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