Surah Al-Kahf | Part 12 Ayahs 55-59 | Mawlana Yusuf Ghouse | Weekly Tafsir

Surah Al-Kahf | Part 12 | Ayahs 55–59

Just a little bit of information about our speaker tonight. Alhamdulillah, Mawlana Yusuf Ghouse is a local Naperville native and he did Hifz and Ta'leem al-Islam. Alhamdulillah, after that he continued with his school, finished at CPSA and he was admitted in the direct medical program at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

And after completing his bachelor's degree, instead of pursuing medicine, which is a dream for many people, Allah selected him to study the sacred sciences. He, while doing his bachelor's degree, was studying here at Dar es Salaam in our beginning years — when we were not in this masjid yet, we were still in a warehouse. So he's amongst the initial students of Dar es Salaam.

And then Allah took him far ahead, alhamdulillah. He went abroad and studied at Dar ul-Uloom Zakariya in Johannesburg. And after graduating at the top of his class, alhamdulillah, then he continued with post-graduate studies in Uloom al-Hadith by Mufti Banna, who is one of the great students of Shaykh Muhammad Awamah, hafizahullah — perhaps the greatest living authority in Hadith.

He is a Syrian scholar from Aleppo, who was residing in Medina for many years and then he had to leave Medina in the current climate of conditions over there. And he is now in Istanbul, Turkey. So Mawlana Yusuf had the opportunity to do the khidmah of the Shaykh and set up his library when he moved from Medina to Istanbul. He worked on that project in Istanbul, along with his teacher Mufti Banna.

Then alhamdulillah, he came back and he teaches here at Dar es Salaam. Not only from the beginning years, but also a post-graduate program in Hadith — Takhassus fil-Hadith — meaning those students who finish the seven-year Alim program, then they do post-graduate studies in Uloom al-Hadith. So he is in charge of that program. And he is the Dean of Academic Affairs here.

So alhamdulillah, we are very blessed that inshallah we will be benefiting from his words on the Qur'an and the explanation of it, as he also teaches tafsir here. Please keep him in your duas and make dua for his family, and his mother in particular is very sick — make dua for her inshallah. May Allah grant his father Jannah, maghfirah, and fill his grave with Nur, and grant shifa to his mother.

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Introduction: The Middle Verses of Surah Al-Kahf

So these verses that we are going to be discussing today are kind of a middle point between two more commonly recognized stories. So right before this, Allah talks about the story of Adam and Iblis:

And I'm sure this is a story that many of us are familiar with. Then after that, Allah talks about the story of Musa alayhi salam and Al-Khadir — when Musa alayhi salam went to go meet somebody who Allah told him was actually more knowledgeable than him. So I'm sure many of us are familiar with that story as well.

So the ayat that we are going to discuss today are kind of lesser known. They're sort of just read over a little bit because people always want to get to the story afterwards, which is the story of Musa alayhi salam and Al-Khadir. So we'll just take a few moments to reflect on these ayat. And then if we have time at the end, we'll see if we can get into the story of Musa alayhi salam and Al-Khadir. But at least we'll start with the ayat — the verses that serve as a tamheed, a kind of introduction, for that story, or a middle way between the two more commonly known stories.

So what we'll do is first just read through the verses in translation, not really discuss anything extra — just so that we know what we're going to talk about. Then after that, we'll take a step back and try to appreciate the ayat in a little bit more depth. We'll talk about some broader themes that these ayat discuss, and then in the light of those themes, we'll go into these verses, inshallah.

The Verses: Ayahs 55–59 — A Reading with Translation

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Ayah 55:

There is nothing that will prevent people from believing now that the heavenly guidance of the Qur'an has come to them, nor is there anything to prevent them from seeking forgiveness from their Lord, except the obstinate ways of unbelief of the earlier generations re-emerge and overcome them, or the punishment of God comes to them at last, face to face.

Ayah 56:

We do not send messengers except as bearers of glad tidings and as forewarners. But those who disbelieve obstinately argue with a logic of falsehood by which they seek to refute the truth. Thus they take My revealed signs and whatever divine punishment of which they are forewarned as a mockery.

Ayah 57:

Who does a greater wrong than the one who is made mindful of the truth by the verses of his Lord, then turns away from them, forgetting the sins that his own hands have advanced into the hereafter? Therefore We have indeed placed sheets over their ill-inclined hearts that they may no longer understand this Qur'an, and in their ears an utter deafness. So though you call them to faith, O Prophet, by means of this heavenly guidance, still never shall they be guided, ever.

Ayah 58:

Yet your Lord is the All-Forgiving, the Possessor of Mercy. For were He to seize them suddenly in accordance with the sins that they have earned, He would certainly hasten on the torment for them. But rather they have been appointed a time for judgment, apart from which they will never find asylum.

Ayah 59:

And so it was with all such communities that We destroyed when they did wrong. We set an appointed time for their destruction.

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Understanding the Broader Themes

So when we read them, we might have somewhat of a basic idea after reading through the translation, but it might still be a little bit blurry. So that's what we'll spend the next few moments doing — looking at the broader themes of what these ayat are talking about.

The main theme, as many of us might have picked up by reading through these verses, is talking about denial — it's talking about disbelief. Allah speaks at length in these four or five verses about how people disbelieve.

Now, there are many scholars of the Qur'an who say that every single verse in any surah should be understood in the broader light of what the surah is talking about. The surah itself has a certain theme, and oftentimes that theme is stated in the first few verses. This is mentioned by Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Hassan Habannakah al-Maydani in Qawa'id al-Tadabbur. He says that if you want to really understand how the Qur'an works and what the Qur'an is saying, then it's important to look through it, take a moment to ponder, and see what these verses are talking about and how they're related to the theme of the surah.

The Opening Verse of Surah Al-Kahf: The Prophet's Grief

So let's take a step back and look at the very beginning of Surah Al-Kahf. Allah says in verse six:

That perhaps you're going to drive yourself to the point of destruction, going after them — عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِمْ — if they don't believe in this, what you're preaching to them, if they don't believe in the Qur'an, they don't believe in the message of Islam. Then perhaps you're going to drive yourself to the brink of destruction — أَسَفًا — out of grief, out of sadness.

So basically what this is saying is that the Prophet ﷺ would preach to people, and then some of them were responsive. But this surah is a Makki surah — it was revealed in the beginning years — and in that time there were more people who were denying than people who were believing. The Prophet ﷺ only saw widespread success in terms of many people coming to Islam at the very end of his life:

That happened at the very end, when many people came to Islam. But before that, for many many years, it was just a few people — there were probably more people rejecting the message than accepting.

So the Prophet ﷺ would preach. He would try to teach people. He would do whatever he could. And the Qur'an has basically something for everybody. Allah says in the verse just before the ones we are studying:

Allah has basically put every sort of argument, every sort of discussion in the Qur'an for people. People come in all shapes and sizes. Some people are more attuned to logical argumentation. Some people, you just need to mention about Jannah. Some people really connect with the blessings of Allah. Some people connect with stories. Some people connect with examples. The Qur'an is full of all of these.

The word صرّفنا — those who are studying Arabic know sarf. Sarf means to turn. So when you study the different scales of verbs, you're turning a verb from one form to another form. Allah says: We turn the Qur'an. In other words, sometimes We come at people from one angle — that jives with some people. Then We turn it and come at people from another angle. Every possible way that something could have been discussed, the Qur'an has done so.

Allah then says: فَبِأَيِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَهُ يُؤْمِنُونَ — What else are they going to believe after this? If this isn't going to get them to believe, then what is going to make them believe?

So we've given every sort of guidance in the Qur'an. Every sort of example has already been given. So why don't people believe? Why is it that the majority of people are still disbelieving? وَكَانَ الْإِنسَانُ أَكْثَرَ شَيْءٍ جَدَلًا — It's because people just have all sorts of excuses. People always come up with an excuse. They'll always find some way to deny what you're saying.

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First Theme: Consolation for the Prophet ﷺ

The Prophet ﷺ is overcome with grief over people's rejection of the message — فَلَعَلَّكَ بَاخِعٌ نَّفْسَكَ عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِمْ إِن لَّمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهَٰذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَسَفًا. This denial is weighing so heavily on him that it seems like he's going to drive himself to the brink of destruction just out of grief and sadness that these people are not accepting.

