Surah al Baqarah

Ayahs 63 – 73

Recap

• Learned about Mann and Salwa• Not making food an obsession or central goal

of life• Every tribe had its own place of drinking water

(learned organization and discipline in a community)

• Learned the remarkable traits of Musa A.S. as a leader

Outline

• Continuing on with the story of Bani Israel (still in the desert)

• Musa A.S. given the Torah• Concept of the Sabbath• Story of the Cow (Baqarah)• Asking too many questions

Ayah 63And [recall] when We took your covenant, [O Children of Israel, to abide by the Torah]

and We raised over you the mount, [saying], "Take what We have given you

with determination and remember what is in it that perhaps you may become

righteous (develop taqwa)."

Roots

Waaw Thaa Qaaf – a rope with which a prisoner is tied; in this context it means a contract in which both parties bind each otherMeethaaq: 1. a contract that is formal2. lays responsibility upon the person making

the contract3. made firm by swearing an oath

Roots

• Toor – 1. in Syriac language means a mountain with dense, lush green trees, therefore its not rocky 2. Proper name of Mount Sinai

• Allah SWT physically lifted the mountain over their heads; suspended over their heads

• Its as if…are you going to believe now or not? Because they continually denied even after receiving so many blessings

Roots

• Qaaf Waaw Yaa – 1. strength that is physical; force 2. intangible strength: firm resolution; determination

• Dhaal Kaaf Raa – implementing the book; doing the actions means that you remember the commands

• The entire book should be recited and followed; do this so you attain Taqwa (develop fear and hope in Allah)

…with Strength

Qur’an

Hold it with

Strength

Take it with

Determination

Implement its

Teachings

Follow its

Commands

Continue to Refer

back to it

Taqwa

Consciousness &

Awareness of Allah

Become Conscious

of Your Deeds

Abstinence from Sins

from Difficulties

in this world

from Difficulties of Akhirah

What is Taqwa

Taqwa

Hold On to the Book

Guidance

Ibadah

Got Taqwa?

Traffic Law Example

AYAH 64

Then you turned away after that. And if not for the favor of Allah

upon you and His mercy, you would have been among the losers.

Roots

• Waaw Laam Yaa – to turn away physically from something after making the promise; couldn’t see the commands

• Faa Daawd Laam – used for something extra (what you don’t necessarily deserve); it’s a favour

• Refers to the Bani Israel not being punished immediately

When we are in trouble, we make promises with Allah, Once we are out of it, we forget

The respite, the delay is a special mercy from Allah.

Its Allah’s Fadl that we are here in a gathering of knowledge

Our life should be spent with this book ن� ق�و �� ن ن� م ق� �� ن ن ن�

Lessons

Analyze Yourself!

• With what level of Quwa (strength) am I holding on to the Qu’ran?

• - No reading, only know it’s the truth– Reading only– Reading with Tajweed– Reading and Understanding – Reading, Understanding, Implementing– Reading, Understanding, Implementing and

Teaching (forwarding the message to others)

AYAH 65And you had already known

about those who transgressed among you concerning the

Sabbath, and We said to them, "Be apes, despised."

Roots

• Seen Baa Taa – to cut something; Sabth: used for Saturday; this was a holy day for the Bani Israel. They would cut themselves off from all types of work and do only ibaadah (worship). But they wanted to work everyday

• Khaa Seen Hamza – those who are humiliated and kicked out; Allah SWT disfigured their faces

SABBATH

Holy Day

No Work

Entire Day of Ibadah

Forbidden to Fish

LessonsWe shouldn’t prefer this World over

Hereafter

We should not leave our Faraidh for some more work hours

They changed the commands of Allah, and Allah changed their appearance

We should trust Allah, that He will provide us

Turned into Apes…• Were literally turned into apes, and they knew

they had been (mentally they were humans)

Rasool Allah(s.a.w)’s Warning

Do not do what the Jews did that they made the things that Allah made haramhalal upon themselves through trickery,

deceit.

Sabbath Elevator

Do we play around with the commands of Allah?

Ayah 66نAnd We made it a deterrent

punishment for those who were present and those who succeeded [them] and a lesson for those who

fear Allah.

Roots

• Noon Kaaf Laam – neck collar; purpose is to restrain; it’s a warning punishment so we don’t return to the action again; a punishment that’s severe and also becomes an example for others as well

• Baina Yadaaiha – • 1. the people of the nearby cities• 2. the rest of the people who didn’t turn into

apes

نكاال

For Everyone

موعظ@ةFor

Muttaqeen

Trickery & Deceit is forbidden

If someone disobeys Allah through his actions but in his speech he says that he is obeying Allah, he is

misguided

Intelligent is the one who takes the word of Allah as it is and does not misinterpret it.

Allah can make anyone a deterrent Example for Others

They changed Allah’s Commands, Allah changed their faces

Lessons

Ayah 67And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "Indeed, Allah commands

you to slaughter a cow." They said, "Do you take us in ridicule?" He said, "I seek refuge in Allah from

being among the ignorant."

RRoots

• Baa Qaaf Raaw – lit. to cut something open; cows that are used for plowing

• Context: The Bani Israel were told to slaughter any cow but they asked many questions. Why were they told to slaughter a cow?

• 1. to rid them of the love of the cow they had in their hearts (golden calf)

• 2. a person from among the Bani Israel was killed and didn’t know who the culprit was

Context

• Response of the Bani Israel: are you serious? Are you messing with us?

• Response of Musa A.S. : I seek refuge from the Jahileen– Person who does not know– Person has incorrect knowledge, but he/she thinks

its true– Person doesn’t act on the knowledge

True knowledge is Action

When any command comes, we should submit

We should honor the commands of Allah, we should take them seriously

Beautiful Response of Musa, He didn’t argue back rather he sought refuge in Allah

Lessons

Ayah 68

They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is." [Moses] said, "[ Allah ] says, 'It is a cow which is neither old nor young, but median between that,' so do what you are

commanded."

Roots

• Faa Raaw Daawd – cutting something that is firm; cutting/reducing the meat/flesh; used for a cow that has crossed its youth, therefore, not much meat

• Baa Kaaf Raaw – for female cows; hasn’t given birth yet

• Aain Waw Noon – has given birth but not too old

Questioning starts…

How old should this cow be?

What should the colour be?

What type should it be (what kind)

Delaying Tactics are very obvious

An arrogant & carefree attitude towards Messenger, does not make him/his ways

(sunnah) less important

They made things difficult upon themselves, so Allah made it difficult

upon them.

Lessons

Ayah 69

They said, "Call upon your Lord to show us what is her color." He said, "He says, 'It

is a yellow cow, bright in color - pleasing to the

observers.' "

Ayah 70They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is. Indeed,

[all] cows look alike to us. And indeed we, if Allah wills, will be

guided."

Do not make excuses, do not argue – if Allah has said so, then do it. sami’naa wa ata’naa.

A person should not delay in doing good

Importance of Insha’Allah

No Blames – No Excuses – Show results [M AlShareef]

Lessons

Ayah 71He said, "He says, 'It is a cow neither

trained to plough the earth nor to irrigate the field, one free from fault with no spot upon her.' " They said,

"Now you have come with the truth." So they slaughtered her, but they could

hardly do it.

Roots• Dhaal Laam Laam – an animal that has been

trained to do work; a wild cow• Thaa Waw Raaw – to stir something; for land,

it means to dig the eart• Seen Laam Meem – free from any defect; free

from all faults• Waaw Sheen Yaa – something that is

contrasted to the thing its on; for animals, its used for spots; cow should be one colour

Consequence…

• They said “now you have made the truth clear”…so before it wasn’t?

• Now we know that you’re not joking with us about slaughtering…but would a Prophet of Allah ever joke about something like this?

• Kaaf Waw Daal – at the verge of happening; they almost didn’t slaughter it

Question

Relevant

Helps Improve Action

Irrelevant

Wastes Time

Do not ask questions that would make the simple Deen difficult.

Too many questions are not liked

Allah dislikes for you three things: 1) Qeel wa Qaal [He said, she said]2) Wasting wealth3) Asking too many questions.

Lessons

Lessons

• Obey the commands of Allah right away• Don’t take the commands of Allah lightly• Bani Israel at the time of the Prophet SAW

would ask him a lot of random questions to make sure he was a prophet, so they are being reminded

• Making fun of people is a sign of ignorance

Ayah 72

And [recall] when you slew a man and disputed over it, but

Allah was to bring out that which you were concealing.

Roots

• Daal Raaw Hamza – to push something away; you were pushing something onto one another hurling the blame on each other because the murderer was not being found

Ayah 73So, We said, "Strike the slain man with part of it." Thus does Allah bring the dead to life, and He shows you His signs that you

might reason.

Context

• They were told, hit the dead man with some part of the cow. As a result, the man came to life and told them who the killer was and then died again

• Another miracle for them Allah can bring back the dead to life

• Truth will always be exposed

Bringing it all back…

• Keeping our covenant with Allah SWT by holding on to the Qu’ran

• Your focus will become following the Qu’ran and sunnah and this will keep you away from excessive questioning

• The beauty of a person’s Islam is that he/she leaves what does not concern him/her (Bukhari)

REFLECTIONS