Transcription
These trends have come, and other trends will come, and yet others will come. But this is a constant. And every time new trends come, guess who they cannot tolerate? They cannot tolerate this religion. So the fact that they cannot tolerate this religion doesn't make the religion invalid.
When energy, that's when a group of men surprise King Dawood in his chambers. He's the prophet that had 99 wives, right? No. It says, "Hey, just use Bayyinah TV. We break down every section of the Quran into straightforward, understandable pieces." I started building a TV to make the Quran accessible for people of all levels of understanding. The beauty and guidance found within its passages shouldn't be limited to scholars. Click the link to start your journey into the Quran and Arabic today.
[Music] I don't know. [Music]
A couple of things to highlight quickly before I move on to Ayah number four for our discussion. Um, I want you to take note of the institution of the Salah. Rasala, meaning, uh, revelation itself. The institution of the Salah, the belief in revelation, is made up of three components. Uh, the first component is the angel. Second component is the book, or the message that the angel is delivering. And the third is the receiver of the message, the messenger. So the book, the angel, and the messenger. And what we're seeing in this passage is going to be a discussion that involves all three of them. It's not just about the messenger, it's not just about the angel, it's not just about the book. It's all three components.
Right now, so far, we haven't been introduced to the angel. But what we have learned are two things. We learned one thing about the prophet, peace be upon him, and one thing about the Quran. So the one thing we've learned about the, the prophet, peace be upon him, is that he is not lost or deluded. And his character and the time that he spent with them is credibility enough. And the thing that we've so far learned about the Quran, we're going to learn some more about the Quran now, is that this speech is definitely not rooted in Hawa. It's not rooted in, you know, desire and ambition and things like that.
Uh, one thing I wanted to say, I said a lot about speaking from Hawa yesterday and different, you know, dimensions of that. One dimension I didn't talk about is obviously when someone wants to become popular, they say things that pander to the crowd and cater to the audience. And what's going to give them more momentum and more following. And then some people come along and say, I don't care about the majority, I'm going to say the unpopular truth. Right? And then they spew other nonsense to be antagonists and to be controversial. But that's because they're going after another audience. So they present, they position themselves as heroes. Well, actually, it's just another kind of Hawa. It's just, it's the same thing as what the others are doing because they're just cornering their own share of the market, if you will. Right? And the Rasool of Allah is neither of those things.
The thing, the reason this is important to mention is these are diseases that you and I are not immune from. And neither is the messaging of Islam. When the messaging of Islam was being presented by the messenger of Allah, that is the purest source because he's, that's, that's him. The rest of us, the Quran is pure, the message is pure. But we could be lost, we could be deluded, we can also have Hawa. We could be, we could be molding the teachings of Islam to cater to, to make it more socially acceptable in certain environments. The, it's not politically correct to say certain things. So let's not talk about those things. Let's reinterpret some things to configure better with modern trends, etc., etc. Right? Because it's otherwise, it's too hostile, it's too unacceptable, it's too offensive. Because somebody will be offended by the way. I'm a little surprise for all of you, the Quran is offensive. Since the, since the day it was revealed, it's by definition offensive. So that's one, one extreme.
But the other extreme is, yeah, we don't care about this Kuffar, we're going to speak the Haqq. And then this view, all kinds of nonsense also. That's not in the Quran. You're now being aggressive because you think the Quran wants you to be aggressive. Like you have to be loyal to the text, not re, not trying to cater to society and not trying to react to society either, and go against, against society either. Both of those are just Hawa. They're both just something you want to do. You want to react this way or that way. The, the book of Allah is not a response. The book of Allah is not a reaction. The book of Allah is a constant presented for what it is. You don't have to make it respond to something that, that you know, that comes and goes. And by the way, that's kind of inside the language of when Najmi too. There are things. Seasons will come and go. Trends will come and go. But the book is here to say it stands upright. It's gonna stay. Our value system is like that.
