Reflections on Surah Al-Balad

Reflections on Surah Al-Balad

The Power of Persistent Drops

There's a place at Darul Islam in New Mexico. If you go outside in the masjid, there's a place where the water drips from the roof, just outside the masjid. And there's a brick there. And I've watched that brick diminish over the years, because I've been going to Darul Islam almost 20 years, and I've seen the brick, it gets deeper and deeper because of this drop that's going on.

The Hardening and Softening of Hearts

And the heart is like, it becomes like a rock, you know, like a hijara, or a shadu qaswa, or even harder than a rock. But Allah says that from rocks there are ones that birth forth springs. And so the hardening of the heart is, that's what dunya does to the heart, yuqassi al-qalb. It makes a hard heart. There's people who hear the Qur'an, it has no effect on them.

When Hearts Burst with Light

They hear it, people used to die hearing the Qur'an, wallahi, I swear to God, people used to literally die. We have it in the books. They would hear a verse of Qur'an, they would die. The sahaba heard the Qur'an, and they were suddenly in China and in Morocco. I mean, these are, they called them lizard eaters. The Persians looked down on the Arabs. They were nobody. They were an insignificant historical people, just living in this desert. They never went anywhere. They had rihlat al-shita'i wal-saif. They went to Yemen, and they went to Syria. That was it.

So what was it? That suddenly they're in China and Morocco? Spain? I mean, what was it? It was because their hearts burst. You know, they got filled with this incredible light. It's like, it's like, you know, it's the real nuclear power. And that's the real nuclear power, but it's not toxic. It does the opposite. Like, their nuclear power destroys everything. This nuclear power brings everything to life. You know, it really, it restores life to dead civilizations.

Reviving Dead Civilizations

That would happen. Suddenly the Persians, they were a moribund civilization, dead, and they got brought back to life. Look at the Turks. You know what the Turks were before they were Muslim? They were Byzantine Christians. They were at the end of their, they were at the end of their civilization, and Islam came and brought them back to life. Go to Turkey and look at what they built. They were a dead civilization. It infuses people. That's what this religion does.

The Month of Qur'an

So anyway, this is the month of Quran and the beauty of Ramadan. Ramadan's amazing. It really is. If you think about it, and even if you don't think about it, it's amazing. But at least when you think about it, you get open to what's amazing about it. But you know, all over the world, people are fasting, a billion point three people. Even the bad Muslims fast. That's a miracle. No, because seriously, I mean, Shaitan, get chained up, and you can't deny it. You find things easier to do in Ramadan.

The Transformation of Ramadan

You can't, you can't lower your eyes. In other months, Ramadan comes, you can lower your eyes. What's going on? You know, you've got your food and drink. People graze all day long during the year. Ramadan comes, I'm fasting. People stop backbiting. They stop arguing. Seriously. It's amazing. What is that? It's amazing. (لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ - la'allakum tattaqun) (Quran 2:183). Because it's in order that you learn taqwa for the rest of the year. Problem is, the madrasa closes, and that's it. But yet, it's supposed to be continuing ed throughout the year. You know, you're supposed to go back. Like you have CE units, like doctors. You have to, you lose your license if you don't keep up. So it's the same with Ramadan.

Reflecting on Surah Al-Balad

Anyway, I did this with my children tonight. And I was just thinking about it. It's just such an amazing, I mean the whole Qur'an, mashaAllah, but I was thinking about this surah tonight. (أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ - a'udhu billahi min ash-shaytanir-rajeem bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

Allah's Oath by the Sacred City

Allah says, (لَا أُقْسِمُ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ - la uqsimu bi hadhal balad) (Quran 90:1). I swear by this city. And they say Allah doesn't swear by anything that's not immense. Like all the oaths that Allah makes, the moon, the sun, it's all momentous things. And He swears by Mecca. And Mecca is a sacred city. And it always has been. It's a sacred spot on the earth. It's a very strange place. Geologically, it's very unusual. If you go around the world, there's very few places that are similar to Mecca geologically.

The Sacred Architecture of the Kaaba

But the actual, the Kaaba is built there. And it's built on, there's actually three major principles that it's built on. It's aligned. Kaaba is actually aligned. Ibn Abbas mentions this. It's aligned to the winds. The four winds. Because the Arabs had four winds. There's four winds. We used to have it in this culture. People don't know winds anymore because they don't live with nature.

The Importance of Winds

Winds are very important to life. Winds pollinate. Winds do immense things. That we have a global system of winds. And people are ignorant of it. One of the things that all this global warming is doing is it's disrupting the system of the winds around the planet. You know, if you look on old maps, you know how they have the four, in the four corners they have the clouds blowing? The wind. That's wind. Because people knew about that.

Like you have the Zephyr, you have the Levanteer, you have the Borealis, you have, they actually had terms like the Arabs, because they have the Sabah, the Dabur, the Shemal. They had the same thing. So people knew about these winds. And if you notice winds here, if you're attentive to it, what you'll notice is they come from the same directions throughout the year. They're discernible. They're not crazy. There's an actually incredible system of winds there.

Alignment with the Heavens

So the Kaaba is aligned, each wall is aligned to a wind direction that was coming into Mecca. But it's also aligned to the moon rise and the moon set. So it's, there's an actual alignment with the moon. And this is, archaeoastronomy is all over the planet. You'll find archaeoastronomical sites. Ancients were very, very obsessed with aligning sacred buildings to the heavens. So you'll find it all over. But the Kaaba's not an exception. It's actually the rule, probably, that the other ones were based on.

The Star Canopus and Celestial Navigation

But what's extraordinary, one of the extraordinary things about the Kaaba is it's actually aligned to the rising of a star in the south, which is called Canopus. The Arabs call it Suheil. If you look up Canopus on, you know, Sheikh Google, what you'll find is Canopus is a very unusual star. Because according to NASA, it's the single most important star for celestial navigation. So all of the satellites are aligned to Canopus. All the space exploration is aligned to Canopus.

So when the people of the earth, the people of dunya, of the earth, want to go into the celestial sphere, they have to use Canopus to guide them. And that's what the Kaaba is aligned to, is this star. Because that's our celestial, when we need to navigate, we want our prayers to go up to the heavens. And we don't want them to lose their way. So the Kaaba itself is aligned to the single most important star for celestial navigation. And that's an ayah from Allah. So Mecca is sacred for many reasons. Ibrahim built that.

The Right to Citizenship and Existence

And so Allah's swearing by the city. And then he says (وَأَنتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ - wa anta hillun bi hadhal balad) (Quran 90:2). You are a lawful citizen of this city. This is, citizenship is from Allah. Human beings have a right to be here by the mere fact that they're born. (وَوَالِدٍ وَمَا وَلَدَ - wa walidin wa ma walad) (Quran 90:3). You know, the fact that you were born, you came into existence, that means you have a right to exist. Allah brought you into existence, so you have a right to exist.

If you have a right to exist, you have a right to occupy space. I mean, you're a lawful citizen of where you're from. And nobody can take that away from you unless they oppress you. It's unjust. So not only that, you're free

The Prophet's Right to Freedom of Belief

And so the Prophet disbelieved in the idols. And so they persecuted him. So Allah said, you're lawfully in this city, you have a right to be here. (وَأَنتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ. وَوَالِدٍ وَمَا وَلَدَ - wa anta hillun bi hadhal balad wa walidin wa ma walad) (Quran 90:2-3) By the parent and what he gives birth to.

Created in Toil and Struggle

(لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي كَبَدٍ - laqad khalaqnal insana fi kabad) (Quran 90:4). We have created the human being in toil. كَبَدٌ means to struggle with something. كَبَدٌ is difficulty, it's toil, it's struggle. That's the nature of life.

