The Provision That Bursts Forth and the Story of the Cow: Pauses with the Children of Israel in Sūrat al-Baqarah

Occasion: Transcription of a khatira delivered after Fajr on 8 May 2022 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

O Allah, we ask You for pardon and well-being in our religion, our worldly life and our Hereafter. O Allah, prepare for us right guidance in our affair, and bless us in what You have provided us, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire, and turn away from us the causes of punishment in this world and the Hereafter. Be gentle with us, and have mercy on our weakness, and mend our brokenness, and ease our affair, and guide us to our paths, and take charge of our affair, and arrange what is in our hands, O Lord of the worlds. Fulfill our needs, and settle our debts for us, and draw Your covering over us as long as we live, and cause us to die as Muslims, O Lord of the worlds.

And now, may Allah the Exalted welcome you and be pleased with you. We are on a journey in which we continue, by Allah's leave, the attempt to understand the verses of Allah, blessed and exalted, and our meeting today is the fourth meeting. The Lord of Might, glorified be He, continues His account of the shameful violations of the Children of Israel, violations that did not stop at the limit of violating Allah's commands, which we may call disobedience, but they went so far as to speak insolently about the Divine Essence, and we seek refuge in Allah.

Altering the landmarks of the law

Allah the Exalted mentioned their violation in entering the town which He had commanded them to enter: ﴿وَإِذْ قُلْنَا ٱدْخُلُوا۟ هَـٰذِهِ ٱلْقَرْيَةَ فَكُلُوا۟ مِنْهَا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمْ رَغَدًا وَٱدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْبَابَ سُجَّدًا وَقُولُوا۟ حِطَّةٌ﴾ (And when We said: Enter this town and eat from it wherever you will in ease, and enter the gate bowing humbly and say: Relief), so what was their saying? ﴿فَبَدَّلَ ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ قَوْلًا غَيْرَ ٱلَّذِى قِيلَ لَهُمْ﴾ (But those who wronged substituted a word other than that which had been said to them)^[1].

And before we move to today's subject, I pause at the matter of altering the landmarks of the law. The great problem is that those who put themselves forward to speak about religion, the shaykhs and scholars, and I am one of them, one of us may be a cause of altering a rite among the rites of Allah, glorified be He, and we seek refuge in Allah. When? If he sells the religion of Allah for a small price; if your money becomes lawful to me in exchange for my altering something in the law, and I did so, then I was a cause of demolishing the landmarks of the law. And Allah, blessed and exalted, pointed to this matter, then said after that: ﴿وَإِذِ ٱسْتَسْقَىٰ مُوسَىٰ﴾ (And when Mūsā asked for water)^[2].

So what is the idea? That these people alter the landmarks of the law and change the law of Allah, and yet they still seek from Allah more bounty and care. So imagine the human soul. I always say: which of the two mentalities was easier to deal with regarding Allah's law and commands: the mentality of Quraysh or the mentality of the Children of Israel? The mentality of Quraysh was easier, because Quraysh were perfectly clear and frank: ﴿قُلْ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْكَـٰفِرُونَ ۝ لَآ أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ ۝ وَلَآ أَنتُمْ عَـٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعْبُدُ﴾ (Say: O disbelievers, I do not worship what you worship, nor are you worshippers of what I worship)^[3]. The matter with them is very simple. As for the Children of Israel, they did not walk on a straight line. Quraysh were on a straight line in disbelief; he says to you in all clarity: I am a disbeliever, so he is honest with himself, like one who says to you: I am a thief. But the Children of Israel had this psychological twist.

And for that reason, whenever Allah, blessed and exalted, saw the exhaustion occurring in the life of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, He reminded him of Mūsā, peace be upon him; Allah consoles His Messenger Muḥammad ﷺ with Mūsā, peace be upon him. And the Prophet ﷺ used to say, in meaning: «رحم الله أخي موسى، لقي أكثر من ذلك فصبر» (May Allah have mercy on my brother Mūsā, he met more than this and was patient)^[4]. So these violations the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, mentions to us.

