and we'll move to the next to the next aspect of the Qur'an that we are covering. So without further ado inshallah ta'ala I want to hand it off to Dr. Uthman Amarji inshallah to talk about the historical context of the mathal of the parable that we're going to cover today.
Jazakum khair. Bismillah wa salatu wa salam ala rasool Allah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi man wala. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala He presents a number of parables in the Qur'an that are meant to make us think and reflect as Allah says So the whole purpose is to create these analogies that make us think deeply about the Qur'an in our lives. The very first parable I want to speak about today comes in Surat Al-Baqarah and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala He begins Surat Al-Baqarah by giving us the situation in Medina and the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam has given instructions about the three types of people that he will encounter in Medina and their characteristics and their attributes and the first of those is the believers, the second is the disbelievers, and the third are the hypocrites. And the hypocrites again are unique because there were no hypocrites in Mecca because there was no benefit in being an undercover Muslim during that time. It was a very difficult time. But when Islam began to flourish in Medina hypocrites began to arise. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in Surat Al-Baqarah right when it begins He quickly gives us a snapshot into who are the believers. Allah tells us The believers are those who number one believe in that which is beyond human perception They are those who establish their prayers and there are those who give from that which Allah has given them And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us a very quick insight into the disbelievers and Allah says So Allah tells us very quickly about those who've been given the message but just they don't care to listen whatsoever. Their hearts are sealed, their eyes are sealed, their ears are sealed Allah says they will not believe no matter what. And so these two descriptions of believers and disbelievers are rather straightforward and their characteristics are rather obvious but when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then wants to tell us about the nature of hypocrisy and
the subtleness of hypocrisy and the dangers of hypocrisy, He elaborates over numerous ayat and Then He finishes that entire conversation about hypocrisy with the first and one of the most beautiful parables in the Quran which is what Sheikh Omar will speak about in the next few minutes And what I find beautiful about this parable is that it actually gives us a foundation for the language of the Quran How Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will actually use specific terminology regarding belief, regarding disbelief, and regarding hypocrisy So I'll pass it off to Sheikh Omar to discuss that parable in more detail. JazakAllah khair, wa salamu alaikum JazakAllah khair, so the parable is actually the first mathal in the Quran It's the first parable and you could look through the wonderful job that the creative team at Yaqeen has done in turning these into animated gifs inshaAllah ta'ala, so please do Look at it as well to really get an understanding for how deep it is in the imagery That's being given to us. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says and this is verse 17 of Surat Al-Baqarah mathaluhum kamathal allathee istawqadanaara falamma aza'at maa hawlahu zahaba allahu binoorihim watarakahum fee dhulumatin laa yubasiroon summan dhukman umyun fahum laa yarji'oon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says the example of them, or the example is like one who kindles a fire But once it illuminates all that is around him, Allah took away the light and left them in darkness So that they could not see. So again, the example is like a person Who kindles a fire. The fire illuminates everything around it It brings light. Allah takes away the light and leaves them in darkness so that they can no longer see There's so much to speak about here in terms of what we take from this life, what we intend to commit to in regards to what we believe
pertaining to hereafter and salvation and then the consequences of that belief and One of the things about the hypocrites as Dr. Uthman said, they jumped on board They jumped on the bandwagon only in Medina when there was a benefit to being a believer And so they wanted to claim the benefits of being Muslims, but not necessarily undergo the trials of being Muslims So anytime a commitment came forward, anytime there was anything that required hardship without benefits Then they'd find an excuse and they'd find a way to pull back. So whether that was going out in battle To defend the borders of Medina at that time, the community in Medina Whether that was going to the prayers where they would not be seen so they wouldn't even bother going to Fajr and Isha. You might have heard the hadith of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam where he said the most difficult prayers on the hypocrites are Fajr and Isha Now it's not just because Fajr is hard to wake up for and Isha is you know late in the night It's because if you went to the masjid at Fajr or Isha at that time without artificial lighting you weren't going to be seen So you wouldn't claim the benefits, the public benefits of being a Muslim Because you would not be noticed in the first place So why would the hypocrites bother going to Fajr and Isha if they weren't going to get the credit in the community of Going out to Salah? So they only went to the Salawat where they would be seen. They made their presence obnoxiously known when they were there and They pulled back and they found excuses when there was any hardship And so again, they sought the benefits of belief, but at the same time they did not want to Undertake the consequences or suffer the consequences of belief and it's not necessarily just suffering the consequences It's the natural commitment and what comes with a natural commitment to faith They did not want to commit themselves to anything that entailed hardship They just wanted to benefit. The believers are people who will believe in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala purely because they believe in Allah and
They will commit themselves to belief because it's truth and they will do what is asked of them because they believe that success lies in following the commandments of Allah and the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and Sometimes that's going to have a lot of pain and hardship You know entailed or embedded within that commitment. And so there are different levels of pain There's the hardship of just waking up and going to Salatul Fajr where no one would see you. There's the hardship Of going to battle alongside the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and not fleeing from his side There there's the hardship of being ostracized or stigmatized when you find yourself once again in a Meccan climate There there are so many different things that they have to undergo but the point is about these believers is that they're willing to undergo the consequences of belief in this life and They don't necessarily need worldly benefits in order to commit themselves and believe and that's how you know if you're sincere or not You know when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes away the benefit of your belief in This life. Do you still commit to it? You know when you talk about Ikhlas when you talk about sincerity when people aren't watching you anymore Are you still doing the deed and are you doing it with the same level of commitment and sincerity and humility? That you would do if there were eyes on you from others if you're being ostracized and stigmatized Are you still going to commit to your faith? Or are you only going to do it where it's comfortable? Do you act Muslim in some context and not in other context? So the point is that these are people that That want to benefit only in this life from Deen But don't really even believe in the hereafter in the first place or not are certainly not acting towards the hereafter so Allah says they're like a people that kindle this fire and It lights up everything around them. The light refers to the benefits then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says فَلَمَّا أَضَاءَتْ مَا حَوْلَهُ ذَهَبَ اللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمْ then Allah takes away the light and
This is referring to death now where they can no longer benefit From that belief or that claim of being believers in any societal sense or in any personal sense in this world anymore The light has been taken away ie they have died, but they have not Faced the consequences of belief in this life while they were claiming its benefits. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says فَذَهَبَ اللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمْ وَتَرَكَهُمْ فِي ذُرُمَاتٍ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala left them in darkness where they could not even see anymore Ibn Al-Qayyim rahim Allah has a very powerful Explanation of this he says notice that Allah did not take away the fire He didn't take away the burning Allah only took away the lights. He took away the lights أَتْقَى لَهُمْ الْحَرْقِ But they remain in with the fire with the pain why because the fire the burning part the pain part now is in the hereafter where their hypocrisy is unveiled and they have to deal with the consequences of their hypocrisy now in the hereafter where you can't hide anything Or falsely claim any benefits anymore So the nur has been taken away from them, but the burning remains now I want you to move with me to surah Al-Hadeed Which is surah 57 Verse 13 and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us this image of the hypocrites and the believers together Once again now the hypocrites and the believers when they're together in this life Or in the same space the same physical space you can't tell the difference between them. There are signs, but ultimately they're all Muslims They're all in the same space They're all outwardly professing the same things But on the Day of Judgment now Allah Azawajal is talking about that community being sorted and Allah says
Arabic Wait, wait, we want to benefit from your light. You have light. We don't have light. We want to benefit. It's dark over here we're afraid we want to have your light and Those believers will turn to them and say Arjio waraakum, go back and go back here means go back to the life of that world if you can Faltamisu noora and kindle your light there like we did then And and that will benefit you today. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says a barrier erected between them Inside of that barrier is mercy outside of it is punishment and torment So outside of it is the punishment and the consequences inside now is the mercy for those believers Arabic The hypocrites call out to them and say were we not with you and They will say yes, the believers will respond but you afflicted yourselves you awaited you hesitated you doubted and Wishful thinking deluded you until the command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala came to you and the deceiver deceived you concerning Allah So the believers have gone forward with the light They they burned with faith in this life meaning in this life They they felt pain and and consequence and hardship for being sincere believers But now Allah has removed the pain and all they have is the light in the hereafter stretching forth from their right and from in Front of them the hypocrites only have the burning lastly if you go to
SubhanAllah surah tahreem Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Surah tahreem is surah 66 verse 8 Allah says Arabic Allah says that oh you believe repent to Allah with sincere repentance Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow on The day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet nor those who believed with him Their light will proceed before them and on their right and what are they asking for now as they've gone forward and they've left the hypocrites Behind they're saying Arabic Oh Allah maintain this light for us perfect this light for us Arabic and forgive us and verily you are upon all things powerful and competent so subhanAllah, it's the image from the beginning of The hypocrites kindling the fire and benefiting from the light only while not dealing with the hardship of belief To the end of this which is given throughout the Quran the end result of this which is the believers going forward With only the light and the hypocrites being left behind With only the fire and we ask Allah to make us amongst the sincere believers that carry the light Forward on the day of judgment Allahuma Ameen And really to add to that Salam Alaikum everyone Thank you for that both the introduction to the parable and one thing that I wanted to focus is to sort of bring Bring that home in the sense of what does that mean for us today?
