Stories of the Prophet - Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

Opening

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى سَيِّدِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ، وَخَاتَمِ النَّبِيِّينَ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ الطَّيِّبِينَ الطَّاهِرِينَ، وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ، وَبَعْدُ

My dear respected brothers, elders, dear young students in Islam, assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.

The Quran as a Source of Guidance

Indeed Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has revealed the Quran al-Kareem as a source of guidance for all mankind.

And this Quran is a source of guidance for mankind — how does it achieve that? Through various different ways. What are the subject matters covered in the Quran? The scholars of seerah had divided them into some general categories. And one of them, and the most important, the first one, is al-tadhkir — that the Quran is a reminder that softens the heart and makes the heart receptive to accepting the advice from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And this purpose of the Quran is learned from the Quran itself, where on numerous occasions Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala refers to the Quran as dhikr. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

"I reveal this dhikr, the source of remembrance, upon you, O Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, so that you can clearly explain to the people that which has been revealed unto them." Likewise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

"Verily in this Quran there is an admonition, a dhikr, for whoever has a true heart, a sound heart — he will take benefit from the Quran. Or he pays attention, he listens closely, while he is mentally and spiritually present — then he will benefit from the Quran." So the Quran is a source of dhikr.

Three Types of Tadhkir — Shah Waliullah al-Dahlawi

Shah Waliullah al-Dahlawi rahimahullah, in his celebrated work Al-Fawz al-Kabir fi Usul al-Tafsir, mentions that the dhikr and the way Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us admonition in the Quran is of three types:

One: Al-tadhkir bi ayyamillah — reminding us by mentioning the days of the past: the nations that have come, the prophets that were sent to them, their stories.

Two: Al-tadhkir bi ala'illah — He asks us to reflect and ponder by mentioning His signs:

He asks us to ponder and reflect over His creation. Do you not see how He has created the camel? And how He has erected the skies above us? How He has spread the earth underneath our feet? To see the signs of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the creation, within your own selves — do you not look and ponder and reflect over your own creation and see My greatness?

Three: Al-tadhkir bil-mawti wa bima ba'dal-mawt — to allow us to reflect and gain admonition through the scenes of death and what will occur after death. Meaning our own qiyamah — man mata faqad qamat qiyamatuhu — and the Qiyamah that will take place for the entire creation. Scenes of the Day of Judgment:

Scenes of the destruction of the Day of Judgment — when the trumpet will be blown, what will happen, the description of the Day of Qiyamah, the description of Jannah and Jahannam. These are all meant to soften our hearts, so we can have hope in the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and fear His azab.

Surah al-Anbiya — The Surah of the Prophets

So from these three, the topic for today is specifically al-tadhkir bi ayyamillah — how we can gain lesson and admonition from the stories of the Prophets alayhi al-salam, the first of the three.

And if we go to Surah 21, Surah al-Anbiya — the name of the surah itself is al-Anbiya, the surah of Prophets. We have different surahs in the Quran which are named after specific Prophets. You might have heard of Surah Yunus, named after the Prophet of Allah Yunus alayhi al-salam. There is Surah Yusuf, which is named after Yusuf alayhi al-salam of course. And the Nabi who is mentioned the most in the Quran — there is no Surah Musa. There is a Surah Muhammad alayhi al-salam. So there are different surahs that are named after different Prophets alayhi al-salam. But this surah — Surah number 21, in the 17th juz — is actually called Surah al-Anbiya, the surah of all the Prophets. So many, many Prophets, their stories are mentioned together in this surah.

If Allah allows us to cover one particular passage from that today — which starts from ayah number 51 in Surah al-Anbiya — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the stories of no less than 11 Prophets in quick succession, one after the other. And each one of these Prophets has his own unique distinct storyline and biography, and a book can be written on each one. But there is one particular common thread and one theme that is recurring in all of these 11 Prophets' stories. One particular aspect is being highlighted by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — repeated twice, thrice, four times, five times, six times, seven times, nine times, eleven times — for us to gain guidance and tadhkir from these verses.

