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Lesson 13
We are in section 3. Section 3 is about signs in the world around us, signs in nature.
The previous ayah spoke about 1 sign. A sign for the Quraysh, and all those who
reject the idea of resurrection is the earth itself when it is barren; that Allah brings it back to life and
brings from it grain rice, maize and wheat, which they eat from. That, in and of itself, is a sign for
people to reflect over. Because this was a dead earth and it came back to life. After coming back to
life it dies once again, just like you will die, and your bodies will disintegrate into the soil. Why do you
doubt you will be brought back to life when you can see it in front of your eyes?
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34. And We placed therein gardens of palm trees and grapevines and
caused to burst forth therefrom some springs
Continuing on the picture, as if the first ayah is setting the scene imagine the dry, barren earth, and
then rain comes down and green shoots begin to appear. The grain itself, you can use. But if you let
that grow, what happens? . It turns into gardens, jannaat. And those gardens, Allah
highlighted one type of tree the ( date palms).
Uyoon are springs and waterfalls that come out from the earth itself. The water that comes in the
form of springs and waterfalls is there to supply all of those things with its water. It is as if the picture
is being completed that all these things grow and their growth is taken care of by way of these
springs. All of these things, Allah is saying ( We did this). If you read this ayah, Allah mentions
Himself twice. ( We made), and ( We caused to gush out the springs).
Why did Allah do all of this? Why did Allah create this life on earth? Why did Allah create
the different types of trees, different types of plants, different types of vegetation as well as the
springs that we see around us why?
Then main reason is in the next ayah.
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35. That they may eat of His fruit. And their hands have not produced it, so
will they not be grateful?
When you go to someones house and you are invited as a guest; and they make nice things for you nice items of food, they make your stay very nice, they are hospitable to you, they make you laugh,
they entertain you, and they are doing so many things for you - how do you feel towards that
person? You may feel that they are making me feel special. They are doing things for me, they are
going out of their way to allow me to enjoy myself, I should feel very grateful to them, I feel like I
should reciprocate and do something for this person. Allah is mentioning this whole earth, the
grains, the trees, the date palm trees, grape vines, and the waterfalls, all of this is just not nature, it is
what Allah created for us. Allah also mentions this in Surat al-Baqarah as well,
It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. [Al-Baqarah 2:29]
He is the One Who created all of this for you. Whatever is on the earth is for us, for human beings.
That is why the ayah ends, , will they not be grateful.
All of this is a sign of Allahs mercy and care towards human beings. The question remains, will you
recognize this and be grateful?
Some technical things about this ayah:
So they may eat from - its fruit. What does it go back to?
1.
Al-Qurtubi said that it goes back to al-uyoon, the springs. That essentially, the springs
provide the water to the plants, which provide the fruits.
2. A second opinion is, , the fruit of Allah. All of these items of food that you have
available, they are essentially Allahs. Allah has provided them for you.
The main reason is to eat from His fruit, or from its fruit. This is the main reason. As if it is
being said that the whole earth and things on it are created for us.
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And they didnt make that with their own hands. Human beings didnt create waterfalls and
springs. Human beings didnt create the date palm trees. Human beings didnt make the
grain come out of the earth. Allah did this. Their hands had nothing to do with that.
Allah inspired human beings to use food items to make their own cuisines. People can take these raw
materials, these raw fruits and vegetables and then create so many different items of food.
The amazing thing about food is that it is not just something that we eat. It is something that brings
people together. It has a social dynamic to it. It brings people together. People come together to eat.
Cultures are shaped around food. If you think about Italians for example, what do you think of? Pizza,
pasta you think of food. Even for the English people, when they think of Indians, they think of curry
vindaloo. So cuisine, culture is shaped around food.
So the food that Allah created for us impacts in our lives in so many ways. It is not just something for
the stomach. It is something that has so many benefits.
So Allah placed in the human mind, the ability to use these things to make so many other things.
Even, Qurtubi mentioned, medicine.