Now Allah is saying: don't worry, it's not you. You haven't made any mistake. You're not doing a bad job in conveying the message — na'udhu billah. Rather, people are just going to disbelieve regardless. So one of the main themes of these verses is consolation for the Prophet ﷺ.

And on top of that, when you know that you're not the only person who's suffering a certain thing, that other people also share in your suffering, it makes it easier to digest. In Arabic there is a saying:

When a misfortune, a calamity, or any source of distress is shared by many people, it becomes easier to bear — it becomes lighter.

So now the Prophet ﷺ is overcome with grief over people's rejection. Allah is saying: don't worry — it's not you. And in fact, it's not just you. Rather, this is what happened with all the Prophets.

Ayah 55 in Light of This Theme

Allah says:

The only thing stopping people from believing when guidance comes to them, and the only thing that stops them from seeking forgiveness from their Lord. So now why are people not believing? What's stopping them?

There are two ways to understand this, and we'll discuss both. The first way — and this tafsir was advocated by Imam Muhammad Tahir ibn Ashur, a Tunisian scholar who passed away in the 1970s, rahimahullah, and who wrote one of the most influential, if not the most influential, tafsir of the last century, called Al-Tahrir wal-Tanwir — is that سُنَّةُ الْأَوَّلِينَ means the characteristic, the trait that characterized the earlier generations, which is obstinacy, outright rejection regardless of the arguments presented. This same trait has come upon the current people — the audience of the Prophet ﷺ. So what's stopping them from believing? The same thing that stopped everyone else.

So now there are two messages here. One is that you're not alone in this — the earlier Prophets also suffered this fate of preaching day and night while people still rejected. And not just that your people are like this — pretty much everyone was like that. So if you understand that this is a fate suffered by many, not just you, and that it's just a historical trend that happens again and again, then it becomes easier to bear.

Then: أَوْ يَأْتِيَهُمُ الْعَذَابُ قُبُلًا — how long will they disbelieve? They'll continue to disbelieve until the punishment descends upon them. There is also a reading قِبَلًا — meaning right in front of them. In other words, they're never going to believe, so don't fret over it. Once you've already conveyed and done what you have to do, if the people are still rejecting, it's not your fault.

The other, more widely held way that most mufassirun have understood this verse: the only thing preventing them from believing and seeking forgiveness is that they haven't yet seen the punishment. And once they see the punishment, then they'll start believing. It's almost like a rhetorical, sarcastic statement — why haven't they believed yet? Oh, because they haven't seen the punishment yet. That's when they'll start believing. The difference between the two explanations is subtle, but they both serve the same theme of consolation.

Ayah 56 in Light of This Theme

That We do not send messengers except to give glad tidings and to give warnings. They tell people good things — if you believe, you'll get Jannah, all that good stuff. And then they warn people: if you disbelieve, you will be punished. May Allah protect us.

This also ties into the theme of consolation. When you console somebody, you tend to mention things more than once. So now Allah is building on the concept from the first verse — where the consolation was implicit — and saying it much more explicitly. The fact that you are a messenger means that this comes with the job. People are going to reject what you're saying, so don't worry about it. In fact, you're not alone — all the other messengers have shared in the same difficulty.

And then Allah adds: وَيُجَادِلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِالْبَاطِلِ لِيُدْحِضُوا بِهِ الْحَقَّ وَاتَّخَذُوا آيَاتِي وَمَا أُنذِرُوا هُزُوًا — Those who disbelieve will always continue to argue, advocate for falsehood, and they'll do that to sweep away the truth. And then they take My verses and everything they've been warned about — they take it as a joke.

The Qur'an mentions elsewhere:

Is it that one nation told the other nation that was going to come after them — here, this is what you need to do with your messenger, did they leave them some bequest? No. بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ طَاغُونَ — No, it's just that they're all messed up. The response of people is always going to be the same: always arguing against the truth, always advocating falsehood, always making a mockery of what they're being warned with.

Ayah 57 in Light of This Theme — and a Discussion on Predestination

Who could be worse than the person who is reminded of the verses of his Lord, then turns away from them, and forgets his own misdeeds? Allah says: إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَن يَفْقَهُوهُ وَفِي آذَانِهِمْ وَقْرًا — Indeed, We have placed veils over their hearts so they won't be able to understand the truth when it's propagated to them, and We've placed heaviness in their ears, blocked them out.

