Analysis of Surah Al Rahman with Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed | Session 2

Session 2: Tafsir of Sūrah Al-Raḥmān

So far we've reached āyah number nine, where Allah speaks about:

That the world has been set. وَأَقِيمُوا الْوَزْنَ بِالْقِسْطِ — establish justice and عَدْل in your own life. That's what the Prophet ﷺ came down to teach: justice and عَدْل throughout his seerah. We find that there was nothing but justice shown through all of his Sahabah, regardless of whether they were Arab or non-Arab, lower in society or higher in society.

That's for tomorrow inshallah — I mean, I've got to hook you guys on with something, you have to come back tomorrow. We'll talk about the difference between Jannah A and Jannah B, the different levels of Jannah. That's it.

So وَلَا تُخْسِرُوا الْمِيزَانَ — don't cheat and don't lie in regards to any form of justice in your life. One of the greatest qualities that Allah speaks about in regards to the people of Jannah is:

Allah loves those who are just in every form of their life.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1968)

Your family has a right upon you, your body has a right upon you, and your deen has a right upon you — and that's a balance. The balance is that we don't fast every day of the year; if we want we can fast on Mondays and Thursdays, or fast every other day. The balance is that we don't stay awake all night in prayer; we stay awake for only one third of the night if we want to wake up for tahajjud. There's a balance that we've been given. So the Prophet ﷺ showed us that balance through his seerah — in the way that he spent time with his family, spent time with the Sahabah, and had his own personal time with Allah.

لَا تُخْسِرُوا الْمِيزَانَ — an entire nation was destroyed. The nation of Shu'ayb (AS) was destroyed because they did not uphold that balance, because they cheated in regards to their business.

Don't lie, don't decrease what is supposed to be set when you buy and sell something. Allah says:

وَيْلٌ means the highest and deepest form of regret, in the valley of Jahannam, and it will be for those who are مُطَفِّفِينَ — those who, when they deal with people and want to buy something for themselves, increase the weight, and when they want to sell something, they cheat it. I find that to be relatable: we shouldn't be people who exploit others' need. Exploiting people's need is also haram. Don't increase prices of things that you know people are in need of, and I find that happening, and it's very sad. Because Islam is a religion that tells us that if you have extra, go give it to people for free, rather than increasing prices and holding it back so the prices can increase even more. This is something the Prophet ﷺ spoke explicitly about — the idea of hoarding something so the price of it can increase.

So being equal with people creates the blessings of Allah in our life, and cheating people takes away the blessings of Allah from our life. One of the greatest qualities of Allah, outside of His mercy, is that He is Aadil — Allah will not oppress or cheat anyone, even a portion, even a bit. So there will be either forgiveness on the Day of Judgment, or there will be justice. And if there's no justice, it creates a chaotic community.

So Allah is telling us that due to justice the world survives, and if there's no justice the world will fall apart. We have to have justice in our lives. And I think it's important even when it comes to being parents — being fair with our children. We can't be unfair with our kids. If we like one kid more and give them more time, there's justice in even those things. There's no such thing as having preference in how we treat them; of course what's in your heart is in your heart, but the way we treat them has to be equal nonetheless.

The Second Theme: The Blessings of Allah

1. Blessings of the Sky

I'm going to continue the next few verses together, because I can't go through each āyah individually — it would take 10–14 hours; there are entire books written on this sūrah. But we're trying to do our best to summarize it.

All three of these blessings speak about the greatness of this world. First, you need the blessings of the sky — that is the moon, the sun, the stars — and the fact that the sky is raised above you and protects you. The ozone layer is there to protect you from the harmful rays of the sun. If the sun came any closer, it would destroy us; if it went any further back, it would make the world freeze over. So Allah has created a balance in that as well.

2. Blessings of the Earth

Now Allah speaks about the blessings of the world itself:

And the earth has been spread out for all creations and all creatures. Allah speaks about:

That the earth has been spread out and made available to all of us so that we can live wherever we want.

So the world is wide enough and vast enough for us to live within. لِلْأَنَامِ means all creations and all creatures — there is no specificity; Allah has made the world for everyone.

