Quran for Young Adults 16,17 - Surah Nisaa 66-70, Surah Tahreem 1-12

4:65

to top

Sahih International

But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission.

4:66

to top

Sahih International

And if We had decreed upon them, "Kill yourselves" or "Leave your homes," they would not have done it, except for a few of them. But if they had done what they were instructed, it would have been better for them and a firmer position [for them in faith].

4:67

to top

Sahih International

And then We would have given them from Us a great reward.

4:68

to top

Sahih International

And We would have guided them to a straight path.

4:69

to top

Sahih International

And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger - those will be with the ones upon whom Allah has bestowed favor of the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous. And excellent are those as companions.

4:70

to top

Sahih International

That is the bounty from Allah , and sufficient is Allah as Knower.

If Allah had told you to even kill yourself or become homeless which  makes absolutely no sense, do it and there would be khayr and goodness in it. We NEED to have the confidence that EVERYTHING Allah revealed to us no matter how little sense it makes, is for our own good. We need to stand by what we believe and believe it with absolute conviction.

 Intellectual confidence is not equal to emotional confidence. Intellectual confidence means knowing in your head that it is the right thing. Emotional confidence means acting upon it without fear and not being lazy about it. Intellectual confidence has to do with aql and emotional confidence has to do with the heart. True confidence is translated into actions. True confidence means that we do not doubt the sunnah and seerah of the Prophet SAWW, and we stand by it, even if people call you crazy. Being called crazy for following the sunnah is also a sunnah of the Prophet SAWW. Islam does not mean to fit into the crowd. Islam is not for fitting into the crowd and going with the flow. We have lost both intellectual and emotional confidence. To develop intellectual confidence, read the seerah of Prophet SAWW.
Allah will give a great reward and an easy road when we stand up for Allah.
Obey Allah AND the messenger. There is no OR. It is AND. It means whoever obeys Allah i.e. the messenger, Then Allah mentions the 4 categories of people who will be in Jannah. Nabiyyen Siddiqeen Shuhada and Saliheen. We cannot be from amongst the Nabiyyen and Siddiqeen but the remaining categories are open. Rafeeq are those friends we hang out and chill out with. When we lose companions by following deen, Allah will replace them with beautiful companions.

We live in 2015. We are used to certain things around us. When we see something over and over again, we become used to them. When we follow Islam, we stand out. Islam is strange for the majority. Even if the vast majority is going opposite to you, you have to rethink for yourself: what you are used to VS. Islam. e.g. people are fighting for gay rights/gay marriages and if you raise your voice, then they will call you judgmental and inhumane. You need intellectual confidence and emotional confidence to fight these new phenomena. Don't worry about getting into trouble for speaking the truth. Every Prophet also faced a lot of opposition for speaking the truth. This their sunnah.
Allah has also made some things halaal, but that does not make it fardh and binding upon us e.g. eating peanuts is halaal, but it is not fardh. We have the right to not eat it. It is fine as long as you do not criticize it and do not criticize those who consume it. It is your personal decision. e.g. polygamy is also halaal in Islam, as long as you treat wives equally. That does not make it binding. Most cultures in the muslim world are not used to polygamy and it is not binding and you can be uncomfortable with it. But it is allowed as long as you meet the requirements. Our messenger SAWW also had multiple wives but he was the best towards them. We should not have any discomfort towards this idea and they are all the mothers of the believers! RA. They are Ummuhaat ul Momineen and we have to respect them and take care of them like our own mothers. Islam means SUBMISSION. You have to submit to Allah SWT and Prophet SAWW and believe that it is the best. You need to love everything they do and believe in it. Do not even let the thought cross your mind that these ideas are strange and unacceptable for you.

We have to understand what Prophet SAWW did. We should know it clearly and that will increase our faith, If somebody comes up to us and says something about the Prophet SAWW, we should first make sure it is authentic and the moment we are sure, we should LOVE it and not let second thoughts cross our mind and we should understand the context in which it was done. e.g. some people manipulate an incident and say that the Prophet SAWW asked to cut somebody's tongue off.  A tribal leader became a muslim and he was used to getting the major share of the spoils of war. When he became a muslim, he got an equal share so he began to make poetry that Islam humiliated him. So Prophet SAWW ordered Umar RA to cut his tongue off(which meant that Umar RA give him money to shut him up because he was demoralizing the whole army).
We need to understand everything because we want to understand how he dealt with everything with hikmat and wisdom. He does not owe an explanation to us. We are not trying to judge his actions. He SAWW is only answerable before Allah SWT. We should understand with humility. Learn to understand everything in the right context.

The more we learn Islam, the angrier we get as a people and the more hate we spread. Islam teaches us to hate the sin but never the sinner.

Islam has set beautiful laws. But they are often manipulated by people and misused. That does NOT make the law wrong. The person manipulating it is wrong. Allah says Wattaqullah(Be conscious of Allah) so that you do not misuse it. Allah is watching you! e.g. people misuse divorce laws,polygamy laws

66:1

to top

Sahih International

O Prophet, why do you prohibit [yourself from] what Allah has made lawful for you, seeking the approval of your wives? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

66:2

to top

Sahih International

Allah has already ordained for you [Muslims] the dissolution of your oaths. And Allah is your protector, and He is the Knowing, the Wise.

66:3

to top

Sahih International

And [remember] when the Prophet confided to one of his wives a statement; and when she informed [another] of it and Allah showed it to him, he made known part of it and ignored a part. And when he informed her about it, she said, "Who told you this?" He said, "I was informed by the Knowing, the Acquainted."

66:4

to top

Sahih International

If you two [wives] repent to Allah , [it is best], for your hearts have deviated. But if you cooperate against him - then indeed Allah is his protector, and Gabriel and the righteous of the believers and the angels, moreover, are [his] assistants.

66:5

to top

Sahih International

Perhaps his Lord, if he divorced you [all], would substitute for him wives better than you - submitting [to Allah ], believing, devoutly obedient, repentant, worshipping, and traveling - [ones] previously married and virgins.

66:6

to top

Sahih International

O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are [appointed] angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded.

66:7

to top

Sahih International

O you who have disbelieved, make no excuses that Day. You will only be recompensed for what you used to do.

66:8

to top

Sahih International

O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow [on] the Day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him. Their light will proceed before them and on their right; they will say, "Our Lord, perfect for us our light and forgive us. Indeed, You are over all things competent."

66:9

to top

Sahih International

O Prophet, strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh upon them. And their refuge is Hell, and wretched is the destination.

66:10

to top

Sahih International

Allah presents an example of those who disbelieved: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were under two of Our righteous servants but betrayed them, so those prophets did not avail them from Allah at all, and it was said, "Enter the Fire with those who enter."

66:11

to top

Sahih International

And Allah presents an example of those who believed: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, "My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds and save me from the wrongdoing people."

66:12

to top

Sahih International

And [the example of] Mary, the daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her chastity, so We blew into [her garment] through Our angel, and she believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures and was of the devoutly obedient.

The background of this ayah is that the Prophet SAWW used to spend a part of his day with each of his wives and he gave them equal time. Every wife tried to get some extra time from him SAWW. One of the wives brought some honey and the Prophet SAWW used to eat it so it would take some extra time. The next wife said that I don't like the smell of this honey so the Prophet SAWW decided to not eat it anymore. SO Allah sent down these ayahs:Why do you make haraam what Allah has made halaal? The prophet SAWW's actions have great repercussions because he is a role model for the whole ummah, so Allah made sure to point this out. Allah has forgiven it already and is just pointing it out. Allah did this so that the Prophet SAWW's personal preferences do not get confused with Islam. So even in this age, the people who are doing work of dawah and are scholars should make sure their personal preferences stay separate from Islam. Only Prophet SAWW was complete and perfect and all other scholars have certain specializations and they do not know or do everything perfectly. We raise the status of our scholars and public speakers so much that we think they know everything and we even turn to them for guidance on those things that are beyond their understanding. The Prophet SAWW is the only man who carried the burden of the whole ummah on his shoulders, and after him the WHOLE ummah and millions of people carry the same burden and they are still unable to do it.

The Prophet SAWW learned a secret and told it to one of his wives RA. She told somebody else and said do not tell anyone. We also do the same when we share a secret. Everyone ends up knowing it and everyone thinks it is still a secret. Allah revealed that she had let the secret out. These passages are about protecting the trust and not having any competition/jealousy. Such problems even happened in the Prophet SAWW's household so it can also happen in our homes so we need to take guidamcme from Quran on these issues. Then Allah says if you try to defend yourself in front of the Prophet SAWW, then Allah and the angels and the righteous believers are behind him. All these domestic problems are guidance for the whole of humanity. Allah sent this ayah to warn the wives that they are the role model for women and if they do not realize their position, Allah can replace them with better wives. Both sides need to become clear and open in their conversations. Jealousy and breaking the trust can ruin the communication. If you keep things inside, they keep boiling until you explode like a volcano.

It is a Madni Surah but Allah calls out to Kuffaar in ayah 7. In the ayah before and after this, Allah calls out to the Momineen. The answer is that these ayahs are ABOUT believers but Allah calls the believers as kuffaar because they will be from those who did kufr on the day of judgement because they did not follow Allah's advice. If they learn the lesson and internalize it then they are called believers as in ayah 8. Allah often shifts from the future to the past and back again to the present just like they do in movies. Allah often gives us a picture of the future.

