The Message of The Quran - Part 3: Surah al-Mā`idah | Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi

AsSalaam Alaikum,Warahmatullahi Wa BarakatuhuAlhamdulillah alhamdlillahthumma AlhamdulillahWe praise Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'alathe one who knows what the hearts concealand what the tongues shall not revealthe one to whom all shall appealand in front of whom the believers kneel,and we send salat and salam upon the onewhom Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'alachose to be rahmatal lil a'alameenthe one whom even his opponentsused to call As-Sadiq and Al-AminAnd the one who will be our intercessoron yawm-id-Deen.Alhamdulillah we have nowmoved on to Surah Al-Maidahand Surah Al-Maidah is one of the,in fact, some have said itis the final large Surahrevealed of the entire Qur'an.And after the revelationof Surah Al-Maidahprobably only a few small verseswere revealed such as Surah An-Nasr.Itha jaa nasru Allahiwalfath [110:1]And perhaps the last verse of Revelation,but so Surah Al-Ma'idahtherefore does representthe final large revelationthat came down to our Prophet,sallallahu alayhi wa sallamAnd in fact, many of the sahaba would sayabout Surah Al-Ma'idahthat nothing came after itto abrogate anything in it.There's a concept called abrogationnaskh in the Qur'an,and Surah Al-Maidah there's nothing in itthat has been abrogatedbecause it is the final of thelarge Surahs to be revealedand the majority of the Surah, even thoughsome verses revealed early Medinabut the majority of the Surah,it was revealed around the timeof the farewell pilgrimage,the final pilgrimage of our Prophetsallallahu alayhi wasallamwhere he gave the farewell addressand then he returned backto Medina and then he fellsick shortly after thisand then passed away.So the Surah Al-Maidah is bulk of itwithin two, three monthsof the death of our Prophetsallallahu alayhi wasallam.This is one Surah Al-Maidahis being revealed.And in Surah Al-Maidahwe have that famous verse in the Qur'anthat some have misunderstoodto be the final verse.No, it's not the final verse,but it is one of the finalverses in which Allah says,today I have completedthis religion for youand I have perfected my favors upon you.alyawmaakmaltu lakum [Deenakum] [5:3]So that verse is in SurahAl-Maidah and it came downof course in the Hajjatul Wada'in the farewell pilgrimageof our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.Now this Surah becauseit came down so late,the Arabian peninsula is Muslimor about to embrace Islam.Paganism miraculously,it's Allah blessing,has been all but eliminatedfrom the Arabian peninsula.Small pockets are leftand within a few yearsall of this will be goneand wallahi what an amazing miracle.It's truly one of those miraculous issuesabout this religion where an entire landimmersed in paganism and within a decadeall of it is gone andthere are no more pagansin that race or in thatarea or in that land.And so this, Surah, Surah Al-Maidahit does not referenceidolatry and paganism at all.It does not referencewhat earlier Makkan surahs reference.And in fact, the bulk of the Surahis about Judaism andespecially Christianity.It is as if the Muslims aregetting prepared that afterthe death of the Prophetsallallahu alayhi wasallam,they're now gonna facethe Byzantine empire,the Roman empire, and of coursethey're gonna be dealingwith Christianity becausein the lifetime of the Prophetsallallahu alayhi wasallamthere were not large groups of Christians.The delegation from Najran that came,it was the largest group andthey were coming to visit,but Surah Al-Maidah it is asif it is making the MuslimUmmah aware thatwe're now going to be facingthe next major civilizationand that's going to be ofa Christian background.So it's a lot ofChristianity, of Jesus Christ,of Christian theology.We're gonna talk a littlebit about that today as well.And of course because itis the final revelation,there are a lot of lawsin Surah Al-Maidah.There are around two dozenspecific laws in Surah Al-Maidahand the bulk of which arenot found in any other Surah.So it's as if the laws arenow being finished if you likeand the final touches arebeing put into the Sharia'h,of Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'ala.Of course the word Maidah,I said yesterday, I was jokingis gonna be a juicy topic.I meant of course, a lot ofyou understood what I meantis of course the Ma'idah hereis a table that is laid in with food.That's what a Ma'idah means.So I meant a juicy topic meaningit's gonna be a lot of food.That was the pun that I said yesterday.And what I meant was that the whole Surahis called the Surah of the banquet.Why is it called the banquet Surah?Because of course thereference is to the mealor the banquet that Isa,Jesus asks from Allahto send down to his disciples.And it is said that,that is the final supperin Christian folklore.And whether it is or not asa separate issue altogether.But there is a famousdinner that is mentionedin the new Testament and theQur'an mentions this as well.So a lot of people havelinked the two together,even though technically speaking,there's no direct overlapbetween the two storiesother than the factthat they shared a meal.But this is where the namecomes from and that is Maidahand the overall theme of Surah Al-Maidahthe overall, the gistof Surah is that Muslimsneed to be faithful to their contractsand to live up to their commitments.And not just yourcontracts with each other,but the biggest contract of all.And that is when yousay La Ilaaha IllAllahyou have undertaken a contract with Allahthat you will worship Allahthe way that Allah wantsyou to worship him.And that is the biggestcontract that we have.The biggest 'ahd or themithaaq that we haveit is with Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'ala.And so the very first ayah,it sets the tone thatYa ayyuha allatheenaamanooawfoo bilAAuqood[5:1]Oh you who believe fulfill your covenants,fulfill your promises.You say you're a Muslim,you say La Ilaaha IllAllah fulfill it.Make sure you follow that up.And then the rest of the Surahis the finer details of theology and laws.Make sure you know yourreligion and practice itto the best of your extent.That is the number one meaningof fulfill your covenant.And then of course youfulfill your contracts,mean any promises you made,any contracts that you havefulfill them because youhave done so in the name ofAllah Subhanahu wa-ta'ala.And it's interesting to notethat Surah An-Nisaa', the previous Surah,it began with Ya ayyuhan Naasand Surah Al-Maidah Yaayyuha allatheena amanooSo there is a slightly different,the beginning of SurahAn-Nisaa', is for all of mankind.Surah Al-Maidah it is Oh you who believeand the entire Surah therefore is directedespecially to the believers,even though of coursethe message of the Qur'an isalways open to all of mankind.And the first page of that Surah,it begins talking about Hajjbecause obviously itwas revealed during Hajjand there are a number ofverses pertaining to Hajjpertaining to the sacramentsof Hajj, the rituals of Hajjand respecting the signsand the symbols of Hajj.And from this we learn a very simple pointand that is that whenAllah Subhanahu wa-ta'alahas made something sacred,when Allah has made something blessed,when Allah has declaredsomething to be important,it is a sign of Iman to honor the sacredand to show respect tothat which is important.And that is why Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'alasays in the second verse,Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoola tuhilloo shaAAa-iraAllahi walaashshahraalharama wala alhadya walaalqala-id [5:2]Oh you who believe,do not violate tuhilluis the opposite of tuharrimu or ihramSo the reason why the ihram and the Haramis called ihram and Haramis because we have taken onan element of sanctity, a lot of non-Arabswhen they hear the wordHaram Makki and ihramthey think of the word Haramas if something bad and eviland that's not a direct linkage here,the Haram here with Haram al-Makkahit means the sacred Haram,the sacred that whichis inviolate that whichyou might be allowed to dooutside, you cannot do inside.That's why it's called Haram.So Allah is saying do not trivializeor do not violate thatwhich Allah has made sacred,not the sacraments of Allah,not the sacred months,not the animals that Allah 'Azza wa Jalhas dedicated thatthey're going to be goingto the Kaaba to be sacrificed thereand this shows us thereforethat of the signs of Iman is that whenAllah Subhanahu wa-ta'alahas made something sacred,we show that sacredness andsanctity in our dealingsand this is something Alhamdulillah,it has seeped into our cultureand we thank Allah for that.We show actual outerrespect to the Qur'an,to the Ka'bah to the month of Ramadan.And this is something that ismanifesting our inner faithin another chapter,not in Surah al-Ma'idahAllah says that wamanyuAAaththimshaAAa-ira Allah [22:32]whoever shows respectto the signs of Allahthat is an indication ofthe piety of their heart.In other words, unfortunately,there are some in our timesthat think it's okay to jokeand trivialize about everything.No, we do not make a joke about Allahand about the religion of Allahand about that which Allah has made sacredand that which Allah hasmade sacrosanct to trivializethe sacred indicates that itis not sacred in our hearts.No, that's not the way.Yes, it's good to be funny inthe right time and situationis good to crack jokes withyour family and friends.Our Prophet SallAllahu a'layhiwasallam would always smile.He would himself crack jokesin a legitimate manner,but we do not make fun ofthe commandments of Allah.We do not make fun of thatwhich Allah has made sacred.So in the month of Ramadan,we all raise the bar, we show respectwhen we're in front of theKa'bah, we don't do any sinthat we might be doingoutside of the Ka'bah,even though that's not right.But in front of the Ka'bah,we have an even more sacred sense here.And all of this is a partof our religion and it isexpressly mentioned in Surah Al-Maidahand other Surahs as well.And in the same verse here as well,Allah 'Azza wa Jal reminds the Muslimsthat now that they have the upper hand,now that they've conquered all over Arabiaand there are still pockets of pagans,paganism is gonna be eliminated.But there's still some peoplethat haven't embraced Islam.Allah is saying,walayajrimannakum shanaanu qawminan saddookum AAanialmasjidialharami an taAAtadoo [5:2]Do not let the hatred of agroup of people that havestopped you from comingto the Masjid al-Haramin the previous years.Do not allow that hatred toincite you to aggression,to do something that you should not do.And in verse number eight as well,Allah has a similar commandment to that.wala yajrimannakum shanaanuqawmin AAala allataAAdiloo [5:8]do not allow the hatredof a certain peoplethat you might have to preventyou from acting justly.Act justly for that isthe essence of piety.It is so important, dearMuslims, it is so important.SubhanAllah, the Muslims were persecuted,they had the under hand.Now that they have theupper hand, Allah says,don't let your power get toyou, don't become corruptednow that you have the upper handand that you can let's saykill the pagans for no reason,or you can act unjustly, no, Allah says,now that you have the power,you might've had a hatred.That hatred is legitimate,they did try to kill you,they did everything to okay,but now the situation has turnedand now you are in charge.So Allah is saying, becareful that your hatreddoes not cause you to go blind to justice.Act justly, even when you're in power,especially when you're in power.Act justly, that is the essence of piety.That is the essence of fearingAllah Subhanahu wa-ta'ala.And what a beautiful passage herethat even though we're notapplying it in our livesto pagans versus Muslims,we're applying it in our own,let's say daily lives, our family lives.Maybe somebody sayssomething we don't like.Maybe our cousin orrelative said somethingand we become incensed with anger.Then sometime later wecan have the opportunityto do something against him or her.And Allah 'Azza wa Jal istelling us in the Qur'andon't allow the hatred thatyou have of another personto make you act in an unjust manner.Act justly, act with the essence of pietythat is indeed what AllahSubhanahu wa-ta'ala wants.So this verse reminds us totake our prejudices and biasesinto account, to be selfreflective all the timeand to make sure thatwe are acting in a fairand just manner, especially,especially when we havesomething in our heartsagainst another person.We have to monitor ourselveseven more so that we are doingit truly for the sake ofAllah Subhanahu wa-ta'ala.Versus three to five, Allahmentions in Surah Al-Maidahthe permissible and impermissible marriagemarriages with Ahl-i-Kitaabis permissible.The food, what types of animals,the animals that are allowed to eatthat are not allowed to eatthe meat of the Ahl-i-KitaabAllah Subhanahu wa-ta'ala hasmade it allowed in this