Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Do they not look at the camels, how they were created..." to the end of Surat al-Ghashiyah.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and the final outcome is for the righteous, and no transgression is except against the wrongdoers. And I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah, alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger, the seal of the prophets and the imam of the righteous. May Allah send prayers and blessings upon him, his family, his companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows:
This is the sixty-first session of the sessions known as "The Open Door Meeting", which takes place every Thursday of every week. This is the fourteenth day of the month of Muharram in the year 1415. We begin, as is customary, with whatever is facilitated of the exegesis of the speech of Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
And we ended the previous lesson at the saying of Allah the Exalted: .
When Allah, Mighty and Majestic, established in this surah the matter of al-Ghashiyah, which is the Day of Resurrection, and explained that people are divided into two groups: faces humbled , and faces at ease , and explained the recompense of these and those, He said: .
This interrogative is for rebuke, meaning that Allah rebukes those who denied what Allah informed about regarding the Day of Resurrection and the reward and punishment. He rebuked them for turning away from looking at the signs of Allah the Exalted that are before them. He began with camels because what people deal with most in that time is camels; they ride them, milk them, eat their meat, and benefit from their wool, among other benefits. So He said: , which are the she-camels , meaning: How did Allah, Mighty and Majestic, create them with this large, enduring body? You find the camel walking long distances that a human cannot reach except with great difficulty, while it endures. You also find the camel carrying heavy loads while it is kneeling, then it stands up with its load without needing assistance. The custom is that an animal hardly stands up when loaded while kneeling, but Allah, Mighty and Majestic, gave these camels strength and ability for the benefit of humans, because a human cannot load them while they are standing due to their height. But Allah the Exalted made it easy for him to load them while they are kneeling, and then they stand up with their loads. And as Allah the Exalted said in Surat Ya-Sin: , their benefits are too many to count, and their owners who practice with them know this better than we do. Therefore He said: , and He did not mention any other animal such as sheep, cows, gazelles, and others, because, as I told you, they are the most beneficial of animals and the most useful for the servants.
means: And do they look at the sky, how it was raised with what is in it of stars, sun, moon, and other great signs, many of which have not become clear until now.
And we do not say that these celestial signs are all the signs; rather, perhaps there are great, magnificent signs that we do not perceive until now.
And His saying: means: It was raised with this great height, and yet it has no pillars, even though the custom is that ceilings are not except on pillars. But this great, preserved ceiling stood without pillars .
These great mountains that carry rocks and adjacent, differing pieces. Mountains are composed of many stones and many types, including diverse minerals that are adjacent. Yet you find, for example, a line in the middle of the rock that contains minerals not found in the rock nearby. The people of geology know how Allah installed these great mountains, and He, Exalted and Majestic, installed them with this height to be pegs in the earth so that it would not shake with people. If Allah, Mighty and Majestic, had not created these mountains, the earth would have shaken with its inhabitants, because the earth is in the middle of water, with water surrounding it from every side. What do you think of a sphere placed in the middle of water? It would move, fluctuate, roll sometimes, and overturn sometimes. But Allah made these mountains pegs that hold the earth as ropes hold a tent, and they are stable and fixed despite the great storms that occur on the earth, which destroy the buildings built by humans. But these mountains do not shift; they remain stable even if great storms come. In fact, one of their benefits is that they block the great, severe storms that launch from the seas or from other places so that they do not sweep away people, and this is observed. You find those on the slopes of the mountains and below them on the earth to be safe from the great wind storms that come from behind the mountain. So they have great benefits, and they are pegs; if all of creation gathered to place a chain like this chain of mountains, they would not be able to find a way to do so, no matter how far their industry, strength, and power reached, and no matter how long their duration, they would not be able to bring about such mountains.
And some scholars said: These mountains are rooted in the earth to the extent of their height in the sky, meaning, for example, that the mountain has a root and a base inside the earth in a depth equal to its height in the sky. And this is not far-fetched that Allah enabled this mountain in the earth to be as much as it is in the sky so that the winds do not shake it. Therefore He, Mighty and Majestic, says:
He, Mighty and Majestic, says: How did Allah spread this wide earth and make it a wide surface so that people can live in it through agriculture, building, and other things? What do you think if the earth were a slope, not flat, meaning like mountains that one climbs and ascends? It would be difficult, and people would not settle on it. But Allah, Mighty and Majestic, made it a smooth surface for creation.
And some scholars used this verse as evidence that the earth is not spherical but an extended surface, but this evidence is questionable, because there are verses indicating that the earth is spherical, and reality is a witness to that. He, Mighty and Majestic, says: , and al-takwir is rolling. It is known that night and day succeed one another on the earth, so if they are rolled, it must be that the earth is rolled. And Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: , so He said: . And it came in the hadith that on the Day of Resurrection it will be spread out like the spreading of leather, meaning the spreading of skin, so that there will be no mountains, valleys, trees, or buildings in it. The Lord, Mighty and Majestic, will leave it a flat, level plain, in which you will see no crookedness or elevation. So His saying: , when will the sky split? Everyone knows that it does not split except on the Day of Resurrection, and that it is not split now.
So His saying: means: On the Day of Resurrection. So it is not spread out now. So what is it? It is spherical.
And the tangible, certain reality now is that it is spherical, without doubt. And the evidence for this is that if you walk in a straight line from here from the Kingdom heading west, you will come from the east and... you circle the earth and then return to the point from which you started. And likewise the opposite, if you walk heading toward the east, you will find yourself returning to the point from which you started from the west.
So it is now a matter without doubt that it is spherical. So if a person says: If it is spherical as you claim, how do the waters of the seas remain on it while it is spherical? We say in answer to that: The One who holds the sky from falling upon the earth except by His permission holds the seas from overflowing upon people and drowning them. And Allah is capable of all things.
Some people of knowledge said: Yes, means: It was restrained and prevented from overflowing upon people, like something that is tethered: bound.
And in any case, the divine power is not something we can oppose. We say: The power of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, held these seas from overflowing upon the inhabitants of the earth and drowning them, even if the earth is spherical.
Then He, Mighty and Majestic, when He explained these four signs: the camels, the sky, the mountains, and the earth, said to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . Allah commanded him to remind, and He did not specify anyone for the reminder, meaning He did not say: Remind so-and-so and so-and-so. So the reminder is general, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent to all people. He reminded everyone in every state and in every place. So the Prophet (may Allah send prayers and blessings upon him) was reminded, and his successors after him who succeeded him in his community in knowledge, action, and calling.
They mentioned it, but does this reminder benefit everyone? The answer is: No. As for the disbeliever, the reminder establishes the argument against him, but it does not benefit him. The reminder does not benefit anyone except the believer. We say: If you see that your heart does not remember through the reminder, then what is the fault? It is a lack of faith, a lack of faith. Because Allah says: So if you are reminded and you do not find any impact or benefit in your heart, then blame yourself and know that there is a deficiency in your faith, because if your faith were complete, you would have benefited from the reminder, which must benefit the believer.
Meaning: Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is nothing but a reminder and a conveyer. As for guidance, it is in the hands of whom? It is in the hands of Allah. And he (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) continued with the reminder and admonition until the last breath of his life. In fact, at the end of his life, he said: Until he was gasping for breath with it (peace and blessings be upon him). So he (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) reminded from the time he was sent, and it was said to him: Until Allah took his soul. He spared no effort in reminding in every place and at every time, despite the harm that befell him from his people and from others. Whoever among you has read the history, the Seerah of the Prophet, knows what happened to him from the people of Makkah, his people who were the closest people to him, and who knew him and called him the Trustworthy, naming him by that title and trusting him, until they appointed him to place the Black Stone in the Ka'bah when they demolished the Ka'bah and reached the point of the stone. They said: Who will place the stone? They disputed among themselves, every tribe saying: We are the ones who will take charge of placing the stone in its place. Until the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) came, and they appointed him to judge between them. He ordered that a garment be placed, and that each group from this tribe
hold onto an end of this garment until they lift it. When they aligned it with its place, he took it with his noble hand and placed it in its place. So they used to call him the Trustworthy. But when Allah the Exalted honored him with prophethood, the standards were reversed. So they began to say: Sorcerer, and soothsayer, and poet, and madman, and liar, and they hurled every kind of insult at him. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) reminds, and his duty is only to remind.
And from this we take that it is not obligatory for us to guide the creation, and we can never guide the creation. It is not possible for us to guide the people closest to us. So do not be distressed if you remind a person and find him being stubborn, or arguing, or saying: Leave me alone.
Or I will do what I want, or something similar to that.
Allah the Exalted said to His Prophet: Do not destroy yourself if they do not believe. Their faith is for them, and their disbelief is not upon you. For this reason, He said: Meaning: You have no authority or control over them. Who has the authority and control? Allah, Lord of the worlds. It is upon you to convey the message; you have conveyed it. Is it upon you that the people act upon it? No, that is for Allah Mighty and Majestic. The authority and control belong to Allah.
