Al An’aam V.60-73

Good Company

Hafsa Haneef (Group Sawdah)
And it is He who takes your souls by night and knows what you have committed by day. Then He revives you therein that a specified term may be fulfilled. Then to Him will be your return; then He will inform you about what you used to do. [Al An’aam:60]
Allah (swt) reminds us every night that to Him is our return by taking our souls and in order to have a good end result with Allah (swt) we must build a good character which necessitates good company.
And when you see those who engage in [offensive] discourse concerning Our verses, then turn away from them until they enter into another conversion. And if Satan should cause you to forget, then do not remain after the reminder with the wrongdoing people. [Al An’aam:69]
This verse shows sign of bad company as they are offensive to the verses of Allah (swt). It is a command of Allah (swt) that when we see such talk within our company we should leave until they are engaged in other than it. A common example is making a joke about heaven or hell, and amongst the common ones ridiculing the fact that there will be clean spouses in jannah for the believers.

Amusement in Religion

Hafsa Haneef (Group Sawdah)
And leave those who take their religion as amusement and diversion and whom the worldly life has deluded. But remind with the Qurān, lest a soul be given up to destruction for what it earned; it will have other than Allāh no protector and no intercessor. And if it should offer every compensation, it would not be taken from it. Those are the ones who are given to destruction for what they have earned. For them will be a drink of scalding water and a painful punishment because they used to disbelieve. [Al An’aam:70]
 In order to build good character one type of company we should be aware of are those who take religion as amusement. For example it is very common amongst teenage girls to find them ridiculing the fact that men and women in Islam must remain in the limits set by Allah (swt). One common statement is that girls should be allowed to be good friends with males whereas we are told that it is a part of modesty to constrict the bonds of friendship amongst males and females as one step could lead to the other. Thus we should remind others that Allah (swt) and the Qur’an will be the only intercessors on the day of judgment, therefore, nothing from the soul is accepted even if they were to give everything in the world as a ransom.

Bad Company

And leave those who take their religion as amusement and diversion and whom the worldly life has deluded. But remind with the Qurān, lest a soul be given up to destruction for what it earned; it will have other than Allāh no protector and no intercessor. And if it should offer every compensation, it would not be taken from it. Those are the ones who are given to destruction for what they have earned. For them will be a drink of scalding water and a painful punishment because they used to disbelieve.
Say, “Shall we invoke instead of Allāh that which neither benefits us nor harms us and be turned back on our heels after Allāh has guided us? [We would then be] like one whom the devils enticed [to wander] upon the earth confused, [while] he has companions inviting him to guidance, [calling], ‘Come to us.’ ” Say, “Indeed, the guidance of Allāh is the [only] guidance; and we have been commanded to submit to the Lord of the worlds. [Al An’aam: 70-71]
 Below is an example of what bad company can lead us to do:

Al An’aam V.40-59

Check your tawheed

Saba Naz (Group Fatima)
Say, “Have you considered: if Allāh should take away your hearing and your sight and set a seal upon your hearts, which deity other than Allāh could bring them [back] to you?” Look how we diversify the verses; then they [still] turn away. [Al An’aam:46]
Subhanallah! There are so many lessons that we can all take heed from which we learnt in todays class. The main theme of today was tawheed- the oneness of Allah (swt). Something that you should ask yourself is how firm is your belief that Allah (swt) is the only diety worthy of worship? In verse 46 we are given a question that may look small but whose weight is heavier than most of us imagine. If Allah took our hearing, our seeing, a blessing, something beloved, sealed our hearts or did anything which we do not like who is it that can give it back to us? This really puts our beliefs to the test, do we believe firmly enough to know that Allah (swt) is the only one who can do this? It gives us a lot to think about and we should all question our own firmness in belief.

