بِسْم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Part 1
Calling all mankind to embrace Islam
Verses 21 to 39
Verses 21 to 29 - The pillars of faith which every Da’wah should be based on
Whenever you call people to Islam, you should focus on the these specific pillars of faith.
Verse 21:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
“O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous”
This is a call to all of mankind to embrace Islam.
Verse 22:
الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ فِرَاشًا وَالسَّمَاءَ بِنَاءً وَأَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ رِزْقًا لَّكُمْ ۖ فَلَا تَجْعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَندَادًا وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
“[He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him].“
-> Belief in Allah
Who is Allah?
الذي خلقكم و الذين من قبلكم
الذي جعل لكم الأرض فراشا
و السماء بناء
و أنزل من السماء ماء
فاخرج به من الثمرات رزقا لكم
These are all evidences that Allah deserves to be worshipped and no one else; by mentioning the أفعال الربوبية.
Tawheed Ar-Ruboobiyah is acknowledging that Allah alone is the One who created, sustains, disposes the affairs of the universe. Everything that occurs in the universe are the actions of Allah alone. Tawheed Ar-Ruboobiyah is singling Allah out in His actions.
Allah’s actions are out of mercy and graciousness. He created everything for us, He sends rain down, He brings forth fruits.
If you single Allah out in these actions, then the natural consequence should be that you worship Him alone. This is a very important step to cover when you call people to Islam. Before you tell people to worship Allah, you have to tell Him about His actions.
A person has to first look into the actions of Allah, believe that no one did them except Him, love Him and honour Him, and worship Him.
What does it mean to worship Allah alone (Tawheed Al-Uloohiyah)?
Al-Uloohiyah comes from the word أله يأله تأليه.
إله is the one who is loved and magnified
When you love (محبة) and honour (تعظيم) Allah you will show humility (ذل) towards Allah. And ذل is worship.
The Arabs would call a road which is leveled out of much traveling upon it a طريق مُعبّد.
After knowing Allah, how do I know what pleases Allah and what makes Him angry?
The Messengers who brought Books from Allah with evidences answer these questions. The greatest miracle that the Prophet ﷺ brought is the Qur’an.
Verse 23:
وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُوا بِسُورَةٍ مِّن مِّثْلِهِ وَادْعُوا شُهَدَاءَكُم مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
“And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah , if you should be truthful.”
-> Belief in the Messengers
-> Belief in the Books
Allah challenges all of mankind to bring a Surah like a Surah in the Qur’an and they failed to do so. If they fail, it means that the Book is undoubtedly from Allah.
The Qur’an is the Book of Allah, the miracle of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and no one can bring a Book or a Surah like it.
The people of falsehood try to prevent people from understanding the Qur’an by preventing them from understanding Arabic. When a person does not understand, it becomes easier for him to disbelieve. The more you know Arabic, the more you will understand the Qur’an and Hadeeth.
Verse 24:
فَإِن لَّمْ تَفْعَلُوا وَلَن تَفْعَلُوا فَاتَّقُوا النَّارَ الَّتِي وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ ۖ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْكَافِرِينَ
“But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.”
Verse 25:
وَبَشِّرِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ ۖ كُلَّمَا رُزِقُوا مِنْهَا مِن ثَمَرَةٍ رِّزْقًا ۙ قَالُوا هَٰذَا الَّذِي رُزِقْنَا مِن قَبْلُ ۖ وَأُتُوا بِهِ مُتَشَابِهًا ۖ وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا أَزْوَاجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ ۖ وَهُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ
“And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, "This is what we were provided with before." And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally.”
-> Belief in the Hereafter
When you believe in Allah and follow the Book and the Messenger, you will wait for a recompense. This is the nature of humans - when an action is done, they want recompense.
Verse 26:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي أَن يَضْرِبَ مَثَلًا مَّا بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا ۚ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ ۖ وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَيَقُولُونَ مَاذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِهَٰذَا مَثَلًا ۘ يُضِلُّ بِهِ كَثِيرًا وَيَهْدِي بِهِ كَثِيرًا ۚ وَمَا يُضِلُّ بِهِ إِلَّا الْفَاسِقِينَ
“Indeed, Allah is not timid to present an example - that of a mosquito or what is smaller than it. And those who have believed know that it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What did Allah intend by this as an example?" He misleads many thereby and guides many thereby. And He misleads not except the defiantly disobedient”
-> Belief in the Book
This verse also calls for the worship Allah alone, but instead of mentioning His actions, the evidence for that this time is in the Qur’an, which the people divided into two categories regarding:
1) Believers
2) Disbelievers
Allah does not feel ashamed to show the truth in the Book by setting parables. When Allah set parables for a mosquito, a fly, a spider, the people divided into two categories: Believers and Disbelievers.
Those who believed know it is the truth from their Lord.
Those who disbelieve say: What does Allah intend by this parable?
Allah answers them: He misleads many by it and He guides many by it.
But does Allah misguide them unjustly?
No, He only misguides those who are rebelliously disobedient.
Allah mentions this verse because the Prophet ﷺ came to the Quraish declaring that he was a Messenger from Allah coming with a Book from Allah. This disbelievers asked why Allah set forth a parable of a mosquito, belittling the Qur’an. Because they did not want to believe in Allah, they defamed the Book. Allah challenged them to bring a Surah like it, but when they failed, they asked why this book had parables for creatures like a mosquito and spider. How could this be a Book from a God when it sets forth parables for insects like these? Allah replies that He never feels ashamed to set forth a parable of a mosquito or even smaller than it to show the truth.
This is the attitude of the believers from the beginning of time. They don’t want to believe, so they attack the Qur’an and Sunnah. If a person is truthful in seeking guidance, Allah will surely guide him. Allah will misguide the person who doesn’t want to believe and in addition tries to raise doubts. The action of the servant therefore comes prior to the action of Allah in guiding or misguiding them
The link between Verse 1 and this Verse:
There is no doubt in the Qur’an. Whoever tries to find a fault in the Qur’an, defame, or criticize it, has come with falsehood.
Verse 27:
الَّذِينَ يَنقُضُونَ عَهْدَ اللَّهِ مِن بَعْدِ مِيثَاقِهِ وَيَقْطَعُونَ مَا أَمَرَ اللَّهُ بِهِ أَن يُوصَلَ وَيُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ
“Who break the covenant of Allah after contracting it and sever that which Allah has ordered to be joined and cause corruption on earth. It is those who are the losers.“
Allah described the Fasiqeen who can either be disbelievers or hypocrites.
We heard about الإفساد (causing mischief in the land) previously in the context of the hypocrites.
Verses 28 and 29 is a call to those who disbelieve to believe in Allah by mentioning Allah’s actions of Ruboobiyah.
Verse 28:
كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَاتًا فَأَحْيَاكُمْ ۖ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ
“How can you disbelieve in Allah when you were lifeless and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you [back] to life, and then to Him you will be returned.“
Verse 29:
هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ فَسَوَّاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ ۚ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ
“It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven, [His being above all creation], and made them seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things.”
-> Belief in Allah
These verses are similar to verses 21 and 22.
Allah mentioned belief in the Book first, then belief in Allah in these sets of verses. They disbelievers defamed the Book in order to disbelieve in Allah, so Allah said: “How can you disobey Allah when He brought you into existence...”
This is an إستفهام إستنكاري / إنكاري.
This verse mentions the Ruboobiyah of:
إيجاد - Bringing them into existence
إعداد - Preparing everything on earth for them
After this Allah mentions the story of Adam عليه السلام:
It is important to understand the previous context before studying a story, to understand why Allah mentioned the story. The previous context is about Allah’s favours upon us by creating us, providing for us, by sending Messengers, revealing books. Allah then tells us how He honoured us and taught us in the story of Adam عليه السلام.
Allah also talks about the original creation of the earth, now He explains the origin of humankind.
This is all so that we worship Him alone. Allah mentions all His favours and actions so that we consequently worship Him.
The Scholars take verse 29 as evidence that الأصل في الأشياء الحل / الإباحة (Everything on earth is originally lawful) except what Allah forbade us from.
Points regarding Quranic Stories:-
1) Quranic stories differ from other stories. They come to prove the theme of the Surah if it is a short Surah, or the context if it is a long Surah.
2) Quranic stories are not in chronological order.
3) There are certain words mentioned in the story which are suitable to the Surah.
