Lessons From The Stories Of Past Nations In The Quran

Jumu'ah Khutbah — Lessons from the Stories of Past Nations in the Qur'an

By Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

Indeed, the favour of Allah that He has blessed us with the Qur'an al-Karim, which is a source of guidance for all humanity. And Allah in the Qur'an, as He is providing us hidayah and guidance, He does it through different forms. One of them is through the different incidents of the past nations. These are known as the Ayyamullah.

Allah instructs Musa alayhi salam as well in the Qur'an: when you are advising your people, remind them by giving them examples of the nations of the past. We see in the Qur'an on multiple occasions different Anbiya alayhi salam, when they are speaking to their people — with the exception perhaps of Adam alayhi salam, for the very simple reason that there were no Anbiya before him. But otherwise, different Prophets throughout the Qur'an, even though from our perspective they are in the far past, they are continuing this tradition of speaking to their people and taking specific examples of those nations that preceded even them.

The Example of Shu'ayb Alayhi Salam

We have for example Shu'ayb alayhi salam, who is known as Khatibul Anbiya. When he is addressing his people, he tells them: think about Qawm-e-Nuh, Qawm-e-'Aad, Qawm-e-Thamud. And then he gives them examples of Lut alayhi salam, and he says:

The nation of Lut alayhi salam is very near you. They were in Madyan and Lut alayhi salam's nation was in Sadum, which was not far off.

The Believing Man from the Family of Fir'awn

Besides the Anbiya alayhi salam, there were also Du'at — those inviting towards Allah — from the nations, from the Ummatis. Like in Surah al-Mu'min, Allah gives the example of the believing Siddiq of the Ummah, the close Ummati of Musa alayhi salam. Some of the narrations mention his name as Shamoon in the Isra'iliyyat tradition, but in the Qur'an his name is not given. He is just given a beautiful title:

That there was a very strong believing man — Rajul, a man — from the family of Fir'awn. We know that he was a cousin of Fir'awn from the ruling family. يَكْتُمُ إِيمَانَهُ — who initially was concealing his faith. He did not expose himself as a believer. But when it came to the final point, when they were attempting to kill Musa alayhi salam, then he exposed himself. And he knew that he was putting his life on the line by exposing his iman. This is the Fir'awn who did not forgive his own wife, his dearest wife Asiya alayhi salam, and killed her — why would he spare him?

And he said:

Do you want to kill a man — Musa alayhi salam — whose only sin is he says "My Rabb is Allah"? وَقَدْ جَاءَكُم بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ — and he has brought clear evidence, signs from your Rabb.

He is trying to reason with them from a rational perspective. There are two ihtimalat — two options, two possibilities. Either he is lying, or he is speaking the truth. So he mentions both logical scenarios:

And if he is lying, do not worry — he will face the brunt of his lies. But if he is a true prophet and he is speaking the truth, then you will be afflicted by the 'adhab. What are you going to do on that day?

So over here is the mahal al-istishhad — the point of reference — for what we were giving an example of: how the Anbiya alayhi salam and the du'at in the past would give examples of previous nations. Here he says to his people: ya qawmi inni akhafu 'alaykum — I am afraid for you. What will happen? Mithla yawm al-ahzab — if an 'adhab comes upon you, if Allah Ta'ala decides destruction for you, like the nations of the past. The ahzab — the groups — there are a lot of groups of the past who were strong like you, or in fact stronger than you, and look how they were destroyed. Mithla da'bi qawmi Nuh wa 'Adin wa Thamud — these are all nations that preceded Fir'awn. Wal-ladhina min ba'dihim — and those who came after them.

وَمَا اللَّهُ يُرِيدُ ظُلْمًا لِّلْعِبَادِ — And when the topic of 'adhab and destruction is coming, then in case this thought crosses anyone's mind — that how can a merciful Lord do that — he negates and refutes that thought, that insinuation from shaitan, by saying: Allah Ta'ala does not ever intend to do any oppression on His servants. Subhanallah.

