Reflections From The Stories of The Quran

Reflections From The Stories of the Quran

I bear witness that Allah is the only one worthy of worship and Muhammad ﷺ his last and final messenger.

My dear brothers and sisters, this book of Allah has been sent to us as mercy, as a healer, as a reminder, as a guide —

— a guide, a mercy, a healer, and a criterion — the one that distinguishes between falsehood and truth. Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه, when he described the Quran, said something interesting that I want to reflect upon today in my talk, in my khutbah:

Ibn Abbas said: "Its wonders never cease." (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, introduction)

It has an endless number of wonders. Every time you read the Quran and you think about the stories of the Quran, the commands of the Quran, the legislations of the Quran, the way Allah described Himself in the Quran — it always amazes you by the quality of this book. No wonder, because it is Allah's speech.

The quality of this book is equal to the quality of Allah Himself, because it is His speech. It is one of His attributes that He speaks, and among the things that He spoke is this book.

Today I was just thinking before Jumu'ah about some of the reflections that I want to share with you. These are random reflections, but they lead to one conclusion — it is an open invitation to each and every one of us to read the Quran more, to read in the books of Tafsir, and to listen to lectures and talks about the Quran more and more, because there is more to be found, more to be learned, more to be inspired by.

The Story of Nuh: Animals vs. Humans

The Quran tells us that Nuh عليه السلام called upon his people for 950 years, repeating the call and inviting them to salvation. Yet they chose to drown. And then he called the animals — only once — to ride in the ark, and they all accepted the call to safety.

It is remarkable: Nuh عليه السلام called upon animals one time to ride in the ark and all of them accepted the call, while he spent 950 years calling humans — his own people — to ride with him, to accept him, and to follow him, and they refused.

And by the way, the people of Nuh used to say:

They thought of themselves as the elites — educated, smart, intelligent. "Those who follow you are the weak-minded," they said. Yet Allah made the animals smarter than them. Sometimes that pure fitrah — that sound natural instinct — is more beneficial and more beloved than a twisted, sick, disbelieving mind; an intelligence that leads to the disobedience of Allah.

Allah says that the people who followed Nuh from his people were only a few. Ibn Abbas said: eighty people — with their families and children. Another narration says ten people. That's it.

The Wife of Pharaoh and the Wife of Lut: Faith and Circumstances

I reflect upon the Quran and I come across a verse in the story we all know — that Imra'at Fir'awn, the wife of Pharaoh, who lived in the house of the biggest taghiya, the worst of humanity, Pharaoh — that dictator and disbeliever — still held firm to her religion and to her deen, and she found the light of guidance.

While the wife of Lut عليه السلام lived in the house of a prophet, and the wife of Nuh lived in the house of a prophet — a messenger, and from Ulil Azm among the messengers — yet she could not find the light of guidance. She remained a disbeliever and betrayed her husband.

So many times we think that where we are living or our circumstances are just an excuse for the situation that we are in. No — it is not. Especially when it comes to faith and Iman.

Nuh's Son vs. Ibrahim's Son: Obedience and Disobedience

Nuh عليه السلام tried to gift life to his son — he wanted him to survive, to live — and he refused, he rejected his father. While Ibrahim عليه السلام offered death to his son. Ibrahim told his son: "I have seen in a dream that I am sacrificing you." And what was the outcome?

Nuh's son died among the disbelievers, and Ibrahim's son survived and is among the messengers — Ismail عليه السلام. The one who disobeyed his father to the level of arrogance, and the one who obeyed his father with complete submission to his Lord — to the extent that it leaves us amazed by that scene.

Allah's Promise of Provision: 90 Times vs. Shaytan's One Promise

The Quran mentions — ninety times or more — that Allah promises to take care of your provision, that He will provide for you, that He will replace what you spend. And Shaytan — one time — promises you poverty if you give.

Yet you see through people's actions that they believe that one-time statement of the liar — Iblis, the Satan — over the ninety times that came in the Quran from the most truthful, Allah.

The Story of Musa: Logic vs. the Heart

I read the story of Musa عليه السلام and I see how many evidences he brought to Pharaoh — one after another — and each one of them was an amazing miracle, with no conclusion but to say: this must be from Allah. One after another. But yet the people of Pharaoh said:

"Whatever sign you bring us to bewitch us, we will never believe in you."

The Quran tells us that Allah gave Musa nine miracles at once to show to his people. But then I read in the story that the magicians — who were so deep in disbelief and came to support Pharaoh against Musa — when they witnessed just one miracle of Musa, his staff turning into a snake that devoured their snakes, what did they do?

The magicians fell into prostration and said: "We believe in the Lord of Harun and Musa." They didn't even know His name yet. They said: "We just believe in the Lord of Harun and Musa — we know nothing about Him, but we know that this is the truth. A miracle only comes from someone sent by God."

And Pharaoh knew he was lying — because Pharaoh knew that Musa was raised in his house and had nothing to do with magic, and he knew that those magicians were from Egypt while Musa had been outside of Egypt before he returned. So Pharaoh knew he was lying. He threatened them, tortured them, cut their hands and their legs, and crucified them all. And they said: "We will never favor you over the truth that has appeared to us. Do whatever you want — you only control this life."

Indeed, whoever comes to his Lord as a criminal — for him is Hellfire, he will neither die therein nor live. And whoever comes to Him as a believer, having done righteous deeds — for those are the high degrees.

And so I realized that the issue is not about logic — "prove to me that this is correct" — and we waste so much time trying to prove things logically correct or wrong. No. In most cases, it is about the heart. Are they sincere or not? That is what leads people to Iman.

Every Prophet Has Enemies — And That Is Okay

I read in the Quran how nice and gentle the prophets were — how wise they were — the way they spoke, the way they gave da'wah:

All these verses praise the methods and ways the prophets delivered the message. Yet Allah also says:

"And thus We have made for every prophet an enemy — devils from mankind and jinn." Not just enemies — devils. Another level of animosity — directed at those kind, nice people who used soft words, wisdom, peaceful, moderate, balanced approaches. Yet they had enemies.

And I realize at this moment: animosity will happen no matter how nice you are, no matter how good you are. There will be people who hate you for nothing but for who you are, for the truth that you carry. Don't take it personally. It's not about you. Those who hate you — they hate themselves, and they hate the truth that you carry and represent. That's why I never allow negative people to turn me into one of them.

The People of the Trench: True Success

My brothers and sisters, I ask Allah to make us among those who reflect upon the verses in the Quran and learn from them. When Allah tells the story of the People of the Trench, He tells us about them:

"Indeed those who believed and did righteous deeds will have gardens beneath which rivers flow — that is the great attainment." Al-Fawz al-Kabir — the great winning.

I asked myself when I was reading: this is the only time in the Quran that Allah refers to someone or some group as achieving al-Fawz al-Kabir — the greatest winning. Yet I know that the People of the Trench were all killed. They did not take over, they did not destroy those dictators, they did not become victorious in this dunya. And I realize that the true success is in holding on to one's principles, and the success of the Hereafter is al-Fawz al-Kabir.

The great success is to live and to die upon these principles that you believed in. It is easy to have good principles in life — but what is really hard is to hold on to them until you die. That is why some scholars used to say: "It is easy to die for the sake of Allah — you just die. What is really hard is to live for the sake of Allah."

A Call to Connect with the Quran This Summer

May Allah make this upcoming summer an opportunity for us, our families, and our children to reflect more on the Quran. I highly recommend, as these long summer days are coming, that you put a program in place for your children — enlist them to study the book of Allah, to be connected more to the book of Allah, to read more of the Quran, to listen more to the Quran, to listen to more lectures about the Quran.

We will have, inshallah, a program here at the masjid — at Elm Tree — for four to five weeks: Quranic studies will take place. We have programs that offer training and learning and basic Tafsir going on almost every week at the masjid. Make sure that you are part of that. Make sure that you grow. Make sure to use all the tools available to grow your relationship with the book of Allah during these beautiful long summer days that are approaching us, inshallah.

We ask Allah to forgive our sins and our parents' sins.