Water: a gift that bursts forth and is not to be deemed slow

So you hear the words of Allah, blessed and exalted: ﴿وَإِذِ ٱسْتَسْقَىٰ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِۦ فَقُلْنَا ٱضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ ٱلْحَجَرَ﴾ (And when Mūsā asked for water for his people, We said: Strike with your staff the stone)^[5]. When did Mūsā ask for water for his people? He said: My Lord, send down upon these people water that they may drink in the desert, and that was when they had crossed the sea and moved to the other side, and saw the miracle with their own eyes: that Allah the Exalted drowned Pharaoh and saved them. And the miracle was still before their eyes, and yet they asked Mūsā to supply them with water.

This in itself may be a natural request; it is natural that we ask Allah, blessed and exalted, to provide for us, bless us, be good to us and be gracious to us. But it is not natural that they say: «ادعُ لنا ربَّك» ("Call upon your Lord for us"). When we stand facing the qiblah we say: O Allah, our Lord, our God, our Creator, in the plural form, for He is my Lord as He is your Lord, and He is my Creator as He is your Creator. But for me to say to you: call your Lord for me, is as though I am saying: I do not belong to Him, rather He is your Lord, you alone! As though they were isolating themselves from this divine system, the system of worship of the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He.

My Lord, glorified be He, said: ﴿فَقُلْنَا ٱضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ ٱلْحَجَرَ﴾ (We said: Strike with your staff the stone), so that the miracle would be renewed before the eyes of these people and they would increase in faith. And in that is an indication that we must learn from all the situations in our daily lives more faith, and that is the meaning of His words, the Exalted: ﴿أَوَلَمْ نُعَمِّرْكُم مَّا يَتَذَكَّرُ فِيهِ مَن تَذَكَّرَ وَجَآءَكُمُ ٱلنَّذِيرُ﴾ (Did We not grant you life enough for whoever would remember to remember therein? And the warner came to you)^[6]. Allah, blessed and exalted, saved me today from a car accident; is this not a sign in my life for me to increase in faith that He is the Savior and the Protector, glorified be He? And Allah, blessed and exalted, provided me today with provision whose coming I did not expect; should that not be a sign for my faith to increase? And these learned nothing from these repeated gifts from the Lord of the worlds.

My Lord, glorified be He, said: ﴿فَٱنفَجَرَتْ مِنْهُ ٱثْنَتَا عَشْرَةَ عَيْنًا﴾ (and there burst forth from it twelve springs). Consider the word "burst forth"; we are speaking of water gushing out. It was possible for us to hear a simple word: "and twelve springs came out of it," so the water would be as much as was required. But He said "burst forth," as though the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, is pointing out that you do not ask but that the divine gifts burst forth. So do not deem provision from Allah slow, believer, Muslim, one who affirms the oneness of Allah, blessed and exalted; do not hasten Allah's provision, nor deem it slow, nor consider it little, for what is with Allah is great in its quantity and its duration, and the Lord of the worlds is vast in giving, glorified be He.

To each his drinking place, and to each his provision

﴿قَدْ عَلِمَ كُلُّ أُنَاسٍ مَّشْرَبَهُمْ﴾ (Every people had known its watering place). And I learn from this too. You, sir, work as an engineer, and you as a contractor, and you as a merchant, and you as a teacher; every people had known its watering place. So do not look at what is in someone else's hand and wish you were in his place, because Allah the Exalted has known the provision of each owner of provision, just as He taught you your craft. Do we understand this? Allah, blessed and exalted, just as He taught you your craft, has known the provision's owner. So provision runs after you as you run after what you seek; there is a double running: running from the human and running from the provision. So sometimes the provision is delayed, and sometimes it comes quickly, and sometimes it comes in advance, and sometimes it comes in abundance, and sometimes it comes little. And those who deem the provision of Allah, blessed and exalted, slow do not understand the matter of the distribution of provisions and their division in the hands of the Lord of Might, glorified be He.

﴿كُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ مِن رِّزْقِ ٱللَّهِ﴾ (Eat and drink from the provision of Allah). What good is in our hands is only from my Lord, glorified be He, so do not say of food: this is bad, and do not find anything in your hands burdensome, and do not dislike anything that Allah, blessed and exalted, created. This home of yours is the greatest provision for you, it is the greatest home that suits you in this position, and this morsel of yours is the best morsel you can eat at this time, so praise Allah, blessed and exalted, for what is in your hands.

