Friday 25 July 2008

The Destruction of Nations (part 2) 'Aad


The Sublime had fulfilled His promise to Nuh (peace be upon him) and once again the world renounced polytheism. Then the people of ‘Aad came into being. They were the first people to worship idols after the punishment faced by the people of Nuh (peace be upon him). They had three main idols: Samd, Samud and Hara (Qasas al Anbiya). The people of ‘Aad were given immense favours by Allah. They were huge in their stature and their bodies were like steel. They lived a life of great splendour and pomp and would rejoice in their own evil doings. They would put terror into the hearts of others and would do things which are against the essence of humanity. Allah had blessed them with beautiful lands, lush with greenery and he had placed them in an area (Yemen) which had great, natural bounties. They had mass cattle and due to their huge figures, they would construct houses in the mountains (top right)! It was a great display of strength and might but these houses would be left empty. It was then when this nation steeped into complete disobedience that Allah sent a messenger among them by the name of Hud (peace be upon him).

Hud (peace be upon him) said to his people,

قَالَ يَـٰقَوۡمِ ٱعۡبُدُواْ ٱللَّهَ مَا لَڪُم مِّنۡ إِلَـٰهٍ غَيۡرُهُ ۥۤ‌ۖ إِنۡ أَنتُمۡ إِلَّا مُفۡتَرُونَ (٥٠) يَـٰقَوۡمِ لَآ أَسۡـَٔلُكُمۡ عَلَيۡهِ أَجۡرًا‌ۖ إِنۡ أَجۡرِىَ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱلَّذِى فَطَرَنِىٓ‌ۚ أَفَلَا تَعۡقِلُونَ (٥١) وَيَـٰقَوۡمِ ٱسۡتَغۡفِرُواْ رَبَّكُمۡ ثُمَّ تُوبُوٓاْ إِلَيۡهِ يُرۡسِلِ ٱلسَّمَآءَ عَلَيۡڪُم مِّدۡرَارً۬ا وَيَزِدۡڪُمۡ قُوَّةً إِلَىٰ قُوَّتِكُمۡ وَلَا تَتَوَلَّوۡاْ مُجۡرِمِينَ (٥٢)

“He (Hud) said, ‘O my people, worship Allah. You have no god other than Him. You are nothing but fabricators. O my people, I ask you no reward for it. My reward is only on the One who created me. Do you, then, not understand? O my people, seek forgiveness from your Lord, then turn to Him in repentance, and He will release the heavens pouring upon you, and will add strength to your strength, and do not turn away like sinners.’”


The people of ‘Aad were indulged in eating, drinking, fun and games; they had no reason to stop this ‘lavish’ style of living. Thus they turned to Hud (peace be upon him) and said,


قَالَ ٱلۡمَلَأُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ مِن قَوۡمِهِۦۤ إِنَّا لَنَرَٮٰكَ فِى سَفَاهَةٍ۬ وَإِنَّا لَنَظُنُّكَ مِنَ ٱلۡكَـٰذِبِينَ (٦٦

Said the chiefs of his (Hud's) people who disbelieved, ‘Indeed, we see you in folly, and we believe you are one of the liars.’”


After a lengthy encounter which is mentioned in Surah Hud and Surah A’araf. Allah had stopped giving the people of ‘Aad bounties and had stopped the rain from falling upon their lands. Consequently, the people of ‘Aad suffered from poor harvest and became in dire need of rainfall but their arrogance prevailed and they did not place belief in Allah.

Hazrat Mufti Ahmad Sa’eed Palanpoori Saheb damat barkatuh mentions in his tafseer, ‘Hidayatul Qur’an’ the following:


“In the beginning of this Surah, Rasulullah's (may peace and blessings be upon him) blessed tongue is made to emphasise the very same message, ‘Turn towards your Lord in repentance and attend to Him. He will give you a good, blissful life.’ Hazrat Hud (peace be upon him) informed his tribe that if they inclined towards Allah, He would remove all their problems away from them; and that Allah will increase them in their property and their strength. He advised them that Allah would bless their offspring and that their harvest will also improve. However they will only attain this once they stop their ignorance.”


And so a long commentary can be written about the arrogance and pride of the people of ‘Aad but the outstanding issue is this that they did not take heed of the punishment of the people that came before them and they too were on the brink of being destroyed. The people of ‘Aad would continue to build their extravagant houses up in the mountains and Hud (peace be upon him) would continue to admonish them and say,


أَتَبۡنُونَ بِكُلِّ رِيعٍ ءَايَةً۬ تَعۡبَثُونَ (١٢٨) وَتَتَّخِذُونَ مَصَانِعَ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَخۡلُدُونَ (١٢٩) وَإِذَا بَطَشۡتُم بَطَشۡتُمۡ جَبَّارِينَ (١٣٠) فَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ (١٣١) وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَمَدَّكُم بِمَا تَعۡلَمُونَ (١٣٢) أَمَدَّكُم بِأَنۡعَـٰمٍ۬ وَبَنِينَ (١٣٣) وَجَنَّـٰتٍ۬ وَعُيُونٍ (١٣٤) إِنِّىٓ أَخَافُ عَلَيۡكُمۡ عَذَابَ يَوۡمٍ عَظِيمٍ۬ (١٣٥

“Do you erect on every height a monument, having no sound purpose, and take the objects of architecture as if you are going to live forever, and when you seize (someone) you seize as tyrants? So fear Allah and obey me. And fear the One who has supported you with what you know. He has supported you with cattle and sons, and with gardens and springs. In fact I fear for you the punishment of a horrible day.”


This wisdom encapsulated in the speech of Hud (peace be upon him) is a lesson for us today. We find ourselves adhering to the same principles of the people of ‘Aad. We are never satisfied with what we have and we always want to have more. My beloved Shaykh mentions all the time, “When you are not satisfied with a Ni’mat (bounty) that Allah has given to you and you keep on trying to get more and more... Allah will remove that Ni’mat altogether and you will be left with nothing.” We like ‘Aad oppress people like tyrants; forget the sustenance and family we are blessed with along with our properties and wealth. Soon the punishment of Allah may come upon us the way it came upon the people of ‘Aad. As it is mentioned...

One day, the people of ‘Aad looked towards the sky and saw clouds materialising. The people had an intense need for rain and the people began to scream and dance chanting,

ﺮﻄﻤ ﺔﺒﺎﺤﺳﻩﺬﻫﺮﻄﻤ ﺔﺒﺎﺤ

“THESE ARE CLOUDS OF RAIN!”


And like Nuh (peace be upon him), Hud (peace be upon him) called out to his Lord and said,



قَالَ رَبِّ ٱنصُرۡنِى بِمَا كَذَّبُونِ (٣٩) قَالَ عَمَّا قَلِيلٍ۬ لَّيُصۡبِحُنَّ نَـٰدِمِينَ (٤٠) فَأَخَذَتۡہُمُ ٱلصَّيۡحَةُ بِٱلۡحَقِّ فَجَعَلۡنَـٰهُمۡ غُثَآءً۬‌ۚ فَبُعۡدً۬ا لِّلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ (٤١)

“He (Hud) said, ‘My Lord, help me, for they have rejected me.’ He (Allah) said, ‘In a little while they will have to be remorseful.’ So the Cry seized them according to the true (promise), and We turned them in to scum. So, away with the wrongdoers.”


The people began to taunt Hud (peace be upon him) and say, “Where is the punishment of your Lord? We await it with great eagerness!” and they began to deride him to a great degree. They were not just taunting a prophet...they were challenging the Creator of Mankind. They had now pronounced imminent, inevitable destruction upon themselves...

Allah’s punishment upon these people began by stopping their bounties and then placing drought and famine upon them as well as the intense desire for rain. This proved to be a mental block for the people of ‘Aad for when they saw the clouds form they began to scream and dance with a lot of joy, however this was not a cloud of mercy but a cloud of immense torment. It was contrary to their desire and hope... it was a rain of destruction, punishment and death! A flurry of fire balls came crashing down upon them. Ibn Kathir mentions,


“This is why Allah has said: ‘Now this is that you were asking to be hastened!’”


A huge wind overtook them and the world became darkened and gloomy. Children began to hold onto their mothers and men began to hold onto the mountains that served them so well. The mountains they used to make a show out of were being held onto as they themselves were becoming the 'show'. This wind raged against them for seven nights and eight days continuously. Allah says,


وَأَمَّا عَادٌ۬ فَأُهۡلِڪُواْ بِرِيحٍ۬ صَرۡصَرٍ عَاتِيَةٍ۬ (٦) سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيۡہِمۡ سَبۡعَ لَيَالٍ۬ وَثَمَـٰنِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُومً۬ا فَتَرَى ٱلۡقَوۡمَ فِيہَا صَرۡعَىٰ كَأَنَّہُمۡ أَعۡجَازُ نَخۡلٍ خَاوِيَةٍ۬ (٧)

“And as for Ad, they were destroyed by a violent windstorm that He imposed on them for seven nights and eight consecutive days; so you could see them thrown on the ground, as if they were trunks of hollow palm-trees.”


In this verse the people of ‘Aad are compared with the stumps of palm trees. The wind was so severe that it would seize them and then hurl them so that they land with their heads downwards. When they eventually landed, these huge people with bodies likened to steel would have their heads smashed into pieces and their bodies left with no heads. Thus they would resemble the stumps of palm trees and this is why Allah gives this analogy.

These people had proclaimed, “Who is the mightier than us?”... He who is in the heavens duly replied.


Next up in part 3, the people of Saleh (peace be upon him).

Saturday 19 July 2008

The Abstinence of S’ad (may Allah be pleased with him)

The Abstinence of S’ad

S’ad ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) along with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had to endure torrid times during their stay in Makkah. The conditions that they were living in were extremely severe but they accepted it. Today we find ourselves in many predicaments and we begin to doubt our Creator and forget the verse of the Qur’an in which Allah says,


يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱسۡتَعِينُواْ بِٱلصَّبۡرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ‌ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ

“O you who believe, seek help through patience and prayer. Surely, Allah is with those who are patient.”



The Sahaabah were an embodiment of this verse, S’ad (may Allah be pleased with him) relates,


“Whenever difficulties came, we accepted it, prepared for it and exercised patience.”


The truth is that the likes of S’ad (may Allah be pleased with him) understood this verse very well as one night he left the company of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to pass urine. As he began to pass urine, he heard something make a noise as his urine fell upon it. It came to the knowledge of S’ad (may Allah be pleased with him) that it was a piece of camel leather. He instantly picked it up, cleansed it and then toasted it. He then grinded it till it was powder and then swallowed the substance. S’ad (may Allah be pleased with him) himself relates,


“This gave me strength for three days.”


Such was the direness in the situation at times that S’ad ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) says,

“I was the first Arab to fire an arrow in the path of Allah. When we used to fight battles with the Messenger of Allah , the only food we had were the leaves of the acacia (right) and lotus (top left) trees. In fact, whenever any of us relieved himself, his droppings resembled those of a goat because it was at all sticky"

Monday 14 July 2008

The Destruction of Nations (Part 1)


There is not a day that the sea does not question Allah, 'O Allah! Let us destroy mankind, for he has transgressed.' And there is not a day that that the earth does not question Allah, "O Allah! Let me swallow mankind for he has transgressed.'"In recent years, the world has seen the prophecies of the Messenger of Allah (may peace and blessings be upon him) come to pass. A new calamity strikes man and each time he says, "It cannot get more severe than this" and then he is struck by something even worse. Every day, elements of this world (sea, wind, earth etc) ask Allah for permission to destroy the inhabitants of this earth. We have seen from the people of the past that when Fitna and Fasad (mischief, corruption) become rife in a community, Allah lets loose upon them the crushing waves and devastating destruction.

And one day in the time of the prophet Nuh (peace be upon him), the sea was granted permission to destroy those who opposed the call of monotheism. Allah sent Nuh (peace be upon him) with His message and he would say to his people,

قَالَ يَـٰقَوۡمِ إِنِّى لَكُمۡ نَذِيرٌ۬ مُّبِينٌ (٢) أَنِ ٱعۡبُدُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَٱتَّقُوهُ وَأَطِيعُونِ (٣) يَغۡفِرۡ لَكُم مِّن ذُنُوبِكُمۡ وَيُؤَخِّرۡكُمۡ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ۬ مُّسَمًّى‌ۚ إِنَّ أَجَلَ ٱللَّهِ إِذَا جَآءَ لَا يُؤَخَّرُ‌ۖ لَوۡ كُنتُمۡ تَعۡلَمُونَ (٤) قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّى دَعَوۡتُ قَوۡمِى لَيۡلاً۬ وَنَهَارً۬ا (٥) فَلَمۡ يَزِدۡهُمۡ دُعَآءِىٓ إِلَّا فِرَارً۬ا (٦) وَإِنِّى ڪُلَّمَا دَعَوۡتُهُمۡ لِتَغۡفِرَ لَهُمۡ جَعَلُوٓاْ أَصَـٰبِعَهُمۡ فِىٓ ءَاذَانِہِمۡ وَٱسۡتَغۡشَوۡاْ ثِيَابَہُمۡ وَأَصَرُّواْ وَٱسۡتَكۡبَرُواْ ٱسۡتِكۡبَارً۬ا (٧) ثُمَّ إِنِّى دَعَوۡتُہُمۡ جِهَارً۬ا (٨

“He said, ‘O my people, I openly warn you that you must worship Allah, and fear Him, and obey me, and Allah will forgive you your sins, and will respite you to an appointed term. Indeed when Allah‘s term comes, it is not deferred, if you only know!’ He said (to Allah), ‘My Lord, I have called my people night and day, but my call added only to their flight (from the truth). Whenever I called them, so that You might forgive them, they put their fingers into their ears, and wrapped their clothes around themselves, and grew obstinate, and waxed proud in extreme arrogance.’”


The people of Nuh (peace be upon him) would humiliate him so much, they would accuse him of every wrong. When he received the order from Allah to make an Ark, the people began to deride him further and said,

ﺐﺟﻋ ﻪﻠﻛ ﻙﺮﻣﺍﺎﻧﺇإِنَّٱ أَمرَك ڪله عَجَب
“Your business is totally bizarre!”

Nuh (peace be upon him) preached for about 900 years and had to suffer huge amounts of pathos. Tafseer Mazhari mentions that the people around him would die and their progeny would then come and they too would die. Nuh (peace be upon him) would approach these new offspring carrying the perception that perhaps they may accept Allah unlike their parents. These people would be just the same and after preaching for so many years, only 83 people became Muslim and that is when Nuh (peace be upon him) cursed his people.


وَقَالَ نُوحٌ۬ رَّبِّ لَا تَذَرۡ عَلَى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مِنَ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرِينَ دَيَّارًا (٢٦) إِنَّكَ إِن تَذَرۡهُمۡ يُضِلُّواْ عِبَادَكَ وَلَا يَلِدُوٓاْ إِلَّا فَاجِرً۬ا ڪَفَّارً۬ا (٢٧

“And said Nuh, ‘My Lord, do not leave on earth even a single inhabitant (surviving) out of the disbelievers If You leave them (surviving), they will lead Your servants astray, and will beget none but a sinful disbeliever.’”


Thus the promise of Allah came to pass and he answered to the distress of Nuh (peace be upon him) but this came at a cost. As Nuh (peace be upon him) climbed onto his ship, Allah sent the rain pouring down upon the earth. The people (there are two opinions here: some are of the opinion that the flood was universal, others say it was regional) of Nuh (peace be upon him) began to climb onto high ground expecting the rainfall to stop but this was the punishment of Allah and the curse of His prophet. The people began to climb up the mountains but the rainfall had turned into an ocean and was bent on punishing the transgressors. Nobody except the believers were saved from the wrath of Allah. Men, women and children all began to drown and in the middle of this destruction there was the Ark of Nuh (peace be upon him) which was treated with a huge degree of veneration by the punishment of Allah. As this ark began to set sail for its next destination, Nuh (peace be upon him) saw his son on the tip of a mountain. Amid the chaos, Nuh (peace be upon him) urged his son to forsake disbelief and accept Allah. It was truly a sight of immense anguish; the Prophet of Allah was beseeching his son, urging him to become Muslim. The son however was of immense arrogance and as the conversation between the two grew, so did the waves until one came crashing down upon the son of Nuh (peace be upon) and in the process, wiped him from the mountain and the life of Nuh (peace be upon him). Allah mentions this in the Qur’an in Surah Hud, He says,


وَهِىَ تَجۡرِى بِهِمۡ فِى مَوۡجٍ۬ كَٱلۡجِبَالِ وَنَادَىٰ نُوحٌ ٱبۡنَهُ ۥ وَڪَانَ فِى مَعۡزِلٍ۬ يَـٰبُنَىَّ ٱرۡڪَب مَّعَنَا وَلَا تَكُن مَّعَ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرِينَ (٤٢) قَالَ سَـَٔاوِىٓ إِلَىٰ جَبَلٍ۬ يَعۡصِمُنِى مِنَ ٱلۡمَآءِ‌ۚ قَالَ لَا عَاصِمَ ٱلۡيَوۡمَ مِنۡ أَمۡرِ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا مَن رَّحِمَ‌ۚ وَحَالَ بَيۡنَہُمَا ٱلۡمَوۡجُ فَكَانَ مِنَ ٱلۡمُغۡرَقِينَ (٤٣)

“And it was sailing with them amidst the waves like mountains. And Nuh called out to his son, who was at an isolated place, ‘O my child, come on board with us, and do not be in the company of the disbelievers.’
He (Nuh’s son) said, ‘I shall take shelter on a mountain which will save me from the water.’ He (Nuh) said, ‘There is no saver today from the command of Allah, except the one to whom He shows mercy.’ And the waves rose high
between the two, and he was among those who were drowned.”


Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide and whomsoever Allah leaves to go astray, none can guide.

Thus Nuh (peace be upon him) became extremely sad and made Dua to Allah that Allah saves his son from the fire as He was not saved from the waves. He called out to Allah,

وَنَادَىٰ نُوحٌ۬ رَّبَّهُ ۥ فَقَالَ رَبِّ إِنَّ ٱبۡنِى مِنۡ أَهۡلِى وَإِنَّ وَعۡدَكَ ٱلۡحَقُّ وَأَنتَ أَحۡكَمُ ٱلۡحَـٰكِمِينَ

“Nuh called unto his Lord and said, ‘My Lord, my son is a part of my family, and surely Your promise is true, and You are the greatest of all judges.’”

However Allah reprimanded Nuh (peace be upon him) said,

قَالَ يَـٰنُوحُ إِنَّهُ ۥ لَيۡسَ مِنۡ أَهۡلِكَ‌ۖ إِنَّهُ ۥ عَمَلٌ غَيۡرُ صَـٰلِحٍ۬‌ۖ فَلَا تَسۡـَٔلۡنِ مَا لَيۡسَ لَكَ بِهِۦ عِلۡمٌ‌ۖ إِنِّىٓ أَعِظُكَ أَن تَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلۡجَـٰهِلِينَ

“He said, ‘O Nuh, in fact, he is not a part of your family. Indeed, he is (a man of) bad deeds. So do not ask Me something of which you have no knowledge. I exhort you not to be among the ignorant.’”


Nuh (peace be upon him) travelled with the believers until they landed on Mount Judi. The mountain still has the print of Nuh’s (peace be upon him) Ark (above and right).

Next up in Part 2 the people of Aad.





Thursday 10 July 2008

The Hypocrite


The hypocrite continues to pick out the deficiencies within myself,

His arrogance envelops me like the burning of incense in a confined room.

It increases in its smell as he increases in his hypocrisy and as I decrease in my speech...

I realise...

There is no need for a mirror to speak to its reflection.


Wednesday 9 July 2008

Spiritual Detention

“If student does not learn his lessons for a couple of days then his teacher might let him off. On the third day however, the teacher will tell him that if you do not know your lessons tomorrow, then you will be detained.

The student will most likely not learn his lesson for that day as well to see if the teacher is serious in observing his threat.

If the teacher does not detain him, then the student will continue to not learn his lesson because now he knows that the teacher is very soft.

On the contrary, if the teacher keeps to his word and detains the student, then the student will start learning his lessons.

After a few days, it is likely that student will again feel like not learning his lessons. If he begins to become lax again and the teacher punishes him once more then he will realise that the teacher is very strict.

He will also realise that the only way to find ease is to regularly learn his lessons.
Although every now and then he will still feel lazy the student will now remain punctual in learning what is required

This scenario is almost an exact replica of the situation we experience when it comes to training our nafs.

If we continue to let our nafs not learn the lessons that are required (i.e. the prescriptions given by the Shaykh) then it will know that we are very soft. Hence, it will continue to indulge in sin and negligence.

On the contrary, if we are strict with the nafs and force it to learn the lessons that are required then, it will try to rebel, but will soon come to realise that ease lies in doing what is required.
Hence, the nafs will become punctual and observant.”

By Anas Patel

Taken from www.Shaykh.org