TLDR;* Today, on day 67, we explored Ayah 41 of Surat al-Baqarah. * This Ayah urges the Jewish leaders in Medina to believe in the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, as the Qur'an confirms the messages in their own scriptures. * They knew about the final prophet but rejected him due to prejudice. * The Ayah teaches us the importance of not just acquiring knowledge but also putting it into practice. * Let's remember to apply what we learn in our daily lives. Insha'Allah, we'll complete this Ayah tomorrow.As-salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Welcome back to BeQuranic, where we take short passages from the Quran, extract practical lessons from them, and apply these lessons to our daily lives so that we can be more Quranic.Insha'Allah, today, on day 67 of BeQuranic, we're going to explore Ayah 41 of Surat al-Baqarah. The Ayah reads: "And believe in what I have revealed that confirms what is with you, and do not be the first to disbelieve in it, and do not trade My Ayah for a cheap price, and towards Me only shall you have taqwa."This Ayah was revealed to the leaders of the Jewish tribes in Medina, the scholars among the Jews living there. In this Ayah, Allah said to have imaan in what He has revealed, meaning the Qur'an, and also in Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, because the Qur'an wasn't revealed like a book; it was revealed as a recitation, and the one spreading the message, the one teaching them the Qur'an, is Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.So Allah is saying, believe in the Qur'an; by extension, you have to believe in Prophet Muhammad. And this Qur'an, Allah says, it affirms, it confirms what is with you, meaning the message is a continuation; it affirms the message in the Torah, the book that is with you, and it fulfils the prophecy in the Torah about the coming of the final prophet and messenger.Prophet Musa said about this, Prophet Isa said about this, this message, the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad, is confirming what is with you. And we know that the Jews in Medina, they knew about the Prophet ﷺ.Of all places in Arabia, you find Jews during the time of the Prophet only in three locations: Khaybar, Medina, and Yemen. And all these three places are known for one thing: they are known for dates.And Sayyidina Salman al-Farisi, he was a Zoroastrian who then became a Christian, a Unitarian Christian, who worshipped only Allah, who viewed Prophet Isa as a prophet, not as a son of God, not divine.He said that his teachers told him that it was foretold in the previous scriptures, the coming of Prophet Muhammad in Arabia, the final prophet will come in Arabia, in a land full of dates. And in Arabia, these are the three places that were known to have plenty of dates.The Jews, when they left Jerusalem, some of them came to Arabia and settled in Yemen, Khaybar, and Medina, waiting for the final prophet and messenger to come. And what's also interesting is that the father of Sayyidatuna Safiyya Binti Huyai, she is one of the wives of our prophet, and her father, Huyai ibn Akhtab, is one of the leaders of the Jewish tribe in Medina.When Rasul ﷺ first arrived in Medina, Huyai ibn Akhtab and his brother went to see the Prophet ﷺ and listened to the khutbah, to the speeches of the Prophet. They came back furious. Sayyidatuna Safiyya related this incident to us. They came back furious, and the brother of Huyai ibn Akhtab, so this is the uncle of Sayyidatuna Safiyya, asked his father, is he the one? Is he the one that we've been waiting for?Huyay ibn Akhtab said, yes, he is the one, ayu Allah. And the brother asked, so what shall we do? And Huyai ibn Akhtab said, we shall fight him until he dies or we die. So they knew that Prophet Muhammad is the true prophet, the one they have been waiting for.But the only reason why they rejected Prophet Muhammad is because he's from an inferior race, in their opinion. The Arabs are viewed as inferior to the Jews, so they cannot accept this. So Allah says, this musaddiqalima maakum, this message is not alien to you. You know about this. It affirms what is with you. And do not be the first to reject or to disbelieve in it.There were people already disbelieving in it, in Makkah. How is it that Allah is now telling them, do not be the first to disbelieve in it? There's a different grading of disbelief. The Quraysh didn't know about books, about prophets; the last prophet sent to them was Prophet Ismail, thousands and thousands of years ago. They didn't have a scripture with them, they didn't have a book with them. So their level of rejection out