How many medicines, their origins lie in plants. For example acetylsalicylic acid, which is aspirin, has a
plant origin. Many medicines, they call it Pharmacognosy, but herbal medicines, it is known, it is a
fact that some famous well-known medicines, their origins lie in plants. Like St. Johns wort is used
for anxiety and depression. St. Johns wort is a plant. Echinacea is used to boost your immune
symptom. When you feel a bit under the weather, cold and flu symptoms, take Echinacea. It is very
good.
All of these things are from what Allah brought out from the earth. How do we use it? We use our
hands and we manufactured these things.
And added to all of this is that you can use your hands to create so many things from it.
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Will they not be grateful? Now what is very interesting here, and is a question I will pose to you, is
that Allah began by saying, this is a sign for them. Who is them? When this surah was revealed, who
was the them referring to? The Quraysh. Now Allah is saying, will they not be grateful. Which
means, the Quraysh, will they not be grateful.
However, is the problem with the Quraysh that they are not grateful, or that they worship others
besides Allah? What is the real problem here? Is it their shirk or their lack of shukr? What is the issue?
What is the major issue here? It is shirk isnt it? The fact is that they do shirk with Allah. That is the
worst of the worst things anyone can do, right? And they deny the resurrection. Which incidentally,
this ayah is trying to prove. So then instead of saying, after showing you all these signs, will you not
believe, Allah mentions
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My Reflections
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36. Exalted is He who created all pairs - from what the earth grows and
from themselves and from that which they do not know.
In conclusion,
TWO views
1.
The first is, do the Quraysh listen and react with worship and shukr? No, they dont. They
continue to worship idols. They continue to do shirk with Allah. , like you say , one
meaning of it is shock. To be amazed. What is the matter with these people? . After all
of this, Allah tells you all of these things in detail, and the way He is taking care of us, and you
still refuse to be grateful, and you instead worship idols? ! It is expressing taajjub
shock and amazement.
2. The second interpretation is, it is expressing that what these people do, their bad behaviour
towards Allah, their ingratitude, it does not detract from Allah in any way, shape or form.
Allah is flawless and perfect in spite of what some of these creatures are doing right now,
worshipping others besides Allah.
This is called tanzeeh, to declare that Allah is perfect, free without any faults. This is the
meaning of . , the translation is glory be to Allah, but what it actually means is
Allah, You are perfect, I am declaring that You are perfect, You are flawless. So the people
worship others besides Allah, they are ungrateful to Allah, that doesnt detract
from You in any way, shape or form.
This is the dua of Younus . What does he say when he is inside the belly of that big
fish?
This dua is amazing. Imagine that you are staring death in the face like Younus was
facing, staring death in the face. And what you need to do is move from that place. Your
salvation lies in being removed from that situation. Now naturally, what you would ask Allah
to do is, O Allah, please remove me from this situation. Younus doesnt say that. He
says
Why did Allah say here? Glory be to the One Who created everything in kinds. There are 2
interpretations:
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He knows that is what pleases Him the most. So he will say that which pleases Allah the
most in his dire need. There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.
2. Then he says , which we translate as glory be to You. How do we understand that
statement in the middle, glory be to You? The way we understand it is by what we learnt
now. You are flawless, meaning my error in leaving my people has nothing to do
with You. It has everything to do with me. It was my fault. You have nothing to do with
my mistake. He is declaring his dependency before Allah, his need before Allah.
O mankind, you are those in need of Allah, while Allah is the Free of need, the
Praiseworthy.74
3. And the third thing he says is Allah I did something wrong. He admits and holds up his
and that I did something wrong.
And that is all it took for Allah to save him. Thats the amazing thing. These are the ways of
the prophets. Their knowledge of Allah necessitates that the way they speak to Allah is in the
best possible way. That is how they become an example for us. We learn that if Younus said
this and he was saved then that is what we should say as well in order to be saved.
The prophet also told us that one of the supplications for a person to say who is
experiencing anxiety and sadness, depression is the dua of Younus . It is one of the
duas that a person should say when they are feeling anxious and they want Allah to relieve
them of their anxiety.
Allah says . Instead of saying , O Allah You are flawless, nothing to do with the shirk
that they do, or , how is it, amazing that these people refuse to listen to these signs, instead
Allah mentions,
What does that mean? When you hear the word what do you think it means? Spouse. Or pairs.
But actually, the word here doesnt mean pairs. The word here means kinds. It means
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varities. Allah is the One Who created everything in , meaning, in different kinds. At-Tabari
said, Allah created everything in different colours.
A diversity is there in the creation of Allah . The amount of creatures there are, and how
each and every one of them is so unique and the sophistication behind each and every one of these
creatures.
For example, deforestation. Cutting down trees in the rainforest doesnt just mean loads of trees will
go missing. It means that the impact will happen on so many other levels. For example, there will be
other trees and plants affected by the loss of those trees. On top of that, habitats will be lost for
many animals, which may mean they become extinct. Also, the soil will become weak, and will
therefore not absorb water as efficiently as it used to. Therefore, it could lead to flooding.
Allah created everything in a variety as well as in a way that complements one another, such that, if
you mess with one part, you will see an impact on another part. This is showing us, , the level
of sophistication in Allahs creation.
3 examples to appreciate
And from human beings themselves. The most obvious example of different kinds of human beings
is the male and the female. And this is a good example to show how they complement one another.
Because had Allah not created human beings as male and female, human beings would have died
out. Were they not in the form of male and female, there would be no procreation and therefore
One of the subtleties of the word is not only that it means different kinds, varieties, but also
that it means that the kinds are contrasting they have a complementary nature towards another
kind. All of the creation are not only different and diverse, but all complement or are linked to one
another in some way, shape or form. We learnt about this in science that there are ecosystems, loads
of systems that are laid upon one another such that, if you interfere with one, it will impact on
another.
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The third is the most interesting. As well as diversity in that which they dont know about. It is almost
showing us that there is a world that you see, but even amongst you and around you, there are
things that you dont know about yet - things that are yet to be discovered.
It is said that human beings have only explored 5% of the ocean. 5% of the ocean has been explored
so far. If that is the case with the rest of creation it means that human beings, what we dont know
of Allahs creation is more than what we know about Allahs creation. Allah is saying that there are
things you can see and things that you are yet to discover.
As one does, researching and seeing what new species have been discovered, Ustadh came across a
report, some scientists, in 2013, went to the amazon rainforest and they went to search for new
species. They found 441 new species of plants and animals in a remote part of the amazon rainforest.
Researchers scoured the region between 2010 and 2013 and found 258 species of plants, 84 new fish,
including a vegetarian piranha, 22 reptiles, 18 birds, and 1 new mammal a monkey that purrs like a
cat when its happy. Many of the species are believed to be endemic to the rainforest and found
nowhere else.
SubhanAllah. Everyday we discover more of Allahs creation. All of these things put together is one
way of appreciating the perfection of Allah .
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37. And a sign for them is the night. We remove from it [the light of] day,
so they are [left] in darkness.
Now, another sign.
And another sign for them is the night. Allah mentions the night
Az-Zamakhshari would say, this word is used for stripping off the skin of the sheep. After the
sacrifice, the guy comes to skin the animal. To skin, to peel back. One of the benefits of this word
salkh is that you remove something to reveal something else. The skin is removed to reveal the meat.
The night, Allah peels back the day, when He does, behold, they are all cast into darkness. What that
means is, the night is described to be wrapped around with light. Light is almost like a cloth wrapping
up the night. When the cloth of night is removed, all of a sudden, they are in darkness.
Have you ever thought about night and day like this? That the night is wrapped up in a mantel of
light, and when that light is removed, thats when we get darkness.
Why do you think it is described in such a unique, strange way? What is the benefit of describing this
phenomenon in this way?
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could mean all of a sudden, or behold. Stand back and look whats going to happen now.
Why did Allah mention they are in darkness instead of saying darkness comes? When Allah removes
the light, darkness comes, doesnt it? But it is described as you all fall into darkness. Whats the
benefit of that? Allah is the One who made it happen and it impacted on human beings. When
human beings experience night time, it affects their behavior, their lifestyle. It affects their lives.
One of the amazing things is that when you go further up North, Norway, Greenland, Alaska, those
kinds of places, places where summertime is 6 months of pure sunlight, and 6 months after are pure
darkness. Now imagine you have sunlight for 6 months, the day that you start to experience night
time, you will be waiting for that day. And when it comes, you will feel the impact of it. They say it
takes 3 days to transition from the pure daytime to daytime and nighttime. The first day, nighttime
will come for 5 minutes. The next day, it will come for something like 30 minutes to an hour.
Thereafter it will come for around 3 hours. This is how it transitions in.
One of the interesting things is nighttime, how does it impact on human beings and their lives? It is
mentioned in the Quran, that one of the main impacts it has is
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In order that you can relax, unwind and rest in it. Now people who do night shifts know the meaning
of this. People who work in the night time and only can sleep in the day time, they know what this
means. Because sleep in the daytime is not the same as sleep in the night time. Even if you have the
same number of hours, you do not feel like you slept.
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Say, "Have you considered: if Allah should make for you the night continuous until the Day of
Resurrection, what deity other than Allah could bring you light? Then will you not hear?"76
My Reflections
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The night is described as if the mantle of light is removed, and then the night is revealed. And when
daybreak is described as well, the word used is falaq, as if the night is torn and the day breaks from it.
These are both very visual descriptions.
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38. And the sun runs [on course] toward its stopping point. That is the
determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.
The sun, its course to either a fixed time or a fixed place. And that sun, and its course that is the
determination of the almighty, the all-knowing. This is a beautiful ayah. Allah mentions, another sign
is the sun.
Here, is the hadith of Abu Zar al-Ghifari in Sahih Bukhari77. Once, he said, was sitting
with the Prophet when the sun set. The prophet said to me, do you know where its going?
.
Abu Zarr said,
This reaction of the companions shows us, not only their respect for the Prophet , but also that
they relied on his to define the way they thought about even the natural things in life. This is
amazing, isnt it? If anyone else was asked, they would say, it goes over the horizon, and then there
are a few angles, and then its Isha time, and there is a difference of opinion about the Isha. No,
they said, Allah and His messenger know best. Because they knew, that the way I see things may not
be the way Allah wants me to see things. The Prophet will show me how to see these things.
The Prophet said, ? He said, . The Prophet said, the sun, it goes
, until it prostrates under the throne of Allah . And then, he said, it seeks permission to
rise again. And it is given permission and so it returns to the east and it rises again. Then the Prophet
said, however, there will come a time when the sun will prostrate, and its prostration will not be
accepted. And it will seek permission and its permission will not be granted and it will be told, ,
go back to where you came from. And that is the day that the sun will rise from the west. And that is
the time of Yawm al-Qiyamah. And then the prophet recited,
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Sahih Bukhari
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This hadith is amazing. We live in a time where somebody would approach this hadith as a critic and
say, what do you mean the sun goes to the arsh of Allah and prostrates? How can the sun prostrate?
How can you say that the sun is beneath the throne of Allah? How does that even make sense
scientifically?
The thing is, those questions are new questions. It means that those are not questions from an
innocent mind. They are questions that have arisen because of exposure to unIslamic beliefs and
ideas. Because those questions were not asked in the beginning.
What does it mean, they were not asked in the beginning? It means that they were not issues for
them. They became issues for us. So rather the question says more about us than the things we are
questioning. This is very deep to understand and appreciate. If these questions come to your mind,
they say more about you than they say about this issue.
Ibn Taymiyyah said, the sun prostrates to Allah in a manner that befits its nature, just like the
angels prostrate to Allah in a manner that befits their nature and the angels prostrate to Allah in a
manner that befits their nature. And human beings likewise. Every creation is different. When Allah
mentions they prostrate it means that they prostrate in a manner that befits their nature. Dont
therefore superimpose the human way of prostrating on other creation. This is the statement of Ibn
Taymiyyah .
We know that
And there is not a thing except that it exalts [Allah] by His praise, but you do not understand their [way
of] exalting78.
Every single thing is making tasbeeh of Allah. And someone may ask how. Allah mentions, you dont
understand how it is making tasbeeh. That is the only issue. Not that it is not making tasbeeh, it is
you who cant appreciate how it is doing it. So just submit yourself to what is being said and accept it
wholeheartedly.
In terms of the time it takes to rise and set but also the place too: east to west
(Ibraheem)
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Either this hadith is telling us that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. And this
course that is run is running everyday, i.e. every day that we have in the human life.
2. Or that the sun will continue its path, whatever path that is, and then stop on the day of
resurrection.
So either it is about the daily sun, how it appears and how it disappears, or it is about the life of
the sun itself. One day, it will expire, it will reach .
3. There is a third opinion as well. And that is that is, it is speaking about the place itself. And
that is, the , the place it stops is beneath the arsh of Allah.
All of these opinions can be true at the same time.
The sun, running its course to a fixed place is determined by, not Allah, the lafth ul-jalalah is not
there. Instead, 2 names have been selected. The first is al-Aziz, which denotes Allahs power, His
might, as well as His authority. And the second one is al-Aleem, which denotes the supreme
knowledge of Allah, knowing everything possible to be known, as well as the things which are
impossible to know. Allah knows everything.
Why are these names mentioned?
Firstly, the sun, what is the sun? The sun is the largest entity in our solar system. In fact, the
sun is so big; it occupies 95% of the mass of this entire solar system of ours. The other planets
occupy only 5-10% of the matter of the whole solar system. 95% is the sun itself. The first is the
size of the sun. It is so huge. It is massive. They say the sun weighs 2 nonillion kgs. Thats
2x1018.
2. The second is how hot it is. The sun is so hot, that solid and liquid cannot exist on the sun.
Only gas. Even they say that the electrons of the nuclei are removed because of the heat, and
then those electrons react to one another causing a nuclear type of infusion. Even electrons
connot exist inside the atom, it is that hot. At the core, they say that the heat of the sun at its
core is 15 million kelvins. It is so hot. And it is so big.
3. The third interesting thing about the sun is how fast it moves. We dont appreciate this, but
the sun is moving. Allah mentions . They say that the moon is moving at around 2500
miles per hour. The sun is moving at 450,000 miles per hour. Just to put that in perspective,
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the fastest space shuttle NASA produced can go 17,500 miles per hour, which is only 3.5% of
the speed of the sun.
Now you are thinking about something so huge, something so hot, something so fast, the question
arises, how can anyone control the sun? What does the One who controls the sun need to be like? He
needs to be al-Aziz and al-Aleem. The One Who has pure, supreme might is the only one who can
control the sun. Even the control of the sun is fixed and determined. It doesnt err, it doesnt move, it
doesnt become distorted. Continually everyday, for 30 billion years, it is estimated the sun has a life
of. 30 billion years, day after day, and who is controlling it? Al-Aziz.
As well as al-Aleem. You need to be able to know so much in order to program the sun to do what it
does. To run a fixed course for 30 billion years. That is why perhaps the name al-Aleem is there as
well. And Allah knows best.
The conclusion is we should see the world around us as a manifestation of Allahs greatness. When a
person does this, he lives his normal day to day life in the awe of Allah. Even the sun, when you look
at it, will you not look at it in a different way? This is the beauty of the Quran.
May Allah allow us to live in His awe every day of our lives.
My Reflections