And do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption

My Lord, glorified be He, said: ﴿كُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ مِن رِّزْقِ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا تَعْثَوْا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مُفْسِدِينَ﴾ (Eat and drink from the provision of Allah and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption)^[7]. And the question that comes to mind: what is the connection between striving on earth in corruption and eating from the provision of Allah? The answer is that food and drink and striving after provision are the first thing people want in their lives, and a person may seek it by unlawful means. And if we strive to seek provisions by unlawful means we must cause corruption on the earth, because you are using a law other than your natural law, so you alter the features of the divine creation and try to reach what is not yours.

Boredom, submission, and exchanging the lesser

My Lord, glorified be He, said: ﴿وَإِذْ قُلْتُمْ يَـٰمُوسَىٰ لَن نَّصْبِرَ عَلَىٰ طَعَامٍ وَٰحِدٍ﴾ (And when you said: O Mūsā, we can never endure one [kind of] food). And here is the matter of boredom with life that many people live. So you see a man tired of his wife and disinterested in her though she never falls short in his right, and you see a woman tired of her life, wanting to change the house and change the furniture and change the dishes and replace this and that. This is the boredom that is not accompanied by faith that helps toward patience; for patience is one of the results of faith and one of its fruits, just as it is a help to the continuance of faith.

﴿فَٱدْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ﴾ (so call upon your Lord for us) — and once again they do not acknowledge Allah, blessed and exalted, as their God — ﴿يُخْرِجْ لَنَا مِمَّا تُنۢبِتُ ٱلْأَرْضُ مِنۢ بَقْلِهَا وَقِثَّآئِهَا وَفُومِهَا وَعَدَسِهَا﴾ (to bring forth for us from what the earth grows: its green herbs and its cucumbers and its garlic and its lentils). And the point in the saying is that Allah, blessed and exalted, said: ﴿أَتَسْتَبْدِلُونَ ٱلَّذِى هُوَ أَدْنَىٰ بِٱلَّذِى هُوَ خَيْرٌ﴾ (Would you exchange what is lesser for that which is better?)^[8]. By Allah, other than whom there is no god, this is the state of many of us: they exchange what is in their hands for something else, or exchange something else for what is in their hands. And the matter of submission in the believer is that what he has is the best of things for him in this position, and this makes him constantly submissive. And we strive to obtain provisions and increase what is in our hands seeking the pleasure of Allah, not to increase the balances we have.

Which Egypt? And what is the link between food and disbelief?

My Lord, glorified be He, said: ﴿ٱهْبِطُوا۟ مِصْرًا فَإِنَّ لَكُم مَّا سَأَلْتُمْ﴾ (Go down to a settled land, for indeed you will have what you have asked). And the exegetes discuss: is it our Egypt or any miṣr? And a miṣr is the area populous with people, or in which there is a certain social activity. Then Allah, blessed and exalted, said: ﴿وَضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلذِّلَّةُ وَٱلْمَسْكَنَةُ وَبَآءُو بِغَضَبٍ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ يَكْفُرُونَ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ وَيَقْتُلُونَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ بِغَيْرِ ٱلْحَقِّ﴾ (And humiliation and poverty were imposed upon them, and they returned with anger from Allah. That was because they used to disbelieve in the signs of Allah and kill the prophets without right)^[9].

And this place puzzles me a little, the matter of linking the Qur'anic particulars. I am proceeding along the line that they said: Mūsā, call upon your Lord to bring forth for us from what the earth grows; we are speaking of eating and drinking. Then ﴿ٱهْبِطُوا۟ مِصْرًا فَإِنَّ لَكُم مَّا سَأَلْتُمْ﴾ (Go down to a settled land, for indeed you will have what you have asked) ﴿وَضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلذِّلَّةُ﴾ (and humiliation was imposed upon them). So what brought the matter of eating and drinking and striving after provision to the matter of disbelief in Allah and killing the prophets? What is the link between these two things?

