Surah Maryam: We Are Never Alone | Divine Reminders with Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Surah Maryam: We Are Never Alone

أَسَالَامُ عَلَيْكُم وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ، بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، الحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَنُصَلِّي عَلَى رَسُولِ الكَرِيمِ، أَمَّا بَعْد

Today we recited two very beautiful surahs that, in my opinion — three surahs that come together that create the best sequence. At a personal level, it's not a fact or a quote of a mufassir, but at a personal level, it's Surah Bani Isra'il, then comes Surah al-Kahf, and then comes Surah Maryam. You have an addition of Surah Taha. And the other three that I truly enjoy are Surah ar-Rahman with Surah al-Waqi'ah and Surah al-Hadid. So both of these are great combinations of surahs which are very poetic, and since they're Makki surahs they have their own form or their own style of speech.

Nonetheless, we obviously cannot speak about all three of the surahs. Yesterday I spoke about Surah Bani Isra'il, and I also touched base on Surah al-Kahf — there are lectures online about Surah al-Kahf, we have one in our Miftah channel as well, you can check that out. Surah Maryam discusses the journey and the du'a of Zakariyya, Maryam, Ibrahim, and what their journey was like. Each of their journeys had their own challenges.

The Journey of Zakariyya (عليه السلام)

The challenge of Zakariyya (عليه السلام) was that he wanted a child for 89 years and he was not given a child. Finally he made du'a. When he made that du'a, and he stayed consistent in making that du'a, he didn't stop — he didn't stop making the du'a. One of the key essential ingredients of making du'a is you don't stop; you continue making it until Allah blesses us with that du'a that we're making. And he was given Yahya (عليه السلام).

When he was alone, when he was in seclusion, he made du'as to Allah.

The Journey of Maryam (عليها السلام)

The challenge of Maryam (عليها السلام) was that she gave birth to a child while she had no relationship with a man. So she had fear, and she had to go back to her people and present this child to them without being able to speak. Allah says: tell them — make sure when you go back to your people, you don't talk, you're not allowed to speak, and when you get there, the child will take care of everything. So she goes back to her people, and when she comes back to her people, the people are perplexed. They said: you've done something very strange — your father wasn't a bad person, your mother wasn't a filthy individual, so how did this happen? And she pointed at Isa (عليه السلام). And obviously the child spoke — Isa (عليه السلام) spoke — and he said that I am the slave of Allah, and He has made me a prophet, and He has given me this book. This is her challenge.

Her miracle took place because she would go out to the east of Baytul Maqdis where she would be alone — she would want her alone time — and during that time, Jibril (عليه السلام) came to her and he blew inside of her sleeve and she was impregnated with Isa (عليه السلام). The majority of the mufassirun say it was not a nine-month pregnancy but rather instantly she gave birth to Isa (عليه السلام). Some do say that it was a lengthy pregnancy. It was when she was alone.

The Journey of Ibrahim (عليه السلام)

Then we move on to the story of Ibrahim (عليه السلام). His challenge is different — everyone's pathway to Allah has different challenges. His challenge is that his father, whom he dearly loves, does not accept his religion, and he continuously tries to give him da'wah and encourage him and motivate him to accept Islam. And at every sentence, every approach that he takes, the father has a response for it. So he says: oh father, why don't you worship Allah? Why do you worship these things that cannot listen, cannot hear, cannot benefit you? Oh my father, I have been given knowledge from the unseen, from Allah — don't worship Shaitan. Oh father, I fear for you that punishment will touch you. This is a son that's worried about his father. He loved his father, he had such an attachment with his father.

And all three of these stories — the one synonymous thing that we can take from them — is that each of these people were extremely respectful and loving to their parents. When Allah explains one of the qualities of Yahya (عليه السلام), He says that this child was an individual who was extremely kind and righteous to his parents, who was respectful to his parents. And when Allah speaks about Isa (عليه السلام), Allah says that when he was speaking, he said — the only prophet that was made a prophet before the age of 40 was Isa (عليه السلام) and Yahya (عليه السلام). Isa (عليه السلام), from birth, says:

That I've been told to be righteous towards my mother — because of course he didn't have a father.

And then we jump into the story of Ibrahim (عليه السلام), and we see the compassion this man had for his father, despite the fact that his father disliked what he was saying. He still loved him. And when he finally was kicked out of his house — when the father told him:

If you don't stop giving me this advice, I'm going to hit you, I'm going to beat you, I'm going to punish you — or leave me. And Ibrahim (عليه السلام) leaves and he says:

Oh father, peace be to you. I will ask Allah to forgive you. And he continued to ask Allah to forgive his father until Allah sent down Wahi, where He said:

Where Allah sent to him that no, you cannot make istighfar for your father anymore — he's passed away as a mushrik. Then he stopped. But there was a love and respect that he had in his heart for his father.

Similarly, Ibrahim (عليه السلام) was given the power of standing up for Tawheed and standing up against Nimrod. When he left and he found some isolation, Allah gave him the blessing of Ishaq, and He gave him the blessing of Yaqub, and He gave him the blessing of Ismail.

And these are the three stories that come back to back to back in Surah Maryam. Then after that Allah says about the story of Musa (عليه السلام):

Allah doesn't speak about the story of Musa (عليه السلام) in detail in Surah Maryam, but rather Allah discusses the story in detail in Surah Taha.

Surah Taha: The Prophethood of Musa (عليه السلام)

In Surah Taha, Allah goes into the details of Musa (عليه السلام) becoming a prophet. When he saw this fire, he said to his family:

When he was leaving Madyan — from Shu'ayb (عليه السلام) — he said: I sense a fire and we need it, let me go there and see if there's something that can help us and I'll come back. And when he went there, a caller called out. Allah says:

That I am your Lord — take off your shoes. This is interesting: why take off your shoes? When you enter a place of worship, when you enter a place of عِبَادَة — a place that connects us to Allah — taking off our shoes is the sunnah of it. When we pray, taking off our shoes — we're not going into the fiqh discussion of whether or not salah is permissible with shoes on or not; we're talking about the adab. Even Musa (عليه السلام) was told, when he entered his مُنَاجَاة — his conversation with Allah — take off your shoes and then speak to me. And Allah told him:

That I am Allah — and worship Me. And this made Musa (عليه السلام) a prophet. And it's very interesting — it's not a coincidence — that when Umar (رضي الله عنه) heard these same verses from his sister and Sa'id ibn Zayd, he also became Muslim, because they were very similar in nature and very similar in build. So that which made Musa a prophet also made Umar (رضي الله عنه) one of the greatest companions.

In this story, Allah speaks about how He blessed him with Wahi and told him to go to Fir'awn and give him da'wah — and Haman and so on and so forth — and:

Speak to them in a nice tone.

The Warning at the End of Surah Taha

At the end of Surah Taha, Allah speaks about people that hear all of these stories — they hear them but they don't take heed from them. And on the Day of Judgment they will be raised blind. And Allah will say:

These are reminders that came to you but you ignored them — and if a person ignores these reminders, they will have a very difficult and hard, strenuous life. And then when the Day of Judgment comes, they'll be raised blind, and they will ask: oh Allah, why am I raised blind? And Allah will say:

My signs came to you and you ignored them — and today we have forgotten you as well. May Allah protect us from being amongst those people, and rather make us amongst those that take these stories and are able to benefit.

Two Lessons from Surah Maryam

1. Respecting and Caring for Our Parents

The first lesson that we take from the stories of Surah Maryam is the lesson of taking care of our parents and respecting them. All of them — Yahya, Isa, and Ibrahim (عليهم السلام) — were people who were extremely respectful and loving towards their parents. Each of them demonstrated in their own way what it truly means to honour those who raised us or gave birth to us, even in the face of great difficulty.

2. Finding Benefit in Isolation — Because We Are Never Alone

The second synonymous thing that we can find from these stories is the fact that all of them were people who found isolation to be a benefit to them and not a tool against them. Where Zakariyya (عليه السلام) made du'a — as soon as he saw Maryam (عليها السلام) with the foods from opposite seasons — he made du'a instantly. Isolation gave him that feeling. Similarly with Maryam (عليها السلام) — her miracle took place when she was alone. Similarly, Ibrahim (عليه السلام) was given the power of standing up for Tawheed when he found some isolation.

Because we are never alone:

Allah is always with us. When Musa (عليه السلام) told his people: إِنَّ مَعِيَ رَبِّي — that Allah is with me. This is what Ibrahim (عليه السلام) said. This is what Jibril (عليه السلام) told Yusuf (عليه السلام) when he was thrown inside of the well, when he was seeking help from his brothers: don't worry, Allah is with you. This is what the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) told Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) when they were in the cave of Thawr: don't worry —

Allah is with us.

May Allah make us amongst those that can benefit in these moments and can continue to find benefit at times of isolation, because we can connect to Allah.

جَزَاكَ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا. May Allah accept from all of us for coming on a daily basis to listen to the Quran and these short reminders. I hope that you benefit, and insha'Allah you join again for the Ramadan Immersion class. We're at halftime — we're halfway through — and may Allah give us the ability to do better in the second half in comparison to that which we did in the first half. Because we know we could have done better. We should feel good about what we did, but hopefully we try to get better. Jazak Allah khayr, Allah bless you all.

وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