What is the greatest blessing in this world that we have on planet earth? فِيهَا فَاكِهَةٌ — we need food, so Allah says there are fruits in this world for you so you can benefit and survive. If there was no food, you would not be able to survive. So فَاكِهَةٌ means there are fruits and there is a difference between فَاكِهَة and ثَمَر — they both mean fruits in Arabic, but there is a difference. فَاكِهَة is مَا تَتَفَكَّهُ بِهِ — those fruits that have juice in them, that create liquid for nourishment. So you have food and you have some form of liquid.

And there are also dates. Allah mentions وَالنَّخْلُ specifically — one is dry and one is juice — and He takes it out separately, because date palm trees are very beautiful; they create beauty for people. What does ذَاتُ الْأَكْمَامِ mean? It is remarkable how Allah in ذَاتُ الْأَكْمَامِ is speaking about the packaging of these fruits and foods — that they have been packaged in a way that they will never rot. In this world, one of the biggest challenges is how to package food so that it doesn't rot quickly. Since we use plastic a lot, it destroys the earth, and now we're going back towards organic, because the packaging makes a difference. Allah says ذَاتُ الْأَكْمَامِ — it has been packaged in the best way, so that it doesn't rot as long as it's in Allah's packaging.

This is why in Sūrah Yūsuf, when we learn about how Yūsuf (AS) saved the world from complete famine, he held the crops in their packages — he kept them in their covering so they remained packaged and didn't rot or go bad. So Allah in this āyah speaks about how He packaged the food.

حَبّ refers to seed — anything which has a seed inside of it. And this is why the word مَحَبَّة, which means love, also comes from the word حَبّ. It's interesting because seeds are things that grow and increase. So مَحَبَّة is something which should increase — naturally and organically — just as how the seed creates sustenance, مَحَبَّة creates more love in our families and among our friends.

Allah again speaks about the blessing of the earth: وَالْحَبُّ — Allah gave us fruits and vegetables. ذُو الْعَصْفِ means those things that grow from seeds that we can eat and benefit from. And رَيْحَان means those things that grow from seeds that we can't perhaps eat, but they give us a beautiful smell. So the way I understand it: ذُو الْعَصْفِ means planting a seed to grow vegetables and crops, and رَيْحَان means planting seeds to grow flowers.

So Allah has given the earth the ability to grow these things. What if we had a land which we continued planting but nothing grew? That's Allah creating that land spread for us, and from that land all of our needs are fulfilled — food, drinks, vegetables. Those are the same crops that animals eat. If those crops did not grow, animals die. If grass did not grow, cows could not be nourished and sustained. So all of that is working in a synchronized manner.

Then this is the first time Allah says:

This āyah comes 31 times in this sūrah. Which of Allah's favors can you deny? فَبِأَيِّ — it's creating a sequence: I mentioned that I gave you this, I gave you that, I gave you this — which of these can you deny? So it's creating a sequence for us: I gave you the Quran, I gave you existence, and I allowed that existence to remain because of the blessings of the sky — شَمْس، قَمَر، نَجْم — and the blessings of the earth, such that you have fruits, vegetables, and water, so you're able to survive with the sky above you and the earth below you.

Imam Fakhruddin Ar-Rāzī says that one of the blessings Allah speaks about: whenever Allah speaks about the blessing of the sky, He also brings in the blessing of the earth — showing that both of these blessings together are what allow us to survive in this world. So Allah says all these blessings are there for you to survive. You cannot deny them. Then He says as a rhetorical question: which one of these can you deny? Is the sun and the moon not working because of me? This is what Ibrāhīm (AS) said to Nimrod:

That Allah brings the sun from the east — bring it from the west, see what happens, do it. And he had no response. So this is Allah working in His own accord.

Now, آلَاء is different from نِعَم. آلَاء also means blessing and نِعَم also means blessing — both words mean blessings. What is the difference? نِعَم are blessings that perhaps we don't recognize right now in our life:

When they pass away, Allah will ask them about their blessings — blessings that we weren't able to recognize in this world, but which Allah will show to us in the Ākhirah. But آلَاء are blessings that we can never deny. That's why Allah uses the word آلَاء and not نِعَم. So even the choice of words that Allah uses has a reason behind it — it's not like "let's use this word today and a different word tomorrow." آلَاء are those blessings that cannot be denied.

تُكَذِّبَانِ — referring to both jinn and ins. Which one of these blessings can either of you deny — jinn or ins? I mentioned in the beginning of the class that when the jinn heard this sūrah they would respond by saying: "O Allah, none of these blessings we can deny — they are all Your blessings. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ — all praise be to You for these blessings." This is the first time it comes, and it comes 31 times.

The Creation of Insān and Jinn

The next few verses speak about the creation of insān and the creation of jinnāt, where Allah says:

How is insān created? Insān is created from صَلْصَال — what we would call clay. In the Quran, Allah uses many different words referring to the creation of a human being. Amongst them is طِين:

Amongst them is مِن صَلْصَالٍ مِّنْ حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُونٍ, and another is مِن تُرَابٍ. So how do we bring all these together? A simple way of collaborating these is that they all come in a sequence. Ibn Abbās speaks about this in the tafsīr of this āyah — the first thing used is تُرَاب, which is dirt that is not brought together. That dirt becomes طِين, which is brought together with water — you mix it and it becomes a harder, more solid form of that dirt. Then that becomes حَمَأٍ مَّسْنُونٍ, which means it becomes more solid. And صَلْصَال means that it becomes pottery — solid clay that if you hit it, you can hear the hollowness inside of it. كَالْفَخَّار — like pottery, like something solid.

That's the beauty of Allah — that He made us from something so insignificant and from it made something so solid. Only Allah can do that. كَالْفَخَّار — and some scholars say فَخَر means pride and distinction, so كَالْفَخَّار talks about the idea of human beings aiming to be people of عُلُوِيَّة — people of higher purpose than other creations. كَالْفَخَّار speaks about how humans have a bigger and higher purpose than other creations, and that is to receive Jannah. We don't only live once — we live in this life and we live in the next life as well.

So the different levels: one is dirt, that dirt becomes mud or طِين, that mud becomes solid, it's put together and becomes صَلْصَالٍ كَالْفَخَّار — solid pottery. It's like a pot that you hit and you can hear the hollowness from it. Then Allah puts the رُوح inside of it — and then it has something inside of it. But without the رُوح, it is solid, and if you hit it, you can hear the hollowness from it.

Then Allah says: وَخَلَقَ الْجَانَّ مِن مَّارِجٍ مِّن نَّارٍ — we created the jinn. Now what is جَانّ referring to? It is said that جَانّ here refers only to Iblīs himself, or it means that all jinn were created from مَارِج — from a flame of fire. And مَارِج — the specific word used — is a very high flame. Ibn Abbās says it is a very high flame, مُخْتَلَطٌ فِيهِ الصُّفْرَة — that mixed within it are flames that are yellow and red, all mixed together, without any smoke. So it is a solid flame without smoke. مَارِج tells us it's not just any normal flame — it's a high flame mixed with different colors and with no smoke.

That's very interesting to me, because we believe that humans were created from a mixture of dirt. Allah told the angels to go and grab dirt — Jibrīl (AS) didn't grab it because the earth held back, and Mīkāīl (AS) and so on and so forth, until Isrāfīl (AS) went and grabbed the dirt from different parts of the world. So just as we have been created from different parts of the earth and different colors of dirt, the jinn — Allah is telling us in this āyah — have also been created from different colors of fire, brought together. That's how Allah brought the creation of jinn into the world.

And we understand that this sūrah is referring to both jinn and ins. So then Allah says:

Which of these favors can you deny — that I created you from nothing?

Then Allah continues and starts speaking about more blessings of the earth. The second theme is blessings, and the blessings are still continuing:

One of the blessings that Allah has given us is that He is the sustainer — رَبُّ الْمَشْرِقَيْنِ وَرَبُّ الْمَغْرِبَيْنِ. Both are in dual form — so it means the two easts and the two wests. What does that mean? It could mean that Allah is the owner of all seasons — and this connects to the عُلُوم الغيب of Allah, where He mentions in the Quran:

Only Allah has the knowledge of the Day of Judgment. Only Allah has information about seasons and weather. Only Allah knows what is inside the womb of a mother before four months. Only Allah knows what a person will earn tomorrow. And only Allah knows where we will die and where we will leave this world. These are among the عُلُوم that are not available for us to access.

So رَبُّ الْمَشْرِقَيْنِ وَرَبُّ الْمَغْرِبَيْنِ — Allah is the Lord of all seasons and the Lord of all weathers. That's one understanding. Another understanding is that Allah is the Lord of the east and the west for both insān and jinnāt — and that is the one I would refer towards in this āyah: that Allah controls the seasons, and Allah controls the sunset and the sunrise for both humans and for jinn.

3. Blessings of the Water

Which is beautiful — Allah created both بَحْرَيْن, both types of bodies of water: salt water and fresh water. There is water which has salt and water which is fresh. If those two waters, which meet — يَلْتَقِيَانِ — they meet each other, we've seen those videos where the water meets but doesn't mix. بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخٌ لَّا يَبْغِيَانِ — between them is a barrier that does not allow them to mix.

Imagine if all the water in this world was mixing with each other and we had no fresh water left — what water would we drink? The fresh water of the world is what keeps everything alive.

From water, Allah allows everything to have life — and that's fresh water. Because of fresh water we're able to drink; because of fresh water we're able to survive. Imagine if these waters mixed with each other, all became salt water, all became water that we cannot drink and benefit from — then humans would not be able to survive. That's the one thing scientists are looking for on Mars: water. Because if there's fresh water, there's perhaps a chance of survival.

Why are both mentioned — one for insān and one for jinnāt? Because this sūrah refers to both, and that's why Allah mentions both. Nonetheless, both types of bodies of water have been created but are never mixed with each other. بَرْزَخ means a barrier.

This is why we understand the life of this world is called حَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا, and the life of the hereafter is called حَيَاةُ الْآخِرَة. And that time which is in between — the time in the grave and so on — is called the life of بَرْزَخ. Why is that important? Because it is a barrier between this life and the next life. It's called حَيَاةُ الْبَرْزَخ — the life that is the barrier. So in the graves we are actually alive: alive in the sense that our souls are either being blessed with the blessings of Jannah, or — نَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ — some souls are being punished with the عَذَاب of the hereafter.

So we believe that when a person passes away, their soul is taken up. And the soul is either taken up to عِلِّيُّون — the pious souls are taken up to عِلِّيُّون, which is where all the souls are stored:

We believe these souls are stored outside of Jannah, but the windows of Jannah are open for them to benefit from. They're able to benefit from the blessings of Jannah — that's where the pious souls go. This is why when we talk about people that pass away who are pious, we believe — and this is all written in the book of Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah by the name of Al-Rūh, where he speaks about what happens to the soul when it leaves — that when a pious soul passes away, they go to this place and all the pious people: the Prophets, the Sahabah, our grandparents, our parents — they greet us at the doors of this waiting lounge of Jannah.

And if a soul is a wretched soul, Allah says:

These souls will be taken into a place called سِجِّين — which is like a prison — where the fire and flames of Jahannam are striking and they are being harmed by the punishment of Jahannam. That is عَالَمُ الْبَرْزَخ — the life that is in between the life of Dunyā and the life of the Ākhirah.

So Allah says there is a barrier between the salt water and the sweet water that doesn't allow them to mix — but it's something you cannot see. Allah could have said حَاجِب or used different words to show "barrier," but Allah used بَرْزَخ. Why? Because بَرْزَخ is a barrier that you cannot see. You know about it but you cannot see it. The water is not passing into each other — but why is it not mixing? We can't see why it's not mixing; we know it's not mixing. Similarly, we know there is a life of the grave, but we've never seen it until we leave. That's why Allah chose the word بَرْزَخ.

لَا يَبْغِيَانِ — they don't mix. Allah continues and He says: which of Allah's favors can we deny?

Allah says that from the same water — how many blessings do we have? From this water, we're able to take out pearls and corals. لُؤْلُؤ is one form of gem that has great monetary value, and مَرْجَان is a similar type of stone which is beautiful and also of great worth. Allah says that these blessings are hidden inside of the ocean.

So — first Allah speaks about the blessings of the sky, then the blessings of dry land which is the earth, and then the blessings of water. You have this water that never mixes and that allows you to survive. From salt water, there are even blessings — because from there you can find لُؤْلُؤ وَالْمَرْجَان, things of value.

Forget about just the benefits of the لُؤْلُؤ وَالْمَرْجَان — not everyone can benefit from that. But guess what — another benefit of the water is that it allows you to travel on it. The body of water is so vast, and water sinks things, but Allah has made water in such a way that even ships as large as mountains — الْجَوَارِ الْمُنشَآتُ means elevated ships — travel in the ocean like they are mountains. Such enormous ships and vessels travel on the water. So Allah has not only given us water to create life in this world, Allah has also hidden gems and wealth inside this water, and Allah has also allowed this water to be a means of transportation so we can travel on it.