versewith conditions that arefound in books of fiqh.And in this section as well,we have the famous versethat someone remarksto 'Umar ibn al-Khattab a rabbi.He remarked to 'Umar ibn al-Khattabhe said that oh Ameer al-Mu'mineenif we, the Jews had sucha verse in our books,we would have taken theday of its revelationas a day of festivities'Umar said what verseare you talking about?He then quoted thisverse of Surah Al-Maidah,alyawmaakmaltu lakum deenakum [5:3]today, I have perfectedyour religion for you,today, I have completed my favors upon youand I have approved of andchosen Islam as your religion,as your way of life.So this verse was revealedduring the farewell pilgrimage.It is said in the booksof Tafsir of historythat when this verse came down,our Prophet SallAllahu a'layhiwaSallam was on a camelit was so heavythat the camel, whichcan take so many people,three, four or five peoplethat can go on a camel.The camel had to sit downbecause of the weight of therevelation of this verse.So this verse was an auspicious verse.It was a magnificent verseand a Jewish person remarked to 'Umarhow fortunate you are that youhave this verse in your book.Today, I have perfectedyour religion for you.We have a perfect religionthat which is perfect,does not need to be tinkered with,that which is perfect,we don't tamper with it.There is no, a lot ofpeople outside the faith,they say, when will Islamundergo its reformationas if we have to undergothe ways of others.No, there is no need fora radical reformation.Yes, it is true the Sharia comeswith internal fine-tuning mechanisms.And I've spoken aboutthis in many lectures,but overall alyawmaakmaltu lakum deenakumthe religion is kaamil.The religion is full andit is absolutely completeand it is perfect andthat which is perfectdoes not need to be updated and changed.True, the interpretationsof scholars a lot of timesneeds to be updated and changedbut not the religion itself.And so this is a veryclear verse in that regardin the Surah as well, verse number six,it is the one and onlyexplicit verse about the Wuduabout the rulings of the Wuduand then ghusl and then tayammumAnd all of this ismentioned in the context ofremembering Allah's favorsupon all of us in this regard.And then from verse 12to the end of the Surah,there are stories of theProphet Musa and the Prophet Isaand some other storiesall the way to the endinterspersed with laws,interspersed with commandmentsand ethical values.And SubhanAllah, like Isaid yesterday as well,truly when you read theQur'an in its original Arabicand you listen to the Qur'an,the topics are so variedand yet the mechanism oftransmission, the recitation,the language, the syntax, it is so smooth.It is impossible that ahuman can write such a bookbecause when you try toread a poor translation,it's very common that you get bogged downwhat is going on fromthis verse to that verse.How is this transition happening?And at times that translationis indeed problematic for our mindset.But when you read the original Arabicand you look at againthe style and the syntax,it is absolutely stupendous, it is divine.This, all that I cansay because it is divineonly Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'alacan put together speechin this manner that is movingfrom all different topics.And as you read it, you're not bored.Your mind is fully, it's going through,true in the translation,sometimes it's problematicbut the Arabic is absolutely smooth.And this is why we see all ofthis interspersion going onthat we have interwoventhe stories of Musa,the stories of Isa,the stories of the tableof Isa, that's gonna come,the stories of Cain and Abel,all of these along withcommandments and ahkaamand rulings from the Sharia.So in the rest of our 40minutes today, 35 minutes today,I want to summarizesome of the main motifsobviously of the main motifs of the Surahis the advice to theJews and the Christiansand especially the Christians,Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'alatells the Ahli-Kitaaboverall, a number of things.Firstly, one of the mainmini motifs under thisis that the People of theBook Oh Jews and Christians,you are not beingfaithful to your own lawsand your own prophets.You are not being faithfulbefore you criticize us,before you make fun ofus, look at yourselves.You are not living up to the expectationsof your own prophets.You are not followingyour own revelations.In fact, in verse number 13Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'alaaccuses them of yuharrifoona alkalimathey're distorting theirmessages of forgettingand neglecting portions of your own book.In verse number 47,Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'alacommands the ChristiansWalyahkum ahlu al-injeelibimaanzala Allahu feehLet the people of theInjil, of the gospelslet them act upon and ruleby what Allah gave them,for indeed those who do not ruleaccording to the laws of Allahare indeed sinful people.In verse number 68, Allah is very explicitQul ya ahla alkitabi lastumAAala shay'Say Oh People of the Book youhave no basis to stand upon.You have no grounds to criticize usuntil you yourselves uphold the Torahand until you yourselfuphold the Injil, the gospeland you act upon what Allahgave to you, SubhanAllahhow frank and only Allahcan say this, then who elsehas the authority to saythis, Allah is telling themthat you're not evenliving up to your own laws.You're not even livingup to your own prophets.How can you criticize other civilizationsand other faith traditions?First, fulfill your ownobligations that you had.Then after that, andthen Allah 'Azza wa Jalalso has this themethroughout Surah Al-Maidahthat Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'alaalso tells them, by the way,that if you had been faithful,that Allah would have blessed youin this world and in the next world.Verse 66 Allah says, Walaw annahum aqamooattawratawal-injeelaif they had truly actedupon and establishedthe Torah and the Injil,and if they had lived upto the laws that Allah had given them,then they would have beenblessed from all around and evenfrom beneath their feetwamin tahti arjulihimblessings would have just come upon them.They would have lived a comfortable life.They would have had theblessings of everything.And Allah says minhum ommatun muqtasidahamongst them, there area good folk, it is truewakatheerun minhumbut many of them, they are doing evil.So Allah 'Azza wa Jal istelling us the realitythat yes indeedamongst these faithcommunities there are peoplewho are upright, they truly believe,and we have to say this,you know these days it'spolitically incorrectto talk like this,but this is the Qur'an,it is their Lord, our Lordtelling us thatyou are not even livingup to your own books.You are not even livingup to your own standards.What right do you have tocriticize other people?What the prophet Jesus saidwhat the prophet Moses said,you are picking andchoosing, you are neglecting,you are distorting you areconveniently forgettingwhat they themselves said.Then you come and you accuse othersof being this and doing that.Allah is saying you haveno ground to stand upon.Now, all of this is good.Now that is also look at our own lives.We as well had better befirm in our own faith.Before we say anything about anybody else,we don't want these versesto apply to us as well.So before we accuse others,before we criticize others,we should try our best aswell to live up to our ownexamples that we have.So Allah 'Azza wa Jaltells the Ahli-Kitaabin a very good number of versesthat they need to live upto their own guidelines.Then another good numberof verses, another motifs,He tells them that if youlived up to your guidelinesand if you really understood your message,you would actually embrace Islam.So Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'alais then telling themthat true Christianity and true Judaismis to go back to thebeliefs of Jesus and Moses.And that is exactly the belief of Ibrahim,and that is the beliefof our Prophet Muhammad,sallAllahu 'alayhi wasallam.So Allah appeals to therighteous of the Ahli-Kitaabto use their minds and intellectand to think about thetruth and the veracityof our Prophet, sallAllahu'alayhi wasallam.Verse number 15, Ya ahla alkitabOh, People of the Book, Allahis speaking to them directly.Allah is addressing them directlyand therefore whenever we have,righteous Christianfriends, Jewish friends,we should bring up thesein polite conversationswhen the time is right and say,interestingly the passages in the Qur'anyou should bring them up to them.And that's our job tobe positive role modelsobviously with wisdomand at the right time.But all too often toomany of us are too shyto speak about religion and SubhanAllahit is supposed to be the mostimportant part of conversationthat takes place, there'snothing more importantthan why we are here, Who is our Creator?What is gonna happen to us after death?These are questions that allof us should be thinking about.So Allah says in theQur'an Ya ahla alkitabiOh People of the Book, OurMessenger has come to you,clarifying to you and for youmuch of what you yourselvesforgot or kept hidden andforgiving much as wellof what you had done in the past.A light has come to youfrom Allah and a clear book.So Allah is addressing the Ahli-Kitaab,verse 19, Ya ahla alkitabiOh People of the Book qad jaakumrasoolunathat our Messenger has come to you.[li] yubayyinu lakum tomake things clear to you.AAala fatratin mina arrusulafter there was a pausein Prophets coming SubhanAllah,there was no prophetfrom Jesus to MuhammadsallAllahu 'alayhi wasallamaround 600 years or 560years to be more precise,there were no prophetsand Allah references, thisthat there have not beenprophets for a while.AAala fatratin mina arrusulbut now a prophet has come to youso that you don't have an excuse.You cannot say, ma jaanamin basheerin walanatheerno preacher has come, nowarner has come to us,no, Allah is saying apreacher has come to youand a warner has come to you.And so Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'alainvites them to embrace Islam.And in verse number 48, Allah says,and we have revealed toyou a book with truthconfirming the previous scriptures.The Qur'an confirmsthe truth of the Jewishand the Christian faith traditions.And then Allah says, wa muhayminan AAalayhthis is a very important verseand it is superseding it.The Qur'an, the Torah andthe Injil are not all equal.The Qur'an confirms andthen the Qur'an supersedesthe Qur'an eclipses,the Qur'an envelopes it.The Qur'an is the final revelation.In case of a clash, we go with the Qur'an.They're are not all three equal.wamuhayminan AAalayhSo then Allah says judge between themin accordance with Allah has given you.In verse 59 Allah 'Azza wa Jal criticizessome of the Ahli-Kitaaband Allah says, Qul ya ahla alkitabSay Oh, People of theBook, do you resent us?Do you have something inyour heart against us?Why?Only because we have believed in Allahbecause we have believed in a revelation.Because we have [believed]in your revelations as well,are you criticizing us despite the factthat most of you are sinners?Wa anna aktharakum fasiqoonMost of you are notliving up to your own lawand you're criticizing us.It is so awkward but true.And this verse exposes them,like only the creator can expose them.Sometimes when peopleaccuse others of crimes,they themselves are guilty of that crimeand their guilt causes themto read that crime into other people.So Allah is saying, are you resentful?That you see the truth in usand then there's something in you that,Oh, I wish I had it as well.So instead of embracingand instead of accepting,and instead of becoming one,you have in fact a jealousya resentment, you recognize the truthand you don't even follow your own truth.And this makes you somewhat arrogant.This is of course, a groupamongst them as the Qur'anis very clear that agroup amongst them is goodand many of them have lost thepath of their own prophets.So verse number 59, is avery psychological exposéof the mentality of somegroups of people amongst them.And verse 50 mentions as well,and also 44, 45, 47 and 50 all of these.It mentions the conceptof judging by the lawsof Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'alaand whoever does not judgeby the laws of Allah.They are from the kaafiroon,the dhaalimoon, the faasiqoonThey are from those who have rejectedthose that are tyrannous, thosethat are evil sinful people.And Allah 'Azza wa Jal justsays in verse number 50,if you don't judge by the laws of Allahthe only alternative willbe the laws of ignoranceAfahukma aljahiliyyati yabghoonwho is better than Allahto be the judge for peoplewho are really certainabout meeting Allah.And so these verses theydemonstrate for us once againa fact and a reality thatwe see over and over againthat ethical, moral truths, laws,Allah 'Azza wa Jal is the onewho is going to tell uswhat is right and wrong.We ourselves are not evenqualified to come togetherand decide what isethical and what is not,what