Bee Like The Bee -Nouman Ali Khan

Lessons from Bees:

Why do we need to know about Bees?
1) It is described in Quran.
2) Prophet Muhammad SAW has mentioned "I swear by him who owns my soul ,that mu'min (believers) are like bees"

*****************
1) Bees eat only from pure flowers, goes for the best ones.

Lessons:
-Look for halal rizq.
-Look for best job etc.

2) Bees seats well in the flower. Hence, it gives alot more (pollen grains) before it takes its nectar.

Lesson for us:
-It is indicating our relationship with people etc. We should take in little and give people more. .

3) Bees does not deteriorate the flower while taking the nectar as it seats well .
-Imagine, Bees are heavy creatures compared to flowers.  If, it puts its entire weight, it can break the petals of the flowers. So, it keeps on hovering so that it doesn't put its entire weight on it.

Lesson for us:
-If, we have relationship but we keep on demanding, there will come a time when the people who love you, can break.
-Take it easy when you are expecting something from people.

Time to think:
-Whether I am putting too much pressure/asking from my employees, children,parents, friends etc.

If you want something from people
★Give people more
★And, then demand (but it should be minimum)



Part 2| Lesson from Bees

4) The bees does not drink the nectar which was used previously by another bee . It senses that by smelling the flower or seeing another Bee drinking from it.

Lesson For Us:
*While, we do the opposite when it comes to business.  We will try to ruin the other people business by opening the same kind of shop , spoiling their customer etc. *

*We should understand that Allah’s rizq is so vast. We do not need to spoil other people rizq for our own rizq.*

5) Unity
-Allah has taught them a special dance, it is called Bee dance.
-The purpose of it is to share their rizq. They will call others so that they could share their food and build more food.
-And, from there, they will build a community together.

Lesson for us:
-We need to share our rizq to get recognised as a community.
-Don't be jealous over other people rizq as you are receiving benefits as well .
-Do not hide your rizq, share it with others.

6) It follows Allah's path humbly.
-Every turn that it takes, it is guided by Allah.
-Allah says that it moves humbly. 

Lesson for us:
-When we are starting to earn rizq, we should not be arrogant!
-Don't say things like "I don't have time" ,"I am so busy"

7) Be a productive community.
-The hive that all the bees build together has a cure for the whole of humanity.  .

-Honey is a Prophetic medicine.
-It doesn't cause any corruption to the environment.
-Instead, it benefits everybody.

Lesson for us:
-Let's became a community that heals the humanity just like the honey bees.
-And, do not be like people who are building factories, causing pollution etc.
-Don't make the future generations suffer because of your acts.
-Be like the bees- "Benefit yourself and benefit others more"

Something to think about:
-One of the greatest ayah of Allah is disappearing (Honey Bees) as we are destroying the environment.

Lecture 2 Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW Mufti Menk

Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW

Lecture 1: 

Lecture 2: 

Lecture 3: 

Youtube link https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RNH7dIzKq_g



Lecture 2.1 ,Life Of Prophet Muhammad PBUH Mufti Menk:

Darkness surrounding the Arabian Penisula& the globe just before the birth of Prophet Muhammad SAW:

In India, we can see how the women used to be treated...
-If, a woman dies, there was no such of marrying again. Most of them will burn themselves to death. They were brainwashed to believe their system.

They believed in reincarnation(some of them believe it, up to day) ...
If a person dies, the person reappears in the form of a bird or snake etc, depending whether they had good / bad life.

Mufti's experience:
One of the sister from his community told him that they visited the death of their hindu relatives. And, when they were walking out, they saw a dove sitting on , one of the branches of a tree. When, they looked at the dove, they said "This must be the dead person".
-Mufti mentioned that if the dove was alive before the death of the person, but how can it be the dead person.
-Look , at how their mind is surrounded by darkness.

During the time of Prophet Muhammad SAW, if we look at Arabian Penisula...

-As, we have mentioned before, they used to worship idols. They did until they have made the idols out of stone. And, when they have found a better stone, they will throw away of what they used to worship for so many years.

-And, if they have a big problem , they will go to someone who had bigger stone and they will ask permission to borrow their stone( which they claim as god) to resolve their bigger issue.
- Imagine how they used to think...

Funny story:
-Omer Ibn Khattab( ra) says (as intelligent he was) , " We made God out of dates, so that we can shape it better than shaping stones. And, one day I was very hungry, I was asking for food from the God, but there was no food coming. Hence, I ate the God"

This was their mentality at that period of time.

To be continued, In Shaa Allah.

 Lectuee 2.2- Life of Prophet Muhammad SAW|Mufti Menk

As,× we have discussed previously , they believed in superstition. For example: if somebody is having hiccup/ if you sneeze once, they will believe that someone is remembering them.
All, these superstitious comes from that time and it has seeped through the globe. Some of us are guilty in doing  some of these superstitious things.

Look at one of their habits:
1) They will go to the fortune teller.They let him/her solve their matter.  These fortune tellers were powerful in terms of studying the lives of people.  And,they had contact with the spirits,Jinn. As, discussed earlier, having a contact with Jinns, spirits , it is not impossible.  However, it is prohibited.

May Allah swt grant us the ability to recite the verses of Quran that are relevant . They are
1) Ayatul Qursi
2) Verses of Surah Baqarah, the more powerful of them.
3)The last two Surahs of Quran.
*All of these are more powerful , it should be read every morning & evening with the intention of dua & protection.*

And, we can find that in one of their habits, they do not believe in a life after death...
They will say " who is going to give life to this bones which is decomposed completely,and that have became like a dust."

