Why Society Mistook the Prophet's Mercy for Madness

Continuing.

[Silence]

In the 68th chapter of the book of Allah Quran various names and we have reached to the we have arrived at the fourth verse. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is addressing the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam in this verse and the previous verses to review. We'll take it from the beginning because all of these verses are very closely tied into one another. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says noon I swear by the pen and what they write and all that they write. You, oh messenger, oh Muhammad, are not by the grace of your Lord in any way insane or mad. And I further swear that for you is an is a great and unending a vast and unending reward. And I further swear that you, oh messenger, oh Muhammad, are upon a high level and esteemed level and stature of etiquette and character. So we look at these verses we see that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is defending the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam. He is affirming for him the highest with respects to intelligence. He is insinuating that he sallall.aii wasallam should be patient with the difficulties that he is encountering from his antagonist. He assures the prophet sallall.aii Wasam. That for him is a very vast and unending reward. foreign.

[Silence]

There is no.

[Silence]

For.

[Silence]

Ahead. Foreign speech. Foreign foreign foreign speech.

[Silence]

Good try though, right? Listen to it. Tenwin,ch.

[Silence]

And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives two descriptions of this great reward. He he describes the reward itself as being incredible, vast, grand, and he also describes it as being unending. Because no matter how good something is, if it comes to an end, what was the what was the point? What do you get to take away from that? there has to be something that is remnant that remains. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala often brings these two descriptions together in the Quran that the he says for instance in the the hereafter is better than the and it is it is better in itself and it is unending in its time span. It has no end. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then follows this up by saying.

[Silence]

He a little kid inch.

[Silence]

Sliding. That's exactly it. This lamb is referred to as the sliding lamb. It's been it's been slided. And the reason they call it that is because it actually moved from or this lamb always comes with it always comes with it and it slides over from to the for a number of reasons. The point is is that this lamb what is the point of it? The point of it is to add emphasis. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying and indeed you oh Muhammad are upon great etiquette and character. Now when I speak when anyone speaks to a listener when a speaker adds words of emphasis what does that reflect about the listener? Okay. Importance number one, but what else? we have a number of emphas emphasis things that emphasize this in emphatic letters or statements. So we have first Allah swears by the pen and all that they used to write with it. That's number one. Number two, we have in and this is used to emphasize. Number three, we have the and this is also used to emphasize. It's almost you could summarize this as being indeed indeed indeed you are upon a high level of etiquette. So when I emphasize something that as a speaker, this emphasis will only come number one with something that is very important. But number two, if the listener doesn't believe it or the statement is so great that you might not believe it, right? Yeah. I mean the the reason is is that if I come and say to you for instance Ahmed is coming right Ahmed is coming but if I come and say indeed Ahmed is coming I swear by Allah indeed Ahmed is coming. I swear by Allah indeed verily I proclaim that Ahmed is coming all of this emphasis for what reason here is the reason and I want this this has a point this isn't just shen this isn't just you know fel this has a point why am I saying all of this when you look at society and Can you see that we have idioms, we have proverbs that look down on people who have good character. What do I mean by that? If I say for instance, nice guys finish last. Nice guys finish last. This is positive or negative. This is negative. What about if I say if we say for instance mercy is for thee the weak right these are things that we say idioms proverbs that we say common phrases that are almost spoken as truisms because society only without the guidance of Allah look at these kinds of things and they see it to be weakness, forgiveness, pardon, patience, right? They say if if you're that, everyone's going to take advantage of you. As a matter of fact, this has also made its way into the Muslim psychology. for instance in Phil where I grew up they will say about someone that he's religious they say mskh he's he prays he's he's just a you know he's just a a poor guy he's right because we have this stigma you know what the stigma is that if you if you learn Learn the Quran, learn the Sunnah, and follow it. You're not really very clever. Clever and cunning and intelligence. Those attributes are always given to the scum. Someone who can swindle people really good, really good liars, right? Those guys say, "Wow, it's not good what he's doing, but boy is he clever. Boy, is he smart." They don't give those attributes to people that follow the Sunnah. They give those attributes to who?

[Arabic recitation]

For you to walk across the street to spit on. People that aren't worth two two cents, two black cents. But then we make movies about them and we marvel at their intelligence and their cunning and their right. But when we look at, you know, how often do you see a movie or a song or a where the guy is patient and forgiving and pardoning and overlooking and that's not an interesting movie.

[Arabic recitation]

Jilted 50 years ago and plans 50 years worth of revenge until finally he gets his revenge. Right? or a guy that manages to swindle a whole bunch of money out and we write these people's history. We almost exalt them. Kids want to be them. We put their pictures up, their posters up in our bedrooms, right? Because righteousness and intelligence in our society today, those are not those are considered to be antonyms. Those are not synonyms. Those are considered to be antonyms. If you are someone that even amongst the Muslim, don't think that it's not there. Even amongst the Muslim, this is the strain of that is found amongst the Muslim. What did the used to say about the prophet Sam? Huh?

[Silence]

Right. This is how the hypocrites look down on the companions and they used to mock them, right? Right. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala here reassures the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam. Your patience is not an action and your lack of revenge is not because you don't notice. Your overlooking doesn't mean you're not intelligent. You see, you see what's happening. You know, but you are of a higher level than these folks down here, right? They look down on you because you pardon them, because you forgive, because you don't retaliate, because you don't make fun of them like they make fun of you, and they look at you you are a simpleton, a fool. But really, and notice the wording here. You are upon a high vast level of character. You're far above these guys. Don't let them bring you down. Don't let them their insults really get to you and make you think that because you're choosing not to go down to their level that somehow this is because you are weak or because you are unintelligent. No. And this is a a parody. You can even see in in Muslim countries, you can watch the, you know, , Arab cinema where they show, you know, , religious guys. They make fun of them they're kind of dumb, they're a little bit stupid, they're kind of foolish, right? But then the really intelligent folks, no, they don't worry about this Quran and Sunnah stuff. Those guys, they will plot and plan and they're the ones that get ahead. They're the ones that get the dramatic music and soundtrack, right? They're the ones who have dramatic takes of their words. But the religious, those are kind of foolish people. Exactly what the said about the prophet and his companions.

[Silence]

That's how they are. That's what the hypocrites think of the people that carry Allah's words in their heart. They see them as simple. And any Muslim who perpetuates or pedals this concept of those who fear Allah is upon the sunnah of their ancestors of Abdullahb and his companions, the hypocrites of Medina. Those are their ancestors, the ones that make fun of the followers of Allah and his messenger. But he understood. He said, he said, "I'm neither a slimy reptile, nor does the slimy reptile trick me. Just because I overlook doesn't mean I didn't see. Just because I choose not to retaliate doesn't mean I'm weak. Just because I show patience doesn't mean I'm I am exhibiting inaction. No, restraint takes strength. Mercy comes from a place of power. And pardon comes from a place of intelligence. And in the narration of we'll end with this, we remember the narration of when the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam gave her the analogy and said you and I are Abu Z and except that I'm not going to divorce you. Abu Zar divorced and there's a long narration where these different women describe their husbands. But one woman described her husband. She said, She gave three descriptions. She said, "When he comes in the house, he's a panther. When he leaves the house, he's a lion, and he doesn't ask about what he left behind." What does she mean by this? She describes her husband saying when he comes home, he is a panther. You know, every culture they take animals and they take a characteristic about that animal and they use it to describe people. for instance, if I say lion, what comes to mind? What description?

[Arabic recitation]

Right? What about if I say snake? Slimy, cunning, deceptive, right? Treacherous, right? What about if I say rat? Lowly. What if I say cockroach?

[Arabic recitation]

If the if the world blew itself up, cockroaches would come out the next day, right? The Arabs have the same thing in their literature, in their fables. So, one of the descriptions is a panther. A panther in the Arab in the Arabic culture is is refer is used as a reference for the Arabs view the panther as being an animal that doesn't notice a lot around it. It's kind of it's kind of u It's not the It's not the the sharpest knife in the drawer, right? And the thing is is that it it overlooks it. It It only worries about certain things. And it it's a it's a creature that is known to overlook, right? It's referred to it's a it's an example or an analogy of a lion is an analogy for strength and and courage. Okay. So what she's saying is that when my husband comes home with me, he's a panther. meaning that he doesn't pick on every little thing and he doesn't notice every little mistake. He overlooks. It's not cuz he doesn't see. He sees. But he's above pettiness. He lets me get away with things that no one else can get away with. But when he goes out into the public, now he's a lion. Nobody no one gets away with him. Right. And when he leaves something behind, he never brings it up again. What's that mean? Meaning he'll bring home a pound of chicken. And she says, "Hey, pick up chicken on your way home." I just brought a pound. What happened to the chicken? Where did it go? Right. We need some rice. What are you drinking the rice? Where'd it go? I just bought some two days ago. Right. Always checking. Always counting every bite. This is a reference to his generosity. So we see that these are chosen characteristics. They're good character. Meaning that this person, he treats his family, his wife in that way, right? And this is a praise for him. The prophet sallall.aii am is getting even higher praise than this. Don't worry about what they say. They make fun of you. They they speak ill about you. They they they mock you. They look down on you. They come to you and they say, "I swear by Allah, I was unable to join the party." Right? Meaning the the to go to war, to battle, right? the they would come and say, "I swear by Allah, right? They would come up with some bogus excuse and say, "I swear by Allah." And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would just take him at their word and let him go. So they'd make fun of him. They'd say he he's he's an open ear. He just listens to everyone and he doesn't know the difference between people who are swindling him and people who are truthful to him. But here Allah is telling him that's not because he doesn't know. No, he sees. He sees everything. He knows. However, he is above that and he deals with people based on the law of Allah. Abu Bakr, we'll end with this. He was with the prophet sallall.aii wasallam and a man started to berate him and insult him. Abu Bakr was patient and then he started to defend himself and retaliate. The prophet sallallah.aii wasallam left him and walked off. So Abu Bakr asked him you know this guy was this guy was you know berating me and you you stayed for that. Then when I started to defend myself you left me. He said, "There was an angel standing there defending you, but when you started to retaliate, he left. So I left, too. I wouldn't sit in the company where angels wouldn't sit." These are the That takes strength. That takes courage. Courage to pardon someone even though that person may come back to to hurt you. When Omar brought Abul al-Musi, he threatened him. He threatened him just a week before he murdered him. He threatened him. And Omar knew he was threatening him. Did Omar say, "Okay, guys, we need to have 10 guards on two shifts, five guards, five guards. Take this guy, put him in prison, disappear him. I'm afraid for my life. I'm No." The guy came and he attacked Omar Wen in his most vulnerable state when he's leaving because that takes strength, takes courage to not oppress someone out of fear,.

[Arabic recitation]