Stories in the Quran August 17, 2013 Mind Maps - Class 3 17 th August 2013
Introduction We have covered three stories: 1. Story of the two sons of Adam that tells us about the sickness of Jealously. We learn that the end of jealously is great loss 2. Story of Qarun that tells us about the sickness of wanting to be higher. Allah caused him to sink along with his dwelling. 3. Story of the people of gardens regarding the sickness of Greed. The end of Greed is that the person will be deprived. A person is deprived without even realizing. Being deprived also means that there are so many things that a person has around him but he will be deprived from using the things. This means a person has the things but he will not benefit from them. 2
4. Ingratitude: Story of Qoum Sabah The story of Sabah tells us the sickness of ingratitude. They are ungrateful to Allah so how Allah dealt with them? Allah gave them the best and due to the sickness of ingratitude, Allah replaced it with something lower. Now we will see the Ayat in Surah Sabah where the Story is mentioned. 3
There was for [the tribe of] Saba' in their dwelling place a sign: two [fields of] gardens on the right and on the left. [They were told], "Eat from the provisions of your Lord and be grateful to Him. A good land [have you], and a forgiving Lord." But they turned away [refusing], so We sent upon them the flood of the dam, and We replaced their two [fields of] gardens with gardens of bitter fruit, tamarisks and something of sparse lote trees. [By] that We repaid them because they disbelieved. And do We [thus] repay except the ungrateful? 4
And We placed between them and the cities which We had blessed [many] visible cities. And We determined between them the [distances of] journey, [saying], "Travel between them by night or day in safety." But [insolently] they said, "Our Lord, lengthen the distance between our journeys," and wronged themselves, so We made them narrations and dispersed them in total dispersion. Indeed in that are signs for everyone patient and grateful. In the beginning of the story Allah tells us about his action and what is required from the people of Sabah. Allah blessed the People of Sabah with two gardens. This is Allah s action. Allah dealt with the people of Sabah with generosity and gave them two gardens - one on the right and other on the left. Then Allah tells us what is required from the people of Sabah. There were two things that Allah ordained on them: 1. Eat from the provision of Allah. (1st action that Allah wanted from them) 2. Be grateful to Allah. (2nd action that Allah wanted from them) 5
The above two things are obliged on the people of Sabah. Thanking Allah requires thanks Allah in the following three ways: 1. With the heart 2. By the tongue 3. By the limbs - all limbs should go towards worshiping Allah Why to be grateful to Allah? Because it is a provision from Allah so we need to be grateful to Allah. 6
General Lesson We can generalize the lesson from this story. When we look around us Allah we are showered with Allah s blessing so what is required from us based on this story. Two things required from us 1. Enjoy the blessing that Allah has bestowed on us. 2. We need to make Shuker to Allah a. Grateful by heart (confess that the blessing is from Allah). Don t attribute the blessing to yourself. b. Grateful by tongue (positively remember the blessing) c. Grateful with the limbs (worshiping Allah) 7
Allah s Action Allah s Action is the provision from Allah. There are two types of blessings for Qoum Sabah: 1. Two Gardens on the left and right 2. Easy means for travel/transportation from one place to another. a. Ease of transportation in the distance between them and the village b. Their journey time is estimated Due to the above two things the Qoum Sabah has the safety and security when they travel from place to place: 1. Walking in the morning 2. Walking in the night 8
Actions of Qoum Sabah Now let us see what is the reaction of town of Sabah and what they did with the blessing. So we will see the actions of Qoum Sabah. 1. Blessing of two Gardens: The people of Sabah turned away. They did not submit to Allah, which is indicated by their ingratitude. They are turning away by doing Kufr. They are committing the sin of disbelief with rejection. The turning away can be with the heart, with the tongue and can be with the limbs as well. This sickness starts in the heart meaning by not remembering Allah and rejecting him. Ingratitude is a minor Kufr when someone not appreciates the blessing of Allah How Allah dealt with them? This is Allah s action. Their punishment comprised of the following: 1. Allah sent a flood that destroyed the blessing. 2. The blessing of the two beautiful gardens was replaced with another two gardens which had no benefit as they a. had bitter fruits b. were fruitless. c. There were few lote trees, which are also without any benefit. 9
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2. Blessing of Ease of transportation and safety for their journeys They people of Sabah showed ingratitude and turned away by wanting the least. The statement uttered by their tongues shows ingratitude. They said Make the stages between our journey long (this is Ingratitude by tongue) This shows what they have in their heart and it shows that they are unjust to themselves. How Allah dealt with them? This is Action of Allah. 1. Allah made them the talk of the town. 2. Allah spread them totally so they are scattered in the land. 11
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Solution for this sickness: The solution for the sickness of ingratitude is 1. To enjoy the blessing 2. To be grateful to Allah If a person does the above then how Allah will deal with them? 1. He will give them a good life that they will enjoy 2. Expiation of the sins i.e. Allah will forgive their sins 13
5. Tricking and Cheating: Story of the As-Haab Sabt The sickness of As-Haab Sabt is tricking and cheating. Now we will see the actions of As-Haab Sabt. Allah tested them and the test, which they went through, is of three types: 1. Saturday is day of rest so they should not work (fishing) on Saturday 2. On Saturday when they are not supposed to work there are many fishes on the surface 3. On the others days besides Saturday there is no fish. The test of the As-Haab Sabt is with hardship and difficulty. They are supposed to be believing, patient and accept the hardship. 14
Why did Allah test them like this? This is a very difficult test. This is because they did Fisq which is opposite of Eman. They were tested because they do not have faith in Allah. Actions of As-Haab Sabt. The tests revealed that they did not believe in Allah and therefore are rebellious. They are tricking and cheating by putting the fishing nets one day before Saturday and picking up the nets the next day. In this manner they are tricking Allah. 15
How Allah dealt with them? Allah dealt with As-Haab Sabt in the following ways: 1. Allah sent advisors for them. Due to those advisors the As-Haab Sabt are divided into two groups. a. One group does not advise: They are saying to the group advising that why are you advising the wrongdoers because Allah will either destroy them or punish them a severe punishment. b. The other group became the advisors: They gave two reasons why they are advising: i. In order we will not be blamed in front of Allah so we have an excuse in front of Allah ii. They have hope that the wrongdoers will take their advice and change. 2. Allah seized them in punishment due to their tricking and cheating. They were being unfair to themselves and their punishment is humiliating for them. 3. Allah ordained that they change physically into despised and rejected monkeys and so Allah transformed them physically. 16
The lesson we learn here is we cannot play with Allah s religion. In the religion it should be clear and we cannot play or go around with the rules and legislations sent by Allah. Summary There are five sickness of the heart that were covered in this series: 1. Jealousy The end of this sickness is regret and loss. Solution for this is Taqwa. 2. Wanting to be higher The end of this sickness is that Qarun is swallowed by the earth. The solution for this sickness is Taqwa 3. Greed - The result of Greed is that you are deprived of the blessing. Solution for this is Taqwa. 4. Ingratitude The result of this sickness is that the blessing is replaced with something inferior. The solution to this sickness is Taqwa 5. Cheating and tricking The result of this is that they people are changed into despised monkeys. The solution for this sickness is also Taqwa. 17
Taqwa is the solution to all the sickness. Taqwa comprises of the following two things: 1. Taqwa purifies the heart from the sickness. It covers the sickness of the heart. Suppress it in order for the sickness to be removed. So Taqwa helps us to fight the sicknesses of the heart. 2. Taqwa beautifies the heart with some actions of the heart. Taqwa includes worship of the heart like to be pleased with Allah, to be patient, Shuker, acceptance etc. Taqwa is like a gown. We pray to Allah to give us the gown of Taqwa and nothing is more beautiful than Taqwa. 18