The scholars said: The "except" here means "but," meaning that the exception in the verse is disconnected, not connected. The difference between the connected and the disconnected is that in the connected one, the excepted item is of the same kind as the main subject, while in the disconnected one, it is foreign to it. So, for example, if we said it was connected, the meaning of the verse would be: You are not a controller over them, except for the one who turns away and disbelieves, then you are a controller over him. And that is not the case. Rather, the meaning is: But the one who turns away and disbelieves after you have reminded him, Allah will punish him with the greatest punishment. So whoever turns away and disbelieves after the revealed revelation that came down upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has been conveyed to him, he will be punished.
Now, "turning away" means: turning aside. So he does not turn toward the truth, nor does he accept the truth, nor does he listen to the truth. Even if he hears it with his ear, he does not hear it with his heart, as Allah the Exalted said: Meaning: They do not submit.
So here, He the Exalted says: "Turned away" means: he turned aside. "Disbelieved" means: he was arrogant and did not accept what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) brought. Allah the Exalted said: And the greatest punishment is on the Day of Resurrection. And here He said "the greatest" without mentioning what it is greater than, meaning: He did not say "the greatest compared to such and such." So it has reached the limit of arrogance, hardship, and humiliation—may Allah protect us from it. Whoever turns away and disbelieves, Allah will punish him with the greatest punishment.
Is there a lesser punishment? We say: Yes, there is a lesser punishment in this world. The one who turns away and turns aside may be afflicted with illnesses in his body, in his mind, in his family, in his wealth, in his society. And all of this, compared to the punishment of the Fire, is a lesser punishment. But the greatest punishment is only on the Day of Resurrection.
For this reason, He said afterwards: Meaning: To Us is their return, meaning: their destination. So the return to Allah, no matter how far a person flees, he will return to his Lord Mighty and Majestic. If his life is prolonged, he will return to Allah. For this reason, He the Exalted said: Prepare, my brother, for this meeting, because you will meet your Lord. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: Directly, without an interpreter, Allah will speak to him on the Day of Resurrection. Every one of us will be alone with his Lord Mighty and Majestic on the Day of Resurrection, and He will make him acknowledge his sins, saying: You did such and such on such and such a day, until he acknowledges and confesses. When he acknowledges and confesses, Allah the Exalted says: And how many sins Allah the Exalted has concealed! How many sins we have committed that no one knew about, but Allah the Exalted knew about them. Our stance regarding these sins is to seek forgiveness from Allah the Exalted, and to increase in good deeds that expiate the bad deeds, until we meet Allah the Exalted in a state that pleases Him, Glorified and Exalted is He.
We will question them. The scholars said: The manner of the Reckoning is not a discussion in which a person argues, because if he were to argue, he would perish. If Allah the Exalted were to question you about the Reckoning, you would perish. Or if He questioned you about one of the blessings, such as sight, you would not be able to find anything you do that corresponds to the blessing of sight. The blessing of breath, the breath that goes out and in without any hardship and without any effort. So the person speaks, sleeps, eats, and drinks, and yet he does not feel the breath and does not know the value of the breath unless he is afflicted with something that prevents the breath. And then he remembers the blessing of Allah. But as long as he is in health, it is something natural to him. But if he were afflicted with suffocation, he would know the value of the blessing. So if he were questioned, he would perish, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to 'A'ishah: But what is the manner of the Reckoning? As for the believer, Allah the Exalted will be alone with him, with no one else present, and He will make him acknowledge his sins: You did such and such, you did such and such, you did such and such. Until when he acknowledges them, Allah the Exalted says:
As for the disbelievers, they are not questioned in this manner, because they have no good deeds that erase their bad deeds. But their deeds are counted against them, and they are made to acknowledge them before the witnesses, and they are shamed by them. And it is called out over the heads of the witnesses: We seek refuge in Allah from failure.
And with this, the speech on this great surah ends. It is one of the two surahs that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite in the large gatherings. He used to recite in the prayer of the two festivals: and And likewise in the Friday prayer. And he sometimes recited in the two festivals: and And in the Friday prayer: Surat al-Jumu'ah and Surat al-Munafiqun. He would vary, sometimes reciting this one and sometimes that one.
We ask Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, to make us and you among those whose faces are soft and whose efforts are pleasing, and to take care of us with His care in this world and the Hereafter. Indeed, He is capable of all things.
And now we move to the question period. And as we informed you before, one question per person, and there is no follow-up.