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00:23This verse that we read in Surah Al-Kahf that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says,
00:27say if the ocean were all ink and the trees were used as pens, it still would not suffice
00:35to write the words of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, in fact the oceans would run out of
00:39ink before
00:40the words of my Lord and even if Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la brought another ocean for its
00:44aid.
00:44So what this teaches us is that there is no way that everything that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A
00:49'la
00:49says, that everything that Allah does, that everything about Allah and the words of Allah
00:54could be contained within ink. And in fact Imam Hassan al-Basri rahimahullah, he says
00:59something very interesting. He says that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la doesn't need to write
01:04down his knowledge. He didn't need to have a qalam, a pen, to write down in a lawah al-mahfooz,
01:10in the tablet, because it's all contained within Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la's knowledge anyway.
01:14But he said, in that is an ishaara, in that is a sign that Allah is showing us the importance
01:19of writing. Allah is teaching us about the gift of writing and the importance of writing.
01:24And this is clearly consistent with the Qur'an, because Allah actually swore by the qalam, right?
01:30There's Surat al-Qalam, Allah swore by the pen and it shows the greatness of the pen in the
01:35sight of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. Why? Because the pen is a means of preserving knowledge.
01:39It's a means of passing it on to future generations, right? It's a means of documenting so many things
01:47that can be used for the benefit of mankind for years and years to come. And we see this
01:52rich tradition that we have in our own Islamic history of students of knowledge and scholars
01:56that have contributed to every single field. Their works are still being used. And Allah
02:01Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, He honors the pen and He talks about the blessing of the pen by
02:06swearing
02:06by the pen. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la even causes the angels to preserve all of our
02:11actions
02:11through the use of a pen. And we find that in the first revelation to the Prophet
02:16SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says iqra, right? Read. And so the first command
02:22is to read. Soon after Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says iqra wa rabbuka al-akram, read and
02:28your
02:29Lord is most generous allathee allama bilqalam, the one who taught by the pen. So He taught the use of
02:35the pen.
02:36So not only does it clearly allude to the ni'mah being mentioned here, the blessing of writing being
02:41mentioned here and the generosity of Allah of allowing us to learn how to write and to use
02:46the pen. But it shows us that right after read comes the pen, right? Read and then write. And
02:52this is very interesting because al-ilmul maktub, written knowledge, which is what the scholars say
02:58Allah is talking about when He says noon walqalam and He swears by the pen. Qatada rahimahullah,
03:05he said that the pen is far more powerful than the sword. Which is why Allah never swears by a
03:11sword.
03:11There is no part of the Qur'an where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la swears by the sword.
03:16Because the pen is far
03:17more powerful. With the pen peace and tranquility is established or wars are started, right? It starts
03:23off with writing, right? Da'wah is made or da'wah is destroyed by the use of the pen, right?
03:29Al-imam
03:29al-Qurtubi rahimahullah, he said with the pen religion is established, wills are written down,
03:34testimonies are preserved, minds are enlightened. The pen is far more powerful of a tool than a sword
03:40or anything else. Which is why Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la makes it a point to swear by
03:45it and remind us of the
03:46blessing that he bestowed upon us with the ability to write. And you know there's a very famous weak
03:52hadith and it is weak in hadith form that midad ul ulama afdalu min dammish shuhada that the ink of
03:59the scholars is far more sacred than the blood of the martyrs. Although it's weak in hadith form,
04:05the statement is a statement of Imam Hassan al-Basri rahimahullah, as was narrated by
04:09al-imam al-shawkani rahimahullah ta'ala that surely the ink of the scholar is far more sacred and far
04:15more precious in the sight of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la than the blood of the martyrs. Why?
04:19Because again the ink is what starts it all off, the pen is what gets everything going. We find Salah
04:25al-Din rahimahullah ta'ala, the great scholar, his revolution truly starts by writing letters
04:31throughout the Muslim world. That's how he starts uniting the people and bringing the people around
04:36this wonderful cause that he had that we still praise until today. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi
04:41wa sallam in the battle of Badr, what did he ransom prisoners for? Right? Someone who would have
04:47the ability to teach ten people how to read and write. Abu Hurairah radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, who is
04:53obviously amongst the companions, the one who narrates the most ahadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi
04:57wa sallam, the most sayings of the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he praises Abdullah ibn
05:01Amr ibn al-As, who used to have as-sahifat as-sadiqah, the truthful tablet, where he would
05:09go and he would write down everything the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said. Abu Hurairah
05:13radiAllahu anhu, he praised Abdullah ibn Amr, he said that he used to write and I didn't used to
05:18write. Meaning there's something special about what he used to do and this is something to praise him for.
05:24And you know, a lot of times as a teacher, as an instructor, if I see people, even in a
05:30halaqa,
05:31even if I see them in a conference or convention, not writing, not taking notes, it's pretty demoralizing
05:36as a teacher because it's like, are they really benefiting from what I'm saying or are they just,
05:41from what I'm saying, are they really just trying to entertain themselves and hear the next joke or hear
05:46the next cool story. And I always look for those people that are taking notes and I focus on them.
05:50And Imam Hassan al-Basri rahimahullah ta'ala, he once said that someone who attends a learning circle
05:57without a board and a pen, meaning a pen and paper, is in the same situation as a man who
06:03goes to battle
06:03without a weapon, right? You have to have a pen, you have to be taking notes. And you know, this
06:09is
06:10extremely important with whatever you're learning, to trap your knowledge and capture it with that pen
06:16because you never know when you'll be able to go back and benefit from it. Not all of us are,
06:20in fact none of us are Imam al-Bukhari or Imam al-Shafi'i where we can memorize hundreds and
06:24thousands of pages,
06:26you know, without any use of anything. And Yahya bin Ma'een rahimahullah ta'ala, he actually said that
06:34if I see a person going to the circles of hadith without a pen, then I automatically class him as
06:40a narrator
06:41that you can't accept from, right? Because Bukhari is an exception, al-Shafi'i is an exception. Otherwise,
06:46you've got to have a pen. Shaykh al-Islam bin Taymiyyah rahimahullah ta'ala, if you look at him,
06:51and this is a man who authored books between Dhuhr and Asr that are used as textbooks for universities
06:57in theology, right? This is a man who used to love to write. And subhanAllah, the way that he was
07:02punished
07:03in prison was that his ink was taken away from him. And even then he continued to pen letters using
07:09his blood,
07:09because of the blessing and the value of ink. And this is a tradition and a legacy from our ulama,
07:15and for that reason Imam Ahmed rahimahullah ta'ala, he said that upon everyone who owns an inkstand
07:21or has a pen is the favor of al-Imam al-Shafi'i rahimahullah ta'ala. In essence telling us
07:27that we all owe
07:28a Shafi'i for what he taught us of the use of the pen as well, and how he made
07:33it a point to always be
07:34walking around, taking notes from the scholars, benefiting in every way. And this is something
07:39that we have to thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for the use of the pen. And the greatest way
07:43you thank Allah is by using the blessing that he gave to you in a way that's pleasing to him.
08:06Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he mentions to us,
08:08خَلَقَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامِ
08:12That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created the heavens and the earth all in six days.
08:17Now obviously as we said before, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala really doesn't need six days.
08:22Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala could simply say, كُن فَيَكُونَ
08:24Be it it is. So why would Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala create it in six days, create all of
08:29the heavens
08:29and the earth in six days, as opposed to just in one second and even less than that,
08:33because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala certainly is capable of doing so.
08:37The scholars say there are two reasons. Number one, it could be that perhaps the angels were already created.
08:43Because we don't really know when the angels were created.
08:46So it could be that they were there and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to show them his power,
08:50he wanted them to see the magnificence of this creation as it came into being.
08:55So they would see the heavens and the earth, the oceans, the mountains, all of this coming into being
09:00in front of their eyes, you know, within those six days.
09:03Some of the scholars, they said that in it is actually a lesson for us as human beings,
09:08that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants to teach us one of the most beloved qualities to him,
09:13which is at-ta'anni, which is taking things strategically, slowly, gradually, planning things out properly.
09:20So we learn from that to be gradual when we do things and to do things properly and with ihsan
09:25and with excellence.
09:25The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he started the creation on the
09:31day of Saturday
09:31and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala finished on the day of Friday, which is the best of all days.
09:36And that's why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said that, you know, we as an ummah, as a
09:41people,
09:41were guided to the day of Friday because it's the best of those days.
09:45And so on the day of judgment, though we were the last ummah, we were the last of the nations,
09:49we will be the first to stand and the first to come forth in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta
09:53'ala.
09:53Now after Allah azawajal created these, you know, the heavens and the earth,
09:57we also completely reject this idea of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala needing to rest or needing to relax.
10:03Allah azawajal says, ما مسنا من لغوب.
10:06That we were, you know, that we were not overtaken by any form of fatigue, any form of tiredness.
10:11In fact Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
10:12وَالسَّمَاءَ بَنَيْنَاهَا بِأَيْدٍ وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ
10:15That we constructed the heavens with strength and we are constantly expanding them.
10:21To show the power of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
10:23Al-Khalaq, the Creator, Allah is constantly expanding this universe.
10:28And this is a scientific miracle because science tells us that this universe,
10:32which is only part of the first of the heavens, is expanding constantly.
10:36And in fact it expands faster than the speed of light.
10:40And the speed of light, you know, would be over 300 million meters per second.
10:44You know, I want you to think about that.
10:45Saying 300 million meters per second.
10:48And imagine the universe expanding faster than that as we're speaking.
10:52Just count the seconds of this, of this discussion.
10:55And then multiply it by 300 million and the universe is expanding faster than that.
10:59Subhanallah.
11:00On top of that Allah azawajal says that all of these celestial bodies,
11:04Ya'rujoon, they are in constant orbit.
11:07Not going out of place.
11:08Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala constantly being in touch with them.
11:11And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala constantly being in control of them.
11:14Allah azawajal says,
11:15خَلَقَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ بِالْحَقِّ
11:17And He created all of this in truth.
11:19The heavens and the earth in truth.
11:21And in Surah Al-Zumar Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
11:23يُكَوِّرُ اللَّيْلَ عَلَى النَّهَارِ وَيُكَوِّرُ النَّهَارَ عَلَى اللَّيْلِ
11:27That He causes the night to envelope, to envelope the day.
11:32And He causes the day to envelope the night.
11:34And you know, it's funny because the scholars, the early scholars,
11:39the way they commented on this,
11:40they said that يُكَوِّرُ means to wrap something round like a turban.
11:44So Imam Ahmad rahimahullah, Imam Ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Hazm
11:47and many others, they derived from this way back then,
11:51that the earth is round.
11:52Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala uses يُكَوِّر, the word يُكَوِّر.
11:55And obviously there is the ayah where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
11:58وَالْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ دَحَاهَا
12:01That after Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created the earth,
12:03He made it like an egg shape.
12:05A dahaha can mean that He made the surface like an egg,
12:08meaning smooth, or that He actually shaped it like an egg,
12:11and obviously both meanings are true.
12:13Now one of the things that causes this confusion at times,
12:16or that's been left open to interpretation,
12:19is when Allah or the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentions the seven earths.
12:23Now Imam Al Alusi Rahimallah in Ruh Al Ma'ani in his tafsir,
12:27he goes through many different ways of understanding the seven earths.
12:30One of them is that there are seven zones, or seven cores of earth,
12:34which is actually scientifically true, you'll see there are seven cores of earth,
12:39seven different layers of earth.
12:41One interpretation is that it could mean seven continents,
12:44or seven different separated parts of lands within this earth.
12:49One of them is that the ard that we all have is one.
12:53Okay, that all of this, the entire earth, just comprises of one of those seven earths.
12:59And there are other earths and other sets of land that have creation upon them,
13:05and that we are not in touch with, and that we are unable to see.
13:09And it's interesting because Imam Al Qurtubi Rahimahullah,
13:11and it just shows you how the scholars,
13:13they always like to take something beneficial from this.
13:15Imam Al Qurtubi Rahimahullah, he talks about hypothetically,
13:19if we were able to reach another creation, or another group of people,
13:23that are on another earth, or another land that we are unable to see.
13:26And he actually discusses the obligation of da'wah upon us,
13:30if we're able to reach them.
13:31And so this shows us that, you know, we're not really supposed to be focusing on
13:34what this means in the realm of the unseen, and how we can interpret it scientifically.
13:41But rather, we take benefit from it.
13:43And the greatest thing that we can take from it is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
13:46has provided much rizq, much sustenance for us.
13:50And he's allotted these portions to us, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed us with much.
13:55And that's why, you know, interestingly enough,
13:58one of the greatest forms of oppression that we find within the sunnah,
14:01is when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam talks about someone occupying someone else's land,
14:05someone taking someone else's land.
14:07Allah Azza wa Jal allowed a people, or allowed someone to have a portion of land,
14:11and someone else takes it.
14:12And that's where we find the mansion of the seven earths.
14:16The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says,
14:17مَنْ أَخْضَ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ شَيْءًا بِغَيْرِ حَقِّهِ
14:19That whoever takes a piece of land from someone else unjustly,
14:25خُسِفَ بِهِ يَنْوَ الْقِيَامَةِ
14:27Rasulullah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said he would be swallowed by the seven earths on the Day of Judgment.
14:32And subhanAllah, this is a hadith in Bukhari,
14:35we find many rulings in the sharia of taking water from someone's well without permission,
14:39or eating an apple from someone's tree,
14:41you know, that's hanging over the fence without permission and so on and so forth,
14:45because that's a form of oppression.
14:47Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has allotted certain portions of this earth to us,
14:52and we have to be just with that,
14:53and we have to thank Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for that,
14:56and obviously use all of that for beneficial things.
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