In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
The peace the evening brings
The world for once in perfect harmony
With all its living things -- Lion King
The Noble Qur'an mentions the people of Thamud who were shown the miracle of the she-camel. Prophet Salih (peace be upon him) instructed his people that this she-camel was a sign from Allah. They were asked to allow this she-camel to drink from a pond and were told that nobody should interfere with her. This was indeed a test for them. Sounds quite straight forward and a simple test. But the people of Thamud hamstrung her. They thus failed and were punished by Allah.
وَإِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صَالِحًا ۗ قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّـهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَـٰهٍ غَيْرُهُ ۖ قَدْ جَاءَتْكُم بَيِّنَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ ۖ هَـٰذِهِ نَاقَةُ اللَّـهِ لَكُمْ آيَةً ۖ فَذَرُوهَا تَأْكُلْ فِي أَرْضِ اللَّـهِ ۖ وَلَا تَمَسُّوهَا بِسُوءٍ فَيَأْخُذَكُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ﴿٧٣[Qur'an 7:73]
And to the Thamud [We sent] their brother Salih. He said, "O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him. There has come to you clear evidence from your Lord. This is the she-camel of Allah [sent] to you as a sign. So leave her to eat within Allah's land and do not touch her with harm, lest there seize you a painful punishment. (73)
وَيَا قَوْمِ هَـٰذِهِ نَاقَةُ اللَّـهِ لَكُمْ آيَةً فَذَرُوهَا تَأْكُلْ فِي أَرْضِ اللَّـهِ وَلَا تَمَسُّوهَا بِسُوءٍ فَيَأْخُذَكُمْ عَذَابٌ قَرِيبٌ ﴿٦٤﴾ فَعَقَرُوهَا فَقَالَ تَمَتَّعُوا فِي دَارِكُمْ ثَلَاثَةَ أَيَّامٍ ۖ ذَٰلِكَ وَعْدٌ غَيْرُ مَكْذُوبٍ ﴿٦٥﴾ فَلَمَّا جَاءَ أَمْرُنَا نَجَّيْنَا صَالِحًا وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ بِرَحْمَةٍ مِّنَّا وَمِنْ خِزْيِ يَوْمِئِذٍ ۗ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ الْقَوِيُّ الْعَزِيزُ ﴿٦٦﴾ وَأَخَذَ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا الصَّيْحَةُ فَأَصْبَحُوا فِي دِيَارِهِمْ جَاثِمِينَ ﴿٦٧﴾ كَأَن لَّمْ يَغْنَوْا فِيهَا ۗ أَلَا إِنَّ ثَمُودَ كَفَرُوا رَبَّهُمْ ۗ أَلَا بُعْدًا لِّثَمُودَ ﴿٦٨[Qur'an Hud 11:64-68]
And O my people, this is the she-camel of Allah - [she is] to you a sign. So let her feed upon Allah's earth and do not touch her with harm, or you will be taken by an impending punishment." (64) But they hamstrung her, so he said, "Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days. That is a promise not to be denied." (65) So when Our command came, We saved Salih and those who believed with him, by mercy from Us, and [saved them] from the disgrace of that day. Indeed, it is your Lord who is the Powerful, the Exalted in Might. (66) And the shriek seized those who had wronged, and they became within their homes [corpses] fallen prone (67) As if they had never prospered therein. Unquestionably, Thamud denied their Lord; then, away with Thamud. (68)
How could they fail? According to some tafsirs, it was the prevailing conditions that made the test very tough for them. Some people had monopolized natural resources like water and pasture and were thus denying the rights of the poor and needy. The test was to see if the people would honor every other creatures' rights.
Allah did not tell us the story of the people of Thamud for entertainment but for us to reflect and draw lessons from. It is a warning for the heedless and the ignorant.
Everything in existence is created by Allah for the use of humans. Allah has made subservient to humans all animal life, bird life, plant life, water bodies, inanimate objects, and other creations. Our duty, as humans, is to deal with these as a loving and caring friend would deal with another friend, so that we can benefit from them, without exploiting them, without stopping others from this benefit, to put forward the common good ahead of personal benefit, and live our lives along with all creation of Allah in harmony and gratitude to the Bestower.
للَّـهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَأَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ رِزْقًا لَّكُمْ ۖ وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ الْفُلْكَ لِتَجْرِيَ فِي الْبَحْرِ بِأَمْرِهِ ۖ وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ الْأَنْهَارَ ﴿٣٢﴾ وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ دَائِبَيْنِ ۖ وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ ﴿٣٣[Qu'ran Ibrahim 14:32-33]
It is Allah who created the heavens and the earth and sent down rain from the sky and produced thereby some fruits as provision for you and subjected for you the ships to sail through the sea by His command and subjected for you the rivers. (32) And He subjected for you the sun and the moon, continuous [in orbit], and subjected for you the night and the day. (33)
أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّـهَ سَخَّرَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَالْفُلْكَ تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِأَمْرِهِ وَيُمْسِكُ السَّمَاءَ أَن تَقَعَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ بِالنَّاسِ لَرَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٦٥[Qur'an Al-Hajj 22:65]
Do you not see that Allah has subjected to you whatever is on the earth and the ships which run through the sea by His command? And He restrains the sky from falling upon the earth, unless by His permission. Indeed Allah, to the people, is Kind and Merciful. (65)
إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لَآيَاتٍ لِّأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ ﴿١٩٠[Qu'ran AleImran 3:190]
Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding. (190)
When we look and admire Allah’s creation, we should realize the number of benefits that Allah has bestowed upon us. The free and clean air, water, land, fresh fruits, animals, good health, safety, time, wealth, abundance and varieties of food, clothes, natural parks/gardens, bridges/roads, technology/electronics, fast internet, fast vehicles, family/relatives, good neighbors/friends, and the list is endless.
Once we realize our list of things that Allah has given us, we should realize that almost every item on this list comes with some conditions. Conditions about how, where and when to use them. This is exactly the same condition that was presented to the people of Thamud.
[Qur'an Ibrahim 14:34]وَآتَاكُم مِّن كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ ۚ وَإِن تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّـهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا ۗ إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَظَلُومٌ كَفَّارٌ ﴿٣٤﴾
And He gave you from all you asked of Him. And if you should count the favor of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, mankind is [generally] most unjust and ungrateful.
Enjoying the various blessings of Allah is in fact a test for us. A test where, we are tested about the huqooq [or the rights] that we owe to these items of benefit. A test where, we are tested about how we utilize the blessings of Allah for the betterment of mankind and not exploit them for fulfilling our selfish desires.
This is a lifelong test for all of us, every waking moments, every sleeping moments, every breath we take is a test. This test might be a daunting task and it certainly is. But, by Allah’s Mercy we have been shown the way to overcome this difficulty as well. It is built-in into our lives already--the recitation of Al-Fatiha over and over again in our daily prayers. All we need to do is pray (at least the prescribed 5 daily prayers) and focus and do not fail this one.
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ﴿٥[Qur'an Al-Fatiha 1:5]
It is You we worship and You we ask for help. (5)
Allah reminds us in this ayah that if we remain obedient to Allah, He Himself will provide the help to overcome all difficulties and pass this test. For, it is He who creates and manages the circumstance of this very test.
إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لَآيَاتٍ لِّأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ ﴿١٩٠﴾ الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّـهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَـٰذَا بَاطِلًا سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ ﴿١٩١﴾ رَبَّنَا إِنَّكَ مَن تُدْخِلِ النَّارَ فَقَدْ أَخْزَيْتَهُ ۖ وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنصَارٍ ﴿١٩٢﴾ رَّبَّنَا إِنَّنَا سَمِعْنَا مُنَادِيًا يُنَادِي لِلْإِيمَانِ أَنْ آمِنُوا بِرَبِّكُمْ فَآمَنَّا ۚ رَبَّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَكَفِّرْ عَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا وَتَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الْأَبْرَارِ ﴿١٩٣﴾ رَبَّنَا وَآتِنَا مَا وَعَدتَّنَا عَلَىٰ رُسُلِكَ وَلَا تُخْزِنَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ۗ إِنَّكَ لَا تُخْلِفُ الْمِيعَادَ ﴿١٩٤[Qur'an AleImran 3:190-194]
Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding. (190) Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire. (191) Our Lord, indeed whoever You admit to the Fire - You have disgraced him, and for the wrongdoers there are no helpers. (192) Our Lord, indeed we have heard a caller calling to faith, [saying], 'Believe in your Lord,' and we have believed. Our Lord, so forgive us our sins and remove from us our misdeeds and cause us to die with the righteous. (193) Our Lord, and grant us what You promised us through Your messengers and do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed, You do not fail in [Your] promise." (194)
Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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