Who’s more Loyal? Animals or Humans | Surah Aadiyaat Ep8 l Tafsir Duhā to An-Nās | Imam Nadim Bashir

The next surah that we are covering after Surat al-Zilzal is Surat al-'Adiyat. Now, al-'Adiyat is also a Makki surah. And keeping in mind that the Quraysh were people who were heedless of Allah. They were obsessed with the dunya. They had denied their resurrection. They had denied Rasool Allah ﷺ as being a prophet. So Allah in this surah, He again highlights some of the key things. And He finds a very interesting way to capture the attention of the audience.

Allah's Method of Capturing Attention

You will see something in the Qur'an very often that Allah chooses different ways to capture the attention of the audience. And a lot of times it's important not to know who the person is saying or who is saying it, but what is being said. For example, if someone came to the Jum'ah khutbah and they cannot get inside the Jum'ah khutbah. And imagine there are no TVs. Right now in all of our masjids we have TVs. But you will sit in the back and you will feel like that, man, that was an amazing khutbah. Imagine you sat in the khutbah, and then you go to the front and you see someone who's giving the khutbah. And he's probably wearing clothes that are not according to your expectation. He does not have the looks according to your expectation. He probably does not have the look of a shaykh or things of that type. And you would immediately judge the entire khutbah based on who you saw.

This is something that's very common with human beings. A lot of times they will not see what is being said, but they judge the entire message on who's saying it. That is why you'll find in this entire surah, Allah does not mention His name not even once. And this is something very common with the Makki surahs. And all these Makki surahs, pay attention next time, you will not see a single time where Allah mentions His name. Why? Because as soon as they will hear the name of Allah, they will put their fingers in their ears and they will completely reject the entire message. This is why Allah, He took Himself out of the picture. He did not mention His name anywhere so that they can listen to the entire message.

Structure of Surah Al-'Adiyat

Another thing that you will find in this surah is that in the previous surah, Allah mentioned about the akhirah. And here, He does not get into the akhirah immediately, but He brings the akhirah again at the very end. So this is something that we will find very common in this surah. And this surah is divided into three different parts.

This surah in itself has 11 verses. The first part is talking about horses, and this is ayah number 1 to 5. Verse number 6 to 8 is talking about the crux of the issue that is within us. And then ayah number 9 to 11, Allah is talking about what will be exposed in the akhirah.

The Power of Heavy Letters

Another thing that you'll find about this surah is that you'll find words that are used which are very heavy in nature. Let me give you an example. In the Arabic alphabet, majority of the letters are considered as soft letters. Alif is considered as a soft letter. Ba is considered as a soft letter. Ta is considered as a soft letter. But there are some letters that are considered as heavy letters. For example, Saad is considered as a heavy letter. Daad is considered as a heavy letter. Tha is considered as a heavy letter. Same thing as Dha. Same thing as Qaf.

And not only that, but there are some letters that you have to exert a little effort into. You have to put a little push behind it. Such as Ha is a letter that you have to really put a little pressure into it. Ayn is not something that comes out easily. You gotta put a lot of pressure into it. Now unless a person has been studying and reading the Qur'an with tajweed for a long time, then it comes out naturally. But nonetheless, if you're learning for the very first time, Ha and Ayn and Ghayn and Kha, these are things you gotta put a little pressure into them.

Allah in these first five verses, He's not only just talking about horses, but in the wording in itself, you will see that He's used letters that are considered as heavy letters. And listen to these ayat:

Again, Ayn. ضَبْحًا - Daad is used. Ha is used.

Qaf is used. Ha is used.

مُغِيرَات is heavy. Ra is heavy. صُبْحًا - Saad is heavy. Ha, again you gotta exert your effort into it.

Again, Ra is used. نَقْعًا - Qaf is heavy. Ayn, you gotta exert.

Tha is used. Not only is Allah just talking about horses, but Allah is using the words, He's talking about how aggressive these horses were in nature. So coming to this surah, this is why this surah is very beautiful in that sense.

The Racing Horses: Building Momentum

Now, in this surah, the surah begins by talking about, as I said, horses. But the very first ayah, Allah says, وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا And if you read all these verses, these first five verses, the intensity is only picking up amongst these verses.