Allah begins by telling the momineen to protect themselves from A fire. Allah does not say THE fire. And Allah pinpoints the momineen so even they are in danger. Allah chose to say A fire because the people had been so careless and reckless in their lifestyle as if they are not even aware that there is a fire prepared for them. So Allah reintroduces the fire as A fire. Because they were living their lives as if they do not know about THE fire. Imagine your house is on fire. You will run for safety and protect your family next. You cannot help others if you are not in a safe position yourself. We need to understand that we are in danger and we need to protect ourselves from the fire. We need to be concerned about ourselves.

We need to know how to differentiate culture from religion. We begin to think that our own culture=Islam. We need to know the difference. We mix them up. We are just born into our religion and we never contemplate or choose our religion for our ownselves by going through an intellectual and spiritual process. We sometimes lose deen in when we blend in a culture. Islam does not forbid us from celebrating our own cultures but we just need to make sure nothing is against the spirit of deen. Deen should be OVER culture. We should hold on to our own celebrations, and not celebrate the festivals of other religions. e.g. we wish one another merry christmas although this festival is based upon shirk and shirk is so offensive to Allah SWT that the earth and skies might split open because this is so severe. We will keep losing chunks of our deen with every generation if we get lost in culture.

The fuel of this fire is people and stones. Idols were made of stones. Stone turns into lava when it burns. It is like a volcanic eruption. This is a fire which will never extinguish and we will never die in it. We will be given fresh skins and fresh pain. Nauzubillah. The prison guards are angels. People will beg the guards for mercy but they will only do what Allah commands them to do. These guards are intense and harsh in their punishment. Can you imagine your family in such a prison? They will never get used to the pain. This fire is FOR the believer who rejects Allah's commands. It is for yaa ayyahulazeena aamanoo. Empty kalimah does not matter if we do not believe it with our heart or act accordingly. We can only judge one another by what is apparent. Allah knows truly what is inside us. Allah will address them as disbelievers on that day. Don't make excuses today. The people were asked to believe in the fire but they refuted it. If we do not believe, then there is no accountability.

Turn back to Allah in a way that is pure and sweet. Allah wants us to turn back to Him with love. It does not count if our tawbah is not from the heart and is superficial. We live in a culture where we have to act tough and we have to fight our emotions. We cannot cry in front of others or show any emotion otherwise we will be made fun of. We can't show respect to seniors. We have to put others down to prove ourselves. Our entertainment is so violent now. We become stripped of our emotions and we stop feeling human anymore, and then we get into crimes and violence. We don't own our problems anymore and we blame others because we have to appear perfect. Our culture has beautified bad morals and sensationalized them. Being respectful and decent is considered uncool and dumb now. We need to make tawbah again and again. There is no end to it. We can never be confident. Allah will not disgrace the Prophet SAWW because people are responsible for their own actions and they will not even be called momineen in front of the Prophet SAWW.

There will be a light for those who believe on their right, because of their good deeds. Everybody will have to walk over hellfire,whether believer or disbeliever. When we see it, we do shukr. It will be pitch dark. Even the fire of hell will be pitch dark. We will only be able to see our own light and nobody else's light. The light will be proportion to our good deeds. Some people will have light in which they can barely see. You kept putting yourself in difficult situations displeasing to Allah and you kept delaying change. You kept procrastinating and getting into questionable things. You thought you had time. You started thinking to yourself that it is not that bad. You did not consider your sin bad enough. Shaytaan got to you by making you think like that. A wall will be dropped in front of the one who did sin and they will not get anybody else's light, but if somebody had a scrape of faith, a wall will be dropped for them with a door and they will eventually get out.

Ya Allah, complete our light for us and covers our mistakes. Sins prevent the light from shining brightly.

Allah then presents the example of the wives of Nooh AS and Loot AS, their wives did not believe. This proves that change comes from Allah and not from you and me. They cannot go to Jannah just because they are the wives of the Prophets; We have to save our families from the fire but even after we do our best, if they don't turn back to Allah, we are not going to be answerable for that. We should just do our best and never give up on them.

Then Allah gives the example of the wife of Firawn who could have anything in the world she wanted. She could have all the palaces, all the material things. She is not like the women of today who don't care where the husband gets the money from as long as he pays the bills, and women who don't question where the money is being earned from. We don't care about halaal or haraam anymore. But Firawn's wife had nothing to do with this wealth and she wanted a house near Allah, the King of kings. She had no authority to turn to in dunya because Firawn had all the authority. Rescue me from him and HIS deeds(I do not endorse his deeds and want nothing to do with them).

Then Allah mentions Maryam AS, Hazrat Isa AS spoke in her defence the day he was born when people accused Maryam AS. Hazrat Isa AS was born a hafiz of the Torah of Musa AS whose original form had been lost by then. His birth was a miracle by Allah SWT.

QUR'AN for Young Adults - (Surah Fatiha) - Nouman Ali Khan - Ramadaan 2014 Day 6

1:1

to top

Sahih International

In the name of Allah , the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

1:2

to top

Sahih International

[All] praise is [due] to Allah , Lord of the worlds -

1:3

to top

Sahih International

The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful,

1:4

to top

Sahih International

Sovereign of the Day of Recompense.