And the, the reason I get worried now is I, I don't just get a lot of questions. I'm sure scholars, speakers, I'm not one of them, but they get questions, right? And a lot of the questions I get is, how do you respond to this trend? And how do you respond to this new idea? And what sort of, what's the Muslim response to this? And this, like, we want the Muslim response to things, right? And the, the issue I have with that is there's something we're trying to build a building, but we haven't built the foundation. If we had the foundation right, then we would know these trends have come and other trends will come and yet others will come. But this is a constant. And every time new trends come, guess who they cannot tolerate? They cannot tolerate this religion. So the fact that they cannot tolerate this religion doesn't make the religion invalid. And doesn't mean you have to reconfigure the message of Islam so that it can less offend the new trend. Because these trends, let me tell you, they're cannibalists. They, they consume themselves. And nutrients come in reaction to these trends. And then others react to those trends. And they keep collapsing on top of themselves. And that's the history of these trends. They're actually rooted in and Hawa. The three things that the prophet, peace be upon him, is being told he is free from, and this message is free from, are the three things that are the basis of all these trends. At the heart of all of these trends.
And and today, more than ever, you know, I, I've said this in this series of Surahs. I'll say this for you guys too, because it will come up in the next section in more clarity. Religions in the world, ancient religions in the world, they had something in common. They were all based on one fundamental idea. Whatever God it is that, or gods it is that we're going to worship, they're going to protect. If we don't worship them, they're going to hurt us in some way. So we should, we should worship them because that's the best way to keep them off our back, basically. Also, you, you can pass by it's fine. I wasn't saying also to you, like you got started with my also. That wasn't aggressive also, though. I confess. Okay. Also, uh, they have wishes. And they're like, if we can worship these gods, they will grant us our wishes. So why did people go up like a thousand steps on top of a mountain and then sacrifice a goat and sit there for eight hours and and do this? Why not for spiritual enlightenment? They went up there because, you know, whoever you are, just make that girl fall in love with me because I really want to marry her. And her father said no. And he, he went up there to just make that happen. Or somebody else made that happen because my neighbor has two goats and I just have one goat. And I just need, I need to be the ultimate goat. So give me another goat. You know, every people had these wishes. And they just wanted their wishes granted. And what are these wishes that you love so much? Hawa. That's what they are.
Our religion and the message of this religion is not rooted in what? It's not rooted in Hawa. And you know what's happened in every other religion? Every other religion is rooted. Why should I follow this religion? It will fulfill my Hawa in some way. I'm saying this about other religions. And you and I are sitting here like, Ha, not Islam. We're immune. Alhamdulillah. No, we're not. We have brought Hawa into our religion too. You know what's happened? I made so much dua to Allah that I should get into med school. And then I didn't get in. And that's why I don't pray anymore because my Hawa wasn't fulfilled. And so because the religion should cater to me, I didn't come to surrender to this message. I will follow this message. What do I get in return? What are the benefits? What's the package? Right? This, this is the consumer religion. And we've brought that mentality into Islam. And now people are having a faith crisis because their consumerism isn't being met because it's, it's not on their terms. And we're going to see this explicitly in the Surah. Allah will say, Allah, he'll say, you know, uh, oh, the people, human being is going to get whatever he wishes for. Is that what his thought process is?
And that ties directly to, um, this religion is, I cannot sell this religion to someone and say, if you follow this religion, there's no more stress, there's no more anxiety, you're not going to have financial problems, your health will be okay, your cancer is going to disappear, diabetes, you know, blood sugar. In fact, you're, you're going to lose weight. Everything's going to be great. Just follow Islam. Islam is going to make everything right. Anybody who followed Islam in Makkah, did their life get better or harder? Life was easy before Islam, man. And then Islam, accepts Islam now, his family is calling him crazy, he's getting kicked out of the house, he's getting beat up, he's getting spit on, he's getting insulted. And he was having it, he had an easy life last weekend. And that was like, like, what is this? What did I just sign up for? It's the opposite of what someone would want. It's the opposite of Hawa. You understand that? And so the, the way that the message was presenting itself and the, the price you had to pay for following this message itself was proof that it's not Hawa. Okay? So that, that's another important consideration.