Allah begins by saying, وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا He says, by the racers. So these are horses that are not just sitting around, they're brought to like those petting zoos, or brought for like show and tell. These are horses that are considered as racers. They go into race. These are horses that you feed, you take care of them, you look after them. But not only that, these kind of horses that you use when it comes to war. Because they are the most strongest horses.

He says, وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا The word ضَبْحة implies an animal that is breathing so heavily that you can hear their breathing from far away. So Allah is talking about horses here. Why? Because the Quraysh loved horses. They were enamored by horses. In fact, they would have poetry competitions where a lot of times they would talk about what kind of amazing horse they had or horses they had. So Allah by talking about horses, immediately you catch their attention.

Talk to someone, like talk to a medical doctor about IT, information technology, and you will lose them in two minutes, or probably even within a minute or 30 seconds. Talk to an IT guy about IT, something that is amazing, you will have their attention. Allah could have brought an abstract concept. Allah brought horses. Why? Because they loved horses.

Creating Vivid Imagery

Now, Allah captures their attention, just like you know if you see a movie preview, you know when you see those movie previews, they're building up that momentum, right? Momentum, momentum, momentum, momentum. And after that what did they tell you? Come in next summer. You're like, Oh, just give me that last piece. You want that last piece of information. Likewise, Allah is getting their attention, building up that momentum, and then boom! Allah brings that message.

So Allah says, وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا Then He says, فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا Now imagine, just think about it. Try to create this imagery in your mind. It's dark at night, you're standing outside and you're hearing the ground trembling. The horses, not just one horse, many horses are coming. And now when they're coming, you can hear their panting and you have no idea where this noise is coming from. Immediately it creates suspense, it creates some kind of anxiety within you.

Then Allah says, فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا Imagine if you saw these horses and as their hooves are coming in contact with the ground, and because again, we're talking about the desert, we're talking about stones and rocks. As their hooves will come in contact, there will be sparks of fire. You're talking about these amazing horses.

And then Allah does not stop there, He says, فَالْمُغِيرَاتِ صُبْحًا Like it's pitch dark, you see sparks flying, you hear all this breathing taking place, and then all of a sudden, dawn takes place and you see this huge army, you see all these horses racing towards you.

فَأَثَرْنَ بِهِ نَقْعًا And not only that, but there's so many of them that are creating, they are stirring up clouds of dust and dirt. Meaning that there's so many of them. And then He says, فَوَسَطْنَ بِهِ جَمْعًا That they are coming right between the army. They're not going around the army, they're coming right between the army.

The Lesson of Animal Loyalty

What is Allah... Why did Allah mention all this? Because Allah is trying to get across a very important message by mentioning all this. Horses do not receive revelation. Horses do not receive the promises of Allah. But yet you will find them to be extremely loyal to their master. They will sacrifice for their master. They will do whatever they're told to do.

On the flip side, the human being has received revelation. The human being has received the promises of Allah. Yet they are not even faithful or even close to when it comes to loyalty to Allah. If these are animals that are so loyal, why can't you, the human being, cannot be loyal to Allah?

And that is why this is something that we see often in the Qur'an where Allah talks about this idea or this concept that the human beings sometimes become so low, they get to such a level in life that they become worse than animals. Animals are more loyal to their masters than we are loyal to Allah.

The Core Issue: Human Ingratitude

Now, Allah comes to the next verses, 6 to 8.

Now that I have your attention, Allah sends the crux of the matter. What is the key issue here? Verily the human being, to their Rabb. Why did Allah mention Rabb? Because to help them understand He is the ultimate Rabb. He's the one who has taken care of you. He's the one who has nourished you. He's the one who has looked after you. He's the one who created you.

إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لِرَبِّهِ A person to their Rabb, they become what? لَكَنُودٌ - كَنُود means, a person who becomes extremely ungrateful. Mean the signs are right there in front of you. But you choose not to look at the signs. You completely ignore the signs. You understand that there is no one, there is no entity that can control this entire dunya the way Allah does. Yet a person says, I do not care. They forget about Allah's mercy. They forget about the health that they have. They forget about the guidance that they have. They forget about the wealth that they have, the family that they have. They forget about all that.

