The Quran s Universal Message
By Nouman Ali Khan | 2026-01-08T19:25:28.973123+00:00 | Topic: Quran
The Quran's Universal Message - Khutbah by Nouman Ali Khan
Opening Prayer
أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَأَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّحِيمِ. بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ.
By time, Indeed, mankind is in loss, Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.
O Allah, make us among those who believe, do righteous deeds, advise each other to truth, and advise each other to patience. O Allah, make us firm at the time of death with the statement, "There is no god but Allah."
O Allah, expand for me my breast [with assurance] and ease for me my task and untie the knot from my tongue that they may understand my speech.
The Context of Divine Address
There's a famous axiom in the Arabic language: (خَاطِبُوا النَّاسَ عَلَى قَدْرٍ عُقُولِهِمْ - khātibū al-nās ‘alā qadri ‘uqūlihim) - "Talk to people at their level." So if I'm talking to children, I'll speak differently. If I'm talking to adults, I'll speak differently. If I was speaking to a group of women, what pertains to them is different. If I'm talking to a group of college students, it's something else.
So you have to look at the circumstance you're in, and then address an audience. And Allah actually does this very often. In many places in the Quran, Allah is talking to a very particular audience.
Understanding Quranic Audiences
And it's important to know which audience He's speaking to, otherwise you might misunderstand the intent of the speech. But then there are other places in the Quran where Allah speaks to every audience. He's speaking to men, He's speaking to women, He's speaking to children, He's speaking to adults, He's speaking to believers, and He's speaking to disbelievers.
He's speaking to Jews, Christians, Atheists, Mushrikun, Hindus, Buddhists, you name it, and the Muslims, the strongest of them and the weakest of them. Like something applies to everyone.
The Meccan and Medinan Revelations
And what's generally understood is that when Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was given the Quran in Mecca, that the audience of that was everyone. Because the Muslims were a very small minority and the fundamental purpose of the revelation of Quran was the non-Muslim audience. Allah revealed the Quran as a means of da'wah to them also, to invite them to the message of Islam. So you don't find much of (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا - yā ayyuhā al-ladhīna āmanū) - something specific to the believers in early revelation.
Much two-thirds of the Quran you basically find Allah either speaking to all of humanity or saying things like (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا - yā ayyuhā al-ladhīna āmanū) towards the end of Surah Al-Hajj and other places. And that's how the address of the Quran is.
And then generally it's understood that when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) moves to Medina, that the Muslims have now formed an organized community. Now they are not under oppression, they're not some scared minority that's hiding away somewhere, but they're actually in a position of governance.
The Status of Muslims in Medina
They're a legitimate entity, now considered legitimate entity by the other parties that are there. You know, they're not like Allah compares them to what Firaun used to think of the Israelites: (شِرْذِمَةٌ قَلِيلُونَ - shirdhimatun qalīlūn) (Quran 26:54) - this riff-raff that's nothing, they're just gonna disappear, they're no big deal.
It wasn't like that in Medina. In Medina we were now a legitimate recognized entity. Actually even the fact that the governance of Medina was in the hands of Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) even though there was a bigger Jewish and Christian community, actually a much bigger Jewish community that was already there.
And it's important to note on the side by the way that the Muslims were still in population of minority, compared to the population of Medina, the Muslims were still a minority. But regardless, now you find a recurrence in the Quran, Allah saying (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا - yā ayyuhā al-ladhīna āmanū) - Those of you who believe, those of you who believe, those of you who believe. In other words, Allah is now directly addressing the Muslim community.
Different Audiences in Medina
And on occasion, Allah will address the people of the book also, the Jewish and Christian communities. He'll say things like (يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لَسْتُمْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ حَتَّى تُقِيمُوا التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنجِيلَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ - yā ahla al-kitābi lastum ‘alā shay’in hattā tuqīmū al-tawrāta wal-injīla wa mā unzila ilaykum min rabbikum) (Quran 5:68) - addresses too. But what's very rare is that Allah will combine all of them in Medina.
In Medina, either Allah is addressing this group, or He's addressing that group. A combined address was more commonly found in Mecca.
The Universal Address in Surah An-Nisa
But on a rare occasion in Surah An-Nisa, Allah actually addresses all of humanity, every community there is, the Mushrikun of Mecca, the Jewish and Christian communities, the Muslim community, and a message that is relevant to each and every one of them.
It applies to every one of them. And each one of them, because they are different audiences, think about this differently. And this is the declaration of Allah in the beginning of Surah An-Nisa:
O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.
The Universal Message for Muslims
You could argue, that when the Muslims are living by for themselves, and then take to everybody else, is the opening ayah of Surah An-Nisa. Now that the universal message, what is it that the Muslims are about? And it's remarkable, that because it includes all these audiences, Surah An-Nisa is a very long surah.
The Contents of Surah An-Nisa
What do you find inside Surah An-Nisa? Allah will give instructions to the Muslims about inheritance and how to live as a family. Allah is going to talk about the internal problems of the Muslims, the munafiqoon, about 60 ayahs dedicated to the munafiqoon. Allah actually going to deal with the people of the book in Surah An-Nisa also. Inside community problems, outside problems, all of them combined in one surah, and that's Surah An-Nisa.
The Call to Recognize Divine Authority
Now what is this ayah about? First of all, O people, humanity, people, all people: (اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ - ittaqū rabbakum) - be conscious of your master, become aware, recognize the presence of your master. So the Muslims are being told to have taqwa, and the non-Muslims are being told to have taqwa. They're being told to be aware of Allah also.
And not just of a god, but (رَبَّكُمْ - rabbakum) - someone who oversees them, someone who has authority over them. Muslims are not the authority, Christians are not the authority, human beings are not the authority, Allah is the authority. And just like you and I observe the authority of a traffic light, we observe the authority of the IRS when we're filing out our taxes, we observe the authority of entities bigger than ourselves.
Humanity is being first of all invited to recognize the authority of a supreme master, the Rabb of all: (اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ - ittaqū rabbakum).
The Common Origin of Humanity
And then the interesting thing here is now, we are now, even though religiously we're all different, the first thing Allah says is: why should all of you get the same exact instruction? What do you have in common with everybody else? (الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ - alladhī khalaqakum min nafsin wāhidatin) - The one who created you out of one single person.
I am very different from a Christian, or a Jew, or a Hindu, or an Atheist, I'm very different culturally, I'm very different religiously, my outlook is different, but one thing I have in common is he's, or he or she is a child of Adam and so am I. That can't change.
Our skin color may be different, our language accents may be different, the countries of our origin may be different, our religious outlook may be different, but one thing doesn't change, they are a child of Adam and so am I.
Understanding Our Relationship with Others
And so when I'm dealing with them, this is important consideration now, what has Allah done in this phrase? Many things, I just wanna highlight a few of them for you. What has Allah done when I deal with another human being? When I deal with a Muslim or a non-Muslim, a friend, a co-worker, anybody, even someone who hates Islam. When you deal with anyone, who are you actually dealing with? You are dealing with someone who belongs to Allah. You're dealing with someone who belongs to Allah.
The Analogy of Ownership
Let me give you a simple example to help you understand what I'm trying to say. When you're outside, and you're heading to your car, and you lean against your car, or you tap on your car, or you sit on the back of your car, it's your car, you can do whatever you want, but you're not gonna sit on somebody else's car. Because he's gonna come and say, excuse me, that's my car, what are you doing? It belongs to me.
You have to treat it with a certain care, because it doesn't belong to you. When you and I deal with each other, we're not just dealing with a person, we're dealing with someone who belongs to Allah. And you have to be careful when you deal with something that belongs to Allah.
Taqwa in Human Relations
You have to be cautious. The taqwa of Allah isn't just our relationship with Allah. The taqwa of Allah is also there when we deal with each other. Because we're dealing with something that's the milkiya of Allah. This one has a rabb. You can't just talk to them anyway you want.
