- Interpretation Of Quran / The long version
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- (003) Al Imran
Dear believing brother, with the sixth lesson from lessons of Sûrat Âl-‘Imrân, and verse fourteen, Allah Says:
[Beautified for mankind is love of the joys (that come) from women and offspring; and stored-up heaps of gold and silver, and horses branded (with their mark), and cattle and well-tilled land. This is the pleasure of the present world’s life. Allah! With Him is a more excellent abode]
Beautified for mankind is love of the joys (that come) from women and offspring; and stored-up heaps of gold and silver.
1- Beautified for mankind
Beautified for mankind, mankind in the Quran means all humans, when Allah Speaks to all mankind He addresses them regarding the fundamentals of religion, but when He addresses the believers He Speaks about the branches and details of religion, since applying the branches of religion requires the believe in the fundamentals of it. So He addresses mankind regarding the fundamentals as for the believers He Speaks about the branches, and if the issue is common between all creations He Uses the word mankind…
[Beautified]
None of the humans on the face of earth, except installed in him these desires.
2- Who is the one who beautifies?
Question: who is the Beautifier? Some scholars said it is Allah, due to All His Mighty saying:
[Verily! We have made that which is on earth as an adornment for it]
And some scholars said: Satan is the beautifier, as he decorates to humans their bad deeds. Other scholars mentioned: these desires were installed by Allah in us, and it is an adornment for us by Allah and in our instinct creation. But when it is beautified for us to use these pleasures to disobey Allah, then this is from the devil.
Pleasures are Impartial:
Moving to another subject; then pleasures are impartial, they can be employed towards the good or evil, in obedience or insubordination. Pleasures can be a ladder to elevate oneself, or an unwinding falling stairs. You can marry and fulfill your desires and have offspring and raise them so they are scholars in the society, and for them your status in Paradise is elevated, all of these virtues were achieved through marriage, and the origin of marriage is lust towards women.
You can earn money, and the origin of seeking money is the love of money, but you can earn it legitimate, and spend it in a good cause, thus you have elevated to the highest of Illiyyûn, a level in Paradise.
So due to human instincts, the origin of adornment is from Allah the All Mighty, but Allah Beautified and stretched a path, He told you: I have Installed in you the affection towards women, so marry, the non-believer was installed in him the affection towards women, so he committed adultery, the believer was installed in him the love of money, so he earned it through legitimate means, the non-believer was installed in him the love of money, so he stole. Therefore the origin of beautification is from Allah the Almighty.
This leads us to the notion that if not for desires and pleasures we would not have been elevated by the Lord of the earth and heavens. For wishing and desiring you are raised twice, once for avoiding the non-permissible wishes, and the other for exercising your allowed pleasures.
Abu Dharr reported: ((Some of the people from among the Companions of the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said to him: Messenger of Allah, the rich have taken away (air the) reward. They observe prayer as we do; they keep the fasts as we keep, and they give Sadaqa out of their surplus riches. Upon this he (the Holy Prophet) said:
Has Allah not prescribed for you (a course) by following which you can (also) do sadaqa? In every declaration of the glorification of Allah (i. e. saying Subhan Allah) there is a Sadaqa, and every Takbir (i. e. saying Allah-O-Akbar) is a sadaqa, and every praise of His (saying al-Hamdu Lillah) is a Sadaqa and every declaration that He is One (La illha ill-Allah) is a sadaqa, and enjoining of good is a sadaqa, and forbidding of that which is evil is a Sadaqa, and in man's sexual Intercourse (with his wife, ) there is a Sadaqa. They (the Companions) said: Messenger of Allah, is there reward for him who satisfies his sexual passion among us? He said: Tell me, if he were to devote it to something forbidden, would it not be a sin on his part? Similarly, if he were to devote it to something lawful, he should have a reward.))
Legitimately exercising a desire elevates it.
Conflicts between Nature and the Holy Mandates is the Price for Heaven
The conflicts between our natural needs and the Holy mandates compromise the price for the heaven. The love of women is installed in your nature, so you lowered your gaze towards a woman not halal, lawful, for you if not for the love of that woman, and to stare at her, you would not have elevated by lowering your gaze. If not for the love of money, you would not have elevated yourself by avoiding the haram, unlawful, money; in some instances you would kick hundreds of thousands as there is some doubt in your heart. So because of these desires we would not have elevated ourselves to please the Lord of heavens and earth. Desires serve as a ladder to Allah, at the same they can be a downward stairs to Hellfire, if desires motivate you and you practiced them not conforming with the right way, they become a downward stairs to Hellfire.
So as I always say: like a liquefied gas in a car, if placed in a sealed container, and ran in sealed pipes to ignite at the right moment, and right place, it generates useful motion; On the other hand, if it leaks from its required path, it destroys the vehicle and who is in it. So liquid fuel is a danger that can be explosive, so you can deploy this to move the vehicle and benefit from it, or ruin the vehicle. Same applies to humans; either destroy themselves with these desires or benefit from them to the maximum extent.
The love of money pushed a man, from an Arab country, living in America to gamble. He owned 2 million dollars, he lost them all at one time, and then he went home, and shot his wife, and strangled his 3 kids then committed suicide. This is a desire, what made him gamble? The love of money, he had 2 million dollars. With desires there is no moderate solution either employ it for the right then you are elevated, or exercise it with no path, then it turns destructive. Allah the Almighty says:
[And who is more astray than one who follows his own lusts]
The opposite meaning is whoever follows his lust according to the guidance of Allah the Almighty then he is under no wrongdoing...
[Beautified for mankind]
How to Live up to God?
How to live up to God? Do not love women, money, power, wealth, nor anything, then how do you raise yourself? Grab a handful of sand and give it to a poor person, will you elevate yourself? It is worth nothing to him. But if you give him 1000 Lira, when you are in deep need for money, and this amount of money would solve many of your problems, but you spend it for the sake of Allah, then you elevate yourself. If for example you saw a young girl, and you lowered your gaze, are you living up to Allah? She is not beloved to you, but if you lower your gaze when you see a beautiful woman who is not lawful to you, then you elevate yourself. If not for the love of women, money, power you would not rise by obeying Allah. So the contradiction between the mandates and the desires is the price for Heaven..
[As for him who giveth and is dutiful (toward Allah) (5) And believeth in goodness]
Feared to disobey Allah
[But as for him who feared to stand before his Lord and restrained his soul from lust, (40) Lo! the Garden will be his home]
On the road you have the chance to worship Allah thousands of times unknowingly; whenever you lower your gaze upon seeing a woman who is not permissible for, you are living up to Allah and elevating yourself. Allah has given you the tools to connect with Him. If we presumed that all matters are in the hands of an individual, he is in control, and he denies you the chance to reach him, you will never benefit from hm. Allah the Almighty Has all the best, but He provided you with the means to live up to Him. He deposited in you the desires so you can tune it according to the Allah’s mandates so you live up to Allah. This woman, for example, definitely it is one thousand times easier for her to put on light clothes during the summer; light, transparent comfortable clothes revealing her beauty, she wears loose, thick, covering her face, and covering the lines of her body, for the sake of Allah. So she went against her desire to lighten up, as one likes to lighten his clothes during the summer. So she is practicing an act of worship called veil. This act helps in the chaste of the youth. When the believing woman puts on a veil she is worshipping the Lord. As a matter of fact every part of her garment that is related to her faith, thickness of the clothes, looseness, color, size everything involved in the above is an act of worship to Allah the Almighty.
When you want to reach to God, He has provided you with thousands of pathways. Lowering the gaze alone is a paved way to Allah, woman’s veil alone is a paved way to Allah, avoiding unlawful money is another paved way to Allah. Accepting less but permissible money, and for an extreme wisdom, God made acquiring unlawful money much easier and He made acquiring lawful wealth much harder. Had it be the other way, we would not have been rising up to Allah. If the illegitimate was extremely hard, and the legitimate easy, people would avoid the illegitimate not because they fear God but because it is easier and more secure. So people would lean towards the lawful. A woman works for 8 hours and makes 400 Lira, a prostitute makes that much in minutes. Eight hour work for 400 Lira, a prostitute would make in minutes. So for an extreme wisdom God made the legitimate money harder to earn.
Deposit your money in an interest-based bank and live a comfortable life, if the amount of money you own is huge, the return is enough to make you live without working, but it is not permissible. You have to open a store, and buy goods, and sell, and give loans and collect debts, these are all hard deeds. Since illegitimate wealth is easy to earn and favorable to the soul and the legitimate money is harder to earn, the believer decides to select the harder means to live up to Allah.
[Ye will not attain unto piety until ye spend of that which ye love]
When you abstain from the easy unlawful income, and you work a hard job to earn legitimate money, you are elevating yourself to what Allah wants. When you understand that if had it not be for these desires, Paradise wouldn’t have existed. There are no Heavens if not for desires. This human is made up of a desire and a mind, when the lust dominates the mind he descends below animals, but if his mind overcomes his lust he ascends above the angels, so do not repeat what some ignorant poets say:
O God you have created charm and Said: O my servants fear Me!
* * *
Of course all of his creations are tests so you may succeed, not fail. No servant would abandon anything for the sake of God, but Allah would compensate him with a better reward in the worldly life and the hereafter. It is impossible and thousands of times impossible that you would give up something for Allah’s sake and not get a better reward. Allah would compensate with something better in the faith, the roads to Allah would be easy and paved, and the worldly affairs would come to one with no effort. The fact is Allah would never torment a heart with a desire a person gave up for Allah’s sake. Allah does not punish you with it; actually God helps you get rid of it as a way of honoring you. So humans’ embellishments are from Allah.
One of the scholars had a profound opinion: if you approach these desires from the legitimate way you would love them for what they are without deviating from the path of Allah, and you are not wrongful. It is an instinct that a soul would love good food, a huge house, a beautiful woman, so you love all these according to Allah’s mandate, and you did not deviate from the legitimate path, they are all permissible but nothing for you, meaning you do not get rewarded and you are not held accountable. On the other hand, when you use these desires to worship God; you earn money to spend it for the sake of Allah, you marry to have righteous kids to advocate the words of God after you die, when you pursue a scientific degree to guide the people to the Lord, all these pleasures transform to an act of worship that you are rewarded for.
That is why it is said: the habits of a believer are acts of worship, and the worships of a hypocrite are sins, when you eat and start with name of Allah, naming Allah before eating, and when you are intimate to your wife, and it is pure lust, when you have kids, and kids are the ornaments of life, but if you want from your wife to get closer to God, and your son to be pious who would make supplication on your behalf after you are gone, and money to spend in sake of Allah, then you have elevated not to the level of permissible but to the blessing and reward. Placing food in your wife’s mouth is an act of charity. And as I mentioned earlier: when you are intimate with your wife you are rewarded for it as the Prophet peace be upon him said:
((and in man's sexual Intercourse (with his wife, ) there is a Sadaqa))
So Allah is the One who adorns us, as for the devil he decorates to you adultery, eating pork, consuming alcohol, power on earth, so following the desires through the illegitimate ways is from the decoration of the devil, as for following the legitimate way it is an embellishment from the Merciful.
Paradise is Surrounded with Hardships and Hellfire is Surrounded by Temptations
The thing that is really meticulous and is core to this lecture is that Paradise is surrounded by hardship, and Hellfire is surrounded by temptations, and no human reached an elite status in life except after tremendous efforts and enormous hardships.
And no human preferred relaxation and rest and accomplished anything; this is a rule in life, and in the Prophetic saying:
((..The deeds of Paradise are difficult to reach, for they are on top of a hill, while the deeds of the Fire are easy to find in the lowlands. The happy person is he who is saved from the tests))
You can relax, stare at any woman, utter with any words, and earn any money, permissible or not, search for money without seeking its source, to gaze at women in a non-permissible way, to devour whatever you yearn for with no limitations; these are all lowlands in a plain. On the other hand a believer is meticulous, is it permissible or not? Do I have the right to stare and gaze or not?
[Beautified for mankind is love of the joys (that come) from women]
3- From Women
Allah made women top these temptations, Usama Ibn Zaid may Allah be pleased with them narrated that the Prophet PBUH said:
((I have not left after me any (chance) of turmoil more injurious to men than the harm done to the men because of women))
In some instances a woman can humiliate the great, many great men went down by means of a woman, and it is known to you in the western world how a highly known figure was dragged into mud because of a woman, and the scandalous meeting was published, and the lapses of this meeting is on the web in more than 2800 pages, what humiliated him? A woman, as for a believer he is shielded from a woman that is not rightful for him, and from money that is not lawful. As long as you have immunized yourself from unrightfully women and illegitimate money then you are in a strong fortress and no one can breach.
And it is no secret that the Almighty mentioned relatives in many versus and in an amazing sequence He said:
[Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brother, your wives, your kindred]
The father came on top of the list, as the verse is handling social pride, because my father, I am the son of so and so, as for lust..
[Beautified for mankind is love of the joys (that come) from women and offspring]
Woman is mentioned first.
When discussing ransom..
[The Mujrim, (criminal, sinner, disbeliever) would desire to ransom himself from the punishment of that Day by his children]
The son is very precious.
When speaking about help…
[That Day shall a man flee from his brother]
The brother, since the father is of an old age and the son is young, as for the one who can help you it is your brother, when in a position requiring assistance the bother, ransom son, lust woman, pride father.
Two Types for women Lust
Scholars said: there are two types of women lust, the first: you might follow your wife’s inclination, to please her, so you cut your family ties. A husband might follow his inner feeling, and earn illegitimate money for the sake of his spouse. Those are two desires you might follow within the marital state, within legitimate frame, in order to please her you cut your family ties, in order to make her happy you earn unlawful money.
A brother of mine told me: during Eid my wife wanted to visit with her family in a gorgeous summer house, her father had two wives, one young and he adores her, the other old and he does not care much about her. The daughter is from the first wife, so as she arrived to her father’s house, he was upset by her arrival, as her siblings, from the second wife, were there. His newer wife was upset and grumpy about it. So the father gave the daughter an amount of money and asked her to leave. As for the daughters from the newer marriage they enjoyed the good food, the warm welcome, the doubled amount of money. The daughter says: “I will never forgive him till death”. So what made the father humiliate his daughter? Pleasing the wife.
Sometimes the one who gets married invokes God’s anger to please his wife, either by earning unlawful money to please her, or severing his family ties for her sake, all within the frame of marriage. So women temptations are of two types, either severing family ties, or earning non permissible money. As for the respected companion when asked for worldly pleasures he answered his wife: “O woman in Paradise there are Hoor al Ein, if one of them would look down on earth her light would surpass that of the sun and moon together, so to sacrifice you for them is easier than sacrificing them for you”.
And as for the one who says in Eid “Allah is Great”, at the same time pleasing his wife and disobeying his Lord, he never declared it not one single time even if he utters it one thousand time, Allah is Great, greater than anything.
(('A'isha reported that the Quraish had been anxious about the Makhzumi woman who had committed theft, and said: Who will speak to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) about her? They said: Who dare it, but Usama, the loved one of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him)? So Usama spoke to him. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Do you intercede regarding one of the punishments prescribed by Allah? He then stood up and addressed (people) saying: O people, those who have gone before you were destroyed, because if any one of high rank committed theft amongst them, they spared him; and it anyone of low rank committed theft, they inflicted the prescribed punishment upon him. By Allah, if Fatima, daughter of Muhammad, were to steal, I would have her hand cut off.))
The wife of our master Omar –as mentioned in the prophetic biography- she once interfered in his affairs, interceding for one of his subjects, so he told her what do you have to do with that? So every person has his limits and position. When a woman starts meddling in her husband’s work it is a big problem. That is why scholars stated that tribulations caused by women are of two types; severing family ties and accepting unlawful money, as for children it is one
[Beautified for mankind is love of the joys (that come) from women and offspring]
4- Offspring
Humans after bearing children they are more close to surrendering, being peaceful, does not take bold stances, I have kids, and when he acts frugally he says” I have kids”, when he is sad, his son has meningitis, does not sleep at night PBUH said,
[O you who believe! Let not your properties or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allâh. And whosoever does that, then they are the losers]
Sometimes a person would follow his fancies; he wants his son to be an earthly scholar, but as for his faith no value, to achieve a high degree, an MD, a senior position so he is proud of him. A believer is not full of pride except with a righteous son, or a devout son who is beneficial to the people after he is gone.
Dear brother:
[Beautified for mankind is love of the joys (that come) from women and offspring; and stored-up heaps of gold and silver]
5- Stored-up heaps of gold and silver
Everything to an end
This is the love of money, and God’s wisdom your money is not yours. In Arabic the word gold linguistically means gone, and the word silver means adjourn or end, everything is to an end, and when a person dies he cannot take anything with him.
I have learned about a man in an Arab country who owned a wide trading business, during the summer he went north to a charming country, Turkey, while in his hotel he had a stroke as a result he died. He was 55 years old, he left 4 thousand million, and he never prayed one of the obligatory, never performed Hajj, pilgrimage, never went for Umra -lesser pilgrimage, so money you gather in fragments, and you abandon it stacked. You live deprived to die wealthy. The most remorseful is the one whom his wealth is the reason his inheritors entered Paradise and the same wealth was the reason he entered Hell-Fire. You only get what you ate and consumed, or wore and worn out, or you gave as charity and kept. So what you get are two consumables, part of what you had you gave in the form of charity. As for the balance that you did not eat, or wore, or gave out in the form of charity, mainly it is not for you, but you are accountable for it. So your provision is what you benefit from, and your earning is what you will be accountable for but you did not benefit from. For that reason the dying person says while his soul is hovering on top of his carried body: “O my family O my son, do not let this life fool you as it fooled me, I have gathered the wealth from the permissible and from the non, and I have spent it in the lawful and non, bliss to you and liability for me”.
It is mentioned in the saying of the companions, athar: “On Resurrection Day crammed people will be of four types, one type that collected money in an illegitimate mean and have spent it in unlawful ways-this type their judgment takes no time in a second- take him to Hell, the other sect gathered the money unlawfully-he owns a night club- but spend it in permissible means- he married, bought a house, a car- it is said: take him to Hell- as the collection means is Haram. Another type gathered money in a totally legal means- lawful trade- he spend it in Haram- unlawful nights- it is said; take him to Hell. Remains last sect- the one who gathered lawful wealth, spend it in allowed means, for that it is said stop and ask him, “Did you deviate with your money from being a servant to God? Did your wealth keep you busy from Allah’s duties and obligations? Did your neighbor say: O Allah you made him wealthy among us and he came short towards our rights?
It is mentioned from the athar that the Prophet PBUH says: “he continues to be asked and asked” and the reckoning is long so he left it and moved on.
Money is Power to a Believer
At the same time money is the biggest strength to a believer, with it he lives up to Allah.
The wealthy charitable believer rises to the level of a scholar by donating money, knowledge is power, and a senior position is power, by it the right is enforced and the falsehood is invalidated. The doors to virtue is wide open for the rich, although money is a tribulation, a destruction, a sin, a liability, a torment, it is at the same time impartial; either employed towards truth or falsehood, either it is a stairs to climb up higher or a downfall ladder.
[Beautified for mankind is love of the joys (that come) from women and offspring; and stored-up heaps of gold and silver, and horses branded (with their mark)]
6-Branded Horses
The Vehicle in Accordance to its Use either Good or Evil
Every era has its own type of vehicles, during the Prophet’s time; the horses were the superior form of transportation. Nowadays we say the ghost, referring to high end Mercedes; every era has its class order. It may be cars horses the purpose is the same, meaning a way of transportation. Scholar said: for a man it maybe a reward, for another a shield, for another a sin. He had a car and seduced a girl, he took her to a mountain and closed the windows, in a secluded area, and this vehicle is full of sin, since it is the cause and the means to adultery. On the other hand, if he rode it and his family, sons and veiled daughters the vehicle becomes a shield for them, but if he harnessed it for the sake of Allah, and transported believers, then it becomes a blessing to him.
Often times a brother owns a car, he lives in the outskirt of the city but he never comes alone, he comes with 4 other people, he made it easy on those brother to attend the lecture, and I know many people who never comes except with 4 people. So you have harnessed the vehicle for the sake of God. So the vehicle can be a reward, a shield, or a sin, hence it is impartial. You find the believers their vehicles are at the service of truth, he transport the believers, if he came across a person of knowledge he would love to be kind to him in front of the people, and also his family has a right.
[Beautified for mankind is love of the joys (that come) from women and offspring; and stored-up heaps of gold and silver, and horses branded (with their mark)]
The branded horses which grazed in a fertile meadow, it’s in good health and its color is radiant.
[cattle and well-tilled land]
7-Cattle and Land
Alnaam in Arabic are camels, but cattle refers to camels, sheep, cows and so forth this is a huge livestock..
[and well-tilled land]
It is farms, meadows with springs of water, and tall slender trees, he tells you: I own a farm and a house, a farm is a beautiful thing, farms, cattle, vehicles, large amount of money, women, offspring all of these are charms, but how striking is this verse when Allah the Almighty says:
[This is the pleasure of the present world’s life]
This is the Pleasure of the World’s Life
The pleasures have no effect on the future, live in comfort as much as you can; the angel of death comes to put an end to everything. Death ends the riches of the affluent, and the poverty of the poor. This deceased consumed food in thousands of feasts, and in every one of them different delicious plates. Where are you? He rode the best car where is it? Death came and put an end to everything. The word pleasure, anything present, will quickly be gone, the scholars said: the pleasure is initially sensual, and it does not come to you except externally, you need money, the pleasure’s effect is always diminishing, it subsides, and then cut off. And if it is of a violating nature it is followed by a depressing feeling, its nature is sensual, and it comes externally, diminishing then vanishing then followed by depression. As for happiness it springs from the inside, and it increases, everlasting and continuous…
[This is the pleasure of the present world’s life]
But God Advices us:
[Allah! With Him is a more excellent abode]
Allah with Him is a More Excellent Abode
If you believed in Allah, and followed His way, and did the good deeds for His sake, all of this life isn’t worth the wing of a mosquito. The benevolent Prophet, the one who utters nothing except the truth, mentioned, Sahel Ibn Said said, the Prophet PBHU said:
(( لَوْ كَانَتْ الدُّنْيَا تَعْدِلُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ جَنَاحَ بَعُوضَةٍ مَا سَقَى كَافِرًا مِنْهَا شَرْبَةَ مَاءٍ )).
[ الترمذي وابن ماحه ]
If a mosquito landed on one of his arms and he killed it, will he feel a criminal, or a killer, or did he commit anything? Nothing is more worthless to humans than a mosquito, the kind Prophet says:
(( لَوْ كَانَتْ الدُّنْيَا تَعْدِلُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ جَنَاحَ بَعُوضَةٍ مَا سَقَى كَافِرًا مِنْهَا شَرْبَةَ مَاءٍ )).
What is the meaning of life? If you are the sole owner of Mercedes Company, or General Motors, or NIDO, or Nestle, or Mitsubishi, these are all names of mega companies that possess cash surplus equivalent to the budget of 10 countries, if you own one of those, to Allah they are equivalent to a wing of a mosquito, worthless.
By the way it is not fit to Allah, for His generosity, to bestow us with blessings that end with death. But it is befitting for the generosity of Allah to grant till eternity. He grants you the Hereafter, the true endowment is the Hereafter, as for this life …
[Verily, Qârûn (Korah) was of Mûsâ’s (Moses) people, but he behaved arrogantly towards them. And We gave him of the treasures]
No if a man had an iron box, and the key is big as a finger, he keeps in it 10 million, if he had 100 iron box, that is 100 keys, you are tired of them, they weigh a lot, He tells you:
[And We gave him of the treasures that of which the keys would have been a burden to a body of strong men]
Seven strong men cannot carry the keys to the treasure, in spite of that:
[So We caused the earth to swallow him and his dwelling place]
)This is a temptation, it is not fit for Allah’s bounteousness, the endowment of Allah is in proportion with His generosity it does not end with death, and the grant of Allah is eternal everlasting. As for the earthly life it ends, and is worthless. May Allah bless him he favored what Allah has:
[Allah! With Him is a more excellent abode]
So if you believed, and straightened, and feared, and got closer through good deeds, this is better than anything in this life, and the messengers were sent to call us to the Hereafter to what Allah has for us.
