Test of knowledge – 3

Auto-generated transcript: As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. Wa salatu wa salamu ala ashrafil anbiya ibn al-mursaleen. Al-murra wa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Wa alayhi wa ala alihi wa sallam. Wa alayhi wa sallam. Tasliman kathiran kathira. Fama ba'du. Our brothers and sisters, we are looking at the lessons from Surah Al-Kahf. And we looked at the first of those lessons, which comes from the test of faith, and the second from the test of wealth, and the third from the test of knowledge. We were talking about the test of knowledge. And we reflected on the fact yesterday that in order to gain knowledge, it's important to go to the teacher, to be humble, and to obey the teacher. Because without adab, there is no learning. The second part of that is that we see this from the Musa alayhi salam and his three incidents. Which Allah describes in the Quran. The Musa alayhi salam told him that, he told him right in the beginning, he said, you must have patience, and I do not think you will have patience. So Musa alayhi salam said to him, no, I will have patience and I will obey you. And that was his commitment. But the first encounter they had, where the Musa alayhi salam made a hole in the boat, and he said, no, I will not obey you. And they had to cross this river. The fishermen took them across. And when they got across, the Musa alayhi salam made a hole in the boat. So the boat sank there, near the edge of the river. So Musa alayhi salam objected to that. He said, why did you do that? These people helped us come across. Instead of rewarding them, thanking them, you made a hole in the boat. Khidr alayhi salam told him, I told you that you have to have patience. And you must not question me. Now think about this whole thing. You see, the thing to understand is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us the stories in the Quran. But if you look at it from a human angle, we don't know whether the boatman... The man objected or not. What happened to the boatman? Their boat is being damaged by somebody. So did they also fight with him or what happened? You know, we don't know this. So then they go from there. And then the second test is even more apparently severe, where Khidr alayhi salam kills that child. Musa alayhi salam objects. He says, what is this? You killed a child, an innocent child. Again Khidr alayhi salam says, I told you, you should not question me. Then third time, they go to another place. Khidr alayhi salam tells Musa alayhi salam to help him and they repair this wall. So the wall is now firm and good. So Musa alayhi salam said, at least now you can ask them for, you know, the labor for this. So Khidr alayhi salam says, now this is the end of our story. Our relationship is over. And then he tells them the reasons for all the three things. So they go to the village. And they reach there in the night or something. They ask them for some assistance, some food, some place to stay. They refuse. Which is against all the laws of hospitality and so forth. But there is a wall which is defective which is falling down. Khidr alayhi salam tells Musa alayhi salam to help him and they repair this wall. So the wall is now firm and good. So Musa alayhi salam said, at least now you can ask them for, you know, the labor for this. So Khidr alayhi salam says, now this is the end of our story. Our relationship is over. And then he tells them the reasons for all the three things. The issue is, what was that, what was it that Musa alayhi salam did which was, within quotes, wrong? If you look at the actions, if somebody is, you know, you take help from someone, and then you damage their property. And if somebody is questioning that, why is it wrong? It's not wrong, it's correct. Musa alayhi salam, after all, is sahib ul kitab. He is sahib ul shariah. Right? He brought a book, he brought a shariah, he brought a whole law. In front of him, you do something, he's going to question you. The second thing is even worse on the face of it. Where you killed an innocent, when you kill an innocent child. So of course he will question you. And the third one is, it's not as bad as killing a child, but still it doesn't make sense. You know, these are people who have not helped you. You do some work for them, you don't ask for anything. So Musa alayhi salam, Musa alayhi salam's questioning of Khidr alayhi salam, in terms of the questioning alone, is not, it's not wrong or it's not something which we, which we should say anything about. This is one of the, also one of the adab of dealing with the stories of the Quran and so on, that we do not say anything which is critical of the Anbiya alayhi salam. There are many stories in the Quran which are, where Anbiya alayhi salam have done things which, if you don't have understanding of what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's idea there is, meaning is, then it seems to be, within quotes, unfair or something. See, for example, you take Ibrahim alayhi salam, he takes his wife and newborn baby and leaves them in the middle of nowhere. If you just look at the action, you can say, what is this? I mean, is this, you know, is it responsible behavior? This is a single woman and a baby will live like this? What is it? But when you read the Quran, when you understand the Quran al-Kareem, and you see what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is accomplishing there, then of course it makes sense. It is a test for Ibrahim alayhi salam. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is in control, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is protecting, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is helping. And Ibrahim alayhi salam, alhamdulillah, has fulfilled this test. Take the same thing with regard to Ismail alayhi salam. And Ibrahim alayhi salam's command to him to sacrifice him for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Ismail alayhi salam's immediate response says, do what you have been commanded to do. Right? And so also other incidents are there with Dawud alayhi salam and so on and so on. The point is that when we look at these incidents, we have to see them and look at them from the perspective of the meaning. And of course even these incidents in Surah Al-Kahf, when Khidr alayhi salam explains them to Musa alayhi salam, then they make sense. So in each of those incidents where there was apparently something bad, that something bad actually was a defense, or was something which protected those people from something which would have been worse. In the case of the boatman, the making the boat faulty saved their boat. Because there was a king who was grabbing everybody's boats. So they would have lost their livelihood completely. The fault, the defect in the boat which Khidr alayhi salam caused to happen, is repairable. They would have repaired it and still had their boat. As far as the boy is concerned, of course nobody could know that this is a qadr of Allah . Allah knew what the future was going to be for this boy. And Allah therefore terminated one existence. And Allah then gave the parents something else. The parents also, when there is a loss and you behave with sabar, then the ajar of this is enormous. And especially if you lose a young child, when you lose a child you don't know why it is happening, and you know, we don't understand the hikmah of Allah . But you behave with sabar, Allah gives you Jannah as a reward for that. Now think about that. If you're getting Jannah, what is the guarantee for Jannah for nobody? No one has any guarantee. But something like this, which is on the face of it, it's a calamity. Definitely we ask Allah to save us from all this, all this stress. But on the face of it, it's a calamity. But Allah is giving Jannah. Right? We are seeing this happening today in the world in so many places. And as far as the wall is concerned, if you see the hikmah behind that, Allah swt, Allah swt sent two Anbiya to repair that wall. For whom? For two orphans. Their father had buried their, you know, some wealth under this wall. And Allah swt, His intention was to keep it safe for those boys to discover it. And Allah had His way, He would have done whatever had to be done for them to discover it when they, had the strength to take care of it. But until then, this had to be done. And the reason for it, Allah swt says in the Quran, أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا Allah says their father was a good man. Father was not an Abi. Right? Father was not an Abi. Their father was not any, he was a good man, alhamdulillah. He was among the Salihin. Their father was a good man. And therefore, because of that, and therefore because the father was a good man, and the father would have made dua for protection for his children, Allah swt sends two Anbiya, alayhi Mus'alam, and somebody like Musa alayhi salam, to go and repair this wall. So as far as the stories are concerned, we know the reasons for it. But the reason we are looking at it here, is the importance again of adab as far as learning is concerned. So the, many times, a teacher may tell you to do something, and you don't always understand the reason for it. The adab is to obey first, and then if you are so interested in knowing the reason, then respectfully ask for the reason. Don't start from what you did is wrong. Don't criticize the teacher. Don't find fault with what he has done. In the same cases, if you look at the three cases, Musa alayhi salam could have asked a question. He could have said, could you explain to me why you did this? But Musa alayhi salam didn't do that. He said, this is wrong. Now, him saying it is wrong has its own reason. Because of who Musa alayhi salam is. Musa alayhi salam is not any ordinary, you know, student in some other side. He is, he is who he is. And just because he is going to the teacher to learn, it does not mean he stopped being the Nabi. It doesn't mean he is no longer the Rasool. Or in this period he is no longer. No, he is still the Rasool. He still has his responsibilities.