Reflections on Surah Al-Ankabut

 In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful

Praise be to God and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of God.

One of the delightful lectures delivered by His Excellency Sheikh Saleh Al Sheikh, may God protect and preserve him, was “Reflections on Surat Al-Ankabut,” which was held in Brussels. It included a number of beneficial lectures, and I wanted to summarize and compile as much as possible from it, hoping that God will benefit from it and bless it .

• God Almighty said: { Do they not then reflect upon the Qur’an, or are there locks upon their hearts? } A group of scholars said: The verse indicates that whoever does not reflect upon the Qur’an, then there is a lock upon his heart that prevents him from reflecting upon the Book of God .

• Contemplating the Qur’an means understanding the meaning of the verses, and understanding the doctrinal and legislative rulings they indicate, as well as the lessons in the stories of the prophets and the behavior indicated by the Qur’an .

• Most of the surahs of the Qur’an have one theme around which they revolve, and among these surahs is Surat Al-Ankabut, and its theme is the trial with which God tested people, and which His wisdom required, to test whether people are sincere in their faith or not .

• The true meaning of temptation is everything that comes to the hearts to tempt them and test them as to whether they are submissive to the command of God Almighty and the command of His Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, or not .

• One of the great trials is when a Muslim wants to please God, adhere to monotheism, and adhere to the Sunnah, but his closest relatives, his parents, struggle to force him to abandon religion or refuse to be religious. This trial leads the Muslim to fail in one of two ways:

▫️ Either he obeys his parents in polytheism or abandons religion, thus making the satisfaction of the creation prioritize the satisfaction of God .

▫️ Or he succeeds in holding on but fails in the way he treats his parents .

God mentioned the great balance in His saying: { And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment. But if they endeavor to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them . }

The statement “ man ” includes women, and they may encounter more severe psychological and moral conditions than men.

• The repetition of the stories of the prophets in each surah has a purpose, a lesson, and a moral that is not found in any other surah. Consider the story of Noah, peace be upon him, in Surah Al-Ankabut, whose subject is the tribulation that befalls hearts and minds. You will find the connection in His saying: { So he remained among them a thousand years, minus fifty years }. This is a great trial and a great test, that he would remain for nine hundred and fifty years without receiving God’s victory, even though he was dear to his Lord and beloved to Him. However, this is a lesson for his people and for the followers of the prophets until the Day of Judgment. A person sees that he is on the right path and sees polytheism, disbelief, and sins, and wants to get rid of them quickly in a year, two years, or ten. But God did not will this, rather His wisdom required that His destiny and wisdom proceed according to what He willed, and the servant must follow the straight path and is not required to see the results. This trial leads him to one of two things: either rushing, so he follows another path that he follows for himself, or despairing, so he abandons religious commitment. And God said: { So be patient. Indeed, the promise of God is truth. And do not let those who have no certainty make you impatient . }

• The story of Lot , peace be upon him, in this surah has an addition to the other surahs, which is His saying: { And you commit in your assemblies the wrongdoing }. Their committing of this immorality was announced and they declared it openly, and it is a warning that it is an agreed upon evil. They reached this human deviation in sexual desires that people announced it and did not care. Despite that, Lot did not leave them alone, but rather approached them through dialogue and persuasion and called them to what would move their hearts and minds. The temptation is that people are exposed to leaving the people of immorality without advising them, and it is said that these are the ones who are afflicted and people of disobedience and corruption, and they are to be left alone. Rather, they must be advised whether it benefits or not. One of the great temptations is that Lot’s wife used to guide people to immorality.

One of the trials that turn away hearts is that people believe that there is no punishment from God, but rather that it is a natural phenomenon: { They said, “Bring us the punishment of God, if you should be of the truthful .”} In the story, the preacher and reformer turns to God and does not neglect the power of connection with God, submission, repentance, and supplication: { He said, “My Lord, help me against the corrupting people . ” }

• The trial is in the story of Aad and Thamud mentioned in Surat Al-Ankabut, in the Almighty’s saying: {And Satan made their deeds pleasing to them and averted them from the path, and they were able to see. } Meaning they were knowledgeable, so they had insight in perceiving information like sight does in perceiving visible things. How similar tonight is to yesterday: Muslims listen to sermons and fatwas, yet they choose a path other than Allah’s. The trial now is greater, as everything now comes to you without your consent, so the heart hardens and does not see the truth as truth nor falsehood as falsehood. Knowledge may be a blessing or a test, and the way out of this trial is to pay attention to Satan’s beautification and the hardening of hearts .

• The verb “istaf’ala” may come to indicate the presence of the source, such as: { And they were seeing with great insight } meaning they were seeing with great insight of the heart, and the meaning is not that they were seeking insight. Similar to this is the statement of God: { And God is self-sufficient } meaning that what is not meant is seeking wealth, God forbid, but rather He is described as being self-sufficient from His creation with a great description .

• In the words of God: { God created the heavens and the earth in truth. Indeed in that is a sign for the believers. }, there is a statement of the trial and affliction of God Almighty’s creation, and that we are all afflicted and tempted by what God has created around us. Therefore, a person should not be prevented by familiarity, habit, and God’s subjugation of creation to him from contemplating God’s greatness in this kingdom. Umm al-Darda’ said: “Most of Abu al-Darda’s worship, may God be pleased with him , was contemplation.” And al-Hasan al-Basri, may God have mercy on him, said: “We treated the hearts with contemplation, so it brought them to remembrance. So we returned with remembrance to contemplation, and we moved the hearts with them, and then the hearts had hearing and sight. ”

• The People of the Book are those who have a previous book, whether it is a book that has remained correct or has been distorted.

• From experience and from observing those who engage in dialogue and debate, I found that many people made mistakes when they became angry, but if he had remained calm in the discussion from beginning to end, the information, by the grace of God Almighty, would have come to him calmly and the argument would have been with him .

• The strong argument and strong faith, who holds information and facts in his hand, cannot become angry because his argument is strong, and the opponent in front of him cannot provoke him into making fallacies .

• Praiseworthy jealousy is that which is in accordance with correct knowledge and Islamic law .

• In our dialogue with the People of the Book, we are superior to them in our loyalty to all the prophets and all the messengers, and in our belief in the books of God Almighty: { And say, “We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one; and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him . ”}

• The treatment lies in the strength of the heart, and the strength of the heart comes from reciting the revelation first, second: performing the prayer, and third: frequently mentioning God Almighty .

The greatest thing that guides people to is increasing knowledge .

• The origin of jihad is with argument and explanation, and that is why it was in Mecca. As for jihad with the sword and spear, it came in Medina to prevent the enemies from harming the Muslims .

There are other benefits spread throughout the lecture and while answering questions, which there is not enough space to mention here. May God grant us and you beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds .