Keeping Connected with the Qur'an
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Awakening from Heedlessness | Qur'anic Themes Episode 3
Tune in with Sh. Ibrahim Hindy and Sh. Aarij Anwer from Yaqeen Canada for part 3 of the Qur'anic Themes series.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Thank you all for joining us for another episode in our series on Qur'anic themes Alhamdulillah from the beginning of this series We have been covering a series of surahs in the Qur'an called Al-Hawamim or Al-Hamim Which are the seven surahs in the Qur'an which begin with Hamim and we spoke in the first Episode on this series about some of the themes that run through each of these surahs We talked about how each of the surahs are, you know, were revealed in Mecca how all of them deal with the topic of da'wah Particularly giving da'wah in times of difficulty and hardship How all of them talk about the story of Musa alayhis salaam in some form or another and these are really powerful You know surahs Particularly for people who are who feel marginalized or oppressed because they talk about how do you give da'wah during these really difficult marginalized times and and these have been some of the themes and the threads that we've been following and What we've been doing and Alhamdulillah is following each surah one by one so today inshallah we're gonna be taking two surahs out of the seven and Talking about the themes within the surah and also about how those themes within the surah relate to the themes That run through all seven of Al-Hawamim all seven surahs of Al-Hawamim and in taking this lens, you know taking this look of Themes throughout the Quran, you know, it allows us to appreciate what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed to us at a far greater level You know Even the word surah, you know comes from the word sur and sur is a wall or it would mean at the time of the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam they would refer to the sur as the city walls So each surah has its own walls, right its own demarcation, right and within the surah like each city is different It looks different. It feels different. You know, the food is different. The air is different The atmosphere is different. Each surah is different and each categorization of sur are different, right? And so the long surahs are different than the short surahs and these surahs Al-Hawamim
All of them are different and there are themes throughout it that we can take tremendous lesson from all of them So inshallah today we're going to be discussing two surahs surahs Fusilat and surah Az-Zukhruf and inshallah Sheikh Arij Who has you know been with us throughout all of these Episodes inshallah. He's gonna begin and start with surah Fusilat inshallah Hamim this is a revelation from the entirely merciful the especially merciful A book whose verses have been detailed an Arabic Quran for a people who know Bashirun wa nathira as a giver of good news and a warner but most of them turn away So they do not hear this is the introductory passage of Hamim Excuse me from surah Fusilat surah number 41 The very beautiful passage it describes to us that Allah Explains and that number one this surah is Tanzeelum minar Rahmanir Raheem a revelation from Allah who is the most merciful especially merciful this Shows to us as we discuss the theme of dawah to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and particularly dawah to the people of Makkah that the way to begin dawah is reminding people of the incredible mercy of Allah the incredible love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that is the First thing that's mentioned here Tanzeelum minar Rahmanir Raheem
Also what Allah mentions about the Quran here is something interesting that is unique from the other Hamim where he calls it Kitabun Fusilat Ayatuhu, a book whose ayat have been Detailed, you know, it's been They're explained and they provide some detail Ibn Kathir says Bayanat ma'aniha, awuyilat ma'aniha, wa uhkimat ahkamuha Its meanings are clarified and its rulings are Are also expanded upon Quran an arabiyya, it is a Quran a The word Quran by the way, it means a recital so it's recited in Arabic This is how Allah introduces the Quran to the audience who Isn't so interested in listening to what Allah has to say that this is from the one who has the most The kind of mercy that is unimaginable the kind of love that is Inconceivable minar Rahmanir Raheem and then this Rahmanir Raheem has sent this book to the people who want to know And it is a recital in Arabic whose Verses are clarified and the details in it are Are a lot. This is the introduction that Allah gives to Surah Fussilat The Surah Fussilat's introductory passage after this one Speaks about something very interesting. It speaks about an incident that took place in the life of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in which he alayhis salatu wasalam was speaking to Utbah ibn Rabi'ah Utbah, one of the leaders of Makkah. It is described in the books of history and also in the books of Tafsir
This incident is described in various narrations. I'm gonna share with you the narration or one of the narrations that's in Tafsir ibn Kathir This is what we find in Tafsir ibn Kathir that Utbah ibn Rabi'ah He was sitting with the people of Quraysh and he says Ya ma'shar al-Quraysh, O people of Quraysh, should I not stand up and go meet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and I could speak to him and maybe try to convince him that you know He should stop doing what he's doing. Fanu'teehi ayyaha sha'a wa yakuffa 3anna I'll give him or will give him what he wants We'll you know present some offers to him and whatever he accepts from that will give it to him and that way he will stop bothering us And Ibn Kathir mentions that this is dhalika heena aslamah Hamza that is when Hamza radiallahu anhu had accepted Islam so the people of Mecca were now feeling the pressure of Or they were seeing the threat of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's da'wah is now gaining steam and momentum Where someone as influential as Hamza had just accepted Islam and someone Like you know, it was no longer just like the weak and the downtrodden that were believing They were becoming believers the powerful the influential the mighty were also now joining the fold of the religion So now they wanted to negotiate with the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam They the people of Quraysh the leaders of Quraysh had said to Rizwa go ahead and do so. Rizwa goes to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. He says Ya ibn akhi innaka minna haythu qad alimt He said that oh Oh my cousin, you know, we've known each other for a while Maybe because Utbah was a distant relative of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam And then he said look you've brought something
Bi amr nazeem you brought something that's massive. That's a big deal farraqta bihi jamaatana You've just divided our community And you have wa'ibta alihatana you have caused you've said that our idols are are vain and they're misguided and you've said that our ancestors were misguided as well So here is the situation I'm gonna present something to you I want you to listen to me The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said Qul ya bal waleed asmaa He says say what you have to say Abu Waleed I will be listening to you He says look ya ibn akhi my cousin if you innama turidu bima jikta bihi min hadhal amr maalan jama'na laka min amwaleena hatta takuna min akthalina amwala He says look if you want money we're gonna make sure that you become the wealthiest Meccan We'll all gather our wealth and we'll give you enough until you are the richest man in Mecca If you are looking for power and authority if you want to be the leader of Mecca you know what? laa naqta amran doonaka we're gonna be we're gonna give you the power that whatever we do, whatever we decide you have the final say in the matter we'll put you in that position if you want to be the leader the king of this city malaknaaka alayna we will make you the king if you want women we will present whatever women you want from Mecca and we will make sure that you can marry as many and whoever you want so Utbah is presenting these things he's trying to, maybe he's thinking what might be the motivation of the Prophet ﷺ
to do what he's doing could be money, could be power, could be authority could be the desire for women so he's like look, whatever you want we'll give it to you to stop this business now the Prophet ﷺ listened to Utbah for a while and then he says afaraghta ya abul waleed he said are you done? Utbah are you done? abul waleed, that was his nickname he said yes, I'm done fastami' minni, the Prophet ﷺ said listen to what I have to say and then the Prophet ﷺ recited from haameem, tanzeelun min ar-rahman ar-raheem surah Fussilat he recited until he reached the ayah fa in a'radhu faqul anzartukum sa'iqatan mitla sa'iqati aadiun wa thamud ayah number 13 and at that point Utbah placed his hand on the Prophet ﷺ's mouth and he said I ask you by the family ties that's common between us I ask you to stop and he left he got up and left and when he came back the people of Quraysh who were waiting his return said laqad ja'akum this is what actually Abu Jahl said in one narration laqad ja'akum abul waleed bi ghayri al-wajhi allathee dhahaba bihi abul waleed, Utbah is no longer the same man his face has completely changed and Utbah comes back and he says to his people he says ya ma'ashar al-Quraysh ya ma'ashar al-Quraysh ati'ooni waja'aloo haa li khaloo bayna al-rajuli wa bayna maa huwa feehi fa'ataziloo hu he says oh people listen to what I have to say he says wallahi ma huwa bis sihir wala bish shi'r wala bil kahana what Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is saying is not poetry, it is not magic it is not soothsaying it is
something completely different oh people listen to what I have to say leave the man alone khaloo bayna hu wa bayna maa huwa feehi leave him alone Utbah who wanted to intervene completely changed course he says the best thing you can do oh people of Quraish is just leave him alone don't interfere with him Utbah recognized that this was the speech of Allah Utbah at that point recognized that this was not a person's speech the effect the Quran had on Utbah was that he knew after hearing it this is not the poetry that we know this is not the rhyming that we are the masters of this is something completely different and this man is not making this up so leave him alone oh people of Quraish don't get in his way this was the background or the backdrop of these beautiful narrations excuse me this beautiful revelation the narrations in the backdrop of this beautiful revelation that we find in this the reaction to the people when they hear the Quran the reaction that they have is they are amazed and astonished by the Quran and those who knew the Arabic best recognize that this is not any human's speech this is completely transcendent the da'wah to the people of Makkah how Allah proceeds with it first he says the people of Makkah are saying that we are not interested ... ayah number 5 we are not interested in what you have to say our hearts are within coverings we won't change our minds and there is in our ears there is a deafness we won't even listen to what you have to say and there is a partition between us ...
like this is the most ... stern type of refusal and rejection that you can imagine the response is I am just a human being like you and I am sharing with you the message that I have received in revelation that your Lord is one worship him alone he is the one you should rely upon he is the one you should be seeking and he is the one whose forgiveness you should seek that is my message this tells us that when we are giving da'wah it doesn't matter how obstinate a person might be the lesson for us is to share the message with them without worrying about without worrying about how like whether that changes their mind or not because changing the mind is not the responsibility of the one who is giving da'wah their responsibility is to convey the message and conveying the message in the way that is brought back to the most fundamental tenet of our faith which is tawheed which is the oneness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the Qur'an as you will notice if you read this passage and other passages constantly brings the matter back to who Allah is back to the reasons why only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala should be worshipped and nobody else and that is the most important strategy when we are giving da'wah bringing it back to the oneness of Allah the uniqueness of Allah the dominance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala since the people in the audience are people of Mecca, Allah SWT talks about the historic Arabs, the Arab ancestors Aad and Thamud in this passage ayah number 14 to ayah number 18 speaking about Aad and Thamud and reminding that look this is what happened to these people, they were given
they were messengers were sent to them and what happened is for example with Thamud فَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ فَاسْتَحَبُّوا الْعَمَىٰ عَلَى الْهُدَىٰۙ They preferred blindness over guidance we guided them but they preferred blindness over guidance that attitude Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is implying to Quraysh drop that attitude, don't be so stubborn, that was the attitude of the people of Thamud, we showed them the right way, هَدَيْنَاهُمْ but they chose to follow their desires over the guidance and Allah uses the expression of not being able to see as the one who is choosing their desires and rejecting the truth and الهدى is as if like you are able to see and you are able to know where you are going so it's a very powerful expression to describe the reality of guidance and misguidance, it's as if you can see versus you can't see, فَاسْتَحَبُّوا الْعَمَىٰ عَلَى الْهُدَىٰۙ Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala describes also in this passage with surah Fufsilat describes that the consequences of rejection consequences of rejection historically what happened to Aad and Thamud and then consequences of rejection of this da'wah in the future even on the day of judgment what would happen on the day of judgment ayah number 20 explains that حَتَّىٰ إِذَا مَا جَاءُوهَا شَهِدَ عَلَيْهِمْ سَمْعُوهُمْ وَأَبْصَارُهُمْ وَجُلُودُهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ until when they reach it, i.e. the day of judgment their hearing, their eyes, their skins will testify against them of what they used to do and these people whose body parts are testifying against them, they would turn to their body parts and say وَلَا تَعْلَمْ عَلَيْنَا why are you testifying against us? you're part of us they would say, the body parts would reply أَنْتَقَنَا اللَّهُ الَّذِي أَنْتَقَى كُلَّ شَيْءٍ We were made to speak by Allah who has made everything
who gave everything the ability to speak, He made you the first time and to Him you will be returned, the consequences of rejection are shown, the regret on the day of judgment is presented that right now you have a choice you can make the choice the da'wah is presented to you, the message is presented to you, you have the choice and if you reject it the consequences of it will be the resentment you will feel the hasra you will feel on the day of judgment when your own body parts will testify against you and Allah says something very interesting in this passage فَإِنْ يَصْبِرُوا فَالنَّارُ مَثْوَى لَّهُمْ if they are patient in the fire of hell then the fire of hell is their final abode وَإِنْ يَسْتَعْتِبُوا فَمَا هُمْ مِنَ الْمُعْتَبِينَ and if they were to look for if they were to seek for help and ask for relief at that time in the fire of hell there won't be any relief basically the consequence of this choice, the consequences are so severe that when a person ends up in that situation of the fire of hell after having rejected the message they have no good options you're patient, doesn't matter that's your home that won't earn you any graces to help you get out you are not patient impatient فَمَا هُمْ مِنَ الْمُعْتَبِينَ you can be impatient it doesn't change anything and these consequences are very severe very beautifully inviting the people who don't want to listen here is how Allah He's showing us how it's done present the message, don't alter it be clear, it's about the oneness of Allah number two present the consequences of rejection
the consequences historically the consequences in the future and then also Allah contrasts that afterwards with the passage about those believers who accepted the message what's gonna happen to them? The Quran mentions the punishment of the fire of hell and the consequences of that also mentions the people of paradise and the fruits of belief inna allatheena qalu rabbuna Allahu thumma istaqamu ayah number 30 indeed those who have said our Lord is Allah and then remained on the right course remain steadfast tatanazzalu alayhimul malaika in the most difficult moments of their life the moments that they're passing away angels will come down upon them and the angels will tell them don't worry la takhaafu wa la tahzanu do not be afraid, do not grieve wa abshiru be happy, receive the good tidings that of the paradise that you have been promised we are your allies, we are your friends in this life and in the next life i.e. we'll take care of your family who you're leaving behind the angels are reaffirming, reassuring the passing believer subhanAllah, how amazing is that the consequence of accepting the truth and following it is that Allah subhanAllah will take care of you in this life take care of you in the next life and take care of your kids and the people you leave behind, your family and to reassure you he will be sending angels in that most difficult moment when a person is passing away and the consequences of rejecting are extremely terrifying where the person has no option but to remain in that state of punishment we ask Allah's protection from that
then Allah subhanAllah once speaks about a few interesting aspects of the da'wah that we mentioned in the very first session as the overall themes being gentle and ignoring insults of the people in ayah number 33 Allah mentions not equal are the good and the bad okay this is ayah number 34 actually excuse me okay, repel evil by that which is beautiful, which is the best if you have someone who says something that's hurtful does something that's hurtful repelling that is not to reciprocate the harm so that now we're on equal terms when it comes to harm it is actually to repel with what is better is seeking justice, you're right, of course it is, you're right but in matters where it's not a matter of justice it's just a matter of grievances respond with what is the best in matters of da'wah, in conversations when we are discussing and there's agreements and disagreements repel evil, an evil statement, evil motivations with something that's better be a good faith negotiator even if the people around you aren't doing so because possibly the one that you and the one who is your adversary here one day would turn out to be a devoted friend subhanAllah because this is how hearts are won and da'wah is about winning hearts
it's about winning hearts the gentleness and the kindness of the prophet Salaam won hearts people who fought him tooth and nail accepted Islam Khalid bin Waleed, Amr bin al-As, Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl, Abu Sufyan he, all these people accepted Islam after having fought the prophet Salaam for many many years that stems from the repelling evil with which what is good but this is a difficult thing this is granted to those who are patient those who are true, who demonstrate true character a very beautiful advice the Hawameen as you might notice advise the prophet Salaam first and the rest of us by extension to be gentle with those who reject the da'wah to be kind to those whose hearts aren't opened up yet because the kindness and gentleness will open up their hearts to the message of Islam also, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions two last points here one thing he says is that all prophets faced harsh words, hurtful words all prophets faced this situation ayah number 43 nothing is said to you, oh prophet Salaam except what was already said to the messengers before you meaning if you, oh prophet of Allah, are hearing hurtful words before you, other prophets heard hurtful words as well this is how the people are unfortunately those of us trying to do the job of the prophet Salaam and this is the job of everybody by the way convey the message from me
even if it is a very small piece of information like an ayah we have to be ready that not everybody would be accepting willingly what we have to say so as things are said to us that are unpleasant as we deal with unpleasant matters understand that the prophets of Allah have dealt with far more unpleasant matters and their kindness, their gentleness, their resolve in how to deal with this is the example for all of us as we deal with hurtful unpleasant matters the last point I'd like to make about surah Fussilat is it mentions the story of Musa Alayhi Salaam as is the constant theme in the Hawamim as we discussed Musa Alayhi Salaam was given the scripture ayah number 45 mentions that and and and and he was as he was given the scripture there was a disagreement about what the scripture that Moses received was this is unfortunately the reality when it comes to the people who profess belief in a prophet oftentimes they will fall into disagreements that is as you've discussed last time a lot of times it is petty in nature and very very detrimental very detrimental and if you want to see examples of that Muslim Twitter is like the best place to find that kind of petty discourse right Sheikh Ibrahim? but then at the same time the idea is Musa Alayhi Salaam is an example for the Prophet Salaam he's an example for all of us how he gave da'wah how he dealt with the difficulties afterwards and how he remained patient he is mentioned here as well
those are some of the things we learn in the surah surah Fussilat a very beautiful surah in which Allah explains how da'wah is given to somebody who isn't a willing listener it is given mentioning the core of the message without watering it down number one being gentle and kind because that opens up hearts that's what wins hearts and remembering that the prophets of Allah you know they went through this difficulty as well and when they shared the message they shared the message with the consequences of rejecting it this is what we learn some of the things from surah Fussilat Jazakumullah Khairan Sheikh Ibrahim any thoughts on this or you'd like to move on to the next surah? Jazakumullah Khairan no I think that that was really a great explanation for the surah and you know it's one of those things that kind of ties with all of the Hawa Amim is that concept of you know Fasfahan hum to turn away from them not to always engage in like that really petty discussion and discourse that happens and the mockery and insults you don't have to respond to them every time it doesn't benefit your da'wah to be constantly engaged in that and that seems to be a theme throughout all of the Hawa Amim like you you know very beautifully pointed out so inshallah I'm going to start talking about surah Az-Zukhruf the next surah in the Hawa Amim the series that we're discussing so the word Zukhruf it means adornment it means ornaments it means you know things that are you know that decorate that you know bring splendor and this surah really the the focal point of the surah altogether is this general concept beware of the dunya right and you know the reality is that people and societies sometimes they base their values of others or concepts or whatever on materialism right
and this becomes their downfall is that your entire societal valuation of the world and of theology and of philosophy is materialism what helps us increase our materialism is good and what does not is considered bad and this is the cause or the reason of corruption and what caused many other ummahs many other nations to become lost and for this reason Allah ﷻ throughout this surah he talks about gold and silver and it comes up over and over again actually and so Allah ﷻ says يطاف عليهم بصحاف من ذهب وكواب وفيها ما تشتهي الأنفس وتلذ الأعين وأنتم فيها خالدون Allah ﷻ mentions Jannah and he talks about in it there will be golden trays and cups that will be passed around and there you will have whatever your soul's desire and the eyes delight in and you will be there forever and so Allah ﷻ in this way he is telling you that the real adornment the real zukhruf the real luxury the real ornaments and what not is not this dunya rather it's the next world because there are so many people who focus only on this world they base their value so much on the dunya and the existence of the adornments and the gold and the silver of this world the splendor of this dunya and this is what causes them to be led astray and so the surah shows us that the reason that a lot of people disbelieve is that their disbelief is over their over-reliance and their love of material wealth Allah ﷻ in the beginning he says أَفَنَضُرِبُ عَنْكُمُ الذِّكْرُ صَفْحًا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ قَوْمًا مُسْرِفِينَ Allah ﷻ says should we leave you should we leave you and not send you this message this Qur'an إِنْ كُنْتُمْ قَوْمًا مُسْرِفِينَ if you are indeed a nation who are مُسْرِفِينَ now مُسْرِفِينَ you know it's translated here as transgressing but it comes from Israf and Israf is to be excessive and Israf is typically mentioned
when we talk about people who are excessive in relation to the dunya excessive in relation to materialism so Allah ﷻ he's saying that are we gonna not send this message because of the evil that these people have done i.e. Quraysh has done and specifically the evil that Allah ﷻ is kind of indicating here is their over reliance upon the dunya so from the beginning of the surah we see the discussion is about da'wah and about how people are being misled in this dunya and misled away from Allah ﷻ right and we said all of the Hawamim are about da'wah and all of the Hawamim deal with Quraysh's rejection of the da'wah and but here in Zuhruf it's specifically narrowing in on their materialism and their love of the dunya and Allah ﷻ also talked about the greatness of the Qur'an are we not going to reveal the Qur'an because of their evil we're not going to reveal this message because of the evil that they have done and of course we see the greatness of the Qur'an is something that's constantly mentioned in each of the surah that we're talking about and then Allah ﷻ says وَكَمْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن نَبِيٍّ فِي الْأَوَّلِينَ that how many prophets did we send previous to you and this is a rhetorical question i.e. we sent many many prophets right وَمَا يَأْتِيهِم مِّن نَبِيٍّ إِلَّا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِعُونَ Allah says there has not come a prophet except that he was ridiculed this is the sunnah of Allah ﷻ goes to what Shaykh Harad was talking about earlier right this is a theme throughout all of these surahs that Allah ﷻ is reminding the prophet reminding the believers those who believe get mocked those who get the truth or upon the truth gets ridiculed and mocks Allah ﷻ is saying no prophet has come no prophet has come except that his people have ridiculed him there has never been a prophet who came to his people and said this is the message from Allah and they said great جزاك الله خير and they shook his hand and everything was over that didn't happen Allah ﷻ is saying they always ridiculed them i.e. even if they ridiculed him for a day or a week or a month before they accepted it had to happen at some point
there was resistance to some level when the prophets came to them or there could be situations where some of them believe and others of them don't وَهُمْ فَرِيقَانِ يَخْتَصِمُونَ Allah ﷻ says they become two groups fighting against each other or they reject them in their totality they reject the prophet to the man every single person in the nation rejects the prophet and Allah's punishment comes upon them but Allah ﷻ is mentioning this in this surah then Allah ﷻ mentions one of the objections that Quraysh has to the prophet ﷺ وَقَالُوا لَوْ لَا نُزِّلَ هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِّنَ الْقَرْيَتِينِ عَظِيمٍ that they said why is it that this Qur'an has been revealed or if only this Qur'an had been revealed upon a great man from the great cities what are they referring to here the two cities that is being referenced is Makkah and Al-Ta'if which are the two cities that were like sister cities to each other and it was said that this was a comment made by Al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah that when he heard the Qur'an he was actually moved by it and he felt that it was great and he said if this is true that this is the Qur'an that this has come from Allah ﷻ why would God send it to Muhammad and not send it to me or to Ibn Mas'ud al-Thaqafi or to the leader of Al-Ta'if he said why is it not being sent to one of the two great men from the two cities and he's referring to himself he's saying and this is coming out of his jealousy why is the Qur'an being sent to Muhammad Muhammad ﷺ by his conception is a young kid is an orphan you know relative to his age relative to his prominence he is Al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah he is the prominent chief of Makkah he is the one that people look up to he is the senior leader so from his perspective Muhammad ﷺ is of a lower dunya status so he says Muhammad is young he's an orphan he's not as rich as me he does not have the same level in this dunya in terms of status than I do because they value their existence in this world
on materialism on the dunya and who has more money and who has greater status in the eyes of people they look at themselves Al-Walid looks at himself looks at Abu Jahl as being higher as being greater so he says if this Qur'an is coming from Allah why is it being sent to Muhammad why is it not being sent to me I am greater than him why does he think he's greater because he's evaluating everything based on materialism and based on the dunya and then Allah ﷻ says أَهُمْ يَقْصِمُونَ رَحْمَةً رَبِّكَ نَحْنُ قَسَمْنَا بَيْنَهُمْ مَعِيشَتُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا Allah ﷻ says are they the ones who distribute the mercy of Allah are they the ones who apportioned and decide where the mercy of Allah goes to no rather the mercy of Allah ﷻ is decided by Allah and Allah ﷻ says نَحْنُ قَسَمْنَا بَيْنَهُمْ مَعِيشَتُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا Allah ﷻ decided it Allah ﷻ is saying this I am the one who decided this and this is why you see Allah ﷻ constantly mentioning his rububiyyah his lordship throughout the surah this is one of the themes that comes up over and over that Allah ﷻ says twice وَلَا إِنْ سَأْلْتَهُمْ مَنْ خَلَقَ الصَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأُرْضَ يَقُولُونَا خَلَقَهُمْ لَيَقُولُونَ اللَّعَالِيمِ if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth they will say the most powerful the most knowledgeable meaning Allah did and then later on in the same surah Allah ﷻ says وَلَا إِنْ سَأْلْتَهُمْ مَنْ خَلَقَهُمْ لَيَقُولُونَ اللَّعَالِيمِ that Allah ﷻ says if you ask them who created them, they will say Allah ﷻ, Allah ﷻ says then why are they deluded? i.e. if you know Allah ﷻ is the creator, why are you questioning Allah ﷻ decision and where he placed his risalah, where he placed his message and Allah ﷻ also when he talks about the dunya he mentioned something very powerful here
he says وَلَوْلَا إِنْ يَكُونَ النَّاسُ أُمَّةً وَاحِدًا لَجَعَلْنَا لِمَنْ يَكْفُرُ بِالرَّحْمَانِ لِبُيُوتِهِمْ سُقُفًا مِنْ فِضْلَةٍ وَمَعَارِجَ عَلَيْهَا يَظْهَرُونَ and Allah ﷻ says that were all the people to disbelieve were all humanity to reject Allah what would happen? Allah says we would have made for them ceilings that are made of silver and معارج now this is interesting because the term معارج معارج means the mechanism of being elevated right like لِسْرَعُ الْمَعْرَاج right it's the mechanism of being elevated Allah says we will give them elevation that will allow them to be elevated which will also be made of silver meaning elevators or escalators that are made of silver that would be given to them وَلِبُيُوتِهِمْ أَبْوَابًا وَسُرُرًا عَلَيْهَا يَتَّكِئُونَ Allah says and for their houses they will have doors and couches of silver upon which they will recline وَزُخْرُفَ and Allah says and they will have زُخْرُف that's the name of the surah but here زُخْرُف refers to gold they will have gold as well وَإِن كُلُّ ذَلِكَ لِمَا مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا Allah says but all of this is just the dunya Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this verse is saying if all of the people disbelieved we would give them all of the dunya we would give them ceilings of silver we would give them houses of silver we would give them escalators and elevators of silver we would give them silver pillows that they could recline upon and couches that they could recline upon and silver doors that they could have in their houses and we would give them gold we would give them all of this and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala what he's saying really in this verse is if it wasn't the fact that we hate for people to reject Allah عز و جل if it wasn't for the fact that we are merciful and we don't want to make it easy for you to reject Allah عز و جل we would have given the disbelievers everything right we would have given the disbelievers everything now imagine for a moment if the person who disbelieved has a house of silver and gold and escalators and you know elevators in their houses
and all of this stuff and those who disbelieve don't have it what's gonna happen? everybody's gonna disbelieve everybody's gonna want these things Allah سبحانه وتعالى is saying because I don't want you to disbelieve I'm not doing this otherwise if everyone disbelieved I just give you all of the dunya why? because Allah سبحانه وتعالى is saying this dunya is so insignificant it means little to nothing to Allah سبحانه وتعالى were he to give the disbeliever everything in this world it really doesn't matter why? إن كل ذلك لما متاع الحياة الدنيا all of this that has been mentioned is just the enjoyment of the dunya والآخرة عند ربك للمتقين but the end, the hereafter is with your Lord for those who are righteous and all valued ones Allah سبحانه وتعالى mentions in this surah as well the story of Fir'aun and the interaction between Fir'aun and Musa وَنَادَ فِرْعُونُ فِي قَوْمِهِ قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ أَلَيْسَ لِي مُلْكُ مِسْلِنٍ وَهَذِهِ الْأَنْهَارُ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِي أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ that Fir'aun called out to his people and he said oh my people am I not sovereign over Egypt and all of these streams all of these rivers flow beneath my feet أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ can you not see أَمْ أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِّنْ هَذَا الَّذِي هُوَ مَهِينٌ وَلَا يَكَادُ يُبِينٌ am I not better than this person than this nobody who can hardly express himself he can hardly even speak فَلَوْ لَا أُلْقِيَ عَلَيْهِ أَسْوَرَةٌ مِّنْ ذَهَبٍ أَوْ جَاءَ مَعَهُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ مُقْتَرِنِينَ he says why does he not have golden bracelets and why does he not have the angels coming with him as escorts and as protectors and so he makes this argument, Firaun makes this argument look at the specific argument Allah mentions about Firaun in Surah Zuhruf what is the specific argument that is being made that Firaun is saying to the people are you gonna believe this guy who has nothing and can't even speak, has a speech impediment
so you know in terms of the dunya he has nothing and not believe me and I am the king and I have kingship and I have all these rivers flowing in Egypt underneath my control his entire argument is dunya based are you gonna believe Musa who does not have the dunya or are you gonna believe me who has the dunya and if he wanted us to believe him, if this Musa person wants us to believe him then he should come with golden bracelets or he should bring the angels with him as an army with him, as protectors with him meaning he needs to show off materialism for us to believe him right, and so Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says فَاسْتَخَفَّ قَوْمَهُ فَأَطَاعُوا he took his people lightly, he used illogical arguments with them he used deceitful arguments with them, right and this is an indication that emphasis on the dunya is foolish because Allah says فَاسْتَخَفَّ قَوْمَهُ he really took them as fools فَأَطَاعُوا but they obeyed him إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَوْمًا فَاسِقِينَ they were indeed a corrupt people and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions فَلَمَّا آسَفُونَ so when they angered us إِنْتَقَمْنَا مِنْهُمْ فَأَغْرَقْنَاهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ we took punishment against them and we drowned all of them the irony here is that Fir'awun is boasting and being arrogant on the basis of his wealth and his power right, and he's saying I deserve to be followed because I have wealth and power and he specifically makes reference to what وَهَذِهِ الْأَنْهَارُ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْدِي all of these rivers and streams flow beneath my kingdom I am in charge of all of these rivers and streams what did Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala do فَأَغْرَقْنَاهُمْ we made that very water that he was boasting about that was beneath him we made that water above him we drowned him into that water the very thing that he boasts about becomes his own destruction another mention that comes constantly in this surah that really you know allows us and subhanAllah look at that similarity by the way what is Quraysh saying why is Muhammad receiving the message
and not the people of greater status and wealth receiving the message argument of the dunya what is Fir'aun saying why are you going to listen to Musa and not listen to me who has kingdom and has gold and has rivers and has all of these things argument from the dunya and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is showing us that our over reliance upon the dunya our excessive reliance upon the dunya causes our own destruction as it did with Al-Walid al-Mughirah and Abu Jahl and as it does with Fir'aun as well another mention that comes often because why is it that people you know fall into this mindset of being so over reliant and so focused on the dunya and one of the main reasons is the concepts of friendship societal pressure and psychologically this is the way that we work if your friends all care about money and they only care about wealth and they only give attention to that and they belittle anyone who doesn't have that then you are going to conform to the dominant social pressure we're human beings that's the way that we operate we will always end up bending to some extent or another to the dominant social pressures that are around us and therefore the believer needs to surround themselves with those who create positive social pressure those who focus on Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala so when you're around them you're reminded to also and encouraged also to focus on Allah Azawajal those who place greater value in the next life than they do in the dunya so Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions this concept multiple times a couple of times so one he says اِذْظَلَمْتُمْ أَنَّكُمْ فِي الْعَذَابِ مُشْتَرِكُونَ Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says it will not benefit you on that day meaning on the day of judgment اِذْظَلَمْتُمْ if you were unjust أَنَّكُمْ فِي الْعَذَابِ مُشْتَرِكُونَ that you will be together in the punishment like Subhanallah Allah is talking about a psychological process that happens in our minds what is that psychological process? if you go through difficulty in this world like for instance COVID-19 is happening we all have to be in quarantine you know everything has to shut down that's a difficulty are you facing this difficulty by yourself? or is your entire city even your entire country
going through the same problem that you're going through? they're going through the same problem when they all are going through the same problem what happens? it feels easier we feel more comfortable when we are in the presence of other people even if you're going through something difficult you feel more comfortable in the presence of others who are going through that difficulty with you and part of the reason people rejected the Prophet ﷺ is that they felt more comfortable more protected being around Quraysh Quraysh is stronger more people are you know the big group is opposing the Prophet why will I be with the small group when I can be with the big group? right? that concept of social you know pressure and wanting to be protected by the you know the social in-group right? this is a concept that Allah references to but Allah ﷻ says yes in this dunya you feel comfortable with a bigger group if you go through a difficulty you feel better when other people are with you but Allah ﷻ says on that day وَلَنْ يَنفَعُكُمُ الْيَوْمُ on that day it will not benefit you at all أَنَّكُمْ فِي الْعَذَابِ مُشْتَرِكُونَ that you will be in the hellfire together on that day it doesn't matter that Abu Jahl is with you or this person is with you or that person is with you in the hellfire it will not relieve the punishment of the hellfire at all Allah ﷻ also says in surah sorry in the same surah in verse 67 الْأَخِلْ لَا أُيَوْمَئِذٍ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌ إِلَّا الْمُتَّقِينَ Allah ﷻ says the best friends the close friends on that day meaning the day of judgment بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌ they will be enemies to each other إِلَّا الْمُتَّقِينَ except those who have taqwa of Allah ﷻ and so Allah ﷻ is reminding us your close friends are gonna lead you somewhere right the concepts of the dunya and being you know so engrossed in the dunya and the reason that are you know increasing these feelings of oh I need to have the dunya in order to be valuable right I need to forget about the akhira really focus on this dunya in order for me to have value and that concept your friends are gonna be your enemies on the day of judgment that's what Allah ﷻ tells you they are going to be your enemies إِلَّا الْمُتَّقِينَ except those who have taqwa of Allah ﷻ
except those who have reminded each other about Allah ﷻ let's pray let's do this let's do that who encourage each other to get closer to Allah ﷻ and a few verses later what does Allah ﷻ say اُدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةُ أَنتُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ تُحْبَرُونَ enter into Jannah you and your spouses in all delight and find the delight in Jannah enter into Paradise you and others who are with you right you and your spouse and others in your family who are with you so Allah ﷻ mentions people entering Jannah together because they helped each other they supported each other and this is something that's really important when we talk about the dunya and the social pressures that make us buy into materialism and to think about them as Allah ﷻ makes reference to it in this surah and of course you know as you know Shaykh Arij mentioned the concept of giving da'wah and realizing that people are going to be mocking you people are going to be attacking you and churning away from the ignorant things that people do Allah ﷻ mentions it here as well at the very end of the surah وَقِيْدِهِ يَا رَبِّ إِنَّهَا وَلَا قَوْمٌ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ that Allah mentions our Prophet ﷺ who made du'a to Allah and said oh my Lord Indeed these people are a nation who do not believe or a people who do not believe so what does Allah say to the Prophet? فَاصْفَعْ عَنْهُمْ وَقُلْ سَلَامٌ فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ churn away from them and say salam say peace فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ and they will truly know in the future and finally you know as this whole surah is talking about the dunya and being distracted by the dunya and how people become distracted from Allah ﷻ because of their over reliance of the dunya what are the strongest solutions to it? we mentioned the solution of having strong friends but Allah ﷻ mentions the solution of holding on to the Qur'an and the Qur'an is something that is venerated throughout you know obviously throughout the Qur'an itself but throughout the Hawameen especially فَاسْتَمْسِكْ بِالَّذِي أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكِ إِنَّكَ عَلَى صِرَاطِ الْمُسْتَقِيمِ Allah says so adhere hold on to that which has been revealed to you indeed you are upon a straight path and then Allah says
وَإِنَّهُ لَذِكُن لَكَ وَلِقَوْمِكَ وَسَوْفَ تُسْأَلُونَ and indeed this i.e. this Qur'an it is ذِكْرٌ لَكَ وَلِقَوْمِكَ it is a glory for you and for your people وَسَوْفَ تُسْأَلُونَ and you will surely be asked about this SubhanAllah this is what is so powerful and so interesting the people are running after the dunya Allah is saying by the way the real pleasure the real zukhruf is in the akhira it's not in this dunya the real adornments in the akhira not in this dunya and Quraysh is fighting against the Prophet and one of the main reasons they're fighting against the Prophet is because their social status their honor as a tribe in pre-Islamic Arabia and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is telling them وَإِنَّهُ لَذِكْرٌ لَكَ if you care about your glory if you care about your status this Qur'an is your glory this Qur'an is your status وَإِنَّهُ لَذِكْرٌ لَكَ وَلِقَوْمِكَ it is a glory for you O Muhammad and for your people SubhanAllah would anyone know anything about the Arabs were it not for the Qur'an you know a thousand years later fifteen hundred years later would any of us opening a history book reading the history of the world the history of nations would any of us care at all about who the Arabs were if the Qur'an had not been revealed to them they would have been just a footnote in the books of history people would not have even cared about them at all how many tribes and nations have come and nobody even remembers them at all وَإِنَّهُ لَذِكْرٌ لَكَ وَلِقَوْمِكَ Allah says this Qur'an is the glory for you and your people if you people actually care about glory actually care about these concepts it's not even found in chasing the dunya it's found in turning to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and to his books and this is something that our community needs to understand particularly from the surah sometimes we give over prominence to the dunya even in our communities even in our masajid you know the doctor says something we pay attention the average person says something we don't want to listen you know the person who gives a lot of money or has a lot of money we look up to them
and this shows us that our priorities are not correct no offense to the doctors and the lawyers we love them for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala but we're saying that it shows our priorities and what we value sometimes is not properly aligned with what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants our priorities to be aligned with and so you know these are some of the themes that run through surah Zuhruf and how it connects to the Hawwa Mim in general I hope inshallah that has been beneficial for all of you so I think inshallah we will conclude here and inshallah next week on Thursday we're going to continue and we're going to cover the remaining three surahs of Al Hawwa Mim and so that's Al Ahqaf, Al Jafia, and Al Dukhan inshallah so all those three surahs we will be covering next week bi-idhnillah, jazakum allah khair for joining us and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to join us in Jannah as he has joined us here over this class ameen. salamualikoum wa rahmatollahi wa barakato
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