Episode 32 - The Necessity of Understanding Allah's Will -2

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah. Dear brothers, in the previous episode, we discussed the impact of our distance from pure Arabic on our understanding of the Quran. We mentioned an example of this, the broken exception, and explained it in light of His saying: ((But do not conspire secretly with them except to say a known word)). Today, we would like to give another example of the broken exception to then move on to a general rule in dealing with the interpretations of the Quran. Allah the Almighty said in Surah Al-Hijr: ((So the angels prostrated themselves all of them together (30) except Iblees, he refused to be among those who prostrated (31)) (Al-Hijr). A reader of the verse may understand that Iblees was one of the angels... ((So the angels prostrated themselves all of them together (30) except Iblees)) But let us return to say, brothers, this is a broken exception, meaning that what comes after the word "except" is disconnected from what comes before it, and is not part of it nor of its kind. So the meaning of Allah's words here: The angels prostrated themselves and Iblees did not prostrate. This is indicated by His saying in Surah Al-Isra: ((And when We said to the angels, "Prostrate to Adam," they prostrated except Iblees. He was of the jinn and disobeyed the command of his Lord)) (Al-Isra 50). Here, Allah has explicitly stated that Iblees was of the jinn. And Allah has also clarified in many places that the angels do not disobey their Lord, glorified and exalted be He: ((They fear their Lord above them and do what they are commanded)), (((They do not disobey Allah in what He has commanded them and do what they are commanded)). But, brothers, when we refer to the interpretations, we may find strange narratives that make Iblees one of the angels. Here, we would like to point out that in unverified interpretations, there are many narratives that are not established, so it is not appropriate to argue with them, but rather to refer to verified interpretations that the scholars of hadith have ruled on the authenticity and weakness of their narratives. An example of this is the verified and concise interpretation in one volume titled (Al-Misbah Al-Munir in the Correction of Ibn Kathir's Interpretation), which was prepared by a group of scholars under the supervision of Safi Al-Rahman Al-Mubarakfuri, may Allah have mercy on him, the author of Al-Raiq Al-Mukhtum. Ibn Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, said after quoting some strange narratives about the origin of Iblees: (And many narrations have been reported about this from the Salaf, and most of them are Israiliyyat that are transmitted to be examined, and Allah knows best about many of them, and some of them may be clearly false due to their contradiction with the truth we have, and in the Quran is sufficiency from all that precedes it of news; for they are rarely free from alteration, addition, and omission, and many things have been fabricated in them, and they do not have –meaning the Children of Israel- the precise preservers who refute the distortion of the transgressors and the forgery of the falsifiers as this nation has from the imams, scholars, masters, righteous, pious, and noble scholars of the critics and preservers who recorded the hadith, purified it, distinguished its authentic from its good, its weak from its rejected, its fabricated, its abandoned, its false, and they knew the forgers, the liars, the unknown, and other categories of men. All of this is to preserve the honor of the Prophet and the status of Muhammad, the seal of the prophets and the master of mankind, peace be upon him, that falsehood be attributed to him or that he be narrated from with what is not from him. May Allah be pleased with them and please them and make the gardens of Paradise their abode) May Allah grant us understanding in His religion and teach us the interpretation of His Book. Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.