Let me give you another example, not just of a car. You deal with your children a certain way, you can talk to them a certain way. If they didn't do their homework, you can get upset with them. If they broke something, you can give them a little scolding. You can feed them what you like, you can take them where you like, but you can't treat somebody else's child the same way.
You're in the park, you start yelling at somebody else's kid, there's gonna be a problem. Excuse me, that's my child. Who are you? How do you think you can deal with them this way? We understand the idea that when someone is somebody else's responsibility, you have to actually show proper decorum, respect, regard. We forget that when we deal with each other.
The Problem of Arrogance at Home
We think we're dealing with just another person. So we can speak how we want, act how we want, raise our voice however we want, raise our hands in some cases however we want. And we forget that the one in front of us is actually the property of Allah.
And Allah deals with them. Actually by the end of this ayah Allah says (إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا - inna Allāha kāna ‘alaykum raqībā) - We'll get to that at the end. The word raqib is incredible, it's a really beautiful word.
But I want to remind you that this kind of dealing, when we deal with each other, it's easy outside. When you go to a restaurant, and you deal with a waiter nicely, or you go to the airport, and you're dealing with the staff nicely, or security nicely, that's easy. When you're inside your home, when I'm inside my home, and I have to deal with family, we forget about Allah.
Inside a home, inside a bedroom, inside a living room, people can turn into Firaun. Their little kingdom. And they can speak how they want, do what they want, become as arrogant as they want, act like they own somebody else, control somebody else, dictate everything on somebody else, even control whether they can laugh or cry. You know. And we assume that we have this kind of authority, and we don't. We have to have taqwa.
The Creation of Spouses
Then Allah says (وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا - wa khalaqa minhā zawjahā) - Speaking of that one person, meaning Adam (عليه السلام), from that one person, Allah created his spouse. So Allah describing, He could have just said, He created you from two, from a man and a woman. He could have said that, He didn't say that.
He's very specific when He tells humanity, He created you from one person, and out of that one person, He created, He extracted from that one person, another person, another creation, and that is woman. She is an extension of ourselves. Our mothers, our wives, our daughters, our sisters, they are actually a part of who we are.
They came from us. And when they came from us, what Allah is describing to us, is that our harshness with them is going to turn into our harshness against our own selves.
The Concept of Zawj (Pairs)
This idea of (زوج - zawj) also, (زوج - zawj) actually is used in the Arabic language, when two things, not only are they part of a pair, but one is incomplete without the other.
The night and the day are (زوجين - zawjayn) in the Quran. The night and the day are (زوجين - zawjayn). The sun and the moon are (زوجين - zawjayn) in the Quran (وَجَعَلْنَا اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ آيَتَيْنِ - wa ja‘alnā al-layla wal-nahāra āyatayni) (Quran 17:12) - He made them two ayaat. The idea that I actually, they are parts of my personality, that I need my spouse for. My spouse has parts of her personality, she needs me for.
We need each other. This is actually something that we have to acknowledge, that Allah did not make us independent. We can't just be on our own. We have a need for the other. We depend. Our very existence started with our mothers, who's herself a (زَوْج - zawj).
We were born interdependent to each other, and relying on one another. So there's no room for arrogance. There's no room for I own anybody else. There's no room for it.
The Spread of Humanity
And then Allah describes - He spread out from both of them, from that man and that woman. Many men and women, meaning, you got here because of that original pair.
This is extremely important to understand, that Allah is describing the relationship of Adam and Hawwa (عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلَام - alayhimas-salam) and He's using that as a model for every other pair that's going to exist. All of humanity must go back to that same married couple, Adam and Hawwa (عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلَام - alayhimas-salam)
The Model of Peace in Marriage
Allah says very little things about them, but what does He say? He says
- Settle down. Find peace, you and your spouse in Jannah. That's what He told about Adam (عليه السلام - alayhis-salam) and our mother. The idea of finding tranquility and peace in your spouse.
The idea of you not being angry around your spouse. And that goes for the women too, not just the men. That every time the man walks in, you have a list of complaints ready to go, and you'd like to lay them out in as loud a volume as possible and as quickly as possible.
And on the other hand, the man has had a hard day at work, and he can't yell back at his boss, because he's going to get fired. So he's going to keep all the anger charged up until he walks into the house, and then he can release. This is not (سكينة - sakeena) this is not (سكون - sukoon).
The Metaphor of Clothing
And you don't put it on if it's not... It's not going to protect you from the outside. If it's raining, you'll dress differently. If it's snowing, you'll dress differently. If it's hot, you'll dress differently. For every occasion, there's a libas. And for every occasion, your spouse is your libas.
This is already from the very beginning, how there's supposed to be a dependency between the spouses.
The Warning About Using Allah's Name
But then moving forward, and this is the part that I wanted to highlight for all of you :
- Be careful about Allah. Be aware of Allah. In whose name, you make demands on each other. I'll use a particular, one of the ta'weelat of the word (تَسَاءَلُونَ - tasa'aloon) - When you make demands on each other, when you're yelling at each other, arguing with each other, you're making a case, and somebody says (والله - Wallah) - They use Allah's name.
And they ask something. Pakistani and Indian say (قَسَمْ الله - qasam Allah) - And then they say something. Allah says, watch it. The one's name you use, when you make these kinds of arguments, and you make demands from each other, and you make cases against each other, be careful of whom you're speaking. It's not so easy and casual for you to just use Allah's name.
The Casual Use of Divine Judgment
So many people, when they get into an argument, they say, Allah will judge you. I pray Allah gives you justice. Oh, easy, easy. Where did you go from? Your little argument about whatever, some money, some family issue, and now you're bringing Allah into it? Do you know when Allah punishes, it goes forever? Do you know when Allah punishes, when that fire will be generated for disbelievers, and Allah will throw people into that fire, that's hotter than any fire we've ever experienced?
You really wish that on someone, over an argument about some small thing that will be today and won't be tomorrow? And you're ready to throw people into Allah's punishment? Allah will curse you, Allah will punish you? Be careful.
The Trauma of Children
This becomes so casual in our families. I've met so many young children, and when they're teenagers, they're traumatized, because their parents, you know what they told them every time? Don't talk back, Allah will be very angry, Allah is gonna punish you. Oh, I pray that Allah gets you.
There are entire Muslim cultures where the children grow up hearing, you're gonna burn in hell for what you've done. Allah is gonna throw you in Jahannam for what you've done. Who are you? To call on Allah as the judge for throwing anybody anywhere.
Like we have a guarantee of Jannah, now we get to throw other people in Jahannam? Be careful. Watch out for Allah, whose name you use to call on each other, and to make demands on each other. Don't be abusive with Allah's name.
The Addition of Al-Arham
And then when he does this, he adds something that I did not expect. And actually, the little time I have left in the khutbah, I wanna highlight just this part. Taqwa of Allah, being cautious of Allah, being careful about Allah, not disobeying Allah.
It's all over the Quran, over 200 times Allah talks about the taqwa of Allah. But this unique place Allah says
- This one word addition changes everything. Changes everything.
Some argue this is a'ataf. Some argue this is a kind of bayan or ishtimal. What that means, I'll explain. Be careful about Allah. That is to say, especially careful when you deal with any relationship that involves the womb, the stomach of the mother. Taqwa of Allah, taqwa of the arham.
The Inseparable Connection
In other words, you cannot have taqwa of Allah, if you don't have taqwa of al-arham. Not possible. They go hand in hand. They're ma'toof alayhi. They come one on top of the other. You know how in the English language you say, i.e. that is to say, one taqwa is already mentioned.
- It's still one ayah. And now he says, have taqwa of Allah. You make demands on each other using His name. And by the way, have taqwa of al-arham.