Now let's move on to Ayah number four. Now the language is getting even more aggressive because the word "ma" in Arabic is used for negation, strong negation. But "in" is another, it's "in nafia." There's two kinds of or three kinds of "in" or even more kinds of "in" in Arabic. And one of them is called "in nafia," the, the "in" of negation. And that's what's being used here in the beginning of the Ayah. For, for Arabic students or people who are familiar with the language, if you were to say this in very simple language, you would say, "It's revelation. He doesn't speak from his whims. He doesn't speak from things that he loves. It's revelation. It is revelation." And the way you say it is revelation in Arabic is what's happened here. "Wa" and then also "yuha." So there's a lot of additions here. There's an "itnab" here, right? And there's an, an excessive speech here. And we have to process why that, you know, what that's doing there. But before we do, I'm going to tell you a little bit about the meanings of the word "wahi," which we commonly translate as inspiration or revelation. But what does this word mean? What are its secondary meanings? Where does it come from? Right?
So "wahi" is used for something that was carved into a stone. Scratches on a stone. Light scratches that you can barely read were also called "wahi." Meaning, it's, it's again, carvings in a stone. And you can tell, I think somebody wrote something here. If you barely heard thunder and nobody else heard it, you're like, I think I just heard the "wahat" from. You know what that means? You barely heard it. And that, the barely heard thunder that's very low in volume was actually called "wahat." And then so what have the verb "waha" was used when you speak to someone in a secretive way or you communicate with someone in a way that nobody finds out. Like when you message someone and their phone goes, that's not "wahi" because now everybody's like, "Hey, did you guys?" Somebody gets their phone, right? That's that's not "wahi." But if, for example, they do this, uh, you guys don't watch movies, so I don't know how to explain this to you. But like, you know, in, in the, you know, movies are stuck with a lot. Sometimes people are communicating with each other without saying something. And they're like, I think I was like, you know, but they make it all too obvious. They're like, like [Laughter]. But if they're communicating with each other in ways that other people can't tell, which is by the way, what what athletes do sometimes in sports, baseball players, you know, soccer, etc. You can have motions, body motions, and they know they're speaking each other's code. That kind of code can also be called "wahi" or a whisper can also be called "wahi."
Which is used in the Quran for inspiration, to put something in the heart in a way that is very secretive. Musa was told not to speak, right? He was told not to speak for three days. You remember that story? When he came out of his quarters and people wanted to talk to him, like, what happened? What? And he had to tell people, you know, that they should do this, be with Allah. He did it without being direct because he couldn't speak. So Allah uses what? Indirect speech or, you know, by by way of gesture, body language, right? So similarly, uh, this is another interesting meaning. It's not related to our discussion, but it's part of the dictionary meaning of the word. "Waha" was used as a verb for someone who used to be poor and then became rich. Like they transformed. So "waha" was also used for a great transformation. That's one of its, its, uh, subtle meaning. So subtle communication, putting something into the heart of someone. The idea here is Allah is revealing these words to the prophet, peace be upon him, but nobody else can hear that communication. There's Sahaba sitting next to him. Jibril is talking to him. Nobody hears Jibril's voice. And the prophet, peace be upon him, reciting. So the communication is happening secretly, right? That's, that's why the word is important here. That they are like, when did he get it? When did the, we didn't hear anything. We don't see an angel. Ah, but it is, it is communicated in a secretive way. But it is a very powerful communication.
Now let's go into the language. This English list will make sense. I use these big words to intimidate you, but they're actually summaries of the Arabic side. So I'm going to just explain each of them to you, and you'll understand. First, first of all, "tanween." Here you notice that "tanween" can actually be a representation of something grand. That doesn't mean every "tanween" in Arabic is "ta'leem," but certain ones are. And when you study grammar enough and enough, you'll understand which ones are and which ones aren't. But here, this would mean, "It is nothing but a remarkable revelation." It's not just, it's an incredible revelation. And that's coming from the "tanween" in this. This is me trying to tell you that one of the important things to contemplate in the Quran is not just the words, but the way that the words are being used, right? A "tanween" can make a difference. And "i" can make a difference. A "monsoon" can make a difference. And "major" can make a difference. These things make a difference in what we're, how the Arabs were receiving this. We have to do all this technical work to understand it. This was coming, this was hitting them naturally, right? There was an adjective associated, the greatness, the, the grandness was associated when they heard. And it didn't need an explanation. We have to go through the exercise to be able to appreciate that.
Then there's "itnab," which means there's an overuse of certain things. Instead of saying, "It is revelation," it is nothing at all but revelation, it cannot be anything else but an incredible revelation. That's how it's being spoken, as if there are three or four exclamation marks at the end of this, this sentence. And it wasn't just revelation, he says, "wa yuha," which is extremely strange, beautifully strange. You don't say, "It is revelation that has been revealed." Obviously, a revelation has been revealed. You know, uh, I, I, you know, I shot a shot. You know, because you already shot it, so you don't have to say a shot, right? Or you say, "I ate," you know, or "I bit a bite." No, you bit, that's good enough. I, I got it. You don't need to say the bite part, right? Or, you know, "I wrote a writing." You, you wrote, this is enough. I got it. But here he says, "It is nothing but revelation, a grand revelation that has been revealed, that has been communicated secretly." Why add that? What that does is it adds another dimension to the meaning. It actually adds the dimension that it keeps on being revealed at the right occasion. So it is, the whole thing is nothing but revelation, but it keeps on coming at the right moments. And will continue to keep, it will keep on coming. Like Allah says, "The Quran, we broke it apart so you can read it to people at the right occasion, and we broke it apart as a gradual revelation." So he keeps on revealing it at the right moments. And that's part of what makes it so grand. I mean, also this Ayah could mean this, what you're listening to right now is nothing but revelation that is coming down as we speak. In other words, Jibril is here. The people that were listening to this were like, "Ah, what does he make stuff up?" And when the prophet is reciting the Surah, it's as if he's telling them, "By the way, the communication is happening right now in this moment. In this moment." And that you should be on alert, like, "I'm not alone right now." Huh? Do you believe Jibril is here too? And he's the one giving me these words, and I'm sharing them with you. That's, that's a really heavy realization, you understand? That's inside the word "yuha."
And then the, the "inhua" also says, "It's not possible for this to be anything else." Contemplate this, and you will come to the conclusion, this isn't human, this isn't made up, this isn't poetry, this isn't like any other religion. This is nothing but revelation that is coming down. This is nothing but inspiration communicated secretly to this messenger. And then so what that means is, you saw in the beginning, so the expectation here was "wa" would have continued. But he switches from the mouth to what? "In" to make this the climax of the ultimate statement that's being made. As if the whole point of everything that's being said so far rests on this one thing. This is the top of the peak. You can think of it like this. It's like that, that this is the connection that's being made. This is the peak of it all. Nothing but this. And so, so this, this ultimate intensification happens inside of this Ayah.
If you have time, I want you to, after we, you know, we finish the Surah, a child, one of the courses that I did, uh, was called "Divine Speech." It was done a long time ago. I've written a book on it too, but it keeps getting out of stock. I think it's in stock now again. But instead, I know reading a book can be torture for you, so I, I understand. But on Bayyinah TV, I have the course called "Divine Speech." I consider the whole course just an explanation of this statement: "How can this only be revelation? Why is it not humanly possible?" And inshallah, I'll be making some updates to that course because I've been studying a lot a long time since. But I think you should watch it. And it's good, especially for younger audiences, because we need to have first-hand appreciation of why we believe this isn't just another religion. This isn't just a faith. This is, there's no alternative. This has to be revelation from God. Okay?
Hey guys, you just watched a small clip of me explaining the Quran in depth as part of the "Deeper Look" series. Studying the Quran in depth can seem like a really intimidating thing that's only meant for scholars. Our job at Bayyinah is to make deeper study of the Quran accessible and easy for all of you. So take us up on that challenge. Join us for this study, the "Deeper Look" of the Quran for this Surah and many other Surahs on BayyinahTV.com under the "Deeper Look" section.