Allah, blessed and exalted, teaches us that He gives what is asked of provisions and material requests, and that this is easy for Him, glorified be He. But the point is that you use that in more obedience to Allah, that you do not use the blessing of the Lord of the worlds in disbelief in the Lord of Might, glorified be He, the Lord of the blessing. These did not use this good in its true use.

Imagine someone who came on the car, and the car ran out of gasoline, so it stopped and said: I've surrendered on all four, and I will not move a step. So what does he do? The easiest thing in front of him is the water hose, so he put water in it. And then? Listen to the bang that will happen shortly. What happened? He put the provision in the wrong place, and when he put the provision in the wrong place there was an explosion, and we seek refuge in Allah. Imagine the matter like this: a request for provision used in what is not lawful. If you bring the woman in the unlawful way, or a man brings her in the unlawful way, and we seek refuge in Allah, then we are blowing up the world in this way. And the money that comes to be used in drinking wine or dealt with in such and such, Allahu akbar! This is disbelief in the blessing of Allah.

So since disbelief in the blessing of Allah, blessed and exalted, does not stop at a limit, it reached them to the point of killing the prophets, and we seek refuge in Allah. Why? Because following the desire of the self does not stop at a limit, and following the desire of the self and the whims of this human being does not stop at a limit, and so he may reach the stage of killing the prophets, and we seek refuge in Allah. My Lord, glorified be He, said: ﴿ذَٰلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوا۟ وَّكَانُوا۟ يَعْتَدُونَ﴾ (That was because they disobeyed and were transgressing).

Whoever believed in his prophet in his time

And I have a verse that has puzzled many people when they reflect on it: ﴿إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَٱلَّذِينَ هَادُوا۟ وَٱلنَّصَـٰرَىٰ وَٱلصَّـٰبِـِٔينَ مَنْ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَـٰلِحًا فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ﴾ (Indeed, those who have believed and those who were Jews and the Christians and the Sabians — those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness — will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve)^[10].

You have those who believed and those who were Jews and the Christians and the Sabians. How many groups, my brothers? Four, correct? Those who believed are known, they are those around Muḥammad ﷺ. And those who were Jews are the Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians. So when we say: that those who believed, whoever of them believed in Allah and did righteousness, will have their reward with their Lord and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve, this is acceptable to us, but the Jews and Christians and Sabians, how does this matter agree?

And the answer: each in his period of time. For Allah, blessed and exalted, did not bring Islam to punish by it those who came before — I say it a second time: He did not bring Islam to punish by it those who came before — so whoever came before has his religion which he was commanded to follow, and whoever followed his religion when its time was current has the like of what the believers have when the time of this faith was current. So those who believed with Mūsā, upon our Prophet and upon him be prayers and peace, their rank is like the rank of those who believed with Muḥammad ﷺ in terms of responding to the call, and believing in what the landmarks of the law required, and following this messenger who was in their midst. And those who responded to ʿĪsā, upon our Prophet and upon him be prayers and peace, their case is like the case of those who responded to Muḥammad ﷺ, and those who responded to Mūsā, and those who responded to Ibrāhīm, and those who responded to Nūḥ, and so on. So the Lord of Might, glorified and exalted be He, informs us that the likes of all these, whoever of them believed in Allah and the Last Day — here: whoever believed in Allah and the Last Day — and did righteousness, will have their reward with their Lord and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.

The raising of the mountain: Allah may drive His servants to obedience through trial

﴿وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَـٰقَكُمْ وَرَفَعْنَا فَوْقَكُمُ ٱلطُّورَ خُذُوا۟ مَآ ءَاتَيْنَـٰكُم بِقُوَّةٍ﴾ (And when We took your covenant and raised over you the mountain, [saying]: Take what We have given you with determination)^[11]. The matter in this blessed verse is that the Lord of Might, glorified and exalted be He, informs us that Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, wants guidance for His servants, and may force them into more predicaments in their lives until they surrender themselves to Allah. And in this there is a report whose meaning is that Allah, blessed and exalted, drives some of His servants to Paradise by driving^[12]. How do you understand this story? He drives some of His servants to Paradise? You know when you take your son and hit him so that he studies? You are driving him to success. Imagine the matter like this: you see that the boy has talent, and has skills, and has cleverness, and has, ma shaʾ Allah, a gift, but he is lazy about using it in a real way. So you drive your son by force; you deprive him of his allowance, and prevent him from his desires, and take his phone from him, and do what you do to punish him, until you drive him to success by force. And it is as though the Lord of Might, glorified be He — exalted is Allah above any likening — drives some of His servants to Paradise through the means He decrees for them.

Imagine a person who does not do well at increasing voluntary acts, for example, so he is tested with a trial. Why this trial? So that Allah, blessed and exalted, raises him in degrees to which he does not do well to rise through obedience, so Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, tests him with something.

My Lord, majestic in His loftiness, said: ﴿وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَـٰقَكُمْ وَرَفَعْنَا فَوْقَكُمُ ٱلطُّورَ﴾ (And when We took your covenant and raised over you the mountain). The matter of raising the mountain: imagine the mountain uprooted from the earth and raised above the heads of these: ﴿وَإِذْ نَتَقْنَا ٱلْجَبَلَ فَوْقَهُمْ كَأَنَّهُۥ ظُلَّةٌ وَظَنُّوٓا۟ أَنَّهُۥ وَاقِعٌۢ بِهِمْ﴾ (And [recall] when We raised the mountain above them as if it were a canopy and they were certain that it would fall upon them)^[13]. Take what We have given you, so they said: we submit. But this is submission under compulsion; it may be accepted from them at the first moment, then it is looked at afterward: will they take a lesson from Allah's power over them and know that Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, accomplishes His purpose, or will they begin after a little to be evasive and put on a show?

So if the servant submits in this ordeal... many people come to you after being tested with a very severe illness, and come and say: O Mawlānā, I have believed in Allah, blessed and exalted, and I acknowledge my mistake, and I was far from the mosques, and I did not do such and such, and I used to commit this and that and the other. Fine, you have believed in Allah, I ask Allah the Exalted to accept your repentance from you, but is it a repentance contingent on healing or a continuing repentance? For example, a certain person, the doctor came out of the laboratory room and said to him: be patient and seek reward with Allah, glorified and exalted be He, you have cancer, and it has spread in the body, and so on. So our fellow knocked on the doors of the shaykhs — they always remember us like this at times of tight spots — knocked on the shaykh's door: Help me, Mawlānā! And what is the matter with you, Hajj? Fine, never mind, we submit to Allah, glorified and exalted be He, and to the decree of Allah, and prostrate to Allah two prostrations of thanks to the Lord of the worlds that He drove this to you, and so on. All right. After two days the lab calls him: we are very sorry, the result came out wrong, it was mixed up with another person. Fine, so where is Mawlānā who was here, who was prostrating to Allah during the hours of the night and the ends of the day? As though he were a lump of salt and dissolved! What happened? It was a reaction repentance, a repentance of momentary emotion that was not completed. And when it was not completed, Allah, blessed and exalted, showed that person the reality of his own self: you are dealing with Us as a matter of interest, and you are not keen on more religiosity.

The people of the Sabbath: apes, despised

My Lord, majestic in His loftiness, said: ﴿ثُمَّ تَوَلَّيْتُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ فَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ﴾ (Then you turned away after that; and if not for the favor of) — then He says: ﴿وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱعْتَدَوْا۟ مِنكُمْ فِى ٱلسَّبْتِ﴾ (And you had already known those who transgressed among you concerning the Sabbath)^[14]. And it is still a reminder to the Children of Israel who were around the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ of the events that passed over them in the history of their lives. And the Prophet ﷺ did not know these matters in these details except by revelation from the Lord of Might. And it was more fitting for them, since they knew the Prophet's knowledge of these matters, to submit to him; for who informed him of these precise details, with this distinctive description? This distinguishes the owner of information from the owner of conjecture. That should have been provision for them for more faith.

﴿عَلِمْتُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱعْتَدَوْا۟ مِنكُمْ فِى ٱلسَّبْتِ﴾ (you had known those who transgressed among you concerning the Sabbath), and you know the story of the people of the Sabbath, who used to spread their nets before the day of the Sabbath and gather them after the day of the Sabbath, as though they were devising a trick against Allah, blessed and exalted, in the matter of provision. ﴿فَقُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُوا۟ قِرَدَةً خَـٰسِـِٔينَ﴾ (So We said to them: Be apes, despised). This is a matter particular to the Children of Israel, and it is Allah's wrath upon them, but it is a pointer to a kind of punishment that may come to the servant without his knowing. So what is the matter of "apes, despised"? Is it a matter limited to a human being turning into an ape? I could turn, and we seek refuge in Allah, and Allah may afflict the children of Ādam with something like being an intellectual ape. Imagine the matter: what Allah gave him of humanity is taken from him, and what apes possess is set upon him, so you feel he has become an ape, unable to settle or to hold himself together. So imagine that Allah, blessed and exalted, may become angry at a person intellectually and mentally and behaviorally and physiologically, whichever it be. So here comes more warning from the Lord of Might, glorified be He, to the human being if he deviates from the straight path, for Allah, blessed and exalted, may send down upon him a punishment he does not know when or where or how. So I see in the verse more caution, and we seek refuge in Allah, we ask Allah, blessed and exalted, for safety.

The story of the cow: killing and pinning the accusation, trust and mockery

My Lord, glorified be He, said: ﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِۦٓ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تَذْبَحُوا۟ بَقَرَةً قَالُوٓا۟ أَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُوًا﴾ (And [recall] when Mūsā said to his people: Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow. They said: Do you take us in ridicule?)^[15]. The Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, points to another crime that occurred in their lives, which is the attempt to kill and pin accusations on others. The mother issue here is the issue of pinning the accusation on others. As for killing the prophets, it was pointed to before that, but the matter of killing and saying: I killed, or being truthful and frank with yourself and having a real identity, is something entirely different from conspiring against people and doing the calamity and then pinning it on others.

And if a society is afflicted with the likes of these, you see in it a very great trial that never settles for a day. Why? Because we have events and we do not know who made them, so everyone is accused, so the whole society is accused in the eyes of some; you see this one accusing that one, and that one accusing this one of treachery, and this one accusing that one, so you see in it neither security nor stability. Why do you see in it neither security nor stability? Because suspicion has prevailed over all people, so there is no innocent person. And therefore they came to Mūsā, they came knocking at his door and saying to him: O prophet of Allah, solve the matter for us. Why did they come to Mūsā, upon our Prophet and upon him be prayers and peace? Because they could not imagine an innocent person among them, so they came to the prophet of Allah, blessed and exalted, to untie this knot for them.

My Lord, glorified be He, said: ﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِۦٓ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تَذْبَحُوا۟ بَقَرَةً قَالُوٓا۟ أَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُوًا﴾. So what do we understand from this word? By Allah, you deal your whole life with a prophet, a messenger of Allah, blessed and exalted, at whose hands Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, brought about all these miracles up to this time, and then he comes and commands you with something, and the answer is: is this matter even worth it? Consider: I say to you: may Allah be pleased with you, give me a small sum from your pocket now, please. Is this a matter about which you say to me: are you crazy? Or are you mocking me, Mawlānā? Is this a matter worth it? But if I asked you for a huge sum you would be alarmed and say to me: are you joking with me? Are you mocking me because I am a poor man? But if he asks you for a small sum you say: fine, I'll give it to you, at your command, Mawlānā. What is the story? Why do you say it to me like this? Because you trusted. If trust is absent, mockery is found, and if trust is present, there is no room but for trust.

So when he said to them what he said, he did not say to them: let one of you slaughter a son of his children! He says: slaughter a cow. Is the matter big? A very simple matter, slaughter a cow? Fine, we'll slaughter a cow! Whatever the obligation. Of course the story has events and developments, but their reaction was extremely negative: ﴿قَالُوٓا۟ أَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُوًا قَالَ أَعُوذُ بِٱللَّهِ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْجَـٰهِلِينَ﴾ (They said: Do you take us in ridicule? He said: I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant). And the haggling began: call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is, what its color is, the cows have become similar to us, until Allah, blessed and exalted, produced for them the decisive solution. And here we learn a very important principle: that whoever makes things hard on himself, Allah makes it hard on him, and whoever makes things easy on himself, Allah makes it easy for him. I say it again: whoever makes things hard on himself, Allah makes it hard on him, and whoever makes things easy on himself, Allah makes it easy for him. So let us deal with the law of Allah, blessed and exalted, with ease, and let us treat the matter as an easy matter.

Then Allah the Exalted said: ﴿وَإِذْ قَتَلْتُمْ نَفْسًا فَٱدَّٰرَٰٔتُمْ فِيهَا ۖ وَٱللَّهُ مُخْرِجٌ مَّا كُنتُمْ تَكْتُمُونَ ۝ فَقُلْنَا ٱضْرِبُوهُ بِبَعْضِهَا ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يُحْىِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ﴾ (And [recall] when you killed a man and disputed over it, while Allah was to bring out what you were concealing. So We said: Strike him with part of it. Thus does Allah bring the dead to life)^[16]. Allah, blessed and exalted, taught them how He gives life to the dead, and showed them that so that their trust in their prophet would increase, and yet they did not submit, neither to Mūsā, upon our Prophet and upon him be prayers and peace, nor to Muḥammad ﷺ.

What we learn from the verses

We learn from the verses, in summary of what we mentioned today:

First: that the Lord of Might, glorified and exalted be He, when He wills a provision, makes it burst forth in the servant's hands.

The second matter, a very important matter: that the use of the blessing should be in more gratitude to Allah, and it should not reach us that we disbelieve in Allah, nor that we reach the point of killing prophets as those before us did. So use the good that is in your hands within the framework of work or gratitude to the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted be He.

The third matter: that whoever believed in his prophet and followed him had a reward like the rest of those who follow the prophets, each according to the religious obligation he had.

The other matter: that the Lord of Might, glorified and exalted be He, may drive the servant to more obedience by force, so that in some situations he is compelled to turn to Him. So if a calamity strikes the servant or a misfortune befalls him, let him know that it is a message from the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted be He, so none of us should become resentful if he is tested with something, nor swear against Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, saying: why did You do that to him? Rather, submission, submission, submission to what the Lord of the worlds, glorified and majestic in His loftiness, brings.

And in the matter of "Be apes, despised" we took a lesson that punishments differ in their types and forms, so let the servant have a kind of caution about a punishment that may come to him from Allah, glorified and exalted be He, for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, gives respite and does not neglect, glorified and exalted be He.

And the matter of obligation: if an obligation comes to you, hold to it, and hold to it by the easiest of the means in your hands, for whoever makes things hard, Allah, blessed and exalted, makes it hard on him.

And the matter of the existence of new developments in our public life: that Allah the Exalted may bring back to life, before you, something dead without your knowing the reason. We see many cases: fifty doctors pass by the case and say: folks, seek reward with Allah, blessed and exalted, for your loss, he has days. And the days drag on for us while we are waiting: when is this man going to die, my friend? Let him die already and be done! The doctors told him three years ago that you will die, imagine, three years, he says to you: you have three days, and the days pass and the days pass and the days pass, and you hardly see them but he is sitting among them at a table! And our fellow who always used to go ask about him in the hospital, back and forth, has been dead for five years. So we do not know when the command of Allah, blessed and exalted, will come, nor how Allah, blessed and exalted, revives the dead of creation, nor how Allah, blessed and exalted, causes someone alive to die. And we ask Allah, blessed and exalted, to keep this Qur'an safe for us and to keep safe for us a good understanding of it.

Then your hearts became hard

And the matter we missed speaking about: ﴿ثُمَّ قَسَتْ قُلُوبُكُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ﴾ (Then your hearts became hard after that)^[17]. The first aim in the world of da'wah is the matter of hearts, my brothers. And we call to Allah, do we understand this? So we do not address minds before we address hearts. And for that reason we have an item called "those whose hearts are to be reconciled"; not their minds, but their hearts.

