Amazed by the Quran with Nouman Ali Khan: Allah is Not Unjust

Nauman Ali Khan - Official - Bayyinah

Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan shares something that he finds amazing about the Quran.   http://bayyinah.tv - For more courses and lectures by Nouman Ali Khan.

Transcript

00:00Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

00:14Welcome once again to Amazed by the Qur'an, a series in which I share with you what I find amazing about the Qur'an.

00:20Today inshallah I want to share with you something that's again somewhat technical, but my job is to try to make it easy to understand.

00:26In the Arabic language there are two ways of saying wasn't.

00:30So you can say لم يكن wasn't or مَا كَانَ also means wasn't.

00:35But the difference is that when you say مَا كَانَ, the latter, then it actually means to refute.

00:40Like for example, he wasn't a teacher. If somebody asked was he a teacher?

00:44I could say لم يكن أستاذن, he wasn't a teacher. I'm answering somebody's question.

00:48But if somebody makes the false claim he was a teacher and I go after them and say no, no, you're wrong.

00:53He was definitely not a teacher. You are wrong about that, sir.

00:56Then I don't say لم يكن, I say مَا كَانَ أُستاذن.

00:59So the word مَا basically to make it easy, the word مَا is used for refutation purposes.

01:04It's there to correct and incorrect assumption.

01:07So there are two ayat, one belonging to the sixth surah, Surah Al-An'am, and the other belonging to Surah Hud, the eleventh surah.

01:14Very similar ayat, أَلَّمْ يَكُنْ رَبُّكَ ذَلِكَ أَلَّمْ يَكُنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ رَبُّكَ مُهْلِكَ الْقُرَى

01:21And the other, مَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ لِيُهْلِكَ الْقُرَى

01:25Allah was not one to destroy towns.

01:27Both in English translation say, your master was not one to destroy towns.

01:32Okay, but in one of them he says لم يكن, wasn't.

01:36And the other he says مَا كَانَ, he wasn't at all one to destroy towns.

01:40In other words in one he's simply making a statement of fact, he wasn't one to destroy towns.

01:44And in the other one he's refuting someone and telling them he wasn't one to destroy towns at all.

01:49So why refute one in one case? It's the same exact statement, why make it refutational in one context,

01:54and make it simply a matter of fact in the other.

01:56You'll notice in Surah Al-An'am, he just states it as a matter of fact.

02:00It's not even a debate with someone, he's not correcting anyone, it's actually a scene describing judgment day.

02:05And on judgment day all arguments have come to an end.

02:08There's nothing to refute, it's all fact now.

02:11Nobody denies anything anymore.

02:13So he puts it as a matter of fact.

02:14As a matter of fact your master was never one to just destroy towns.

02:17بِظُلْمٍ wrongfully.

02:19He would never do that.

02:21On the other hand if you study Surah Hud,

02:23it's actually talking about a debate happening between the believer and the disbeliever.

02:27In this world where the disbeliever is making a claim that your God destroys nations wrongfully.

02:31And he's being corrected and he's being told no, he doesn't destroy nations wrongfully at all.

02:36مَا كَانَا

02:38So every even phrase that you find in English translation exactly the same,

02:43it's actually very different in the Arabic.

02:46And then there's the other really beautiful thing here.

02:49Destroyer of towns.

02:51Destroyer of towns.

02:53مُهْلِكَ الْقُرَىٰ

02:54As opposed to destroys towns.

02:57Now think about the English.

02:59Destroyer is a noun.

03:01Destroyer of towns therefore are two nouns.

03:03Destroyer and towns.

03:04But if I say your master doesn't destroy towns,

03:07or he would never destroy towns.

03:09When you use the verb,

03:11it's different.

03:12So actually in the scene that's on Judgment Day,

03:15he used a noun for destroying.

03:17He called himself a destroyer of towns.

03:20مُهْلِكَ الْقُرَىٰ

03:21But in the scene that's describing this world,

03:23he says he destroys towns.

03:25He used a verb.

03:26Now what's the difference between a noun and a verb?

03:28A noun is permanent.

03:29Set.

03:30Unchanged.

03:31Immobile.

03:32And a verb is shifting.

03:34Like a verb is an act that's taking place,

03:36or might take place.

03:37But it's not a constant.

03:39It's incredible that for Judgment Day he used the noun,

03:42because just like a noun is set,

03:44immobile,

03:45it is the decisions on Judgment Day that are set and immobile.

03:48But in this world,

03:50there are nations that may rebel against God,

03:52but they might find their way back.

03:54Allah's decision about them hasn't been set in stone.

03:57They still have a chance to earn forgiveness.

04:00He didn't condemn anybody and make any nation God forsaken,

04:03as the term is used.

04:04Nope.

04:05The verb is used to suggest that in this world,

04:07people have a chance to change,

04:09entire nations have a chance to change.

04:11Allah will never destroy a nation wrongfully.

04:14The verb is used,

04:15because He hasn't become a destroyer of them.

04:17Had He used the word destroyer,

04:18their fate would have been sealed.

04:20So the people who argue,

04:21well number one that He did that before,

04:23or to imply that He'll do it again,

04:25both of those are refuted,

04:26just in the language that is captured inside the ayah,

04:29which to me is not only the part of the literary beauty of the Qur'an,

04:33but in that literary beauty what is captured,

04:35is the loving mercy and justice of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

04:39May Allah once again,

04:40give us the ability to reflect on the Qur'an

04:42as it deserves to be reflected on.

04:44بارك الله لي ولكم

04:45والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

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