So you had the blessing of the sky — the sun, the moon, and the stars — and it continues changing, and it's very high and very beautiful. It's like a high ceiling. If you walk into a banquet hall with a low ceiling, you think: "I'm getting out of here — I don't want a low ceiling." But a high ceiling looks big, looks majestic. That's the sky. Look at the sky and you'll just be in awe of it. And Allah speaks about that:

Look at the sky, and look how it's raised — with no pillars. And then we speak about the blessings of the world: I have given you trees, and with these trees I create life. If the trees were not there there would be no life. Guess what — if you also did not have food, such as fruits and vegetables, you would not have life. And life becomes a blessing because that life is blessed with fragrance that comes out from the ground.

This is the blessing of the earth. Then Allah jumps to the blessing of water — that water creates life in the sense that it fertilizes and nourishes our crops. That same water can be used to drink. That same water has gems hidden within it. That same water becomes a means of your transportation. Can anyone deny this? No one can deny this. So Allah uses the word آلَاء and not نِعَم.

The difference between بَرْزَخ and حِجَاب: حِجَاب is a barrier but you can see it. بَرْزَخ is a barrier that you cannot see.

Summary of the Three Blessings

So far we have broken down three blessings:

• Number one: Blessing of the skies
• Number two: Blessings of the earth
• Number three: Blessings of the water

This, dear brothers and sisters, summarizes the second theme of Sūrah Al-Raḥmān. The first theme was the creation of the Quran, the beauty of the Quran. The next theme was the blessings of Allah — of course being that Allah has created us, but also that He has blessed us with those things that allow us to survive: the sky, which protects us from the harmful rays of the sun; the earth, which gives us a place to live and gives us food; and water, which gives everything life. This summarizes all the blessings of this life — the blessings that we really need, and without which we are nothing.

The Third Theme: The Ākhirah and Punishment

Now Allah starts the third theme, which is the theme of punishment in the Ākhirah. So Allah starts off with blessings of the Quran, blessings in general — sky, earth, water — and then Allah says كُلُّ مَنْ عَلَيْهَا فَانٍ — that every single thing will come to an end. It will end, and when the end comes there will be nothing that remains.

Allah speaks about the stars — that when the stars fall apart and get scattered — so literally, when the satellite of this world will end. Imagine today if one satellite gets hit: there is no WiFi, no internet, no communication. The satellite of this world is Allah controlling everything. When all of these things just stop working, and when they stop working — imagine when street lights stop working and there are no police standing there; people will start hitting each other. That satellite of this world, Allah will end it, and because of that, the stars will start falling out of place.

And then the mountains will start travelling. Allah speaks about the mountains in three different ways. First — the people of Mecca, where this sūrah is being revealed, recognize mountains as something of a great creation. There is a narration that when Allah created the earth, the earth was shaking. Allah created the mountains to be the pegs of the earth. When the angels saw the mountains stop the earth from shaking, they were surprised. They said: "Is there anything from Your creation that is more powerful than mountains, because the mountains were able to contain the earth and stop it from shaking?"

And Allah says: "Yes — iron is more powerful than mountains." Then the angels ask: "What can be more powerful than iron?" Allah says: "Fire — because fire can come out of the mountains." Then the angels would say: "Is there anything more powerful than fire?" Allah responds: "Yes — water, because water can extinguish fire." Then they say: "Is there anything more powerful than water?" And Allah responds: "Yes — wind, because wind can carry fire, wind can carry water, wind can create tornadoes and bushfires." So wind is stronger than water.

Then they ask: "O Allah, is there anything stronger than wind, and mountains, and water, and fire, and iron — is there anything stronger than these things You mentioned?" Allah says: "Yes." What is stronger than all these things? صَدَقَة — an act of goodness that a person does with their right hand, with such sincerity that the left hand doesn't know about it. Allah is saying that something stronger than all of these things is صَدَقَة.

Why am I saying that? Because every single thing will come to an end; every single thing will perish — the fire, the water, the mountains, the skies, the earth. The only thing that will remain in the Ākhirah for us human beings is our صَدَقَات, because they are more powerful than all that which Allah has created, as long as they're done with sincerity for Allah. Those actions will never be wasted. So صَدَقَات create more strength in the eyes of Allah than mountains.

