Clarifying Everything - Episode 7: Meanings in the Seventh Part of Surah Al-An'am
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. May Allah greet you all in the sixth or seventh day of Ramadan. We apologize for any confusion in the names, and we will review them together, God willing. Today, we will start with our questions, and we will have six questions: four from today's portion, one from the previous portions, and one from the entire Quran.
Some brothers have pointed out that the sound is weak. I will try to improve it now by removing the microphone or speaking louder. Is the sound good now? Perfect, we will begin with the blessing of Allah.
Question One: Allah's Care and the Answer to Prayer
Question: You may encounter situations where Allah's care for you and His response to your prayers become evident in a way that defies conventional material explanations, filling you with joy. However, remember that the duty of gratitude is immense, and the sin of denying these situations is equally great. Provide a verse from the seventh part that indicates this meaning.
Answer: It is the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "Allah said, 'I am sending it down to you. So whoever disbelieves after that, then indeed I will punish him with a punishment with which I do not punish anyone of the worlds.'" [Al-Ma'idah: 115].
Reflection on the Verse
Sometimes, a person wishes to experience divine care, and indeed, they face a difficulty and call upon Allah, and the response comes in a wondrous, merciful way that cannot be explained materially. This is a good thing, but remember that the argument has been established against you. In the latter part of Surah Al-Ma'idah, the followers of Jesus, peace be upon him, asked for a table from the heaven. When Jesus prayed to his Lord and Allah responded to him, Allah warned them: whoever disbelieves after this astonishing verse, his punishment will not be like the punishment of anyone else.
Satan comes here from two angles:
- Material Explanation: He convinces you that what happened is ordinary and merely a coincidence, not a divine response.
- Temptation: He deceives you into thinking that you do not deserve the response because you are a sinner, thus depriving you of the station of gratitude. Beware, for the station of gratitude is one of the highest stations, as mentioned by Ibn Al-Qayyim in "Madarij Al-Salikin."
Question Two: Awaiting the Reward of the Hereafter
Question: The Muslim should accustom himself to the idea that the complete benefit and true reward are in the Hereafter, not in this world. Provide a verse from the seventh part that indicates this.
Answer: The saying of Allah, the Exalted, in verse 119 of Surah Al-Ma'idah: "Allah said, 'This is a Day when the truthful will benefit from their truthfulness. For them are gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever...'"
Education on Certainty
Sometimes, there is an educational flaw in linking every righteous deed to an immediate worldly result (study to succeed, pray so that Allah may help you in the exam). Yes, Allah blesses, but the complete and comprehensive benefit is on the Day of Judgment. The truthful person may be tested with his truthfulness in this world, being dismissed from a job or facing hardship. Therefore, we must attach our hearts to the Hereafter.
Ibn Al-Qayyim says in "Al-Dawa' wal-Dawa'" commenting on the verse "Indeed, the righteous will be in pleasure": "Do not think that this is only for the Day of Resurrection, but these people are in pleasure in their three stages (this world, the Barzakh, and the Hereafter)." And what pleasure is better than the tranquility of the heart and the knowledge of the Lord? This is the "sound heart" that lives in an expedited paradise.
Question Three: The Balance Between Fear and Hope
Question: Mention two consecutive verses that show that one of us may do a great deed involving many sacrifices, but his negligence in it regarding one of Allah's commands exposes him to punishment. Therefore, one should not rely on the idea "I am better than others."
Answer: Verses 94 and 95 of Surah Al-Ma'idah: "O you who have believed, Allah will surely test you with something of the game that your hands and spears reach, that Allah may make evident who fears Him unseen..." to His saying "And whoever returns [to disobedience], then Allah will surely take retribution upon him. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Owner of Retribution."
Imagine the hardship of Hajj in the past; a long journey and dangers, and yet, Allah tests the pilgrims with easy and facilitated hunting "that their hands reach." Whoever transgresses and hunts while in a state of Ihram, Allah threatens him with painful punishment and retribution. Let not a person be deceived by his sacrifice in Hajj to disobey Allah in a minor detail, but rather, one must balance between fear and hope.
Question Four: Responding to the Myth of Evolution (One Word)
Question: Followers of the myth of evolution rely on the "resemblance" between creatures as evidence of a single origin. However, there are species that are difficult to distinguish due to their resemblance, despite their differing realities. Mention the most precise word in a verse that indicates this meaning.
Answer: The word "مُشْتَبِهًا" (resembling).
It appears in Surah Al-An'am: "And the olive and the date palm, resembling and dissimilar."
I pondered over "resembling," and resemblance is what confuses you due to its similarity, making you think it is one thing while it is different. Through scientific research, we find hundreds of olive varieties that match in form to the extent that the University of Oxford established a genetic database to distinguish between them to prevent fraud. This "resemblance" in form with differing genetic realities and functions is one of the manifestations of divine miracle and perfection, not evidence of randomness and accidental evolution.
Question Five: A Question from the Entire Quran (Precaution Regarding Allah)
Question: A person's anger intensifies if he feels he has been betrayed, and Allah, the Exalted, is far removed from that due to His knowledge encompassing everything. Therefore, it is not conceivable that He, the Exalted, would be betrayed, leading to the intensification of His anger. Rather, He knows from the beginning what will happen to the people. There are two verses that mention the same story (the breaking of Pharaoh's people of their covenant), but one may mistakenly attribute human-like anger to one of them. Therefore, the other verse contains a four-word phrase as a precaution against this assumption regarding Allah. What is this phrase?
Answer: The phrase is: "إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ هُم بَالِغُوهُ" (until a term they will reach).
Intervention with Brother Issac Sandoukah (Winner of the Question)
We hosted brother Issac via Messenger, who is a computer programmer and bioinformatics researcher from Jordan. We asked him about the secret of his speed in recalling the answer, and he replied: "We examined the words of the question about breaking the covenant and not betraying Allah, so we searched for the similar verses in the story of Pharaoh's people and found the difference between the verse in Surah Az-Zukhruf and the verse in Surah Al-A'raf."
Brother Issac advised the followers to persist in contemplation and continuous reading, where he reads a part in Ramadan with contemplation and has a review lesson reaching three parts daily. May Allah open for him and increase him in knowledge.
Reflection on the Two Verses
- The first verse in Surah Az-Zukhruf (50): "But when We removed from them the punishment, behold, they broke their covenant." Here, one may think that the breaking of the covenant was sudden or an unexpected betrayal.
- The second verse in Surah Al-A'raf (135): "But when We removed from them the punishment to a term they will reach, behold, they broke their covenant."
This addition "إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ هُم بَالِغُوهُ" is the precaution; it clarifies that Allah, the Exalted, knew that they would break the covenant, and the removal of the punishment from them was temporary and measured in His eternal knowledge to a specified term (which is the day of drowning). Therefore, there is no betrayal by Allah, the Exalted be He, far is He from that, but it is a precise divine arrangement.
This subtle point is not from me, but it is from the blessing of studying the Quran with one of the imprisoned brothers (may Allah free them all), where he derived it during his contemplation of the verses.
Names of Today's Winners
Masha'Allah, today's interaction was strong from various countries:
- From Jordan: Brother Umar Sabah, Sister Israa Mahmoud, Sister Manar Ad-Duwaik, Sister Hanan Abu Ruman, and Brother Ishaq Sanduqah.
- From Egypt: Brother Muhammad Jaballah.
- From Japan: Brother Muzammil Abdullah.
- From Iraq: (Riyah An-Nasr).
May God bless you all and reward you for this interaction and contemplation. We ask God to gather us in this world in obedience to Him and in the Hereafter under His Throne.
Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessings.