It's been more than a month since my last post. What brought me back here is the fact that I am still getting many visitors from around the world, and also the fact that I do not want this to be another one of my projects that just becomes dust in the wind =) I am still a student of Islam, and this is my (notebook) shared with the world. My apologize for having not updated in a while.
Life has been pretty busy over the past month, one amazing thing is that I am now an instructor at our local University. It isn't really that big of a deal when you really look at it, but it is to me as I would love to one day become an academic professor in computer science (more women are needed as computer science professors!). Alhamdulillah, I hope these are my first steps towards it.
Now to share something with you all. I have been following Nouman Ali Khan's Podcast on Bayyinah as he goes through the tafsir of juz' aama in the Holy Quran. He has now completed the tafsir of juz' aama and has began the tafsir of the 29th juz' = juz' tabraka. Here are the links to the first three podcasts on the tafsir of one of my fav suras in the Holy Quran (Suraat Al-Mulk). Make sure to follow the Podcasts, its super enlightening!
So what is this concept of slavery that we are getting at? Every other slavery is forced, but this slavery [to Allah] is willing. You walk into this slavery, you accept this slavery yourself. Even in Surat Al Fatiha He [Allah] did not say o'bodo (enslave yourselves, worship and enslave yourselves). Instead, we said
إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ
eeyaka na'bodo
We declared (we enter into the slavery and worship you only). That's essentially what we said. So now the uniqueness of Allah's mastery is that we enter into this slavery willingly, and secondly instead of being based on anything else, the primary drive of this slavery is that the master is not hated ... the master is loved. It's a different kind of slavery. What were those five conditions that I was referring to before [i.e. in the beginning of the talk on slavery]?
The first of them is actually love. To be a slave of Allah, you have to love Allah. You can't be considered a slave until you love him. And what that love goes to mean is that everything else you love must be less than the love you have for Allah, and everything else you love must be dictated by the love you have for Allah. So you cannot love your wife or your children or your family or whatever, unless that love is taba'an ... it's underneath/in submission to the love you have for Allah. That's the first condition of slavery.
The second is obedience. [la ta'aten le makhlooqen fi ma'seyat al khaliq] the messenger, Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him, said. I.e.: there is no obedience to the creation while disobeying the creator. In other words, yes you have to obey other things like you have to obey your boss, you have to obey traffic laws, but none of those obedience can exist while you are in disobedience to Allah. That obedience comes first [You don’t get rewarded for the other obedience’s]. That's the second consideration of Allah's slavery. The first one was love, and the second is obedience.
The third one is sincerity. What that means is, everything that you do, you do it as a slave now. It's not "somethings" that you do as a slave. If you are a worshiper, only Sala [Muslim prayer] is for Allah while everything else is for you. But if you are a slave, what is everything for? Who is everything for? Everything is for Allah. Everything. Your job is for the sake of Allah, your family is for the sake of Allah, your worship is for the sake of Allah. Everything is for the sake of Allah. But when you just think of yourself as a worshiper you only give one part of your life to Allah, you don't give the whole thing to Allah. So Allah teaches us in the Quran
قُلۡ إِنَّ صَلَاتِى وَنُسُكِى وَمَحۡيَاىَ وَمَمَاتِى لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ [ina salati wa nusuki wa mahaya wa mamati lillahi raab el 3almeen] My prayer belongs to Allah (it's for his sake) My sacrifice is for his sake, my life and my death are also for his sake
You know what the means practically? It practically means that when I make career goals, when I make family goals, when I make business goals, what is my ultimate agenda? What are these things for? They are for the service of my master. It's a change of attitude. So even with most Muslims today, when we look at the ayat where Allah calls us to become his slaves, what do we reduce it to most of the time? We reduce it to worship. He [Allah] is asking for something WAY more, something huge, something tremendous, instead.
So we got three conditions so far. We got love, obedience and sincerity. Our motives are now directed by Allah, sincerely for the sake of Allah, and that's what's gonna come up in this aya.
Then two more. The next condition is trust. Tawkul. We have to have trust in our master. Btw, just a side note, these five conditions I quote from which scholar? Ibn Taymiya rahmeaho Allah [May Allah have mercy on him]. You have to have absolute trust in this master. Whatever He does, you have to trust is good for you. Whatever He gives you, it's good for you, whatever He didn't give you, He didn't give you coz it's good for you. If you got something, it's from Allah, it's a gift. If you didn't get something there's also good in that, you have to have absolute trust. Whatever may happen, whatever may occur, it is because of Allah's decree:
مَآ أَصَابَ مِن مُّصِيبَةٍ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَلَا فِىٓ أَنفُسِكُمۡ إِلَّا فِى ڪِتَـٰبٍ۬ مِّن قَبۡلِ أَن نَّبۡرَأَهَآ [ma asaba min musebaten fil arthi wa la fee anfosekoum illa fee ketabn min qabli an nabraa-ha lkay la taa-so ala ma fatkoum wa la tafraho ala ma atakoum] Naught of disaster befalleth in the earth or in yourselves but it is in a Book before we bring it into being
It's simple: whatever you are given in life, you don't become sad over what you lose, you don’t become overjoyed over what you gained, everything is from Allah. Your tawakul is placed, your complete trust and reliance is placed in Allah. So this slave does not put his trust in means. You don't trust your car because it's from a reliable company, you don't trust your family! Instead, your trust in them comes from who? Your trust and your expectations come from Allah, not from your family. When you place your trust in creation you will always be disappointed. When you place your trust in Allah, nothing will disappoint you. Nothing will disappoint you. So this is trust, tawakul.
And finally, it's the terms of slavery, which is a very interesting concept. In every relationship there are terms. For example: the teacher and the student: there is a relationship. And in that relationship both parties have certain responsibilities. In a parent and child relationship, again both sides have certain responsibilities, don't they? Employer and Employee, both sides have a certain understanding. You have to come to work at this time, you have to leave at this time, you leave at 8 on this day, this is how much you will get payed. Do this, don't do this. There are terms. We understand that the terms of this slavery are not dictated by us. We understand that the terms of this slavery are dictated by Him [Allah], the Master. In other words, what does it mean to become a "good slave", that definition does not come from me. Those standards don't come from me. I cannot think of myself "I think I am a pretty good slave. I think I am doing alright" From your own assumption, you can't do that. Those standards of what makes you a slave and what makes you a rebel are dictated by Him and you have no hand in them, nor any say in them. This is the problem with most people in their relationship with God. Even though they will tell you “I love God too man. You Muslims, you love God! We love Him too! I love God too. “Well how do you please him?”Whatever my heart tells me. My heart tells me this is good, that's why I do it" That concept does not exist for us because who's dictating what's good and what's bad? Allah aza wa jal. He put the fitra in us, but what is dictated comes from the master.
These are the conditions of slavery. And this is the essence of this deen. In the end what is this guidance about: you become salve, you accept Him as master. That's the essence of Quran in the end ... that is the juice of the matter. And it is this concept that is nowadays being separated or not being understood in line with worship.
Listening to one of Nouman Ali Khan's podcast (this one was a tafseer on Surat Al Bayyinah), I happened upon a most wonderful discussion on the concept of Ibada in Islam. I took the time to write out the discussion as narrated by Nouman, but just changed a few words here and there (since for one to talk about a topic is different than for one to read a topic). I will split the discussion into two posts, in order to not daunt those out there whom are not champion readers.
Just some background info, he has reached the tafseer of the fifth Aya in the Sura. Also, Bayyinah in arabic means that which is crystal clear, there is no black or white to it.
For the full podcast, here's the download link (this discussion starts at about 3.30) :
We shall discuss the concept of Ibada from the linguistic point of view only, we're not even gonna go into a full deep discussion.
One of the most beautiful discussions on Ibada is actually compiled by Ibn Taymeya (Rahemaho Allah, May Allah have mercy on him) who talks about the five conditions of being a slave to Allah. I'll atleast hightlight those five things, but for now inshaAllah ta3la we shall talk about some other issues.
Commonly, with the words (Ibada, leya'bado Allah [so they they worship Allah]) when translated to English the translation says "worship". The key term is worship. We have to address the gap between the arabic word
(leya'bodo)
(Ibabada)
(Ya'bodo)
It is even mentioned in Surat Al Fatiha (eeyaka na'bodo)
and the english word worship, because there is a gap and if we don't understand that gap, this will lead to there being a gap in our understanding sometimes. You know, if we don't truley fill that void then there is something missing in our reading from the Quran.
The word worship in the English language is very specific, It's used for particular acts of worship offerred at particular times. Worship is also specific to specific religions. So for example the Christian has his own mode of worship, the Muslim has his own mode of worship, the Jews may have their own mode of worship, and Hindus may have their own mode of worship. But if you ask someone who speaks the English language "what comes to your mind when you hear the word (worship)? what images pop into your mind?" The images that will pop into their mind is somebody kneeling, somebody bowing down, somebody at a church, at a synagogue, these are the kind of images that crop into the mind. Therfore, because we are translating from Arabic to English, we have to becareful of the words we choose and the images they conjure up in the mind of the people who speak that language.
The word Abada in Arabic includes the meaning of worship, but has another distinctly seperate connotation also and that is that of slavery. So Abid is a worshiper but Abd is actually a slave. What's the difference between a worshiper and a slave? In English atleast, there is a huge difference. They may not have anything to do with each other. Some one who is worshiping may not be a slave and someone who is a slave may not be worshiping. They could be two mutually exclusive things.
But when we use the word Ibada in Arabic we actually combine two concepts together: that of worship and also that of slavery. These two are together. So when we translate the Aya:
وَمَآ أُمِرُوٓاْ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُواْ ٱللَّهَ (Wa ma omeroo ila laybodo Allah) What were they commanded except that they should worship Allah
we are missing the other half that is implied and meant. We didnt capture it.
Now, what is the opposite of Abd in arabic? It is Raab [Master]. The antonym, the lingustic antonym of Abd is Raab. But Abd is two things right? It could be one who is a slave and the one who worships also (in a larger sense a great worshiper). If you think of it in the meaning of slave in Arabic, then the opposite of it is Raab. If you think of it in the meaning of a worshiper, then the opposite of Abd in arabic is Iillah [a diety that is worshiped]. So there is two antonyms: one from the meaning of worship and one from the meaning of slavery. Two seperate antonyms. But both are implied when Allah uses the word Abd in verbal form and in nominal form as a noun, both of those meanings are meant.
So the first thing I wanna do, and I assume everyone here is clear about what worship means, I wanna clarify some things about what slavery means so that we have a little more comprehensive view of the Aya and of the term in general as it occurs in the Quran. I am taking the time to explain this, because as I said this Aya represents a summury of the entire Quran. "What were they told except," and then Allah says leya'bodo Allah, i.e "so they become Ibad of Allah, so they may enter into slavery of Allah and worship him".
This first thing. Slavery is different than worship because slavery has no time associated with it. Worship is at a cetain time, at a cetain place, a certain activity. But a slave, when is he a slave? When he's sleeping he's a slave, when he's awake he's a slave, when he's eating, when he's not eating, when he's changing he's clothes, when he's working, when he's on vacation, he's always a slave. So slavery is a state of being, while worship is an act itself. Someone can be a worshiper at cetain times, but they are not always worshipers, but a slave is a a slave, they are always a slave.
That's one huge difference between the two. The other thing sometimes, to be politcally correct, when some people translate, instead of slave, they use the word servant. Or humble servant, some translations offer that word. This comes from the english word service. You are a servant at your company. If you're an accountant you serve your company, you are a servant for them. A servant could be a janitor, a servant could be somebody who is working a job but in any of those scenarios service is a give or take, it's an exchange. Service is an exchange, I give a service what do I expect in return? To be payed. Also, service is specified. If you're an accountant you cannot be asked to wash the windows, unless the economy is really bad. If your service is one thing you are not asked for anything else. But in slavery, what are you asked to do? Everything that the master says. Everything that the master says you have to do. So it is totally different from the idea of service and significatly different from the idea of worship. Both of those things are seperate. That's the first issue with slavery.
The second issue is that slavery, as it is understood in the world, is never something you want to enter into, slavery is usually something forced upon you. Worship is something you do voulntarliy but slavery is not something you would do voluntarily. It's always involuntary. You can apply for a job in a service, you can be in a certain service industry and apply to become a part of that service. But you don't apply to become a slave, you don't give in an application and say "I love taking beatings, and I love chains around my neck". You don't do that, it doesn't make any sense. The one who is in slavery would want nothing more than to be free of that slavery. That is the nature of slavery in human history. So it does conjure up negative images. However, we cannot abonden the term and stop being true to the text because of those negative images. We have to still be true to the text, plus fully explaining the concept.
The thing is, in this slavery [the one mentioned in the Aya, and in the Quran] who is the master? Allah ... and Allah is nothing like his creations. He's far above his creations. In every other slavery a human being is the master. Another human being is the master. But in this slavery, Allah is the master. And since Allah is completely different from all of his creations, when he is the master he's a different kind of master ... a kind of master that no other master can be like. Even in Surat Al Fatiha, before we call him Raab, What do we say?
ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ Al Hamdu Lillahi Raab
We say Al Hamdu Lillah first, which means we praise him, and we show him gratitude first. No master is praised, no master is shown gratitude, except Allah. Every other master is cursed, every other master is complained about, but even Allah before he tells us he is master what does he tell us? Al Hamdu Lillah. This is a different kind of master. Which means that, if he is a different kind of master we must be a different kind of slave. You understand so far?
My dear readers, I am in a bit of a pickle and I would appreciate some insight from you guys on some verses from Surat Al Kahaf.
The story of Prophet Moosa and Khithr (Peace be upon them) is one of the many that is told to us by Allah in Surat Al Kahaf (and one of my favorites) . Khithr is basically an embodiment of Qadar (destiny ordained to us by Allah Subhanho wa Taala) and it just goes to show that no matter how much you think you know ... you just don't.
The verses that caught my attention (as was first pointed out to me by my Mother) are the following:
He answered: "This is the parting between me and thee: now will I tell thee the interpretation of (those things) over which thou wast unable to hold patience.
"As for the boat, it belonged to certain men in dire want: they plied on the water: I but wished to render it unserviceable, for there was after them a certain king who seized on every boat by force. وَأَمَّا ٱلۡغُلَـٰمُ فَكَانَ أَبَوَاهُ مُؤۡمِنَيۡنِ فَخَشِينَآ أَن يُرۡهِقَهُمَا طُغۡيَـٰنً۬ا وَڪُفۡرً۬ا "As for the youth, his parents were people of Faith, and we feared that he would grieve them by obstinate rebellion and ingratitude (to Allah and man). فَأَرَدۡنَآ أَن يُبۡدِلَهُمَا رَبُّہُمَا خَيۡرً۬ا مِّنۡهُ زَكَوٰةً۬ وَأَقۡرَبَ رُحۡمً۬ا "So we desired that their Lord would give them in exchange (a son) better in purity (of conduct) and closer in affection. وَأَمَّا ٱلۡجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلَـٰمَيۡنِ يَتِيمَيۡنِ فِى ٱلۡمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحۡتَهُ ۥ كَنزٌ۬ لَّهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَـٰلِحً۬ا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَن يَبۡلُغَآ أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسۡتَخۡرِجَا كَنزَهُمَا رَحۡمَةً۬ مِّن رَّبِّكَۚ وَمَا فَعَلۡتُهُ ۥ عَنۡ أَمۡرِىۚ ذَٲلِكَ تَأۡوِيلُ مَا لَمۡ تَسۡطِع عَّلَيۡهِ صَبۡرً۬ا
"As for the wall, it belonged to two youths, orphans, in the Town; there was, beneath it, a buried treasure, to which they were entitled: their father had been a righteous man: So thy Lord desired that they should attain their age of full strength and get out their treasure - a mercy (and favor) from thy Lord. I did it not of my own accord. Such is the interpretation of (those things) over which thou wast unable to hold patience."
Verses 78 to 82, Surat Al Kahaf
As Khithr begins to explain to Prophet Moosa (Peace be upon them) the reason for his actions, there is a change in who is being referred to as doing the action (I totally don't remember what this is called in English grammar).
With the boat, Khithr says (seemingly referring only to himself):
فَأَرَدتُّ أَنۡ أَعِيبَہَا I but wished to render it unserviceable
With the youth, Khithr says (seemingly referring to several):
فَخَشِينَآ we feared
فَأَرَدۡنَآ أَن يُبۡدِلَهُمَا رَبُّہُمَا So we desired that their Lord would give them in exchange
With the wall, Khithr says (seemingly referring to Allah only):
فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ
So thy Lord desired
I had a little think about it and came up with my own reasoning (Allah knows best) that the reason why:
Khithr referred to himself only with the boat incident is that he created the fault in it with his own hands.
Khithr referred to a group with the youth is that he killed the youth but then Allah Subhanho wa Taala will bless the boy's parents by creating for them another child (so I assume here that "we" refers to Khithr and Allah).
Khithr referred to Allah only with the wall incident because it is Allah who will keep the treasure safe as well as the two youths until they are able to find it.
However, I am not a student of Tafseer, and so this reasoning is just an opinion that should not be taken as the correct answer. I would love to learn more about as well as understand why the verses keep changing with regards to subject matter (hope that is the right way to say it) . I did try to have a search on the world wide web, but that didn't yield the desirable results.
If any reader has an idea on the matter, read something on the subject or has asked someone of knowledge about it, please please don't hesitate to tell me about it, whether in the comments or by flicking me an email =)
Surat Al Takathur is the 102nd Sura in the Quran. The Arabic word (takathur) translates to (rivalry in worldly increase). In the sura, Allah tells mankind how they go through their life, competing with each other at worldly gain, and how petty this all this once they finally reach their graves to realize the ultimate truth.
Allah also tells us how we will all be asked about the blessings that have been bestowed upon us. Many people these days seem to believe that because they have been given wealth and many blessings in this world, it comes to the conclusion that they are special and Allah loves them more than others. The last verse in Surat al Takathur tells us that we will be questioned about these blessings, and what we have done with them. This could prove to be fatal in the end.
I've always had the first 6 verses of the Sura in the back of my mind ... our wake up call is always death, weather it was with someone we know or to us ourselves. Some of us are lucky to have been blessed with "waking up" when someone close to them passed away in order to have a chance to make better their life in the current world, rather than face "waking up" in their own grave in the unseen world.
Rivalry in worldly increase distracteth you (1) Until ye come to the graves. (2) Nay, but ye will come to know! (3) Nay, but ye will come to know! (4) Nay, would that ye knew (now) with a sure knowledge! (5) For ye will behold hell-fire. (6)
Here's the lecture by Nouman Ali Khan on Surat Al Takathur. Now you guys already know am a big admirer of this guy, so this lecture is pretty good =)
One last thing, you can be notified by email everytime a new tafseer lecture has been posted by Nouman to his website. Sign up here --> http://bayyinah.com/dream/podcast/
An update on the post where I shared links to mp3 files of bother Nouman's tafseer of Surat al Naba'. I've listened to nearly all the files available on the site so far (with more coming out week by week) and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I like how brother Nouman gives different view points and then reasons on why this viewpoints exist, and gives his opinion on the matter. Inspiring person hehe.
Here's the link to where you can access all the files:
The video is an intro by brother Nouman to his dream: being able to teach arabic and relate the tafsir of the Quran from the language it was brought down in precisely.
The following two link are a first in a series of lectures offered by Nouman where he will faser (the act of performing tafseer) juzo' amma (the last section in the Quran). All lectures can be found: http://www.bayyinah.com/dream/
The first lectures revolve around Surat An Naba'. The sound quality is not the best to be honest, but it becomes perfect with the second lecture (guess they fixed the mic problem or whatever it was). The lectures are in MP3 format and can be downloaded and placed in your MP3 player for later listening =P
The Bayyinah website has gone through some changes and you can now listen to the lectures as podcasts hosted on the site. Here are the links to Surat An Naba' lectures:
This is the 8th episode in the series. I couldn't find the 9th episode, sorry guys =(
Allah only chooses the best and so He chose Prophet Ibrahim as His friend. Br. Nouman Ali Khan shows us his character with Allah and brings out the lessons for us to learn from.
This is the fourth lecture in the series by Nouman Ali Khan. He continues from a point he touched upon in the third lecture Conflict Resolution: the comparison of Justice to Forgiveness.
Nouman is the founder and CEO of Bayyinah, as well as the lead instructor for a number of Bayyinah courses including the 'Fundamentals of Classical Arabic' and 'Divine Speech'. His first exposure to Arabic study was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he completed his elementary education. He continued Arabic grammar study in Pakistan, where he received a scholarship for ranking among the top 10 scores in the national Arabic studies board examinations in 1993. But his serious training in Arabic began in the United States in 1999 under Dr. Abdus-Samie, founder and formal principal of Quran College, Faisalabad, Pakistan who happened to be touring the US for intensive lectures in Tafsir and Arabic studies. Under Dr. Abdus-Samie, Nouman developed a keen methodical understanding of Arabic grammar. He further benefited from Dr. Abdus-Samie by internalizing his unique teaching methods and later translating his work into English for the benefit of his own students. Nouman served as professor of Arabic at Nassau Community College until '06 and has taught Modern Standard and Classical Arabic at various venues for nearly 7 years with over 10,000 students nationwide. Currently he has dedicated himself to a seven-year-long project, of conducting a linguistic & literary focus Qur'anic Tafseer series in English. Recordings of sessions conducted so far can be downloaded at www.bayyinah.com/dream.
When I was first exposed to Nouman Ali Khan, I was quite impressed with his hold of the Arabic language, and how he was able to communicate directly the Tafseer of the Arabic Quran into English very clearly. His style of talking is laid back, and really logical as it speaks to the current day and age.
I haven't listened to any of his Tafseer sessions that are avalilable on bayyinah yet, so not sure how good they are ... however am pretty confident they are =P
Back in 2007, Nouman conducted a series of lectures after Taraweeh prayers where he would read particular ayat from the Quran then explain them elaborately. Only half of them have been uploaded to the web. I tried searching for the entire series but to no avail =( This is quite unfortunate as I really wanted to listen to the rest of the lectures in the series.
Anyways this is the third episode (couldn't find the first or second xD). Audio is not top notch, but you can hear him speak clearly. Enjoy!
Absolutely beautiful recitation by Tawfiq As Sayegh of aya 35 to 54 from Surat Al A'raaf. I found my heart melting with the recitation, must listen.
For those whom are interested, you can find the English translation of the ayat read here. Scroll down to the appropriate aya (35). Unfortunately, a lot of the beauty of the words being said are lost with the limitations of the English language as well as the human mind in translating (no offense to both =P)
This is my explanation of the ayat coined together from different sources, and Allah knows best.
In the ayat, we come across some scenes that will happen during Youm el Qeeyama (Day of Resurrection), mainly conversations between different groups of people. Throughout the Quran, vivid description of Youm el Qeeyama is given to us, as well as of Paradise and of Fire and their people. This is to make our hearts yearn for Paradise, and be fearful of Fire. To be aware that our time on earth is not but a sigh of breath, and that our real goal is working for the hereafter.
Allah starts by addressing mankind, telling them that He did His part by sending them messengers with His signs and the truth. The people whom believed and made better themselves have no fear of what is to come. However, the people who rejected the message, and even scorned it have a portion of Fire waiting for them. Here's a rather beautiful description (at least in my opinion) where Allah describes destiny in the form of the book, and that (the wrong doers in this case) will receive their portion that is written in the book, i.e: their destiny of death (because we are all destined to die on this earth). Angels will descend on them at this point to take their soul and will ask them "Where are the things you used to worship besides Allah?" And they will answer "that they have left us and sworn upon themselves they they are kufar (disbelievers)", after it was all too late.
The disbelievers will be told to join the company of men and jinn whom have died before them and entered Fire. Every time a new nation of people enters Fire, they will curse their predecessors, because it was due to them being astray off the straight path that led to them being influenced in being astray as well. Once the last nation enters, they will cry out to Allah to give the very first nation double the torment they (the last nation) are receiving, since it was due to the first nation that all other nations were lead off the righteous path. Allah will tell them that for each there is double torment but they are not aware of that. The very first nation in Fire will speak to the very last nation and tell them that they (the last nation) are not any better than them (the first nation). They ended up in Fire as well and thus should taste the doom as well.
In the following aya, Allah again points out how vile the crime is of those who disbelieve His signs and scorn them, saying that the gates of heaven will not be opened to them nor will they ever enter paradise until a camel can pass through the eye of a needle! This is impossible , and hence Allah is saying that it is impossible for such disbelievers to enter Heaven and again it shows the absolute vileness of their crime. And thus, that is their reward: a bed of hell and folds of more Fire covering above them.
Then Allah goes on to describe the people on the straight path. He tells us that he does not burden a soul on this Earth except with what we can carry (therefore complaining that one cannot bear to live anymore due to problems is folly, Allah is testing you and you should be patient and work your way through it by having faith in Allah and remembering Him always). For those whom believe in Allah and his signs and do good on this Earth, they will be the people of Paradise, forever more in it.
Allah tells us that all ill feelings in their heart will be removed (from what I understand, vile feelings such as jealousy, greed, anger, etc) and rivers will be following from beneath their feet in Paradise. They will praise Allah, thanking him for what He has bestow upon them and that he had guided them on Earth towards Paradise in the Hereafter, for they know that they could not have been on the right path had Allah not guided them towards it, acknowledging as well the truthfulness of Allah's Prophets. The dwellers of Paradise will be told: this (Paradise) if for you, you have earned it with what you have done on Earth.
The people of Paradise will call upon the people of Fire, saying that "We have found exactly what our Lord has promised, so have you have found what your Lord has promised?" The people of fire will answer simply "Yes". And then a caller will call from between them that curse of Allah is upon the evil-doers (this aya really gave me goosebumps, the whole idea of having Allah's curse upon one's self ... Allah keeps it away from all of us)
Again, the evil-doers are described, this time as being those who bar people from the straight path of Allah and instead make it crooked (I guess the people being described her are those who influence people from their path of righteousness, whether with wrong advises in terms of religion, or because they do not want them to practice it) and they also do not believe in Judgment Day.
In the following aya, Allah describes the People of A'raaf. A'raaf in Arabic means heights. I'll paste the English translation of the ayat then explain it as per what I have learnt from my research today
[7:46] Between them is a veil. And on the Heights are men who know them all by their marks. And they call unto the dwellers of the Garden: Peace be unto you! They enter it not although they hope (to enter).
[7:47] And when their eyes are turned toward the dwellers of the Fire, they say: Our Lord! Place us not with the wrong-doing folk.
The Heights are the veil, and it's probably a wall (due to it being decribed as Heights) right in the middle between Paradise and Fire, and on them will be men whom can recognize the dwellers of Paradise and Fire by the mark on their face. With the people of Paradise, a light will be shining from their faces, while with the people of Fire, their faces will be blackened by the black fire in which they dwell in.
These people on the Heights are the People of A'raaf, and they are men whom their good deeds and bad deeds are equal. One of the Scholar saids that they are also Muslims whom went out to Jihad in Allah's sake without the permission of their parents, and were killed during it. Because they disobeyed their parents, they can't enter Paradise, but because they died for the sake of Allah, they can't enter Fire. They sit on the height throughout Judgment Day, watching the people as they enter Paradise and as they enter Fire, asking Allah and praying to him that will be able to enter Paradise, and that he would keep them away from Fire. They give their Salam (peace) to the people of Paradise when their eyes look upon them, yearning to be among them. And when their eyes are turned towards the dwellers of Fire, they pray to Allah to not place them among them.
The People of the height will call upon wrong-doers that they recognize from the mark on their face, and will ask them "What benefits did your arrogant and haughty ways on Earth bring you now?" They are acknowledging the evil doings of those people.
Allah will bestow his mercy on the People of A'raaf, and they will be told to enter Paradise, and that they should hold no more fear in their hearts nor be sad anymore.
Here is another aya that gave me goosbumps as well, Allah describes to us the image of the people of Fire calling upon the people of Paradise to pour on them some water, or anything from what Allah has bestow upon them. The people of Fire will be so desperate to gain just anything from Paradise to relive them of their torment. But the people of Paradise will tell them "Allah has forbidden these upon you" and hence will not give them what they want, for they are the ones who took Allah's religion as an amusing game, and instead immersed themselves in the pleasures of the Earth, being deceived by it in the end. They forgot Allah on Earth and their meeting with him on Judgment Day and rejected His signs, and hence Allah will forget them for the rest of their days in Fire.
These people do not enter fire with no accountability. Allah has sent upon them scriptures, containing knowledge and mercy in order to guide those who believe. Instead, the people of Fire chose to ignore the scriptures and signs, and hence they gained their place. They chose to wait, to see if the relevations brought by the Prophets are true, but when the relevation that they have ignored does become true, and they see their place in Fire, it's too late for them to do anything. They try and ask if anyone could intercede for them and plea on their behalf to save them for Fire, or if they could be sent back to their life on Earth to do good instead of the bad they previously did. Allah is drawing an image for us of the desperation of these people when they realize what's going to happen to them: they ask for the impossible (not in terms of Allah's abilities, but in terms of what they want). They have doomed themselves, and all the haughtiness and false ideas they had in life will dissolve.
In the final aya featured in the video, Allah asserts Himself as the lord of all creation; He who created the Heavens and the Earth in 6 days then established Himself on His Throne. He created the night and the day, and in the aya He describes each as being in a never ending pursuit of the other. He created the Sun, the Moon and the stars, and they are governed by laws He has created and put them under. To Him alone does the creation and command belong. Glorious is Allah, the Lord of all the worlds (this might refer to the seeing world and the unseen world, or that literally there are other worlds out in space. Scientists have rule that their being other "Earths" out there as possible)
In another light that's kinda related but not exactly, I came across a poem called (Al Araaf) written by Edgar Allen Poe while researching! It's based on Surat al A'raaf from the Quran.
It's the longest poem written by the poet. For more about the poem, click here, and for the actual poem, click here.
Bism'Allah al Rahman al Raheem (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)
Gonna share videos, audio clips and articles I come across that speaks of my beautiful religion: Islam.
Like many people out there, my concentration span is pretty short, therefore lecture videos, audio clips and articles that actually catch my attention indicates that the speaker and/or topics being covered is pretty good!