1:5

to top

Sahih International

It is You we worship and You we ask for help.

1:6

to top

Sahih International

Guide us to the straight path -

1:7

to top

Sahih International

The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray.

This is the introduction to Allah and introduction to the Qur'an
HAMD=Praise and gratitude
You may praise something and not be grateful or you could be grateful and not praise something, but in hamd both things coexist.
And we say Praise be to Allah(Praise has always been around and will always be around, it is not dependent on US, all creations praise Allah)

A lot of movies such as terminator or Superman or Xmen etc show this theme that their is this outer power that wants to take over this world and that is more powerful and dominant, and people have to resist it and avoid getting enslaved to it, as it is a humiliating concept, we would rather die than be enslaved, and so we are agitated by the idea of a higher power and we hate anything that imposes a set of rules on us or CHAINS us, such movies even depict that higher power as something similar to God

But WE as muslims are slaves of Allah,and the Quran does impose a set of rules on us

There have also been many apocalyptic films which show that the world is going to end by a giant meteor or an invasion or whatever, Now our religion also talks about the End of the world on Judgement Day where everything will come to an end. But what do these movies always show? they always show that some people survive, human spirit is always strong enough to survive. And even if the world ends, we will find another planet. So all these movies show that humans will survive even if judgement day comes.

Praise and Gratitude belongs to Allah. It shows that it comes naturally and we do not force ourselves to do Hamd. Its natural. And then we say that to you we give ourselves in worship and slavery. Only you do we worship. SO in Surah Fatiha Allah is not FORCING US to do this. Allah is not saying worship me and enslave yourselves to me and praise me etc. It is as though its out inner voice that is saying this naturally.

In some video games, Role playing games, we have a character which has certain weapons, certain combos etc. and that character has to keep making progress in the video games and as he makes progress he upgrades himself and earns bonus and upgrades his character.
Just like that humans are also created with some basic abilities, some invisible spiritual powers of our Ruh, this gives us the power to be a decent person. It is not something we download later on, its something thats programmed into us. So we have inherent goodness in us.
Other religions like Christians belief that they are born into sin. But we believe our programming is good. What is the proof?If somebody does any favour to us, the least we do is thank them verbally or in our heart. We praise it or are thankful to it. e.g. we are grateful to our mothers even if we are nonmuslims, we just need to be a decent human being to be grateful. Then we thank our dad because he supported your mom. Then we thank their institute, the grandparents which made it possible for your father to get education and earn. So its a whole chain, you thank one thing and then another and then another. All of this leads to the thought that this chain must lead to something, and that is Allah. Allah is the ultimate source of all these blessings. Everything we are grateful for keeps going back to Allah.

Quran calls on that element of a human being, the spirit of gratitude that is within every decent human. Some people do lose that decency and think that they are completely independent and don't need to think anyone and just earned and deserved everything they have. Such people won't understand Islam. They have even lost that BASIC sense and basic ability. Some people either lose the sense of gratitude because they become too depressed that they cease to appreciate the beauty around them OR they associate everything with their own ability so they become selfish and full of themselves and self indulged.

Allah has given us taste buds, to enjoy food and appreciate it. We could have survived even without them but Allah gave us buds to enjoy it. Allah gave us this beautiful world and eyes to see it and eyes to see colours. We did not need it for survival. But Allah gave us this ability.Allah has given us a sense of smell . It wasnt necessary for survival. But Allah gave it so that we could appreciate things. Remember Kafir is someone who is not grateful.

Allah has given so many things, so many abilities. Imagine our father gives us a new car or a playstation or anything we love and gives us a few instructions and asks us to use it wisely. And we dont follow them. Wont that hurt him? And what do we do when we get that thing, we thank our Dad and we praise that thing. Imagine all the faculties Allah has given us. All the things Allah is doing for us consistently and constantly. Whenever somebody does something for us e.g. our mothers do so much for us, even if they dont ask anything in return, we do owe them at least some appreciation, and some respect, and do something for them. Suppose you give someone a gift and instead of thanking they complain about it. You get mad about it or feel offended and might say I would rather give it to someone who appreciates it. Yet Allah continue to give us although we are so ungrateful. Allah not only owns the things around us but He also owns us. We are not out own creator but Allah gave us this body and mind and heart. And not just me, but Allah gave the whole world their existence.

When you own something that does not do anything for you or what you expect from it, you throw it in the garbage or replaces it e.g. if your gadgets stop working. or something you own stops working.
Have we been doing anything for Allah?What right does Allah have now? Allah can replace us with something else the same way we replace something that does not do anything for us . No one can question Allah when he does that because HE has both the right and the power.Now Allah HAS the right to do it yet he still does not do it, the possibility is that either you are doing a good job OR that He is so loving and caring and so patient with you and willing to give you chance after chance after chance. There is no one else, not even our parents, who you disappoint over and over again but they still keep giving you chances, eventually people give up on you. But Allah does not give up on you even if you have ignored Him or not valued Him or even bothered to ask what He wants.

Rahman= means loving and caring.
Rahma comes from Rahm which is the womb of the mother
In the womb the child does not even know that he is being taken care of, the mother is going through a lot of pains, the child is doing nothing for the mother and the mother is doing everything of the child. Same implies to our relationship with Allah. There is nothing we can offer to Allah yet Allah is constantly doing so much for us
The child is completely surrounded by the care of the mother. As the child keeps growing it drains the mother more and more but the mother loves him even more and more. The mother loves the child even though the child caused her so much pain. This is similar to Allahs love for us.
Rahman means that Allahs love is extreme, but it is not forever. According to Ibn e Abbas,Allah is Rahman for all of us, until the Day of judgement, because Rehman cannot be forever. It is for all humanity.

Raheem means always loving and caring. It is special for believers so it is for Paradise when Allahs love and care will be constant. Allah says that He will say to the believers Salaam in Jannah from Rabbul Raheem

Suppose your parents keep giving and giving to you,fulfilling all your desires, and a moment comes when they dont give you something and you freak out, why do you go crazy at that thought? If Allah puts you under a trial or puts you in a difficult situation why do you go crazy and become ungrateful?

After mentioning Rahmah,Allah should have mentioned Punishment. But Allah mentions justice. Thats Allahs mercy.

You WILL be interrogated. Now maaliki yaumiddeen is mentioned
We often have such questions that why is there so much injustice in the world? Why is God unjust? Why did so and so thing happen to me?
This world is not designed to be perfect. The Quran openly declares it. You can never get perfect justice in this world. Even if we follow the Shariah law, it might not give perfect justice because even a reliable witness may lie!Suppose somebody committed 50 murders, whats the maximum you can do? You cannot kill him 50 times! So The Quran claims that there will come a day when perfect justice will be developed and people will have to pay fully for what they did. If you dont believe in judgement day you cannot believe in god because if there is no judgement day we are stuck with this imperfect unjust world and if the world is unjust that means Allah would be unjust and then there cant be any god MuaazAllah..So basically belief in Judgement Day strengthens the belief in Allah. There are some pains we suffered in this world which we shouldnt have suffered or some joys we enjoyed which we should not have enjoyed, we will pay for all of that. For example when somebody was ill the Prophet SAWW used to say to him that it is a means of purification, and when a person is purified he will receive so many rewards in Jannah.

When we come to all these conclusions we say that we give up ourselves to you in slavery, out of happiness.
I owe you a lot but I dont know how to pay back to you. So I ask you for your help in doing this.I dont think I can do so much. So Allah asks us to do little but it counts for a lot.

Technically when we are slaves, we should be slaves 24/7 every second. For example if we own a mobile phone, it is a slave to us 24/7. It doesnt work 9 to 5. But it isnt practically possible for us to do that. All other creations of Allah are in constant submission to Allah, but we cannot do that, although we have been blessed the most. So Allah makes ease for us and asks only for bare minimum. Just 5 namaz, just one Hajj, Just zakat once a year, Allah asks very little from us.

We can only be a slave if we know what our master wants, so now we ask Allah, guide us to the straight path because we dont know what to do.

Unfortunately as humans all of us are biased.We have certain emotional attachments and experiences.
 1-Human judges can never be completely fair in every situation.Men are biased about women and women are biased about men. Both have a soft corner for their own gender. In conflicts they wont support the other side generally. (SOCIAL CONFLICT)
2-Bosses are biased about employees and employees are biased about their bosses. Bosses want to decrease pay and increase workhours. Employees have labour unions to do the opposite. (ECONOMIC CONFLICT)
3.Government and Citizens
Government wants more taxes, more laws,less freedom for citizens and literally want dictatorship, citizens want the opposite in fact they dont even want a government.  (POLITICAL CONFLICT)
4-The biggest war is within ourselves. Ruh vs. Body. Ruh wants to do spiritual stuff. Body wants to do physical stuff. If we give preference to one, the other one suffers. Some people just want to take care of Ruh and others just want to take care of Body.(INTERNAL CONFLICT)

We asked Allah for a straight path, for guidance. It has to be the middle path. The only one who can be fair and can create a balance between these conflicts is Allah. Allah is the only neutral being which can create a balance between all these.
When we follow the rules and balance Allah has given, then the world will become beautiful. It cannot be absolutely perfect but it will become wonderful. For following that we need to have both fair laws and fair people to follow those laws without manipulation. The more important of the 2 is YOU being fair. When you are fair, the laws will automatically be fair and implemented.

If you are selfish you will not want this guidance, because if you are selfish you will not care about justice and you will only want everything for yourself, you wont care ab about others

Who are those Allah has favoured? We often think why everybody else is wrong and how come we are the right ones?Are we really the right ones?How can we be so sure?
Siraat is a word used for a wide path, a straight path,and the only path possible, there are no alternate routes
This word has NO plural in Arabic because its the ONLY road that goes to the straight path
Event the prophets that came before have always taught the same morals and beliefs, only the laws changed according to the need of the time as the societies developed and became more complex. Allah gave constitutions for nations.
Morals are about how to become better and better.
Laws are to prevent people from becoming criminals and to teach restraint. They define the absolute bare minimum. Abiding by law doesnt make people a good person, they are just law abiding citizens.Laws are just about things you must do and things you cannot do. Following laws just not make you an amazing person, it is just to prevent you from causing harm to others.
The first consitution was giving to Bani Israel when Hazrat Musa AS got them freedom from firaun.
Morals are personal and laws are enforced by Governments.And there have to be punishments for breaking the laws in order to enforce them. There needs to be a government machinery to enforce laws. for e.g. in Quran theres a punishment Qisas for murder or bloodmoney or forgiveness, so the family gets the option of making the decision. The family cannot do it themselves, there needs to be an authority to do it. We cannot take the law in our own hands.

In Islam there are spiritual laws and there are social laws. Spiritual laws include rules of fasting and halal/haram.
Social laws include inheritance laws.Wordly punishments are associated with social laws mainly. We dont need a government to abide by spiritual laws and we usually get punishment for them in Jahnnum.
Our role models for beliefs and morals are those Allah FAVOURED ( those from the past) and that includes all prophets. Allah does not talk about laws of other prophets in Quran but he talks about morals and beliefs.
For laws, the only one we follow is the Prophet SAWW. We can only follow his constitution.
So our true heroes are from the past, just like we get career counseling from those people who have already
been through that stage and not from our friends. So we follow those who are experienced.
Those are Anbiyaa(Prophets), Siddiqeen(Those who believed in prophets no matter what), Shuhada(people who gave their lives for their faith),Saliheen(people of great character) e.g. Luqman AS, and how amazing these people are in company (it means we will get to hang out with them in Jannah InshaaAllah ameen)

Allah says that He has recorded everything and videotaped it and it will be shown to us on the Day of judgement. That was really hard for people to believe back in the day but now with advancement of technology, its so easy for us to believe. Its no longer the matter of the unseen. Allah has shown us how its possible to record everything, to replay it, to use it as evidence.

MAGZOOB=people you are angry at because they know something is wrong and they do it anyway
Their knowledge does not translate into the right thinking. Abu Jahl and Abu lahb had a lot of knowledge, they knew Arabic yet they rejected the message.
Bani Israel had a LOT of knowledge, but Allah criticizes them that why dont you THINK and use your intellect.
These are the Jews

ZAALEEN= someone who had no idea it was wrong and they did it
They had the power of finding out.  Yet they did not bother to make the effort. These were the Christians.
They are just doing certain things without putting in any thought and if you ask them why, they say thats how we always did it or thats how our forefathers did it.

This does not mean that every jew is magzoob and every christian is zaaleen, rather Allah is giving an example of their behaviours which were mentioned in the Quran to warn us not to do the same.

For example, when it comes to weddings why do we have 10 events, why do we waste food, why do we go in debt to have grand functions, whats the point! why do we need a gigantic hall? I dont know why we are doing it, we are just doing it. And I dont even want to think about it. Christians used to say that Jesus is Allahs son.Why? because he did not have a father. But Adam AS also did not have a father. I dont want to think! Okay if he is paying for my sins can I go rob a bank? NO you should be a good person. But why? He  has already paid for my sins! I dont want to think..thats the problem Christians had. The Christians became all about the heart and NO knowledge and the Jews became all knowledge and forgot the heart.
The Quran gives us a path that balances heart and mind. Unfortunately Muslims have also developed groups where some groups are too dependent on the heart and some are too dependent on knowledge. Sometimes we become purely academic and our hearts become hard

Some Amazing facts about Sura Fatiha:
1)Surah Fatiha has 7 ayahs. The first 3 are about Allah. The Middle Ayah is common between us and Allah(what we are giving to Allah and what we want for Allah). And the last 3 are about us.
Iyyaka Nabudu is the conclusion of part 1(the first 3 ayahs) when we give up ourselves to Allah
Iyyaka Nastaeen is the conclusion of part 2 (asking Allah for help)

2)The first part was KNOWLEDGE because we learnt about Allah
The 2nd part is ACTION because it had to be with our amaal
Surah Fatiha talked about ihdinasiraatul mustaqeem(both knowledge and action), then about people who had EITHER just knowledge or just action, so its a complete picture

3)From a grammatical perspective, the 1st part is noun based (Jumla Ismiya) and nouns are timeless and they are about Allah and Allah is also timeless
And the last part is verb based(Jumla failiya) and it is time-bound(has tenses) and we are also timebound(not eternal) so its for us
And the middle part is although a verb based sentence but the noun is muqaddam over the verb, so its a mixture of a verb and noun based sentence

Such precision is not humanly possible

4) Link with Surah naas
The way Quran begins and the way it ends complements each other

Surah Baqarah ayah 22-25

2:22

to top

Sahih International

[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].

Ja-ala means placing for our service or furnishing for us. It is used for a favour because Allah facilitated for us the Earth as a firaash(something that is laid down, soft and easy and firm to walk and live on). Firaash is like a bed, because people used to sleep on the floor in old times so Allah has made the earth comfortable for everyone to sleep and live anywhere.Then Allah sent down water and brought out fruits for us, so Allah is reminding us of the sustenance he has provided us with. Allah could have given us grass to eat like animals, but Allah made food so beautiful and attractive and delicious for us. Every fruit has its own flavour and its own wrapping. Allah went out of the way to provide us with blessings but we often fail to acknowledge them.

So don't furnish competitors for Allah. NIDD means an equivalent and competitor. Tandeed is to raise your voice against something. It means we shouldn't live our life in opposition of Allah and we shouldn't challenge or disobey Allah in any way. We can't put Allah's and our will together because Allah is above us. We make our desires, our nafs, our greed, our relationships a competitor to Allah.

2:23

to top

Sahih International

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.

2:24

to top

For 10 years, the prophet constantly tried to convince the mushrikeen to believe in Allah, but they kept rejecting it, he tried every possible means, only THEN did Allah say that why dont you produce a surah like this one, this shows that the dawah doesnt BEGIN with this challenge but it ends with this challenge..we are not supposed to begin dawah with this.Allah said this to the most obnoxious people who rejected the best daee as a last resort, this left them stumped. Dawah begins by inviting people to their good nature and calling them to their fitrah. When people do not accept the truth, then Allah gives them miracles and even if they reject clear miracles, then Allah challenges them.

Allah calls our Prophet SAWW abd in this ayah, and Allah always calls him SAWW abd whenever Allah mentions his highest status. e.g. Allah also calls him SAWW abd when mairaaj is mentioned. In this world, there is no station weaker than slavery, but in our deen this aboodiyat is a position go ultimate pride and it is the highest rank we can have. Slavery to Allah frees us of the slavery of the whole world, the cultural trends, relationships, peer pressure, fashion and what not. If we are not Allah's slave, we become slaves of all these things.

SURAH comes from Soor. Soon means the large outer walls of a city. The purpose of the walls is to protect the city. These walls were unusually high so that nobody could scale them and they were unusually thick so that nobody could dig through them. These walls were the property of the king and not of the people. So when we say surah, our mind goes to Allah, the king of the kings. Arabs did not have such walls because they never had such construction, and it was only a feature of Roman and persian and other such great empires. So whatever is inside a soor is of a very high value. If somebody tries to scale those walls, it is an offence against Allah himself. These walls go from the bottom above because walls are constructed from the earth. Allah's surah is sent NAZZALNA down from the sky. Your surah can never beat this surah as it is from high up and is matchless.  It is called Surah because it protects the timeless guidance contained in the Surah.

Allah challenges people multiple times to produce Surahs like in Quran. When we study the ahadith, we see a clear difference in the type of language used by the Prophet SAWW in hadith and the Quran. The speech pattern is totally different and easily distinguishable. It is not from the same person. Even if all humans and jinns combine, they can't produce anything similar to the Quran.  This is the 6th time Allah has challenged the people in the chronologically order of the Quran. Bring me something min mislihi(even something remotely close to the surahs of the Quran). Allah says IF you have any doubt and IF you are truthful about having doubts then try and produce a Surah like this. Through this, Allah exposes the people that they in fact know this is is haqq and their pride is preventing them from accepting imaan.

There was Tufail, he was the leader of his tribe and an important person, some people warned him not to come into contact with Prophet SAWW because his words are magical and he might deviate you..but he decided to go anyway..then they told him to put cork in his ears as soon as he sees the messenger SAWW..then when he sees the Prophet reciting the Quran, he puts the cork in his ears and runs away..but as he was running he thought that im the leader of my tribe and an excellent poet, why cant i make a text like this..so he came back to listen to the Quran and ended up taking shahadah instead

Utba bin raiba was the worst enemy of islam, he was an excellent debator, he used to debate and insult the other party and make a fool out of them, so his people sent him to argue with the messenger, he came to the prophet SAWW and said what do you want?women money power what? when he was done the Prophet SAWW starts reciting from surah fussilat, then utba starts crying and he grabs the mouth of Prophet SAWW, he put a hand on his mouth and asks him to stop because he cannot listen anymore, then he bows and then he returns and says that i dont know what that is but its not magic, but i guarantee its going to be a huge event..so his people said he has done his magic on you too..

One of the final accusations against Quran was that its magic but magic is something you see, NOT something you hear, yet they called the words magic because they had an amazing impact on the listener, by calling it magic they acknowledged the overwhelming power of the Quran, they would start crying when they heard it, but look at us, all we are thinking in salah is that when is the ruku coming?

Allah says bring your witnesses,call upon your witnesses, this is done to mock their false Gods, the 2nd witnesses are their experts, the poets , the intellectuals etc who could testify for them whether Quran is legitimate or not , so Quran says why dont they bring their people as witnesses?

The disbelievers had no answer to the Qurans challenge so they started calling it magic to keep people away from Quran

Ghayra means OTHER THAN..doon means to be inferior..here Allah uses DOON to show that all the witnesses are inferior to Allah

Sahih International

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.

Amal is something done consciously. Fail is something done without conscious thinking, it might be something we are doing subconsciously without intention e.g. doodling. Amal is doing something with constant effort.   Allah is saying forget bringing a Surah, you can't even do anything close to it consciously or subconsciously.  LAM TAFALU means you haven't been able to do it in the past and the present, and LAN TAFALU means that you will never be able to do it.  Allah defeated the Quraysh with His kalam and words, and they could not come up with a literary response so they responded with war and aggression.

You hadn't been able to do so and you wont be able to do so, then protect yourself from the fire. Allah tells them that they hadnt been able to do it ever and they wont be able to do it ever. In the beginning of surah Allah told the believers to have taqwa of Allah and now Allah is saying to the disbelievers to have taqwa from fire. This is out of sarcasm:How are you going to protect yourself from the fire?this sarcasm is appropriate because those people used to mock Allah and the Quran

-Allah goes on to say that the fire is fueled by people and stones:people includes the disbelievers and stone refers to the gods/idols they used to worship other than Allah, so they will be burned along with their stone-idols,or refers to their hearts which had turned into stone, OR it also means that the lava which consists of stone has extreme intensity of its flame.

Kafir comes from kafara which means to bury the seed in the ground and its also been used for a farmer because he plants a seed. It is used to show that the kafir had the seed of imaan inside him when he came to the dunya but he buried that light and didnt let the light of the revelation penetrate it and he buried the truth.

2:25

to top

Sahih International

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.

The Quran was being revealed through the messenger SAWW so denial of Quran included denial of the Messenger, so now the messenger is told to congratulate those who believe and acted righteously. This is the first direct command given to the Prophet SAWW in the order of the Quran, so it is a sign for us to begin dawah with good news. Prophet SAWW never overburdened people whenever they asked him questions but he always dealt with every sahaba individually according to their nature and advised them regarding their character. People are always at different levels and we need to deal with them appropriately, not everyone will go all out in deen and strive to be the best, some people are average and we need to guide them accordingly.

Allazeena aamino includes those who have strong faith and those who have weak faith and even the hypocrites who claim to believe, but the congratulation here is only to those who believe AND do good deeds.

Especially and only for them there are multiple gardens underneath which rivers flow. Think about it..picture it..even in this modern age, the highest price of real estate is the land which is at an elevated location..especially with a view of the sea..so Allah is trying to offer us what appeals most to us..greenery is another thing that really appeals to us..these desires are innate within us..most people want to buy a house when they grow up..they dont like to live at rent..they want stability in life, to be settled..Allah put these desires within us so that we could learn to long for paradise..Allah is giving us permanent real estate custom-made for us,without any cost. Allah gives us multiple gardens and all of them are different from one another and extremely beautiful.

Allah is talking to sahaba who have left their homes for islam,who are bankrupt, and they are in the middle of the desert, so Allah is saying that I will give you homes and gardens and rivers..with beautiful water..they will be given a lot of fruits..they will be given the fruits again and again..and they will not complain..they will be excited like a child when you give him his favourite dessert and will say hey thats my favourite fruit, i had it yesterday, they cant wait to have it again..and it doesnt end at that, when they taste it they will find it even tastier than yesterday..each time it tastes better. This doesnt even happen in the best restaurants in the dunya. We will never get bored of it.

They will have purified spouses. That shows that if we get a good spouse in the dunya,it will be a glimpse of jannah,a gift from Allah..they will reside in there forever. Zauj is used for both the husband and the wife. Zauj refers to perfectly matched counterparts e.g. sun and moon are zaujain, day and night are zaujain, life and afterlife are zaujain, body and rooh are zaujain, males and females are zaujain. Everybody in jannah will have at least one wonderful spouse.  Purified spouses means that the spouses are purified inside out and perfected for you. We will never get bored of our spouses unlike in this world and the relationship will always be fresh and beautiful and new for people, just like the fruits will taste beautiful every time.
Azwaaj does not only refer to spouses but also refers to companions and friends so it means that we will have a lot of wonderful friends to hang out with and they will all be purified and best in character.