This Ramadan, MuslimMatters is pleased to host the Institute Of Knowledge‘s daily Ramadan series: Keys to the Divine Compass. Through this series, each day we will spend time connecting with the Qur’an on a deeper, more spiritual, uplifting level.

Previous in the series: Juz 1 Juz 2 Juz 3 Juz 4 Juz 5 Juz 6 Juz 7 Juz 8 Juz 9 Juz 10 Juz 11 Juz 12 Juz 13 Juz 14 Juz 15 Juz 16 Juz 17 Juz 18 Juz 19 Juz 20 Juz 21 Juz 22 Juz 23 Juz 24

Juzʾ 25: Allāh’s Blessings Are All around Us

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين

Allah ﷻ says:

﴿وَٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلْأَزْوَٰجَ كُلَّهَا وَجَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْفُلْكِ وَٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ مَا تَرْكَبُونَ ١٢ لِتَسْتَوُۥا۟ عَلَىٰ ظُهُورِهِۦ ثُمَّ تَذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَةَ رَبِّكُمْ إِذَا ٱسْتَوَيْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ وَتَقُولُوا۟ سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱلَّذِى سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَـٰذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُۥ مُقْرِنِينَ ١٣ وَإِنَّآ إِلَىٰ رَبِّنَا لَمُنقَلِبُونَ ١٤﴾

The one who created every kind of thing, who gave you ships and animals to ride on; so that you may remember your Lord’s grace when you are seated on them and say, ‘How perfect is the One who has given us control over this; we could not have done it by ourselves. Truly it is to our Lord that we are returning.’

 Allah ﷻ over here, when describing himself, when describing the Creator of the heavens and the earth, Allah teaches us a famous duʿā that many of us know many of us have memorized from childhood. However, oftentimes we do not know the meaning of the duʿā; the significance of the duʿā. The fact that Allah ﷻ is mentioning this duʿā in the Quran makes it that much more valuable. Over here Allah ﷻ is describing his different qualities. One of the things he describes is that he is the one that created all types of things for us, and then He specifies those types of things. He specifies one particular group or category of things that He created for us which are vessels to ride on; which are in those days ships and animals; in our days you can extend that to cars, planes, trains, and any other mode of transportation. Now, all of these things are blessings from Allah ﷻ. The fact that we can control these things, the fact that we are able to travel in these ways; these are not things that we should take for granted. This is only through the help of Allah ﷻ and the permission of Allah ﷺ that we are able to do this. We have our intellect. If we think about cars and planes and whatnot just like we think about boats and ships, Allah ﷻ is the one that gave us the materials to build those things. Allah ﷻ is the one that gave us the intellect to build those things. Then, on a day to day basis, Allah ﷻ is the one who’s giving us the faculties, the abilities, to safely drive those vehicles. When we think about how many accidents take place, for example. Who is the one that’s protecting us from getting into an accident? Allah ﷻ. So, every time we get into a car, when we get into a plane, when we get get into any vehicle, we should remember the blessings of Allah ﷻ. Allah, here, is highlighting this to remind us that everything in our life, every aspect of our life, is a reminder of His greatness, of His blessings. So Allah ﷻ mentions that he created these modes of transportation and then he gives the reason for that, “So that you may remember your Lord’s Grace when you are seated on them.” We talked about some of the blessings, we talked about some of the blessings associated with being able to ride and drive these different modes of transportation. Allah ﷻ tells us that as soon as we engage with this blessing, as soon as we feel this blessing, we should remember Allah ﷻ. Remember His blessings, and then Allah ﷻ teaches us this duʿā. Allah ﷻ teaches us this beautiful duʿā. 

When we say Subḥān Allah, Subḥānaka, or any of similar words, it refers to the fact that Allah ﷻ is free from all faults. Allah ﷻ is free from all defects. Allah ﷻ is free from anything that is negative. So we remember Allah’s ﷻ perfection when he when we remember that Allah ﷻ gave us control of these things. He’s protecting us whenever we embark on any journey and without his help without the assistance of Allah ﷻ we would not have been able to control this. So many times when we’re driving we get distracted. When we’re driving we get sleepy. When we’re driving, so many things happen, and all of us have experienced this. We were in a situation where we felt like we didn’t know what was going on. Sometimes we drive, and we go on autopilot. We’re just so familiar with the route. Who is helping us in that situation? Who is protecting us? Who’s keeping us alert and protecting us from getting into a difficult situation? that is only the blessing of Allah ﷻ. 

Then Allah ﷻ reminds us that just like we are going on this journey in this world, we’re going from point A to point B; in the same way this life is a journey. This life is a journey and our destination is the Hereafter. our destination is Allah ﷻ. Our destination is Jannah, or—may Allah ﷻ protect us—Jahannam, the Hellfire. Allah ﷻ, just as he does in other places, is framing our perspective; reminding us to not forget the Hereafter. We should not forget the greater Journey that we are making to the Hereafter. As the  Prophet ﷺ  said to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar (RA), the young companion who was only a teenager at the time. As a side note, we see how the  Prophet ﷺ treated the younger Ṣaḥābah with a great deal of respect, seeing the potential in them. Look at ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar (RA) who was in fact too young to participate in the Battle of Badr, and even too young to participate in the Battle of Uḥud—the  Prophet ﷺ would not allow sahabah generally speaking who were under under 15 excuse me to participate in battles. The  Prophet ﷺ advised him one day, and he said, “Be in this life as if you are a stranger or a traveler on a path.” That is how we engage with the dunya, how we deal with things. Our perspective should be that the priority is the Hereafter. we should make decisions based on the Hereafter. We should prioritize things based on the Hereafter while still engaging in everything that we do. Whether that be school, whether that be work, whether that be family; we engage in all these things, but with the right intention, with the right perspective.

May Allah ﷻ make us from those who take lessons from everything that we do. May Allah ﷻ make us from those who are thankful to Him for everything that he gives us. May Allah ﷻ make everything around us a reminder of His greatness and His blessings and a reminder of our journey to the hereafter.