Keeping Connected with the Qur'an
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Dawah of the Marginalized | Qur'anic Themes Episode 2
Tune in with Sh. Ibrahim Hindy and Sh. Aarij Anwer from Yaqeen Canada for part 2 of the Qur'anic Themes series.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Qur'anic themes. With me is Shaykh Ibrahim Hindi. We will be covering the Hawamim, the surahs of the Qur'an that begin with the letters Hameem in this series. Last time we spoke about some of the themes that are common between these surahs of Qur'an. Like they all begin with the letters Hameem, they all speak about the greatness of the Qur'an, they all are Makkan revelation, etc. etc. Today inshallah we wanted to focus on what we call the da'wah of the marginalized. The da'wah of the people who don't have leverage, who are not in authority and they are inviting the people to Islam. And these surahs actually have some beautiful incidents that it mentions of people who were in that situation. And this is something that the Prophet Ali sallallahu alayhi wa sallam found himself to be in this situation. He found himself to be in this situation as well in Makkah. As he was inviting the people to Islam, he was, you know, he didn't have leverage himself, he didn't have authority, he wasn't in charge of the city sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And his followers were persecuted. They were, especially the weak sahaba, they were physically harmed. The Prophet Ali sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had to face a whole host of insults, a whole host of threats, insults and pain that was physical, a boycott economically of him and his clan, a whole host of tactics that Quraysh tried to stop the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So in this time, these surahs were revealed by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says about the Qur'an, he says in a surah of the Qur'an, I can't remember the name right now, sorry, surah
Furqan actually, in surah 25 Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, this Qur'an we have sent it down to you piecemeal to strengthen your heart, to strengthen your heart, to provide you with strength, O Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, so that you can face the challenges that you are facing and be prepared to face them. So that is what we see these surahs doing. They are preparing the Prophet alayhi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam for the challenges that he is facing. What I'll do is to start off with, we'll actually ask Shaykh Ibrahim to share with us some of the messages of the two surahs of the Hawamim, the themes of these two of these surahs. Shaykh Ibrahim, please take it away. Bismillah alhamdulillah, salatu wassalamu ala rasoolillahi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. Rabbish shahli sadri wa isili amri wa ahli ala aqda tamalli sani yafqahu qawli. JazakAllah khair everyone for joining us for this episode. Like Shaykh Arij mentioned, last episode we talked about the themes of all of the seven surahs which begin with Haamim, which are referred to as Al Hawamim or sometimes referred to Al Haamim. So these are the surahs that begin with Haamim at the beginning of it. We talked about what were the themes that kind of go across all of these surahs and today inshallah I'm going to talk about just two of the surahs, Surat Ghafir and Surat Az-Zukhruf, about the themes that are within them. And Shaykh Arij is going to be talking as well about some of those same themes. We said the number one major theme that kind of runs through all of those seven surahs is the theme of da'wah, the importance of da'wah, why we give da'wah, the methods of da'wah, all of this is mentioned in these seven surahs. And some of the scholars they said that basically the theme of all these surahs is the methodology, the prophetic methodology
of how to give da'wah. And so Surat Ghafir which is the beginning of the Hawamim, the first surah in the series of seven, right, the beginning of this series is Surat Ghafir. It is, you know, the main theme in it is the importance of giving da'wah, why it is so important to give da'wah. And these surahs like Shaykh Arij mentioned just earlier, all of them are Meccan, all of them happened during the time of Mecca. Think about how Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiallahu anhu, you know, he gives da'wah in the very early days of Islam and he brings seven people out of the ten who are given glad tidings of Jannah, seven of them accept Islam because of Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu. And this is only attained because Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu understands the importance of da'wah, why it is important to constantly give da'wah. And so the Hawamim, these surahs in general, they're summarized with this theme of the prophetic methodology of da'wah, or the prophetic methodology in giving da'wah, particularly when you are marginalized in society because the Muslims at this time were persecuted or on the margins of society, were not taken seriously by those who are in power. And so Surah Al-Ghafir, the beginning of the Hawamim, is fittingly, you know, the beginning of it is the introduction to da'wah, the importance of da'wah, why we should be giving da'wah, why this is an important topic and an important discussion. And because this surah is Meccan, it talks about da'wah in difficult circumstances. It talks about da'wah while Muslims are marginalized, while they're persecuted. And another theme in this surah as well, to go along with the theme of the importance of da'wah, another theme in it is the theme of a tafweed ilallah, the concept of entrusting your affairs to Allah, leaving your case with Allah subhanaw wa ta'ala, that, you know, you cannot get your full rights in this dunya, right? You cannot get your full rights in this world. And therefore you need to be comfortable at some level to leave your case with Allah subhanaw wa ta'ala. Now, why is it so important for these two themes and concepts to come together? Why is it so important for them to both be intertwined in the concept of da'wah? And it's because when you give da'wah, especially
when you're giving da'wah and you are fewer in number, and you are on the margins of society, and your status is considered lower than the status of others, you know, what is going to happen to you? What is the logical consequence of giving da'wah when you are marginalized in society, when you are being looked at as though you are less? What is the obvious consequence of it? The obvious consequence is that you're going to be harassed, you're going to be insulted, you're going to be mocked, some people are going to be angered by you, they're going to harm you, they're going to attack you. These are obvious consequences to giving da'wah. And so the da'eeh to Allah subhanaw ta'ala, the true caller to Allah subhanaw ta'ala cannot become consumed by the attacks upon them. Now it is human, all of us are human beings, when other people are mocking you and insulting you, it is human to feel bad. The Prophet ﷺ felt bad when the people mocked him or insulted him. Allah subhanaw ta'ala says, we know that your chest becomes constrained because of the things that they are saying about you, O Messenger of Allah. So these obstacles, and you know, feeling hurt is a natural, normal thing, but because these obstacles are going to exist and will exist no matter what, the believer cannot become consumed with responding to every single insult, by responding to every single slight, by responding to every single comment, by retaliating to every single attack. It's not possible for the believer to do this without becoming consumed with the attacks that you forget the da'wah itself. And so the believer has to focus on the da'wah and learn at least on some level to leave their affairs with Allah subhanaw ta'ala. And so there's two examples that are brought in this surah that really focus on this concept of leaving your affairs to Allah subhanaw ta'ala. Tafweel ila Allah, leaving everything to Allah subhanaw ta'ala. The first example is the example of Prophet Musa alayhi as-salam. Allah subhanaw ta'ala mentions,
wa qala fir'aunu dharwuni aqtul Musa wa liyad'u rabbah inni akhaafu an yubaddila deenakum aw an yudhira fil ardi alfasad. Allah subhanaw ta'ala mentions that Fir'aun says, let me kill Musa, leave me to kill Musa, allow me to kill Musa, wa liyad'u rabbah and let him call upon his Lord. Indeed I am afraid that he will change your traditions or will cause corruption in the land. So now the issue of the da'wah of Musa and Musa is marginalized in society and Musa is in this state of being persecuted, the persecution has become so intense that now they are threatening to kill the Prophet Musa alayhi as-salam. And so what does Prophet Musa alayhi as-salam say? Wa qala Musa inni ustu bi rabbi wa rabbikum. Allah, he says, Allah subhanaw ta'ala says, but Musa says indeed I have sought refuge of my Lord and your Lord. Inni ustu bi rabbi wa rabbikum min kulli mutakabbirin la yu'minu biyawmin hisab. He says I have sought the refuge of my Lord and your Lord from every arrogant person who does not believe in the Day of Account. So even as he's being threatened with death and he's being bullied, Musa alayhi as-salam continues to give da'wah and he continues to remind them of the Day of Judgment and he continues to leave his affairs with Allah. He leaves his case with Allah subhanaw ta'ala. Inni ustu bi rabbi wa rabbikum. I have sought refuge, my refuge with my Lord and with your Lord. And subhanAllah because he relies, you know, the reliance that Musa has upon Allah subhanaw ta'ala, Allah sends him someone to defend him and to help him from the family of Fir'aun. And so wa qala rajunun mu'minun min aali Fir'aun yaktumu imanah. Allah subhanaw ta'ala says a believing man from the people of Fir'aun, from the family of Fir'aun, from the house of Fir'aun who's hiding his faith, he begins to speak up and he says qal a taqtuluna rajunun an yaqula rabbiyallah. He says are you going to kill a man? Will you kill a man only because he says my Lord is Allah? wa qad ja'akumu albayyinatun min rabbikum. And he has brought you the clear proofs from your Lord.
wa in yaku kadhiban fa alayhi kadhibu wa in yaku sadiqan yusibkum ba'dal ladhi ya'idukum. He says if he is lying then his lie is his own loss. And if he is saying the truth then some of what he has promised you of punishment will afflict you that he has been threatening you. So sure and indeed Allah does not guide those who are transgressing and liars. Now this chapter is Meccan and all of the Hawamim as we mentioned are revealed in Mecca. And this phrase a taqtuluna rajunun an yaqula rabbiyallah, will you kill someone just because they say their Lord is Allah? You know I know Shaykh Harij is going to talk about this in more detail but this is the same phrase that Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu says when Uqba bin Abi Mu'ayt comes behind the Prophet in Mecca and he takes off his cloak and he sneak attacks the Prophet ﷺ from behind and he wraps the the cloak of his around the neck of the Prophet and he begins to strangle him. And nobody is intervening until Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu finds out and Abu Bakr comes rushing and begins beating Uqba from behind and pulling him off the Prophet ﷺ. And when he does this Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu is saying a taqtuluna rajunun an yaqula rabbiyallah, are you going to kill a man just because he says my Lord is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so Allah uses the same phrase in this verse and you know there's this rhythm between the events that are happening in Mecca and the events that are happening in the Quran. And this is one of the miracles and the beauty of the Quran. The events that they are living, the sahaba are living, they're seeing it being mirrored and they're seeing a rhythm between what is in the Quran and between what is happening, between their eyes and in the events that they are seeing. So this man begins giving da'wah and he begins speaking out and he does this when? When he sees that Musa is about to be killed. And so Musa's reliance upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forwarding his affair to Allah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala responds by sending a man to support Musa alayhi as-salam. And we see that the da'wah of this man shows us part of the methodology how do you give da'wah. How is da'wah
sustained? How do you give da'wah? Because he gives da'wah in a way that is logical. وَيَّكُ كَذِبًا فِعَلَيْهِ كَذِبُ If he is lying, he tells the people, if Musa is lying, his lie is his own loss. And if he is saying the truth then some of the punishment that he promises us might come to us. So he's using you know mantiq, he's using logic to say hey this is logical for us not to kill him, leave him alone, let him do whatever he wants. In the end of the day if he's lying it will become clear. Why are we going to try to kill him just because he says his lord is Allah. So he uses a very logical approach. Then in the other verses he uses you know emotions. قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ لَكُمُ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمُ ظَاهِرِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَمَن يَنْصُرُونَ مِن بَأْسِ اللَّهِ إِنْ جَاءَنَا He says, oh people, authority belongs to you, kingship belongs to you, power belongs to you. You are reigning supreme in the land but who will help you against the punishment of Allah if it were to come to us. And so here he uses the emotions of you have authority but how would it feel if authority was removed from you. You know you have all these armies and these soldiers but what can an army do against the flood or against an earthquake. And notice when he speaks about the dunya he says you have the mulk, لَكُمُ الْمُلْكُ, you have the kingship, you have the authority, you have all of this. But when he talks about the punishment he said who will help us against the punishment of Allah. Right? When he speaks about the punishment he includes himself. When he speaks about the dunya he gives it to them. And he does this very subtly to try to coax them towards understanding his point of view and his intentions as being pure. And he uses love and he uses fear to try to entice them towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so it is mentioned that he says وَقَالَ الَّذِي آمَنَا يَا قَوْمَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُم مِثْلَ يَوْمِ الْأَحْزَابِ He says to them that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says the one who believes he says oh my people so again this love my people. إِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُم مِثْلَ يَوْمِ الْأَحْزَابِ I fear over you. So he has this loving fear over them that what will happen to you is the same
that has happened to other nations in the past. And so using emotions and love and fear and references to history. Right? So the history of you know مِثْلَ يَدَأْ بِقَوْمِ نُوحٍ وَعَادٍ وَثَمُودٍ He mentions to them you know the people of Nuh and Aad and Thamud and what happened to them. And also he talks about Yusuf عليه السلام. Remember when Yusuf وَلَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ يُصُفُ مِنْ قَبْلٍ Remember when Yusuf came with truth and you believed in him. Right? So he's mentioning the past as well. Likewise when you give da'wah you can reference history, you can reference logic, you can you know work on people emotionally and logically. All of this is possible and all of this is part of our da'wah. And then he says to them وَيَا قَوْمِ إِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ يَوْمَ التَّنَادِ Oh people I fear for you the day of crying out. He calls the day of judgment يوم التناد. Now there's many different names for the day of judgment in the Qur'an. يوم القيامة, the day of standing. Allah سبحانه وتعالى says يوم الدين, the day of recompense. يوم التغابل. So many different names for the day of judgment. Here he says يوم التناد, the day of crying out. The day of judgment is the day of crying out because people will be crying out. And subhanallah I don't have time today. I'm going to discuss this inshallah later down the line either in the next week or the week after is this concept يوم التناد. You know he says the day of crying out. If you look in Surat Ghafir, there's multiple examples of people crying out on the day of judgment or crying out from hellfire or crying out from Jannah and announcing things from Jannah. All of this يوم التناد right. And that goes throughout all of the Hawameen. But this is a subject on its own inshallah. Maybe this is a little tidbit but inshallah we're going to discuss it a little bit later. And then he says فَسَذَكْرُونُ مَا أَقُولُ لَكُمْ وَأُفَوِّضُ أَمْرِي إِلَى اللَّهِ He says you will remember what I have said to you and I leave my affairs to Allah. I leave my affairs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Just as Musa leaves his affair to Allah, the believer in the house of Fir'aun, he leaves his affair to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We also see the concept of dua playing a prominent role in Surat Ghafir because how do you leave your affair to Allah?
You make dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The surah begins with you know the dua of the angels الَّذِينَ يَحْمَلُونَ الْعَرْشَ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهُ يُسَبِّحُونَ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّهِمْ وَيُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ وَيَسْتَخْفِرُونَ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا رَبَّنَا وَسَعْتَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ رَحْمَةً وَعِلْمًا That the angels who carry the throne of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and glorify Allah, they make dua, they say, oh our Lord, your mercy has encompassed everything and your knowledge, so forgive those who repent and follow your way and protect them from the torment of the hellfire. رَبَّنَا وَأَدْخِلْهُمْ جَنَّاتِ عَدْلٍ وَوَاللَّهَ أَنْتُهُمْ إِنْتُهُمْ Into the gardens of Eden التي وعدتهم, that which you have promised them. All of this dua is mentioned. Also in the surah, the verse وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ دِعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ This verse that your Lord has declared or has proclaimed, call upon me I will answer your dua. إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِهِ سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَا دَاخِرِينَ Indeed, those who are arrogant of my worship, they will enter hellfire with humility. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about this verse of making dua, and if you don't make dua, then therefore you are too arrogant. Right? And those who are arrogant will enter the hellfire. Also Allah said, فَدْعُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ Make dua to Allah with sincerity. The concept of dua, there's actually many other verses that talk about dua or reference dua in some way in surah Ghathar. And so all of this is mentioned to show us, you know, these powerful themes as we are giving da'wah, how we protect ourselves, how we make dua and leave our affair to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The next surah in the series is surah Fussilat, but I'm not going to talk about it today. Its focus is on the Qur'an, the greatness of the Qur'an, but I wanted to give it more justice. So inshallah, I'm going to talk about that inshallah next week. I want to move next to surah Ashura. Surah Ashura is quite an important surah. You know, it talks about the differences and we kind of touched upon this last week, that, you know, the differences that happen between believers and between Muslims, right? And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says وَمَا اخْتَلَفْتُمْ فِيهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فِي حُكْمُهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ Whatever differences that you might have between each other, return back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Its judgment lies with Allah, right?
ذَلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبِّي عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَإِلَيْهِ وَنِبْدَىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰىٰ do not disunite. So it's as if Allah implies in one verse, differences are going to happen. But in the other verse, he says do not disunite. Do not disunite from each other. Right? And so establish the religion and do not disunite. And so disagreements are natural, but disunity is not. Disunity is a choice that we make. And if differences are natural, but disunity is evil, how do we avoid disunity? You know, the name of the surah is a shura, which means consultation. And Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, والذين استجابوا لربهم وأقاموا الصلاة وأمرهم شورا بينهم. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, those who have responded to their Lord, and they have established prayer. So let's talk about people who have believed, they responded to Allah, they believe in Allah, they establish their prayers, وأمرهم شورا بينهم. Alongside salah and belief in Allah, Allah mentions and their affairs are consultations between each other. They consult each other. وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ And they give from what Allah has given them. They give charity from what Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has given them. So we see how the Prophet ﷺ sought consultation in almost every affair of his life. You know, whether it was going to war, he sought the consultation of others. Even when he had a personal issue in his life, you know, he would bring Ali, and Ali was a child, رضي الله عنه, he was young. And the Prophet would bring Ali and ask him, what do you think? You know, he would bring Zayd, and he would ask him, what do you think? He would bring Usama ibn Zayd, who was even younger than all of them, and he would say, what do you think? The Prophet
would do shura with all of the sahaba, even the young amongst them, right? And then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the next verse, وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَهُمُ الْبَغْيُ هُمْ يَنْتَصِلُونَ Those whom when persecution afflicts them, they defend themselves. And so how do the Muslims protect themselves, defend themselves, stand up for each other, have each other's backs? How is this type of strong unity happen? What do We know? Affects us, we help each other, we support each other. How do we get that love and that unity between each other? وَأَمْرُهُمْ شُورَ بَيْنَهُمْ They consult each other, right? To get this level of cohesion we have to and this love between each other, we need to consult each other, talk to each other, love each other in order to create this type of unity. And we mentioned, Sheikh Aarij mentioned this point, actually I hadn't come across it before, but a very beautiful point. Another verse in Surah Shura, where Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says وَمَا تَفَرَّقُوا إِلَّا مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَهُمُ الْعِلْمُ بَغْيًّا بَيْنَهُمْ That those who receive knowledge did not split into different groups, did not disunite except because بَغْيًّا بَيْنَهُمْ Envy between them, jealousy that came between them, because of petty reasons. Then Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ أُورِثُوا الْكِتَابِ مِن بَعْدِهِمْ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِنْهُمْ مُرِيبٌ And those who came after them and took the book after them, they were then in doubt about it. And so it's as if Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is saying what makes the next generation distant from their religion and doubtful about their religion is the envy and petty problems that causes us to disunite from each other. Shaykh Harij mentioned this last week and it was very beautiful. And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says وَلِذَٰلِكَ فَسْعَدَهُمْ Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says and because of this invite all, call all of them to Islam وَاستَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ And be steadfast as you have been commanded. Meaning because of all of this give da'wah and be firm upon the deen and do not disunite for petty reasons.
I'm going to stop here inshaAllah without getting into Surah Zuhruf because I took too much time I think already. And I'm going to leave it inshaAllah to Shaykh Harij to expound on these points and talk about the points of da'wah particularly under persecution. Jazakallahu khayran, barak wa feekum. I'm going to actually just build upon what you were saying and we'll stick to Surah Ash-Shura and Surah Zuhruf for this session inshaAllah. I'm sorry, Surah Ash-Shura and Surah Fussi that... Surah Ash-Shura and Surah Ghafir inshaAllah. We'll stick to those two surahs in this session. And then after that we will address the other surahs in the next sessions inshaAllah. Speaking of Surah Ash-Shura. Surah Ash-Shura at the very end of Ash-Shura has a very beautiful passage in which Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says Lillahi mulku samawati wal ardi yakhluqu ma yashaa yahabu li man yashaa u inatha wa yahabu li man yashaa u thdhukur This is the concluding passage of Surah Ash-Shura. Ayah number 49 to the end. The translation of it is the kingdom of the skies and the earth. The kingdom of the cosmos belongs to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. He creates what He wants. He gives the gift of girls to whoever He wants and gives the gift of boys to whoever He wants. He's talking about giving offspring, kids, to people who are trying to have kids. aw yuzawwijuhum thukranum wa inatha Or He makes it so that a person will have both boys and girls in their family. Like they have from their offspring boys and girls. wa yajAAalum man yashaa u aqeema And He leaves whoever He wishes barren, without a child. innahu a'aleemun qadeer He is the one who is knowledgeable and powerful. Subhanahu wa ta'ala This passage speaks about the offspring that people have.
Either you have all girls, like in my case, alhamdulillah, or you have all boys, or you have a mixture of the two. You have boys and girls as your kids. Or you have no children. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala did not bless you or did not give you this, give you this withheldness from you. wa yajAAalum man yashaa u aqeema innahu a'aleemun qadeer This passage that Allah concludes with, He is pointing out something that He gives as He pleases. And He's using the example of kids. As He pleases, He gives. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala It's 100% the choice of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Likewise, it is 100% the choice of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala who He chooses as a Prophet. wa maa kaana li basharin an yukallimahu Allahu illa wahyan aw min warai hijabin aw yursila rasoolan fa yuwhiya biidhnihi ma yashaa The next ayah speaks to this point. That it is, how is it that Allah sends revelation. He sends revelation as a wahi that is divinely inspired. Or He speaks to a Prophet from behind a veil. Or He sends angels of Gabriel and the angels of Gabriel conveys the message. wa kathalika awhayna ilayka roohan min amlina ma kunta tadalima al kitabu wa la al iman walakin ja'alnaahu nooran nahdi bihi man nashaau min ibadina wa innaka latahdi ila sirat mustaqeem Ayah 52 of surah Shura Likewise, we have sent to you a rooh, a soul from our command. This is referring to Gabriel Alayhi Salaam. This is also perhaps referring to the Qur'an being a rooh, something that is, you know, going to bring life to our souls. You did not know what was the book and what was faith. But we made this a light that we guide through it, whoever we want from our servants.
And you, O Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, you are guiding people to the right path. This passage, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la makes a very important point to the people of Quraysh and to all people after Quraysh, which is, it is Allah's choice who He chooses as a Prophet. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was not expecting this. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was not, didn't know of this information beforehand. This is something that was purely Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la's choice. Just like it is purely Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la's choice who He gives to whom, what type of offspring He blesses to whom, and who He chooses to test by not giving them offspring. Purely it is Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la's choice. Similarly, the Prophet is the choice, choosing a Prophet is also the choice of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. One of the criticisms of the people of Quraysh had, that's also mentioned in the Hawamim, is that, بَقَالُ لَوْلَ نُزِلَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِّنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ How is it that, how come this Qur'an was not revealed to one of the two great men of the two great cities? Or how come this Qur'an, excuse me, was not revealed upon a man from the two great cities? This is referring to Makkah and Ta'if, and the leaders of those cities, perhaps Al-Walid ibn Al-Mughirah is referred to here by this ayah. So this is one criticism, why was he chosen to be a Prophet? Allah responds to this criticism by saying, أَهُمْ يَقْصِمُونَ رَحْمَةَ رَبِّكَ Are they now in charge of distributing the mercy of their Lord? It is Allah's choice, He gives as He pleases, He takes as He pleases. Prophethood is also 100% His choice, and He chose the Prophet ﷺ.
So this is something that Allah addresses in the Hawamim. How is it that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was chosen? It was chosen by Allah ﷻ, by His will. Another thing that Surah Ash-Shura mentions is the idea that as a person who's giving da'wah, as any person who's inviting people to Allah ﷻ, your job is to convey the message. Your job is not to deliver a conversion or to deliver like a certain amount of converts. No, your job is to just give the message in its purest form. إِنَّ عَلَيْكَ إِلَّا الْبَلَغُ إِنَّ عَلَيْكَ إِلَّا الْبَلَغُ In Surah number 48 of Surah Ash-Shura, Allah says, your job is to convey the message. Similarly in Surah Ghafir, in Surah Ghafir, ayah number 77, Allah ﷻ says, فَصْبِرْ إِنَّ وَعَدَ اللَّهِ حَقًۭ Be patient because the promise of Allah is true. It's going to happen. You will, your da'wah will prevail, O Prophet ﷺ. But don't, whether you see it or not, it's not, that doesn't have anything to do with your da'wah. فَإِمَّا نُرِيَنَّكَ بَعْضَ الَّذِينَ عَيْدُهُمْ أَوْنَ تَوَفَّيَنَّكَ فَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ Whether we make you see what we have promised them, or we take your life, i.e. you pass away, فَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ either way, the return will be to us. What's this ayah speaking about? What it's telling the Prophet ﷺ is, O Prophet of Allah, you give the da'wah, you convey the message, you call people to Islam, leave the results to Allah ﷻ. Whether you see the results or not is irrelevant actually.
And this is an important point for us as people who are calling to Allah, as people who are trying to work to dismantle, you know, say for example, institutional racism, or trying to work towards a cause that is a very large cause, like, you know, oppression of Muslims, you know, in parts of the Muslim world. These are causes, the end result of it we may not see in our lives. These are causes that we work towards. The solution of it, we may not actually live to see that. But that's not the point. The point isn't to work for something whose results you'll end up seeing. The point is to do your job, to give da'wah, to stand up for what's right, and then you leave the results in the hands of Allah ﷻ, whether He ﷻ makes you see the results or not, that is irrelevant. And the Prophet ﷺ was told this as well. فَإِمَّا نُرِيَنَّكَ بَعْضَ الَّذِينَ أَعِيدُهُمْ أَوْنَ تَوَفَّيَنَّكَ وَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ So, the Surah Ghafir and Surah Ash-Shura, along with the rest of the Hawa memes, make this point. The point of, O Prophet, your job is to give da'wah, your job is to be patient, don't become frustrated, and don't worry about necessarily the results, because the results are in the hands of Allah ﷻ. Also, a point that is made throughout the Qur'an is the da'wah to people using the signs of Allah ﷻ, the amazing ayat of Allah that are outside of the book. There are ayat inside the book, that's the Qur'an, the ayat inside of it are miraculous, they are from Allah. And there are ayat that are outside the book, and that is all around us, the cosmos, the creation of the earth,
how everything fits, how the animals live on the earth, how Allah ﷻ runs this amazingly intricate and complex universe. All of that, there are signs in it for those who ponder, for those who use their intellect. So da'wah through the signs of Allah that are outside the book, outside of the Qur'an, that are observable, that you can see, that is something that we find in the Hawa meme as well. Allah ﷻ mentions in Surah Ghafir, ayah number 64, Allah ﷻ says, اللَّهُ الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ قَرَارًا وَالسَّمَاءَ بِنَاءًا وَصَوَّرَكُمْ فَأَحْسَنَ صُورَكُمْ وَرَزَقَكُمْ مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ ذَلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ Allah is the one who has made the earth a stable place for you. We know the earth is rotating around its axis, we know the earth is revolving around the sun, yet it is a stable place for us, we don't feel like it's moving, and that's a beautiful reality. Allah ﷻ reminds us of this reality, that the earth is made a place that's stable for you. And what's سَمَاءَ بِنَاءًا, the sky is a protection for you, a canopy is a translation, something that protects you from the top. And we know how our atmosphere, السَّمَاء is actually anything that's above us, from the word سُمُو which is high, so our atmosphere that protects us from extraterrestrial objects falling through, that is what سَمَاءَ بِنَاءًا. Allah reminds us how this is allowing us to exist and thrive. وَصَوَّرَكُمْ He has shaped you. فَأَحْسَنَ صُوَّرَكُمْ In the best possible way. وَرَزَغَكُمْ مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ And provided you from good things, from the good in the world.
That is Allah. ذَٰلِكُمْ وَاللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ This is da'wah to Allah through the signs of Allah. Another example that Allah gives quite frequently is introspection about your own reality, the reality of human beings. فَلْيَنظُرِ الْإِنسَانُ مِمَّا خُلِقُ In Surah Tariq, Allah says, people should consider what they were made of, like remember your humble origins. Here in Surah Ghafir, ayah number 67, Allah says, فَلِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ مِنْ نُطْفَةٍ ثُمَّ مِنْ عَلَقَةٍ ثُمَّ يُخْرِجُكُمْ طِفْلًا ثُمَّ لِتَبْلُغُ أَشُدَّكُمْ ثُمَّ لِتَكُونُوا شُيُوخًا وَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يُتَوَفَّ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَلِتَبْلُغُ أَجَلًا مُسَمَّةً وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ ayah 67 of surah ghafir, surah 40, Allah says, it is He who created you from dust, then from a drop of fluid, then from a tiny clinging form, then He brought you forth as infants, then He allowed you to reach maturity, and then He lets you grow old, though some of you die sooner, and reach your appointed term, so that you may reflect. He is the one who gives life and death, and when He ordains a thing, He only says, كُنْ فَيَكُونَ, He says, be, and it is. This, Allah wants us to reflect on our own mortality. We were nothing, we were nothing, then we were consumed in the wombs of our mothers, from a drop of fluid, من نطفة, and that, in that helpless, that little fluid becomes a fetus, and then we are brought into this world, طفلًا, as a child, helpless, can't even burp.
Those of us who have babies, you know what that means, you have to burp the baby after you feed the baby, you can't even burp. Then, you become strong, you reach maturity, become powerful, but then there is a decline, ثُمَّ لِتَكُونُوا شُيُوخًا, at the very end of a person's life, they become weak and feeble, like they were kids. وَلَا عَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ, this is something for you to consider, for you to think, for you to reflect upon. This is a theme in the Qur'an, by the way, creation and resurrection, comes together. When Allah mentions creation, He mentions, or He ties it to resurrection. He is talking about your creation here, He will tie it to resurrection, يُحْيِي وَيُمِيد, He is the one who gives life and brings people back after death. This concept is very critical, because our creation in this world, and all of Allah's creation around us, should make us realize two things. Number one, that Allah is the creator, and the one who is in charge of all of this, and also, Allah will recreate all of this. He will destroy everything on the Day of Judgment, and people will be brought back to life. Creation should make us be convinced of the resurrection. These two things in the Qur'an go hand in hand, and this surah, along with, this is a consistent theme in the Qur'an. Throughout the Qur'an you will find this, but in the Habaamim, you will find this as well. I'll make one last point, which is a reminder that da'wah is going to be hard. Da'wah to Allah is not meant to be a walk in the park. If it was, then everybody would be doing it, but it's not an easy thing. It is a hard matter. It is something that requires effort, it requires patience, it requires resolve, it requires you to control your emotions, because you get emotional.
And that surah, shura, actually speaks about the idea of people, when they get emotional, because we all get emotional, they are those, these righteous people, these great people, who, when they are angry, they forgive. And they're able to control their emotions, and don't let their emotions get in the way of the da'wah. So, da'wah requires all of these incredible traits. It's hard. Surah Ghafir, Allah says, in surah 40, ayah number 4, Allah says, those who deny the truth dispute God's signs, do not let their activity in the land deceive you. He says that the people of Noah and the later factions rejected the truth. And every community plotted against the messenger that was sent to them, aiming to lay their hands on him. This is the point I wanted to make. They contended against the message with fallacious arguments. Things that are not true. Things that are misleading. Things that are false. So they might defeat the truth. They might cause the truth to slip, or the people of the truth to slip. This is what Allah says. This is how it's been throughout history. From Noah's time, people have been going after those who call to Allah.
And when they go after those who call to Allah, either it is a physical approach, trying to lay hands on him, trying to harm them, or it's an argument that is fallacious. And if you look at Twitter, for example, and you look at some of the doubts that people bring about Islam and Quran, a lot of these are fallacious arguments. These are fallacious arguments. I was watching this video, unfortunately, of a person talking about the Quran's words and how some of those words are made up. And I was almost, besides myself, laughing. I was like, if this man ever showed up to Imam Al-Shafi'i saying that, what would Imam Al-Shafi'i say? How would Imam Al-Shafi'i just shred this man? Imam Al-Shafi'i is Hashimi in Qur'an, from Banu Hashim, but the most authentic, extremely eloquent in his Arabic, to make such a bold claim, and you don't even know how to read it. You don't even know how to read the Quran. When you have no idea about etymology, about how the Arabs, they had lahajat, and how those words that existed in pre-Islamic Arabia, how they're used in the Quran, you have no idea of this whole science, and here you come and wajadalu bilbaatil, making a fallacious argument, liyudhilubihi alhaq, to make the people of the truth, make them slip, or make the truth look weak. This is, unfortunately, the techniques that people utilized back in the day, and people utilize today. So, the message of the Quran is, beware of this, and be ready to encounter this when you try to do the job of the prophets, which is to call people to Allah's worship.
In conclusion, we'll wrap up with this, inshaAllah. We discussed Surah Ghafir and Surah Shura today. Surah Ghafir is Surah number 40, and Surah Shura is Surah number 42. And what we discussed in these two Surahs is how Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is showing us examples of da'wah of the marginalized people. Da'wah of the believing man from the family of the Pharaoh. Wa qala rajulum mu'minun min aali fir'aun. He was not in authority. Fir'aun was in authority, and how he uses different types of evidences to bring people to Islam, to make his people realize that Musa is a prophet of Allah. Also Surah Shura spoke about the importance of working together in da'wah. People, especially those who are marginalized, have to work together, be united, not become divided because of pettiness. Disagreements are okay, but let not your disagreement lead to disunity. And that is an important message of Surah Shura. Also these Surahs, Hawamim in general, but specifically these two that we talked about today, they address the concerns of Quraysh. The primary audience of these Surahs addresses their concern. Concern number one, why is the prophet, like how was he chosen? Allah responds by saying he chose the prophet, his choice, just like it's his choice to give you kids, he chooses, and that was in the concluding passage of Surah Shura. Also Allah reminds the prophet that your job is to give da'wah. Your job is to convey the message, to make people convey the message that's in the book, make them think about the ayat that are outside the book, but just be patient and don't worry
about or don't judge your success by the number of converts. And this whole thing is hard, so be patient and be ready for the challenge. These are some of the themes that we discussed today inshallah ta'ala. I hope Allah allows us to study the Quran and to become of those who carry its message to the people. Amin Ya Rabbil Alameen. Jazakumullah Khairan. Wa salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
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