Story 1: Ibrahim alayhi al-salam — The Fire

The first story begins with Allah telling us that He had granted Ibrahim alayhi al-salam guidance from a young age — even when he was a child, he did not fall into the shirk of his community. When he asked his father — his father being the fashioner and baker of the idols — "What are these false gods that you are worshipping?" They responded, "We found our forefathers worshipping them, that is why we are worshipping these idols." He said, "You and your forefathers — all of you are in open error, you have gone astray."

They said, "Do you have any true evidence for what you are saying? Or are you just joking and jesting with us?" He said, "No, this is false, what you are doing. Your Lord is the one Lord who has created the heavens and the earth. He is the one who originated the heavens and the earth. And I testify to His oneness."

And then he said to himself, "I am going to plot against these idols and show how futile they are and how it is a waste to worship them." So what did he do? He destroyed them — except for the big idol. He placed the axe in the arms of the big idol. When they came back from their festival — they had gone out of the town to go worship their gods for a festival — they came back and saw all the idols had been destroyed. They were astonished, amazed, perturbed. "What happened to our gods? Who has committed this hideous act of vandalism against our gods? He is a great oppressor, he has committed injustice."

Then they said, "We heard a young boy — he was speaking ill of our idols. His name is Ibrahim. Let us go investigate and see if he was involved, if he knows anything about this. Bring him in front of the people so everyone can witness — if he can defend himself, or if he is the culprit who committed this hideous act of vandalism against the idols."

They said, "Have you done this, O Ibrahim?" He said, "No — the axe is in the hand of the big idol. He is the one who did it. Ask them if they can speak."

The initial reaction of the people — they reflected on what he was saying and they realized that what he is saying is true. These idols cannot even speak. They told themselves, "You are committing the worst violence and oppression by worshipping such gods that cannot even speak." But their ego overcame them. They did not accept the truth. After realizing it, after understanding that what they were doing is wrong, they still were not willing to accept the truth.

This is the actual definition of kibr and arrogance. As I have quoted many times on different occasions, the hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — where a perhaps fashion-conscious Sahabi asked Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam a question. And this is a normal style when we ask questions from the muftis — we don't say, "This is my question." We say, "I have a friend, and that friend, he ended up doing this — what is the hukm of his nikah?" Or even other issues: "One friend has an issue with his tahara — how should he maintain his wudu?" So when we respond, we also keep up the pretence and say, "Okay, tell that friend that this is the mas'ala."

So likewise, there was a man who came to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and he said, "There is a man who likes to have beautiful clothes and beautiful shoes. Is this permitted? Is this arrogance?" So Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, "You can inform him — verily Allah is beautiful and loves beauty. That is not arrogance."

What is arrogance? True arrogance is denying the truth after knowing it because of one's ego — you are not ready to accept the truth. And number two is looking down on other people. If you are wearing better clothes, it is not arrogance — until you believe yourself to be better than the person who is wearing less beautiful clothes.

So over here, they said, "No, no, we are not going to accept the truth." For a moment there was a realization — then they rejected it. And they said, "O Ibrahim, why are you joking with us? You know these gods cannot speak." Then Ibrahim alayhi al-salam said, "That is my point. Do you want to worship such gods that cannot benefit you in the least? Nor can they harm you?"

When they failed the debate with him, and they could not prove their gods, then they resorted to what the tyrants resort to — let's just get rid of him. Let's just kill him. They said, "Let's burn him — and come to the aid of your gods." So they lighted up a big fire, and he was thrown in with a catapult. The fire was so enormous that the birds flying overhead could not even come near it. They had to build a huge catapult to propel him and project him into that fire.

And what happened? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala came to his aid. He called out to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The angels came and were willing to help him in this predicament. But he said, "Allah is sufficient for me. He is the best one who will take care of my affairs. Sufficient for me is the fact that Allah is aware of my condition — He knows what I am facing for His sake, and He will come to my aid."

"O fire, become cool and peaceful for Ibrahim alayhi al-salam." Cool — not so cold that he would be in pain from the cold — but rather salaman as well, so it was comfortable for Ibrahim alayhi al-salam. And Ibrahim alayhi al-salam later described that the best, most comfortable, and most enjoyable days of his entire life were the 40 days he was in the fire — when the rope that had tied him up was burnt away, but not a single hair of his body was burnt, and he was in the ultimate comfort ever possible in this earthly existence.

So in the fire, he is in peace and comfort, in luxury, in enjoyment. This is the exact opposite of what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says about the people of Nuh alayhi al-salam in Surah Nuh — that they drowned in the water, and from there they directly entered the fire. So from the water they went into the fire — whereas here, Ibrahim alayhi al-salam from the fire goes into comfort. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the controller of all means — He can change the conditions whenever He likes, in whichever way He likes.

So the lesson of the first story — they tried to plot against my Nabi, Ibrahim. The enemies tried to hurt my Nabi. And We destroyed his enemies. We made them the losers. And the refrain, the word that repeats: We saved him. We saved him. We saved him from his enemies and We protected him. That is story number one.

Story 2: Lut alayhi al-salam — Saved from the Immoral Nation

Allah Ta'ala then speaks about Nabi Lut, the nephew of Ibrahim — Prophet number two. What does He say about him? Allah gave him knowledge and wisdom. And: I saved him. When he was overcome by the evil people in his town — we know the nation of Lut alayhi al-salam committed very indecent acts. The originators of the indecency that is becoming more and more widespread.

Allah Ta'ala says: We saved him from that town, the inhabitants of which used to commit immoral acts. They were very evil people. Lut alayhi al-salam was very much overcome by them. He was inviting them, telling them: "How can you fulfill your shahwa, your carnal passions and desires and lust with men, leaving the women Allah has created for you? This is such a new evil practice — you have originated it. No one did it before." It is in the Quran — no one did it before. No one was committing this act before the people of Lut alayhi al-salam. It was just then that it happened for the first time.

It reached the climax when two beautiful angels in the shape of two beautiful human beings came as visitors to his house. When they came in, he said to himself: "The people of my town are going to jump on them. What kind of town do I live in that I am afraid for my own guests?" When they came to his house, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala swears by the life of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — "I swear by your life, by your umar, O my Habib — they had become blind in their passion." They were breaking down the door of his house.

And Lut alayhi al-salam addressed the people and said, "Whoever has any common sense — stop this. These are my guests. Do not disgrace me in front of my guests. Commit whatever you want with each other — leave my guests alone." They said, "You know what we want and you had better give us what we are demanding right now." He wasn't giving his own daughters in marriage to these people. He said, "Go marry these women." They said, "No, we want your guests right now."

So at that point, he cried out to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then the guests told him, "Don't worry — we are actually angels. They cannot harm us. They cannot harm us. We are safe. And in fact, we came to give you the glad tidings that by the morning, this whole nation will be destroyed." So this is the second story: I saved him. I saved Lut alayhi al-salam.

Story 3: Nuh alayhi al-salam — 950 Years of Dawah

Third one — Nuh alayhi al-salam. 950 years giving dawah to these people. They were refuting him, rebuking him, harassing him, torturing him. Finally, when he was completely overcome, at the end he said, "O Allah, I am completely overcome by these enemies — I ask for Your help."

He called out to me — then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said: "I responded to his call. I am the one who responded to his call. I am the one who saved him." Again: I saved him. I gave him najat and his family from the great destruction.

In Surah al-Saffat, it is so beautiful. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, when Nuh alayhi al-salam called unto Us:

"How beautiful I am in responding!" — it is a word of praise. It is like when someone here makes a beautiful dunk, a beautiful layup, a beautiful three-pointer — you say, "What a player!" Or when you see a painting, you say, "What a beautiful artist!" So Allah says, "I responded to him — fa la ni'ma al-mujibun — how beautifully I respond." And nasarnahum — "I helped him." He was against his entire nation, and I saved him from his people. Fa aghraqnahum ajma'een — they were all drowned in the water.

Stories 4 & 5: Dawud and Sulayman alayhi al-salam — The Test of Blessings

Then stories four and five we will wrap together — it is Sulayman and Dawud alayhi al-salam. This is a different type of test. They did not have difficulties. They had a test of wealth and blessings. Will they make shukr to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala or not? Because the test is not always about putting us through difficulties — Allah Ta'ala might test us through good conditions as well.

Allah Ta'ala speaks in great length here — you will have to go and look at it yourself insha'Allah afterwards. Tonight you can open up Surah al-Anbiya and see the blessings He mentions about Sulayman alayhi al-salam and Dawud alayhi al-salam.

Story 6: Ayyub alayhi al-salam — The Test of Affliction

And number six — then Allah talks about Ayyub alayhi al-salam. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

"Remember My slave Ayyub — when he called out to his Lord." Not right away. You know that he had beautiful children. He had wealth. He had farms, sheep, goats, camels. And then what happened? The roof fell down — all of his nine children, sleeping — they died at once. Then disease broke out among his animals and they all died off. Then drought came and he lost his farm. Then he was physically so beautiful — he lost his physical health. He became despised by his own people. He was thrown out. His only support was Layya, the granddaughter of Yusuf alayhi al-salam — his wife. She stayed by his side. He went through this trial for so many years.

Finally, then he called out to his Lord. He said:

"O my Lord, I have been afflicted. And You are the most merciful of those who can show mercy." He did not say, "So remove my affliction." Meaning he does not have the juraat — the courage — to say, "O Allah, remove my affliction." This is called ardh al-hal — you simply say, "O Allah, I am under affliction and You are the most merciful."

Like Adam and Hawwa — what did they say? They did not say, "O Allah, forgive us." They did not ask for forgiveness because they were in such a position that they could not even ask for forgiveness directly. They just said:

"O our Lord, we have done a great zulm upon ourselves. And if You don't forgive us and don't show mercy on us, then we will be among the losers." They did not explicitly say ighfir lana — "Forgive us." They said, "O Allah, if You don't forgive us, we are going to be at a loss." Speaking with a hint is more effective than being explicit sometimes. This is called al-kinaya abalgh min al-sarih — the allusion is more eloquent than being direct.

So likewise, Ayyub alayhi al-salam just said: "I am afflicted. If You don't have mercy, then I will be in difficulty." And Allah said:

"I responded to his call. I removed all his physical sickness." When his wife came back — she said, "There was a man lying here. I went to earn some money by doing physical labor to bring some food for him. Can you help me find my husband?" He said, "I am your husband." She said, "Please do not joke with me. I am a woman undergoing great trials in my life." He said, "I am your husband — look closely." And then she looked, and she realized it was none other than Ayyub alayhi al-salam.

Allah had commanded him:

Strike your heel on the ground — a spring came out, he did ghusl, and he became young once again. And Allah gave him his children back — his children were brought back to life — and he had another new set of nine children. Allah responded to him.

Stories 7, 8, 9: Ismail, Idrees, and Dhul-Kifl alayhi al-salam

Then Allah mentions number seven — Ismail alayhi al-salam. Number eight — Idrees alayhi al-salam. Number nine — Dhul-Kifl alayhi al-salam. Unfortunately, we are out of time and we are going to have to skip their stories.

Story 10: Yunus alayhi al-salam — The Darknesses

Number ten — it is very beautiful. Number ten is Yunus alayhi al-salam. After that, Allah said:

"Remember the one of the fish — when he went away in anger, thinking that We would have no power over him." When he told his people, "You have to believe in Allah or the azaab is coming," they said, "We are not going to believe in Allah." Then Yunus alayhi al-salam made his own ijtihad. He thought the azaab of Allah was coming. He knows the history — whenever the azaab comes, the anbiya are taken out. So he said, "Let me leave before the azaab comes." But he made a slight error in judgment — he should not have left without a direct order from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And he left. Then the people also know the history. They said, "The Nabi of Allah has gone. If the Prophet of Allah has gone, then the azaab of Allah is approaching." It is like the U.S. government — for example, before they start bombing some country, they remove their staff from the embassy. The embassy is evacuated. They call back their representative. Allah takes out His representative, His prophet, before the azaab comes. So they said, "The prophet has gone — azaab is coming."