The Meaning of Al-Arham
So let's explain what that means. The wombs of the mother. The belly of the mother. By mentioning the stomach of a pregnant woman, al-arham. That's what literally that is in simple English. It's the stomach of a pregnant woman. Allah is mentioning at least three people. Allah is mentioning the father implicitly, because you can't get pregnant without a father. Allah is mentioning the child, because that's what's in the womb. And Allah is mentioning the woman. Isn't it? There are three people that are included now.
Every relationship that is formed because of this pregnancy, you better be very careful about. You better have taqwa of it. You better be very cautious and protective of it.
The Honor Due to Mothers
What does that mean? That actually first and foremost means, because it begins with the woman herself, the honor we're supposed to show our mothers. The respect and regard we're supposed to show to our mother. And you know in our religion what standing she has.
You know, many of you have already heard, that this rahm, arham is the plural of the word rahm in the Arabic language. And rahm is found in a hadith qudsi of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)in a hadith in which Allah speaks. And Allah speaks to the rahm.
The Sacred Name of Rahm
He speaks to the stomach of a pregnant, the stomach itself, the womb itself. And what does He say to her?
- "I named you with my own name." (Hadith Qudsi) Allah's name is Ar-Rahman, Ar- Rahim. And Allah named the stomach of the woman, rahm. It's not something small. This is something we have to be very careful about.
Respect for Expecting Mothers
So let's begin with that. Because there's a few things to talk about here. The woman herself. When your wife is expecting, abuse, calling names, allowing your in-laws to insult, which happens. When the wife gives birth to a daughter, saying, we knew we shouldn't have married in this family, all you give us is girls. When you do these things, then you're not just insulting some girl.
You're not just allowing your wife to be insulted. You're actually disregarding the taqwa of Allah. You violated what taqwa al-arhaam. You violated the first ayah of surah an-Nisa.
The Institution of Marriage
This by the way includes, the institution of marriage, is how you can legitimately become pregnant. All of humanity by this ayah is being told to respect the institution of marriage. Be careful about marriage itself. Because without marriage you can't have arhaam.
Now we're in a free society, where arhaam exist outside of marriage. And our youth, the ummah's youth, are being raised in a time where sexuality is a normal thing. Marriage is actually very formal, very complicated. You have to have lots and lots and lots of negotiations between families and extended tribes, even federal governments, it feels like sometimes, before you can get married.
The Challenge of Modern Times
But having a relationship with some girl in college, or high school, or even middle school, easy. That's just way too easy. Making friends with somebody on social media, and then sparking a relationship, is all that, all too easy.
Guarding your eyes from all the things that are appealing to a young man or a young woman, is very hard now. Because it's all accessible. Which means we're not careful about it anymore.
We're not careful about it anymore, we're not capable of
Barriers to Marriage
If we're going to fix this problem, on the one hand we have to respect the mother. The other hand, and if your wife is a mother, or she's expecting, etc. You have to have extra care, extra caution.
On the other hand, we have to actually take care and protect the institution of marriage. I know young men and women in our community, that are 26, 27, sometimes 30, 35 years old, can't get married. Actually, I changed that. They can get married. They won't be allowed to get married. Because of the absurd expectations of their parents.
The dhulm that their parents are doing. The dhulm that their extended family is doing. You have four or five siblings, there's a proposal for the youngest daughter. No, no, no, no, no. First the eldest one, then number two, then number three, then you get number four. You can't just do number four.
Who decided this rule? Who came up with this sharia that you abide by like it's the law of Allah? When there is an option for a young woman to get married, we impose our own rules that have nothing to do with Allah, or His Messenger, or common sense. Nothing to do with it.
The Reality of Youth
And do you think those emotions go away? Those temptations go away? These young people are doing what they're going to do, you just don't know about it anymore. And even if they don't do anything, is it going on in their head? Are their emotions running wild? Even you parents that are listening to this, you went through this at a certain age. And it's far more difficult for them than it was ever for you. The fitnah in front of them is much, much bigger.
Don't put barriers to allow our young sons and our young daughters to get married. If a good proposal comes your way, they say, in Urdu, don't have nakhreh. Don't be picky.
