Messengerss warn about two things. One, worldly destruction of nations. Two, the worst destruction than that, the resurrection punishment that's coming thereafter. So it's two parts. And you'll see in Meccan Surahs, they interplay with each other.
As far as Allah is concerned, one is just a preview to the next. So the fact that Nuh's nation was flooded is a preview to what's going to happen when they are raised. Right? So they're not...
رَبِّ الشَّحْ لِصَدْرِي وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي وَحْلُ الْعُقْدَةَ مِّنْ لِسَانِي يَفْقَهُ قَوْلِي أَمِنْ يَرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ثُمَّ مَا بَعْدُ Once again everyone, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Allah has given this incredible, noble Qur'an and He called upon it as evidence. You make your own conclusions, but instead of pondering upon this Qur'an and instead of thinking about the majesty that it's giving you, instead the word بَلْ is used.
In other words, they didn't give it a chance. They didn't ponder upon it. They didn't think about it. And instead, They found it strange that a warner came to them from among themselves. مُنذِرٌ مِّن جِنْسِهِمْ لَا مِن جِنْسِ الْمَلَكِ One of the ways it's interpreted is, how come no angel came?
How come a warner came from among ourselves? It needs to be understood here that they didn't use the word messenger. How come a messenger came to them from among ourselves? Or from among themselves? Rather a warner came, a مُنذِر came from among themselves.
This sets the tone for the rest of this surah. A warning is about an imminent threat, a danger that is coming. And the danger that is coming, first of all, is their own death, and what is going to transpire thereafter. But there are two...
In the Qur'an, when you talk about nations being preached to, when they're being given a message by any messenger, messengers always talk about two different dangers. Two different dangers. One danger is long-term, which is the Day of Judgment, and whatever happens thereafter.
Which means Day of Judgment connected with Hellfire. Right? That's the danger.
But the other danger is... A messenger is here, which means you guys are on the brink of worldly destruction as well. The formula in the Quran is as follows. It's, you know, if you don't study it carefully, you get the opposite conclusion of what I'm gonna say.
And I'll start with the opposite conclusion. Messengerss came, people didn't listen, nations got destroyed. That means, when messengers come, what's coming soon? Destruction's coming soon.
So messengers might as well be the angels of death and destruction, because... Once they come, you know things are gonna go bad. And even Sunday school kids know, yeah, yeah, we know Nuh came and they drowned. Yeah, yeah, we know Hud came and they looted and you know.
Messengers, doom. Messengers, doom. Messengers, doom.
Isn't it? And you get this picture where you associate messengers with what? With doom.
And that's a really big problem. The right way of looking at it, the way the Qur'an paints this picture, is that Allah gave all societies a chance to flourish. And then societies took an evil turn. Societies glorified bad things. زَيَّنَ لَهُمْ وَشَيْطَانَ عَمَالَهُمْ Their evil deeds were beautified to them by the shaitan, by the devil.
And they would embrace those evil deeds, encourage each other to those evil deeds to the point where that society is on the brink of destruction. They're gonna fall apart anyway. And it is when they reach that brink of destruction is when Allah sends a messenger to hope, in hopes of turning the tide and saying, guys, you're heading towards destruction, I'm here to try to stop you.
I'm here to try to help you. Pretty much every time, did they listen to those messengers or no? They didn't and they ended up where they were gonna end up. The point that's being made in the Quran is not messengers came and they were destroyed, it's messengers came and even though they came, they were destroyed.
The point being made is they tried to stop the destruction from happening. The fact that they're telling you that this building is falling apart is not their fault. You're the one not taking care of the building.
When you don't listen to their warnings and it falls apart, you don't say, well, the last thing I remember is the guy was telling us the building is gonna fall apart and then it fell apart. You know like how people blame the weather forecaster? You know, I'm just telling you what's coming. I'm giving you ample time to prepare yourselves and fix the problem. That's what messengers came to do.
So once again, summarizing. Messengerss warn about two things. One, worldly destruction of nations. Two, the worst destruction than that, the resurrection punishment that's coming thereafter. So it's two parts.
And you'll see in Meccan Surahs, they interplay with each other. As far as Allah is concerned, one is just a preview to the next. So the fact that Nuh's nation was flooded is a preview to what's gonna happen when they are raised.
Right? So they're not one or the other, it's one then the other. So when Allah talks, if He talks in some surah about a nation being destroyed in this world, then He doesn't even have to say what happened to them afterwards. That's already understood. That's already لازم and ملزوم.
It just necessarily leads to it, okay? الْعَجَبُّ بَالْعَجِبُّ They found it strange. Allah doesn't say who. when you use a pronoun like they, then you're saying, you didn't say the disbelievers found it strange. He just says they found it strange.
So it's actually a comment about all of Mecca. First of all, it's a comment about all of Mecca. Everybody found it weird that a man from among them, who's lived among them 40 years, who they know so well, all of a sudden comes and gives them warnings.
Mundirun, he's among us. You know, look at it generally. Warnings have to come from the outside. You have to tune in to some broadcast, some announcement that you don't have access to, to get a warning.
Back in the day, if you were gonna get a warning about a tribe attacking, or some enemy coming, it would have to be someone who was outside, who saw the enemy coming. And then they came running back in, and said, by the way guys, there's an enemy coming. If you notice, the Prophet ﷺ did this.
He stood on the top of the mount, and in one of his first preaching sermons, he said, وَا صَبَحَ بَيْهِ I swear by the morning that's coming. And when he said, when they heard that, they thought, man, other side of the mountain, by morning the enemy will be here. They all gathered. And even the Prophet ﷺ asked that rhetorical question, if I was to tell you there's an emerging army on the other side of this mountain, would you believe me? And they said, yes, we would.
You know why? Because if he's on top of the mountain, he sees it. He sees it.
But then he preached to them about something entirely different. The point is, if one of you, with no phone devices, you know, because now we have things that connect us to the outside world. But imagine there aren't those things. And you're sitting in this room and one of you says, by the way, there's a thing, there's an army coming this way.
Like, where did you get this news? Is it on your phone? Did somebody text you? No?
I just know. Who are you? are you to warn? You're sitting among us.
So the idea that there's someone warning us who's from among us is weird. That's naturally strange. How could he, either he went out or someone from the outside came to him. That's the only two possibilities.
There's no third possibility. So now the question is someone from the outside did come to him and of course the angel Jibreel came to him. When the angel Jibreel came to him, whether you believe it or not it is actually pretty amazing to know. That's happening in our town?
For real? And that's why even the jinn who believed Even those who believed in the Qur'an They said إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا قُرْآنًا عَجَبًا We heard a Qur'an that's strange This is strange And so if you look at the definition of عَجَب In the Arabic language إِنْكَارُ مَا يَرُدَّ عَلَيْكَ أَوْ مَا يَرِدُ عَلَيْكَ لِقِلَّةِ اِعْتِيَادِهِ And so it is actually denying something that has happened to you because it rarely ever happens. It's so unlikely that it would happen. Guys, sorry for the interruption in the middle of this lecture.
Just before you continue, I want to let you know and encourage you that I want you to sign up for bayinatv.com and help other sign up or even sponsor students for bayinatv.com so we can create worldwide communities of students that are studying the meanings and the benefit and the wisdom of the Qur'an and are inshallah ta'ala spreading that in their own circles. Thanks so much. This is the idea of something strange to the Arabs.
How could it be? This is completely not normal, right? Now, by saying ajibu, Allah is saying that it sent shockwaves across all of the region. Everybody's saying, he's saying that he gets a message, he gets an angel talking to him.
Now that message is made up of three things that are hard to believe. What are those three things? Allah, afterlife, and actually of them the hardest to believe is revelation. Believing in God, pretty common. Believing in some afterlife, pretty common.
Believing that you receive and that you get an angel talking to you from the sky, that's kind of hard to accept, you understand? So that third part is actually what everything else hinges on. It's actually belief in revelation that sets the tone for our belief in God and belief in the afterlife. It is the one that people are skeptical about the most.
That's the one that people are skeptical about the most. For example, if somebody believes in God, believes, somebody who doesn't believe in the afterlife. You should not be arguing about the afterlife. That's actually a consequence of something before it. What is before it is, do you believe in God?
Well, if you believe in a God, do you believe in an all-powerful God? Okay, well, if you believe in an all-powerful God, then at the very least you believe that an afterlife is possible. We got that far. Now there's still a step missing. Well, how do you know even if there is a God?
Fine, I believe in a God. And I believe He's all-powerful. He can create an afterlife if He wants.
How do you know there's a heaven? He created a heaven or a hell. How do I know He didn't just create a different planet?
and he's just gonna move us from here to there, or we're gonna come back as cockroaches or cats, reincarnation. How do you know that your concept of what's gonna happen is right and my imagination of what's gonna happen is wrong? Well, the only thing that can solve that problem is if God himself tells me what's going to happen.
So there's afterlife. I'm not sure. Well, maybe there is a God.
Fine. If there is a God, there's a possibility of an afterlife. Well, the only way you'll know what that afterlife looks like is through what?
Revelation. The only thing that can solve that problem is revelation. I can have some concept of what that afterlife looks like. Somebody else can have some other concept. Hindus have their concept of afterlife too.
Right? The Christian concept of afterlife is very different from... from the Jewish concept of the afterlife. It is.
They're two very different views. وَهُمْ يَتْلُونَ الْكِتَابِ Even though they read the same book. You know.
And that's very different from the Muslim concept of the afterlife. So it's going to have to be solved by revelation. So now, they find it strange that a warner came to them from among themselves. So of the things that he's talking about, the thing they find the most strange is the warning.
They're not so much worried about belief in God. Why is he giving us warnings? Now is the Quran only full of warnings?
And did it come originally just to warn? Actually the Quran says, بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا You came to give good news and to give warning. So the Quran originally came to do what?
Give good news. To give good news. Now, and we already read that the Quran came to dignify people. The thing is, does it include warning?
Yes. They reduced all of the message of the Qur'an to what? Warning.
Allah is saying, I was trying to talk to you with dignity, and part of that dignity was warning you. Not the only thing, but part of it was warning you. By the way, how is warning someone dignifying someone?
Listen, I respect you, and out of respect for you, I'm telling you that you need to file your taxes soon because they're pretty tough in Texas. You're going to end up in court. I wouldn't want you to be in court.
So, I mean, I'm a lawyer, I'm a tax accountant, I'm just letting you know, I noticed that you have... you haven't filed. When somebody warns you, are they humiliating you or saving you from humiliation? They're saving you from humiliation. Even the warnings in the Quran are there to save you from humiliation.
But when somebody is narrow-minded and they don't want to listen, they say, you know, I felt really insulted when you talked to me about me getting my taxes straightened out or this and that. You're like, all you can think about is the fact that you were warned. You dismiss everything else. So notice the Quran is full of majd but they've reduced it to just imdaar, warning.
It's so strange that he warns us. Why does he warn us? You know, I was, and you would think the Quran, if you warn someone and they're offended, then the Quran should change the stance. Okay, okay, let me be softer on you.
Let me not give you warnings. Because that's what we do. When we talk to someone, we think about, well, if I tell them straight what it is they need to hear, they might get offended. So maybe I should not talk to them directly. But part of you respecting someone is You being clear and transparent and open with them.
You tell them what they need to hear. You know the thought that crosses our mind, maybe I shouldn't say anything? And we think, maybe I shouldn't say anything? Out of respect?
The Quran flips that equation and says, it's because Allah respects the human being, He says it like it is. Part of me respecting you, is me being open with you. That's part of me respecting you.
Even if I have to tell you the ugly truth. It is out of respect for you that I'm sincerely telling you like it is. That's how I see it. We have this superfluous, superficial kind of let's just not say something or let's ignore the warning side or the ugly truth side of it because we wouldn't want to hurt somebody's feelings. And then we say we did this out of respect.
Allah is changing that equation. Our transparency, our honesty does not take away respect. بَلْ عَجِبُوا أَن جَاءَهُم مُنذِرٌ مِّنْهُمْ They say then, you know, the next words are not فَقَالُوا هَذَا شَيْءٌ عَجِيبٌ I was baffled by this. They found it strange that a warner came to them among our...
among themselves Thus they said this is a strange thing. No, thus the so the disbelievers said this is a strange thing in Language first you mentioned a noun then you mentioned a pronoun Not the other way around you say once upon a time there was a king. He was powerful You don't say he you know he was powerful the king went along You mention king, then you use he.
Isn't it? So you're expecting disbelievers and then they. What does the ayah do? They and then disbelievers. It flips it.
This flip is important because now we're learning when he says they, he's referring to a large gathering. He's referring to everybody in Mecca. Some of those people are finding it strange initially that a warner did come, but they might even accept. It is strange for the rest of that society. But within them there's a group.
Which group is this? Disbelievers. They're not. just going to say it's strange, they're going to vocalize their criticism. See, the first group found it strange, but they're quiet.
The second group came out and started talking. And the first thing that came out of their mouth is, هذا شيء عجيب. This is a strange thing. This is pretty strange. Now, what is strange, we don't know yet.
It's going to be explained in the next ayah. But before we even say it, they've already criticized it. This is pretty weird.
This is a weird thing. The word this, by the way, as opposed to that. What's the difference between this and that? Anybody know?
This is near and that is far. So we're gonna pay attention to that. The word هذا means this. The word ذلك means that. The next ayah will have ذلك رجع بأي.
It's gonna have the word that. That's important. Why?
Because they're saying, we've heard this enough times. This warning and this whatever is being told is actually in close proximity to us. We've internalized what you're saying, at least to the point where we understand your point. even though we don't accept it.
So they say, not but Like Ibn Kathir would say, they found it strange that they're gonna be raised after they die. So now look, When eventually we're gonna be dead, and by the way, also means when all of a sudden we're gonna be dead. And we're gonna be turned into dust, dirt. كُنَّا تُرَابًا We will be transformed and become nothing more than dirt.
ذَٰلِكَ رَجْعٌ بَعِيدٌ That is a far-fetched return. In the Arabic language, the word بعيد also means مستحيل, impossible. بعيد, which means far away, also means impossible. So والاستفهام, first of all, مستعمل في التعجيب والابطال.
The question is being used to express how weird they think this is, how strange they think it is, and also how it's impossible, it doesn't make any sense. In other words, in language, sometimes you pose a question to make someone feel stupid. Oh, you're gonna teach me?
Oh, he's gonna... When you put it like... Oh, we're gonna die and be brought back? Huh. اَيْثَا مِتْنَا وَكُنَّا تُرَابًا Really?
This is interesting. This is strange. That when we're dead and we're reduced to nothing more than dirt...
That must be a really long way back we're gonna come back. تَعْلِكَ رَجُعٌ بَعِيدٌ By the way, بعيد also بعيد الزمن. Why? Because you don't just get buried and turn into dirt.
How long does it take before a corpse is turned into just dirt and there's nothing? left. Decades, maybe centuries. And then he says, from all the way that we're going to be brought back? From that far away?
يقول هذا أمر بعيد لا يتصوره العقل I can't even imagine it. So they say, in Arabic, they say, هذا محال, this is impossible. هذا بعيد, this is far-fetched.
Far-fetched means, I'm translating it in the English idiom, it's impossible. The Arabs have an expression, farther than the falcon in the sky. What that means is, it's impossible to catch the falcon with your arms.
So, farther than that. Now, بعيد, they also say, لِأَنَّهُ لَا يُمْكِنْ تَمِيِزُ تُرَابِنَا عَنْ بَقِيَةِ التُّرَابِ This is pretty epic. It's going to come back to hit us later.
They say, when we're dead, and our body starts decaying, and starts mixing with the dirt, some of those specks of dirt were our body ones. And some of those specks of dirt were always dirt. Yeah?
And now when you dig up that dirt, it's just dirt. I don't know which speck was me, and which speck was the... the dirt.
How are you going to bring me back? You'd first have to sift through it and find the original organic matter that was once me. And then even if you put all of those, I mean, Razi went that far. Razi's like, let's imagine how they thought. He's like, okay, so what if you could pick all those specks of dust out and put them together?
Now there's this mound that used to be you. Now what? Who's going to mold this back into my body? And even if you did somehow, which is impossible, it's gonna breathe life back into it.
You know, I don't understand how this can ever happen. ذَلِكَ رَجْعٌ بَعِيدٌ Then the other thing what they found strange was, why are you giving me warnings about what will happen after I die? The only warning I should ever get is that I will die.
I don't care about, once I'm dead, I don't need no warnings. I'm already dead. This is so strange that you're trying to warn me about something that it's too late, you know.
For them, life is to be preserved, and to them, life is what you're living now. The only time they've heard warnings are warnings that put their immediate life in danger. How are you warning me about what's going to happen in my life?
grave I know I'm gonna get eaten up it's gonna be bad so what وَقَالُوا أَإِذَا ضَلَلْنَا فِي الْأَرْضِ أَإِنَّ لَفِي خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ that's the place in the Quran they say when we are lost inside of the earth when we're lost you can't even even find remnants of us. We're going to be brought a new creation? بَلْ هُمْ بِالْلِقَاءِ رَبِّهِمْ كَافِرُونَ No, no, instead they're completely in denial of meeting with their master.
So now, the word رَجَع ذَلِكَ رَجْعٌ بَعِيدٌ Arabic language is cool. I'll give you some English words, they're hard but I'll make them easy to understand. The word رَجْع can be transitive and intransitive. It's لَزِمٍ مُتَعَدِّي What that means is it affects oneself or affects another.
Now let me tell you that in simple English. ذَلِكَ رَجْعٌ بَعِيدٌ It could mean mean that is a very far fetched way for me to come back myself. I ain't coming back that way.
It could also mean that is a very far fetched way for me to be brought back. Not just for me to come back, but also for me to be brought back. Like what force is going to bring me back? You're thinking first of all, I'm in charge of bringing myself back. I'm not coming back.
I don't think I'm going to be capable. And no force is going to be capable of bringing me back. No power is going to be capable. of bringing me back.
In the Hadith Qudsi, the Prophet says, صلى الله عليه وسلم, لَيْسَ أَوَّلَ الْخَلْقُ بِأَهْوَنَ عَلَيَّ مِنْ إِعَادَتِهِ Allah says, and the Prophet is paraphrasing what Allah says, the first creation... is not more difficult on me than bringing it back the second time. The logic of the Quran is natural.
What that means is when I do something for the first time, it's harder. When I do it a second time, it's easier. Right? If you ask me, even as a teacher, if you were to ask me to teach a particular surah the first time, it's going to be exhausting.
The second time, much easier. Actually, naturally, the second time will be better. Just naturally, the second time will be better.
So, Same thing with people who build. Same thing with people who cook. Same thing with people... Anything you do.
First time is harder. Second time is what? Easier.
Easier and better. And literally what Allah says about the next life, خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَى The next life is actually not only easy for Allah, يَسِيرٌ ذَلِكَ حَشْرُ الْعَنْيَا الْيَسِيرُ But it's also better. He'll make you the second time even better than he did the first time.
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