Children Learning to Walk

If you look at children, you know why children can't talk before they can walk? Because children usually can walk at about one. Walking is hard, it is. Watch children learn to walk. Because if they could talk, they would never learn to walk. Because every time they tried to do it, somebody would say, you can't do that, don't waste your time. You'll never do that, it's too hard.

Seriously, children, it's amazing. They get up, they fall down. It doesn't stop them. Why? Because they see everybody else is walking, and they want to do what everybody else is doing. That's a human nature. That's why people imitate by nature. Children imitate adults, and adults imitate other adults.

The Importance of Leadership

That's why leaders are the most important people in a society. Because they determine the behavior of people. When you have leaders that are profligates, everybody behaves like profligates. When you have leaders that dress like prostitutes, everybody dresses like prostitutes. When you have leaders that cheat, and lie, and are venal, and corrupt, and murder, then you have people doing that. That's their behavior. It's based on the leaders.

Following the Best Example

And that's why our leader is the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. We don't want those other leaders. Because he, laqad kana lakum fee rasooli ilahi uswatun hasani. You have in him the best example. So don't settle for less than the best. Why settle for less than the best?

He didn't have tattoos. I'm not going to wear a tattoo. He didn't dress immodestly. I'm not going to dress immodestly. He dressed with dignity. He didn't wear t-shirts. The prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, never wore a t-shirt. He didn't wear billboards, buy Medina dates. Seriously. Why are you going around advertising for these people? Free advertising. You don't even have a contract with them. They have a contract with that company that you bought the t-shirt from.

The Culture Without Prophetic Guidance

So seriously, why are people doing that? They're walking billboards. But that's the kind of culture that is created when you don't have prophetic guidance. So Allah says a human being is created in struggle. Your life is going to be struggle. That's a given. Ibn Abbas said everything in life is tribulation, ibtida. So if you don't have any tribulation, just be grateful. Because the tribulation is the norm.

The Two States: Tribulation or Freedom

And many of the people of this science in Islam said there's one of two. You're either mu'afa or mubtala. You're either in tribulation or you're free of tribulation. If you're free of tribulation, Allah will send the people of tribulation to you. And if you turn them away in contempt, Allah will try you. That's what happened. People of tribulation will come to you needing help. So if you ignore them, then Allah will give you tribulation. So it's one of the two. You're either mu'afa or mubtala. That's it. Liyabluwakum.

Does Anyone Have Power Over Him?

So the humans are in kabad. (أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّن يَقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ أَحَدٌ - a yahsabu al lan yaqdira alayhi ahad) (Quran 90:5). Does he think, does the human being think nobody has power over him? Nobody can constrain him? Allah, he can take everything you have and take it all away in one moment, literally. He can take your health away from you. You could have a stroke. Literally, young people have strokes. You'd be 30 years old, prime health, everything. Everything's going great. Suddenly, you're paralyzed. You can get Guillain-Barre. Allah can take it away at any moment.

He can take your family away from you. He can take your wealth away from you, your health. It's just everything like that. Just in one quick swoop.

Boasting About Consumption

So people don't think that that's not the (يَقُولُ أَهْلَكْتُ مَالًا لُّبَدًا - yaqulu ahlaktu malan lubada) (Quran 90:6). I've consumed vast quantities of wealth. He boasts about his consumption. You know, human beings. I've consumed vast wealth.

The Disconnection from Reality

I mean, somebody gave $35 million yesterday to the opera in a city of homeless people. And she said, I just wanted to share this with so many people. I'm thinking, so many people? Who goes to the opera? No, seriously. So many people? That's like 0.00001% of the population go to the opera. But that's the human state. A very old person, everybody's applauding. You know, how wonderful, how selfless for the opera. And there's people that don't even have homes in the same city. That's just amazing. That's the human condition. That's how disconnected people are from reality.

I mean, if I had $35 million, would I give that to the opera? Seriously. It's just amazing.

Does He Think No One Sees Him?

So (أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّمْ يَرَهُ أَحَدٌ - 'ayahsabu 'an lam yarahu 'ahad) (Quran 90:7). Does he think nobody can see him, the human being? You think you can do all your nefarious deeds, like this guy, you know, Foley, you know, sending emails? Now he's disgraced, but Allah saw him. Now just because people see him, he's disgraced. But Allah saw him. You know, so you can hide things, but in the end of the day, they're going to come out.

The Day of Presentation

There's no hiding on the Day of Judgment. It all comes out. It's called al-ard. You know what al-ard is? It's when you see everything your whole life. You have to watch the whole thing. And you can edit it here now. You know, you have ProCut. Like, you edit mistakes out. Haroon, that's what we do, don't we? Like, when I make mistakes on the podcast.

Seriously, I make mistakes. Your mom says you make mistakes. They edit it out, and then you look great. You know, no mistakes. But there were. There were mistakes. But we edited it out. That's called toba. You edit those mistakes out. Still for the lie, made a mistake. You need to make the toba. That's the cut. You make the edit. Seriously, that's what it is.

Editing Your Life's Movie

So you're editing your life's movie that people are. Everybody's going to watch it on. Why do you think there's 50 million years? You know, you sit there on Day of Judgment. Everybody has to go through their life. People like watching stories. They watch movies all the time. People like to watch movies. You know, it's going to be very interesting. No, seriously, it's going to be really amazing. You're going to see like Hitler, the whole thing. The uncensored version. The uncensored, unexpurgated version. And everybody has to do it.

The Foolishness of Seeking Cover from People Only

So Allah promises that the people that made toba, ya satir. But Ibn Atayla says, how foolish the human being is. He wants Allah to give him sitr from people, but he's not worried about the sitr from Allah. In other words, if you're really intelligent, who cares what other people think? Because they're all like you. They're in the same jam you're in. I mean, the only one that really makes any serious concern is Allah. So if you're not concerned about him, that's what he's saying. Al lam yara hu ahad. Does he think nobody sees him? Meaning Allah.

The Gift of Two Eyes

We gave him two eyes. We gave you sight. You don't think we can see you? We gave you vision. We created vision. We gave you the ability to see. And we've limited your seeing, because we see everything. But we just wanted to let you know, what you can see, we can see everything. So you can see some things. We can see everything.

The Gift of Tongue and Lips

And we gave him a tongue and two lips. Because if you have a tongue without lips, you can't talk. If you have lips without a tongue, you can't talk. That's what you need to talk, two lips and a tongue. Lips are very important. They're an amazing gift from Allah, the lips. And Allah put so much delight in language, but also in love, and in kissing, and all those things, is lips and tongue. It's all what gifts Allah gave him, the lips and the tongue.

With shefatain, we gave you a tongue and lips. And look at what you enjoy. You can tu'abbiru an nafsika. You can say what you want, what you need. You can kiss your spouse, get pleasure, all those things. We gave you that. Allah.

Guided to Two Roads

And we guided you down the two roads. We showed you these two roads. There they are, right in front of you, two roads, khair and sharr. Khair is the right road. You come to a fork in the road, one goes right, the other goes left. The right road is the difficult one, going uphill. The left one going downhill.

Now, most people, they come to the road, and they see the uphill one, and they see the downhill one, and they're going to the same place. They're going to the same place. They're both going back to Allah, from where you started.

The Test of Easy and Difficult Paths

So most people, they'll say, oh, that's an easy road. I'm going to go down that road, because it's easy. Shahwa, you know, your appetites. Huffat al-jannatu bin makarih. We surrounded paradise with unpleasant things. Wa huffat al-naar bish shahwat. And we surrounded the hellfire with pleasant things, things you desire. That's the test.