The Example of Musa (عليه السلام - alayhis-salam)
Learn from Musa (عليه السلام - alayhis-salam)'s story. Musa (عليه السلام - alayhis-salam) came and the father proposed in Madyan. And who did he propose to? He proposed to the first good guy that walked through the door. Why? Because the girl liked him. Good enough. He's honest. Good enough. He seems strong. Good enough.
He's homeless. He doesn't have a job. He has nothing. And he's run away from home for wanted for murder. But you know he has three good qualities. He's strong, he's honest, and the girl likes him. Good enough for me. Character was more important than anything else. Now we look at everything else, the last thing we look at is what? Character.
Forced Marriages
On the other end, when you're forcing your daughters and your sons to get married. When you're forcing them to marry someone they don't want to marry. That is also a violation of the taqwa wal arhaam. That is also explicitly wrong. Be careful when you emotionally, psychologically torture your daughter and say, marry your cousin, marry your cousin, marry your cousin, or marry this one. Nobody's gonna want you.
The Prophet's Judgment on Forced Marriage
Then if this was brought to Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلمand it was. A woman came and said, my dad, my parents made me get married. I didn't want to marry him. And Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم considered that marriage batil, nullified. Doesn't even count. You brought her into a relationship that's not even legitimate to begin with. (Reference: Abu Dawood, An-Nasa'i)
What Taqwa Al-Arham Includes
What taqwa al arhaam. We have to have taqwa of arhaam. The regard for the mother. Protecting the institution of marriage. Encouraging early marriage. Not forcing people into marriage. All of it is inside what taqwa al arhaam. All of it.
The Responsibility of Women
And then on top of that, it's addressing the woman too. You after all carry arhaam in you. You as a young woman, or even a married woman, or an unmarried woman, have the potential of bearing a child. The most sacred responsibility from which all of humanity began.
You have to have respect for your body. You have to have respect for your integrity. You're not just taqwa of someone else. You have to be cautious of what Allah has given you. You know when Allah gives you... You have something very valuable with you. If you had a huge amount of money with you, you'd be afraid to leave the house.
Like, I don't know if I should leave with this much cash. If you have extremely expensive jewelry, you don't just leave it lying around and leave the door unlocked. Then you make sure the doors are locked. When you have something valuable, your caution, your care becomes extra. The woman is being told, you have the arhaam. You have to be more a person of taqwa than anyone else.
Women's Special Role
You have to be closer to Allah than anyone else. And that's why
"They guard what is unseen by what Allah decreed to be guarded." Women are being given a special instruction to have taqwa.
So we are being told to honor women, and women are being told to honor themselves. And to show respect to themselves.
The Crisis of the Ummah
We are now in a disaster, it's a catastrophe. I don't think, honestly, I don't think the crisis of the ummah is political. I don't believe that. I don't believe the crisis of the ummah is economic. I think the crisis of the ummah is actually psychological, emotional, spiritual. That's what our crisis is. Our young daughters have no respect for themselves.
They have low self-esteem. We don't even teach them how to stand up with pride, and with at the same time humility, at the same time with pride of Islam. To honor themselves.
The Problem Within Muslim Families
So many of our Muslim families, when a woman dresses, when one family member starts covering up, everybody else has a heart attack. What are you doing? You're becoming extreme? You're gonna dress like that to the party? We can't go with you. Why do you look like that? These are conversations not happening in non-Muslim homes.
Where somebody converted to Islam, and now they're being made fun of. These are conversations happening inside Muslim homes. Fathers refusing to talk to their daughters, because they started wearing hijab.
Thousands of them. Maybe some in this audience. Refusing to talk to their daughters, because they started covering and respecting their arham. Refusing. This is the reality of the ummah today.
The Universal Application
So when Allah begins (يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ - Ya ayyuhan nas) - You see, it doesn't just apply to non-Muslims. We don't have taqwa of Allah anymore, because we don't have taqwa of arham anymore. This is what this means.
These wombs, these relationships that are connected to the womb have to be guarded.
Everything about them have to be guarded.
The Meaning of Raqib
And what does Allah say at the end of it all? This is where I have to conclude. Allah says
Allah has always been raqib over you. Raqib in Arabic, this back of the neck. Like Quran says
(Quran 90:13) - Raqib is here, the back of the neck.
Raqib is someone, back in the day they used to use it for a shepherd also. Because shepherds, sometimes they take care of sheep. And the thing that happens with sheep is, they're not very intelligent animals, they go at the edge of a cliff, and they keep mowing on the grass until one of their legs slips and they're off the cliff.
So what the shepherd does is, he grabs them by the back of the neck and pulls them back. He's a raqib over them, because he grabs them from where? The back of the neck. The animal that is being controlled like that, that is completely humbled by its master, because when do you get somebody to grab someone from the back of the neck? That kind of a grabbing is an expression of the ultimate authority.
The Authority of Allah
Actually the only other time you see that kind of an expression among human beings, is either some kid is in really big trouble in like Peshawar or something, and some dad is like, you're like, oh this kid is in trouble. Or you see it in prisons. The prison warden or the security guards in prison are grabbing the prisoner like that and throwing them in the cell.
It's the expression of slavery or ultimately being overpowered by Allah. Allah says, Allah has always had control over your neck. Always. You think you're free? You think you get away with what you're doing? I let you do it. I don't let you sense my presence, but I've always been there and I've always been a raqib. It translated, Allah has been ever watchful over you.
I wanted to go a step further and help you understand what is it that Allah is saying subhanahu wa ta'ala. He could grab that neck and twist it whenever He wants. He could put you and me in check whenever He wants. He lets it go. But that doesn't mean that His control isn't there. It doesn't mean that He's not in charge. It doesn't mean that you and I got away with it. This is the opening of Surah An-Nisa. This is where it begins.
The Connection to Orphans
And by the way, once you realize that, notice, I'll just say one last thing to you. In the next ayah, because this was about Arham, right? The very next ayah is about orphans:
(Quran 4:2) - Why? Why is the next ayah about orphans? Of the many reasons, just one I'd like to share with you.
Orphans are people that have lost that connection of the womb. They've lost their parents. The Raham, that was supposed to take care of a child, because a child is supposed to be taken care of by father and mother. The children that have lost their father and mother and become Yateem, now they don't have Raham anymore. They don't have that relationship anymore. Who's gonna care for them like somebody would care for your child?
Allah says, now that you understand how serious Arham are, you will absolutely take care of things within your own family, and now you will go out of your way to see those from whom that mercy has been taken away, who are going through the trial of being a Yateem, and you're gonna go out of your way and take care of them.
The Foundation of Our Message
You know what that suggests? That suggests that we've already taken responsibility and we're already doing right by who is inside of our family. Whoever is inside. This is the message of our religion.
All human beings are one. We're not superior to one another. We're supposed to be having a relationship of mercy and caution with each other when we deal with each other.
We cannot possibly give humanity the message of Islam if they don't see that even within us. If you and I can't even do that inside of our family, if we can't do that inside of our own community, what message are we going to give to the rest of humanity? What are you gonna hand them a flyer and that's it? That's it? This deen is lived. This deen is not just talked about, it's lived.
Living Examples of Faith
It's a living example of faith. It's a living example of the taqwa of Allah. And that's why I wanted to share this with you. We hear all the time, have taqwa of Allah, have taqwa of Allah, have taqwa of Allah. Here in this ayah, Allah is telling us, if you really wanna show people what taqwa of Allah looks like, show taqwa of al-arhaam. And then humanity will see, these people are different.
They're not like anybody else. Look at how they respect their mothers. Look at how they respect their spouses. Look at how they respect their children. Look at how they take care of orphans. Look at how they dignify themselves.
And they're going to see, that in this religion, isn't just us coming to Allah, but in this religion, we are actually honoring humanity as it should be honored.
Closing Prayer
May Allah make us living examples of this beautiful deen, and allow the teachings of His book to enter into our hearts. And may Allah overlook the many shortcomings that we've had, and being able to live up to His book.