وَإِن تَدْعُهُمْ إِلَى الْهُدَىٰ فَلَن يَهْتَدُوا إِذًا أَبَدًا — If you try to call them to guidance, they'll never believe. In this, Allah is saying to the Prophet ﷺ, again tying into the theme of consolation: you know what, it's not your fault. The people themselves are messed up and they're never going to believe.

In fact, Allah, in a show of greater consolation, takes it upon Himself to say: I'm the one who placed veils over their hearts. جَعَلْنَا means We placed. Allah is saying: I placed veils over their hearts. They won't be able to understand the truth when it's propagated to them. I blocked out their ears. Don't worry — the problem is not with you.

Now this raises a question: how is it that Allah is stopping them from believing? Isn't that not fair? Shouldn't everybody have an equal opportunity to believe? So Allah is addressing it in this way in line with the theme of consolation. But let's address this question properly.

A Discussion on Predestination (Taqdir) and Free Will

In a nutshell: Allah knew that they were going to reject. Allah knows the end of the story. Allah knows every turn they're going to take in their lives. Knowing that already, Allah expresses it by saying: We have placed veils over their hearts. Are they rejecting because Allah placed a veil over their hearts, or did they choose to reject themselves? Obviously, they chose to reject themselves. Allah is simply expressing that by saying He placed a veil over their hearts.

So let's take a step back and understand predestination in a little more detail. The concept of predestination has been something people have wrestled with throughout generations. If everything is predestined, how is it that we have free will? Why should I pray? Why should I give charity? Why should I be good to my parents and neighbors? If it's already destined, what's the point of doing anything?

The Sahaba asked the same question:

"What is the point of any actions, O Messenger of Allah?" (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4945; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2647)

So let's establish the following. We accept that Allah exists and that He has attributes of perfection — that He is perfect and complete in His power and in His knowledge. Is Allah's knowledge of the past only, or also of the future? Obviously, kamal fil-'ilm — perfection in the attribute of knowledge — means that Allah will have knowledge of past, present, and future. And that future knowledge pertains to every single individual, in fact to everything.

So we've established: Allah knows the choices that me and you are going to make. Allah knows our life story.

And we also know — through the Qur'an, through Hadith, and through human experience — that human beings have free will. Did any of us end up in this room today without choosing to come? No. All of us chose to do it. Human experience dictates that if you choose to eat lunch or not, those are choices that we make. We act out of our own volition — we are not like a marionette controlled by a puppet master.

The Qur'an and Hadith confirm this as well:

Allah is going to test to see which people have the best actions. He is going to see how we act, what choices we make. And He is going to reward or punish people on the basis of their actions. So both human experience and textual sources tell us that people have their own free will.

So on one hand, we know that people have free will — that's established. On the other hand, we've established that Allah has full knowledge of everything, including our futures, including what actions we're going to choose. How do we put these together with the notion of predestination?

Predestination simply means that Allah knows what me and you are going to do, and based on Allah already knowing that — that's what is determined. That's what's predetermined. Consider this: if someone watches a movie a second or third time, do they already know what's going to happen? Obviously. Does that mean the character in the movie has no choice? No — the character is still choosing to act out of his own volition. Similarly, Allah having full knowledge of our choices doesn't negate that we are making those choices ourselves.

Some of the ulema mention that there are five levels of taqdir — predestination. Mufti al-Talhaq mentioned this in Badr al-Layali:

1. Taqdir Ilmi: The first and foundational level of predestination is simply the fact that Allah knows everything. Predestination is essentially just Allah's perfect knowledge — kamal fil-'ilm. Allah has perfection in His attribute of knowledge, so He knows everything that's going to happen.

2. Taqdir Lawhi: The second level is that what Allah already knew regarding what everybody is going to do, Allah wrote that down. This is the Lawh al-Mahfuz — the Preserved Tablet. There is a hadith:

Allah wrote down the decrees of all creation fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2653)

50,000 years before He created everything, Allah wrote down what was going to happen and what everybody was going to do. Now, did Allah only find out those things then? Obviously not — because Allah has kamal fil-'ilm, perfection in knowledge, which means He knew it all from before. The writing in the Lawh al-Mahfuz is just a reflection of what Allah has always known.

3. Taqdir Rahimi: The third level. Rahim means womb. There is a hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiyallahu anhu:

Each of you is gathered in the womb of his mother for forty days as a drop of fluid... then an angel is sent and commanded to record four things: his sustenance, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or blessed. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3208; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2643)

So the angel proclaims four things after 120 days in the womb of the mother: the actions the person is going to do, the lifespan of that person, what that person's sustenance will be, and whether the person is ultimately شَقِيٌّ or سَعِيدٌ — are they going to end up in Jannah or Jahannam? We ask Allah to protect us from Jahannam and make us from the people of Jannah.

Now was this newly determined at that time? Obviously not — it was already written in the Lawh al-Mahfuz. And was the Lawh al-Mahfuz when things were first determined? No — Allah already knew from His Ilm Azali, His pre-eternal knowledge. So then what's the point of the angel proclaiming it? It just makes it more relevant to that particular individual. Like if I say to everyone in the room: drive safely when you go home because it's very slippery outside, and then I turn and say: Faisal, make sure you drive safely too. Was he not included in the first announcement? Obviously he was. But saying it to him directly makes it more relevant for him.

4. Taqdir Sanawi: Predestination that is announced at the beginning of every year. Not that anything new is determined — Allah just announces it.

5. Taqdir Yawmi: Predestination that takes place every single day.

So based on that, how do predestination and free will work together? Simply: predestination is the ilm — the knowledge — of Allah. Allah knew what everybody was going to do. So Allah dictated that. Allah says:

You don't will anything except that Allah wills it. Allah willing something means allowing it to occur. So every time I desire to do something and I carry it out, Allah's desire — His allowing it to occur — is also there. So that's predestination: Allah knowing everything that's going to happen, me and you making those decisions ourselves, Allah knowing the decisions that we're going to make from before — and then me and you making those decisions, and Allah allowing those to occur.

So now coming back to our verse: إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَن يَفْقَهُوهُ وَفِي آذَانِهِمْ وَقْرًا. In light of everything we just discussed — they chose to disbelieve. Allah knew their choice. Allah expresses that by saying He placed veils over their hearts. It's not that Allah is arbitrarily blocking some people from believing. Rather, they went for those actions themselves, Allah knew what they were going to do, and Allah allowed them to occur because that is free will. So Allah expresses that concept through these words — and in doing so, also offers consolation to the Prophet ﷺ: it's nothing to do with you. I'm the one who's done this — they themselves chose to reject.

Ayahs 58–59: Mercy Sandwiching the Discussion of Disbelief

After all of this — the people rejecting, taking His verses as a joke — Allah says: your Lord is the most forgiving, full of mercy. Every time Allah talks about scary things — how people are not going to believe, how there is Jahannam — Allah follows it up with some mention of mercy. Saying: you know what, if they decide to change, then Allah will fully accept them. Why? Because your Lord is most forgiving, your Lord is full of mercy.

Notice the first verse we discussed: وَمَا مَنَعَ النَّاسَ أَن يُؤْمِنُوا إِذْ جَاءَهُمُ الْهُدَىٰ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّهُمْ — the only thing stopping people from believing and from seeking forgiveness from their Lord. Allah is encouraging the people at the start: you should seek forgiveness. And then Allah finishes this discussion by saying: وَرَبُّكَ الْغَفُورُ ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ — Your Lord is most forgiving. So Allah sandwiches this entire discussion of disbelief between mentions of mercy and forgiveness.

Then: لَوْ يُؤَاخِذُهُم بِمَا كَسَبُوا لَعَجَّلَ لَهُمُ الْعَذَابَ — If Allah were to really take them to account for the stuff that they did, the punishment would come right now. The fact that Allah has not sent the punishment is a mercy — Allah is giving them another chance to change their course. But if they choose not to: بَل لَّهُم مَّوْعِدٌ لَّن يَجِدُوا مِن دُونِهِ مَوْئِلًا — Allah has left a punishment for them from which they'll find no escape.

And if you think this is just theoretical — just look around you. All these villages, these cities, these nations that came before you — that were destroyed. Allah speaks about 'Aad, Thamud, the people of Nuh, Fir'aun — all those people were destroyed. You think Allah can't do that again? The Qur'an says elsewhere: وَمَا بَلَغُوا مِعْشَارَ مَا آتَيْنَاهُمْ فَكَذَّبُوا رُسُلِي فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ — they weren't even a fraction of what those earlier people were, and even they couldn't escape the punishment.

And more recently, relatively speaking, there was Pompeii. There's an article that someone sent me about a year or two ago describing a woman who had taken an artifact from Pompeii, wanting to bring a piece of history home. She said that ever since she brought it home, misfortune befell her — she got sick, people died, just misfortune after misfortune. This was not a Muslim person. She sent it back. And the people in Pompeii who are in charge of the site said: you're not the first person. In fact, many people have done this — they've taken artifacts, then sent them back saying there's just a negative aura associated with these things.

I was amazed when I heard this, because this is exactly what we hear in hadith. The Prophet ﷺ, when telling people passing through the area of Thamud, said that you should pass by in a state that you are sobbing, very sad — إِلَّا أَن يُصِيبَكُم مَّا أَصَابَهُمْ — lest any of what befell them befalls you. In other words, there is a very negative energy associated with those places because the punishment of Allah has descended upon them. So we don't want to have anything to do with them. Taking a bath in the Dead Sea, we don't want to do it. These are places where the punishment of Allah has descended.

So if you don't believe it, you think this is just a fairy tale — just look around you. History will speak for itself.

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Second Theme: Arrogance and What It Leads To

Now let's look at a few verses earlier in the same surah. Allah briefly discusses the story of Adam alayhi salam and Iblis:

Now, Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Hassan Habannakah al-Maydani in Qawa'id al-Tadabbur also makes the point that whenever Allah repeats something in the Qur'an, it's not merely for the sake of emphasis. Rather, especially if a story is repeated again and again, it's because there's some connection or moral of that story connected to the surah at hand. You have to look to see what the connection of that story is to the broader theme of the surah you're currently reading.

So what motivated Iblis to reject the command of Allah? It was pride — takabbur. Arrogance. Iblis was characterized by arrogance. Adam alayhi salam, on the other hand, was characterized by humility — tawadu'.

Adam alayhi salam slipped up as well. Instead of justifying his mistake, Iblis said — when Allah asked:

Iblis justified it:

So what motivated Iblis — Shaytan — is takabbur, arrogance. Adam alayhi salam slipped up as well, eating from the tree that Allah had prohibited him from. Instead of justifying the mistake, Adam alayhi salam said:

My Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If You don't forgive us and have mercy on us, then indeed we will be of the losers. What characterized Adam alayhi salam was not justifying his mistake, but rather humility.

So another theme of these verses is the juxtaposition between humility and what that leads to, and arrogance and what that leads to. That theme is in the backdrop of the verse about Adam alayhi salam and Iblis that immediately precedes the verses we are studying.

After talking about Iblis, Allah says:

Are you going to take him and his offspring — meaning people that follow him — as allies instead of Me? So Allah is saying: these people who reject you, they're following Iblis. And they are motivated by takabbur, by arrogance, just as he was.

Allah is saying that whenever people hear the Qur'an, they should listen with an open heart and an open mind. If they have arrogance, it's going to lead to obstinacy, to outright rejection. Notice — one thing is that you don't understand something and reject it because you don't understand it. Another thing entirely is that you make fun of it. Making fun of something is not merely a product of not understanding — it is a reflection of rejection, a reflection of arrogance. وَاتَّخَذُوا آيَاتِي وَمَا أُنذِرُوا هُزُوًا

So Allah is warning all of us: make sure we stay away from this trait of arrogance, because this trait of arrogance will lead people to rejection.

Relevance to Our Times: Arrogance and False Ideologies

How does that relate to us in our times? The dominant ideology is basically characterized by — whatever you want to call it — modernism, liberalism, secularism. That's sort of the dominant belief or ideology of today's day and age and it's only growing.

Keep in mind that Mufti Azeem has spoken about this many times — that Surah Al-Kahf is specifically recommended in order to save ourselves from the fitna of Dajjal. Now why is that? When you read Surah Al-Kahf, there's so much in there that alludes to it. One of those things is that perhaps the most prime time for Dajjal to come is when people have very little trust in organized religion anymore. Dajjal will find very fertile ground for his preaching then — because everybody has already rejected Islam, people have rejected the notions of religion in general.

One belief that motivates our broader society a lot in today's day and age is empiricism — we only believe in something after empirically verifying it through observation or lab testing. So Allah speaks to the origin of the universe, to the origin of human beings. As you know, some scientists have said that people could not be intellectually fulfilled atheists until Darwin came along — because he provided an explanation for how everything came about through the process of evolution by natural selection.

Now if your belief is largely motivated by empiricism — you need to see something, test it, in order to verify it and believe in it — this is the basis upon which people reject belief in God. Why should I believe in God? I can't see Him. You can't test that. لَا تُدْرِكُهُ الْأَبْصَارُ — so that's why they don't believe.

Allah addresses this directly, just before the verses we are studying:

None of them witnessed the creation of the heavens and earth. And did people witness how humanity came about? Is there anyone who ever witnessed that? Obviously not. How can a person witness that? So now — if you believe in something because you can see it — well, مَّا أَشْهَدتُّهُمْ خَلْقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَلَا خَلْقَ أَنفُسِهِمْ. So Allah speaks to the dominant ideology of today's day and age — empiricism — and the beliefs associated with it.

And then what about our moral code? If somebody believes in religion, the moral code is provided through scripture. But if somebody doesn't believe in religion, where does morality come from? We just follow liberalism — whatever liberal values dictate are good, then that's what's good. And as we know, oftentimes there is a clash between Islamic values and liberal values. If somebody takes liberalism or secularism as their dominant worldview, then what happens is that they're simply not going to understand many concepts in Islam.

Muslims here in the West — and many other places due to imperialism — by living in this society, through osmosis, begin to see the world from that perspective. And then people come and ask about Islam saying: how can we reconcile this with the notion of freedom for all? Aren't people free to love whomever they want, or do whatever they want? Things like that.

So Allah says: وَيُجَادِلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِالْبَاطِلِ — Those who disbelieve begin to argue for batil. They advocate false ideologies. And this drowns out the true stuff — morality informed by deen, by the Qur'an, by the Sunnah, by scripture. لِيُدْحِضُوا بِهِ الْحَقَّ وَاتَّخَذُوا آيَاتِي وَمَا أُنذِرُوا هُزُوًا. People begin talking about these false things, which puts out any discussion of haqq. And then this leads to arrogance — not only do they reject Our signs, but they begin to make a mockery of them as well. And someone like that, you're not able to warn at all.

So the second theme of these verses is arrogance and what it leads to. Allah is saying that arrogance will lead to taking secularism or liberalism as your dominant worldview and outright rejecting everything else — and that's going to be a very fertile ground for Dajjal to come. So in these verses, Allah is warning us against that. Make sure we are not arrogantly adopting the false ideologies of today's day and age, which will lead to rejection of everything else.

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Du'a

Ya Allah, Ya Rahman, Ya Raheem. We ask that You guide us, Ya Allah. Ya Allah, we ask that You give us deep understanding of the Qur'an, Ya Allah. Ya Allah, we ask that You accept all of those who came from near and far, Ya Allah — those people who came to listen to Your Qur'an being explained and discussed, Ya Allah. We ask that through the baraka of that, Ya Allah, any difficulties that they are going through in their lives, Ya Allah, that You remove those, Ya Allah.

Ya Allah, indeed we know that when people seek knowledge, then there are so many blessings that the Prophet ﷺ mentioned in hadith. Ya Allah, those people that came from near and far, Ya Allah — for the winter, from very far distances, those people that underwent difficulty, those people that came out in the snow, Ya Allah, in the cold weather — Ya Allah, we ask that You grant them all the baraka that are associated with seekers of knowledge, Ya Allah. Ya Allah, through those blessings, Ya Allah, we ask that You ease for them any difficulties that people might be undergoing, Ya Allah.

Ya Allah, we ask that You protect us from the fitna of our day and age, Ya Allah. We ask that You give us deep understanding of the Qur'an, Ya Allah. Ya Allah, we ask that You allow the Qur'an to motivate our every action in our lives, Ya Allah. Ya Allah, we ask that You give us the ability to recite the Qur'an day and night, Ya Allah, and reflect over it.

Jazakumullahu khayran to everyone.