But before I get to that I want to talk about you know at least my understanding of the parable and the implications that it Holds and hopefully how that can shape our understanding But as Sheikh Omar was mentioning that you have this idea this notion of light. There's different types of light you have an Ila'a Which is referring to this general light versus nur and nur is used throughout the Quran Constantly to refer to of course the nur specifically the light but also in as a word for guidance It's always in contrast to you know a dolat or a dhulmat this darkness that this misguidance so nur is not simply just light, but it's this this light that involves us through the guidance of Being Muslims of having this you know Islam To guide our way so the point being is that you have this contrast So the what the parable is essentially saying is that they're lighting this fire and despite the fight the fact that this light is is Coming up you have this what we would perceive as light. It's now you can see You have these these hypocrites have this light, but they don't have the nur so there's this contrast And so despite the fact that they can see they're not actually guided And I bring this up to connect with to some of my absolute favorite verses in the Quran And it's from Surat Al-Qasas, which is chapter 28 verses 71 to 72 where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that Could you imagine Injarallahu alaykumul layla sarmadan ila yawm al qiyama Can you imagine this this notion this this fact that I can make it nighttime all the time Until the day of judgment forever it's always going to be dark Many like who else other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would you call upon to be able to change this reality that I can make it We can just tomorrow comes around there's the Sun doesn't rise and forever it is dark until the day of judgment
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can do that and he's telling us this in the Quran That's going to always be dark and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala what's incredible about this is that he ends the ayah by saying afala tasma'oon, can you not hear? And and I'll get back to this but the next the very next ayah Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala asks the same question Have you ever thought about the fact that I can make it light I can make it daytime and nahar All the time into the day of judgment that it will always be light. There will never be darkness There will never you know man ilaha nghayrullah yatikum bilaylin tasqumunna feehee Who other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would bring you night time that you can rest other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala And he ends this ayah by saying afala ta'tubusiroon, can you not see? And I was I had talked about this in Ramadan But I what always was fascinating to me about this ayat is that I would I would mix up the endings, right? So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala first says it's always going to be night time It's always gonna be dark out your sense of hearing is naturally increased in the darkness That when there's no light you can hear more those who are who don't have a sense of sight their Capacity to hear is much stronger than us. And so naturally you would think that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would say, okay It's dark all the time afala ta'tubusiroon, can you not see? What does he say? Can you not hear? That despite the fact that your sense of hearing is now at its highest Can you still not hear and likewise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, you know, I'm gonna make it daytime I'm gonna make this I'm gonna have this light all the time can you still not see despite the fact that it's light all the time and Really the connection between these these verses which are so powerful the fact that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says listen I can make it daytime all the time. You can still not see you can't see what's in front of you still It'll be dark all the time. You can hear your best, but you still can't hear and that in this ayah, in this parable in Surat Al-Baqarah that what's happening is that they're lighting a fire a
Fire and in the darkness a fire at night is going to light up everything around you But what you still can't see that noor is still not available to you that that that What around you can be lit up we can have a daytime all the time But we can't see what's in front of us that that that that sense of true sight that sense of true guidance is still we're still deprived of that and And I think the most relevant aspect of this is the fact that Today we often think that we know exactly what we're talking about that We know we know we're so confident in what we're saying. We're so confident in what we're saying What we hear that you know, we a lot of times we just reiterate we retweet we do whatever it is When we see what we see and we think that no all the proof is right in front of us We have all the facts we have all the Quranic verses. We have all of these arguments these debates on social media in person We know exactly what we're talking about we're so confident in the way we talk about things that we were so in what we see and what we hear and You know and sometimes hypocrisy is we associate it with this, you know Massive sin this this site the state in front of Allah subhanallah It's so terrible But a lot of times these minor aspects of hypocrisy are so prevalent within us that because we think of them as minor It's something that we you know, don't really consider in depth, right? And so now you have this this this very prominent aspect of hypocrisy where you're seeing things You think you're seeing things but you're not actually seeing them and so this this and you know the various conversations about this within the Quran is a reminder to really sort of Question sometimes the things that you do and and Shukr-ul-Muthaf mention specifically this this idea of like bandwagon That you know something comes up a trend comes up You know things change so quickly our sense of morality Sometimes we question that how can the Quran possibly say this?
How can the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam possibly have done this and it's it this is a reminder to sort of pause and to think to Ourselves. Yes, we see the things that we do today We see the world as it is today But is this true sight right and we have we and from this is sort of this questioning of you know Everything that we seen here That is very much based off of our limited context really the bubbles that we're living in and it's a reminder to To really be humble in terms of our sources of knowledge in our pursuit of knowledge And the way we engage with others knowing that there's always room for mistake that there's always room for you know Not having that true that true guidance and most of all it's an important reminder to beg Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for that nur We don't want just light in your life. You want nur you want that light and you know filled with guidance from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and so hopefully This serves as a reminder to to really just be wary of your surroundings and ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for a true sight and for true hearing Yeah, one of the things finally there's so many angles as I'm hearing both of you speak These parables have infinite amount of lessons uh one of the things that I thought about is that if there's so much of the imagery in this and so I was thinking subhanAllah says imagine a parable of people who light a fire and I'm like Imagining I love to go camping and people like to go out in the middle of the darkness in the forest if it's pitch black And you light a fire I mean that fire makes you feel warm that fire allows you to see where you could go and Of course if you're not careful you could fall into and burn yourself And so Allah is giving us this deep parable to make us hate hypocrisy that look if you if Allah We're all in darkness, right? Wa wajikad daalan fahadah We all were lost at some point in our life. It was because of Islam That we're able to have the nur to see the reality of this life. That's a dua Tasneem you just brought this point, you know Allahumma ari'al haqqa haqqan rizqun ittiba'a Allah allows us to see the truth as the truth so we can follow it
And I think sometimes we think something's the truth when it's not because we're getting wrong information But going back to the parable that Allah when he lights this fire that has warmth. It has nur it has Everything we want from it if we choose not to act upon the guidance Then Allah will snatch away the nur of that and he tells us the hypocrites are left with this There's still a fire, but it's got no light at all So I want us to think about when you're camping Imagine if you lit a fire and now you were like, okay I know exactly where to go to the bathroom or on the trail and then all of a sudden the fire It disappears in terms of the light But it's still burning and how would that feel to have to walk around a campsite or walk around a place where there was a burning? Fire, but you could not see it. You would be scared out of your mind And I believe this is an insight into the psychology of a hypocrite that deep down There is this conflict because they know they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing And they're feeling this anguish behind it and that is what Allah is describing to us You know that state of psychological torture that you knew what was right You didn't follow it and now here's the consequence of not following the guidance that you have been given So may Allah make us amongst those who always follow the nur of Islam. So that way our hearts may be illuminated SubhanAllah and there's also something about control, right? like you think you control the reward you think you control the process and the hypocrite thinks they kind of got it figured out and You know, we were talking about this on the Friday webinar about The Ramadan blues Arabic That whoever turns away from my remembrance then they have a constricted life and then they arise on the Day of Judgment blind And they say Arabic That's something very powerful that
It's lost sometimes in the tafasir or the reflections on that verse that that person on the Day of Judgment says to Allah Why did you make me blind and I used to be able to see so they attributed sight to themselves the ability to see to themselves But attributed the taking away of the sight the blindness to Allah when it's supposed to be like the opposite, right? Arabic That goodness comes from you evils from myself, but it's like you've got it turned around you got a flipped upside down Wait a minute. I could see it's entitlement. I could see and you took away my sight whereas the believer subhanAllah their humility Even in the moments where they've gone ahead and they've got the light, you know extending from their their hands in front of them They're saying Arabic Perfect this light for us. We can't do it on our own We're deficient. We're not in control. Oh Allah perfect this light for us. Oh Allah keep this light for us Because the believer understands that guidance is such a gift That subhanAllah with all of its consequences and hardships and trials in this life. It's so worth it It's so worth what it comes with in terms of hardship in this life, and we're so blessed if Allah gives it to us And you know, it's not something we did it's it's it's the blessing of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala and this great blessing of guidance and being able to appreciate guidance and being able to act on guidance, right so it's like you know the the hypocrite is Thinks they got it figured out. They're trying to control it channel it here there and then eventually they burn themselves, right? it catches up with them the plot fails and they never really got fulfillment in this life because the world that they were pursuing Using something so valuable and precious that could have given them comprehensive happiness Though this world is not giving them happiness. So life was constricting So it wasn't really light and I think that was a beautiful distinction that said the Tasnim gave between You know a lot and and noor You know just as pure light it was it had issues and then on the Day of Judgment is taken away
