An Nahl V.56-76

Daughter Grief

And when one of them is informed of [the birth of] a female, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief.
He hides himself from the people because of the ill of which he has been informed. Should he keep it in humiliation or bury it in the ground? Unquestionably, evil is what they decide. [An Nahl: 58-59]
Some tribes in the Arab culture used to think it bad if a daughter was born to their family. It was seen as a disgrace and they would sometimes bury their daughters. Allah (swt) talks about this practice and mentions that it is evil that they decide to bury her. In our times today maybe we do not do this, however, there is much physical and mental abuse that children endure in some homes. We should make sure that we do not follow this practice in any way at all.

Milk

And indeed, for you in grazing livestock is a lesson. We give you drink from what is in their bellies – between excretion and blood – pure milk, palatable to drinkers. [An Nahl: 66]
When we are drinking milk we do not think that about how it has reached us. Allah (swt) has allowed us to have milk which is pure although it is between blood and excretion inside the body of the cows. Both blood and excretion are things that are not pure and we would not want in our food and Allah (swt) has given us milk while it is between these two and there is no trace of either in the milk.

Usually all we see are the milk packets in the grocery store but what does the cow have to go through for us to get our milk?
A cow has one stomach that has four parts; in the first part of the stomach the grass that the cow has chewed is stored. From this stomach she can bring back up the grass to continue chewing it again. A cow chews for about 6 to 8 hours daily. When the food reaches the second part of the stomach it is further digested.
• To make 1 gallon of milk a cow must drink 2 gallons of water.
• 500 gallons of blood needs to pass through the udder to make one gallon of milk
• The average cow produces 90 glasses of milk a day
• Most cows chew at least 50 times per minute.

Looking at these facts it is obvious to see that the cow is full of benefit for all others. She is always working hard and does not give up although she has a lot of heavy duty work to do. Just like this we, as Muslims, should be beneficial to everyone to our best ability and we should make sure that we are always working hard.

Honeybee

And your Lord inspired to the bee, “Take for yourself among the mountains, houses, and among the trees and [in] that which they construct.
Then eat from all the fruits and follow the ways of your Lord laid down [for you].” There emerges from their bellies a drink, varying in colors, in which there is healing for people. Indeed in that is a sign for a people who give thought. [An Nahl: 68-69]
When we are eating honey do we ever wonder how much effort goes into actually making it or do we waste it as though there is no effort in making it?

• Honey bees’ wings stroke 11, 400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.
• An average colony has one queen bee who can lay 2000 eggs a day
• A worker bee gathers in its entire life .0288 of an ounce of honey. It required about 556 worker bees to gather a full pound of honey. The bees would fly approximately 35,584 miles or more than once around the world in doing this work.
• The average life of a worker bee during the working season is about six weeks. Three weeks of this time is spent on work within the hive, and three weeks as a field bee gathering nectar and pollen.
• The value of honey bees is important in pollinating fruits, vegetables and legumes. • When bees come back to the beehive from pollinating they communicate the area where there are many flowers by doing a dance for the other bees which allows them to know the direction.

Next time you even think of dropping a small amount of honey out think about how many bees spent their entire lives in making this honey for you. What we learn from the story of the honey bee is that we should not think of any effort we do as being too small because everything counts and in the bigger scale makes a lot of difference. We should also think of different ways to benefit others. Honeybees are very organized and we, as Muslims, should also have this quality.

An Nahl V.33-55

A Great Excuse

And those who associate others with Allāh say, “If Allāh had willed, we would not have worshipped anything other than Him, neither we nor our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything through other than Him.” Thus did those do before them. So is there upon the messengers except [the duty of] clear notification? [An Nahl:35]
I am going to mention an incident which occurred that is to do with verse 35. I once knew a family who owned a business and they were working in that store, they did not pray although sometimes they were free at that time. When I a approached and asked why they did not pray they told me that they are afraid a customer would come in. Again they pulled the Allah is merciful card, they told me that they are sure that Allah (swt) will forgive them because he is the one who gave them the business. Why is it we always put the blame of our problems on others but on Allah (swt)? He has given us the choice it is up to us what we do.

Prostration

And to Allāh prostrates whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth of creatures, and the angels [as well], and they are not arrogant. [An Nahl:49]
I think that something we always forget is that no matter whether we worship Allah (swt) or not everything else in the world is worshipping Him. We are the only creation that has a choice so will we become arrogant after the blessing Allah (swt) has given us? Next time you look at the shadow of a tree remember that it is being humble before Allah (swt).

An Nahl V.1-32

Allah Is One

He sends down the angels, with the inspiration of His command, upon whom He wills of His servants, [telling them], “Warn that there is no deity except Me; so fear Me.” [An Nahl: 2]
My first attempt to tell someone about Islam is something I consider a very big disaster but allhumdulillah I have learnt a lot from it. When I was answered back I did not know what to say and instead of starting with who Allah (swt) is I allowed the discussion to go into the differences of our religions. This verse really made it clear that what we have to warn and focus on is that Allah (swt) is one. This should be the essence of our message.

Ask Yourself

He created man from a sperm-drop; then at once, he is a clear adversary. [An Nahl:4]
Its time to check your state of our heart again. Ask yourself the following question and analyze yourself:
We have been created from nothing but a sperm drop- something we consider to be very small. Do I ever feel as though I am better than others or do I ever look down upon anyone in any way? If so how is it I can rid myself of this feeling?