And , Allah says "Say, he will give those bones life who gave them life in the first place"
-If Allah swt is able to give men life . It will be much more  easier to resurrect them.
-If, you do not have BMW car and you have to make one, it will be far more genius than a person who is able to fix the BMW car.
-This is a simple logic. May Allah swt grant us the deeper understanding.

Lecture 2.3 , Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW, Mufti Menk

Allah swt mentions that they will call as " May the one who created me, help me in this..."

They will call the one who has created them, and it is when?
-when, they have difficulties

When, they were on ship, it rocks a little bit, they will call out to Allah alone. As soon they have came back from sea, what will happen?
-They would immediately start to engage in  polytheism, worshipping other false deities.

As for politics,
At,that particular time, people were divided into 2 major groups.
1) People of desert , rural areas
2) The people of cities

Up till today, we may find people who live in smaller town, have greater hearts, & far better qualities than those are in  cities who do not have even time to greet each other.  They do not even have time to be hospitable.

However, they had something in common, they will divide themselves based on lineage, tribe. They literally stood up for one another. They would fight with other tribe because of a problem happened with one particular person.

Once a camel went missing, they doubt the other group or someone was caught from the group, and the war continued for 40 years. People died & the next generation did not even know why they were fighting, but they continued fighting.

They had tribalism within them. They stuck to their clans. Sometime, it is used for good things while sometime used for bad things.

So, Allah swt blessed them by sending the messenger.

But, if we take look at leadership of these clans, it will always be with certain person, family.  Usually, it fell from father to child, brother.  This is how it worked.  When, the chief has passed away, his son/relative took over.

However, but there was something could raise a person from nothing. What is that?

They can come with some poetry which was so powerful linguistically, full of meaning.  And, this will instantly raise the rank of individual to the point of leadership.

Why?

They were crazy about eloquence.  They were the most powerful when it comes to speech. In fact, bulk of them were unlettered, almost 100% of them could not ready & write.

However, linguistically, they were powerful & they hardly used slang. And, PBUH when he grew up, he never used slang.

* It was reported that PBUH never ever made any linguistic errors in his life. *

And, this was the gift given by Allah swt. And, this is why we can see how they look, listened & mesmerised by what PBUH said. They were completely astonished till that Arabic language began took it rules , correct itself through the Quran.

 Up to today, the kuffar , the Christian Arabs ,& the non-Muslims among Arabs, uses Quran when it comes to linguistics in order to correct their language, & to explain what is right & wrong.

Lecture-2.4 -Life-of-Prophet-Muhammad-PBUH-Mufti-Menk

If you take look at their wealth, economically, they had nothing much to offer.  It hardly rained, even if it is, it is no use as it is a desert.

However, at certain places, they had date palms, and few other things. Many of their trading is based  on livestock that they had , they had alot of camels,donkeys, goats & sheeps. We wiill not be able to count donkeys as livestock because it is not edible. However, they had alot goats & sheeps.

There was a difference between those who had camels & goats,sheeps.

Up to today, the ones who are having camels, they have noses high up in the air. They consider it as being wealthy if they had camels. It is like someone who driving latest motor vehicle. The red camels had more value than the BMW cars, today.
*Clarification*
*If, you have wealth , you can buy the most sophisticated, expensive vehicle, as long that it doesn't make you arrogant.  *

The ones who had camels, they had wrong pride while the ones who had goats,sheeps were much more humble. And, Subhan'Allah, Allah swt has kept in such as that every nabi, they started from early age looking after goats, sheeps. And, it was never mentioned that they look after camels, it was always goats, sheeps.
-Prophet Muhammad SAW said "There was no Prophet except that he started off by looking after sheep"

Hence, Allah swt gave them a gift by sending Prophet Muhammad SAW to remove them from darkness of arrogance & to spend in a good cause.

Another, aspect of their economic life, they had alot of caravans towards the north( during summer), & south ( during winter). The winter was too cold for them to handle , hence they will go down to South( Yemen). That is why Quran speaks about this journeys.

Quraish : 1

لِإِيلٰفِ قُرَيْشٍ

For the accustomed security of the Quraysh -

Quraish : 2

إِۦلٰفِهِمْ رِحْلَةَ الشِّتَآءِ وَالصَّيْفِ

Their accustomed security [in] the caravan of winter and summer -

Allah is speaking about their gift that was given to them during the winter & summer. There were hijackers who came to the Highlands in order to rob goods from them.  And, people used to have weapons with them in order to defend themselves.  And, most of their economic is based on how powerful they were as there were wars taking place. If, there were weak tribes, they will join with stronger tribe by signing treaty, so that they could look after weaker tribes. The reason is that the stronger tribe will keep on having goods if they do not have this system

We can see this even today, the stronger one will eat the money of the weaker ones. And, the weak ones are not able to do anything unless if you know someone (who is better than you).

Lesson:
-May Allah protect us from thinking that we are powerful. We should know that no matter , how powerful we are, Allah is more powerful than us

Lecture 2.5, Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW, Mufti MENK

So, Allah swt says, that Quraysh were given a gift, they used to travel North & South, very calm without anyone harming them.
-This is an ayat to indicate that Quraysh is a chosen clan.

Allah swt indicates that they are able to travel in peace, nobody touched their caraven.

Allah swt gave them the gift to be in peace.

1) Dealing with interest:
However, they mixed with Jews, dealing with Jewish people who taught them how to do dealings with interest.  This is why , people of Quraysh started to charge interest. And, many Arabs started to do that.
Why is it wrong?
-It is considered right for them at that point of time.
-However, when Islam emerged, it banned the interest so that it can protect the poor.
-The reason is that interests make rich,richer & poor, poorer . This is what happens if you borrow money.

2)Haram Festivals & Hajj
They also had festivals.  They celebrated it after the month of Shawwal & other months.  They used to gather around Arafah for any festivals.

And, they used to fulfill Hajj. However, what kind of Hajj was that?
-Hajj came down from Ibrahim(as). However, the Quraish mixed it till they started to worship the idols. They worshipped the idols on morning & evening.

-They would remember Allah .However,they only do it in the times of need.
*We do this as well. We sin everyday . When, we have a big problem, we will raise our hand to make dua as though we are the most deserving of mercy from Allah.

But, where were you when Allah swt favoured you? When, you are in goodness, you turned away from Allah swt. And, when you are in difficulty, you want to turn to Allah swt. However, Allah swt still gives us.

*But, the winner is the one as mentioned in Hadith:
"If you are close to Allah swt in times of ease, Allah swt will be close to when you are at the times of difficulty.  "

So, this people used to have Hajj, festivals at specific times.

3) Social Life
When, you take a look at their social life, it was prevalent during the time of Quraish &  around the birth of  Prophet Muhammad SAW that they were used to be very proud of their lineage.  They were proud of their lineage based on their father.
-However, now we can see that father works so hard, & the son can be the laziest person in the world.  And, some of them will say "I am alright, my daddy has a shop". If, your father has a shop, Alhamdullilah.  He sweated daily to build it.

And, you with few actions , you can bring it to the ground just because you have haram habits.
-What does it mean?
-To be continued, In Shaa Allah.

Lecture 2.6, Life Of Prophet Muhammad PBUH -Mufti Menk.

When, the person is involved in haram habits, gambling, drinking & any other bad habits, the sustenance crashes.
-A man is blocked from sustenance due to his sins.
-You can never achieve sustenance by the displeasure of the owner of sustenance.

They were very eloquent.  If, a man comes with a poetry that is full of meaning, they will listen to it and be excited. Furthermore, they will raise his ranks & make him wealthy.

The treatment of women:

Women were treated like commodities.
-Nikkah or marriage was very absurd at that time.
-One category of people used to marry correctly.  They will go to the guardian of the bride, ask for permission.  And, this custom remains till now(after Islam).

However, some of them will marry in a strange way. A man would have owe money from someone & in return , he will pass his own wife & child to a stranger.  He will allow his wife to become pregnant with a stranger. And, he will name the child to the stranger's name.  Audhubillah, what kind of ignorance.
-It is even happening now with ignorant Muslims. They will swap their wives. And, this is exactly happening now & in pre-Islamic period.
-They are conning the women saying that this custom is interesting etc.

Another way of marriage
-A woman who needs wealth, she will place a flag at her house. It was like a prostitution.  If, she becomes pregnant, she will point someone as the father for her child, and nobody can say no to this. She will choose the most honoured man so that the child will be brought up in a guardianship of some strange man.

*Mentioning about these things is not relevant. However, some of us are returning back to the same Jahilliyah with different names.  And, we should understand that this Jahilliyah is darkest era . May Allah swt take us out from this darkness.*

Divorce:
-A man will just divorce a woman and then ,he will just take her again.
-Nobody was there to defend this women, as there were afraid even to bear female children.
-Whenever, a female child is born, their face will be blackened.  And, they will become angry, they will want to hide behind the wall due to the bad news that they have received.
-A Sahabah , he said that during his period of ignorance , he buried his own beautiful child. She was so beautiful that she asked her father "Daddy, what are you doing". The sand hit his face as she waa struggling & kicking the sand off. He then covered her completely with sand & let her die.
-And, then Prophet Muhammad SAW  said to him " Didn't you feel  in your heart a little bit of mercy".
-The heart would have felt mercy but it is due people pressure.
-Some of us  will even feel embrassed when our children shouts in public, and we want to stop them by beating them in public.  Why? We want to show the public that we are disciplining our child but that is not the time to admonish children
Lecture 2.7| Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW

Admonishing a child in public:
-As, discussed earlier, it is wrong to admonish your child in public. It is like how you do not want to be admonished in public.  The children will feel embarrassed and it will make them lose their confidence.

They used to divorce their wives & take them back at any time.
-Hence, Allah swt revealed the ayat

"You can only divorce thrice"-The moment you have said talaq, the third time,you are not allowed to take back until
"She marries again".

Why is it like this?
-Most of us don't know why the divorce system works this way and we think by shouting 3 times, we can just walk away.
- We should never ever do/think like this. It is worse than hooligan and it is more like an animal.
-It is simple to shout.
-But , we need to be calm & relaxed.
-Some people will say, "I have divorced my wife in anger"-May Allah swt never make us foolish. Whenever, we are angry,we should watch our tongue, calm ourselves.
-If, you really want to divorce, you can just say it one time which is more than enough . Hence, from there if you want to get back, you can get back and you do not need to marry someone else.

Why is it the third time , that wife can't back to husband? -Wisdom behind it.
-Three whole times, you tried so hard, & he/she couldn't appreciate their spouse, which means that she could never live with the husband.
-Unless, she goes & live with someone else, & has opportunity to compare her husband with someone else & then she is not able to Iive with that person.
-So, she divorces the person, and get back to her husband.  Then, she will realise to appreciate & there is a chance for the marriage to work again.

Mufti's encounter with a man....

"I used to know a man from Britain who used to do halala. Do you know what is halala? It is actually haram.  Allah swt is cursed the one who has been done with halala & the one who is doing it.  They will marry their wives & the will divorce them. They will then ask their friend to marry for one night & to divorce the next day so that when she finished the iddah, she can come to them again. And , the British man said that he used to do this. Until, he saw one day such a princess & then he refused to divorce her. He, then said to me that she is my wife and I have so many children with her"

Subhan'Allah. May Allah protect us from this Jahilliyah.  And, Allah curses those who do that. Why can't we control our tongues? Why do we have to be so foolish & then later on run to Ulamah for help?. Why do, we have to use our own tongue to destroy ourselves?.
-Ignorance before Jahilliyah, they divorced their wives & took them back anytime.
-Hence, the woman was lost & she did not know what to do.
-And, Allah swt blessed & protected women folks by sending Prophet Muhammad SAW.

Lecture 2.8|Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW|Mufti Menk

★Good Qualities of what Quraish had★
-They were very intelligent & their memories were very powerful.  They were able to tell the lineage of their camels.
-Nowdays, we don't even know the lineage of our own families.
-To fulfill your duties to your relatives is not possible unless we know how we are related.  Most of us, don't know how we are related.

◇They were honoring towards their guests
-They were very generous, and used to clear debt of ppl.
-One man used to be very poor and then because of Allah's help, he was able to become rich. He used this wealth to clear people's debts & help people financially.

If there were any guests coming to their house,
-They will slaughter their animals.
-They will even cut their riding camel if they don't have food for their guests.

While, nowdays,
-When, we call someone to be their guest, they don't even answer the phone.

◇They used to be very courageous.
-They would fight for the cause of their own tribes.
-If, their fathers, relatives died in a battle, they would be very proud because of their relatives died in protecting their tribe.
-May Allah swt give us some courage .
-We don't even have courage, to kill a fly.
-And, sometime, we tend to be silent, & ×watch the oppression . But remember, if we don't say anything to oppression for the first time, it will repeat itself.

Hadith Of Prophet Muhammad SAW:
-We should stop oppression when we see it. If, we don't, we will start to make dua and Allah swt will not respond to our dua.  Why? The reason is that we did not help the oppressing people.

◇They love to fulfill their promise:
-In most cases,  they will fulfill it. If, they don't, the whole community will team up against them.

◇They were content.
-They were happy with the little things that they had.
-They were happy even with the small amounts of food that they had.
-They were always excited and content but they worshipped idols

◇They were strong:
-They had strong bodies, & used to be muscular.  They used to compete with one another.  They used to protect one another as well.
-They only fight with other clans. Within, their own clans, they tried their best, not to allow disunity to take over them.

Lecture 2.9|Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW

It is important to talk about 2 important incidents
occured just before the birth of Prophet Muhammad SAW

The story of zam-zam:

The grandfather of Prophet Muhammad SAW, his name is Abdul Muttalib. Abdullah Mutallib is one of the leaders of Quraysh and he is one of the top key personnel during that time.  He was strong, beautiful man , people look up to him & listen to him as well because he was eloquent in his sppech.  His place was right in the middle of shade of Kabbah.  They had a special place for him to sit. And, nobody dares to sit on that mat. He will sit and tell people of any instructions.  SubhanAllah, he also had 11 children, son.

Among, his sons, Abdullah , the father of Prophet Muhammad SAW.

One day,he says I waa sleeping in the Al-Hijr...

What is Hijr?
-It is a part of Kabbah.  Nowdays, we can find crescent sort of structure.  It used to be within Kabbah itself & when they did not halal funds to build in the same shape. , they left it like a cube.  And, that part used to be in Kabbah and now it is not, there. If you reading Salah there , it is like you are reading Salah in Kabbah.

So,the man was resting there, and he saw a dream, in his dream , he was to told to dig.
And, he ask, "what am I supposed to dig". But, the dream ended.

The next day, he was in the same place & he had the same dream and he was told to dig Barra. And, he ask again "what is Barrah?". And, the dream ended.

On, third day, he saw another dream. Historians says/always mentioned this, he was told to dig madhuluna.
And, he ask again "what is madhuluna" . And, the dream ended .

On, fourth day, he saw a dream and he was told to dig, Zam-Zam. He inquired what is it. He was told that it is a well that will never deplete & everyone can drink from it. He was told where it is situates and its history.

So, he got up in the morning and with one of his children. One of the narration says, the child that he brought along is Al-Harith.  And, two of them began to dig. And, the Quraish was watching this.

All the Quraysh were related to one another, somehow.  They just had different clans like how we related with different brothers.

And, then he shouted Allahu Akhbar
-They used to worship other false deities, but they still worshipped Allah during their difficult/need times.
-And, they used all these terminologies.
-It also happens in our times where we worship Allah& sometime we might be worshipping the graves, sticks etc.
-But, do remember, the purpose of Prophet Muhammad SAW risala is to remove people from worshipping the creations of Allah to the creator, Allah. . So, we should not lose focus on that.

Then, all of them saw the water. And, they started to debate on whom it belongs to....

Part 3 | Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW | Mufti Menk

Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW

Click on the links to view the previous lectures/new lectures

Lecture 1: 

Lecture 2: 

Lecture 3:

Lecture 3.0| Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hKR6v4RjMXM

Continuation of the story of Zam-Zam...

Their forefather is Ismayl (as). And, thus Quraish told Abdul Muttalib that Zam Zam  belongs to everyone.  While, Abdul Muttalib claimed that the Zam-Zam belongs to him as it was he who dream about it.

So, in order to resolve the dispute, they went to someone who is in Bani Saad. Bani Saad is further away from them, it is close to Ash-Shams. However, it is very far from Arabian Peninsula.

And, group of leaders went there , bringing their food. Then, during their journey, they get to the point where they ran out of food & water.  And, all of them were preparing for death.