The Prophet ﷺ says in a Ṣaḥīḥ narration: if the entire world was put on one scale and لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّه was put on the other side of the scale, لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّه would outweigh it — if it's recited with sincerity.

(Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān, Hadith 157; Mustadrak al-Ḥākim, Hadith 8155)

Dear brothers and sisters — everything will end. The mountains will go, and they will become like clouds. Then what will happen to these mountains? Allah will bring them down and they will hit the earth. These mountains will become like wool scattered in the earth and scattered around the sky. Speaking about mountains in Sūrah Al-Ṭūr, Allah mentions these mountains will fall back and become dust particles — first raised up into the skies, then dropped, and when dropped they will become dust particles, and those dust particles will become like feathers scattered in the sky. Imagine — the mountains that we look at will become like dust. How great is our Allah.

Then Allah will take the water and annihilate it by turning it into fire. So all of these things will end, and the only thing that will remain on that day is:

The only thing that will remain will be Allah's honor and Allah's presence — that Allah who is the Owner of honor and the Owner of respect. We don't translate وَجْه here by saying "Allah's face" — وَجْه here means the only thing that will remain will be Allah's honor and Allah's presence.

There is a hadith mentioned that on the Day of Judgment, before human beings are brought back to life, Allah will make an announcement — that I am the one who is the King; where are the kings of this world who were self-proclaimed kings? Come out and show me what you have. And there will be nothing but silence. Then Allah will say: where are the people that were arrogant in this world?

Imam Al-Ghazālī says arrogance comes because of four reasons, and all four of these we should identify in our lives and make sure they are not present within our hearts:

• Number one: Arrogance because of wealth
• Number two: Arrogance because of beauty
• Number three: Arrogance because of lineage
• Number four: Arrogance because of knowledge

All four of these are reasons why people become arrogant in this world. Allah will say: where are the arrogant people? And there will be no response — because not even the angels that hold the Arsh of Allah will be alive at that time. Only Allah will be there. And Allah will show His honor to the world. Only Allah will remain, and whatever Allah wants to remain will remain. Then Allah will bring the people back from the dead, and they will come back to life.

The Four Stations on the Day of Judgment

On the Day of Judgment we have four stations — and I believe there are many different opinions — but the first station is Yawm Al-Ḥashr. When that day comes, they will rush towards the caller out of fear. Then Yawm Al-Ḥashr is where everyone stands there and waits for حِسَاب. They just wait there — waiting and waiting and waiting.

Where do they gather? On one big land — which is the land of Arafah. But there is no حِسَاب yet; we're just waiting. Then Allah allows the people to go:

Everyone will go over Jahannam — everyone has to go over the Ṣirāṭ. Some will get across, and those that get across will reach Yawm Al-Ḥisāb. Those that don't get across — like the mushrikūn — they don't have a ḥisāb. They failed. They don't need a ḥisāb. Ḥisāb is for those people that have a chance to make it out alive. But the mushrikūn will just fall into Jahannam without ḥisāb. Their punishment on Yawm Al-Ḥashr will be that they wait there for 50,000 years, then they will cross the Ṣirāṭ and fall inside.

And the believers will get across the Ṣirāṭ. Once they get across, we will have حِسَاب — and in that ḥisāb, Allah will give people the Book of Deeds in their right hand, or they'll be given their Book of Deeds in their left hand. If given their Book of Deeds in the left hand, that refers to the munāfiqūn or people that committed major sins that were not forgiven, and they will have to go back.

Then after ḥisāb, the four stations are: Ḥashr, Ṣirāṭ, Ḥisāb, and then Kawthar. These are the four stations on the Day of Judgment that the Prophet ﷺ referred to in his hadith.

Nonetheless, the Day of Judgment begins and there will be no one there. And at that moment, Allah's greatness will be exposed to the world. And we recognize that on that day, no one will speak:

No one can speak.

Spend, do good deeds before that day comes where you're not able to benefit yourself at all. On that day, the human being will say:

"How I wish I kept this life of Ākhirah in front of me, in my front-view mirror, so I could have prepared for that." Yes — jinns are also held accountable like humans. That's why Allah is speaking about both insān and jinnāt in this sūrah. We are the only two creations that will be held accountable for what we did in this world — jinn and ins.

Allah will come and everyone will be standing there, afraid, looking down. The only people that will be able to stand are people upon whom Allah has shown His فَضْل.

