Tafsir from Duhā to An-Nās | Ep 05 l Imam Nadim Bashir

The Human Being's Rebellion Against Divine Knowledge

Continuing where we left off from last week, we were on ayah number five, Allah says:

Allah He taught the human being what he did not know. And what's interesting about this ayah is that Allah is making it very clear that what he did not know means that we did not know anything unless Allah taught us. When we came into this dunya, we did not know anything and everything that we have learned over the course of time. It has been all in all the mercy of Allah. And as a result, when you know that Allah is generous, because Allah says اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ He's generous, the fact that He made us a human being, the fact that He gave us intellect, all this should lead a person to be humble, and exhibit humility before Allah.

However, Allah in the upcoming verses, He then tells us that instead of becoming humble and exhibiting humility, how does certain groups of people, how do they transgress and how do they become rebellious towards Allah. Now, in the next, there are three different groups Allah is going to mention here. And you will see that Allah mentions the word أَرَأَيْتَ four times. So Allah mentions three different groups. And each of these groups, you will see that every single kafir today or every single mushrik or every single person who does not believe in Islam or Allah, they will fall into one of these three categories. And you will see examples of this even in today's day and age.

First Category: The Transgressor Who Seeks Independence

First of all is Allah says:

First of all, Allah begins a verse saying stop. No, كَلَّا, no. Like when Musa Alayhi As-Salaam, when he was told, Ya Musa إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ. Yeah Musa, we're caught. He said what? كَلَّا, absolutely not. So Allah is telling us that stop this thinking of yours. I gave you knowledge, intellect, I made you a human being, which is the greatest of all the creation. I'm so much generous to you. And instead of turning to Allah, this is how you're going. Stop this. Then Allah says, إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَيَطْغَىٰ. Verily the human being has transgressed.

There comes a point in a person's life that if they believe that they are not in need of anyone, they don't have to report to anyone. Their authority exceeds all authorities of the world. Then you do whatever you want to do. This is the reality that we live in today. For example, we don't have to go far in human history to understand this. We see what's happening in Gaza right now. People who are standing, the people of that country standing side by side with the idea that it is absolutely okay to kill children. It is absolutely okay to kill women. It is absolutely okay to bomb hospitals, to bomb refugee centers. It's absolutely okay to call people so that they can get food. And as they're getting food, they're being gunned down at the same time. That's okay. Why do they do this? Because they believe they don't have to answer to anyone. They believe they don't have to answer to anyone. And even if someone did, even if someone did declare that they are criminals in the international court, you have this country to back them up. You have this administration to say that they are absolutely okay, and they have the authority to do whatever they want to do.

Why does a person go to this point? كَلَّا إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَيَطْغَىٰ. The word يَطْغَىٰ comes from the word طُغْيَان. طُغْيَان means تَجَاوُزُ الْحَدِّ. You have crossed every single limit. By the way, when Allah told Musa alayhi as-salam about Fir'aun, what did he say? اذْهَبْ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّهُ طَغَىٰ. He has crossed every single limit that you can possibly imagine. Every single crime in the book, Fir'aun has committed it. That goes to that person. He needs advice.

So Allah is saying, when a person gets here to that point, why do they get here to that point? أَن رَّآهُ اسْتَغْنَىٰ. Because they think that they are ghani. The word اسْتَغْنَىٰ means that they know that they're not independent, but they're constantly seeking it. أَن رَّآهُ اسْتَغْنَىٰ. The word اسْتَغْنَىٰ, this alif and sin and ta that you see at the beginning of some of these words, it means to seek something. It means to seek something. For example, the word غَفَرَ means to forgive, right? But the word اسْتِغْفَار, alif and you add the sin and you add the ta, it means to seek the forgiveness of Allah. You have the word خَيْر, right? خَيْر means what? Good. But when you are seeking out the خَيْر, what is it called? اسْتِخَارَة. Alif, sin and ta. You are seeking something. So Allah is saying that they are seeking this independency. They know they don't have it, but they're constantly seeking it out.

If there's anyone or if there's only, if there's any entity that is completely ghani, it is Allah. إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَنِيٌّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَ. Allah is not in need of anything. There are things that you and I, we are in need of. We are in need of time. We are in need of space. We are in need of materiality. These are things that Allah is free from. Allah has so much control. You know when you talk, when you read Surah Al-Kahf next time, I want you to think about this. Next time you read Surah Al-Kahf, think about this. How powerful is Allah. How in control He is that inside the cave where these young men they slept, inside the cave the time stopped, outside the cave the time went on. ثَلَاثَ مِائَةٍ سِنِينَ وَازْدَادُوا تِسْعًا. They slept for 309 years. They did not wake up 309 years older. They woke up at the same age. How powerful Allah is. No matter, you could be Elon Musk. You can be whatever you want today in this dunya. No one controls time. Time is something that is beyond everyone's control. Own everything you can. You cannot own time. Allah owns time. This is how powerful Allah is.

Why do they cross all the limits? أَن رَّآهُ اسْتَغْنَىٰ. They feel like that they are ghani from everyone. However Allah says, they forget about the fact that today they have wealth, that wealth can be taken away. They have health, health can be taken away. Resources you have today, the resources can be taken away. Everything that they have today under their authority can all be taken away. What they don't realize is, إِنَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ الرُّجْعَىٰ. They all have to return to Allah. Every single tyrant, they did whatever they want to do because they thought they can do and they are in complete control. But there came a time where they have to return to Allah. Every single person.

This is not only for those people who are completely tyrants. Even for us, when we cross our limits, when we cross the limits of Allah, تِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللَّهِ. Allah says, these are the limits of Allah. These are the boundaries of Allah. Do not cross these boundaries. Do not get close to these boundaries. Allah is telling us, make sure you don't cross the limits. If you do, remember, إِنَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ الرُّجْعَىٰ.

You know, when you hear people commit dhulm against each other. I get calls all the time, wallahi, I get calls time after time. Nearly every single day. Something going on in someone's family. Someone has wronged someone. Someone took a loan from someone, did not pay them back. Someone treated someone harshly in the family. Husband abused a wife. Wife abused a husband. There's so much going on. And every single time I think to myself that, have people forgotten the fact that they have to return to Allah? Have people forgotten the fact that they have to stand before Allah? Like, why does it not occur to them? Why does it not register in their head, in their minds? We all, إِنَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ الرُّجْعَىٰ. We all have to return to Allah Azza wa Jal.

But then it brings my mind to another verse of the Qur'an. Allah says, Allah gives the reason why they do this. لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ بِمَا نَسُوا يَوْمَ الْحِسَابِ. They have forgotten that they have to stand before Allah on the Day of Judgment. Like, it makes me wonder why do people do things? Like, we all have to stand before Allah. Do whatever you want in this dunya, but we have to stand before Allah on the Day of Judgment. And yet people act in this way? How people treat each other in families? They have forgotten they have to stand before Allah on the Day of Judgment.

Then Allah says, and you know what's beautiful about this ayah is that the problem is not that humans, humans are weak no doubt. خُلِقَ الْإِنسَانُ ضَعِيفًا. We all are created, we all are weak. But the problem, we're not so weak that we cannot control ourselves. The human being, the problem is that the human is weak. The problem is that we have forgotten that we are weak. That's the problem. We feel like we're strong when we are actually weak. We feel like we're in control when we have never been in control. We feel like we have everything when Allah reminds us, you have nothing. So this is what we have to remind ourselves over and over again.

Second Category: Those Who Prevent Others from Worship

Then the second category, this is another category, it blows my mind. Allah says:

So the very first one is, even during the time of the Prophet ﷺ you had a Quraish like this. They just did whatever they want to do. They did not care. They just did not have any kind of, any kind of morality. Did whatever they want. And even in this dunya you find people like this. That's one category of people. The second category of people, Have you seen the person who stops other people from doing what? This is referring to the Prophet ﷺ wanting to pray in the Haram. And as we all know that you had the Quraish who came, and while the Prophet ﷺ he was praying, they came and they put the insides, the intestines, the stomach and everything, all the guts of an animal, they took that and they put that on the back of Rasulullah ﷺ, preventing him from standing up. And they're sitting there making a mockery of him. And his daughter Fatima radiAllahu anha, such a young girl, she's coming and she's removing all this.

So Allah is saying that, have you seen the person who stops a person, and here he did not say Muhammad ﷺ, he said, عَبْدًا. Why? Because Rasulullah ﷺ, even in the midst of the highest level of Islamophobia, he did not neglect Allah. In times like we are facing, the Islamophobia that is increasing and is spreading like wildfire everywhere. Just today a brother called me, he told me, he was standing in the TSA line at the airport, and a lady said to him that, I'm going to shoot you, because you're a Muslim. What did he do to her? That's it. He was standing in the TSA line, and this is what she said, he immediately reported to the police, they took her away. But the point is that you see these kind of things happening.

Even the Prophet ﷺ, no matter how much Islamophobia existed, he stuck with his deen. That is what makes a person an abd. If you want to understand what is the highest position in the eyes of Allah, is when a person climbs up the ladder of abudiyah, and they become an abd of Allah. They become a slave to Allah. When we talk about human history in this country, and all over the world, when we talk about slavery, it has a negative connotation. But when it comes to Allah, being an actual slave to Allah, is one of the highest positions you can have in the eyes of Allah Azza wa Jal. When Rasulullah ﷺ was going through challenge after challenge, he lost his uncle, he lost his wife, he lost all the support that he had in Makkah. He went to Ta'if, he left from there dejected.

The Three Categories of People

Where do you go now after this? He's still stuck to his deen. He did not give up, he did not whiff on his deen. When Allah called him up to al-Isra wa al-Miraj, how did He refer to Rasulullah ﷺ? سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ, as an abd. Allah is saying, عَبْدًا إِذَا صَلَّى, when they are praying.

The Insecurity of Those Far from Deen

And what we learn from this is that people who go so far away from deen, what happens is that they are so insecure about themselves, they themselves are so far from Allah. But they cannot see anyone else coming close to Allah. The minute they see someone else coming close to Allah, they start becoming jealous. And the only way they can come around and deal with their insecurity is by what? Making a mockery of them. That's what they do. It's simple as that.

Last week, if you remember on Saturday, I know some of you may not even remember what you ate this morning. But I'm going to say this, on Saturday, I came across, you remember we covered a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. There were some sahaba who came and they brought a little sadaqah to give to Rasulullah ﷺ right before the battle. And on the side, you had some munafiqun sitting there, laughing, giggling, making a mockery of this Muslim, that you think you're $1? You think you're 50 cents? You're $2? Is it going to come and help the Muslim army? Come on, just go away, man. Look what this guy is doing. Just have some respect for yourself, man. No.

Allah says, they think that they can do all this and get away with it, and they're making a mockery, Allah is going to make a mockery out of them. And I talked about this the other day on Saturday.

The Challenge Within Our Families

Even today within our families, even if someone is far away from Islam, and now they want to turn their life around. They've heard a khatira, something really hit their heart, something really touched their heart. They went to some conference, they heard something there, and they're saying, you know what, I need to change my life around. And now slowly and gradually, they're starting to change their life around. But then you might have mom, you might have dad, oh, where are you going out with this hijab? You never wear the hijab. Oh, just because one time you're wearing the hijab. Okay, go ahead and wear the hijab. Yes, it's not going to last.

There are some people, they have so much nifaq in their heart. And by the way, this is a sign of nifaq too. Allah says:

They encourage wrong and they discourage from good. And you see these kind of things happening today in our Muslim families. A person wants to change their life around. There's a young guy, he's been in the wrong company. He's been chasing the wrong things in life. Now he wants to change his life around. And all of a sudden his friends are going to come, bro, let's go out Saturday night. Come on, every single Saturday night we go out, man. No, I don't want to this time. You know what, I'm going to stay at home. I've been reading the Qur'an. I'm going to read some Qur'an. I probably might listen to a lecture or something. Bring my heart closer to Allah. Come on, man. You? We're all the same, man. You and I, we're all going down together, man. You understand? This is it. This is it for us. Come on, you becoming religious? No, man, you can't do this.

Even, you know, subhanAllah, on a broader scale, you know, when those young guys were at original Mawka, they were praying Salat. Remember? The guy came, such a buffoon, right? Staying there, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ. You think this is what Jesus Christ wants? You think this is what Jesus Christ approves of? Standing there making a mockery?

These Christians, they are so insecure in their religion, because they don't go to worship. They only go once a week to worship, and that's Sunday. That's the only time they go to church. Besides that, their churches are shut down. The pastor may go, and you might have some classes, classes for children, classes for babies, mommy time, this and that, small, small things. But the only time they come to church is only once a week. They are so insecure in their religion, they cannot digest the fact that Muslims go to their place of worship five times a day. It's their insecurity that they have to deal with, that they see a Muslim that no matter what, it is the time for Salat, they will get out, they will put out their rug, and they will pray Salat. They have to deal with their own security. They cannot deal with this. How can they be this much?

The Door of Guidance Remains Open

Then Allah, He says that one is that you have these kind of groups of people, and Allah is going to mention the third group of people next. But in these next two ayahs, Allah says:

But what if, and have you ever considered, if they were on guidance, and they themselves are encouraging people to have taqwa with Allah. In these two ayahs, what Allah is saying is that there is still potential within the human being, to turn their life around, to make a U-turn, to understand their purpose of life.

And subhanAllah, when you look at all this, you will find that there were people amongst the sahabah who were staunch enemies of Islam, who were staunch enemies of Islam. They could not digest to see the Muslims succeeding. They saw the Muslims expanding and growing, and they could not see that. So what did they do? They would attack the Prophet ﷺ. They would go against the Muslim community. But those same people, أَرَأَيْتَ إِن كَانَ عَلَى الْهُدَىٰ أَوْ أَمَرَ بِالتَّقْوَىٰ Allah is saying that those same people, they are the ones now, they are on guidance. They have accepted Islam. And the amount of energy they used to exert in going against Islam, now they're using the same level of energy, and they're exerting the same energy to support Islam.

And by the way, what's beautiful about this ayah is that, when He says أَرَأَيْتَ إِن كَانَ عَلَى الْهُدَىٰ, it is talking about their own personal guidance, their own personal journey to Allah. But a true Muslim, these kind of people like Umar al-Khattab, he was against Islam and Muslims. But then he had a 180 degree change, a complete change. You had so many other people, they were against Islam and Muslims, but then they had a complete change.

These kind of people, when they came to Islam, not only internally they came to Allah, but then they were the ones who were encouraging others to do good. أَوْ أَمَرَ بِالتَّقْوَىٰ أَرَأَيْتَ إِن كَانَ عَلَى الْهُدَىٰ is about your personal guidance. أَوْ أَمَرَ بِالتَّقْوَىٰ is about going out and giving da'wah, going out and calling people to Allah. These are the kind of people that existed in the time of the Prophet ﷺ. So Allah is keeping the door open. The door is not shut on you people. Those people who have gone away, it's not shut, it's still open. You can still return to Allah.

The Third Group: Those Who Reject Despite Evidence

Then Allah says:

And have you considered the person who lied, who denied. You know the word كذب means to lie. But the word كذب means that a person knows it's the truth and they still reject the truth. They still reject the truth. And then He says, وَتَوَلَّىٰ These are people who just turned away. They don't have any reason. If all the evidences were given to them, they still turn away from Allah which tells us what? There's not a problem with their intellect, there's a problem with what? The heart. They see the signs. كذبَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ

And that is why these are the three groups. What was the first group again? كَلَّا إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَيَطْغَىٰ They have crossed all limits. Criminals. The second group was what? أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يَنْهَىٰ عَبْدًا إِذَا صَلَّىٰ Those who are insecure about their religion. They cannot see others excelling in religion. And they will try to pull them back. And then the third group is, أَرَأَيْتَ إِن كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ There are just some people that no matter how much evidences you give them, they still will reject the deen. And not only that, but they will just turn away. They don't have any reason to turning away, but they just want to turn away because their heart is in the wrong place. So these are three different groups.

Allah Is Always Watching

Now Allah says:

Don't they know that Allah is watching? And you know what's beautiful about this ayah? Allah is just saying that, don't they know that Allah is watching? He's not saying that what he's doing, what he's going to do to them. Does he not know that... Do they not know that Allah is watching?

You know when we were kids, and if we were doing something that is wrong, and our father is like, I'm watching you. You know? He didn't say anything like, I'm going to do this to you or that to you. I'm watching you. Right? And you're just like... Even if you're not doing anything wrong, you're just like... Right? Because there's always this intimidation when it comes to fear, right?

Even when you see a police officer, even if it's not a stoplight or a stop sign, you still stop. For what reason? Because you see a police officer, that's it? Because there's that fear inside of you, right? Likewise, imagine when we understand that Allah is watching us 24-7. And that is why even in the books of hadith, there's something called باب المراقبة. If you pick up any book of hadith on spirituality, there's a chapter called باب المراقبة. Having this awareness that Allah is watching you 24-7.

Can you imagine if there was like a security camera watching you 24-7? Watching what you are doing on your phone 24-7? Wallahi, we will do everything correct. We will not ever transgress against Allah. أَلَمْ يَعْلَم بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَرَىٰ Have they forgotten that Allah is watching?

The Ultimate Consequence

Then he says:

If they do not stop this right now, if they do not stop committing crimes against Allah, and by the way again, it's not just talking about people outside, even within our own life, even within ourselves. We have to ask ourselves, which category, am I falling into any of these three categories or not? And by the way, if you pay close attention, I can guarantee that so many of us Muslims will also fall in one of these three categories.

Allah is saying, كَلَّا لَئِن لَّمْ يَنتَهِ If you don't stop this, لَنَسْفَعًۢا بِالنَّاصِيَةِ We will grab them, we will seize them by the forelock. You know what the forelock is? Let me first explain this. You know when you see criminals being dragged and brought in front of someone of a higher authority? Sometimes they're dragged by the arm, right? They're grabbed by the arm and they're being pulled. Sometimes you see people grabbing people by the shirt like this, and they're just dragging them.

But can you imagine Allah is talking about utter humiliation? Bringing them from the forelock. You know what that means? It means like this hair here at the front. Like imagine grabbing someone by the front hair and dragging them. Like that's utter humiliation. Allah is saying, لَنَسْفَعًۢا بِالنَّاصِيَةِ The same head that would tell them, go ahead and lie. The same head that told them, you are ghani, you don't have to report to anyone. You don't have to answer to anyone. That same head that told them that, you know what? You cannot see this person coming close to Allah. Pull them back.

That same head, through that same head, by that same head, Allah is saying that we're gonna use that and drag them on the day of judgment. لَنَسْفَعًۢا بِالنَّاصِيَةِ * نَاصِيَةٍ كَاذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ They were liars.

They were wrongdoers. And they're gonna be dragged like this with utter humiliation in front of the entire creation of Allah. By the way, that's why you will see, interestingly, when people are being dragged, when there's a police raid that takes place and all these people are coming out and they're being brought. What's one of the very first things that they cover? They cover their face. Because this face in itself is, if your identity is out, your reputation is tanked, right? So think about Allah is saying that when you grab them and as you're dragging them, everyone's seeing their face also. Utter humiliation on the Day of Judgment.

Then Allah says, فَلْيَدْعُ نَادِيَهُ You know, all these nations, whenever they commit crimes, they always have allies. Oh, we are allies with this country, we can do whatever we want to do, right? Allah is saying that when all these people are brought on the Day of Judgment, Allah will say, okay, go ahead. You want to call this president, that president? You want to call these kind of people who you're allies with in your dunya, in this dunya? Go and call them.

Go and call whoever you want to call on the Day of Judgment. سَنَدْعُ الزَّبَانِيَةَ You want to call? You want to ask for reinforcement? We will bring our reinforcement. And who is zabaniya? Allah, the ulama, they say that zabaniya is in reference to the angels who were given the task to bring the punishment and the wrath of Allah upon certain people. Allah is saying, you call your people, I'll bring my angels and we'll see what happens.

And that is why subhanAllah, that's why Allah says in the Qur'an:

This is something that every single wrongdoer needs to always remember. In this dunya, you have allies, but in the akhira, you have no allies. مَا لَكُم مِّنَ اللَّهِ Besides Allah, there is no one, no nasir, no helper, no wali, you have nothing. And even here, Allah sort of challenged them, bring whatever you want, I'll bring these zabaniya.

And this is a powerful lesson for the believers first of all, is that you should never ever feel intimidated by other people's powers. Always remember, Allah is the one who's in control. And the person who's a wrongdoer, let this be a lesson for you. That you think that today you can get away with it, you can get away with wrongdoing, because certain people are standing on your side, these people are not gonna be of any avail. They will not be any beneficial to you, any benefit to you in the akhirah.

Then Allah says:

Allah is saying, no, He's saying do not obey Him. Meaning who's Him? These idols and these anything, any wali that you worship besides Allah, any nadia that you worship besides Allah, anything that you bow down to, not theologically, but you have given your life to besides Allah, call whatever you want, but do not obey them. In fact, who should you obey? كَلَّا لَا تُطِعْهُ وَاسْجُدْ وَاقْتَرِب In fact, bow down to Allah and make every single effort that you can to come close to Allah.

Surah Al-Alaq

This is Surah Al-Alaq. And Surah Al-Alaq again, the very first ayat with the very first revelation from Allah. But again, this ayah was revealed, the remaining of this surah was revealed soon after. And this is Allah talking to the Quraysh, you all are being divided into three groups. And remember, Allah is watching you. Allah is watching. And if you think that you're going to get away with whatever you want to do, لَنَسْفَعًا بِالنَّاصِيَةِ We will drag you by your forelocks and we will humiliate you on the Day of Judgment.

The Quraysh who used to, because again, the Quraysh used to be around the Kaaba, right? Everyone used to come to the Kaaba, everyone used to come to Mecca. Mecca was like the central hub where everyone used to come for business. And so Allah gave them so much Izzah. But Allah is saying that there will be utter humiliation for you on the Day of Judgment if you don't obey.

So I ask Allah to grant all of us Tawfiq, inshaAllah. May Allah never make us from amongst those who will be in those three groups. But rather may Allah make us in the group of those people where He says: