Tareek al-Hedayah: Episode 12
A Special episode in the occasion of the Prophet’s Birthday (4)
Translated by: Dar al-Tarjama – The English Convoy
This episode’s guests: Dr. Muhammad Hedayah, and Sheikh Abdullah Al-Saadi and Sheikh Amr Attia, Abdul-Rahman Sharif and the 8 year old Chechnyan Boy who memorizes 25 chapters of the Holy Qur’an.
Sheikh Abdullah Al-Saadi started the episode by a blessed recitation from Surat Al-A’raf:
52-” Certainly, We have brought to them a Book (the Qur’an) which We have explained in detail with knowledge,_ a guidance and a mercy to a people who believe.”
53-”Await they just for the final fulfillment of the event? On the Day the event is finally fulfilled (i.e. the Day of Resurrection), those who neglected it before will say:’ Verily, the Messengers of our Lord did come with the truth, now are there any intercessors for us that they might intercede on our behalf? Or could we be sent back (to the first life of the world) so that we might do (good) deeds other than those (evil) deeds which we used to do?’ Verily, they have lost their ownselves (i.e. destroyed themselves) and that which they used to fabricate (invoking and worshipping others besides Allah) has gone away from them.”
54- “Indeed your Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in Six Days, and then He Istawa (rose over) the Throne (really in a manner that suits His Majesty). He brings the night as a cover over the day, seeking it rapidly, and (He created) the sun, the moon, the stars subjected to His Command. Surely, His is the Creation and Commandment. Blessed be Allah, the Lord of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists)!”
55- Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret. He likes not the aggressors.”
And from Surat Ta-Ha:
105- “And they ask you concerning the mountains, say: ‘My Lord will blast them and scatter them as particles of dust.’“
106- “Then He shall leave it as a level smooth plain”.
107- “You will see therein nothing crooked or curved.”
108- “On that Day mankind will follow strictly (the voice of) Allah’s caller, no crookedness (that is without going to the right or left of that voice) will they show him (Allah’s caller). And all voices will be humbled for the Most Beneficent (Allah), and nothing shall you hear but the low voice of their footsteps.”
189- “On that Day no intercession shall avail, except the one for whom the Most Beneficent (Allah (has given permission and whose word is acceptable to Him.”
110- “ He (Allah) knows what happens to them (His creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them (in the Hereafter), and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge.”
111- “And (all) faces shall be humbled before (Allah), the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. And he who carried (a burden of) wrongdoing (i.e. he who disbelieved in Allah, ascribed partners to Him, and did deeds of His disobedience) became indeed a complete failure (on that Day).”
112- And he who works deeds of righteousness, while he is a believer (in Islamic Monotheism) then he will have no fear of injustice, nor of any curtailment (of_ his reward).”
From Surat An-Najm:
31- “ And to Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, that He may require those who do evil with which they have done (i.e. punish them in Hell) and reward those who do good, with what is best (i.e. Paradise).”
32- “Those who avoid great sins and Al-Fawahish (illegal sexual intercourse, etc.) except the small faults_ verily, your Lord is of vast forgiveness. He knows you will when He created you from the earth (Adam), and when you were fetuses in your mothers’ wombs. So ascribe not purity to yourselves. He knows best him who fear Allah and keep his duty to Him {i.e. those who are Al-Muttaqun (pious)”.
The presenter then announced that the written episodes of the program will be translated into several foreign languages including Hebrew. He also said they are now translating them into English and French and the episodes will be ready very soon ISA. He thanked all those who volunteered for this work and prayed for them to be blessed. He also pointed out that the program’s episodes are now available on the website of Dream Channel, with their texts also.
The presenter informed Dr. Hedayah that the previous episodes on intercession; death and the illiteracy; orphanage and poverty of the Prophet (PBUH) have raised questions from many people, and therefore he asked the Doctor to comment on the subject.
Dr. Hedayah responded by saying: ‘let’s pause at the phrase (some people say), and ask who is saying? Did any of the scholars object to what we have said? People, unfortunately, were misinformed a lot of things, but we are here reviewing the correct language and the Qur’an. So may be those who are objecting are ignorant about these matters, and they may not be scholars. But I confirm that the Islamic World Association endorses what we said and even thanks Allah SWT that we said it at this period of time when the Islamic World is full of half-learned people. It was not me who talked about the illiteracy of the Prophet (PBUH); this was already mentioned in Lisan Al-Arab and the linguistic dictionaries. In them we find the definition of an illiterate. Also Allah’s description teaches us that illiteracy was an attribute that never left the Prophet (PBUH), and that the nation taught by him is still an illiterate nation, in confirmation to the verse, “ And it was He who sent to the illiterates a prophet from among them”.
So when Allah SWT described illiteracy in the Holy Qur’an, He described it according to His Intention.
We have learned that not all that is known is told, and he who says anything should be able to respond to any argument against it. The definition of the illiterate as mentioned in (the perfect language books )and in( Lisan Al-Arab) is a person who cannot write, and not the one who cannot read nor write. Reading is not necessary be from a book. If we assumed that ‘illiterate’ means a person who cannot read nor write, and we brought a blind illiterate person, who has learned the Holy Qur’an from a sheikh, would not he be a reader? Reading ability then is not inconsistent in an illiterate. The blind people are the most readers of the Holy Qur’an. We take the words of Allah into consideration and not the words of people. People should be aware not to be like the Jews who said, “This is what we found our ancestors doing”,
Muslims should be different, and we would like to thank the Arabic satellite channels for they allowed our noble scholars to appear on their screens to correct the wrong concepts that some people have, which have no relation to religion whatsoever.
When we talked about orphanage, is it possible to call the one whom Allah gave him refuge, an orphan? It is true that the Prophet (PBUH) was born an orphan because his father was dead when he was born, and therefore he can be described as an orphan, but Allah SWT said, “Did He not find you (O Muhammad) an orphan and gave you refuge?”
This means that the moment He found him an orphan, He gave him refuge, can we say after all that, that the Prophet (PBUH) was an orphan? This description was only for a short limited period because Allah gave him refuge the moment he became an orphan.
Also Allah said, “ And He found you unaware (of the Qur’an, its legal laws, and Prophethood, etc.) and He guided you. And He found you poor and made you rich”
Can I call the one who Allah made him rich as poor? This needs a pause; we cannot say the Prophet (PBUH) was poor because Allah SWT has made him rich. And for your information, the Prophet (PBUH) was among the wealthy people of Quraysh but he gave his money in charity, just as Lady Khadijah said when he had his revelation: ‘you were generous with your guests.’ This needs money, so how can he be poor? We should also pause at the word “poor”, for what is poverty? We are all poor and in need for Allah, if this was the meaning of poverty. Therefore we should correct our speech.
Sheikh Abdullah Saadi’s Supplication:
‘Glory be to You, our Lord, everything is humble before you, everything is a subject to you. You are the wealth of every poor; the strength of every weak and the shelter for the needy. When someone of us talks, You hear, and when someone is silent, You know his inner thoughts. You are the one for whom the blackness of night; the brightness of day; the moonlight; the sunrays, the water’s murmur and the trees’ rustle prostrate.
O Maker of every broken; Amiable to every lonely; companion of every stranger; Near and not far; Dominant not dominated; Knowing every secret and The last resort of every complaint. We obeyed You and You thanked us; we disobeyed You and You granted us a respite, and if we came back, You Would Accept us.
O Lord, Accept our repentance, Erase our faults, Forgive our misdeed, Conceal our defects, and Gather our affairs with guidance. My Master I am the small You sheltered; the ignorant You taught; the unaware You guided; the lowly You raised; the frightened You safeguarded; the hungry You fed; the thirsty You appeased; the naked You dressed; the poor You made rich; the weak You gave strength; the humiliated You gave pride; the sick You made well; the asker you gave; the guilty You concealed; the little You made multiple; the weakened You backed up and the fugitive You sheltered. I am, My Lord, the one who was not shy of You while alone, and who did not observe You in the crowd. I am the owner of the greatest evils, the one who dared oppose his Master. I am the one who disobeyed the Mighty of heavens. I am the one, whom You gave respite yet he did not deter; whom You covered up yet he did not feel ashamed. O Lord, Beautify us with your concealment, and Refrain from scolding us with your generosity, You are the Best Concealer, the Most Generous among the generous and the Wisest among kings.
O Concealer of defects; Forgiver of sins; You Conceal sins with your generosity; and Delay punishment with your patience; that we do not know what to thank You for, for the goodness of Your Forgiveness, the concealment of our ugliness or the multitude of your salvation and healing. O Loving of those who sought your love, Delight of the eye of the one who resorted to You, Direct us to Your guidance, and Make our deeds for Your Pleasure. Direct Your slaves to be pious of You, O Greater than all, and Let Your peace be upon the bringer of glad tidings and the Warner against evil, and upon all his family and companions.
Then, the Chechnyan boy AbdulRahamn Al-Sharif recited the blessed verses of the beginning of Surat Al-Rahman:
1- “The Most Beneficent (Allah)!”
2- “Has taught (you mankind) the Qur’an (by His Mercy).”
3- “He created man.”
4- “He taught him eloquent speech.”
5- “The sun and the moon run on their fixed courses (exactly) calculated with measured out stages for each (for reckoning, etc,).”
6- “And the herbs (or stars) and the trees_ both prostrate.”
7- “And the heaven He raised high, and He has set up the Balance.”
8- “In order that you may not transgress (due) balance.”
9- “And observe the weight with equity and do not make the balance deficient.”
10- “And the earth He has put for the creatures.”
11- “Therein are fruits, date-palms producing sheathed fruit-stalks (enclosing dates).”
12- “And also corn, with (its) leaves and stalks for fodder, and sweet-scented plants.”
13- “Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny?”
14- “He created man (Adam) from sounding clay like the clay of pottery.”
15- “And the jinn did He create from a smokeless flame of fire.”
16- “Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny?”
17- “(He is) the Lord of the two easts (places of sunrise during early summer and early winter) and the Lord of the two wests (places of sunset during early summer and early winter).”
18- “Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny?”
19- “He has let loosed the two seas (the salt water and the sweet) meeting together.”
20- “Between them a barrier which none of them can transgress.”
21- “Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny?”