You know how some people make it to Jannah without ḥisāb? Hopefully we're amongst them. There are also some people who make it to Jahannam without ḥisāb — there's no need of ḥisāb for them because they failed before it started.

Āyah 29: Everyone Asks from Allah

So we continue — Allah says in āyah number 29: يَسْأَلُهُ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ. Who is this Allah that will remain? He is the Allah that every single person in the heavens and the earth asks from. All of us ask from Allah, and if we don't ask from Allah then we're asking from the wrong person. Our questioning should be directly towards Allah.

Imam Ḥasan ibn Abbās says: if you ask someone other than Allah, you're asking someone that either has nothing to give you, or has something to give you but by giving it to you he himself has less. But by asking Allah, you're asking from One who has everything and it never becomes less. It never diminishes.

Where Ibn Abbās (RA) — when the Prophet ﷺ told him:

(Jāmi' Al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 2516)

If the entire world tried to benefit you, they could not benefit you except if Allah wants for you to be benefited.

Only that happens which Allah wants. In a Ḥadīth Qudsī, directly from Allah:

(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith 2577)

If every single person got together on one plain land and they were to ask Allah for every single thing they want at one time, Allah would be able to give every single person what they want — and by giving them what they want, that would not decrease from His treasures except for the amount that when you put a needle inside the ocean and bring it out, the small amount of water connected to that needle is the amount which decreases from His treasures — i.e., nothing decreases.

يَسْأَلُهُ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ — everyone asks from Allah, and that's how we benefit. Allah enjoys it when we ask from Him — like a mother enjoys when a child comes to her and asks from her. Allah enjoys it when we show our need towards Him, and our need is shown to Allah when we remove our own arrogance — when we understand that we are nothing in front of Allah. The mindset should be: "O Allah, if You don't help me, no one can help me."

"O Allah, when I become sick, only You can help me." Of course we use أَسْبَاب — we use the resources around us — but we know that it all comes from Allah. I often tell — and my father would always tell us to tell students in our school — that if someone becomes sick, give them medication, but before you give them medication, make them pray two rak'ah of ḥājah — asking: "O Allah, I am sick, please cure me." If someone is in need of money, tell them: "I'll give it to you, but before I give it to you, pray two rak'ah and allow yourself to understand that everything that comes, comes from Allah."

The way that Allah enjoys that we ask Him is the way a child cries in front of the mother. When a child cries in front of the mother, sometimes the toddler doesn't even need to ask — by that cry, the mother can tell what the child needs. This cry means it has to be cleaned; this cry means it needs food; this cry means it's getting tired and cranky. The cry itself tells the mother what the child needs. Similarly, Allah wants us to cry in front of Him like how a child cries in front of his mother.

Then Allah gives us whatever we ask for. Our duas are split into three categories:

Two portions of our dua should be for Ākhirah and one portion should be for dunyā. So we balance it by asking for Ākhirah — two portions of it — and one portion for dunyā. And of course we begin our dua with the ḥamd of Allah, speaking about the blessings of Allah, and then we ask Allah — like how we would do with our parents: "You're like this, you're like that, you're so wonderful — can I get some?" So we praise and then we ask.

There is not a single creation in this world except that Allah is the one sustaining it and no one else. كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِي شَأْنٍ — and يَوْم here doesn't only mean "day"; يَوْم means "moment." Every moment Allah is doing something. The مُفَسِّرُون speak about what فِي شَأْنٍ means, and the tafsīr of this āyah is:

Some people are being raised and others are being lowered — because everything that goes up must come down, and everything that comes down, Allah brings back up.

That is a sunnah of Allah. And the only thing that remains above and high is الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ — which is Allah Himself. So شَأْن means that every single moment someone is getting blessed, every single moment someone is going through a difficulty, every single moment there is someone being freed from prison and someone being taken to prison. Allah is constantly doing things.

We work 12, 14, 16 hours and our body gets tired; our joints become weak; we need sleep, we need food, we need water. But Allah takes care of the entire world and does not get tired. The protection and salvation of the earth and the skies — everything in between — does not tire Allah, and it is not hard for Allah to do. However Allah wants to do it, He does it.

When Allah wants something, He tells it to become and it becomes. So all of this in this life, everything is happening by the design of Allah. فِي شَأْنٍ means there's always someone either being benefited — and they should be grateful — or going through a hardship — and they should be patient.

