All praise be due to Allah, for his favors..
And may Salat and Salam be upon the best of His creation and the most honored upon His messengers.. and then..
Praise to Allah, this is a continuation of the goodness we are doing..
explaining the speech of our Lord, Almighty..
The title of today is..
Walk among its slopes.
Allah, Almighty, said in Sura Al-Mulk..
"It is He who made the earth tame[Dhalul] for you .. " 67:15
".. so walk among its slopes and eat of His provision - and to Him is the resurrection.
The word; [Dhalul]..
is derived from the word: [Dhul= humiliation]..
Some linguistics say we have two related words..
[Dhul] and [Dhil].. The word [Dhul]..
is being tamed and made easy after subjugation..
And, the word: [Dhil].. with [Kasra] sign..
is being tamed and made easy after having hardship and difficulty..
Other linguistics consider them having the same meaning..
and this is more apparent.
In His Great Words, Allah, Almighty, has mentioned this great word, so frequently..
So, He commanded to be dutiful to parents by saying..
"And lower to them the wing of humility[Dhul] out of mercy.. " 17:24
According to the meaning of the word: [Dhul] as from Subjugation..
The verse will mean..
He should be like subjugated for them.
And, Allah, Almighty, said:
".. and follow the ways of your Lord laid down[Dhulula], [for you].. " 16:69
And, About the bliss of Jannah, Allah, Almighty, said:
".. and its [fruit] to be picked will be lowered[Dhulilat] in compliance[Tadhlila]." 76:14
i.e., it is made very easy to get.
and the person can have it, without any effort.
And, in our verse, Allah, Almighty, said:
[It is He who made the earth tame[Dhalul] for you]..
And, if a camel was easy to lead..
Arabs say that it is [Dhalul].
This is in the language.
In our verse, our Lord said: [It is He who made the earth tame[Dhalul] for you].. to indicate;
How He is giving us this great favor.
as a bestowal.
So, Allah has conferred a favor upon people that he made the earth tamed[Dhalul] for them!
to understand the verses which are coming next..
the Lord of Dignity, said:
[.. so walk[Amshu} among its slopes]..
The verb; [Amshu] is an order.
But, this is not a command.. not an obligation!
It is not a must.
but, it is a permission.
yet, it includes encouragement of striving, on earth..
and working hard.
From where, did we obtain this indication?
From the beginning of the verse:
[It is He who made the earth tame[Dhalul] for you]..
Because with this, Allah, Almighty, is bringing His favor to mind..
Then the verb, in order form, indicates:
In addition to permission, as a rule..
it indicates that we should strive on Earth!
And, the Ummah of Islam..
is obliged to act like this..
Don't think that abidance in religion is..
confined to, being in Masjids..
The whole society is a chamber for worshiping Allah!
And if we are in need of some life matters..
which we can't produce ourselves..
we must obtain them from people who can produce them..
However, the basic matter is, to have self-sufficiency..
to spare ourselves, needless humiliation and abasement.
For this, Allah is saying to individuals and to nations..
[It is He who made the earth tame[Dhalul] for you, so walk among its slopes and eat of His provision]..
And, if it was the will of Allah, He would have brought the provision to His servants.
But, He, Almighty, said: [walk among its slopes and eat of His provision]..
as an order, to do the effort that would make things happen.
And, the prudent, free, rational person shouldn't..
sit in his home, waiting for charity, to be offered to him..
But, each person should work hard..
to support himself, before supporting others!
To build his family, then his country..
with the righteousness..
Showing his generous soul and his pure heart..
serving people, the way they need to be served.
The Ummah and the countries are built by the hard work of me and you..
by our dedicated giving..
by our mutual love..
Allah, Almighty, said:
[walk among its slopes and eat of His provision]..
So, Allah loves that we should work hard for earning and building our lives..
But, this shouldn't keep us so much occupied, and forget about our Akhirah.
For that, Allah said at the end of the verse: [ and to Him is the resurrection].
This indicates, that even though we are ordered to build this Dunya..
however, we shouldn't relax, believing, as if it is our last destination.
it is just a transit station..
But this doesn't mean not to work and to strive in it!
Ascetic individuals might preach that this life is a temporary residence..
to make us leave everything in life!!
This is incorrect..
How do we know it is incorrect?
Allah, Almighty, said:
"O you who have believed, when you marry believing women.. " 33:49
And, He , Almighty, said: "O you who have believed, when you contract a debt for a specified term, write it down.. " 2:282
And, He said: ".. only [in lawful] business by mutual consent.. " 4:29
This is the saying of Quran!
If each person would hide in his house..
How can we practice our religion?
How do men and women get married?
Who will do businesses?
And, All these activities are mentioned in Quran!
After, Allah, Almighty, has mentioned Salat Jum'aa, which is a great rite, He said:
"And when the prayer has been concluded.. " 62:10
".. disperse within the land and seek from the bounty of Allah.. "
And this was after doing a great rite!!
He didn't say in the verse, stay in the masjid, and wait for Asr Salat!
However, it is approved by the prophet, (ﷺ): '.. and waiting after one prayer for the next prayer. That is the firm hold, that is the firm hold, that is the firm hold.'
But..
It is unfair to misunderstand this religion, and it is a perfect religion..
with deficient minds!
Because, deficient minds..
will convey deficient information!
And, our religion is not deficient..
Our religion has covered all matters of Dunya and all matters of Akhirah.
"[We said], "O David, indeed We have made you a successor upon the earth.. " 38:26
".. so judge between the people in truth.. "
People should mingle together..
and when they wrong each other..
their just ruler should step to do his work..
and solve their disputes..
This is the way in Quran..
"O you who have believed, testimony [should be taken] among you when death approaches one of you at the time of bequest.. " 5:106
to the end of the verses..
even the Christians are to give their testimony..
if a Muslim witness, wasn't available.
This indicates that people should mix together..
Abu Ash-Shaham was a Jew, who lived in Al-Madinah..
before the death of the prophet, (ﷺ), about 9 days from his death..
he took flour from Abu Ash-Shaham..
a weight of [keila].. from barley..
He secured the loan with depositing his shield with the Jew..
And, he, (ﷺ), knew that he is about to die..
He said to people the last whole sura, the farewell Sura: "When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest."
So, he, (ﷺ), knew that he was about to die.
Yet, he took the barely..
and, secured the loan with his shield.
It is not right to take religion from one statement or one Hadith, only..
put all the verses together..
put all the Hadiths, together..
and, from them all, you can understand the intended meaning in religion..
If a person knows that he is not qualified to speak about religion..
let him avoid talking about this matter to others..
from his own point of view.
But, people need to understand their religion..
and qualified scholars should do this task..
However, it is hard to be perfect..
and a person who cannot be perfect, himself, shouldn't ask others to be perfect.
the point is to do our best.
Allah, Almighty, said: [so walk among its slopes]..
[and eat of His provision]..
So, the provision is His provision..
His favor and His bounty..
[and to Him is the resurrection.]..
Today we are living in this land..
and we move, here and there..
But, someday will come..
and we will face death and be buried in this same land..
from which we will be resurrected.
Allah, Almighty, said:
"From it [i.e., the earth] We created you, and into it We will return you, and from it We will extract you another time." 20:55
Look at the balance of the verses of Quran;
After saying be free: [walk among its slopes and eat of His provision]
then, He restricts you saying:
He says: [and to Him is the resurrection]!!
And, Allah said: "Indeed, to your Lord is the return." 96:8
You live this life, you buy and sell..
Then Satan misleads you to be unjust..
then, you remember that the return is to Allah..
so, you reject the wrongdoing, but you will not stop working..
you will continue on buying and selling..
and stop the wrongdoing.
stop bribing..
stop cheating..
stop trickery..
Because, Allah won't blame you for buying and selling..
He won't condemn you, if you worked to feed your children..
You will be rewarded for this..
But, Allah will hold you responsible of your actions with others.. in case if you were unjust to them.
For example:
The prophet, (ﷺ), gave Urwah Al-Bariqi, may Allah be pleased of him and please him, one Dirham..
to buy him a sheep..
so he bought him two goats with it, and he sold one of them for a Dirham, and he brought him a Dirham and a sheep.
And, the prophet, (ﷺ), didn't disapprove his action..
However the man sold the sheep, with double the price of buying it..
He bought two goats with one Dirham..
Then, he sold one of them for one Dirham..
and, he returned to the prophet, (ﷺ), with one Dirham and a goat.
So, he, (ﷺ), said to him..
may Allah make you successful in your trading..
After this, the companions used to keep their capitals with Urwah..
to invest with him..
and he used to gain a lot..
They knew that he is blessed with the prophet's Du'aa, to be successful in trading
The prophet, (ﷺ), didn't disapprove his trading, because, this is how people used to trade..
And it was reported: ' Let people be, may Allah provide them from one another.'
The point is to keep the trading honest and clear..
without deception or deceit!
Trading is a way of life..
and, people earn by selling goods.
The rules of these matters need to be clear to people..
and they are mentioned in our verse: [so walk among its slopes and eat of His provision - and to Him is the resurrection].
Let's mention some of what was in literature, about the matter.
On earth, we know that, there are roads, passes between mountains, called: [Fijaj]..
and, there are [Manakib], some scholars said they are the high lands and the mountains..
Others said: they are downhill slopes.. and this is the intended meaning here.
Linguistically, the word: [Mankib] is the joint between the shoulder and the upper arm.
They described the prophet, (ﷺ), as having widely apart, two [Mankibs=shoulder joints].
Another thing, in history..
The earring hole, in an ear..
and the needle hole..
and the ax hole..
are called?
If the TV viewers would respond, I could've asked them..
all are called: [Khart]!
Amr Ibn Al-'Aas, may Allah be pleased of him and please him.. he was very eloquent..
his eloquence is a great example..
At his death, they asked him, How do you feel?
They wanted to learn about death, from a man who can express himself perfectly..
He said: As if I'm breathing through a [Khart] of a needle!
through a hole of a needle!
We've said this word is applied to a hole of an earring.. of course in women..
and, to ahole of a needle..
or, to a hole of an ax, where the wooden handle is introduced.
Is it clear now?
We should learn these small things!!
Why am I mentioning this?
Because, they call a person who knows the roads of traveling on earth..
(Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return)
Good to be, not the first lesson..
Maybe we would have cancelled!
He is called: [Khriet]..
you have studied this in Sera(biography) of the messenger of Allah..
The prophet, (ﷺ) and Abu Bakr hired a man from the tribe of Bani-Ad-Dil..
as an expert guide [Khiretan Hadia]..
He was their guide in the journey to Madinah..
He knows the passages and the roads to Al-Madinah..
This was at the emigration to Madinah.
A man who doesn't lose the way, and he knows that Quraish will chase them..
So, a [Khriet] is needed..
This [Khiret] was a pagan (follower of the religion of the pagans of Quraish).
and, he didn't enter Islam.
And, guidance is in the Hand of Allah.. However:
He was with the prophet, (ﷺ).. for 15 days..
from the Cave of Thaur, to Quba..
He was seeing the prophet, praying Salat..
mentioning Allah..
he was seeing the brightness of his face..
he was seeing how he is served by Abu Bakr and by Amir Ibn Fuhairah..
Yet, he didn't feel Iman in his heart!!
Today, you might encounter a man who doesn't know a single Arabic letter..
by chance, Allah guides him, to work at Saudi Arabia or at Gulf area..
He doesn't know Allah, at all, he might be a pagan..
He learns Arabic in few days..
and hears the Adhan of a masjid..
He knocks the door saying, I want to enter Islam!
I want to say Shahadah!
What we should say is..
Alhamdulillah that we are blessed with Islam.
with the bliss of Islam..
The Messenger of Allah used to say: 'O You Who makes hearts steadfast make our hearts steadfast in adhering to Your religion.'
Back to history..
This expert is called [Khiret]..
The name of this guide was: Abdullah Ibn Uraiqit or Uraiqid..
from the tribe of Bani-Ad-Dil..
he took them through the valley of Reem..
as the last station to Quba, at Al-Madinah..
The ancient Arabs tell a story about a man..
he was called: Du'aymis..
He was a [khriet] who was very excellent..
They say that at that time, there was a land called: Al-Wabar..
and, I think it is what we call today: the Empty Quarter[ Rub' al Khali], a large desert in the Arabian Peninsula.
And, he was the only one who can cross this land..
So, people trusted his ability.
Once, during Hajj..
He asked for 90 young camels..
to travel across the Wabar land..
A man gave him this number of camels.. 90 or 99 camel..
to travel with his family and his sons..
People used to trust him.. he was an expert..
The story says, he went to the land of Wabar..
till he was in the middle of it..
and, he knows the place very will, better than anyone else..
They said: the Jinn injured his eyes..
they made him blind..
So, he couldn't see his way, he died and all who were with him have died too.
And his story became famous, and Arabs kept telling his story..
The poet, Al-Farazdaq said:
he satirized the poet Jarir, saying:
You father was insisting to go to the land..
where people has died, and he died..
like surrendering to a dreadful land.
The meaning of this poetry is:
Your father had died like the death of that man who went to that dangerous desert.
because the Arabs said a quote: (An imprudence more than of Du'aymis Ar-Raml)..
they called the man: Du'aymis (Ar-Raml=sand)..
Because he was able to travel in deserts.
So, what he did was an extreme imprudence, so he was an example of sever recklessness.
This was like a quote.
The lesson is..
A person might reach a very distinguished position..
then, by a will of Allah, he falls down!
So..
At the time, when you are in a great bounty..
remember to thank your Lord..
so as not to be taken from you!
".. and said, "My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me.. " 27:19
and in the same Sura, he said:
".. he said, "This is from the favor of my Lord to test me whether I will be grateful or ungrateful.. " 27:40
".. And whoever is grateful - his gratitude is only for [the benefit of] himself.. "
".. And whoever is ungrateful - then indeed, my Lord is Free of need and Generous.". "
May Allah guide us all to that which He loves and approves..
and donned us the wear of well-being and piety.
may Salat from Allah be upon Muhammad and his family.
And, all praise be due to Allah, Lord of all worlds.