of ignorance is different from the rejection by the Jews in Medina because they are rejecting with knowledge, not out of ignorance. So the level is different.In our lives, when we sin out of ignorance, it's a lesser degree of sin compared to knowing and not doing it. And this is why in one of the classical texts of Fiqh, Matan Zubad, it's a poem about Fiqh, it is mentioned in the poetry that a knowledgeable person who doesn't practise his knowledge will be punished before the worshippers of idols because rejecting while knowingly disobeying Allah is a greater sin than disobeying out of ignorance.Whatever knowledge that we have, we have to make sure, no matter how little, it is put into practice. And this is why we see the tradition of the Sahaba from Sayyidina Ali ibn Abi Talib. When he taught the Qur'an, he would teach five verses. He wouldn't teach too much. And he says, those who memorise in fives will not forget. He had students who could handle more than five. And he said, no, no, five is enough. Go and study it and practise it before you take on the next load. It's not about gathering knowledge; it is about putting knowledge into practice.There was one Sahaba who died at a very old age. In his last days, he was with his students, the Tabi'un, and they said, Alhamdulillah, today I meet Khattam of the Qur'an, finally. And these students were like, ah, is this the great Sahaba? He's 90 years old and he finally met Khattam. Most people back then would do Khattam every three days or seven days. So they found this mind-boggling; how is it that this Sahaba just finally finished the Qur'an? And they said, no, no, no, Khattam Tu bil Af'al. I finished the Qur'an with my action, with my practice. And it was this particular Ayah that finally he was given the opportunity to put into practice.Where Allah mentioned in Surah Nour, if you want to enter into someone's house, fasta nisoo, that you should seek permission and give salaam to the owner of the house, to the host. And if the owner doesn't want to host you, he says that he's tired, go home, then you should go home. That's the end of it. You should not say that I've travelled so far to come to your house.This great Sahaba, he was a Sahaba and everybody knew that he was a Sahabi. So if he were to knock on someone's door, no one's going to say go home. He did not get to apply that Ayah. Finally, on that day, someone had the audacity to say no to a Sahabi who's knocking on his door. The Sahaba had to leave and he was so happy. Finally, I get to put this Ayah into practice.So what do we learn from Ayah 41? It's not about the accumulation of knowledge. It is important that we seek knowledge, but it is equally important that whatever knowledge we have, we put it into practice. Get full access to Be Quranic at bequranic.substack.com/subscribe

Today is Thursday the 12th of Muharram, 1446 Hijrah. Yesterday I read a very disturbing news coming from Oman that a masjid in Oman was being bombed and took the lives of nine people. Apparently according to the news report, Daesh or IS claimed responsibility for the bombing and the masjid is said to belong to a Shia community in Oman and they were observing the mourning of the day of Ashura when the bombing happened. Now this is very sad because this is against the teaching of Islam.We need to look beyond sectarian divisions within the Islamic Ummah. Rasul salallahu alayhi wa sallam said,من صلى صلاتنا واستقبل قبلتنا وأكل ذبيحتنا فذلك المسلم“Those who pray our prayers and face our Qibla and eat from our slaughter, that is a Muslim that is under the protection of Allah and under the protection of Rasul salallahu alayhi wa sallam.”So this barbaric act of killing innocent lives, taking innocent lives just because of sectarian differences is haram. This is a great sin.Now are Shia Muslims? The answer according to this hadith is absolutely clear. Yes they are Muslims. We differ in certain things with them. I'm a Sunni, I'm a Shafi'i Sunni in terms of my theology. I grew up and learning Sunni creed from the Ash'ari school of Aqeedah, Shafi'i school of law and Ghazali school of Tasawwuf.Yet it doesn't mean that I would call our Shi'i brothers and sisters Kafir. We disagree. I disagree strongly with many of their teachings, with the way they view the Sahaba but that doesn't make them Kafir. That doesn't exclude them from the fold of Islam. Rasul salallahu alayhi wa sallam gave us this clear criteria. They pray like we pray. Look at the way our Shia brothers and sisters pray. Yes there may be some minor differences and those minor differences fall within Fiqh differences but by and large it's the same prayers and they face the same Qibla. It's not like they face some other places. It's not like they face Karbala in prayers. They face Masjid al-Haram. They face the Kaaba like you and I, like the rest of the Ummah and they eat from our slaughter. That makes them a Muslim. That makes them fall under the protection of Allah and the protection of Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa sallam.IS  you did this. You're going to answer before Allah and Rasul salallahu alayhi wa sallam in Yawm al-Qiyamah. So we have to rise beyond these petty differences. We can disagree but there are matters bigger concern, matters of bigger concerns to the Ummah that we will need to unite. For instance the matter of Palestine. The matter of Palestine we are one Ummah and we see realistically in the world today politically the only countries that are taking real actions beyond words, beyond rhetoric are the Shi'i countries. We see what the Houthi in Yemen are doing and the impact they have on the economy of Israel.Now just because they do that doesn't mean that we condone, we acknowledge their teachings as the correct teaching. We can defer yet they are still Muslims. We can strongly disagree yet they are still Muslims. We believe that they are Muslims but their teachings in some matters within Islam is wrong. We can sit down and discuss academically with regards to this matter but it should never lead to bloodshed. It should never lead to death.May Allah have mercy upon those who were killed at this Masjid in Oman. My condolences to the people of Oman. Oman is a peaceful country. People of Oman are beautiful souls, very peaceful, peace loving people. May Allah protect all of you and Allah bless Oman and her people. May Allah shower mercy upon those souls that have departed and may Allah destroy IS, may Allah destroy Daesh. Get full access to Be Quranic at bequranic.substack.com/subscribe

TLDR;* Today, we explore Ayah 40 of Surah Al-Baqarah, which discusses the Israelites. Israel, or Prophet Yaqub, had 12 sons, leading to the 12 tribes of Israel. * Prophet Musa is frequently mentioned in the Quran due to his mission's resemblance to Prophet Muhammad's.* The Quran teaches us about the Israelites to learn from their mistakes. * Ayah 40 reminds the Israelites of the blessings they received, including numerous prophets and scriptures. * The shift from the Israelites to the followers of Prophet Muhammad emphasizes our responsibility to be the best in our personal and community lives, representing our religion and Prophet ﷺ with excellence.We are now on day 66 and we are exploring Ayah number 40 of Surah Al-Baqarah.This ayah is the first to discuss the Israelites, and this will be a long journey in Surah Al-Baqarah. The largest portion of the Surah talks about the children of Israel. Before we delve deeper into the ayah about Banu Israel, let’s explore the historical figure.Who is Israel and who are the Banu Israel or the children of Israel? Israel is the nickname of Prophet Yaqub, the son of Prophet Ishaq and the grandson of Prophet Ibrahim, who is known as Abu al-Ambiya, the father of prophets. From Prophet Ibrahim's two sons, you have Prophet Ismail, from whose line comes Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and from Prophet Ishaq's line, you get Prophet Yaqub.Yaqub's nickname is Israel, which means "servant of God" in Hebrew (isr = servant, il = God). Prophet Yaqub had 12 sons, and from these 12 sons came the 12 tribes of Israel. One of Yaqub's sons was Judah (Yehuda in Hebrew, Yahud in Arabic), from whom the Jews descend. After the Assyrians attacked Palestine and Jerusalem, only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained, leading to all Israelites being known as Jews.The Quran mentions the Israelites the most, and the prophet most mentioned is Prophet Musa. There is a hadith where the Prophet ﷺ said, "It's as if the entire Quran is talking about Musa." The mission of Prophet Muhammad resembles that of Prophet Musa, both being spiritual and political leaders, receiving revelations and sharia.The Israelites are mentioned frequently because of their similarities to the Muslims. Just as the Israelites were the people of the book in their time, Muslims are today. The Quran teaches us about the Israelites not to condemn Jews today, but to learn from their mistakes.In Ayah 40, Allah says, "O children of Israel, remember the blessings I have bestowed upon you." The Israelites received numerous blessings, including the most prophets and scriptures apart from the Quran, and many miracles.The preference for the Israelites was due to their role in setting an example of living in harmony with Allah's teachings as a community. However, due to their repeated failures, the preference shifted to the followers of Prophet Muhammad.The lessons from this ayah for us include remembering our covenant with Allah, fulfilling our responsibilities, and striving to be the best in our personal and community lives, setting an example of morality and trustworthiness.As the ummah of Muhammad ﷺ, we are chosen to be the best of nations, as mentioned in Surah Ali Imran. This responsibility requires us to represent our religion and Prophet ﷺ in the best way possible, whether at school, work, or in any aspect of our lives. Get full access to Be Quranic at bequranic.substack.com/subscribe

TLDR;* Today, we remember Allah saving Prophet Musa from Firaun, making it a day of celebration. However, it's also the day Sayyidina Husayn ibn Ali, the Prophet’s grandson, was martyred in Karbala. While we feel sadness, we balance it with the joy of Ashura as taught by the Prophet ﷺ.* Ashura teaches us to balance our emotions and understand that victory in the eyes of Allah may differ from worldly views. Prophet Musa's victory and Sayyidina Husayn's martyrdom both show different aspects of divine success.* Keep our brothers and sisters in Palestine in your duas. Pray for their victory and peace, just as Allah granted victory and protection to Musa and his followers.Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Today is Tuesday the 10th of Muharram, the day of Ashura, the most important day in the month of Muharram. And the best day in this month for us to fast. Rasulullah wa alihi wa sallallahu alayhi wa sallallahu alayhi wa sallallahu wa barakatuh. He mentioned that those who fast on the 10th of Muharram, Allah would forgive his past years sin. So if you are fasting today, alhamdulillah, congratulations. If you're not fasting today, there's another good deed that you can do. There's a hadith, narrated by Imam al -Baihaki. Imam al -Baihaki mentioned that those who spend for their family on this day, they treat their family well, Allah would make his provisions easy for the rest of the year. So even if you're fasting, take your family somewhere nice, spend some money on them. And if you're not fasting, then all the more, take this opportunity. And Sufyan ibn Uyayina, he said he did that for 50 years and he did not find anything but truth in the statement that he sees that his provisions are made easier for the rest of the year when he spent more on his family on the day of Ashura. So today is the day that Allah saved Prophet Musa from the tyranny of Firaan. Today is the day that Allah parted the sea for Prophet Musa. So today is the day of celebration. It's a day of joy. But something else happened, 61 years after Hijrah, 61st year of Hijrah on the 10th of Muharram is the day where the grandson of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, Sayyidina Husayn ibn Ali was martyred, he and his family members, the family of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, were massacred in a place called Karbala. And because of that, some of our Muslim brothers and sisters would turn this day into a day of mourning. What is the correct position with regards to the day of Ashura? One important thing that we have to remember is that the foundations of our religion were built during the lifetime of our Prophet ﷺ. Sharia was completed with the passing of the Prophet ﷺ. Allah mentioned in the Quran:“Today I have completed your religion and I have perfected my blessings, my bounties upon you and I am pleased for Islam to be the religion.” So this ayah shows the completeness, the perfection of the Sharia. And the Sharia teaches this. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ told is that today is a day of celebration, today is a day of joy because Allah saved Musa from Fir 'a 'u'll. However, as someone who loves the Prophet ﷺ, we cannot but love the grandson of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. We love what the Prophet loves. We love what the Prophet tells us to love and Rasul ﷺ loves it. Husayn minni wa anamin Husayn, Husayn is from me and I am from Husayn. Allah loves people who love Husayn and Allah hates people who hate Husayn. So Sayyid al Husayn is someone that is dear to our heart. Someone that Rasul ﷺ would kiss, someone that Rasul ﷺ would pick up. Rasul ﷺ would allow him and his brothers and his son to play on his back while he was performing salah. This is the coolness of the ice to our Prophet ﷺ. How can we not feel sad on the day that he was brutally martyred and his family were massacred? Of course, we feel sad. We feel sad. But that sadness doesn't override the joy of the day of Ashurah that Prophet ﷺ legislated. We celebrate today because the Prophet ﷺ celebrated. We are not celebrating today because of the death of Sayyid al Husayn. No, Allahi. We celebrate today because Rasul ﷺ celebrated. But we have that balance of feelings. Of course, we will have that sadness in our heart because Sayyid al Husayn was massacred. How can we not feel sad? How can we not love the family of the Prophet when loving him is part, loving them is part of the teachings of our religion? Rasul ﷺ said the Quran and the family of the Prophet al -Bait will not separate until they meet Rasul ﷺ at the howl. There is a very, there is a Sahih Harid mentioning about this. and many hadith mentioning about the virtues of the family of the Prophet to the point that Imam Shafi 'i wrote a poem, he said, Ya ahl al -baitiyeh rasurillahibukumu O family of the Prophet loving you, fardum minallahi fil qurani anzalahu is compulsory and it is revealed in the Quran. Yaqfikumu mina al -gimil fakhri annakumu it is sufficient as a sense of great joy and pride for all of you manlam yusali aalaykum lassala ta 'laahu those who do not pray upon you there is no prayers for them, the prayers is not complete because according to Imam Shafi 'i salat on the family of the Prophet Allah wa salaam ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad on the family of the Prophet is an essential part of prayers. Your prayer is valid but incomplete without salat on the family of the Prophet Prophet prayers upon the family of the Prophet. This teaches us the nature of life. Rasulullah wa alayhi wa sallam He was very happy with the victory in the Battle of Badr but as soon as he returned to Medina he received the news of the passing of his daughter. He was saddened by it but he was joyous over the victory of Badr. This cycle of life teaches us that we should not be overjoyed in a state of hyper elation when we receive good news and we do not fall into the depth of depression when we receive bad news because life is a cycle. There are days that are going to be good. There are days that are going to be challenging. Sometime the good and the challenging happens in the same day. Ashurah teaches us that balance in our emotions. Another important lesson that we learn from the day of Ashurah is that the definition of victory in the eyes of Allah can be different from the definition of victory in the worldly sense from the human view. We look at how Allah gave victory to Prophet Musa by saving him from frown and defeating his enemy frown drowning them to death. That is something that history would record as victorious and Allah granted that victory. And then we have Santa Hussein. Santa Hussein was massacred. He and history will record that as a loss. But in the eyes of Allah, Santa Hussein achieved martyrdom. He achieved Shahada, one of the highest level of death. So that is a victory in the eyes of Allah because Santa Hussein and his family were steadfast on the truth remain on the truth on the straight path despite all the difficulties the tribulations and the challenges and the corruption of their time which led to their death. So them being steadfast on the truth which caused them in the end they're like lives, is a victory in the eyes of Allah, they attain Shahada. And this is important for us to redefine what is victory in our view. What is it that we want to achieve? What is important is we want to be victorious in the eyes of Allah. We want to be successful in the eyes of Allah. If it so happens that victory in the eyes of Allah aligns with victory in the eyes of human beings in history like Prophet Musa, Alhamdulillah. If it happens that victory in the eyes of Allah doesn't align with victory according to human beings like Sanah Hussein, so be it, we will always choose akhara first because Muslims are akhara centric when it comes to their worldview. So that's a brief lesson of Ashura, but I just don't want to leave with this point today on this very day. let's keep our brothers and sisters in Palestine in our Dua, especially just before we break our fast. Raise our hands to the skies and ask Allah that as Allah has given victory to Musa and his followers over Firaoun, that Allah would also grant victory to the Palestinians over the genocidal Israelis. And as Allah fed Musa and his followers with Manna and Salwa, Allah would save the Palestinians from the manufactured famine for being staffed by Israel and her allies. As Allah protected Musa and his followers from intense heat in the desert, we ask that Allah protects the Palestinians from the intense bombing by Israel and her allies. We ask that Allah grants victory and peace to Palestine and her people and we ask that Allah make us from amongst those people who contribute to this victory and peace of Palestine. Get full access to Be Quranic at bequranic.substack.com/subscribe

We resume studying Surah Al-Baqarah with ayah 39, which discusses the punishment for disbelievers. This highlights the balance of reward and punishment in guiding behaviour. The term kafir means to disbelieve after knowing the truth. Punishment applies to those who hear the Prophet's message and reject it. Both reward and punishment are necessary for motivation. Human motivation has three levels: basic reward and punishment, and the highest level—acting out of love and gratitude towards Allah, as shown by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.  Get full access to Be Quranic at bequranic.substack.com/subscribe

Fasting on the 10th of Muharram is recommended, and if possible, also on the 9th or 11th to differentiate from the People of the Book. The Prophet ﷺ emphasized religious practices should not imitate those of other faiths in a way that signifies belonging to them. Cultural practices that do not symbolise religious beliefs are permissible. The Prophet ﷺ adopted beneficial practices from other cultures without religious connotations, such as using a seal for letters. Imitating good people or practices from Islamic tradition is encouraged out of love for the Prophet ﷺ. Join us in fasting on Monday and Tuesday, or Tuesday and Wednesday, or at least on Tuesday.  Get full access to Be Quranic at bequranic.substack.com/subscribe

This episode continues the story of the descent of Adam and Hawa to earth. Allah promises to send down guidance for humans to guide them to lead a good life on earth. He promises that those who follow the guidance will not have fear upon them and shall not be grieving. Get full access to Be Quranic at bequranic.substack.com/subscribe

Today we recapped the story of Adam (AS) from Surat al-Baqarah. Allah announced to the angels that He would create a Khalifa on earth.The angels questioned why, considering the potential for corruption, but Allah knew what they did not.Allah taught Adam the names of things, proving his superiority in knowledge over the angels.All the angels prostrated to Adam except Iblis, who was arrogant and refused. Adam and his wife were placed in Jannah with the freedom to enjoy everything except one tree.Iblis deceived them, leading to their expulsion to earth.Humanity’s purpose on earth is not punishment but to act as Allah’s Khalifa, replicating the conditions of Jannah: ensuring no one is hungry, unclothed, thirsty, or homeless.Our life here is a mission to create a just and compassionate society, reflecting the beauty and harmony of Jannah.We must take Iblis as a serious enemy, learn from Adam’s experience, and strive to return to Jannah. Get full access to Be Quranic at bequranic.substack.com/subscribe

On Day 62 of Be Quranic, we continue with Suratul-Baqarah, focusing on ayah 37 where Adam, after being deceived into disobedience alongside Hawa by Iblis, feels remorseful.  This ayah highlights Allah's mercy, as He teaches Adam the words to seek forgiveness, illustrating the importance of Tawbah (repentance) in Islam.  Unlike Iblis, who blamed Allah for his disobedience, Adam takes full responsibility for his actions, setting a precedent for human accountability and humility.  This teaches us to own our mistakes and seek Allah's forgiveness, rather than deflecting blame, thus following the prophetic path rather than the path of arrogance exemplified by Iblis. Get full access to Be Quranic at bequranic.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Day 61 of Be Quranic, where today’s lesson focuses on ayah 36 of Surah Al-Baqarah, detailing the expulsion of Adam and Hawa (Eve) from Jannah (Paradise).  Contrary to some narratives that place the blame on Eve, the Quran states that both were equally deceived by Shaytan (Satan), leading to their removal from Paradise.  This ayah underscores that their time in Jannah was always meant to be temporary, as humans were created for life on Earth.  The Islamic view does not see their descent as a punishment but as a part of divine plan, highlighting the absence of original sin in Islam and the accountability for one's own actions rather than inherited sin.  This narrative contrasts with the Biblical story where Eve is often portrayed as the primary transgressor, which perpetuates the idea of women as a weaker link in humanity. Get full access to Be Quranic at bequranic.substack.com/subscribe