These are blessings of Allah — that Allah is able to take you out of your difficulty. If you're in ease and luxury, understand that Allah can also take you out of that ease as well. That's what the Prophet ﷺ would say:

(Musnad Aḥmad, Hadith 2804; Mustadrak al-Ḥākim, Hadith 6303)

Remember and recognize Allah in times of ease, and Allah will remember you at times of difficulty.

Āyah: "Very Soon I Will Free Myself for You"

Then the next āyah, which is perhaps the scarier āyah, Allah says that while I'm taking care of the entire world and everyone asks from me, there will be a time:

There will be a time where I free myself just for you. أَيُّهَ الثَّقَلَانِ — meaning the two heavier creations. Who are the two heavier creations? Ins and jinn. They're heavier because they will have an Ākhirah and a resurrection — other creations will not have an Ākhirah; when they die, that will be the end of their life.

سَا in the Arabic language means "very soon" — and in the Quran where Allah uses سَا, He uses it for the Ākhirah:

Very soon you will find out about this. And فَرَغَ means: I will get free — very soon I will free myself for you. It's like a parent that is taking care of all of their kids — they're working with all of them — and they say in the middle: "Watch, give me a minute. I'm going to take care of you. I'm taking care of you right now, but in a few minutes it will just be me and you." And that's not a good sign for us, right? If a father or mother says that to a child — obviously they're going to show love, nothing else — but that tone is in itself a fearful statement. Watch — I'm taking care of everyone, but very soon it will just be me and all of you. There will be no other creation but ins and jinn, and I will be there to question you.

That is Allah prefacing the journey of the Ākhirah for us — that in this dunyā everyone is being dealt with, but in the Ākhirah there will only be you two and me. I will free myself — even though Allah is never busy — it is a figure of speech, meaning: I will have nothing else to do but deal with you. It's like a teacher who is listening to two kids at the same time and then says: "You stop — I just want to hear from you alone." That means: oh God, this is trouble for me. Because what if I make a mistake? There will be no slipping through the cracks anymore. And that's what Allah is saying.

Session Recap

I will continue from here tomorrow night because it's already 9pm and I don't want my screen to close. That is — we started our third theme, which is the theme of the Ākhirah. That starts with Allah saying that everyone will be finished, and the only One that will remain will be Allah. And in the dunyā everyone was here, but in the Ākhirah it will only be me and you, and I will take care of you. What's left is Jahannam, Jannah A and Jannah B — and that will be tomorrow inshallah.

As a recap for today — we spoke about multiple things. We began by talking about the virtues of Sūrah Al-Raḥmān. It's a very special sūrah because the Prophet ﷺ recited it and many Sahabah became Muslims by hearing it. Allah will recite it on the Day of Judgment. And Ali (RA) said it is the beauty of the Quran — it's what creates beauty in the Quran. Yā Sīn is the heart of the Quran but Al-Raḥmān is the beauty of the Quran.

Then we went on speaking about the correlations between Sūrah Al-Raḥmān and the sūrah before and the sūrah after. Then we spoke about the five themes:

• The blessing of the Quran
• The blessings that we need in life
• Jahannam
• Jannah A
• Jannah B

These five blessings are flipped in Sūrah Al-Wāqi'ah. Then we moved forward speaking about the blessings of life — skies, earth, and water — and Allah summarized all of our blessings in these three things. Then Allah started the third theme: the theme of the Ākhirah, the theme of Jahannam, the theme of punishment. Inshallah then we will go to the themes of the blessings — and nowhere in the Quran does Allah speak about Jahannam except that He also speaks about Jannah. That is from the sheer mercy of Allah.

Īmān is in between fear and hope. We are hopeful that Allah forgives us, but we should also have some form of fear — that perhaps if we don't do good deeds, Allah can also punish us. May Allah make us amongst those that can benefit from these sūrahs.

I would encourage everyone — we have about 22 hours from today until tomorrow — try to memorize these first 17 verses that we recited and learned. It's not a difficult sūrah to memorize. And tomorrow inshallah, when we continue, you can memorize the second portion as well. It's not too long, it's not too difficult. I would encourage everyone to memorize it because it's a sūrah that creates many blessings in our life and that reminds us about the blessings of Allah — and those blessings will continue in the Ākhirah if we uphold the justice that Allah has created in this world. The greatest form of justice in this world is that we are able to continue worshiping Allah.