Day 16 (Juz 16):-
“(This is) a mention of the Mercy of your Lord to His slave Zakariya. When he called upon his Lord in a low voice.” [19: 3]
Surah Maryam opens with the beautiful scene of Zakariya who after many years of not having a child, begs Allah ‘azza wa jall to bless him with a child. But what’s beautiful about this verse is the last word – the du’a of Zakariya is described as being ‘khafiyya‘ which means ‘quiet’, ‘secretive’, and ‘hidden’. Zakariya knew he was calling upon the All-Hearing Lord who hears the most silent of prayers and so his approach reflected his belief and knowledge of Allah. It also reflects how deep and private his plea was because asking for a child when you can’t have one is a most personal thing. This secret supplication of Zakariya teaches us a lesson: when we speak, we ought to speak bearing in mind who we are speaking to. We ought to level our speech according to the ranking and respect of the ones we address. There’s no need to wail or call aloud in prayer because we’re not calling upon a deaf God; rather we’re calling upon He Who hears even the prayers of the heart.
A few verses later, we read the passage where Maryam is approached by Jibril who comes to give her glad-tidings of ‘Isa (AS). He comes in the form of a man and Maryam experiences a mix of emotions. Her piety and shyness made her feel uncomfortable in the presence of a man and the fact that she was alone caused her fear. So she addressed him with some deep words: “She said: “Verily! I seek refuge with the Most Merciful from you, if you do have Taqwa (fear of Allah).” [19: 18]. She could’ve said ‘I seek refuge in the Almighty’ or ‘the All-Powerful’, but instead she said ‘the Most Merciful’ because this was her way of telling him to have mercy on her. She reminded him of the mercy of God. Not stopping at that, she goes on to qualify her statement by saying ‘if you have Taqwa’ – and by saying this, she effectively reminded him of the fear of God – she tapped into his conscious. What a beautiful way of speaking! Her words contained not only the remembrance of Allah, but also a clear message – something which a righteous soul could always understand.
…So let your words always have meaning, let them be deep, and let them be understood by hearts.
Day 17 (Juz 17):-
“And We did not grant to any man immortality before you; so if you die – would they be eternal? Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as a trial; and to Us you will be returned.” [21: 34-35]
It’s both shocking and fearsome that the one thing which is certain in life is the one thing we are unprepared for – the complete opposite of life: death. No-one has remained on this earth, no matter how well-protected they were, how fearless they were, how reckless they were, how rich or poor they were, how intelligent or well-learned they were. None has been granted immortality, no matter how much they tried to prolong life. Even the Messenger, the best of creation (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was made to cross this bridge, so will any be spared after him?
No doubt, we will live our lives and complete our written term. But within this life are great trials which we are engaged in day and night. These are the tests of al-Rahman. The verse above eloquently explains that we will for sure be tested with both bad and good. The funny thing is, most of us recognise a test when it is bitter and hard, but how many of us recognise the tests when they are sweet and delightful? See, every blessing can be a test because every blessing deserves our thanks. So if it is not thanked for, or appreciated, or the mercy of Allah is not recognised through it, what does that say for the hidden trial within it? Every soul will die and cross the bridge – and it’s then that the results from all these trials that we underwent will be calculated, tallied up, and placed right before us.
May Allah make us from this grateful slaves who recognise Him and constantly give thanks to Him, and may He grant us patience in every hardship and help us overcome it. In both tests of life, may He be pleased with us, ameen.
Day 18 (Juz 18):-
“Indeed, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you. Consider it not a bad thing for you. Nay, it is good for you. Unto every man among them will be paid that which he had earned of the sin, and as for him among them who had the greater share therein, his will be a great torment.” [24: 11]
Sometimes, all it takes to wreak havoc in a community is a word from a small group of people. The verse above speaks of those who sparked the slander against ‘Aisha, the honourable wife of the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam), and it says that they were a ‘usbah‘ – by classical definition, ‘usbah means a group numbering between 3-10. That’s how small it can all start in a community, or a nation, and that small ripple has the power to cause such pain and harm. Words have consequences, and carrying that word to others also has consequences. Interestingly, the word ‘ifk‘ (slander) comes from ‘afk‘ which means something flipping and changing, because that’s exactly what happens in rumours and slanders – the truth changes and becomes distorted, reality is changed and warped, and you become a liar by simply passing on what you heard on the street.
For the one who suffers and is slandered against, Allah tells them this: Don’t worry, this is not a bad thing, rather it’s good for you. Because you see in the end, the honourable are honoured, and the innocent are championed. Ibn Rajab mentions that one day, Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas suffered from the lies and slanders of a man. In the heat of that pain, Sa’d said “O Allah, if he is lying, take away his eyesight, elongate his life, and expose him to trials and tribulations.” And so the slanderer suffered this very fate as he lost his sight, reached old age, and was seen saying to slave-girls, “I am an old man who is experiencing fitnah. I have been stricken by the du’a of Sa’d!” And in the case of ‘Aisha, an entire passage of Qur’an was majestically sent down as a testimony to her purity & innocence, and absolving her of the false tales. So if you are hurt by rumours and slanders, don’t worry, you will be championed by Allah.
As for the general public, Allah highlights something to them. He says in Surah al-Nur, “Why, when you heard it, did the believing men and women not think good of themselves…” [24: 12]. This part always strikes me because it contains a double meaning. On the one hand, it means ‘Why didn’t you think good of each other’, and on the other hand, it means, ‘Why didn’t you think good of *yourself*’ – i.e. you as a person should honour yourself and rise above carrying a rumour to others, no matter how many times you hear it. Never let yourself be used as a tool by Shaytan to sow discord between believers. Fight the hate and oppression, and move towards nobility because a slander has many names, and one of them is ‘Qadh‘ (قدح) – the act of ‘piercing’ something, because that’s precisely what you do when you spread a tale – you pierce the heart of an innocent person, and you pierce a hole within a community that will take years to seal.
May Allah save us from lies, slander, rumours, and their consequences, and aid us in speaking the pure truth, ameen.
Day 19 (Juz 19):-
There’s a passage in Surah al-Furqan that speaks of the power of Allah in creating and sustaining this world. It speaks of how He makes the shadows appear, how night covers us, and the day is a form of resurrection – because sleep is a form of rest for us just as it is a form of death. It speaks of how He sends the winds – a word that’s pluralised to indicate mercy and upcoming blessing, and it speaks of pure rain coming down from the sky to bring the earth back to life. It’s a beautiful passage spanning across 2 pages, and you get the powerful theme of Tawhid radiating from it.
I want to mention my grandmother to everyone here, because she doesn’t cease to amaze me when it comes to Tawhid. Most of you know that my mother (her daughter) passed away last year much to the grief and sorrow of all of us. But my grandmother’s heart was completely broken because she never thought in a million years that in her old age, she would wash and bury her daughter. During her illness, my mum suffered from a particular nerve problem in the stomach which caused her to throw up more than ten times a day, with or without food. This was just one symptom of a few, and it was very difficult to see her like that and not be able to do anything about it – no doctor could stop it. This went on for at least a month subhan’Allah. My grandmother was visibly upset and seeing that no medication was working, she stood one night in fervent supplication. She later told me that she asked Allah to remove what no-one was able to remove (this particular symptom), but what was moving was how she approached Allah.
She said to me: “I am an illiterate woman, I can’t read or write like you young people, but I know Allah and I see His Actions. So I said to Him, “O You Who brings out white milk from the black cow, and sends the rain from an open sky, and extracts a great tree from beneath the ground, by Your Power, remove this from her.”
Allah is my Witness, the next day and onwards, that particular symptom which was plaguing my mother was completely gone. Something that no doctor could do anything about, and for which there was no cure. This is iman guys. We can be as learned as scholars, and gather PhDs to the moon and back, but if it doesn’t lead back to this kind of faith, what have we gathered? Now, my grandmother grew up in the Badiya (Bedouin and rural areas of East Africa). She grew up with pure nature around here where colours are vibrant, space is vast, and the creation of Allah is seen exquisitely. When you live like that, you *will* notice the white milk contrasting against the black cow, the descending rain contrasting against the open sky, and the tree growing in vast empty lands. You *will* see the power of Allah because the distractions that keep us so blind in this busy city life will be absent. So Allah answered her supplication, because she answered Him and recognised Him. Just like in this passage of Surah al-Furqan. Subhan’Allah.
Please make du’a for my grandmother and my family. And may He grant you the same for yours.
Day 20 (Juz 20):-
“Whoever hopes for the Meeting with Allah, then indeed the term of Allah is coming. and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.” [29: 5]
There are people in this world, past and present, whose hearts flutter with the Remembrance of Allah. They can’t wait to meet Him not because they think they deserve Paradise or anything, but because of the deep love and hope that exists in their hearts. They are the mushtaqun – those who long for their Lord.
In the story of Musa (as), when he went with thousands of men crossing deserts and vast lands to the Miqat, Imam al-Qushayri (d.465 AH) says that he arrived like the mushtaqin arrive, and even though thousands of men were him, Allah decreed that we recite this verse until the Day of Judgement highlighting the arrival of *Musa* as the verse goes… “And when Musa arrived at Our appointed time…” [7: 143]. Because he was a mushtaq, longing for his Lord, arriving after 40 nights. And this is remembered until the end of time. There are people whose hearts are not the same as you and I – they’re filled with wonders and awe of Allah. For them, the verse above in al-‘Ankabut takes a different meaning to how we understand it. Shaykh Abu ‘Uthman al-Hiri (d.298 AH) said: “This verse is actually a ta’ziyah – a consolation – for the mushtaqin. He is telling them ‘I know you are overcome with your longing to meet Me, but I have set a term for your meeting, (so wait) and soon you will meet what you yearn for.'” [Tariq al-Hijratayn, by Ibn al-Qayyim]
Everyone dislikes death; its pains, sorrow, and grief. But how do we feel about what’s beyond that? Who yearns for the meeting with Allah? I leave you with a statement from Zuhayr al-Babi which highlights the different hearts of people and how they are affected by the remembrance of Allah. The question we should ask ourselves is: Where do we stand among them?
“Indeed, Allah has slaves that remember Him so their souls almost soar out of yearning and exalting (Him). And people who remember Him so their hearts become fearful out of awe and fright. And others who remember Him in winter but sweat drips from them out of reverance and fear. And people who remember Him and their colour changes to that of dust. And people who remember Him and their eyes dry up because of sleepless nights (i.e. they stand in prayer)…”
May Allah purify our hearts and instill His Love within us, such that we long to meet Him, ameen.