So Allah showed these two roads. One's an easy road. The other is a difficult road. The problem is, when you get to the end of those two roads, there's another journey. If you took the hard road on the first part of the journey, the second part is really easy. It's so much easier. But if you took the easy road on the second one, it's a disaster.

The Signs on the Two Roads

And there's a sign. When you come up to these two roads, the one says, the first part of this is really difficult. But then it's really easy for infinity. And then it says, on the other one, the first part of this road is really easy, but then it's really difficult for infinity.

The Test of Deferred Gratification

So the aql, you know, they did a test in a social science. This was a test they did. They took children at five

people. They're just consuming. Trying to get more and more. And it's not fulfilling them. They're miskeen. And they're covered in the dust of the dunya.

The Project of Belief

To go and help those people.

Then they're from the people who believe. That's the project. The religion isn't. You know. It's beautiful. The things that we do. Wallahi. What a gift. You know. Really. To pray. And to have these things. It's just a beautiful thing. Fasting. All these things are beautiful.

Taking the Religion Out

But. If you look at this tradition. It's rooted in going out. And the Muslims have become. A completely personal. This religion has become. Just me, me, me. Really. I mean. There's just so many Muslims. That they think. You know. They'll read the Qur'an for themselves. There's people that can't even read. Al-Fatiha. Go out and teach somebody. Al-Fatiha. I guarantee. There's more reward. In teaching a person Al-Fatiha. Than there is in doing. A million Khatam. But people don't think about that. Just going out. And taking this religion to people. You know. Learn it. And then teach it to others.

Enjoining Patience and Compassion

Enjoining patience. And enjoining compassion. Subhanallah. It's just so beautiful. Wallahi. This. I mean. What a religion. And they're saying. The Prophet didn't bring anything good. Subhanallah. You know. This is what they're saying. About our Prophet. Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And he never claimed to bring anything new. You know. Allah says. You weren't. You weren't like. Some new invention. You're following in the line. Of your father Abraham. And all the other Prophets.

The People of the Right

So that's what Allah is telling. Right. And then.

Those are the people of the right. In other words. When you end up. At the end of the journey. If you took that Aqaba. You'll end up on the right side of the road. The right side of the road. Right. That's where you'll end up. You'll be on the right side of the road.

The Wrong Side of the Road

And there's people going down the wrong side of the road. You know what happens when you go down the wrong side of the road? You have a head-on collision. With. With reality. That's what happens. You have a head-on collision with reality. Like. They had a film of a. Little girl. In the car. You know. And just head-on collision with a drunk driver. That's dunya. Because that's what dunya is out there. It's a drunk driver. And if you're on the wrong side of the road. That's it.

The People of the Left

So. That's what Allah says. You'll be on the right side.

And those people. Who deny these signs. Those people that go down that other road. That I warned them about. Those are the people on the left side of the road. That's what happens. They get to the end of the journey. And they find. And then they say. You know. Oh. We want to be with them. No. You know. Go find some place else. You had your chance.

The Time for Planting

You know. The planting harvest time. Is. One time a year. And then it's over. If you didn't plant at that time. You can't plant seeds later. They don't grow. It's amazing. That's why. Farmers have to know. What time it is to plant. Because if they miss that time. It doesn't grow. And that's what this dunya is. This is the planting time. It's not harvest time. These people want to harvest. It doesn't work like that.

Engulfed in Flames

And they're surrounded with these. Engulfed in flames. That's what happens. Engulfed in flames. Because they're going down the path. To the fire. One path says. This road is difficult. But it ends up in paradise. This road is easy. But it ends up in hell. Those children that choose. They want the cookie now. They don't want to wait. To get the two cookies. That's what happens. It's like little children. It's okay for a child to make that mistake. Not for an adult.

Closing Supplication

So. May Allah give us the ability. To go down the right road. InshaAllah. Jazakumullah Khairan. Alhamdulillah.