No Differences

Student of Al Huda
And do not send away those who call upon their Lord morning and afternoon, seeking His countenance. Not upon you is anything of their account and not upon them is anything of your account. So were you to send them away, you would [then] be of the wrongdoers. [Al An’aam:52]
This particular verse is addressing the prophet (saw) but we can also take a lesson from what is being told to him. This verse dissolves any belief that Islam differentiates between the rich and the poor, the higher status from the lower etc. Before the eyes of Allah (swt) every person is equal and it is your level of piety which differentiates you from another. Due to this we should not befriend nor make fun of, nor turn away anyone who is a believer as we never know who the dearest to Allah (swt) is.

Keys of the unseen

And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He knows what is on the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darknesses of the earth and no moist or dry [thing] but that it is [written] in a clear record. [Al An’aam:59]
Below is a video of some of the things which we do not have much knowledge of, yet not a leaf falls and Allah (swt) knows. If there are all these things that we have recently discovered imagine how many things there are in the knowledge of Allah (swt) that we do not know about.

Al An’aam V.20-39

Amusement and Diversion

Student of Al Huda

And the worldly life is not but amusement and diversion; but the home of the Hereafter is best for those who fear Allāh, so will you not reason? [Al An’aam:32]
Today in class we focused a lot on this verse and spoke about how we are taking this life as amusement and diversion. Is it not true that all day we run around trying to accomplish something. People are running around getting children ready and making lunches, dropping them to school and cleaning houses. Through the hustle and bustle of everyday chores where is it that Allah and the Qur’an fit in? This life is a diversion as most of the time we are running around doing work that is distracting us from fulfilling our role as a worshipper. The way we are towards the Qur’an and Islam in our lives is like trying to talk to someone engrossed in a sports game: non responsive. There should be a limit to what we are doing, everything is to be done in moderation and Qur’an should be present in our daily lives also not just in Ramadan.

Mothers in all colours

And there is no creature on [or within] the earth or bird that flies with its wings except [that they are] communities like you. We have not neglected in the Register a thing. Then unto their Lord they will be gathered. [Al An’aam:38]
Below are some pictures showing how animals are also communities just like us.

Al An’aam V.1-19

Babylon

Student of Al Huda
Babylon is Akkadian “babilani” which means “the Gate of God(s)” and it became the capital of the land of Babylonia. The etymology of the name Babel in the Bible means “confused” (Gen 11:9) and throughout the Bible, Babylon was a symbol of the confusion caused by godlessness. The name Babylon is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Babel.
http://www.bible-history.com
I was thinking about yesterday’s class and reflecting on the verse that many generations came before us who were destroyed. If we take a look at the Babylonians they were a very advanced nation and their name is mentioned until today. However, it is unfortunate that all that remains of them are ruins. As Babylon was a symbol of the confusion caused by Godlessness it is no wonder that the nation is now extinct. How can it be that a nation survives on a belief that is other that monotheistic? All the nations that we learn about in history do we ever wonder why they were destroyed? They are not remembered today except for in history books, what they have done is now gone but now it is our turn and what are we doing?

History in the Qur’an

Medihah Hussain (Group Ruqayyah)
In class I began thinking back to my high school years. I took ancient civilizations class and had flashbacks to when we learnt about all the different nations. Everytime a nation was mentioned our teacher would repeat again and again that the reasons these civilizations flourished was because of their establishment in a place where there was a river. This reminded me of the ayah:
And We sent [rain from] the sky upon them in showers and made rivers flow beneath them; then We destroyed them for their sins and brought forth after them a generation of others. [Al Anaam:6]
Allah mentioned each nation had rivers flowing beneath them. It can not be a coincidence that every nation that flourished was started beside a river. Rivers provided transport, trade routes and fulfilled the need of the people. Not only are we taught this within the Qur’an but also within our own school system, this is a clear sign. However, one thing that our teachers leave out when teaching us is the reason for the destruction of the previous nations Despite their advancement the Babylonians were destroyed due to their sins so what is there stopping Allah from destroying us?