is moral and what is not.Because we are ourselvesbiased, our own hawa,our own desires aregonna get the best of us.And that is what Allah is saying.If you're not gonnafollow the laws of Allah,then you're gonna end upfollowing the laws of Jahiliyyah.So we take our values, we take our codes,we take our laws fromAllah Subhanahu wa-ta'alabecause he knows best.And of course this clearlyshows by the way as well,that there is no such thingas an Islam without laws.There are small movements inour times they're trying to godown the path of a radicalreformation movementand they're trying toremove the laws of Islam.They're saying Islamis just basic theology.You believe in one God and you go and prayand you don't get involved in the Shariajust leave the Sharia outdatedand there is no such thingas a religion and a way oflife that does not have laws.That's something that is impossible.The one who created you, theone who told you Who He is,He will also tell you how to live.That's the whole purposeor one of the purposesof Allah's revelation.And this is what Surah Al-Maidahvery clearly demonstrates.And that's why there'ssuch an emphasis on laws,on the perfection of Islam, onmuch of Maidah being ritualsand theology and morality andactual rulings and verdictsdo this, don't do this,eat this, don't eat that,marry this, don't marry that.These are specific laws andthey are for our own betterment.They make us better in this worldand there are pleasing to Allahand they are gonna be rewardedin the next world as well.So all of this is abouta type of criticismto some of the Ahli-Kitaab.Surah Al-Maidah also has a lot of versescriticizing aspects of Christian theology.And in fact, dare I say thatthere is no Surah in the Qur'anthat is more explicit, more exhaustiveabout taking on the challengesof Christian theologyand of taking and dissecting one by one.And in one verse in one segment of versesAllah Subhanahu wa-ta'ala uses the tacticof reminding the Christiansthat Jesus himselfnever said any of these thingsand that Jesus himself orIsa is a mortal person.So for example, in verse 72, Allah says,Laqad kafara allatheenaqaloo inna Allaha huwaalmaseehu ibnu Maryamthose who say that Jesus, the Messiah,the son of Mary is God,they have disbelievedto say that Jesus is Godor that God is Jesus.That's kufr that's not Islam.And then look at the tactic Allah usewa qala almaseehthe Maseeh himselfsaid, ya banee isra-eelaoAAbudoo Allaha Rabbee wa RabbakumOh, children of Israel, worship Allah,my Lord and your Lord,whoever associates partners with Allah,Allah has made Jannah forbidden for him.Jesus himself is preachingmonotheism to this daythe new Testament, despite the factthat we don't fullybelieve it was preservedto this day, the NewTestament as it existsthere is not to single versein the entire New Testamentwhere Jesus himself is preachingany mainstream doctrineof modern Christianity.Whether it is the Trinity,whether it is the redemption,whether it is the concept salvation,whether it is life after deathof his own resurrection afterdeath, he himself does notpreach a single aspect ofmainstream modern Christianity.And the Qur'an referencesthis beautifully.Allah says, look atwhat Jesus himself said.Jesus didn't say to worship him.Jesus didn't say that he is God.Jesus himself said, oh, Children of Israelworship The One Who is up there.And this is something we findthroughout the new Testament.So this is one way that Allah 'Azza wa Jaltakes on Christian theology.Another way that He does thisis by very frankly statingthat Jesus is a mortal,Jesus is a human being.And again, this is under a number of ways.Verse number 17 those whosay that Jesus is God,have disbelieved then listento this as a powerful verse.And only Allah could say this.Anybody else says this, we would tremble.Only Allah can say this,Allah is saying to them,who can prevent Allah ifAllah wanted to destroy Jesusthe son of Mary and hismother and everyone on earth.In other words, you think Jesus is God?No if Allah wanted to Hecould obviously He didn't,but He's saying who couldhave prevented this.Wa lillahi mulku assamawati wal-ardto Allah belongs the dominion,the sovereignty of theheavens and the earthand all that is between them.He creates whatever He wishes.In verse 75, look at howAllah proves the mortalityof Jesus Christ.Jesus Christ, the son of Mary,who was only a Messenger.Many were the messengerswho came before himand his mother was a virtuous lady.kana ya'kulani attaAAamthat both of them would eat food,so they're being reminded,how can a God be eating food?And of course when you eatfood, it has to come out.How can a God be doing that?Look at the beautiful, powerful waythat Allah is justappealing to the person.You don't need to have aPhD in advanced theologyto understand the theology of the Qur'an,the theology of the Qur'an,even as it challengesother theologies is so obvious,it appeals to every personof a sound mind and intellectJesus would eat, how can Jesus be God?His mother would eat,why would you pray to herwhen she is a mortal, she is not God,nor is she the mother of God.And then Allah say look at how clearwe make the revelations to themand yet look how diluted they are.How clear can we be, they used to eat,how could they be God?And yet they're still insistingthat they're gonna worship.They're going to draw images,they're gonna bow down to a created being.And in verse number 73,Allah references the Trinity,that those who say Allahis one out of three.Or you can also translateas that Allah is a Trinity.Those who say this, they have disbelieved.There is no God except for one God,wa ma min ilahin illa ilahun wahidAnd as we all know,the Trinity is simply wordsthat do not make sense.They are no three that areone, and one can be three.There is no such thing.You can string together a series of wordsand it can be nonsensical.No Christian with my utmostrespect to them can explainthe Trinity and they endup saying it is a mystery.It is something that we cannot understand.And Allah is sayingthere is no such thing.There is but one God and Jesusis created, he is not a God.And one verse in Surah Al-Maidahthat I find extremelyprofound, this verse,I find it mind-boggling, earth-shattering.I don't even have betteradjectives to use.Every time I come across this verse,the more I study, themore this verse reallyit really shakes me to the coreand it really demonstratesamongst so many other evidences,the fact that the Qur'an isfrom Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'ala.Verse number 77, Qul ya ahla alkitabsay, oh People of the Scripturedo not exaggerate in yourreligion beyond the truth.Don't invent things, don'tgo beyond what is the trueand wala tattabiAAooahwaaqawmin qad dalloo min qablDo not follow the falsebeliefs and desiresof groups of people who went astray beforeand who misled many, even asthey themselves were misguided.Now, what this verse issaying, it is somethingthat would be utterlyimpossible for anyone in seventhcentury Arabia, Christian,Muslim, Jew or pagan to knowand that is Christian doctrineis not based on the teachings of Jesus.It didn't even come from theearliest disciples of Jesus.No, the Qur'an is explicitlysaying that Christian doctrineis something that was developed over timeby different groups of people.Different councils have come together,and this is of course nowevery academic knows this,but we need to understandthe level of literacyand knowledge of the average worshipperin the fifth and sixthcenturies of the Christian era,even Christians would nothave known this simple factthat we now take for grantedand that is that of courseChristianity evolved over timeand the doctrines that arenow mainstream Christianitywere unknown to the earliest Christians.It was Paul who first claimedthat Jesus died for the sins of menand even Paul never claimed the Trinity,never once did Paul bringup the concept of Trinity,the first notion of Trinity,it came in the second or thirdcentury of the Christian eraand it was then introducedby the church fathersof the third century, latesecond century we can sayand then codified inthe famous Nicene Creedin the year 325 CE and then aseries of ecumenical councilscontinued to develop Christian theology.All of this aside, the averageChristian would not knowany of this stuff andthe Qur'an is saying,why are you believingsomething that was constructedby the whims of groupsof people who themselveswere misguided and theywere misguiding others.The Qur'an is saying,these doctrines of the divinity of Jesus,of the Trinity, of theredemption of dying for one sins.These doctrines of not following the law,these doctrines wereunknown to Jesus himselfand there were developed multiple times.In other words, they workformulated and then they continuedto grow and grow ahwaaqawmin qad dalloo min qablugroups of people and that'sexactly what the councils wereand that's exactly what happened later on.And to me, as I said, thisis absolutely mind bogglingand I rarely do this, but Iwill encourage those of youthat are interested in one particular bookand on one author in particular,Bart Ehrman, B-A- R-T, E-H-R-M-A-N.Bart Ehrman, he has writtenmany bestselling books.He himself was a fundamentalist Christianand then in his own researchhe discovered that noneof modern Christianity cango back to Jesus Christ.So he left Christianity and his books,they resonate completelywith the Qur'anic ideal.This verse, every book of his I read,it only made this verseeven much more clear to mebecause he's going intoall of these detailsand he has a particularlygood known bestseller,a well known bestsellercalled, "How Jesus Became God."I do encourage those that areinterested to read that book.Anyway, so this is Surah Al-Maidahabout criticizing Christian theologyand then of course Allahasks them multiple timesto embrace Islam.Verse number 74, Afalayatooboona ila Allahwhy don't they repent to Allah?Why don't they ask Allah forgiveness?Allah shall forgivethem, Allah is forgiving,Allah is merciful.Christians and Jews are being invited.Use your intellect, goback to your own scripture.Read your own histories.Look at what your own prophets said.Stand firm on your own faith traditions.And if you do so, you willsee the truth of Islam.What a beautiful way of preaching.Go back to your own sources.Go back to your own prophetsand you're gonna see the truthin our Prophet, SubhanAllah.What greater proof do youneed when Allah 'Azza wa Jalis confidently saying,go back to your ownprophets and scripturesgo back to what they themselves has said,and when you do that,you will see that we are telling the truthand that Islam is indeed a continuation.And this prophet is beingsent by the same prophet,by the same Lord thatsent Musa and Isa as well.So all of this is a quick summaryof the issue of Christianityand Christian theology.Also in this Surah we have small sectionsabout Jewish, history as well.And the history of the Bani Israeland in particular verses 20 to 26,they mentioned the reasonwhy the Israelites,the children of Israel, theyhad to wander for 40 years.It was a punishment for themwhen they refuse to enterthe Holy land, the Holyland that Allah gave them,we Muslims firmly believedthat Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'alagifted them a Holy land, the Holy land,and it was theirs when they deserved it.But that was lifted up whenthey broke the covenantof Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'ala,the promise is no longer active.We actually believe thatthe land was theirs,but the past tense,that's what we believe,but not any more because theyreneged on their promise.They broke their own covenant.They did not live up to the law.That is what we believe theologically.So this verse, verse 20 to 26,it tells us that Musais telling the people,enter the promised land,enter the land that Allah hasallatee kataba Allahu lakum [5:21]this land Allah has written for you.We Muslims believe thatthat land was past tense,written for them, it wastheirs when they deserved it.And SubhanAllah whenAllah gifted it to them,what did they do?They said, Oh, we're notgonna enter that land.There are giants, thereare large people there.Giants here means strongpeople that's what they meant.We're too scared to enterand Allah praises in verse 23and we need to benefit from this,Allah of praises two righteous people.Two people stood up and said,Allah says regarding them.That two people whom Allah blessed,encouraged their followers and they said,go, go enter the gate,when you have enteredit, you will prevail.Put your trust in Allahif you are believers.SubhanAllah this is such abeautiful, beautiful verse here.When Allah wants you to do something,outwardly, might be daunting.You're gonna see those giants over thereand the two righteouspeople are saying, stand up,enter the gate and Allah will help you.Miracles will happen but youhave to take the first step.The difficulty will be made easy.The impossible will become possible.But only when you put in the effortand you