So you speak to the heart. The child who came in, so you patted him and took him in your lap and said to him: welcome, please, and gave him a piece of candy, you are not speaking to his mind, you are speaking to his heart, so that he becomes comfortable with you and with the place and settles. And the one who was jumping about and making noise, you shout at him once, but while you shout, smile, may Allah be pleased with you, and while you say to the boy: come here, you give him something sweet. Imagine, for example, all the boys who made a commotion in Ramadan; after the imam finished the four rak'ahs, for example, or about that, a lovely piece of candy would enter the office, so what? Shall we just sit silent, or what's the matter? So the boy is startled at first, and then: what is this human being, who changes and transforms? But you blend the matter of upbringing and honoring, and so you win his heart; he knows you have firmness when you get angry, and he knows you have mercy when you soften, so he accepts, and hope in your generosity touches him. And here this equation is set in order.

﴿ثُمَّ قَسَتْ قُلُوبُكُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ فَهِىَ كَٱلْحِجَارَةِ﴾ (Then your hearts became hard after that, being like stones), we seek refuge in Allah, blessed and exalted, from that.

And we ask Allah, blessed and exalted, to bless us and you in our times and provisions, and to preserve for us and for you the well-being of faith. O Allah, we ask You to make this gathering of ours a gathering that is shown mercy, and to make our parting after it a parting that is protected, and not to leave among us or from us or between us anyone wretched or deprived. O Allah, honor our arrival, and protect our homeland of faith, and make our hearts firm on what pleases You, and guide us to the best speech and the best deed, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, take us by our hands and our forelocks to You, and honor us with more faith in our hearts. O Allah, we ask You not to distance us from the Qur'an, and make our return to it a complete return, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, teach us what benefits us, and benefit us by what You have taught us, and grant us more knowledge that benefits us in our worldly life and our Hereafter. And may Allah send prayers and abundant peace upon our Prophet Muḥammad and upon his family and companions.

--- ^[1]: Al-Baqarah: 58–59. Editor's documentation: The speaker recited the first verse up to «وقولوا حطة» (and say: Relief), and the two numbers are for documentation only. ^[2]: Al-Baqarah: 60. ^[3]: Al-Kāfirūn: 1–3. Editor's documentation: It has been set down to the extent the speaker recited. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: The speaker related it in meaning; and what is known in the two Ṣaḥīḥs from the report of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) is the wording «يرحم الله موسى، قد أُوذي بأكثر من هذا فصبر» (May Allah have mercy on Mūsā; he was harmed more than this and was patient). ^[5]: Al-Baqarah: 60. ^[6]: Fāṭir: 37, and the speaker did not mention the surah. ^[7]: Al-Baqarah: 60. ^[8]: Al-Baqarah: 61. ^[9]: Al-Baqarah: 61. And his saying «﴿ذَٰلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوا۟ وَّكَانُوا۟ يَعْتَدُونَ﴾» (That was because they disobeyed and were transgressing) is from the same verse. ^[10]: Al-Baqarah: 62. Editor's documentation: What the speaker mentioned is his interpretation of the verse, that each is rewarded according to his religion in its time; and the exegetes have two well-known views on it: that it concerns those of these religions who believed before the Muḥammadan mission, and that it is abrogated by His words, the Exalted, in Āl ʿImrān: 85 (and this is related from Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with both of them). ^[11]: Al-Baqarah: 63. ^[12]: Editor's documentation: The speaker did not mention the wording of the report nor its source; and in this meaning there is related, as al-Bukhārī reported from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), the ḥadīth «عجب الله من قوم يدخلون الجنة في السلاسل» ("Allah is amazed at a people who enter Paradise in chains"), and its wording has not been verified. ^[13]: Al-Aʿrāf: 171. Editor's documentation: The speaker did not mention the surah. ^[14]: Al-Baqarah: 64–65. Editor's documentation: The speaker cut off verse 64 at «فلولا فضل» (and if not for the favor of), and it has been left as he said, without completion. ^[15]: Al-Baqarah: 67. ^[16]: Al-Baqarah: 72–73. ^[17]: Al-Baqarah: 74.