S. Yusuf, 111e: Guidance & Rahma
1. The fifth and the last pre-requisite/condition to contemplate the Qur'an according to Sheikh Amin Ahsan Islahi is that Allah shows that the pathway to get guidance is by contemplating on the Qur'an.
2. Contemplating the Qur'an is different from being a scholar.
3. A scholar does interpretation and research and studies the Qur'an while contemplating the Qur'an means to think deeply about it and you may not understand some things which will raise serious questions for you.
4. The attitude of paying attention, listening, and not being distracted is shown by the Jinns, who though were not scholars, stopped and listened when they heard the Qur'an.
5. Learning the Qur'an is not just memorizing it, it is to deeply contemplate the Qur'an.
6. Memorization is an amazing method to learn the Qur'an, it is not the goal/end result of learning the Qur'an.
7. If you learned some Surahs(small or big), go and learn more about them. It shouldn't just be reading the translation, you should also think about what they say.
8. The imagery associated with "HIDAYA" and "HADI" is heading forward towards something or leading towards something.
9. The idea of guidance is that someone is pointing you towards the correct way. Often, in the Qur'an the word "HUDA" is being used to clarify that Allah has shown them the way, it is up to them to decide whether to take the path or not.
10. Allah will not always show you the good side of you. Sometimes, Allah will show the dark side and make you humble. Those times are important too.
11. The topic for today is that Allah describes His speech(the Qur'an) as "RAHMA".
12. The word "RAHMA" comes from "RAHAM" which is "the womb".The womb provides safety to the baby while it is completely oblivious. Even though the baby causes increasing pain to the mother, her love and care for it increases.
13. Similarly, Allah has also engulfed us under His Mercy and provides us with all necessities. We only exist inside Allah's Mercy and care.
14. The normal thing is that whenever something good happens to us or something bad is lifted from us, we recognize Allah's mercy and care.
15. But this type of "RAHMA" is experienced by everyone - Jews, Christians, Atheists, etc.
16. Allah then sent a special "RAHMA" that is above and beyond all the other kinds of "RAHMA" and that is the Qur'an.
17. In Surah Rahman, Allah first reminds us of the biggest blessing which is the Qur'an. Only then, He says that He created us and all the things enjoyed by us.
18. The question that comes here that the Qur'an is talking all about the Day of Judgement and how the previous nations were destroyed. That doesn't look very merciful.
19. However, there is something called tough love. Allah has mercy and love for you but that will be based on truth, on guidance. Allah's guidance is linked with Allah's love and care. It is a guided love.
20. The fact that Allah warned us about these things shows His love for us. Allah doesn't want us to go through such terrible times, so He sent the Qur'an to warn us.
21. Then another question is that we go through many problems and that doesn't look like His love and mercy.
22. The answer is that Allah puts us through difficult situations so that we can change ourselves for the better. We will question Allah's mercy and care during that time because we couldn't see it but as we go through our lives, we will see why we had to go through those times.
23. The ending word "YU'MINOONA" is present tense. The present tense is called the imperfect tense because the action isn't done yet. So, the word "YU'MINOONA" can be "people who are trying to have faith."
24. The origin of the word "YU'MINOONA" comes from "AMAN" which means "safety", "peace" and "security". The word "faith: came by extension, originally it meant "people who are trying to find safety". People who have faith, feel safe.
25. This shows that when you make an attempt to leave something bad and to take a step towards something good, Allah will lead you to more opportunities to do good.
26. People want happiness but they don't realize that you can't have happiness without feeling at peace. They find different means that momentarily make them laugh but internally they feel very deep sadness.
27. Allah talks about happiness only once in the whole Qur'an. He tells us that we should be happy after we know that the Qur'an is the healer of hearts and His mercy.
28. From that we learn that true joy can only be felt after Allah fills the lack of safety and peace in our hearts.
29. We see stories in movies because we want to stop thinking about our lives and start virtually living the fake character's lives. Then we read stories in the Qur'an, but here every word that talks about the story is also talking about our lives too.
30. In the beginning, Allah says "In their story, there is a profound lesson for people who have sound minds and hearts." and now Allah says "For those who are trying to find safety".
31. Allah is showing us that people of sound minds and hearts are the ones who try to find safety and peace. Similarly, the people who try to find safety are the ones who have sound minds and hearts.
32. The Qur'an is relevant for any time and any era. Nothing is more real than what Allah gives.
33. In Surah Al-Muddathir, Allah mentions a nation being destroyed and then says that He made the Qur'an easy, time and time again Allah repeats this sequence.
34. By doing this, Allah is saying that He has destroyed people that were greater in terms of power, He can do that to do you too. But for you instead of destroying you, Allah decided to talk to you. And those of you who feel like you have gone too far, don't lose hope, Allah has made the Qur'an easy for those who want to come back.
35. When you really believe in that Ayah, then your Arabic studies and your Qur'an studies will become easy because Allah promised it.
Comments
Post a Comment