Our Allergy to History — and Why It Is a Mistake

The reason I am even mentioning this before getting into what I was going to say is that many times we are in such a day and time, such an age, where we are so hyper-focused on the present and the future. We just want to talk about what is going to happen — our vision, our goal, and where the dunya is going, where science is heading in the next three years, five years, ten years, in this decade, next decade, what the next century is going to bring. We gotta look forward, gotta look forward.

Yes, when it comes to istiqamah, we have to be worried about continuing with good deeds, dying with khatimah and iman, and we have to be focused on the future for sure. We cannot just be content with the glorious past and say — as in Farsi — "my forefather, he was a king." How is that going to help you? What did you do? So we cannot become complacent.

But there is this allergy we find in the ummah — that when we talk about past nations, not from the perspective of just glorifying their past, but taking lessons and seeing how Allah dealt with them — the young generation that we deal with primarily just zones out. They don't want to hear anything about the past. History is considered the most boring subject. Even though, even from the secular perspective, those who study history in schools and universities teach the same thing: history tends to repeat itself. There are so many lessons we can learn from the rise and fall of the nations of the past, and what were the asbab that led to the urooj — the rise — and the zawal — the fall and decline — of the empires, and how we can avoid repeating those mistakes from a dunya perspective.

But everyone zones out. No — let's talk about the future, let's talk about the present, forget about the past. And from an Islamic perspective we can see that Allah is instructing Musa alayhi salam. This is the amr of Allah Ta'ala. And one of the principles in the Qur'an is that whenever Allah commands something — it is ma'mur, it is a command of Allah Ta'ala — then by definition, by default, that is maqsud. It's an objective. Allah is not going to ask us to do something that is vain. Allah Ta'ala does not create anything in vain:

Allah Ta'ala did not create anything, did not order anything that is futile, that is wasteful, that is vain, that is laghw. So Allah is asking us to ponder and reflect. Allah Ta'ala says:

Indeed, in the stories mentioned in the Qur'an of the Anbiya alayhi salam, there is an ibrah — there is a lesson — li ulil albab, for those people who have intelligence.

The Final Ayah of Surah Yusuf

This is significantly important — the location of this ayah matters. This ayah is actually the ultimate, last, final ayah of Surah Yusuf. Because that — by admission of Allah Ta'ala Himself — is the best story of all time. Allah Ta'ala mentioned in the beginning that this is ahsanal qasas — the best story. The ultimate rags-to-riches story. And it has so many elements that can capture a person's attention: from the jealousy of the brothers, to the seduction, to the dreams and their interpretations, the separation of the father and son, the reuniting at the end — and the ultimate rags-to-riches story.

And everyone loves the rags. Subconsciously we root for the one who is in the rags, and we enjoy the journey as he is going towards the riches, and we imagine that even one day it could happen to us. So this is from the bottom of the well to the throne of Egypt. We may potentially become lost in the story and forget the messages, the morals, the purpose for which it has been revealed. And that is why Allah Ta'ala brings us back in the last ayah, and He says:

Look — laqad kana fi qasasihim — in all of these stories, starting with Yusuf alayhi salam — and this is the surah Allah is referring to, but all of them — qasasihim, all of the stories mentioned in the Qur'an — ibratun li ulil albab — there is a lesson for those who have intelligence.

So it is a function of one's intelligence to appreciate the benefit of these stories. A person may consider himself to be very pious, but if he does not have hikmah and wisdom or intelligence, he may not appreciate this. A person may be very hard-working, very enthusiastic to do good things, but this is a function of his intelligence. Li ulil albab — those who have wisdom, intelligence — they will appreciate that, wow, there is something for us to gain here. It is not something boring, it is not a waste of time.

Then Allah Ta'ala goes forward and says: look — number one, these are not fabricated stories. These are not fantasy, it is not fiction, it is not even historical fiction — it is non-fiction. It is true. Ma kana hadithan yuftara — they are not fabricated events. Walakin tasdiqal-ladhi bayna yadayhi — it testifies to the truth of the scriptures that came before, because many of these stories were mentioned in the Torah, in the Injil, in the Zabur. They were corrupted over time, but those portions that are correct, they are now verified and authenticated by the Qur'an.

Musadiqal-lima bayna yadayhi wa muhayminan 'alayhi — there are two functions when it comes to previous scriptures: it testifies to the truth that remains from those scriptures, and wa muhayminan 'alayhi, it also rectifies the mistakes that came in. They didn't just by themselves creep into the scriptures — they were actually added into them by those who sold their deen for the dunya. They wrote with their own hands — the rabbis — then they said that this is from Allah Ta'ala. So woe unto them for that crime of writing and attributing it to Allah, and woe unto them for that paltry worldly gain for which they committed this crime.

Musadiqal-lima bayna yadayhi — Allah Ta'ala says. And it has the details of all that you require. Of course, kulli shay' cannot be taken on its apparent meaning — that it has the details of every single thing in existence. The maqsad of the Qur'an is for our hidayah. And who will benefit from it? Those who have taqwa will benefit from the Qur'an. So when it comes to hidayah, tafseela kulli shay' — the detail of everything that is needed when it comes to hidayah.

The Hudhud Bird and the Meaning of "Everything"

Just like when the hudhud bird came to Sulaiman alayhi salam — in this story of the hudhud and Sulaiman alayhi salam I have mentioned on so many different occasions, but from a different perspective each time. Over here is another point. When the hudhud bird gave the report from its military intelligence, giving the report from the espionage division, what the bird saw — it says:

I come from the kingdom of Saba. I come with some certain news, and I also am coming with some information that I know for a fact you do not have — you do not know. This is new information, breaking news. Inni wajadtum ra'atan tamlikuhum — and I found a woman who is ruling over this nation — Bilqis, who later accepts Islam. Ootiyat min kulli shay' — and she has been granted every single thing. Walaha 'arshun 'azeem — and she has a great throne.

So what does it mean — ootiyat min kulli shay' — she has every single thing? Did she own every single thing in the entire world? Fil 'alami kullih? It means everything necessary for a powerful king or queen. So likewise, when Allah says it has the details of every single thing — i.e., everything necessary for hidayah. And we can't forget that that is the actual purpose of the Qur'an.

The Danger of Adding Unintended Meanings to the Qur'an

Sometimes we make mistakes. Every once in a while, different people send me WhatsApp messages about this miracle of the numbers — this numerology from the Qur'an — or this is scientific evidence of this, this is scientific evidence of that. Different things they are putting into the Qur'an that were not the maqsad of it. And then when those ideologies are proven false, people start attacking the Qur'an — the veracity of the Qur'an, the authentic nature of the Qur'an. "See, your Qur'an said this."

Like — when a baby is born, the biggest question from our very short-sighted worldly perspective is: what is it? Is it a boy or a girl? That's why the balloons and everything — when you go by the cars it will say "it's a boy" or "it's a girl." That's the biggest question. So, from our inherent bias as human beings, when you look at the Qur'an where Allah says:

Allah mentions five things that only He has knowledge of — of course there are many more things beyond five, but five are mentioned here. One of them is Allah knows only when our Day of Judgment is. Wa ya'lamu ma fil arham — and He knows the fetus that is developing in the womb.

So now we added our interpretation as human beings: "only Allah knows," as if it's referring to male or female. So now when the ultrasound came into being, people started saying, "See? Your Qur'an used to say only Allah knows — now we know." That's wrong on so many accounts.

First of all, it's not limited to gender. Allah knows: is this child going to be shaqi or sa'eed — fortunate or wretched? Allah Ta'ala knows if this child is going to go to Jannah or Jahannam. Allah Ta'ala knows how long this child is going to live. Allah Ta'ala knows how much rizq this child is going to have. Allah Ta'ala knows if this child is going to be born or if it's going to die — if it's going to be a miscarriage. Allah Ta'ala knows how many breaths he's going to inhale and exhale, and how many dollars he's going to earn and spend, and how many major and minor sins he's going to commit, and good deeds and bad — every single thing. Which machine can tell us that?

And then if you want to limit it to gender also — Allah Ta'ala knows the gender. How many times can the ultrasound make a mistake? And after how many weeks after conception does Allah Ta'ala know the gender? 100% confirmed, from before conception, before the union of the parents, before the parents were born, before the grandparents were born. Can we tell the gender of a child that will be born to our great-grandchildren? There's no way. So any way you look at it.

But what happens is we start adding these things. This came off of tafseela kulli shay' — it doesn't mean every single thing. That's not what the Qur'an set out to do. There was a famous tafsir that was written in the beginning of the century by one Egyptian scholar, in which he added so much science into the Qur'an. And when Yusuf Binuri had gone to Cairo for the printing of Ma'arif al-Sunan — the tafsir of the sharh of Tirmidhi — he met him and explained to him, the respected sheikh, that this is a mistake. You are adding so many scientific views into the Qur'an, and then when they are potentially going to be rejected by new research, people are going to say the Qur'an is wrong.

So he appreciated it so much. He got up and he kissed him on his forehead and said — figuratively — "You are like an angel Allah has sent from the sky to guide me." Subhanallah.

Conclusion

So may Allah give us a true understanding of the Qur'an — a source of guidance and mercy for all the believers. There are so many beautiful lessons in the Qur'an. Let us not consider it a book of fables and bedtime stories, but rather something for us to reflect and ponder over. May Allah give us tawfiq.

Announcements

Two important announcements. Please pass the donation boxes. Please donate generously. Sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah.

We have a very important program for the adults — men and women — starting tomorrow: Tafheem Weekend Islamic Studies Program, Saturdays and Sundays, 10am to 1:20pm. This is the first time we have a dedicated female 'alima teaching on the sisters' side. This is an opportunity to study the deen in depth. There is very little we can learn in our Jumu'ah khutbahs or other public programs. If we dedicate time for acquiring knowledge, insha'Allah we will benefit in dunya, qabr, hashr, and akhirah. Likewise there is a ta'leem online program for Islamic studies. If you cannot attend the classes, you can also listen to the recordings. Please enroll in that program and learn about it on our website.

We also have a new lecture series exclusively for sisters of all ages regarding the Seerah of Rasulallah. This will begin immediately after Dhuhr, followed by dhikr and du'a. One of our 'alimas here will be addressing the sisters. Please join and send your wives, daughters, sisters, and mothers insha'Allah to this program.

From January 12th insha'Allah — 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month — we have our No Tech Retreat coming up. Save the date: Connecting with the Creator — Unplugged, February 8th and 9th, with i'tikaf and fasting insha'Allah. Our annual no tech retreat.

We also have in the community: ICW has a program today and tomorrow — Quranic Insights with Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan and Sheikh Ibrahim Bakhit, Friday 6pm, Saturday 6pm. Quran Night with Sheikh Siraj Wahhaj, Sheikh Mohammed Jibril, and Sheikh Ahmed insha'Allah.

Also, our school in the community, Carriers of Light Islamic School, has their annual fundraiser on Saturday, January 25th at 6pm at Shalimar — Raising Generation Q: A Generation with Qur'an at Its Core — with keynote speech by Imam Dawud Walid, the Executive Director of CAIR in Michigan. The objective of this event is to raise funds for the expansion of a new building in Lombard. Visit their website and purchase the tickets insha'Allah.

Over here we have our weekly programs: Team Fajr on Saturday mornings, Tuesday Tafsirs. We will be resuming the weekly Urdu Seerah program every Thursday night, and Sisters' Thursday Tafsir insha'Allah.

Du'a Requests

We have some du'a requests. Dr. Yaqub Udawala will have surgery on January 16th — please make du'a for his shifa. Sister Syeda Mahmood Nisa is in critical condition on a ventilator — please make du'a for her shifa.

Wa Assalamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah.