Interpretation of Holy Quran _ Surat Al- Baqarah (2) _ Lesson 1 An introduction to thename of the Sura_ The Meccan and Madinite Verses.

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of Creations, and Peace and blessings be upon our prophet Muhammad, the faithfuland the honest.

Oh, Allah, w e know nothing but w hat You teach us. You are the All- Know er, the Wise. Oh Allah, teach usw hat is good for us, and benefit us from w hat You taught us, and increase our know ledge. Show us therighteous things as righteous and help us to do them, and show us the bad things as bad and help us to keepaw ay from them.

O Allah our Lord, lead us out from the depths of darkness and illusion, unto the lights of erudition andknow ledge, and from the muddy shallow s of lusts unto the heavens of Your Vicinity.Dear Brothers, today w e start the interpretation of the chapter (sura) “Al-Baqarah”, because of a reason w hichI w ill explain to you before I proceed interpretation. O Brothers, this lesson, w ith the grace of Allah the Almighty,w as from about tw enty-f ive years ago; in the beginning, the interpretation w as of selected verses from theHoly Quran. Then I started from “Sura Lukman”, and continued to the end of the Quran. The clear recordingstarted from the last part, and before it recordings w ere unclear. Then I came back to “Surat Yunus” andfollow ed the interpretation to “Sura Lukman”. At that time, according to the plan, I had to go back to the chapter“Al-Baqarah”. This means that I interpreted the last third of the Quran (ten parts), then the second third, andthen the f irst third. For one reason or another, I continued the interpretation to the end of the tw enty-ninth part .The last part is w ell interpreted, and recorded very clearly, but now , according to the plan, w e go back to thefirst section, because all verses from “Sura Hud” to the end of the Quran are interpreted and recorded veryclearly on tapes, and I supplicate Allah, Almighty, that I can interpret the f irst third.

Everything in the world is transient, except a work which is related to the Hereafter :

Today w e begin the interpretation of “Sura Al-Baqarah”, but I’ll give you this fact: everything in the w orld istransient, except a w ork w hich is related to the Hereafter. If any one of the present brothers, has no w orkrelated to the Hereafter, then he has a great loss; the w orld is transient, the houses disappear. Notice: the deadperson has left everything except a righteous w ork w hich goes w ith him in his grave. Allah, Almighty, says:

﴾ Say to them -the infidels-: «This is my w ay of presenting divine inducements to the people,based on clear and comprehensible evidence; inducements w hich I, in collaboration w ith those

who follow me, use to invite people to the path of Allah; glory to Him, and extolled are His gloriousattributes wherefore never do I incorporate w ith Him other deities» (108) ﴿

[Yusuf]

Every person w ho follow s the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him, should call to Allah in one w ay oranother. I have told you before: be righteous and all w ill be righteous w ith you. The sincere attitude is a call toAllah, the honest attitude is a call, piety is a call, honesty is a call, and skillfulness is a call. Everyone may have agood w ork , and this deed causes the expansion of Muslim communities; therefore, calling for the obedience toAllah is a religious duty of every Muslim.

Calling to Allah is w ithin the limits of w hat you know and w hom you know . Every person w ho has attended ascholarly council, and listened to the interpretation, becomes responsible; he w ould be asked to convey this toothers either verbally, or by tape, or by meeting. You must speak after you have heard, you must give after thatyou have taken, and that is w hat w ill remain.

What drives the believer in the call to Allah is the speech of the Messenger of Allah; and, I sw ear by Allah, Obrothers, that if I read this speech thousands of times, it is not enough :

((If Allah guides a man by way of you, then it is better for you than the world and what is in it))

[Al-Boukhari from Sahl bin Sa'd]

((I swear by Allah, that if Allah guides a man by way of you, then it is better for you than the redcamels))

[Accepted upon narration from Sahl bin Sa'd]

((It is better for him than all of what the sun rises upon))

[Narrated by Al-Tabarani from Abu Rafe’e]

Invitatory “jihad” is one of the greatest types of “jihad” :

Jihad, as you know , is the pinnacle of Islam, and if a person dies w ithout struggling, or told his self about “AlJihad”, then he w ill die w ith some hypocrisy in his heart.

Invitatory “jihad” is one of the greatest types of “jihad”, and the proof is the saying of Allah, Almighty :

﴾ Therefore, do not yield O Muhammad to the infidels and wage against them spiritual warfare bythe divine means -the Quran- But should they wage war against you, then fight back by physical

means (52) ﴿

[Al-Furqan]

It is very nice to f ill the mosque w ith students of religious know ledge, and it is even more beautiful to spreadreligious know ledge outside the mosque. It is so beautiful that each one of us thinks about how to transfer thetruth to his brother, his friend, the neighbor, to the staff of his shop, to his colleagues, and to his relatives;because all of us, the attending brothers, are one party. How ever, heroism is to enter into this good gathering, ifAllah w ills, new actors. So, each person is asked to look for some of his relatives, his colleagues, hisneighbors, his follow ers, and others w ho are on a low er or a higher level than him, in one w ay or another, inorder to spread this truth w hich remains. You see that people die and they cannot take anything w ith them,except a righteous w ork that they have done for the sake of Allah, the Almighty. Therefore, the teaching ofknow ledge is one of the greatest righteous w orks.

Announcing the truth is the job of the Prophets :

﴾ And who has a better discourse or thoughts expressed in w ords than he whose discourseinduces to the belief in Allah, His Oneness and Uniqueness, and deals w ith His nature and

attributes and he aspires to deeds of w isdom and piety, and proclaims: «I am one of those whoconform to Islam and effectuate unqualified obedience to His commands? » (33) ﴿

[Fussilat]

Whenever the truth spreads, righteousness becomes easier :

Dear brothers, w e began this lesson in 1976, w ith four persons only, and you can see this attendance now ,w hich is by the grace of Allah Almighty. Those w ho come to seek know ledge, and to learn the w ords of Allah,Almighty, and the “Sunnah” of His Messenger (PBUH), are those w hose deeds are for the sake of Allah, TheGreatest.

So, heroism is to learn and teach; to listen and to speak, to receive and to give, because the Prophet, peacebe upon him, says :

((The best person of you is he who learns “The Quran” and teaches it))

[Al-Boukhari from Othman]

By all means, an absolute charity, and w henever the ranges of truth are w ider, the ranges of falsehoodbecome narrow er; w henever the truth spreads, righteousness becomes easier. Allah, Almighty, says :

﴾ …Allah exhorts you people who have conformed to Islam to keep in awe of Him and to entertainthe profound reverence dutiful to Him so that Heaven may prosper you. (31) ﴿

[Al-Nour]

And He, the Greatest, says :

﴾ Hold firmly together and grasp the eternal and unchangeable sublime system of Allah! Lay holdof it w ith the mind and do not be discordant among yourselves (103) ﴿

[Al-‘Imran]

All glory is to Allah, Almighty, and this “Holy Quran” is Allah’s table. This “Holy Quran” is the strong rope ofAllah, His True Constitution, the Straight Path, the right method. This book w ill never be affected by falsehood,neither in front of it, nor behind it. This book contains the new s of those w ho had come before your era, and themention of those w ho w ill come after your era. In the Quran there is the command and the forbiddance, thelaw ful and unlaw ful, the new s of former nations, and scenes from the “Day of Resurrection”.

Truly, glory be to Allah, Almighty, that the chapters from the chapter “Yunus” to the end of the Quran areinterpreted in detail, and the interpretation is recorded very clearly on tapes; so, today w e start w ith the f irstthird of this Holy Book, the Quran, and w e start w ith the chapter “Al-Baqarah”.

The first point: this chapter was named “Al-Baqarah” to emphasize belief in “The Day ofResurrection” :

Before w e begin the interpretation of this chapter, certainly w e must ask this question: “Why w as it called“Al-Baqarah”, w hen the cow is not a familiar animal in the Arabian Peninsula?” In fact, this cow , w hich the f irstchapter in the Quran after “Al-Fatiha” w as named after, has a story. There w as a very rich man of the Nation ofIsrael. He w as a very w ealthy man, and he did not have children. And so, he w as killed by his nephew , w hothrew the body of his uncle aw ay on the outskirts of a far village. The people of the far village w ere accused ofkilling the man; then, a dispute occurred betw een the f irst village and the second village, until the relations of thedeceased came to Musa, peace be upon Him, and asked Him about w ho killed this man; so, our Lord, Almighty,mentioned the story of this cow in the seventy-third verse of this holy chapter. He says :

﴾ Also, that once when Mussa said to his people: «Allah commands you to sacrifice a cow»…(67) ﴿

The divine command w as for the “Nation of Israel” to slaughter any cow , then if they took one of its parts,and beat the deceased w ith it, he w ould return to life, and he w ould stand and say to them: “So and so killedme!”. It is as if Allah w anted to prove to the Nation of Israel life after death.

Let’s stop for a little to move to the topic of the “Doomsday”.

Brothers, the greater truth is that after the faith in Allah, w hich is the f irst basic element, I must believe in the“Last Day”, because life w ithout faith in the “Last Day” is a jungle w here the strong eats the w eak, and the richexploits the poor. That is w hat is happening in the w orld today, in a w orld w hich does not believe in the “LastDay”. The strong person is he w ho crushes the w eak one, and the rich is he w ho exploits the poor, and thestrongest is the one w ho takes advantage of the w eakest.

No society has succeeded on the earth, except a society that believes in Allah and the LastDay :

All events point to the fact that that no life w ill be fulf illing unless there is belief in the Last Day. And all that issaid is meaningless talk. Conscientiousness, internal scruples - all of this, unless it is supported by faith in theLast Day, w ill be unproductive. No society has succeeded on the earth, except a society that believes in Allahand the Last Day. Our Lord, Almighty, through the story of the cow w anted to show the Nation of Israel thatthis person w ho is seen to be dead w ill be vitalized by Allah at the Day of Resurrection in order to acquire therequital of his deeds.

But w hat did the “Nation of Israel” do? They did not accept w hat happened, they w ere not satisf ied w ith it,and they did not submit to it; rather, they met the miracle w ith doubt and irony :

﴾ Also, that once when Mussa said to his people: «Allah commands you to sacrifice a cow». Theysaid to Mussa: «Are you trying to make us the object of a practical joke?» Mussa said: «Allah

forbid that I be a simpleton» (67) ﴿

Is it possible that a w ellborn Prophet mocks, or jokes ?!

﴾ They said to Mussa: «Are you trying to make us the object of a practical joke?» Mussa said:«Allah forbid that I be a simpleton» (67) They said to Mussa: «Beseech Allah, your Creator, to point

out to us the kind of cow»… (68) ﴿

Here :

﴾ Also, that once when Mussa said to his people: «Allah commands you to sacrifice a cow» … (67) ﴿

And the matter is over.

The human dies, but his “self” is everlasting, and he will be asked :

Any cow can serve you, and you can take one of any cow ’s parts and beat the dead w ith it, and then hew ill return to life; he w ill speak and say : “So and so killed me !” But the “Nation of Israel” complicated the matterfor themselves :

﴾ They said to Mussa: «Beseech Allah, your Creator, to point out to us the kind of cow». Mussasaid: Allah says: «It is a cow neither old nor young but in an intermediate stage and now Allah has

commanded and you shall have to obey» (68) Again they said: «Beseech Allah, your Creator, onour behalf to indicate to us its color». Mussa said: Allah says: «It is a vivid yellow cow particularly

attractive to beholders» (69) Again they said to Mussa: «Beseech Allah, your Creator, on our behalfto specify the characteristic features of the cow since to us all cows are alike, and Allah w illing

we will be able to find the cow meeting the said features» (70) Mussa said: «Allah says it is a cowthat has not been used in ploughing the land nor watering the fields, a cow free of all physicaldefects.» There and then they said to Mussa: «Now you have brought us the truth,» and they

slaughtered the cow in sacrifice in spite of hesitation though they almost did not (71) «And youslew a man and the case was wrapped in mystery and you all tried to absolve yourselves of the

blood guilt … (72) ﴿

Each party charged the other one :

﴾ …, but Allah would not permit it and He exposed the truth w hich you tried to conceal.» (72) Their

and then We commanded Mussa to say to you: «Strike the corpse w ith a piece of the heifer’scarcass,» and there the man was brought to life only for as long as he made know n in a

supernatural manner, the name of the man who had killed him. Thus, Allah exhibits His unlimitedpower to effect what He w ill, in any manner He w ill and to resurrect all the dead when He will. Hedisplays to you His signs and His marvels demonstrating Omnipotence and Authority so that you

may hopefully comprehend and lift to Him your inward sight (73) ﴿

If a person dies, people say, “the departed one”. When this man died, he only takes clothes off , but his “self”is everlasting. He w ill judged, then he w ill live an eternal life either in a paradise w ithin w hich bliss is continuous,or in a hell w ithin w hich torment is endless.

The verses which are revealed in the beginning of the call to Islam, indicate two things:

Dear brothers, the verses w hich are revealed in the beginning of the call to Islam, consist of tw o things. Firstis the belief in Allah, and the second is the belief in the Last Day, because belief in Allah has no meaning if youdon’t believe that He is aw are of you, that He w ill ask you, and he w ill punish you. You w ill not be on thestraight path of Allah if you don’t believe that He is aw are of you, and He w ill ask and punish you.

Allah, The Almighty, says :

﴾ It is Allah Who created seven heavens and of the earth the likeness thereof. His command andcontrolling power circulate among them; signs indicative of His Omnipotence over all things and

inductive to the realization that Allah is acquainted w ith all the facts and that His Omnisciencecovers all things in all respects (12) ﴿

[Al-Talaq]

That is to be righteous w hen you know that Allah know s, w hen you know that you are in His hand, and Hew ill punish you; and you w ill f ind that every righteous person has the “Last Day” on his mind. The strange thingis that w hen the human earns ill-gotten money, w hen he assails upon the honors of others, and w hen hestrays from the w ay of Allah; how can he sleep, how does he get the stability w ith his self ?!

If he read the saying of Allah, The Greatest :

﴾ But by Allah, your Creator, there shall come the Day when all of them shall have much to answerfor (92) And all their misdeeds shall be laid to their charge (93) ﴿

[Al-Hijr]

The particularity of this worldly life is that the blessings which are given to you, certainly, youhave to leave at the death :

When the believer has no doubt that every move, every tranquility, every act, every gift, every prevention,every connection, every disconnection, every visit, every look, and every w ord w ill enter in the balance of hisdeeds, and he w ill be asked about it on the Day of Resurrection; then the human w ill be righteous by the ordersof Allah. You w ill not f ind a straight man in the w orld, except w ho has a great belief in the Last Day.

There are blessings in this w orld; there are pleasures, desires, and luck. What's going on? These fortunes,desires, pleasures, and these blessings, in general, are either going to leave you w hile you are alive, or atdeath. Certainly, there is a departure, because the particularity of this w orldly life is that the blessings w hichare given to you, certainly, you have to leave at the death. Or, maybe it has left before death. From this point ofview w as the Prophet's prayer, peace be upon him :

((O Allah, make us enjoy our hearing and sight and strength; and make it our heir))

[Razeen from Nafe’e the lord of Ibn Omar]

But the place w here the blessings do not leave you, and you never leave them is “The Hereafter”.

﴾ For the accomplishment of a like exalted end Hereafter shall endeavor those who aspire to attainit (61) ﴿

[Al-Saffat]

And Allah says :

﴾ … an inspiring goal for which may compete those whose ambition is the heavenly bliss (26) ﴿

[Al-Mutaffifeen]

There are w orries in the w orldly life. The human is w orried about his health and w henever his ageincreases, his w orry increases. He w onders if a disease has infected him ! Or maybe another disease! Thediseases are so many, and this is the biggest concern, the concern about health. There is concern aboutincome; w ill this income remain or shrink? Do I stay in this job, or not? Is this trade permanent, or not ? Is thisincome permanent, or not ? The w orldly life is fraught w ith anxiety, because you, certainly, have to leave thisw orld, then you w ill leave all the graces. The clearest proof is w hen you have follow ed a funeral, and sawhow the deceased w as buried. He dw elled in a house, that w as maybe about tw o hundred square meters, ormay be four hundred square meters. Maybe this house w as in one of the most high-class streets in Damascus;it might have a nice view w ith balconies and is w ell-cared for, w ith bedrooms, reception rooms, living rooms,heating, air conditioning etc..

To w here is the fate of the ow ner of this home? Buried under the earth, in a small hole; that is the fate ofeach living being.

The most inseparable pillars of the “Pillars of Faith” are the belief in Allah, and the Last Day:

You must leave these blessings at death, and they may leave you before death. But the Afterlife is aneternal life, life w ithout embitterment, w ithout senescence, w ithout grief, and no concern in it: no cold, nosw elter, no disease, no poverty, no richness, and no oppression. embitter

﴾ For the accomplishment of a like exalted end Hereafter shall endeavor those who aspire to attainit (61) ﴿

[Al-Saffat]

And Allah says :

﴾ … an inspiring goal for which may compete those whose ambition is the heavenly bliss (26) ﴿

[Al-Mutaffifeen]

So, w hen Allah, Glory be to Him, made this chapter bear the name of “ Al-Baqarah”, He w anted to remind usof the Last Day, and that the belief in the Last Day comes directly after the faith in Allah. And, if you follow edthe verses w hich mention faith you w ill f ind that the most inseparable pillars of the “Pillars of Faith” are the beliefin Allah, and the Last Day.

The w orldly life w ithout faith in the Last Day is a jungle, w here the strong eat the w eak, the rich exploit thepoor, people are oppressed, people are dying of hunger, and other people feed their dogs quantities of meat

w hich the w hole peoples in southern Asia do not eat. They have specialty shops, and the w elfare of their dogsoutw eigh the w ell-being of some peoples. A life in w hich the strong is the dominant, and the w eak is thebroken, this is a w orldly life w ithout a Hereafter.

Look at a small faithful society, in w hich members believe in the Last Day. You f ind the person takes w hat heow ns, and leaves w hat he does not ow n.Once, I said in relation to the subject of marriage: “Why does the Islamic Marriage succeed?” It succeedsbecause Allah, Glory be to Him, is betw een the spouses, as each party fears Allah from tyrannizing the otherparty, and fears Allah from doing an injustice to the other party. Each party hopes for the mercy of Allah w henserving the other party. Both spouses mount to Allah, and the understanding and harmony increase betw eenthem because of their faith in Allah and the Last Day.

The grace of the Words of Allah upon the words of His creatures is like the grace of Allahupon His creatures :

I preached on the belief in the Last Day; this Day must enter in the daily accounts. A brother once said to me: “Not in the daily accounts, but in the hourly accounts!”, and the most correct is to consider this day everysecond. We w ill be held accountable for every moment, every action.

﴾ …«Woe betide us. This book», they say, «does not leave out a minor or a major offenseunrecorded», and they shall find that every single deed, good or back is being presented and then

they shall realize that Allah, your Creator, wrongs no one (49) ﴿

[Al-Kahf]

The believer is of a unique personality. Once, I said that the unique personality has a scholarly degree. Whois the believer? The believer is he w ho know s the great truth of the universe; he know s Allah, and he is thegreatest scholar of all because he knew Allah. Analyze this statement: the grace of the “Words of Allah” uponthe w ords of His creatures is like the grace of Allah upon His creatures. The “Holy Quran” - compare this bookto any other book. The distance betw een them is like the distance betw een Allah and this author, because thisis the Word of Allah. Compare betw een he w ho knew w orld, and he w ho knew Allah; the diversity betw eenthem is like the diversity betw een Allah and His creatures. He w ho knew Allah is very grand, because he knewthe great truth and found harmony w ith it; this made him happy in this w orld and in the Hereafter.

Faith is a moral degree. Because the believer is governed by a great ethical system of values, there is anexact detailed approach in his life. And, as I have mentioned before, the Muslims arrived to declination, becausethey misconceived that Islam is a ritual w orship only. Muslims imagined that Islam is prayer, fasting , pilgrimageto Mecca, and alms giving, w hile Islam contains, I hope not to exaggerate, about a hundred thousand matters;items about earning money, items about the spending of money, items about marriage, items about divorce, itemsabout the councils, items about the performance of the crafts, items about travel, items about residence, itemsabout the upbringing of children: a complete method. When Muslims understood Islam as a few ritual acts ofw orships, they fell behind all nations; but w hen the highbred Companions understood the religion as the lifew hich Allah, Almighty w ills, they follow ed the detailed method.

So, learning of religion know ledge is obligatory for every Muslim. In the life of Muslims nothing overrides thelearning of religious know ledge. You know w ho you are through religious know ledge; you know w hat yourposition is among people, you know w hat comes after the death, and w hat is before death. And, you knoww hat the set of rules you must follow is. Hence, w hen the believer believes in the Last Day, his problems end.

Religion as a whole is a self-accountability :

This is a typical story w hich I alw ays narrate. One of our brothers w orked in f ixing engines said to me:

“Before I w as guided by Allah, the customer came to me w ith a spoiled engine. Of course, the cost of f ixingengines is almost f ive thousand Syrian pounds. The man said to me, “Open it”, and then I found that the troublew as a very simple cut in the outside line, and it could be repaired in minutes. Before I w as guided by Allah I w asrepairing the engine and earning f ive thousand in cash, because the customer does not know w hat happenedto the engine. He know s that the engine is not w orking, so it is spoiled, and he must bring it to be f ixed. But now ,after I w as guided by Allah I say to him, “It costs tw enty-f ive Syrian pounds, although the agreement is f ivethousand”. He became self-accountable. This is the w hole story.

Religion as a w hole is self-accountability.The Caliph Omar said to a Bedouin: “Sell me this sheep and take the price”.The Bedouin said to him: “It is not for me !”The Caliph Omar said to him: “Tell the ow ner that the sheep died”.He replied: “It is not for me !”The Caliph said : “I w ill pay you !”And the Bedouin repeated : “Not for me!”

When the Caliph Omar persisted he said: “By Allah, I am in desperate need for its price, and if I told theow ner that it died, or the w olf ate it, he w ould believe me! He considers me sincere and trusty, but w here isAllah?”

This is religion as a w hole. Religion is w holly to believe in the “Last Day”. Have you controlled your tongue?Have you controlled your earning of money? Have you controlled your spending of money? Have you controlledyour eye, your ear, your hand, your movements and quietness?

Dear brothers, this chapter, w hich is the longest chapter in The Quran, w as called Al-Baqarah, “The Cow ”,because the cow is a proof for the Nation of Israel about the “Last Day”, and how Allah revived the dead man,w ho said: “So and so killed me !” Hence, w hen the human disobeys Allah, Almighty, he must know that his faithin the Last Day is w eak. If his belief in the Last Day w as strong, he w ould never disobey Allah; it is impossibleto disobey Allah if he believed that he w ould be held accountable. If you w ent to a neighboring country, andfound on the w ay back there is a very strict inspection, that nothing can pass w ithout an exact accountability,w ould you buy anything there? Never, and that is natural. As long as there is an exact accountability you w illnot buy anything; maybe the commodities in that country are cheap, but the problem is not that it's cheap, theproblem is how to bring them to my country! They never pass.

Such is the believer: anything, even though it may not be supervised, you are trusted. The doctor is trusted,and all the people w ho w ork in a high-class trades are trusted. If a doctor said to a patient: “You need to makean analysis, ten analyses”, can the patient argue w ith the doctor? You cannot, you need to obey the doctor.Who know s if this analysis is necessary or not? Only Allah know s. If the law yer told you: “The case isw inning”, w hile it is inevitably lost, can you argue w ith him? Who know s that? Only Allah.

O Brothers, I sw ear by Allah that if the faith of Muslims in the Last Day w as true, the Court of Justice w ouldclose its doors.

The religion is a complete method, not only ritual acts of worship :

Our Master Omar held the position of the Minister of Justice during the succession of our Master “Abu BakrAl-Seddeik” for tw o years, and through this period, nobody brought a case to him. If people w ere treated fairly,the judge w ould rest. The problem is our believing in the “Last Day”, and that w e w ill be asked.

﴾ But by Allah, your Creator, there shall come the Day when all of them shall have much to answerfor (92) And all their misdeeds shall be laid to their charge (93) ﴿

[Al-Hijr]

Once again my dear brothers, the big illusion is to consider that the person w ho comes to the mosque andprays is a pious man. You come here to take the manufacturer's instructions only, and come back again to earn

the price. Your piety is measured by your deed, your piety is measured by your treatment w ith customers inyour store, your piety is measured by your treatment w ith customers in your off ice, in your clinic, in yourcompany, in your f ield, in your factory, and your piety is measured by your treatment of your children. Here, inthe mosque, you have the manufacturer's instructions, then you go back to life to use these instructions. And,the most obvious illustration is that w hen The Prophet (PBUH) entered the mosque, He used to say :

((O Allah, open Your mercy’s doors for me; and if He came out, He used to say: O Allah, I ask youfor the giving of your grace))

[Muslim from Abu Hameed]

“O my Lord, let me feel the happiness of being near You”, but w hen you go out of the mosque you say:

((O Allah, I ask you for the giving of your grace))

[Muslim from Abu Hameed]

The w ork is out of the mosque. There's religion, there is honesty, there is the controlling of tongue, there isthe controlling of income, and there is the controlling of expenditure. When w e understand religion as f ive ritualw orships, w e came to be behind other nations, but w e must understand the religion as a full method. Therefore,the biggest thing that concerns the believer is: w hat is the legitimate ruling on this subject ?

Allah, Almighty, is able to revive all of us again:

It is named “Sura Al-Baqarah” because Allah ordered the Nation of Israel to slaughter a cow , to beat w ith itsparts the deceased man, then Allah, Almighty, revived him so the man could stand and say: “So and so killed me!” This means that Allah, Almighty, is able to revive all of us again, and this is w hat w as mentioned in the HolyQuran.

The second thing: there w as a righteous man in the “Nation of Israel”, and he w as a straight, pious, andfaithful man. He never left anything to his family, except a cow . This w as all of his fortune in the w orld, and heleft it for his only son. The qualities of the cow are mentioned in “Surat Al-Baqarah” :

﴾ … «It is a vivid yellow cow particularly attractive to beholders» (69) ﴿

The qualities w ere identical w ith that cow , so its ow ner (the son of the righteous man) refused a price forhis cow but to f ill its leather w ith gold, and that w as a great w ealth.We conclude that if the person is righteous, Allah, Almighty, w ill take care of his children after his death. Allah,Almighty, says in the divine saying:

(( “O My worshiper, I gave you money- w hat did you do w ith it ?” That worshiper says : “O myLord, I spent it on poor and needy people, because I’m confident that You are the best Keeper,

and You are the most merciful”, Allah, The Almighty, says in this divine saying, “ O My worshiper,I’m the conservator for your children after death” ))

[Mentioned in the saying]

This means : Look for the law ful, and do not take w hat is not for you. Then, do not w orry about your childrenafter death, for Allah is the patron of them. He is the Conservator and the Honest. Allah w ill take care of yourchildren after you die - He w ill shelter them, He w ill bestow them, He w ill conserve them, and He, Almighty, w illlionize them.

How many a father left millions in money for his children, but these millions w ere ill-gotten, and the resultw as that his children squandered the money in a short time and lived poor. On the other hand, how many a

father feared Allah, Almighty, in his earning, and then Allah has taken care of his children after his death. Do notw orry about your children. You have to w orry about one thing : to fall into a sin. That is w hat Allah has enabledfor you. Most people now are earning ill-gotten money for their children, to build their future, buying houses forthem, and marrying them. They earn ill-gotten money, and w hat happens? The money w hich they have earnedin an ill-gotten w ay are w asted. It goes as it came and children remained poor. Allah says to another w orshiperin the sequel of the divine saying:

((“O My worshiper, I gave you money- what did you do with it ?” That worshiper says :“O my Lord,I did not spend anything from it, because I was afraid that my children would live in poverty after

my death”. Allah, Almighty, says “That which you were afraid of, has come to your children” ))

[Mentioned in the impact]

The second point: preserve the lawful income, and obedience to Allah, and Allah will care foryour children after your death :

The cow w as a blessing, because its ow ner w as righteous :

﴾ «As to the wall», the teacher said, «it constitutes a part of the property belonging to two orphanyoungsters in the town and it rested directly on a treasure. Their father was a gracious man in

whose heart reigned piety, and Allah, your Creator, has decreed that they reach maturity and digout their treasure, an act of mercy vouchsafed by Allah, your Creator. You must realize that noneof these incidents did I do of my own accord; there you have the interpretation of the incidents

you could not forbear» (82) ﴿

[Al-Kahf]

Our Master “Al-Khidr” built the w all because their father w as righteous. Hence, the second fact in thechapter is: preserve the law ful income, preserve the obedience of Allah, and do not think about the fate of yourchildren, because Allah w ill take care of them. If you're a good father Allah w ill preserve your children afteryour death, and He w ill take care of them.

There are many influential stories; for instance, a man feared Allah, and then his children became eminentindividuals, and top individuals. And, the story of how a man w ho did not fear Allah in making money, left millionsin w ealth; a friend of the deceased saw the son of his friend on the road and asked him: “Where are yougoing?” The son said w ord for w ord : “I am going to drink alcohol, for the spirit of my father !”

The spirit of the dead hovers above the casket, saying : “O my family, o my sons, do not allow the w orldlylife to play w ith you as it did w ith me! I collected law ful and unlaw ful money, then I spent it in law ful w ays andunlaw ful w ays, so the happiness is for you, and the liability is for me!

The second point: this cow , w hose characteristics w ere mentioned in detail, w as identical to the cow w hichthe righteous man ow ned, so his son refused a price for it but to f ill its leather w ith gold. Sometimes, a righteousfather leaves a piece of land, a house, or a small store; this store brings to his children a lot of profit, becausethe father w as a righteous man. Do not w orry about your children, but you have to be w orried about yourincome. Is it law ful, or unlaw ful? You are not ordered to feed your children the ill-gotten money. And that is thesecond point.

The third point: this chapter is Madinite :

The third point in this lesson: this chapter is Madinite. As you know , the Quran is Meccan and Madinite.Scholars have disagreed w hether the verse w hich w as revealed in Mecca is Meccan, and the verse w hichw as revealed in Al-Medina is Madinite - w ithout regard to the time of revelation, but w ith regard to the place of

revelation only. The Quran w as revealed upon the Prophet, peace be upon Him, after the conquest of Mecca.So, are the verses w hich w ere revealed in Mecca, Meccan or Madinite? There are scholars w ho madeallow ance for time only; that w ould mean that every verse w hich w as revealed after the migration to Al-Medina,no matter w hich place it w as revealed in, is Madinite; and, each verse that w as revealed before the migration,w hether or not it w as the place w hich it w as revealed in, is Meccan. That is a time measure. There is a spatialscale w hich says that each verse w hich w as revealed in Mecca, at any time, is Meccan; and every verse thatw as revealed in Al-Medina, at any time, is Madinite.

What w e are interested in is that the Meccan part of the Quran, and the Madinite part of the Quran, has itsow n characteristics. The Meccan Quran focuses on faith in Allah through the verses, and focuses on the LastDay; if you read a chapter from the end of the Quran, like “Sura Al-Nabaa”, “Sura Al-Nazi’at”, and “SuraAl-Mursalat”, …etc, you w ill f ind that it is focusing on faith in Allah, and the faith in the Last Day, because theyare the origin of the doctrine. The Meccan Quran is also focusing on replying to infidels, atheists, polytheistsand deniers, and to the mention of heaven and hell. If you turn to “Sura Al-Baqarah”, “Al-Imran”, “Al-Nisa”, and“Al-An ‘aam”, you w ill f ind the subject matter is different; you’ll f ind the legislation verses, “do and not to do”:

﴾ O you w ith hearts touched by the divine hand, if you become involved in a debt payable at a fixeddate, be it a loan, item borrowed or bought on credit or a business transaction, then commit it towriting. A scribe shall formulate an agreement or contract mediating the parties w ith recourse to

the general principles of Allah’s justice… (282) ﴿

[Al-Baqarah]

It is a nice thing, a legislation.

Each call to Allah must go through two stages :

There are hypocrites …

﴾ If good fortune falls to you, be it through victory or through martyrdom, they come to beactuated by envy and grieved at heart. If you are befallen w ith a disaster or wedded to a calamity,

they rejoice beyond a common joy…(120) ﴿

[Al-‘Imran]

A class of hypocrites had come into being. There w ere no hypocrites in Mecca, because Islam w asoppressed there, and there w as no need for anyone to dissemble. If a man w as declared an infidel, he w alkedproudly on the road. Muslims w ere persecuted, so it w as not hypocritical in Mecca. But w hen Muslimsestablished a strong country in “Al-Medina”, hypocrisy began. You f ind in the Madinite Quran discourse onlegislation, discourse on the hypocrites to w arn the believers, and discourse about the relationship betw eenMuslims and others. That w as in “Al-Medina”.

What is of concern to us? What concerns us is that every call to Allah must go through tw o stages: thestage of the definition of Allah, Almighty, and the Last Day, and the stage of the definition of the protocol. Anycall to Allah, that has forgotten to define Allah and the Last Day for its follow ers, is a lame and unsuccessfulcall. When you command a person to pray, for w hom is he or she praying? Order him to be righteous, but hemust be righteous for fear of w hom? He does not know Allah!! I used to say: “If the human knew the command,but he did not know the commander, he w ould diversify w ays of escaping from this command. That is thestatus of the Muslims these days, and it is too great to be hidden.

A singer posed a question to scholar: “I have repented, so, w ould you mind if I decide to sing? Is there anyprohibition if the subject of the song is religious?” Singing has become allow ed, mixing betw een men andw omen has become allow ed, and banks have become allow ed in Egypt. Everything has an advisory opinion(fatw a); and I w ould say w ith a sigh that “every sin has an advisory opinion”.

If the human knew the command, but he did not know the commander, he w ould diversify w ays of escapingfrom this command: and that is the status of the Muslims today. Islam has become folklore, exhibition, and Islamiccostume. Quranic verses adorn houses, w hereas there are evenings that do not please Allah in those houses,there are devices that do not satisfy Allah in these houses , and there are relationships that do not please Allahin these houses; but many portraits of Quranic verses are attached - the panel of the “Kaaba” and “Al-Kursi”verse are attached on the w alls.

Islam has become an exhibition, w ith Islamic conferences, and very luxurious Islamic books w here the title isprinted on the book’s w idth, w ith elegant printing. The audio-visual recordings, libraries, and everything is of thetop quality, but there is no righteousness, no obligation. It is as if Allah, Almighty, has abandoned us.

The Meccan verses make us know the commander, while the Madinite verses make usknow the divine command :

In the past, I mentioned that someone asked me : “We pray to Allah, but He does not respond, w hy?” I toldhim that Al-Imam Ibrahim bin Adham w as asked this question once in Basra, and he said that Allah Almightysays :

﴾ «Invoke Me,» says Allah, your Creator, «I respond to your invocation.» «Meanwhile those whoare too proud to pay reverence to Me and do not display adoration w ith appropriate acts and rites,

shall take up their abode in Hell, plunged into infamy and humiliation.» (60) ﴿

[Ghaffer]

“And w e invoke Allah, but He does not response to us !”Bin Al-Adham said :“Because your hearts died from ten things: you claimed that you believed in Allah, but

you did not obey Him; you read the Quran, but did not enforce its teachings; you claimed that you have lovedyour Prophet (PBUH), but you did not follow His “Sunnah”; you have said that Hell is true, but you did not avert it;you said that Paradise is true, but you did not w ork for it; and you have buried your dead , but you did not learna lesson from them …”. Bin Al-Adham mentioned tw elve items, then he said: "How can you be answ ered?!”

What I w ant to say is this: as long as there are Meccan and Madinite verses, it means that the Meccan Quraninvites you to believe in Allah and the Last Day through the verses, and any call for Allah w hich overlooks thatmajor part of the religion is a lame call, and does not succeed. Now adays, you can see that w e are interested injurisprudence at the expense of doctrine. We must be interested in both the jurisprudence and the doctrinetogether; and the nice thing is that w hen a man believes in Allah, and his belief is true, he w ill seriously look forcommands and prohibitions; so, the sincere believer is preoccupied w ith the ruling on any matter.

Sometimes, you are an employee in a company, and the former Director General w as removed and a newdirector has come. You ask: “Who is he?”, “What is his culture?”, “How are his morals?”, “ What is his nature?”,and “What is his disposition?” After you have learned about his character, you w ait for orders and prohibitions.It is very normal behavior to know the commander f irst, then the command second. So, in the Meccan Quran w ehave become familiar w ith the commander; now , in the Madinite Quran w e should know the command.Therefore, any command that is not preceded by information about the commander has no value, because thehonor of a message comes from the honor of the sender, and the value of a command is comes from the valueof the commander. So, the more you know Allah, the more you w ill venerate his command; the more you knowAllah, the more you ratify His promise; and the more you know Allah, the more you ratify His threat.

The issue is very definitive, so do not try to tell people about the divine commands w ithout informing them ofw ho has given these commands, and to tell people about the requital if they have obeyed Allah, or havedisobeyed Him. If there is no clear idea of w hat is expected for the obedient, and w hat aw aits the sinner, thendo not be concerned about the obedience or the prohibition.

Through the universe you will know Allah, and through legislation you will worship Him :

This is an eloquent lesson for us; therefore, I have tried at the beginning of the interpretation to start w ith TheMeccan part of The Quran, that is the last third of the Quran, and then the second third. And, I asked Allah,Almighty, to solidify the faith in Allah in the hearts of the believing brothers.

Now , the legislation comes to be as a crow n on the believer’s head. When you know Allah you look for Hiscommands and prohibitions, and you look for w hat pleases Him; so, through the universe you w ill know Allah,and through legislation you w ill w orship Him. These tw o lines exist in the era of the Prophet (PBUH); the f irst lineis familiarization w ith the commander, and the second is the definition of the command. Now , the minimum limit isthat the tw o lines run together. So, you must have a lesson to know Allah, and contemplating the creation of theheavens and the earth is the f irst line. Everyone eats, drinks, get married, sleeps, w akes up, ponders, andconsiders. You should know that the highest w orship of all that brings you closer to Allah is contemplating inthe creation of the heavens and the earth, in order to increase your know ledge of Allah. Then the commands ofAllah become greater to you :

﴾ «Why are you people notably deficient in real reverence for Allah's Authority and you do notentertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him (13) ,When His creation evinces both w isdom andOmnipotence. It was He Who created you not only in an orderly manner, but also in progressivestages; from a notfa amshag -zygote- and a clinging organism. you become a rudimentary being

-embryo- then you come to be a developing being -foetus- then you come out of the womb anew-born babe, then you grow to maturity. Similarly -and in amore general sense- did He create

the universe, from the gaseous stage to the stage of concentration then to the final stage ofsolidification of cosmic matter and the animate beings from the unicellular to the multicellular to

the organific (14) ﴿

[Noah]

If you consider the creation, in stages, of the human being, you w ill venerate Allah. From w here does theveneration come ? It comes if you have contemplated Allah, Almighty’s, creation :

﴾ Such of Allah's servants as stand in aw e of Him are the savants (28) ﴿

[Fater]

Dear brothers, the w ords of “Meccan” and “Madinite” taught us that the call for Allah should go through tw ostages; the f irst one is to recognize the commander, and the second stage is to recognize the divine command.

The forth point: Allah, Glory be to Him, teaches us that indirect guidance is more effectivethan direct guidance :

Dear brothers, “Sura Al-Baqarah” is one of the longest chapters in the Holy Quran, and it contains a thirdcharacteristic w hich I am alw ays being asked about it; this characteristic is an extended speech about “TheNation of Israel”, and our relation to the Nation of Israel.

﴾ These were a people who passed through nature to Eternity; they are accountable for theirdeeds and you are accountable for yours, and you shall not be responsible for their deeds (134) ﴿

[Al-Baqarah]

There are many long pages about the Prophet “Mussa” and his relation to “Pharaoh”, the relation w ith hispeople, how Allah saved him from Pharaoh, and how he w ent to the Prophet “Shuaeib”. The discourse aboutthe Nation of Israel has a meaning; that is that the w ise educational style comes from this saying : “Listen,neighbor; but another person is w ho I mean!” Allah, Glory be to Him, teaches us that the indirect guidance is

more effective than the direct guidance; it means all the diseases that have taken place in “The Nation of Israel”,Muslims are nominated to catch.

What is the disease of the Nation of Israel, w hich w e are nominated to catch?

﴾ They say: «Fire w ill not touch us but for a certain number of days». Say to them, O Muhammad:«Was that a promise Allah made to you granting you future security against vindication and in

consequence you are relieved, knowing that Allah never breaks His promise! Or do you relate toAllah a world in a grain of sand or a heaven in a w ild flower and your comfort flows from

ignorance?» (80) ﴿

[Al-Baqarah]

That is w hat Muslims believe today. They believe in a naive concept of intercession - do w hat you w ant, andthe Prophet, peace be upon Him, w ill intercede for you :

﴾ …you go along with Allah, your Creator and fight them yourselves; we are staying here (24) ﴿

[Al-Maeda]

This is a disease that infected the Muslims :

﴾ …«We have opened our hearts' ears »…(93) ﴿

[Al-Baqarah]

If you follow ed the diseases of The Nation of Israel, you w ill have found that w e got involved in each ofthese diseases. If w e read the story of the Nation of Israel, w e read it to have a lesson, in order to learn fromthose people w ho strayed from the path of their Lord. So, they earned the curse of Allah, Almighty, and that isthe third point.

A summary of the main points of the lesson :

We summarized these points:First: this Sura w as called “Surat al-Baqarah” for the aff irmation of the belief in the Last Day, and the belief

that all people w ill be held accountable in a very accurate w ay. And he w ho upbraided himself harshly in thew orldly life, w ill be judged gently on the Day of Resurrection:

((Truly, O Lord, it is a replete and luxurious self in the worldly life, but it is hungry and naked onthe Day of Resurrection; truly, O Lord, it is a hungry and naked self in the worldly life, but it is

replete and luxurious on the Day of Resurrection. Truly, O Lord, one is kind to himself while he isinjurious to them; truly, O Lord, one is injurious to himself, while he is kind to them))

[Ben Sad, Al-Baihaqi and Al-Daylami from Abu Al-Bujaeer]

The lesson is on the Last Day.The second thing is: the one w ho lives a righteous life should not be concerned about his children after his

death, because Allah, Almighty, w ill protect his children after his death. This means that you have to berighteous, and that is enough!

﴾ …It is only Allah Whom you are enjoined to worship and be among those who impel themselvesto the feeling of gratitude and gratefulness (66) ﴿

[Al-Zumar]

And He, Almighty, said :

﴾ «I have chosen you O Mussa», said Allah, «by preference out of all people to convey My dividemessage and My discourse of practical divinity revealed directly to you». «Therefore, take all that Ihave imparted to you with heart and hand with heart and soul, and act strongly upon it and impel

yourself to the feeling of gratitude and gratefulness» (144) ﴿

[Al-A’raf]

The third point: this chapter is Madinite, and the Madinite chapter contains legislations. The legislationnaturally comes after know ing the legislator - the command naturally comes after know ing the commander; andif w e know the command and the commander, then w e w ill achieve the integration. And, do not forget thatAllah, Almighty, has made the legislation exactly half of the religion.

The fourth point in “Sura Al-Baqarah”: the stories of the Nation of Israel w ith all their diseases and faults, andperversions can be found in us. Once, I mentioned those w ho have forgotten:

﴾ And with those who declare themselves Christians, We entered into a covenant: Never deviatefrom the path of righteousness and adhere faithfully to the authentic Scriptures. But they w illfullyneglected a part of w hat was imparted to them. In consequence, We stirred up enmity and hatredamong them till the Day of Resurrection. Allah shall inform them of their habitual course of action

relevant to their evil deeds, and punish them accordingly (14) ﴿

[Al-Maidah]

What does this mean, the “enmity and hatred” betw een us? If w e have forgotten w hat w e have beenmentioned w ith, it is as if enmity and hatred have a law .

There is much common ground in our society; nevertheless, there is enmity and hatred:

Allah, The Greatest, said :

﴾ The fact is that AL-Shaytan and those with characteristics befitting him wish to use intoxicantsand gambling as the instrument to implant enmity and hatred among you … (91) ﴿

[Al- Maidah]

And He, Almighty, said :

﴾ And with those who declare themselves Christians, We entered into a covenant: Never deviatefrom the path of righteousness and adhere faithfully to the authentic Scriptures. But they w illfullyneglected a part of w hat was imparted to them. In consequence, We stirred up enmity and hatredamong them till the Day of Resurrection. Allah shall inform them of their habitual course of action

relevant to their evil deeds, and punish them accordingly (14) ﴿

[Al-Maidah]

This means that there is much common ground in our society, but nevertheless, there is enmity and hatredw ithin those common factions.

Allah, The Almighty, described the Nation of Israel and said :

﴾ …You think they are unity personified w hile in effect their hearts are totally diversified. This ison account of their lack of sound judgment in the choice of means and ends (14) ﴿

[Al-Hashr]

The society contains tens of common factions; nevertheless, there is enmity and hatred that is incomparable.This is a third law .

I intended for this lesson to be an introduction for the next detailed lessons; the name of the cow , therighteous father, the Nation of Israel, and w hy they w ere mentioned a lot in this chapter. And, the fourth thing isthe Meccan and the Madinite verses.

Translation : Iman NasharAuditing : Zena El-Abaza