Qur'an 30 for 30 | Season 4
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Juz’ 14: Ust. Najwa Awad | The Blessings of the Bee
The bee, a small insect which produces a powerhouse of healing with its sweet honey, is also responsible for pollinating much of what we eat. Allah reminds us in Surah an-Nahl of the many blessings He has provided for us in this world so that we may be grateful. Ust. Najwa Awad joins Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro to frame gratitude as a key component in Juz 14 for a healthy worldview.
0:00 Introduction
3:43 Ust. Najwa Awad reflects on the concept of grounding in Surat al-Hijr.
12:09 Dr. Omar Suleiman reflects on Allah’s Mercy through His blessings.
19:40 Sh. Abdullah Oduro reflects on the blessings and resources Allah has provided us, specifically livestock and the bees.
29:34 Reflections
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh everyone. Welcome back to Qur'an 30 for 30. Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen. We are now on Juz 14, I think. Juz 14, alhamdulillah. We're getting, we're getting there and we're almost at that midpoint. We ask Allah subhana wa ta'ala to accept our first half of Ramadan and to allow us to remain strong and steadfast and sincere in the second half of Ramadan and have our deeds accepted and to make us amongst those that catch the lilitul qadr. Allahumma ameen. So as we're getting to that midpoint, still trying to recover from Sheikh Bilal's episode subhanAllah which was just deeply profound and then we were blessed to have with us yesterday Sister Sara Sultan alhamdulillah to reflect and today we were blessed to have her co-author of the trauma book, Sister Najwa Awad alhamdulillah. I'm going to remind everyone to go to Yaqeen's website, go to the book section. You can download their trauma book for free there and I also came to know the exciting news that inshaAllah ta'ala we're expecting the paperback version of it this summer biddenAllahi ta'ala. So hopefully we have the online version, the digital version as well as the paperback inshaAllah ta'ala. It's one of the most impactful projects that we've had alhamdulillah. An incredible resource of merging, you know, our framing of Islam, our foundations of Islam with, you know, healthy mental health practices today. Those that are in accordance with the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and really basing it out of the Qur'an, wellness out of the Qur'an. So I personally benefited tremendously from that book alhamdulillah. Recommend everyone check it out inshaAllah ta'ala and look out for the paperback version inshaAllah ta'ala as well this summer. Ustadh An-Najwa, how are you? Alhamdulillah, I'm doing well. Thank you for having me again. It's always a pleasure to have you alhamdulillah. And Shaykh Abdullah,
the kids want a dad joke from you. They're asking for uncle Abdullah's jokes because I'm apparently just not interesting anymore to them. No, no, I'm not surprised Shaykh, I'm not surprised. Okay, I would say drone, but I say doofro. Why is it important to talk about dried grapes? So that you don't whine about them? Oh man, that was pretty good. I don't know. Ustadh An-Najwa, you have anything? No, no, not better than that. That was pretty good. That was pretty good because it helps in raising awareness. That was from one of my young beloved nieces, Sophia. She's five or six. She's going to get mad at me if my age is incorrect. It's always good to err on the side of caution by saying six. Go older than younger when you talk about kids. Okay. Today we're actually talking a lot about ni'mah, gratitude. Surah An-Nahl is I think the chosen surah from this juz for all of us. And Surah An-Nahl is actually known as Surah An-Ni'mah, the surah of blessing. So Ustadh An-Najwa will start us off today inshallah ta'ala in framing gratitude through this surah about blessing inshallah. And then we'll take it from there. Actually with Juz 14, I ended up deciding on doing Surah An-Hijr. And you know, when I was
reading the surah, it talks a lot about the things that we shouldn't do, you know, being arrogant and being obtuse towards the blessings and the signs of Allah. But I was taken aback by the calming effect that it had in terms of like this grounding effect. And when we think about grounding in mental health, pretty much grounding is anything that helps you reorient yourself back to the present, back to yourself, back to who you are. And when we are going through a lot of stress and having a difficult time coping with day-to-day things, or even like things that feel insurmountable, big problems, a tool that a lot of people know about is grounding, the reorienting. And when we think about grounding, a lot of the common techniques that we hear about is what like deep breathing, we hear about, you know, connecting with nature, touching dirt, because why it re-centers us back. But there's also something called cognitive grounding, meaning that you're reorienting your cognitions back to a place that makes you feel safe, back to a place where you could connect with who you are and feel grounded. And so we see in the ayats early on in the surah that Allah orients us to three things. First, starting out with that He is the creator. There's ayah after ayah reminding us that ultimately He is the provider, not us, and that He sends everything down, provisions, things that we do for ourselves, but things that we don't even think about, like the mountains, the rain, and He sends everything down in perfect proportions. Everything is in balance. And so when we're going through stress, we get hyper-focused on our issues