E.g. Surah Ghafir is about argumentation between people of the truth and falsehood. The story of the believer of the family of Pharoah is mentioned. The believer argues with Pharoah and the word “جادلوا” is mentioned often. The word may come directly or the meaning of it may come in the story.
E.g. In the story of Adam عليه السلام, Allah mentions that he is a خليفة. Then Allah immediately mentions the story of Bani Israeel. After Bani Israeel, Allah mentioned about the Muslim nation. It as if Allah is showing us how this succession happened after Adam عليه السلام. No one lived forever in the land, people succeeded one another.
4) The content of the Quranic stories show the attributes of Allah and the attributes of the creation of Allah.
E.g. In the story of Adam عليه السلام Allah mentions He is forgiving, knowing, wise. He mentions the characteristics of Adam عليه السلام, the Angels, Iblees, etc.
We should focus on the attributes of Allah when we read any story, to learn who Allah is from the story.
Verses 30 to 39 - The Story of Adam عليه السلام
When Allah rebuked the disbelief of the disbelievers, He reminded them of His favours. Then in the story of Adam عليه السلام, Allah mentioned other favours:
1) نعمة التكريم - The blessing of honouring humankind
2) نعمة التعليم - The blessing of teaching humankind
The story of Adam عليه السلام teaches us:
a) We did not evolve from apes. Allah mentions the origin of our creation; we were created from Adam عليه السلام. It is a refutation of the Darwinian theory.
b) We were not left to our own devices to teach ourselves. Allah teaches us, and it is an honour for Adam عليه السلام and his offspring that Allah taught us.
This is a discussion with the disbelievers, because Allah said in Verse 28:
“كيف تكفرون بالله”
“How can you disbelieve in Allah?”
Allah exalted you above all other creatures and made Adam عليه السلام superior to the angels. The son of Adam is the only creature of Allah whom Allah created the whole earth and heavens and what is in it for. You will not find any creature whom Allah honoured that much, and despite that they disbelieved in Allah.
When the youth see the progression of disbelievers in technology they wrongly assume that this means that their wrong beliefs are right. Belief has no connection to advancement in technology.
c) Our origin and our end (و إليه ترجعون)
Verse 30:
وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً ۖ قَالُوا أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
“And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" Allah said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know."
Allah informs the angels that He is going to create a خليفة (generations living in succession) on earth. This indicates that humans will not live on earth forever; they succeed one another (يخلفه بعضهم بعضا). This is the Sunnah of Allah on the earth. And Allah created everything on earth for this خليفة - which is the link between verse 29 and 30 - in order to enable them to fulfill their purpose in life, which is to worship Allah.
When Allah said “و إذا” He is drawing your attention to a great event that transpired.
This verse is evidence that this earth was created for us, and earth was meant to be the place for Adam عليه السلام before he was created, not Paradise. He should have been there from the beginning, but Allah admitted him into Paradise first and then brought him out.
We can only live on earth as human beings, as opposed to the dreams people have to eventually live on the moon or in mars. Allah prepared the earth for Adam عليه السلام and His offspring. He created the other planets to be signs of the
greatness of Allah and as a means of guidance for us.
The disbelievers try to impose the idea that there are aliens because they want to destroy your belief in Allah; that He created us and we will return to Him, there is no accountability, etc. This is the life that they want to live so they come with their theories.
When Allah informed the angels that He is going to create a خليفة on earth, it indicates the honour and special status of Adam عليه السلام with Allah.
What was the answer of the angels?
أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ
“Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?”
The first impression you get from the question of the angels is as if they are against humans being placed on earth. The question they are asking is إستفهام تعجيب. They are not objecting or denying or affirming, they are wondering. The Angels are obedient servants of Allah; they never disobey Him, as mentioned in Surah Tahreem [6:66]:
لَّا يَعْصُونَ اللَّهَ مَا أَمَرَهُمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ
“they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded.“
How did the angels know the humans would cause corruption in the land? What was the source of their knowledge?
The Angels say “يفسد”. We heard this in the description of the hypocrites and the Faasiqeen. They are the ones that cause mischief in the land.
Assignment:
The Story of Adam عليه السلام is mentioned in 7 Positions in the Qur’an. Compare the events and wordings in each story.
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