And then Allah says, They are clear witnesses about this. They see everything. It's not like they don't understand. They see everything in front of them.

The Root Cause: Love of This World

But then what is the crux of the issue here? The crux of the issue is number one, they are ungrateful to Allah. But number two is, the crux of the issue and the problem and the root cause of all these problems is:

Is their attachment to this dunya. This is the crux of the entire issue. Because when you are obsessed about status, if you are obsessed about what other people have to say about you, if you are obsessed about worldly possessions, if you are obsessed with the image that you have outside. Like today there are people, all they worry about is their image online. I have this many followers, I have this many followers, this and that. And then they go out of their way to please everyone. Allah is telling us that this is the crux of the issue.

And by the way, dunya has never been something where Allah says you cannot do it. But you cannot let dunya consume you. You consume the dunya, but do not get to a level where the dunya consumes you. So whatever we have, we use that to come back to Allah.

The Final Revelation: Everything Hidden Will Be Exposed

And then Allah says:

Do they not know what is in the graves that will be outturned and scattered out? Meaning that Allah is saying here in these upcoming verses, in these last verses, there are things that are underneath the ground which are hidden from us. There are things inside the heart that are hidden from us. Guess what? On that day, everything will become exposed.

بُعْثِرَ means to take something out. Like imagine, someone bringing a casket from the grave and dumping it and all that comes out are just skeletons. Not only what's inside the grave will come out:

Every intention, everything that you had in your heart, the intention, the sincerity, or the jealousy, or the arrogance, or the hypocrisy, the love, the greed, everything that's stored inside this heart, you and I, no one can see what's in our heart. But that day, everything will become revealed.

And then Allah says:

That on that day, everything, indeed their Lord on that day is fully aware of them. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is reminding again, who is your Rabb? Their Rabb. You don't believe in Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Allah is reminding them again and again, He is the Rabb. You can call the idols the Rabb, but this is your Rabb. Your job can be your Rabb, but He, Allah is the ultimate Rabb. Everything that we have in this dunya that we are obsessed about, we give everything for that. They are considered as Rabb in our heart, but the ultimate Rabb is Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

Nothing Can Be Hidden on the Day of Judgment

لَخَبِيرٌ - Allah knows everything. No person, no person can hide anything in the akhirah. We live in a world where everyone, everything is covered. There are so many things, the Epstein list, no better example than that. What is out there, what is not out there, but on that day, everything will become exposed. There is no power that can hide any information from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala on the day of judgment.

The Two Core Messages of Surah Al-Adiyat

So again, these verses, again, the ultimate crux of this entire surah is two things. Why are we here? Why do we have so many issues in our life? First of all, we are ungrateful. لَكَنُود - This human being, no matter how much Allah has given them, they are ungrateful to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

And what is the crux behind that? What is the issue behind that? Why are we here today in this kind of situation? Because of the love of this dunya. We have given preference to this dunya over the love of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. If it comes down to Allah or this dunya, we always give preference to this dunya. We have forgotten that we have to stand before Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala on the day of judgment.

The Horses Are Not the Message

The horses is not the ultimate message of this surah. The message of this surah is we need to become more grateful to Allah. And the second thing is we have to detach.

Again, no matter how much... You can go and become a millionaire. I've told this to the youth before. I'll finish on this. When someone comes to me and says, can I become a millionaire? You can become a millionaire. Go become a billionaire if you want, right? But do not compromise your deen.

When people start running after this dunya, they start compromising their deen. They lose their identity. They want to become like someone else. They want to please someone else. Run, become a millionaire, billionaire. And there are people, wallahi, I've seen. Little money changes them. And I've also seen people, they have so much money. So much money that they don't even know what to do with that money. But subhanAllah, it does not change them. Not change them one bit.

You run after this dunya, do as much as you want. But do not compromise your deen. So this is the key two messages from this surah.

May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala grant all of us tawfeeq, inshaAllah. Ameen. Rabb al-alameen, wa jazakumullahu khayr. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.