put your trust inAllah Subhanahu wa-ta'ala.And that's a beautifulmessage that we get.Of course, they didn't do thatand they mock the commandmentand because of that, Allah said,you shall wander for 40 years.So Moses died wanderingin the deserts of Sinaiand he was buried over there.And then the next generationJoshua came and enteredthe promised land andthat's in Surah Al Baqarah.Also in this surah, SurahAl-Maidah we have the two sonsof Adamand the first death ever totake place on earth SubhanAllah.Walahi it's so sad, so sad,the first time the Malakul Mautvisited this earth totake the life of a human,it was because of murder.No one even died a natural deathbefore the first murder occurred.And this is of course,the story of Habeel and Qabeelor Cain and Abel as they'recalled them in the Bible.And this was the murderof two sons of Adam.One brother murdered anotherbrother because of what?Because of jealousy,because he was jealous.And SubhanAllah how evil is jealousy.Jealousy blinds a person.Jealousy makes a person actin an irrational manner.When you find your heart,you knowfeeling something for anotherperson's fame or wealthor prestige or beauty or success.When you find your heart cringingbecause of the success ofanother person, realize you areat fault regardless of whatthe other person is or isn't.Realize you have a problemwith your own of jealousyand you better keep it in checkbecause the jealous personacts in a very, very irrational manner.The jealous person lashes out.The jealous person as we'regonna come to in a few days,will throw his own brother into a wellin the story of Yusuf,the jealous person willkill his own blood brother,as we see right here in thestory of Surah Al-Maidah.And so the first son of Adam dies,he doesn't know how to bury him.So Allah sends a Crowand Allah 'Azza wa Jaldemonstrates to Crow diggingand as the Crow is digging,it covers up a Cedar curdle.And so the other brother says,Whoa to me, why didn'tI learn from this Crow?So he dug the grave.That's how he learned how to dig a grave.He didn't even knowthe concept of a burialuntil Allah sent himand these were some of the signs of Allah,that Allah sent him theCrow to show him how to dig.And that digging covers up something else.And this is why in versenumber 32 it occurs,that famous passage thatwhoever kills one person,it is as if he has killed all of mankind.And of course it's such a profound verse.We say this all the time,whoever saves the personit is as if it has saved all of mankind.One son of Adam, oneson of Adam was killed.If that son had not been killed.Can you imagine how manybillions and billions of peoplewould now be here?Literally one son ofAdam's death because of,and of course all Qadr,we accept Allah Qadr,But can you imagine that if that's sonhad progeny, you do the math.If you understand how ascendentsand descendants increase.Within five generations,you can get around 600descendants by the way.Five generations on average,five to 600 descendantsif you do the math on average.So if you do the math for5,000, 10,000, 50,000 years,we're talking about billions of peoplebecause it is exponential.So Allah is saying that when,if that person had livedand nations would havecome, that person has died.It is as if it hasdestroyed all of mankind.Surah Al-Maidah as well,it has many rulings.I'm not gonna go over allof them, but have them.Verse number 33, it establishesthe strict penalties forhighway robbery or high crimes.What we call mass murders or gangs,anything that is a destroyingcivil society in order.Allah 'Azza wa Jal allows some very,the harshest punishmentsin the entire Qur'an, includingcrucifixion by the way,it's in the Qur'an for those typesIf a person A'udhu Billah A'udhu Billahis like a mass murderer or is goingand killing innocent people, rampaging,highway robbery as well toimagine going between two citiesand there's deserts in the middle,there's no government back then.And if somebody has a gangthat they're operatingand preying on these at,which was by the way,very, very common formost of human historythat to go from one cityto another is a mortalis a very dangerous thing.People that utilize that themessage needs to be sent.So that is a very harshpunishment for them.In verse number 38, thepunishment for stealingis mentioned and ofcourse the Hadith mentionsother conditions as well.There must be breakingand entering some people,some 'ulamaa a small minority opinion.It says there must bea threatening as well.You must threaten.There's other conditions,the quantity, the quality,the price of what you have stolen.So there's multiple conditionsbut the punishment is there as well.Also in verse number 45,we have the law of Qisasor retribution, an eye for aneye and a tooth for a tooth.And then Allah has very interestinglyAllah says, we wrote this forthem in the Torah as well.And it is still found inDeuteronomy chapter 19 verse 21,that an eye for an eyeand a tooth for a toothand a hand for a hand or foot for foot.That's what Deuteronomy says.And the Qur'an is very similar languagea life for life and an eye for an eyeand a tooth for a tooth andthat is exact same phrase.You find it in Deuteronomyas well, SubhanAllah as well.So Allah is referencing andwe find it, in Deuteronomyand of course the Old Testamentwas not translated in Arabic at the time.And again, all of thisis clearly a miracle.Also in Surah Al-Maidah verse 89,is the penalty for breaking one's oath,verse 90 to 91, the finalprohibition of alcohol.Alcohol is now completely banned,gambling has been prohibitedand Allah mentions the wisdom.The reason is that Shaitan,wants you to fight and towaste your money, Shaitan,wants you to get into theseissues between one another.And so Allah has bannedit and this shows uswhenever Allah bans something,makes something Haramit is for our own good evenif we don't understand it.And other rulings as well.The penalties for hunting in Ihramand the issue of seafood being halalSea food is halal, Ilove seafood personally.So verse 96 is the majority interpretationthe majority of men have isthey say all seafood is Halal.By the way, this seafoodmeans the food in the sea,not seafood at Seafood I eatThat seafood, it depends case by case,but seafood in the ocean,the three madhab sayall of it is halal.And they use this verse of Maidah,verse number 96 of coursethe Hanafis have a differentand that's their prerogative, just FYI.And before we conclude, before we concludewe have five minutes left.I want to draw our attentionto three specific versesthat I think are especiallyespecially usefuland then InshaAllah, thelast verse of the Surah.Verse number 87, oh, you who believedo not prohibit the good thingsthat Allah has allowed youand do not go to excessfor Allah does not lovethose who go to excess.We do have both types of fanaticismand especially in the generally speaking,the more ultra-righteous peoplethey try to make thingsHaram that might be Halaland in the morenot-so-righteous or practicing,they try to make halalwhat Allah has made haram.So Allah is being very explicit herethat you have to be in the middle hereand this is why people have knowledge.People have genuine knowledge,not superficial knowledge.There are so necessary and useful,a little bit of knowledgegenerally speaking,it leads us to fanaticism and extremismand that's the realitywe all know and we seeand Allah is saying,do not prohibit what Allah has made halal.If Allah has admittedpermissible, keep it permissible,but don't go to extremes as well.Something permissibleshould not become the main.Sometimes it is good in a little bitand a lot of it might be harmful.So in this verse we learn moderation.Verse number 100, is avery useful verse for usgiven the times we livein, Allah is sayingthe good and the bad are never equal.Allah is saying the pure andthe filthy are never the same.Qul la yastawee alkhabeethu wattayyibthe pure and the filthyare never the same.Even if the abundanceof that which is filthy,it bedazzles you, it makes youlost, you cannot concentrate.Maybe even you're impressedwalaw aAAjabaka kathratu alkhabeethAllah is saying just becausethe filthy is prevalentjust because the evil is surrounding you.It doesn't make the evil good.And this is so necessaryto remind ourselves frombecause in these days, morality, decency,Hayaa', modestyis almost unheard of.And when a person comes andtries to practice or preachIslamic values, human values,they're looked down upon,times have changed.Now everything is allowed, this and thatand Allah reminds us the good and the badare never the same.Even if the preponderanceof the bad it bedazzles you,it makes you not be able to think straightand say doesn't matter, look through it.Understand that evil shall always be evileven if the whole world ratifies it.Even if your government passeslaws about it doesn't matter.Morality is not based upon majority vote.Morality remains morality and that'snot based upon what our society say.It comes from Allah Subhanahu wa-ta'ala.Verse number 105, is also very importantbecause we feel sometimesso alone in this worldwhen we preach our valuesand Allah is saying,Oh you who believe, AAalaykum anfusakumyou're only responsiblefor your own selves.He who has gone astray will not harm youas long as you are rightly guided.So we do, now thisdoesn't mean we're selfishbecause part of being rightlyguided is to be role modelsand to preach and teach butAllah is saying that look,as long as you do your joband as long as you liveup to your expectations,even if all of mankind goes astray,you have to be the role model,preach to them in a wise manner.Embody the values of Islam in your life,and then their evil is not gonna harm you.Your piety willInsha'Allah t'ala save youmost importantly in the next life.Wa ila Allahi marjiAAukum jameeAAanto Allah is the return to all of you.Then he will tell youof what you used to do.Now we get to conclusionpassage of Surah Al-Maidahand it goes back to 'Isa bn i-MaryamJesus Christ and Allah reminds Jesusof the favors he has given him.And Allah 'Azza wa Jal reminds himof all the miracles andblessings he has done.And then of course comes thestory of the table spreadwhere the disciples of Jesuswere always very highly praisedNone of the disciples of Jesusbegan Christian theology.The actual disciples,Paul never saw Jesus.Paul was a different person.The disciples of Jesus did notbegin that bizarre theologyand the Qur'an praises the disciples.And the disciples were oneday hungry and they said thatmake dua to Allah to senda Maidah, the table down.And so Isa reluctantlyagrees to this request.And so Allah then sends down a Maidah.Can you imagine what would beon the table coming from heaven?Can you imagine thedelectable delights thatthe disciples of Jesus tasted on that dayonly Allah knows the tablecomes down from heavenand they all eat, now, isthis the last supper or not?Allah knows best, itmight be, it might be,but there's nothing in commonality per seexcept for the fact thatChristians make a very big dealof something called the last supper.And the Qur'an mentionsa supper that they had.So maybe, the Christian versionis kind of based on thisand that's my gut instinct orfeeling but Allah knows best,but it does appear that there is somecommonality in this regard.And Allah 'Azza wa Jal reminds the peopleupon whom the table came downthat you had better be extra grateful.And if you then rejectafter this, that afteryou have seen this sign andeaten from heaven basicallyif you then reject Allahsays I'm gonna punish you.Like I have punished nobody else.And from this, it's abit of a scary point herewith blessings comes responsibilitywith extra privilege,extra power, extra wealth,extra security, whatever blessing we haveit also comes with extra responsibilityand extra accountability.Those who saw the heaven sent down a tableand they ate from the fruits of JannahAllah is saying you can neverever, ever leave Islam nowyou have seen it, okay, wedidn't see the table come down.But still the conceptof whoever is blessed,has more responsibilities,that is very clear as well.And the ending of the Surah,is a powerful message to the Christiansthat Allah gonna say to Jesus,did you tell the people toworship you, your mother?And he will say, I never said this Allah.I never said it, how could Isay what I have no right to sayif I said it, you would know.I only say what You told me to say.I told them to worshipmy Lord and your Lordand to take You as God, not as me.And I was a witness over themwhen I was in amongst them.But when you took me up, Youbecame The Watcher over them.And then 'Isa's love for his people.And of course he shouldhave love for his peopleis shown even on the Day of Judgment.He asks Allah to forgivethem if you punish oh Allahthey are your servants.But if you forgive, Youare The Mighty and Wise.His love is still thereeven if they went to strayand look at Allah's response.Allah will say on the Day of Judgment,this is the day when thetruthful shall be rewardedfor their truthfulness.When the honest, when the sincerewill gain the rewards of their sincerityand those people Allahwill be pleased with themand they're pleased with himand that is the great blessing and gift.And we firmly believe thatsincere, sincere, sincereChristians who never heard of Islamand they live their lives faithfully,truly thinking thatthey're worshiping God,even if they were very misguided,it is very possible thattheir sincerity will save themif they had never heard of Islam.As for the one who has heard of Islamand knows Islam and reject it,that is a different fate altogether,but Allah is saying about Christiansand anyone really whois never heard of Islam.whoever was sincere and really wantedto worship in their own manner.Allah is saying their sinceritywill benefit them todayand we leave it at that.That is the best that we don'ttalk too much beyond this.We leave it at that.We firmly believe thatthere is hope of salvationfor those who never heard of Islamand who lived committed lives.And we don't speak specifics,we speak in generalities.And the Surah concludeswhat the powerful verse.Lillahi mulku assamawatiwal-ardiwama feehinn [5:120]to Allah belongs the sovereignty,the kingdom of all that isin the heavens and earthand all that is in between them.And indeed Allah haspower over everything.This was the summary of Surah Al-Maidahand insha'Allahu ta'alaWe will continue tomorrowbi'idhnillahi ta'alaUntil then AsSalaam Alaikum,Warahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

The Message of The Quran - Part 2_ Surah Baqarah _ Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi

As Salaam Alaikum ,So yesterday we summarizedsome of the main goalsof Surah Al Baqarah with emphasis onthe first half of Surah Al Baqarah.And because Surah AlBaqarah is the longest surahin the entire Quran,we will be spending todaywith the second halfof Surah Al Baqarah.And this is the only timereally that we are gonnabe spending two full episodes on one surahfrom now on, we're gonna tryto go around a surahper episode and thenmaybe eventually we'll getto three, four, five surahs per episode.When we get to Juz Amma,we're gonna be doing15 surahs or 20surahs per the last episode.So that's how we're gonna be doing this.I think I've already gottena feel for our style,for the style we're gonna be using.And that is that we're not goingto be going verse by verse.As I said, we got,I got a few comments, Alhamdulillahmost people were appreciativeof this new style.I just need to clarify and explainthat I'm not going sectionby section, verse by verse.This is exactly as the title says.It is attempting to be asummary of the entire sectionthat we're going to be readingand what that summary meansis that I'm going to beexplaining broad motifs.I'm gonna be talking aboutthe content for somebodywho might not have read the surah beforeand once in a while,very rarely, I'm gonna pause at a verseand go into a little bit of detail.But generally speakingwe're just gonna tryto bring together various aspectsof the surah sothat when inshallahyou all read the surah,cause that is the goal not just to listento my lecture but then to read the surah,that we have more of abackground informationand then we can appreciateand connect the dots together.Continuing from wherewe left off yesterday.Yesterday we had mentioneda number of storiesthat, Surah Al Baqarah says.And then at the end ofall of those stories Allahhas a very beautifulline, Surah Al BaqarahTilka ummatun qad khalatThose were the communitiesthey have passed away.Those were communities ofthe past "la ha ma kasabat".They're gonna have to face up to what theyhave earned, if they'vedone good, good for them.If they've done bad,that's on their account.laha makasabat walakum ma kasabtumAnd you are gonna haveto be held accountablefor what you have done,"wala tus-aluna 'ammakano ya'amaloon".You are not going to be questioned aboutwhat they have done.And this verse really teaches us one ofthe fundamental messagesof the entire Quranand that is you are gonnamake your own destiny bythe will Allah (SWT).It doesn't matter what your ancestors did.It doesn't matter whathappened 1000 years ago.You cannot blame the pastfor what you are doing today."laha makasabat", thepast has its own history.They have to answer forwhat they have done.Today it's me and you.We are standing.It's our day today.We can make or break it.It's what we do that counts."wala tus-aluna 'ammakano ya'amaloon".You are not gonna be held accountablefor what they have done,nor will you be blamedfor what they have done.Nor can you yourself takeoff the blame for yourselfbecause of what they have done.You are your own individual.I am my own individualand Allah is gonna ask uswhat we have done.It doesn't matter what our ancestors,doesn't matter what the future holds.That's one of the mainmessages of the Quran.Now we're gonna start off today as well,from the middle of the surah,around the second Juzand, the second Juzhas around four pages dedicatedto a very interesting topicand that is the changein the direction of the Qiblah,the change from Jerusalem,from Baitul Maqdis,to Makkah and Allah (SWT)mentions in the Quran,Qad nara taqalluba wajhika fee assamaWe have seen your facelooking up to the heavens.We've seen you wantingto change the directionof the Qiblah.And so from now on, we're gonna face you.We're gonna send you in adirection that you love.tardaha fawalli wajhakashatraalmasjidi alharamGo ahead and turn your face towardsMasjid al-Haram in MakkahAnd this is a very, verysignificant juncturein the Seerah.Why?Because for 13 years,the Muslims would faceBaitul MaqdisThey would face the Qiblahof Jews and Christians.They would face the Qiblahof the faiths before them.And that is Jerusalem.Then, and of course the Prophet(SAW), and we know from theSeerah,that he would of course usethe Kabaa as a middle,that he would face the Kabaaand then he would onlypray towards the wall.That was the opposite of Jerusalem.So it's as if he has twobirds with one stone.He's facing the Kabaaand he's facing Jerusalem.However, when you go toMadinah, Jerusalem is up Northand the Kabaa is down South,so you have to turn your backto Makkah and thenyou're facing Jerusalem.And our Prophet (SAW)said he wanted to facethe original Qiblah.He wanted to face the Qiblahof Ibrahim (AS),and he would make Duato Allah (SWT)So for two and a half pages,Allah `is talking about this issueof the change of Qiblahand it has a very significant momentof the Seerah.Why?Because by the announcement of changingthe Qiblah,Islam is coming to age,Islam is now being givenits independence.Yes, the roots of Islam are in Judaismand Christianity meaningthe line of prophets.Yes, the roots of the theology of Islam.They go back all the way to Jerusalem.There is a continuity and our ProphetProphet (SAW) is coming at the endof a long line of many,many biblical prophets.There has been no prophet since Jesusuntil our prophet Muhammad (SAW).And Jesus is at the end of manydozens of prophets that camefrom the time of Moses up untilJesus nonstop continuously.There had been a wholeseries of prophets thatthe Old Testament talks about andthe new Testament referencesand then our Prophet (SAW) comesand he is proclaiming themessage of those prophetsand he is saying, "I amfollowing their footsteps."But even as he'sfollowing their footsteps,the faith is not Judaism,nor is it Christianity.It has to come to its own and that is whyAllah (SWT) is saying,so now turn your face away.It is not just a symbolicmove, it is not just a movethat is demonstrating thatIslam is coming to its ownfruition, but it is alsodemonstrating a very beautifulpoint and that is listento this carefully.Islam is breaking away.The original Qiblahbefore the coming of the Prophet (SAW)was Jerusalem, but the originalbefore Jerusalem was MakkahMakkah was the basebefore Ishaq and Yaqubestablish Jerusalem, theirgrandfather, their father,Ibrahim established Mecca.And so Islam is indeed continuous.Yes, but Islam is the original.Islam is the real deal.Islam is the orthodoxy that allthe other faiths reallyseek and so Allah (SWT) is sayinggo ahead now and turn your face towardsthe Qiblah "fa ayna ma kuntum"wherever you are in the world.Then face Makkah and thatis why the Makkah has becomethe global symbol of the Ummah.Wherever they are, they turnand they face towards Makkahbut Allah azzawajalalso reminds us in this section of versesverse 177, verse 177 Allah (swt) saysin all of this after two pages,three pages of telling usface Makkah or wherever you go face MakkahThen Allah says "Laysa albirra"."an tuwalloo wujoohakumqibalaalmashriqi walmaghrib"Don't get so involved inthe legal issues of whichdirection is Makkah East and West"faaynama tuwalloo fathamma wajhu Allah"Whichever direction you are in,you will find Allah (SWT).True righteousness is not justin observing the outer law.It's not just in followingthe letter of the law.There is something beyond this.Yes, the letter of the law is important.Yes, if Allah says X, we do X,but there's always a higher purpose.There's always something more than this.Do not just implement the lawand neglect all other thingsas well, because thatis a type of fanaticismthat ultra literalism wherepeople only worry about whatthe text says withoutunderstanding the implications.That is a problem.So Allah says in verse 177,righteousness it does notconsist of turning your face east or west,no true righteousness is what is he whobelieves in Allah and thelast day and the angelsand the scriptures and the prophets.He who gives his moneyeven though he loves it,to their relatives, tothe near, to the orphans,to the needy, to thehomeless, to the beggars,for the freeing of the slaves.He who offers the prayers,gives his Zakat.He who fulfills his promisewhenever he promises he who ispatient in the face ofperseverance, of persecution,of hardship in the timeof conflict, those peopleAllah says are the real sincerepeople, and those peopleare the ones who are pious.This is a powerful verse.Yes, indeed.We have to live up to what thelaw says, but let us not losethe religion in the law.The law is a part of thereligion, but the religion is morethan just the laws.And so Allah is sayingdon't become just obsessedwith which direction is the Qiblah.And then that is it.The Qiblah is one aspect.Go ahead and face the Qiblahbut then Islam is more than just that.So , there's thissupposed conflict betweenthe letter of the law andthe spirit of the law.For Muslims we emphasize both.And if any group amongstus emphasizes one,to the laxity of the other emphasizes onewhile ignoring the other.And by the way, we do havethese extremists strandsin our faith tradition wheresometimes people emphasizethe law and they forget the spirit.And then we have the othergroup that they emphasizethe spirituality and then neglect the law.And both of these are wrongand the Quran is very clearin this regard.The surah also then tells usthis is the only surah inthe Quran where Allah (swt)mentions explicitly the details of Ramadanand the fasting of Ramadan.And because we're in the month of Ramadan,it does behoove us topause just a minute or twoand talk a little bit aboutthe verses of Ramadan.And of course Allah (swt)tells us the procedureof fasting Surah Al Baqarah.Verse 187, Allah says, "wakulu washrabu"go ahead eat and drinkuntil the white streakof the Dawn can be distinguished fromthe black streaks of the Dawn.and the meaning here untilyou see the whitest streakof the horizon, that thedawn, that the sun isrising up, that is called the real Dawn.And that is the time when the sun is...The rays of the sun havebecome absolutely horizontal.So Allah is saying, goahead and eat and drinkand be intimate with yourspouses until that time.Then, once that time happens,"thumma atimmoo assiyamaila allayl"then continue to fastuntil it is night until the sun sets.We are also told, just likeI said three minutes ago,that it's not just the legal aspect.There's a higher aspect.So we are told when it comesto fasting, that all you whobelieve fasting hasbeen prescribed for youso that you may achieve God consciousness.The fast is indeed important,but there's a higher purpose.The fast is a mechanismand the higher purpose isthe achieving of thespirituality of God consciousnessand in all of these versesabout the legal aspectsof fasting, smack dab in the middle.Once again, Allah manifeststhat Islam isn't justabout the laws.The laws are there, butthere are many exemptions.There are many times when youdon't have to follow the law.Anytime there's a genuinehardship, there is an exemptionand therefore even in theverses that command us to fast,right in the middle of those versesAllah (SWT) says,whoever cannot may feed a poor personAllah (SWT) says,whoever is sick "faman kanaminkummareedan aw a'ala safar",whoever is sick, whoever is traveling,they can make it up later.And then we are told,and this is a key phrase,memorize this verse, at leastin English, understand it."yureedu Allahu bikumu alyusrawala yureedubikumu al'ausrAllah wants to make things easy for you.Allah does not want tomake matters difficult.Allah does not desire a hardship.The religion of Islam isnot a religion of pain.It's not a religion of suffering.Yes, there are chores.Yes, there are responsibilities.Yes, there's devotions and rituals that ,we have to wake out of bed,we have to do wudu,but all of these things,they are reasonable.They're are not unreasonable.Allah does not want to makethings difficult for us.And whenever there'sgenuine difficulty, wheneverthere's genuine hardship, guess what?The law becomes lax.You can't fast.You're gonna fall sick, you'repregnant, you're traveling,this and that don't worry about it.Make it up or pay money,whichever the case might be.And both of these exemptionsare explicit in the QuranAnd by the way, when we'reon the topic of Ramadanand fasting, it is very importantthat we look at that page.Please read that page in themiddle, before and after.Excuse me-- before andafter the verses of fastingAllah mentions two other aspectsthat are related to Ramadan.So let's not forget those aspects.The first of them "Shahru Ramadan,allathee unzila feehialquran", the month of Ramadanis when the Quran came down.Then Allah says whoever is able to fast.So Quran is mentioned before fasting.There is more of a linkagein the Quran with the Quranand Ramadan than with fasting and Ramadan.So Quran and Ramadan arelinked together directly.The Quran and Ramadan arelinked together more so,than the fast and Ramadan.So this is one point.Therefore from this we derivethat, we all know this Ramadanis the month of the Quran.Ramadan is intrinsicallyrelated to the Quran.And then the second point aswell, again, in the context ofthe verses of fasting Allah (SWT) mentionsanother beautiful verse, itkind of seems out of place,but it is so essentialto the spirit of Ramadan.And that is verse 186."Wa-itha sa'alaka a'aibadeea'annee fa-innee qareeb"Now this verse is notdirectly linked to Quran norto Ramadan, nor to fasting.It kind of seems out of place,but then it really embodiesthe spirit of the fast.If my servants ask you about me,then tell them "Wa-ithasaalaka 'ibadee a'annee"if my servants ask you aboutme, then indeed I am close"fa-innee qareebun 'ojeebuda'awata addaa'iitha da'anI will respond to the call ofthe one who calls out to me,the one who makes dua to mewhenever he makes dua to me,I will respond to his call.So let him pray to me, let himcall me, let him beseech meand let him worship me sothat I can respond unto him.So this verse tells usthat making dua toAllah, beseeching Allahasking Allah for our needs.It is one of the core components,not just of religiositybut especially of the month of Ramadan.So in this section, Allah mentions QuranAllah mentions fastingand Allah mentions dua.These three things are alllinked to the month of Ramadan.In the section as wellthat we're covering today.Allah (SWT) mentions,another very important, historical fact.And it is a culturalmanifestation of the battleof truth with falsehood.And it is true in thepast and it is true todayand it's gonna be true tomorrow as well.And that is the following.Verse 170, Allah says thatwhen it is said to them,follow what the Allah has revealed"Wa-itha qeela lahumuittabia'au maanzala Allah"They reply:"qaloo bal nattabia'au mawa jadna'alayhi abaana ana"they say, no, we will followwhat our ancestors have given us.We're gonna follow theway of our ancestors.Then Allah says thatwhat if their ancestorsdid not understand anything?What if their ancestorswere themselves not guided?What if their ancestorsdidn't know as well asthe Quran is coming and teaching them.Now, this is a hugelesson for all of us here.Why?Because the majority of timewhen people reject the truth,it is because it clashes withthe religion or the culture orthe morality or the ethicsthat they themselveshave absorbed from thetimeframe that they are inand their limited mindscannot think beyondtheir own timeframe, beyondwhat they have inheritedfrom their own ancestors.And , here we are criticizingthose colleagues that whycouldn't they see through,why couldn't they?They lift up the blindersand say that Allah knew bestthe prophet new best just becausethey were born in paganism.Why did they have to accept paganism?So we criticize them and wedon't realize that sometimesme and you, we fall preyto the same paradigm,the same problem just becauseeverybody in our culturehas accepted somethingas ethical as moral.They've accepted acertain value as positive.And then the Quran comesand clashes with thatand we think, hold on a sec,that doesn't make any sense.I know for a fact because myculture says so that X is true.Now the Quran is comingand saying X is not true.And then we problematizethe Quran don't we see we'refalling into the sameparadigm and Allah saysin the Quran what if yourancestors were wrong?What if your culture is wrong?What if the morality and, here's the ironyand I have to say this explicitly,the Quraishat least they had 10generations of ancestorthat they can say, you know what?We have a solid tradition.We have a solid paganism.We have a solid idolatrythat we've inheritedfor a millennia.At least they have a long tradition.Not that it makes it right,but I'm saying the cultureof our times when theycriticize the Quran,it doesn't even go back20 years, 30 years,one generation ago, and certainvalues, certain mortality,certain sexuality,certain notions of family,certain notions of liberalism and whatnothave become involved.And then we believe thatis the end all and be all.And we're going to base thevalidity of the eternal speechof Allah based upon theephemeral or the temporary natureof our values.And our values are changing night and day.They change from year to year.They change from generation to generation.And that is why we need a force.We need a speech that isbeyond the speech of mento tell us right from wrong.And so Allah is saying don't base truth onwhat your culture says.Think, think about this.Think long and hard.Don't be so blind that justbecause everybody is sayingit, it doesn't make it right.And Allah says in the Quranthat what if your ancestorswere wrong and didn't understand?What if your ancestors were not guided?And so the Quran iscoming, "hudal lin Naas"this is what the guidance is.This is what will tellus right from wrong.And also the Quran tells usin the same series of versesthat on the day of judgment,your culture, your people,your ancestors will not save you.Surah Al Baqarah, that Allah saysin the Quran that on that dayIth tabarraa allatheenaittubiAAoo mina allatheenaittaba'aoo waraawoo ala'athabawataqatta'atbihimu al-asbabon that day, those who werefollowed will disown themselvesfrom those who followed them.They're gonna say, it's notour fault that you followed usand the both of them aregonna see the punishmentof Allah (SWT)and all ties will be severed between them.What is this notion here?The notion is that on the day of judgment,later, people are gonna blamethe earlier people later.Later people are gonna say,"Allah It's not my fault"my culture did this,"my people did this,my ancestors did this,"and so the ancestors are gonnasay, "Hey, it's not our fault"that you followed us."It's your own fault.wataqatta'at bihimu al-asbab"and all links betweenthe two are gonna cut off.Dear Muslim, dear young menand women, whoever you look upto on the day of judgment,you will come alone.You will have to answer foryourself on the day of judgment.You cannot quote a famousperson or a philosopheror a thinker.You cannot quote somebody andsay, "Hey, because of him,"I followed it."Allah gave you your own independence.Allah gave you your life and your health,Allah gave you, yourrationality and your intellect.You cannot just say everybody's saying it.I'm just gonna be a blind,sheep and follow along.No.wataqatta'at bihimu al-asbabAll links are gonna break on that dayand you cannot blame anybody else.And this is very clearthroughout the whole Quranand especially here in Surat Al Baqarah.Now this section as wellof Surat Al Baqarah ,it brings up a very,frankly awkward topic and itneeds to be discussed causethere's at least like 20 or30 verses in this section.And I'm gonna summarizesome aspects here and we'regonna return to this topiclater on because there are othersections of the Quranthat have this as well.This, chapter of Baqarah, it raisesfor the very first time thereality of physical warfareand of course of qitaaland of jihad.And it lays out somevery, very explicit rules.And now again, this isa long drawn out topic,but it does need to be addressedbecause it's right herein the Quran and Allah says in the QuranSurat Al Baqarah, verse two one six"Kutiba AAalaykumu alqitaluwahuwakurhun lakum"Fighting is ordained for youeven though you don't like it.Nobody likes to go to war.War is a dirty business.War is not something you want to dowahuwakurhun lakum wa'asaan takrahoo shay-anbut it's possible thatyou dislike something"wahuwa khayrunlakum" and it isfor your best interestsand it's possible that youlike something and it is notgood for you and Allahknows and you do not know.Once again, we come acrossa very, very Quranic truththat is embodied in Surat Al Baqarahethical values don't come from what Ilike and what I don't like,right and wrong is not basedupon what I desire.Sometimes I desire somethingand it's not good for meand sometimes what is goodfor me, I don't want to do it.And that is why once againwallahu yaAAlamu waantum lataAAlamoonit occurs at least five timesAllah knows you do not know,Allah knows you do not knowyou do not know what Allah (SWT) knowsAnd so the concept of qitaal,the concept of jihad.Yes indeed there is no denying that in theQuran there is something,there's a notion of a justwar theory that sometimes youhave to go to war.Sometimes you have to fight to defend.There are the reasonsthat you go to battle.Pacifism sounds really nicewhen you're an undergraduateat some university, it's reallynice to write papers aboutpacifism and we should not be fighting.That's great, but the worldcannot and does not run,but on pacifism, nationsgo to war all the time,but the difference is thatgenerally speaking, most nationsgo to war because of worldlyissues, because of money,because of oil, becauseof natural resources.In Islam though, thereshould be no fightingfor the sake of this world.There is no, you don't go to warfor the sake of this dunya.You don't kill peoplebecause you want their money,you want to conquer theirlands, you want their oiland natural resources.Not at all.No.It's very clear in Surat AlBaqarah "wa qatilu fisabilillah"if you do have to go, itmust be for a higher cause.And that is for the sake of Allah (SWT).And Allah (SWT) reminds us againin Surah Al Baqarah "walfitnatuashaddu mina alqatl"that civil war, anarchy, chaosis worse than going to war and fighting.Civil war and anarchy and SubhanAllah,look at what is happening inso many places in the world.And in fact, we can evensay again, historically,when Hitler comes and invadesEurope, you can't just sitback and say we're gonna be pacifists.No.Anarchy is worse than alegitimate war that you haveto go and defend.And that is why.Look at this verse 251of Baqarah so explicit.It's amazing.Allah (SWT) is telling us why we haveto go to war sometimes. 