Verse 18

● Allāh says: وَلَقَدْ†كَذَّبَ†ٱلَّذِينَ†مِن†قَبْلِهِمْ†فَكَيْفَ†كَانَ†نَكِيرِ
○ Surely the ones before them also rejected and denied, so then how
Keep supporting MuslimMatters for the sake of Allah
Alhamdulillah, we're at over 850 supporters. Help us get to 900 supporters this month. All it takes is a small gift from a reader like you to keep us going, for just $2 / month.
The Prophet (SAW) has taught us the best of deeds are those that done consistently, even if they are small.
Click here to support MuslimMatters with a monthly donation of $2 per month. Set it and collect blessings from Allah (swt) for the khayr you're supporting without thinking about it.
was My censure?
● Another common theme we find, time and time again in the question, is Allāh
telling Rasool Allah
that what he is going through and how his people are
responding to the message, none of this is new
○ This has all happened before
○ If you are struggling, prophets before you have struggled as well
○ If your people are rejecting you, previous communities rejected
their prophets as well
○ If you try your best and your people are still not believing, previous
prophets tried their best and their people still did not believe as
well
● Allāh tells Rasool Allah
about the struggles of previous prophets and the
stubbornness of previous nations to console him and remind him that
he is not alone
○ To remove any doubt that may arise as to whether Rasool Allah
is doing a
good job
○ Letting him know that, yes, you are doing a great job, do not
measure your success by how many people believe
■ Because previous prophets also did a great job, and they too
did not make everyone believe
■ It’s not you, it’s them
○ The people not believing has nothing to do with you, it has nothing
to do with the Prophet that was sent
■ It is the people who, throughout generations, have been
stubborn and arrogant
● With this information, that previous communities have also rejected
and denied their prophets, the message, the truth, Rasool Allah
is given
confidence that he is not alone, it has nothing to do with him, other
prophets went through the same thing
● Allāh then says — now look and see, how severe, intense, and heavy My
censure was of those people, by punishing them for their rejection
○ Allāh is telling RasoolAllah
— previous communities rejected and denied
the message, the truth, and their prophets too
■ But look at how I destroyed them, look at how I punished
them, look at how I completely wrecked them
○ Meaning — do not think that your people who reject you and the
message you are bringing are getting off the hook
○ They may have it good right now, but it won’t be for long
○ Do not think that Allāh is not going to handle these people and give
them what they deserve for all that they made you go through
○ Just as Allāh punished previous communities, Allāh will too punish
those who are deserving of punishment from your community
● This is a reminder to not only Rasool Allah
, but also to us
○ We too need to remember and reflect upon how Allāh punished and
destroyed previous communities for their wrongdoing
○ Because, as previous verses explained, there is no guarantee that
we are always going to be safe and sound
■ We have to do what we can to ensure that Allāh is pleased with
us and that we refrain from that which displeases Him
● With this reminder, it is prudent for us to look at some examples of
these past nations that rejected the message, the truth, the prophets
that were sent to them and how Allāh punished them
○ One of the earliest communities that we know of that received a
severe punishment were the people of Nūḥ
■ Nūḥ was a prophet and messenger that had been preaching to
his people for 950 years and yet still there were people who
rejected him and his message
■ The Q describes their manner of rejection in vivid detail— وَ†إِنِّى
كُلَّمَا†دَعَوْتُهُمْ†لِتَغْفِرَ†لَهُمْ†جَعَلُوٓا۟†أَصَٰبِعَهُمْ†فِىٓ†ءَاذَانِهِمْ†وَٱسْتَغْشَوْا۟†ثِيَابَهُمْ†وَ†أَصَرُّوا۟†وَٱسْتَكْبَرُوا۟†ٱسْتِكْبَارًا
● Nūḥ is quoted to have said — Every time I invite them so
that you can forgive them, they put their fingers in their
ears, they cover themselves with their clothes, and they
persist with mighty arrogance
■ Allāh gives us such a vivid description of just how intense
their rejection and denial was
■ And what happened as a result?
■ Allāh completely wiped them all out with a great flood that did
not leave anybody behind, except for those on the ark of Nūḥ
■ Allāh totally obliterated this community for their
stubbornness, their arrogance, and their rejection of the
message that Nūḥ came with
■ Some of us may be thinking, well, I don’t reject RA and the
message he brought, so I’m good I don’t need to take a lesson
from the destruction of previous nations
● Not so fast
■ Sure, we may accept and believe in RA, but what happens
when we learn something new that seems to go against our
paradigm and framework that society has shaped for us?
● What happens when societal values and Islamic values
clash?
● Which one are we going to give preference to?
● When society has a certain definition of morality that is
in contradiction to Islam’s definition of morality, which
one are we going to accept and which one are we going to
reject?
■ Are we going to be like the people of Nūḥ, who when they
heard anything that went against their societal norms and
values, anything that clashed with their own ideals of right
and wrong, they just turned away and pretended they couldn’t
hear, pretended that they don’t know?
■ Belief in Rasool Allah
as a whole is one thing, but belief in the substance
that he brought is another that requires just as much
vigilance, just as much care and concern to make sure that we
have belief in and acceptance of it
○ Another community that rejected the truth and was punished as a
result was the community of Shuʿayb
■ They too rejected the message that their prophet brought, and
one of their key defining features was that they were a
fraudulent, cheating, and dishonest people when it came to
financial transactions
■ They would engage in all sorts of fraud that would resulted in
people being cheated out of their wealth wrongfully
■ Shuʿayb warned them, they did not listen, they did not
discontinue their wrong ways, they even said — are you really
us that we can’t do whatever we want with our money?
أَوْ†أَن†نَّفْعَلَ†فِىٓ†أَمْوَٰلِنَا†مَا†نَشَٰٓ†ؤُا۟†●
■ Then, they were punished with a ṣayḥah
● An aerial blast
○ A boom, a thunderous blast, a fatal blast of noise
■ Again, we may believe in Rasool Allah
and the message that he brought,
but are we willing to change our ways and habits to fit that
which RA has brought?
■ Are we willing to do something that may seem detrimental
and harmful to us in this life, something that may not be as
advantageous to us in this life, are we willing to drop all of
that if that is what this religion requires?
● So again, our verse here in Sūrah al-Mulk, verse #18, is reminding not
only RA, but also reminding us, that previous communities have been
met with punishment for their wrongdoing
○ The reason we went through just two examples of previous
communities that were destroyed is so that we can learn from
those stories, so that we can reflect and truly ask ourselves if our
lives and what we do bears any resemblance to their lives and what
they did, and how they eventually earned a terrible punishment
● May Allāh protect us from falling into the ways of the previous nations
that were destroyed for their wrongdoing, and may He help us to believe
in the message that RA down to the tee and follow his way diligently and
obediently