and we lose sight of what's important and the blessings even around us. And here, a lot like the ayat are so, so grounding. And the earth, we spread out and place therein firm mountains and cause to grow therein all kinds of things in due proportion. And we have provided therein means of living for you and those whom you provide not. So sometimes we can even barely take care of ourselves or our families, but Allah is telling us He takes care of the things around us, the cattle, the animals, our ecosystem. And there's not a thing, but with us are the stores thereof, and we send it not down except in a known measure. So it's not that He's just a provider, but everything is sent down exactly as it should be, when it should come. And certainly, we it is who give life and cause death, and we are the inheritors. So this can have such a grounding effect when we're just completely consumed by our problems, and we're forgetting that, you know, yes, we do our part, but ultimately Allah is in control of everything, and He will send things down in due measure in its due time. And then the ayat shift to what I feel is very orienting to, so we talked about it being orienting to our Creator, but now orienting to our purpose. And Allah tells us, we created man from sounding clay of altered black smooth mud. We are from mud. And these days with social media and all the things that we see online, all the branding, everything can be incredibly based upon Allah. But you know, the ayat take us back to, we are from mud. And then the ayat go and they talk about the story of Adam and Shaytan. And it really reorients us back to that our goal is to stay
on the straight path, to worship Allah, to resist Shaytan as best as we can. And that ultimately, our goal is to get into Jannah. So any struggles that we're having at this moment, even if they feel so great, even if they feel so distressing, Allah is not only in control, but He reminds us of our purpose to begin with. And then, you know, there's imagery throughout the entire Quran, but then it starts to talk about imagery of Jannah. And for those of you in therapy, and might have therapists who use guided imagery, guided imagery is a very powerful tool, not only in grounding, but in making yourself feel safe. When you're feeling very distressed, therapists will tell you to use all of your senses, your sight, your sense of touch, the things that you smell, to reorient yourself back to the present. And here, you know, Allah is shifting our focus to Jannah, our ultimate safe place. And, you know, He talks about, truly the Mutakun will be amidst gardens and water springs. It will be said to them, enter there in paradise in peace and security. That is the ultimate safe place that we can hope for and that we can long for when we are going through difficult times. No sense of fatigue shall touch them, nor shall they ever be asked to leave it. So, SubhanAllah, these set of ayat, it really just, to me, it struck out on a personal note, because it felt so, like almost, like it recalibrates you back to what is most important. And that's one of the beautiful things about the Quran. Of course, it's, you know, it's such a great reminder and something that we do to connect to Allah and recite His words. But SubhanAllah,
we see the effects psychologically on our mental health when we take the time and we read the Quran. So if you're someone who struggles with anxiety, especially the ayat about Jannah, and by the way, I've heard really good things about the Jannah series. I have to check it out soon, inshaAllah. But when you engage with all your senses in the Quran, especially about the imagery, the strong imagery, scientifically, we know it has a very positive effect, not only on our mental health, but our physical effect. And so what would Jannah smell like? What are the things that we would hear in Jannah? What are the textures that we would feel? You will feel an increased sense of calm, and inshaAllah, it will help you in managing your stress and your anxiety. And it just kind of reminded me, it's not from this Joseph, but barely in the remembrance of Allah, do hearts find rest. SubhanAllah, when we orient ourselves back to these things, such a wonderful, powerful way to help deal with not just calamities, but the day-to-day struggles that we have. May Allah always guide us to Him and to our purpose and our goals. JazakAllah khairan. Astaghfirullahalazim. May Allah bless you for that grounding. And may Allah forgive you for not watching the Jannah series yet. I hear good things. Actually, someone sent me an email today talking about how wonderful it is. So Shaykh, and forgive me, I thought you were talking about Surah Al-Nahl, but it's actually better because I think what you're showing, SubhanAllah, is the coherence of the Juz and Surah to Surah, because Surah Al-Nahl is Surah Al-Ni'mah. It's the Surah about the blessing of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, but it comes after that incredible grounding that you just mentioned. And Shaykh Abdullah and I actually ended up choosing pretty much the same section, Alhamdulillah, Surah Al-Nahl, but we decided that InshaAllah ta'ala we'll both reflect on it and I'll kind of
take some of the beginning portions. It is honestly one of the most beautiful portions of the of the Surah. If you go to verse 64 of Surah Al-Nahl, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, or actually let's start at 65. In Surah Al-Nahl, That verily, we have sent down, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala sends down the rain from the sky, giving life to the earth after its death, and surely in this is a sign for those who listen. Now if you think about this, this part of it, you know, this mention of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala sending down rain as mercy is not uncommon in the Quran. So this is actually a very standard mention in the Quran of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala's rahmah, because the closest way to understand the rahmah is to literally look at the rain as it's falling upon you, and you see the mercy of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, that rizq, sustenance from Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, because think about what happens to every civilization, past, present, when they don't have water, right? And when they don't have the rain falling upon them. And so it's the easiest way to connect to the ni'mah from Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala by thinking about that rain as it falls upon us. But then look at what comes next, all right? So I want us to look at verses 66 through 70, and Shaykh Abdullah and I are both going to be on this portion with the Nahi ta'ala. It is one of the most beautiful sections about the mercy of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Quran, because it shows you the divine ordinance and the divine proportioning of his rizq, of his sustenance. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, وَإِنَّ لَكُمْ فِي الْأَنْعَامِ لَعِبْرَةٍ And verily, there is a lesson for you in cattle.
نُسْقِيكُمْ مِمَّا فِي بُطُونِهِ مِن بَيْنِ فَرْثٍ وَدَمٍ لَبَنًا خَالِصًا سَائِغًا لِلشَّارِبِينَ So I want to try to translate this, but it's such a beautiful ayah in Arabic. وَإِنَّ لَكُمْ فِي الْأَنْعَامِ لَعِبْرَةٍ And verily, there is a lesson for you in cattle. You have an example in cattle, okay? Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, نُسْقِيكُمْ مِمَّا فِي بُطُونِهِ So we give you to drink of what is in their bellies, but then Allah says, مِن بَيْنِ فَرْثٍ from between that which is the digested food, so that's going to come out as waste for them, وَدَمٍ and from their blood, right? لَبَنًا خَالِصًا سَائِغًا لِلشَّارِبِينَ Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, and then you have pure milk that is pleasant to drink. So subhanAllah, think of it this way, the rain comes down and it allows for the crops to grow, it allows for the fodder for your animals, for your cattle, and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying, look at the process in which that milk gets produced for you, in which that rizq gets refined for you, and look where it comes from. From what goes into that cattle comes blood, filth, and pure milk, right? SubhanAllah, so the same thing that comes down comes out differently from them, and that pure milk is really part of your most treasured rizq that you have, some of your most treasured sustenance is that blessing of pure milk, and it's produced to you between those two things, between their excretions and between the blood, subhanAllah, and Allah says, and then look at the fruits of the date palms and the grapes that you have, and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says that with those two things, right, with those two blessings that
you have, you can take from it intoxicants, or you can take from it wholesome provision, you can take from it what's halal, and verily in that is a sign for people who actually think about this, who actually reflect. Now subhanAllah, you see once again Allah Azawajal is saying, the rizq comes down in the same way, but it doesn't necessarily come out in the same way, and just as the cow produces filth but also produces the purest of milk, and there's a wisdom from Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, as that rain comes down, and as those trees grow, and as the grapes start to be produced, you can take from that, that which will produce benefit, or you can take from that, that which will produce harm. Now this is starting to sound like revelation if you think about it, and then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions of course, Allah inspired the bees, and this is of course just the center of the ayah of the surah, because the bees are such a wonderful creation of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, and such a wonder from Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. So Allah Azawajal does not just talk about the bees in regards to what they produce, but Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about how he commands them through wahi, of where they are to go, where they are to construct their homes, how they are to produce on the inside, the different colors that will come out, the shifa that will come out, the healing that will come from its honey, and all of these benefits that come from them, right? So here are two ways to look at this section inshaAllah ta'ala, and then I'll pass it off to Shaykh Abdullah. Number one, the example of wahi coming down and giving life, giving life, giving that which produces life. The example of the revelation, which is an example that the Qur'an actually starts off with pretty early on,
that it is like rain that comes, the soil is fertile, and if the intention is to benefit from what comes out of that soil, then it is all good. But at the end of the day, it comes down as rizq, it comes down as beauty, but some people will use even the wahi, even the revelation, which was meant to give us the ultimate ni'mah, the ultimate blessing of salvation in the hereafter, some people will use it as intoxicants, and for purposes of hypocrisy, and disobedience, and evil. So Allah azawajal has facilitated that beautiful rizq for you, and the greatest rizq that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given to us, the greatest sustenance, which is rizq that Allah has given to us, is revelation. Now it's up to you to take it, and to benefit from it, and to benefit with it. So that's one way of looking at these ayat, as framing it within the ni'mah, the ultimate blessings that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has mentioned to us. And the other thing that Allah azawajal mentions to us is, in verse 70, wallahu khalaqakum thumma yatawafakum, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created you, and then He causes you to die. So subhanAllah, if you think about this, it comes down, and what is produced out of the stomachs of cattle is a blessing, from the bellies of that cattle is rizq, and something to thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for. And from the bellies of those bees is rizq, is the sustenance of honey, something to thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for. And you were produced in the bellies of your mothers, in the bellies of your mothers. And look at you, how ungrateful can you be, subhanAllah, the ni'mah of your very existence. So it's not just what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has provided for you, it's that Allah provided you in the first place, right? And that example is so consistent when you look at these ni'mah, at these blessings as they come through. And again, the bee in particular is a wonder. Imam al-Shafi'i rahim Allah
talks about the nahal, various forms of poetry, because it just, in the small insects, subhanAllah, look what comes out of it, and inshaAllah ta'ala Shaykh Abdullah can take it from there and elaborate on that particular ni'mah. Tawba, Shaykh Abdullah. BarakAllahu feekum. Bismillah wa salatu wa salamu ala Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala amma ba'd. As Shaykh Omar mentioned that this chapter of being named after the nahal, subhanAllah, the bee, or the ni'mah, really when we say anything other than Allah, any form of creation, is a ni'mah. Because when we think about it, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala placed it on this earth ultimately to serve us human beings. As Allah says, huwa allathee khalaqa lakum maa fil ardi jami'an, wa maa siqat al-umum. That Allah says that he is one who has created everything for you on this earth, for all of you. So maa jami'an, everything on this earth, he has created it for all of you, meaning the noblest of creation, the most noble of creation, us human beings. I want to kind of touch on it from another angle and then mention what Allah mentions in a couple of verses later when he talks about the an'am again, he talks about the livestock and cattle, but then he asks a question or makes a recommendation or wants you to think about taking the ultimate action which shows gratitude. Firstly Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions some very intricate details here when he talks about the bee. He says after Audhu billahi min ash-shaitani rajeem in verse number 69, min kulli thamarati fasluki subala rabbika dhulula. He says, then take or drink the juice of every kind of fruit, meaning the bee, and keep treading the ways of your Lord which have been made easy. I want to stop here for a minute. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says thumma kulli, and kulli is the imperative verb for the female. When you put the ya at the end, e, kull is you male eat.
Kullu means all of you together, male and female. Kulli means female. What is interesting here is that even though the animals and insects are inanimate, there's still a left that we can look at because when we look at the bee kingdom, it's made of female bees. There's the queen bee. And some would argue the queen bee is not an ultimate control. It's the workers that bring forth the honey to feed to the queen bee that makes some type of royal jelly for the bee, which allows the queen bee to have more babies. The more intricate we get, we see that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying thumma kulli is a proof that he is al-'aleem, he is al-khaliq, al-raziq, al-mudabbir. That he is the all-knowing, he is the creator, he is the provider, and he is the one that has control of overall affairs. When we look at the ecosystem as Shaykh Omar was talking about, how the rain, the water cycle, from condensation to precipitation, and all these animals that benefit from what the water has brought forth, i.e. Allah, the creator, has allowed to happen, and all of these different life forms, if you will, including ourselves, with our organic feedings, our organic milk, and our organic bread, and our organic fruits, right? And all of these things that subhanAllah, organic means left alone, that has been left the way Allah has prepared for you to eat it without any intervention from mankind to benefit from the dunya. And sometimes, and many times, in an unlawful, immoral way. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is talking about the bee here. He said, kuli, which is very interesting, being the female, he says, from every fruit, from every fruit, and take the subula rabbik, the path of your Lord, meaning that this is what Allah has instructed for you, O bee. When Shaykh Omar mentioned the wahi, that scholars mention ilham, it is like an intervention, or it's more of an inclination. So when we talk about we as human beings, Allah has created us with a motherboard, if you will.
As we have come out, there are natural inclinations that we have. This is the same way with the animals and insects that don't have a free will. Allah has created them a certain way to go a certain path. We have predators and we have prey. How did they choose this? It wasn't something that they chose, it's the life that Allah has created them on that. And that's the way he has instructed it for us as human beings to survive on this earth as well. He says, yakhruju min butooniha sharabun mukhtalifun anwa alwanu feehi shafa'un linnas. Then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says after that, he says, there comes forth from their bellies a drink in varied colors. We know that there are different types of honey. The bees from whom come honey, they eat the pollen, they take from different nectars, from different fruits, as Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la mentions here, the nectar, and from them it excretes honey. And there are different types of honey, as we know, in different colors. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is getting very descriptive for things that we just pass by and we don't even realize. But if we stop and ponder and think over the Quran, this is what will make us thank Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. And the fact that we're pondering over it right now, inshallah, all of us receive reward for that pondering. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, there comes forth from their bellies a drink varied in colors, wherein there is healing for men. And as we know, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam instructed a man that came to him and said that his belly was, he was suffering from pain in his belly. He told him to drink honey and to continue to drink the honey. The man came back, he told him to continue to drink the honey. In any case, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned that honey was a cure for this individual as it is for all of us human beings, inshallah Ta-A'la. And he says, verily, there is a sign in this for those who reflect, for those, li qawmi yatafakkaroon, for those that ponder and reflect over the creation of Allah and the action of creation or what takes place within the creation. As I always have to remind myself, we think of the creation,
but the functionality of the creation is a whole other realm. You know, we think of the bee. And so parallel with these forms of creation, sometimes, you know, with cartoons and with certain anime that we may see, it paints a picture of them being very dangerous and harmful. And as Sheikh Omar mentioned, it depends on how we use it and indulge and embark upon these things, but they're innocent creatures of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la that without them, it can, quote unquote, change the ecosystem in our environment. And this is very, very important. With bees in and of itself, if you look up the absence of bees, what can take place in the environment and how it will ultimately affect us. But what I want to capitalize on is if we go a few verses later, we go to verse number 80, because after this, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, after the verses of the bee, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la talks about human beings and the responsibility of human beings and the ayahs and the signs of the human beings, the ni'm, the blessings. Allah goes back, turns back and talks about the an'am. And he mentions other benefits from the cattle itself, as Sheikh Omar mentioned some benefits. Now I'm mentioning here, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, walillahi wallahu ja'ala lakum min buyutikum sakanan wa ja'ala lakum min juloodil an'ami buyutan tastakhifhoonaha yawma dha'anikum wayawma iqamatikum wa min aswafiha wa obariha wa ashaariha athaathan wa mataan ilaheen Allah has made your houses a repose or a place of ease and has provided you with the skins of the cattle for your habitation. Because the Arabs used to have the skin as their tents and use it for a form of protection, which are light to handle both when you travel and when you camp. To carry it with you, it's not too heavy, but it serves as a protection against the sun and preserving you from certain temperatures. And he says, and out of their wool and their fur and their hair, wool, fur, and hair. Just these three amongst many more that was mentioned earlier from the milk. And other than that, he said that from those things, he has given you furnishings and good for use over a period of time.
So just from the cattle itself are so many quote unquote resources. This natural resource is so much benefit. And that's why when in scholars of commerce, they talk about buying and selling, the barter system is much more barakah because with the dollar bill, it doesn't have any intrinsic value. But when you look at the cattle, you look at gold, there's an intrinsic value that the object itself, you can value, has value, or you can trade it for something else that has value itself as well. You can turn it into something else. But Allah at the very end, subhanAllah, at the end of verse number 81, when he says, I mentioned the last portion of the verse, he says, kathalika yutimmu ni'matahu alaykum la'allakum tuslimoon. So Allah says here, after talking about the state that he has created things for you and provided you with shelters and mountains, he goes on to talk about mountains and other forms of creation. He says, thus does he complete his favor upon you that you may submit to him. kathalika yutimmu ni'matahu alaykum la'allakum tuslimoon. You submit to him because he has just shown you countless times that he is ultimate control, as sister Najwa mentioned, that he is the ultimate creator. And from his creation, there are different manifestations of how we as human beings can benefit. Rather, we survive from these resources. la'allakum tuslimoon. la'allakum tuslimoon. Perhaps you will be thankful to him and you will submit to him. For those that know this, these blessings of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, what is your response? And that's the question we always have to ask ourselves, whether we are Muslim and whether we are, even if we are not Muslim, what is our ultimate response for our acknowledgement of the creator al-wahid al-qahhar, the one ultimate, the irresistible. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us thankful to him in the way that pleases him the most by being of those that recognize him and submit to him ultimately. Allahumma ameen, jazakallahu khair shaykh. SubhanAllah, I actually want to, there's a reflection on what you were saying here.
And oftentimes, and I know I've said this before, it's hard for us to connect to how incredible these things are when we live in a world in which things are manufactured for us out of sight and they're delivered to us in a box. And we don't see the process all the way through. So it's even harder for us to appreciate agriculture, the way Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sends down rain and the way that our fruits and vegetables come out because we're so disconnected from it. And so I think there are two ways that breed in gratitude. One of them is disconnect from the original process. Number two is familiarity. Familiarity breeds in gratitude. How? Because Allah azawajal makes a connection between you growing up in this world. And then by the time you became aware of the world around you, you just took certain things for granted. Oh, those are bees. Oh, those are birds. Oh, you know, these are things that just exist just like I exist. Now, I think one way to undo that is to just imagine a world where you've already come into your full senses. And let's say there were no bees. And Nahal is the key subject matter here. Let's say there were no bees. And then all of a sudden, you know, Apple announced that they're inventing the bee. And this bee was brought forth and this huge expo was put on where you can see what this amazing creation can do. It would be the marvel of the entire world. Yet subhanAllah, how often do we sit back and reflect on the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this little insect and all that is produced from it. So there's a familiarity that breeds an ingratitude. The same thing with the birds. Awalam yara ila tayri fawqahum saafat. Do they not see these birds above them with their wings spread? Ma yumsikuhunna illa rahman. What do you think's holding them up there? Except for the most merciful. So it seems like subhanAllah, that's part of the way
in which we've disconnected ourselves from the cow, the bee. Like how many of us have even seen cows? You know, right? Like in that world, in the seventh century, you know, you see these animals, you grow up around them. You have to care for them at some point when you're growing up. You're involved in the process to where that risk becomes immediately obvious to you. If you're, you know, just at the bare minimum, an alert human being. SubhanAllah for us, it's like, we don't see these things. It just comes to us in an Amazon box. Everything comes to us in an Amazon box, right? It's at your door. So that can even make us more disconnected and more ungrateful, you know, and maybe even less able to really appreciate the depth of these verses that we're reading right now. Yeah, subhanAllah. You know, subhanAllah. I just want to give a, and I'll give it to Sister Najwa. Just a shout out to a lot of the sisters and brothers, but I've seen sisters a lot that really focus on organic living, that focus on getting out in nature, eating naturally, gardening. Like the sisters at Valley Ranch, may Allah reward them, you know, that it may not want to be mentioned, but just, you know, gardening for the kids is such a huge opportunity to look at this, at the creation of Allah and how Allah manifests his creation. Without your own intervention, it will happen. And your hard work by following up with it, and then eating a sandwich from that which you've made or eating the tomato and it's so ripe, and you see the colors, you appreciate the natural taste, you know, going out and looking at nature and just smelling the air and watching the mountains, watching the sun go down, all of this, subhanAllah, it helps increase your remembrance of Allah. And that is a tafakkur in the ayat. So may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la bless those sisters and brothers that really put organic living, organic eating, and looking at the creation of Allah and coming close to it. So we have, as Shaykh Abdullah just mentioned, at our masjid, the community garden. So it's right next to the masjid at Valley Ranch, where families go out, they can actually garden, plant, and it's absolutely beautiful.
And the first time I actually saw that, just to give the original shout out as well, was actually in Tampa, Islamic Society in Tampa. MashAllah. MashAllah, I remember seeing their community garden and just being completely blown away by it. That old Quran Weekly series on the superstars that recorded like 30 years ago, feels that way. No, I mean, it was actually across the street from that masjid, mashAllah. They had a community garden, they put that emphasis on that as well. No, yeah. Brother Najwa, would you like to share some final thoughts with us, inshaAllah? Just that, the importance of sitting with nature and sitting with any of the blessings that we have, because when we're still consumed by electronics or TV or phones, whatever, it really does remove us from everything that Allah has given us. And I feel like it's harder to be grateful if you aren't able to develop the mind, mindfulness first. So it can be very simple things like, we're all fasting now, but like when you have a tangerine and like you're feeling the skin and then you peel it and then you see like the mist come out and then like the aroma that comes and then you put it in your mouth and like the textures or like simple things, like when your child comes next to you and you smell their hair, being mindful of these things helps promote that gratitude. So, in order to foster that gratitude, just being able to be mindful of our day-to-day things when we're cooking, when we're spending time with those that we love, inshallah, it'll make it easier. Inshallah. And as I tell my family every time I, you know, when breaking your fast, try to break them on, you know, dates and particularly fruit, because every time I break my fast, I'm like, man, like you said, the tangerine, it's so tasty because you haven't eaten in hours and you taste all the different flavors. I always stop and I say, thank Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
and know that in Jannah, it's much better than this and it's everlasting and it doesn't end. So, just think about that, you know, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. You know, JazakAllah khair for that reminder. So, Shaykh Abdullah, that's actually like one of the episodes, what's your first meal in Jannah? So, what's your first meal in Jannah, Shaykh? Man, that's a real good question. I mean- You know, if you don't say a particular dish, the Nigerians are gonna come at you. They're gonna question you. And Nigerians better not say Jalaf rice. That's their first meal, better not say Jalaf. Sorry. I put it in the episode. I'm just saying, you know what I'm saying? So, Jannah Jalaf is different from Jalaf. Allah Hafiz. Jannah Jalaf. Oh man. Alhamdulillah. Nice. What was mentioned in the Quran about, you know, the Sunnah about what's there waiting for us, InshaAllah, the fruits of Jannah, yeah. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la allows us to consume. Ameen. Jazakumullah Khairan. We'll see you all tomorrow, InshaAllah, it's time for Juz 15. As-Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuhu. Wa Alaikum Assalam. Jazakumullah Khairan.
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