251 Allah says,walawla dafAAu Allahiannasa ba'adahum bi ba'adinlafasadati al-ardwhere it not for the factthat Allah azawajal usessome people to restrain others, i.e.Some people fight others andso therefore they conquer overthem and they stopped themfor whatever they're doing.Were it not for the fact thatone group is used to keepothers in check, the wholeearth would have gone into ruin."lafasadati al-ard"."walakinna Allahathoofadlin 'ala ala'alameen"Allah azawajalis full of Rahmah and full of mercytowards the creation.And again, the details of the notionof qitaal and jihadare know beyond the scope ofthis quick talk right now.But let us be very clear inthis regard that in our timesin the generation that we're born into,nations feel very comfortable.They feel morally obliged evento go to war and to spreadtheir versions of truth,their versions of politicalsystems, their versions ofdemocracy, their versionsof liberalism and theyfeel morally justified.Three generations ago, twogenerations ago, they wouldoutwardly say that we'regoing to christianizethose countries and spreadour religion over there.Well, fact of the matter is, in the timeof the Khulafa al Rashidun in the timeof the Ummayads when the world wasa very different place1200, 1300 years ago,there is no question thatthe Muslim Ummah felt morallypermitted to expand thecivilization of Islam,not the religion,the civilization of Islam andthe borders of the empire,but Surah Al Baqarah is very clear.Verse 256 you can never useforce to spread the religion."La ikraha fi deen", thereis never forcing peoplein the religion.Sometimes the Khulafah indeed they didthe Umayyads did do this.There's no denying this.They spread the borders of Islamand they spread the bordersso that the people livingin those lands can beintroduced to their faith.And slowly but surely, this iswhat my ancestors and most ofyour ancestors did is thatslowly but surely interactingwith the Muslims and theyconvert generation by generation.And this is the point that thedifference between spreadingthe civilization andspreading the religion,the religion was neverspread by the sword."La ikraha fi deen" Surah Al Baqarahis very clear in this point.Now again, as I said, muchcan be said and much has beensaid, but whoever wantsto find a message of peaceand a message of what iscalled in English legitimatejust war theory willeasily be able to extractthis from the QuranAnd this is the versionof mainstream Islam.This is what the bulk ofthe Ummah has believed in.And whoever wants to cutand paste and producea very extremist, a very crazedor a very radical interpretation.You can also do that.And we have those fringemovements that are justifyingthe types of violence thatthe rest of the Ummah bulks atand they do have their cut and pasteand snippets and whatnot.But these people are not readingthe Quran the way we are.They're not reading SurahAl Baqarah, verse 190where Allah says"Waqatiloo fee sabeeliAllahiallatheena yuqatiloonakumwala ta'atadooinna Allahala yuhibbu almua'atadeen"go ahead and fight in the cause of Allah,not for your glory, not for your ego,not for oil, not to spreadyour versions of liberalism.No fight for the cause of Allah.Who, who do you fight?Those who are a threat to you,those who are fighting yougo ahead and fight ifthey're fighting you.And even in that fight, "wala ta'atadoo",don't commit aggression.Don't go beyond the bounds.Don't go beyond what is reasonablefor Allah azawajal not love the aggressor.So in a nutshell, this issome of the things we needto know about this notion of qitaaland jihad.Also in this chapter and in this section,the latter half of Surah Al Baqarahwe come across the very firstcommandment of what iscalled the Hudud lawsor the Qisas, the Penal Code of Islam.And of course, what are the HududThe Hudud are punishmentsthat are enacted by a legitimateIslamic state that isjudging by the laws of,Allah (SWT) against people, criminals whohave done specific crimesagainst other people.So murder and rape and stealing.These are Hudud punishmentswhere society is at risk.And therefore, the Islamic sharia has comewith punishments to keepsuch people in check.Now certain Surah AlBaqarah is the first timethat when you're reading the Quran,you will come across yourfirst hand punishment.And so we need to pause hereand a little bit talk about this.And then once again, thisis one of those areasthat causes sometimes alittle bit of confusion.It is also used by the farright and the extremistto paint Islam in a very negative manner.But once again, you readthe Quran and ratherthan anything negative, wallahiwe feel a sense of pride, a sense of 'izzathis is the reality and the truth.We should all be proud of.Surah Al Baqarah verse 178.Ya ayyuha allatheena amanu kutibaa'alaykumu alqisasu fee alqatlaoh, you who believeqisas is prescribed for youwhen somebody is killed,when somebody is murdered,qisas is a retaliationa life for a life "alhurrubil hurriwala'abdu bila'abdi walonthabilontha"every single person, whoeverthey are, whether they're male or female,whether they're slaveryor free, doesn't matter.Everyone who murders Allah (SWT) says"kutiba a'alaykumu alqisas",that retribution or the penaltyor basically the murdereris going to be executed.So qisas here means he took a life.Now once he is caught, the trial is done,the evidence has given.It is proven that he was a murderer.Then the penalty for himkilling somebody is forthis person himself to be executed.And of course the wholenotion of the Hududthey say it is backward, itis harsh, it is this and that.And the fact of the matter,once again, no, not at all.Not at all.Because when you really understandthe Hudud, you understandthe philosophy of these laws of Islam.SubhanAllah, you are in awe athow perfect this sharia is.In these very verses aboutthe punishment of murder.Allah says, Surah Al BaqarahWalakum fee alqisasihayatunya olee al-albabiin this law of execution,there is your own lifein killing the life of the murderer.There is your own life."ya olee al-albab"oh people of intellect,if you only understoodAllah is saying, don't be sheep,think be brave enough to challenge,understand, and Allah is saying thatin this law of qisasthere is your own life.Oh, people of intellect.What this means, if youdon't have intellect,you won't understand.If you're just gonna follow,just like an ignorant person,just mimic, just cry,whatever they say sloganeeringOh, Islam is this.Islam is that.If you're just gonna beshallow, then doesn't matter.You're not gonna understandif you have intellect."ya olee al-albab" reflect and thinkand Allah azawajal is telling usin this law of Qiasas,there is your own life.And of course the meaninghere is very, very obvious.When the punishment for themurderer is so harsh, it willcause a potential murderer to think twice.It will cause somebodysay, "You know what,"I don't wanna go down that route."If they're very angry atsomebody, if they wanna dosomething wrong, they themselveswill be kept in check.And so not only will theirmurderer not murder, if he knowsthat there's a possibilitythat his own life is gonna beforfeit, but the life of themurderer himself will be saved.In other words, this law of Qisasis saving two lives atthe cost of just the law, andthat is not only the murdered,but the murderer."Walakum fee alqisasihayatunya olee al-albab"and of course we can also pointout here that the sharia ofIslam has a very high barto prove any crime.It's a very difficult thingto prove, and yes, indeed,once it is proven, thepunishment is gonna be enacted,but then, and here's areally amazing reality,smack dab in the middle of the versesof Qisas,right in the middle of those verses,Allah (SWT) has a phrase here,which again, when you read it,you don't fully understandcause we don't know the context.Meaning the average personthat might not understand it.But of course the scholars of Islamic law,the books of the Tafseer,they go into this detail,"faman a'aufiya lahu min akheehi shay-onfattiba'aunbilma'aroofiwaadaon ilayhi bi-ihsan"whoever is forgiven by his brother,then let him follow up thatforgiveness with goodwilland let him pay the penalty with Ihsaanwith excellence.What is this cryptic phrase here?Whoever is forgiven, let himfollow up with good manners.Let him pay the debt with Ihsaan.What is this crypticphrase here in the Quranin Surah Al Baqarah, listen to this.Yes, indeed the murderer, if he's caught,if it's proven, hedeserves to be executed.But Allah is saying, if the familyof the deceased decides to forgive,if they realize that you know what,we're not going to gain anythingby killing one more person,then that's good for them.And the one who was themurderer should feel indebtedto that family and shouldfollow that up with good actionsand remorse and then follow that upby paying a financial penalty, a debt.And in Islamic law it goeseven more detailed than this.It's really amazing and fascinatingand Surah AL Baqarah is thebasis for all of these laws.So I'm just going to briefly mentionthat in an ideal Islamic land where all ofthese laws are enacted,so suppose the murderer iscaught, he is found guilty.Now the right of executionis in the hands ofthe family of the one who was murdered.And so that family willbe brought by the judgeand according to some books of law,each family member, each oneof the inheritors, men and women,by the way, men and womenwill be brought forthand the judge will ask them,you want to forgive for the sake of Allah?If you forgive it is better.The judge will remind themwhat the Quran itself says,that Allah (SWT) says in,in the other surahs, Surah Al Israif he forgives it is better for him.It's very explicit thatAllah is commanding usor encouraging us toforgive even this crime.So the question arises, whatif there's 10 family membersand they don't have unanimous consensus?What happens then?Our Islamic law says ifthere's 10 family members,and even one of them says, I'll forgivefor the sake of Allah,then the rest are obligedbecause you cannot saveone ninth you cannotsave one 10th excuse me.If one person of the entire family says,I want to Allah's reward,then that person is not gonna be executed.But then you're goingto say, that's not fair.How about the other nine?They're angry.They want their retribution,and this leads us to what Allahis saying "fattiba'aunbilma'aroofi waadaonilayhi bi-ihsanin" he hasto repay the debt with excellencebecause if they areforgiven for the execution,there is a penalty that will come.That is a financial penaltyand it's a huge penalty in Islamic law.100 Camels back in theday these days they havethese days they have the dollarsand the equivalents, but100 camels back in the day.That is a mini fortunate.Of course this person would have to spendthe rest of his life paying off that debtbecause that's the point.You don't just get offscot free, but see in allof this in Surah Al Baqarahwe learn that there isindeed harsh penalties.There's no question about it.You know there's the laws are there,but the fact of the matter isthat these laws are rarely implementedand even at the very lastminute one family membercan stop them and say, Iforgive for the sake of Allah.And forgiving for the sakeof Allah is encouragedin the Quran that when youforgive a level, forgive you.So the whole philosophyof Islamic punishments isso radically different.The goal of the punishmentis not to have vengeance.It's not to persecute and kill.No.The goal is "Walakum fee alqisasi hayatun"to have a civil societyin which you don't haveto worry about murderand rape and pillagingand plunder and stealing.No.You want to say in a civil society"Walakum fee alqisasi hayatun"so when you have the harsh penaltiesin the book, which arerarely actually implemented,that's just, you just say on the side.But the penalties are there.Everybody knows.And yes, every once in a whilethe murder will be executedevery once in a while the rapist will beevery once in a while.So everybody knows.And yes, it seems veryharsh, but in that harshness,the crime rate goes down,the murder rate is almost nonexistent.People are safe.And that is what Allah issaying in Surah Al Baqarah"Walakum fee alqisasihayatun ya olee al-albabi"that oh people have intellectunderstand there is wisdomand there is benefit andthere is life for youin this regard.Another motif in the last few pagesof Surah Al BaqarahAnd in fact around four pages or threeand a half pages rightbefore the ending of Surah Al Baqarah,it's all about charity andit's all about monetary issuesand the prohibition of riba of interestand also the issue of contracts.So the whole issue comesup, monetary issues.And especially now whenit's been just a little bitabout a charity because these verses arethe main verses that we always hearat the Islamic fundraisers that, you know,the verse that Allah says inthe Quran that whoever gives a,it is like one grain that is gonna give...excuse me.It's one grain that'sgonna sprout forth a plantof seven branches and everybranch is gonna have 100 seeds.So in other words, onegrain will potentially bringback 700, grains after that.And so the point beingthat every penny you giveor every dollar yougive or every Riyal, orevery cent you give, youmight be rewarded 700 timesmore than this.In verse 254, Allah (SWT) says,oh you who believe spend fromthe wealth we have given you.10 verses later, Allah says,oh, you who believe spendfrom the pure wealth that you have earned.And this leads us to a very,very fascinating chapterin the science of tafseer.And that is that whenever there's a changein wording between similar commandments,there's a lot of benefit to be gained.Here we have two versesthat are somewhat similarand yet the meaning thatwe derive from both of themis so much complimentary.Allah is saying, or you who believe spendfrom the wealth we havegiven you in the next verse,barely 10 verses later.Allah says oh you who believe spendfrom the pure wealth that you have earned.So in the one case, everything we have isfrom Allah, everything.But in the second case,Allah is saying it's not goingto rain dollars on you, no"mim ma kasabtum" youhave to go out and sweat.You have to go out and earn,you have to go and do the work.It's not just going to come down.Yes it is from me, butI didn't just give itto you for free.You have to earn it in a halal mannerand that's where Allah says"min tayyibati ma kasabtum"So the profundity ofputting these two togetheris very clear.Everything is Allah's Qadarbut it's only gonna be Allah's Qadarwhen we do our part to get that Qadar,which is also Qadar.Yes, indeed.Allah has destined for us howmuch money we're going to get,but Allah's also saying youhave to work for your money.It's not just going tocome sitting at home.And these two very small minor nuancesbetween these two verses.It's essentially thechapter in the scienceof tafseer,of combining all the versesand interpreting the Quranin light of other Quranic verses.Also the concept of Shaytandiscouraging us frombeing generous is a very,explicit motif in the lastverses of Surah Al Baqarah.Allah says in the Quran"Ashshaytanu ya'aidukumualfaqrawaya/murukum bilfahsha"Shaytan promises you povertyand urges you to do immorality.Shaytan he wants you to spend your moneyand at the same time wants to corrupt you.He wants you to go and drinkand that's going to corrupt youand your money is literally,you might as well just burn it.He wants you to go spendmoney on drugs, on alcohol,on evil filth, on thingsthat are disgustingand you are literallythrowing your money away,"Ashshaytanu yaAAidukumualfaqrawaya/murukum bilfahsha-iwallahuya'aidukummaghfiratan minhu wafadlan"and Allah is promising you forgiveness.And Allah is promise you even more,Allah says in Surah Al Baqarah"yamhaqu Allahu arribawayurbee assadaqat"Allah will destroy all blessingsof the money earned from interest.And Allah will give youmore when you give charity,Allah says in Surah Al Baqarah that"Allahu waliyyu allatheena amanu"Allah is the protector of the believers.So all of these verses tellus when we choose Allahand when we choose to givefor the sake of Allah,Allah (SWT) will give us even more back.And this is somethingagain, very well known.And by the way, once again,this notion of literalismversus spirituality,verse 263 Allah reminds us,yes indeed it's importantto give be charitablebut then Allah says"Qawlun maAAroofun wamaghfiratunkhayrun minsadaqatinyatba'auha atha'A kind word, a forgiving gesture.It is better than charity that is followedby nuisance followed by irritation,followed by reminding peopleof what you have done.If you want to give charity, that's good.If the charity is gonnacause you to be arrogant,it's gonna cause you to feel betterthan the other person, ifit's going to cause youto remind them, "Hey, I gaveyou this, I gave you that."If your charity is more of a PR stunt,Allah is saying, you knowwhat, just give a good word.Forgive somebody that'sbetter than that typeof charity because "wAllhu Ghaniyun".Allah is "Ghani"Allah is the all rich, meaningI don't need your charity.Give charity and be humble about it.Don't give charity andthen remind somebody.So yes in charity is important,but the spirit of charityis even more important.And before we conclude Surah Al Baqarah,we do definitely need to talk aboutthe two most important sectionsor verses of Surah Al Baqarah.And that is of course the firstof them Ayatul Kursi verse 255Ayatul Kursi, of course there's muchthat can be said about Ayatul Kursi.Our prophet (SAW), asked,Ubay Ibn Ka'ab, whichis the greatest versein the Quran"'adhamu ayatin fi kitaabillah" and Ubay was aHafidh, he memorized the whole Quranand he responded withouta moment's hesitation,once he was pressed to answerwithout a moment's hesitation,out of the whole Quran, Ubayautomatically intrinsically (fitratan),he just recited "Allahu la ilahaillahuwa alhayyu alqayyoom"and our Prophet (SAW) wasso proud that he tapped him.You know where the waythat sometimes we're,we're just happy andproud and we just tap him.He tapped him on the shoulder and he said,"That knowledge hasbeen made easy for you."Ya Abal Mundhir, Ubay Ibn Ka'abknowledge has been made easy for youand so he affirmed that the greatest versein the entire Quran is Ayatul Kursi.There is no verse one verse that ismore powerful than Ayatul Kursi.It contains more than15 names and attributesof Allah (SWT)within Ayatul Kursi as our prophet,(SAW) said, is also the grand nameor the magnificent name of Allah (swt).Our prophet (SAW) would reciteAyatul Kursi every single nightbefore going to sleep.And he said in that beautiful hadith,and I want this to be our main action itemfor today's lecture.He said that whoever recites, Ayatul Kursiafter every single Salah,every single five prayerof the day that he does,whoever recites Ayatul Kursi,there is nothing that is between himand Jannah, except his own death.Nothing between him and Jannahexcept his own death.He's guaranteed Jannahand Ayatul Kursi, ittakes around 15 secondsto recite to ourselves, 15 seconds.So by spending one minute a day,one minute a day for reading,five times Ayatul Kursi, we are guaranteedthat when we move on to the next realmInshaAllah Ta'ala our abode will be JannahHow lazy can the person be?Who says, "I'm not gonnainvest one minute a day"to get the eternal Jannah."So my action item for today'slecture in particular,memorize Ayatul Kursi.It's just one ayah.Memorize Ayatul Kursi andthen make it your habitto recite after every salah,before you leave your tasleem.you say at tasleem,before you stand up and leave,at least recite Ayatul Kursiand do some basic Dhikrand then rush away.Make this a part of your habitbecause we want Jannah.Before you go to sleep as well,recite Ayatul Kursiand the tafseer of Ayatul Kursiwould require another long lecturewhich I have given online andothers have given as well.And you know, some people have also talkedabout the ring compositionof Ayatul Kursi,which is an interesting mechanism as well.I don't have any issue withthat it is a type of tafseerand that's permissible as well.So you can find this onlineand you can listen to differenttafseers of Ayatul Kursi,but for now, make sure you memorize itand recite it after every salahand of course the othersection of Surah Al Baqarahthat really we cannot finishthis episode without mentioningit, is the last two versesof Surah Al Baqarah.We are told by our Prophet (saw),that Allah gifted him thelast, the khawateem Al Baqarathe phrase goes the "khawateem".Now "khawateem" in some verses it saysAyatayn and some have saidthat the third verse as well,so basically the last three verses you cansay of Surah Al Baqarahthey are these khawateem Al Baqarah,they were gifted to our Prophet (saw),on the night of Isra Wil Mi'rajfrom under the treasures of the throneof the throne of Allah (swt).No nation before our nationwas given something similarto those last verses and we are toldthat whoever recites thembefore he goes to sleep,Allah will take care of him.Allah is sufficient for him.All of your needs, yourworries, your griefs,all of the issues that you have.If you make it a habitto recite the last versesof Baqarah before you go to sleep,then Allah will take care of himand Allah is sufficient for him.And of course, how can that not be whenwhat is the very lastverses of Surah Al Baqarah?La yukallifu Allahu nafsan illa wusa'ahaAllah does not place on you a burdenmore than what you can bear.Every single problem that you have,every worry that you have,every grief that you have,and we all have worries and griefs.Realize one thing, listen carefully.Allah is putting on you a burden onlyas much as you have the power to carry.The very fact that you'rein the amount of troubleand grief and worry that you're in knowthat Allah already knowsthat you have the strength,the determination, thefortitude, the courage,the faith to handle all of those worries.If you didn't have that, you wouldn't bein this situation right now.So whatever your situation is,whatever your your feelings are,realize Allah has testedme because he knowsI can pass the test now.La yukallifu Allahu nafsan illawusa'aha Allah never sets upa person for failure.Never, anything that youare in, know that you havethe capacity, thecapability by the pleasureand blessings of Allah toearn an A+ plus in any exam.But you need to turn to Allah andyou need to strive to getout of that situation.La yukallifu Allahu nafsan illa wusa'ahalaha ma kasabatwa'alayha ma iktasabatto its credit is all that it earnsand against it is allthat sins that it commitsand Allah finishes Surah Al Baqarahwith a beautiful Dua.And our Prophet (saw) said every timethe servant recites this dua, Allah says,I have given it to you.I have given it to you,I have given it to you.This is a guaranteed dua,which we need to memorize once againand recite every single night.rabbana latu-akhithna in naseena aw akhtaOh our Lord, do not callus to task if we forget,if we make a mistake.I have sometimes do somethingwrong cause I forget it.Sometimes I do something wrongcause I intentionally wantedto do it and it's a mistake.abbana wala tuhammilnamala taqata lana bih,do not put a burdenon us more than what we can bear."wa'afu anna waghfir lanawarhamna" Oh, Allah forgive us.Pardon us.Have mercy on us."anta mawlana" you are our Lord and masterand protector.mawla is the one who protects.mawla is the one who you turnto when you're in trouble.anta mawlana you are our mawla.And so help us have Allah against anybodywho is going to harm us.The disbelieving people,anybody who is our enemy,oh Allah, you are our mawla against them.So this is the conclusionof Surah Al Baqarah.And one final ayah that I have to mention,we finished at verse number of course 286,which is the ending of Surah Al Baqarah.Now let's go and half the Surahand then let's finish over there.What is the half of 286?143 let's go to 143.And let us see what Allah sayssmack dab in the middleof Surah Al Baqarahand how beautiful is the middle,that Allah says "WakathalikajaAAalnakumommatan wasata".In the middle, the wasat,of Surah Al Baqarah,the literal verse that is in the middle,literally 286 divided by two 143.143rd verse, literally Allah says,and this is how we have made you a wasat,a middle nation, a moderate nation.We said yesterday andtoday Surah Al Baqarahis about building thecivilization of Islam.It's about telling theUmma what it is in its ownand how it is vis-a-visother civilizations.So it's not a surprisethat the very middleof Surah Al Baqarah, Allah is saying,you are the moderate, thebest, the excellent nation.We have made you the "ummatan wasata",in the wasat of Baqarah, Allah saysyou are the Ummah that is wasat.Why?"litakunu shuhadaa a'ala annas"so that you may be witnesses toall of mankind and so that the messengermay be a witness until you.So we conclude by remindingourselves, dear muslims,Allah has made us an Ummatan Wasata.And what that means a lot can be said.We are a balanced nation.We are in between the two extremes,whatever the two extremes are.We are in between the two extremesof literalism versus spirituality.The two extremes of being tooengrossed in the law versusthe two engrossed inthe spirit of the law.The two extremes betweenemphasizing only theologyversus emphasizing only law.The two extremes between anyof their civilizations you find,we always find the MuslimUmmah is between the two.We want this world and wewant the next world as well.'rabbana atina fidunya hasanahwa fil akhirati hasanah'we are theWe are also an exemplary nation.Another meaning of "wasat",the most excellent nation.We are the nation that all other nationsshould look up to.And that's why Allah sayslitakoonoo shuhadaa AAala annas.So that you may bear testimony.So that you may be a witness unto mankind.And the point here, and withthis message I conclude,Allah is placing the responsibility on us.That when people seeus, they should be ableto assess their own lives.They should be able to see what is goodand bad by looking at us as role models.Allah is saying litakoonooshuhadaa AAala annas.So that you may be witnesses unto mankind.When people see us interact with us,they should see what it meansto be a believer in Allah.They should see the reality of faith,of spirituality, of decency, of dignity.They should see what it meansto be a person of true beliefin Allah (SWT) and just by lookingat our characteristics and demeanors,we should bear witness unto them.And then Allah says "wayakunaarrasoolu AAalaykum shaheeda".Just like the rasool,is somebody you look up to.He is your witness until you,you take him as your role model.You take him as your exemplar so the restof the nations should look up onto youand take you as the role model nation.That is our position thatAllah has carved out for us.Have we lived up to that responsibility?Have we really done whatwe're supposed to do?When others look at us,do they see what it meansto be the Ummahtan Wasata.Because we explained in our last lecture,words don't mean anything,it's the actions and Allah hasgiven us that responsibilityand he's allowed us to reachUmmahtan Wasatan status,but only if we do what Surah Al Baqarahwants us to do,of combining all of thesevarious aspects of faithand demonstrating whatIslam really and truly is.May Allah (SWT) bless us,to be of the people of the Quranand of the people of Surah Al Baqarah.We ask that Allah (SWT)allows Baqarah and Al-e-Imran to comeon the day of judgmentlike two vast cloudsand like two flocks of sheepto intercede on our behalf.We ask Allah (SWT) to make the Qurana light for us in this worldand the next andinshallahu ta'ala tomorrow,we will continue with Surah Al-e-Imrah.JazakumAllahu KhairanSalaam Alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu