Ramadan 15, 1435/2014 Tafseer , by Imam Muhammed Shoayb Mehtar, Khadeeja Islamic Center, SLC, Utah
Nightly Notes (15)*:
Tonight we read Surah Luqman where Luqman (AS) is passing on advice to his child and the Qur’an is teaching us how to have adab (respect) for our parents. Ayah 14 close meaning says ‘We have given humanity instructions concerning their parents’. Our mother carried us in her womb for so long. She bore us, she fed us until we were 2 years, not just for a day, a week, a month which is common in the animal kingdom to have a minimal feeding time. No, Allah made it such that she would feed us first liquid food, then soft food, and gradually to solid foods. So be grateful to your mother and father. Nothing belongs to you, everything belongs to Allah. Respect our parents’ wishes at all times. Parents allow us to do this and that but how do they feel when we do that (wrong) action. We have to take their sentiments into mind. They remember 20, 30 years ago when we cried when we were young due to sickness they would act as if they were the ones that were sick in their worry for our well-being.
Be grateful to Allah and to your parents. Gratefulness means spending necessary resources on them if we have the means. Kitaab ul Hidaya (Fiqh book) makes it clear that a father has a right to go into the child’s home if he needs something without permission, take what he needs, and then leave. This is taken from the Hadith close meaning that you and your wealth belong to your father. Today, the youth say my father is not giving me my right so I’m working X job for X amount of money, I’m studying X degree. We will see the benefit of respecting our parents in this world when we insha’Allah have children of our own if we do not already by Allah’s mercy. Only disobey your parents in that aspect that they are wrong in; do not take this as an excuse to not listen to them at all, only in that aspect that they are wrong and contradict what Allah and His Rasulullah (SAW) teach throughout the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Luqman (AS) to his son: O my son, nothing is concealed from Allah. There is a Jamaat saying (people that spend time in the path of Allah) that there is a black ant crawling on a black rock in a pitch black night. There is no way anyone but Allah can see this happening. Allah knows where a mustard seed is (hardly can be seen when held up on your fingertip) and He knows the weight of it and he knows where all of them are and what their weight is. Luqman (AS): O my child, command good and refrain from every type of evil that comes your way. Ustadh (learned teachers) say to focus on these 2 ayah and you will have reached completeness of deen (religion).
- Understand the greatness of Allah my child. You will do wrong but make your istighfaar, we have to repeat this over and over again until it is part of our very being, until our Imaan pulsates with this habit.
- O my child, be faithful to Allah, to your parents, to your spouse, etc. Don’t cheat on that exam. Don’t prevent someone from doing good. Don’t cheat on that business transaction. Don’t lie to try to get your way to the top of the ‘food chain’.
Rasulullah (SAW) gave advice to his wives: if the world is what you want the world is what you’ll get but the punishment of the Hereafter is very, very severe. If this is what applied to the wives of the Prophet (SAW) that they live in simplicity, how can wives of today demand more from their husbands? He (SAW) took part in domestic activities. He would sweep, he would clean, he would assist in cooking, he would mend his own shoes. Is he (SAW) not the greatest example to follow of all time? How then can men in modern days say we work outside the house, the work of the house is for our womenfolk. Is this what the Prophet (SAW) did despite all of his responsibilities? If men wish to be good examples to their household they have to follow in the footsteps of Rasulullah (SAW) and lead our families to shun this modern thought that has crept up into our households and be a leader like our Prophet (SAW) and not only will the women of the house appreciate this, the reward is with Allah for reviving a forgotten Sunnah of Nabi (SAW).
He (SAW) told his wives, if you have Taqwa then do not chase after this world. O women, speak in a low manner and do not try to entice other men. If the wives did not demand that much from him (SAW) how can we get our daughters to demand a lot from their husbands? What did Ayesha (RA) go through? Many moons (months!) would pass in the household of Rasulullah (SAW) where the oven was not lit. They would not eat meat for days and days. If you go to the Topkapi Museum in Turkey, you can see Fatima (RA’s) clothing is like that of a potato sack. Very thick, very rough, and with a lot of patches on it. We want our daughters and daughter-in-laws and our sons and son-in-laws to be successful. Just how close are they to Fatima (RA) and Ali (RA)? At the very least, this is food for some serious thought.
May Allah (SWT) help us and guide us at all times.
*Nightly Notes provided by note-takers in the masjid, as heard during tafseer.