And it's just burning subhanAllah. So here it's disappointment on the Day of Judgment. It's burning for the believer Here is fulfillment and on the Day of Judgment is reward is light and reward, right? so here is fulfillment that even if I'm struggling it's worth it and I'm you know, it's for the sight of Allah and then on the Day of Judgment the reward is from Allah and I'm okay with that It's like a very interesting You know subhanAllah the psychology I think what you spoke about the psychology of the hypocrite here and what that speaks to So like what's the most practical thing? I think you know Maybe all of us can just give like a really quick like what's the most practical thing you take from this like an Islamic work? And worship like right now we're all quarantined Or kind of quarantined depending on what state you're in You know and and so we're having to learn to do these acts of worship on our own, right? So what's the most practical like just one thing that you take from this that just shouts out to you? What comes to my mind immediately is that hadith the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam. You know hypocrisy has many flavors There's the total hypocrite and there's the one who is doing acts of hypocrisy and for us to be just so cautious about even doing the littlest acts that are Tangentially related to being hypocrite so when we speak do we ever lie right when we're entrusted with something Do we ever break that promise and and if we do that again the consequence is Not to Allah does not get harmed in any way shape or form by the things that we do But the consequence that Allah will remove the nur from our lives And that is the most dangerous thing that could happen to want to think about that by me telling the silly lie by me Spilling the secret I was entrusted with that Allah is going to remove my ability to see things For what they really are to hear things and benefit from them So that's when I think about like was whatever just being cautious But falling under any act that would possibly brand me as associated with a hypocrite Allahu'alaam
Very powerful. I think something specifically in the context now that we're Away from each other physically that we're more on social media and that's just a Deep hole that really can can suck you in it's a place that we can easily fall victim to this You know a lot of false information or just a lot of information that might be hard to connect the dots and One thing that I'm very very particular about is Number one being open to criticism accepting the fact that the way you perceive information the way you you connected the dots might be Entirely correct But also being wary of that type of information that's going around and to really protect your heart and soul when you're constantly reading different things out of context and so hopefully that's a you know something that you can Relate to because there's a lot that's it's very overwhelming when you see all this information and again not to say oh Don't pursue knowledge or you know don't trust anything. But again, just it's really just Reminder for humility that you can always be wrong and the others can always always be wrong but I ask Allah to beg him as Dr. Othman mentioned that the dua Allahumma rin haqqa haqqa min fi rizq min tiba'ahu that may Allah show us truth as it is and grant us the ability to follow that truth That is something that we should always make dua for inshallah SubhanAllah the hadith Sadaqatul sirr tu tfiu ghadabur Rabb That a secret charity extinguishes the anger of your Lord Right it's still Sort of falls within that same imagery right and so Sadaqatul sirr is a secret charity but I think the greatest Takeaway we can take from this is what are your secret good deeds right the hypocrites have bad secrets that come out on the day of judgment What are the secrets of the sincere believers that come out on the day of judgment and do we have enough of those secrets? To make up our light on the day of judgment and I pray that Allah azawajal make us amongst them
JazakumAllahu khayran to both of you for your beautiful reflections and thoughts inshallah ta'ala So we'll be on next week talking about Quranic parables but again you can look below and you'll see all of the programs that we have throughout the week inshallah Tomorrow inshallah ta'ala you can tune in to miracles of the Quran with Sheikh Muhammad al-Shinawi and Sheikh Suleiman Hani Who have both written wonderful papers on the miracles of the Quran And they're going to be on Yaqeen's platforms inshallah ta'ala so make sure that you tune in And we'll continue to be with you every night inshallah ta'ala for the week nights throughout this month And we pray that Allah azawajal allow us to develop a love and a deeper connection to the Quran And that Allah protect us from hypocrisy and fill our hearts with guidance and fill our actions with With its complete pleasure inshallah ta'ala that we meet Allah azawajal and we have that light together on the day of judgment Jazakum Allah khayran for all of you, Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
Welcome back!
Bookmark content
Download resources easily
Manage your donations
Track your spiritual growth
1 items
1 items
1 items
25 items
50 items
9 items