Abdul Muttalib and all his clans were actually planning to go to one fortune teller in Bani Saaad. But, they came to point in realising that they are going to die, so they thought of something noble to do before they die. They planned to dig their graves, and the one who dies first will be buried by others and so on.  In that way, everyone will be able to get buried except for one person. But, even that person, will be able to get to his own grave & prepare for his own death.  Allahu Akhbar, this was their plan..

So, when they were digging, Abdul Muttalib walked to his camel. And, suddenly water started to gush miraculously from the feet of the camel.  And, the camel belongs to Abdul Mutallib.

From, the distance that everyone were in , they were all immediately shocked. And, they said to Abdul Muttalib that he should be the owner of Zam-Zam.
-it is not like only Abdul Muttalib will be having Zam-Zam.
-Others, will quench their thirst from it as well.
-However, the leader/owner of Zam-Zam well will be Abdul Muttalib.

All of them acknowledged that Abdul Muttalib should be leader, they came to a conclusion to go back to Mecca without proceeding any further.

And, Abdul Muttalib was the owner, and he used to give Hajjis water. That Hajj was the pagant Hajj as mentioned before.

And, everyone is drinking from that water till today. And, most of us have Zam-Zam in our homes.

Prophet Muhammad SAW later said
"The water of Zam-Zam is whatever that intention that is drunk for"
-If, your intention is to be cured, you will be cured.
-If, your intention is to pass your exam, you will pass your exams.
-And, for all your intentions as long it is noble & Allah accepts that.

May Allah swt allow us to have Zam-Zam all the time as it even protect us from devil.
Levture 3.1| Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW-Mufti Menk

This was the sign as Abdul Mutallib was already informed by the king of Yemen, one of the Jewish people, some of the fortune tellers that something big is going to happen from his lineage.

And, he was been informed that one of his grandchildren is going to be the top leader who will be changing everything.  Abdul Muttalib was constantly informed about this by various people.

This is a sign that he his a chosen man. Allah swt chose him to be the grandfather of Prophet Muhammad SAW.

Furthermore, Abdul Muttalib look after Prophet Muhammad SAW.

The next story that is worth mentioning:

It is the story of an Abysinnian man who became as a King in Yemen, and his name is Abraha. He was a Christian man who built a church in Yemen , & he wanted people to flock there. There are many reasons for that such as to worship in that place, business purpose.

However, he was told that there is a house in Mecca where everyone goes & he was told to deal with them if he wants people to come to his place. He informed them that he had one big elephant and he will walk with his armies to Mecca.
*Majority of the narration says that there was only one big,vast elephant. * And, the rest were camels &so on.  *However, some historians says that there were many elephants.
 *However, Quran states that there was only one elephant:

Al-Fil : 1

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحٰبِ الْفِيلِ

Have you not considered, [O Muhammad], how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?

★Al Fil الْفِيلِ
-Which means only one elephant
-So, it called as the people of the elephant
-It was a big huge elephant and armies came along wih it.

And, they were walking towards Makkah Al-Mukkaramah..
ِ
Lecture 3.3|Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW

Abraha & his army came marching towards Kabbah.

The elephant refused to go any further.  It actually stopped moving. When, they beat it up & made it turn so that the elephant will move, it still didn't move. Subhan'Allah, Allah stopped the elephant from moving.

However, they still proceed to move towards Kabbah. Out of nowhere, birds flew above them . The birds has 3 pebbles , which is the size of a pea or even smaller.  The pebbles were made of clay. And, they released those pebbles from a very high altitude.

The pebbles came down with a huge force.
-We have learnt about gravity, Newton laws etc.
-If, we take a look at this example(Al-Fil) : Due to the altitude of this pebbles, when it is released from a great height, it went straight to the men & killed them on the spot.

People were watching all these. Didn't, Abdul Muttalib said that house has its lord who will protect it?

We should always remember that Kabbah is protected by Allah swt.

Lecture 3.4|Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW| Mufti Menk

Al-Fil : 1

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحٰبِ الْفِيلِ

Have you not considered, [O Muhammad], how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?

Allah swt destroyed them.

For, some of them, the pebbles did not get through them. However,  they were injured & inflicted with disease.

And, Abraha himself, his fingers started to drop. And, as they were proceeding to their homes, Abraha's hands,leg fell off.  And, he eventually died.

This happened before the birth of Prophet Muhammad SAW.

Then, came the blessed birth of Prophet Muhammad SAW on which the whole world changed .

If, you look at us and when we look at Prophet Muhammad SAW life as mentioned we need to understand who was he in order to understand the revelation.

His name is
Mohamed ibn Abdullah ibn Abdul Muttalib ibn Hashim

Prophet Muhammad SAW was from the clan of Hashim . And, Hashim belongs to one of the clan from Quraysh.

His father's name was Abdullah and his grandfather's name is Abdul Muttalib.

Prophet Muhammad SAW was born in Mecca.

It was in the house of Abdul Muttalib that he was born. And, Prophet Muhammad SAW father passed away when Prophet Muhammad SAW was  in the womb of his mother(7 months).

Prophet Muhammad's SAW father was 25 years old.

The historians says that Allah swt took the father's life away as soon as his seed was planted on Prophet Muhammad's mother . And, his job in this dunya was over.

Lecture 3.5|Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW|Mufti Menk

And, Prophet Muhammad's SAW mother was from similar clan of Prophet Muhammad's SAW father.

She stated,  "It was the easiest period( pregnancy)". She meant that she did not feel any pain during the childbirth. She further mentioned that "I felt my childbirth like I am never giving childbirth".

The most blessed soul was then born.

Allah swt caused the death of the father of Prophet Muhammad SAW in Medinah.  Prophet Muhammad's SAW father went to Al-Shams,then he visited his relatives in Al-Medinah.  And, on his way , he passed away in Medinah.  Prophet Muhammad SAW at later stage of his life,he went back there.

Prophet Muhammad SAW unlike all the children, the narration mentions that he came with his hands down & face was looking up at the sky. He was already circumcised & his umbilical cord was already seperated.

-This is being mentioned in most of the narration.

Some of them says that the circumcision was already done while some says Abdul Muttalib did it after 7 days , and he fed people due to happiness that a grandson  is born. Furthermore, Abdul Muttalib already knows that in his mind that this child is going to be great as many people told him about it. They did not know that he is going to be nabi but they knew that something great is going to happen due to Prophet Muhammad SAW.

Lecture 3.6 |Life Of Prophet Muhammad SAW|Mufti Menk

The mother of Prophet Muhammad SAW says :
"When, I am expecting Prophet Muhammad SAW to deliver, I saw a light that is coming out from my belly, that even palaces of Al-Shams lit and I knew that is something is going to happen"

And, it is reported that the fire worshipped by the Persians, in Iran was extinguished and they had to rekindle it.

And, it is further reported that the idols that were in Kabbah, dropped down on that day. The Palace of Kisra(Persia) , part of the structure,balcony was dropped on that day, and they had to re-build it.

These were all the signs which was then interpreted that Prophet Muhammad SAW message is going to spread everywhere.

We may have encountered, just before someone dies,they might have informed us that he/she is not going to see us again. And, they might have died after that.
★It is not his sixth sense that enabled him to say that.
★ It is Allah who enabled him to make such statements as a lesson for those who are coming later on.

However, we busy engross ourselves om pondering that how he knows about it or did he just guessed.
-it is not important to know whether he knows about his time of death or not.
-We are supposed to question ourselves on whether we are prepared to be in that condition.

Lecture 3.7-Life-of-Prophet-Muhammad-PBUH-Mufti-Menk

In a narration, it is stated that Prophet Muhammad SAW was born with his finger(the pointing finger, the finger of Shahadah) pointing upwards.
-This is to depict to worship Allah alone .

Prophet Muhammad's SAW mother says that
"Abdul Muttalib, his grandfather loved him so much. During the time of his( Propphet Muhammad(SAW)) birth, Abdul Muttalib was sitting in Kabbah. While, I covered him with utensil and sent for Abdul Muttalib to be called so that he would be first one to see him. When, Abdul Muttalib came back, the utensil that was covering him was broken into two pieces, while he was perfectly fine.  The grandfather was very delighted to see him"

Prophet Muhammad SAW was extremely close with Abdul Muttalib as his father has passed away.

************

Many people have fabricated miracles about Prophet Muhammad's SAW birth.  It is not use to fabricate narrations about him. In his Seerah, we can find the miracles & the true value of Prophet Muhammad SAW.  By, making fabrication, it only makes the Seerah to drop its value.

Some of the false narrations are:
1) During the time of Prophet Muhammad SAW birth, the minara of Haram made Sajda

2) The golden stand (Maqame Ibrahim) got up and made sajda

-But, we need to know there was no minar or golden stand during that time.

Part 3 | Surah Kahf | Speaking false about Allah

Part-3.1 -Speaking-false-about-Allah---Dr-Yasir-Qadhi--11th-July-2013

Youtube  link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rRwfuN9Y6po

Al-Kahf : 4

وَيُنذِرَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا اتَّخَذَ اللَّهُ وَلَدًا

And to warn those who say, "Allah has taken a son."

Al-Kahf : 5

مَّا لَهُم بِهِۦ مِنْ عِلْمٍ وَلَا لِءَابَآئِهِمْ ۚ كَبُرَتْ كَلِمَةً تَخْرُجُ مِنْ أَفْوٰهِهِمْ ۚ إِن يَقُولُونَ إِلَّا كَذِبًا

They have no knowledge of it, nor had their fathers. Grave is the word that comes out of their mouths; they speak not except a lie.


This Quran and the messenger warn those people who claim that Allah swt has a child. They do not have knowledge of this, neither them nor their forefathers.  What kind atrocity coming from their mouth/ What an evil lie comes from their mouth. They are saying nothing but lie.

-In this two verses, Allah swt mentions one of the main purpos of Quran, which is to negect false accusations about Allah & to affirm on what we believe about Allah.
-We have no knowledge on who is Allah except through Quran.
-Allah swt criticises anybody who claims that Allah swt has a child.

This verse came down in Mecca. And, in Mecca , there weren't any Christians or Jews. Therefore, the addressee were the Quraish & Quraish used to claim that Allah has daughters.
*And, walad does not specifically means son. It means his child(which can be a daughter or son)*

Hence, Allah swt explains that he has revealed the Quran to warn to not to say this & anyone who says Allah has a child/children, this is not true.

Allah swt asks -How do you know this? If, you know this, where did you get it from?
-And, their excuse were, our forefathers,culture, tradition said this.
-Hence, Allah says neither you nor your forefathers,  do not know anything.

Lesson for us:
-This shows that , one of the greatest calamities, sins in Islam, it is to speak about Allah without knowledge.  And, speak about Islam without knowledge.  Allah challenges those who tell lies about Islam, where did you get this? -
-And, explains that neither him nor their fathers have no knowledge about this.

-Quran tells us that they are telling lies about Allah& Islam because it is one of the plots of Shaytan,
1) Shaytan commands you to associate partner with Allah
2) You speak about Allah without knowledge.
-This is one of the biggest problem.  You cannot deviate from the truth except if you think about falsehood/lie about Allah/Islam/True Tawheed/True Risala.

Where do these lies come from?
-Shaytan tells Allah that he will command them to do this& lie to them about this. And, anybody speaks without knowledge about Allah, messenger,Quran,Islam- this person is getting information from Shaytaan.

This is what Quran tells us...

Part-3.2-Speaking-false-about-Allah---Dr-Yasir-Qadhi--11th-July-2013

Al-Kahf : 5

مَّا لَهُم بِهِۦ مِنْ عِلْمٍ وَلَا لِءَابَآئِهِمْ ۚ كَبُرَتْ كَلِمَةً تَخْرُجُ مِنْ أَفْوٰهِهِمْ ۚ إِن يَقُولُونَ إِلَّا كَذِبًا

They have no knowledge of it, nor had their fathers. Grave is the word that comes out of their mouths; they speak not except a lie.

Alllah swt negect any falsehood.  Allah is saying that they are saying nothing but lies.

No person in this world like to hear slander about himself/herself.  It is ingrained in us , we despise falsehood,lies.  When, we are being slandered, we want to defend ourselves.  And, this quality comes from Allah swt, he is the one who put it for us.

Prophet Muhammad SAW clarifies this"
"There is no being more patient,forbearing than Allah. They slander & accused him having children, and he still provide for them."

If, your enemy lied about you, could you be generous with that enemy?
If , your enemy accused of crime of falsehood, could you be generous with that enemy?
You will not be able to do it.  Yet, our Prophet Muhammad SAW said there is no being who is more patient, forbearing than Allah. People accused , rejected,attributed children to him, while he continues to give rizq, sustenance.
And, look at what Allah says,
"What a lie that comes from their mouth?"

It is because saying that Allah has a child, it cannot come from intellect, knowledge,book. They literally invented from their mouth. It is just a word and does not have basis,intellect, scripture.

And, to affirm how evil it is,
"They are saying that is not true & it is a lie"
◇Lying about Allah swt is the greatest crime.
◇And, Quran talk about this in Surah Maryam:
-when the creation around us , the heavens , earth & mountains hear certain beings attributes that Allah has a child, the mountains want to crumble.

And, they say "How dare , that they have claimed Ar-Rahman has a child.  And, it is not befitting,appropriate for Ar-Rahman to beget a child.."

So, Allah says one of the purpose of the Quran is to correct the misinformation about him(swt).

Part 3.3 -.Speaking-false-about-Allah---Dr-Yasir-Qadhi--11th-July-2013

In verse 6 & 7,

Al-Kahf : 6

فَلَعَلَّكَ بٰخِعٌ نَّفْسَكَ عَلٰىٓ ءَاثٰرِهِمْ إِن لَّمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهٰذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَسَفًا

Then perhaps you would kill yourself through grief over them, [O Muhammad], if they do not believe in this message, [and] out of sorrow.


فَلَعَلَّكَ :
FalaAlluka -For surely

َ بٰخِعٌ نَّفْسَك:
Baghi'un Nafsaka- kill yourself

َ بٰخِعٌ
Baghi'un
-It literally means die from depression.
- Allah says to Messenger of Allah SAW that if you continue to be in a state of grief, you will kill yourself due to that.

Where is that grief /sadness coming from?

َ عَلٰىٓ ءَاثٰرِهِمْ إِن لَّمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهٰذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَسَفًا:
A'la atharihim, in lam , yu'minouna bihadhal hadiyithi asafa:
-due to their footsteps
-if they do not believe in this message.

This ayats teaches us some lessons:

1) Sheer eloquence of the ayat
-They are turning away, walking away.
-And, our Prophet Muhammad SAW is going after them (following their footsteps) due to that he is feeling depressed.

Why does he feeling depressed? Is it because they have rejected him?
-No, it is because they have rejected Allah.
-It also shows the sincerity of Prophet Muhammad SAW.
-Most of us, when we preach, we preach to our own ego &self.

When we are in an argument, we want to win, & not the truth to win.
-While, our Prophet Muhammad SAW wanted the truth to win.

And, Allah swt clarifies this by saying
ْ
ْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهٰذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَسَفًا:
"Yu minouna bidhal hadiyithi asafa"
-You are feeling sad because they have rejected Quran, Allah( and not because they have rejected you. )

You can also notice that Allah mentions about Prophet Muhammad SAW before mentioning about rejectors.
-Allah swt talks about Quran & the role of Quran.
-Hence, from here in response, Allah  did not say, they have rejected the Quran .
-Rather, he addreses Prophet Muhammad SAW in singular & says

"calm your grief down, yourself. Don't take it to this level.  If, you continue to do this, you will cause destruction & harm to yourself if they don't believe"

Our lord did not blame the Quraish for rejecting Prophet Muhammad SAW.  Instead, he addresses, Prophet Muhammad SAW for the grief that having been rejected.

So, who does Allah cares, the rejectors or Prophet Muhammad SAW ?

- Our lord does not even addresses kafir here. Our lord is concerned about the grief that our Prophet Muhammad SAW is felt when the Quraish rejected him.

-And, our lord, consoles our Prophet Muhammad SAW.

-And, this happens multiple times( at least half of dozen times) that Allah swt calms Prophet Muhammad SAW.

-This shows the maqamah of Prophet Muhammad SAW, status of our nabi. And, that even Allah swt is consoling him.

Furthermore , it shows....

Part 3.4 |Tafseer-Surah-Al-Kahf--Speaking-false-about-Allah---Dr-Yasir-Qadhi--11th-July-2013

Al-Kahf : 6

فَلَعَلَّكَ بٰخِعٌ نَّفْسَكَ عَلٰىٓ ءَاثٰرِهِمْ إِن لَّمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهٰذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَسَفًا

Then perhaps you would kill yourself through grief over them, [O Muhammad], if they do not believe in this message, [and] out of sorrow.

It shows the status of Prophet Muhammad SAW as Allah swt is consoling him .
And, it shows that Allah swt cares infinitely more about the one who is in his path rather than the one who rejects his path. And, Allah swt only shows concern about the one who is in his path.

It shows that our lord consoles Prophet Muhammad SAW, and from here we can derive a simple sunnah. When, we see someone in a deprive situation, we should give consolation/word of comfort.  We should give word of comfort when somoeone is in museebat/calamity/loves one died/financial crisis , anything that happened that will make heart grieve.

What can be done?
Allah consoles Prophet Muhammad SAW.  What about us? We need that consolation more.
That is why our Prophet Muhammad SAW made it a sunnah when he finds someone is in distress, he will give words of comfort.

When Jaffir, his cousin died, Prophet Muhammad SAW visited his house, physically placed his hand on the children of Jaffir, and made dua for them. He praised the women/wives of Jaffir. All these are words of consolation.

Allah swt consoled Prophet Muhammad SAW.  Prophet Muhammad SAW consoled the Sahabas.  And, if we find anybody in distress, legitimate stress, we should give them words of wisdom.

We can notice from here that concern of Prophet Muhammad SAW is so much that Allah swt used a very harsh word.

َ بٰخِع:ٌ
-Baghi'e:
Abbas ra says Baghie literally means , "you will kill yourself due to the grief "/ "the grief will consume you".Prophet Muhammad SAW loved his people so much.
And, anybody who is calling people to Islam, you should have the genuine love for the people, you will want the people to love Allah & his religion like you.  It is not for your ego, but for the sake of Allah swt.

No doubt, this love can go extreme from you living normally.  Hence, in the beginning of Dawah, Allah swt teaches Prophet Muhammad SAW to check that grief that much.

َ عَلٰىٓ ءَاثٰرِهِمْ
Ala atharihim:
-Going in their footsteps if they do not believe in this book.

Part 3.5- Tafseer-Surah-Al-Kahf-Part-3-Speaking-false-about-Allah---Dr-Yasir-Qadhi

And, then Allah says,in two more verses

Al-Kahf : 7

إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا مَا عَلَى الْأَرْضِ زِينَةً لَّهَا لِنَبْلُوَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا

Indeed, We have made that which is on the earth adornment for it that We may test them [as to] which of them is best in deed.

ِ زِينَةً لَّهَا :
:Ziyanatallah
-Everything on top of earth is made beautiful.
What is that?
☆Men & Women
★Palaces
☆Tress, Oceans
★Everything, we see on Earth , it is the beautification .
☆It is not for Allah . It is for us.
★Allah does not need this world. This is not a permanent place.

Allah says everything on top of the Earth is the beautification.  Why?

 لِنَبْلُوَهُمْ :
:Linabuluhum
-We are going to test them

ْ أَيُّهُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا:
:Ayuhun ahsanu amala
☆On who does the best deeds.
★Not the one who does MOST deeds but rather BEST deeds.
☆Allah swt is not looking for quantity but rather looking for quality.

Everything on the earth is a test for them. Their money, children, women, possession & all of that they have owned on this Earth.Allah says it is a test for them to see who can do the best. (Take note: it is not the most but the best)

This shows the quality is important. For example: A person can be giving million of dollars, and then another person gives 10 dollars.  And, it is possible that, a person who gives million of dollars is nothing to Allah while another person who gives only 10 dollars, is worth millions of millions to Allah.
☆All goes back to the intention.

Or, a person who prays only 2 rakaah, it can be more precious than everything on those on Earth compared to someone who prayed 200 rakaah, which will be thrown back to him as his intention might not be right.

ْ أَيُّهُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا
Ayhuhum Ahsana Amala -
What is the reason that this verses comes after the previous verse?

It is natural for someone to feel that on why Quraysh reject Allah who are in the pinnacle of civilisation.
Why do they have control? And, why we do not have this?
-In earlier period of Mecca, the Quraysh had the power, Izzah but Muslims were the ones who were persecuted.

So, what does Allah says?
-All of these that they have , it is a test for them.
-And, do not put hard on this.
-Because, next verse clarifies....

Part-3.6-Speaking-false-about-Allah---Dr-Yasir-Qadhi--11th-July-2013

Continuation from last week....
Because, next verse clarifies (the reason for believers to go through hardships & for non-believers to be in power)

Al-Kahf : 8

وَإِنَّا لَجٰعِلُونَ مَا عَلَيْهَا صَعِيدًا جُرُزًا

And indeed, We will make that which is upon it [into] a barren ground.

-Allah says we have made the world as zina and we will make this world as:

 صَعِيدًا
1) Sa'iyda:
-Flat land


 جُرُزًا
2) Jurouza:
-Infertile without any greenery.

So, Allah is saying all of this beauty that we see ,it is temporary. And, a time will come which is Yawmul Qiyamah where this world will be substituted with an another world.

Hence, Allah is saying do not be deceived by this greenery,  by the power that they all have . As, there will come time where it will be
 صَعِيدًاSa'iyda -flat land


 صَعِيدًا
More explanation of Sa'iyda by Quran:
-The mountains will crumble.
-And, everything that human beings enjoyed will be destroyed.

So, Allah is saying "just wait, and all of this world will be flat & infertile(juruz) جُرُزًا

Conclusion:

Allah is saying to us through Prophet Muhammad SAW that not to be deceived by illusion as this world is beautiful only here. However, the real beauty , will be in next world.