Then they saw the signs of the azaab. The signs of the azaab became apparent. And these people — and this is the only time it ever happened in all of history — the entire town of Nineveh came out of the city: the men, the women, the old, the young, even the animals. They gathered and started making dua and istighfar. For the first and last time ever, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — after making the signs of azaab apparent — stopped the azaab. Allah says in Surah Yunus:

The only people ever, that the azaab of Allah was going to befall them and then it was removed, are the people of Yunus. So Yunus alayhi al-salam became so embarrassed. "I told them the azaab is coming, and then the azaab did not come. How can I go back and face my people?" He realized his mistake. Then he went on a boat. From the boat, he had to jump out. There is a long story. Finally, he was swallowed by the fish and went down to the bottom of the ocean.

So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says he called on to Me from multiple darknesses. It was a dark night. Then the ocean water itself was dark. Then the depth of the water was even further dark. Then being inside the fish was another layer of darkness. Then being inside the stomach of the fish was another layer of darkness. That is why there were multiple layers of darknesses.

He went down to the bottom of the ocean. At the ocean floor, he heard some humming sound. He put his ear to the wall of the stomach — what is this humming sound? Then slowly, slowly, he could hear that the stones on the bottom of the ocean floor were making the tasbih of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala:

"Everything is hymning the praises of Allah — you cannot understand." When he heard that, he got encouraged — "Wow, I can also call unto Allah! He might help me." What did he call out?

"There is no one worthy of worship besides You. You are pure — these stones are saying subhanAllah, I also say subhanAllah. Indeed, I am one of the wrongdoers — I have transgressed all limits by leaving the town without Your permission." Again, he did not say "save me." He just said, "I am a dhalim — O Allah, You are the One." Please help me — it is understood from that.

So Allah says:

"Again, I responded to his call. And I saved him from his predicament." And the beautiful ending with which we conclude our talk today — Allah says: wa kadhaalika nunjil mu'mineen — "Likewise, I will always respond to and save and give najat and salvation to those who believe in Me." This promise of saving at the time of difficulty when you call out to Me is not limited to the anbiya or the ma'soom. It is not limited to the beloved ones of Allah only. But rather Allah says: likewise, I will always save the believers.

"Who else is there who responds to the distressed one when he calls out — besides Me?"

Story 11: Zakariya alayhi al-salam — The Gift of Yahya

Allah says that just like I saved all these Prophets — number eleven: Zakariya alayhi al-salam. Remember Zakariya — what happened to him?

He made dua to his Lord. He said, "O Allah, don't leave me alone. I have no progeny. My wife is barren. I am very old. But I want a child, ya Allah."

"I responded to his dua as well. And I granted him a son — Yahya."

The Lesson for Us — Never Lose Hope

So what is the lesson for us from all of these stories of the anbiya? Whatever difficulty we are facing in our lives, whatever trials we are going through — we should never lose hope with the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah is the one who came to the aid of all the anbiya in the various trials they faced.

And that Allah is today the same Allah. By His name, it means — as Imam Raghib al-Asfahani defines in his Ta'rifat:

Allah by definition is that Being whose existence is necessary, who possesses all attributes of perfection, and who is pure from change, decrease, and cessation — munazzah an al-taghyyyur. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is pure from any decrease in His power. The same Allah who was there responding to the calls of the anbiya can respond to our calls — if we but believe in Him and call out to Him sincerely.

"Your Lord says: Call out to Me and I will respond to your call." This is the promise of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Let us believe in His promise, and let us beg from Him — and insha'Allah see the effects of our duas being accepted in this world.

وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