A Lecture by Suhaib Webb | Transcribed by Fuseina Mohamad
Part I | Part II
When we talk about understanding the Qur’an, we talk about the Angels asking Allah in Surah al-Baqara, “Will You place upon it [the world] one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood […] ?” (2:30). This is one of the jobs of the Qur’an: to make society civil. The opposite of spilling blood and oppression and sin is to live a civil life. So one of the objectives of the Qur’an is a social-political reality of stability in society. That’s why many of the great ulema, such as Ibn Taymmiyah, Imam Al Shatibi, Sheikh Abdulah Bin Bayyah, said that the entire Islamic legislative system came for the benefit of the servants of Allah. To make life good for us. That’s why Allah said in the Qur’an, “Those people who believe and do righteousness, We are going to give them a good life.” (16:97)
Now specifically, we want to talk about how we should understand the Qur’an in the concept of our lives. What does the Qur’an do for us, besides “BAM! Read!”
First of all, the Qur’an gives us the main objective of our existence. And those of you who studied philosophy and other similar disciplines, this is what people talk about all the time. Subhan’Allah, I went to the library the other day and you can find countless books on the purpose of human beings. Why are we here? What’s our purpose? What’s our cause?
Allah is Al-Aleem (the All Knowing), Al-Hakeem (the Most Wise) and whenever Allah mentions these attributes, He emphasizes that He is the One who is Knowledgeable and He has Wisdom in His Knowledge. In one verse of the Quran, in the 51st chapter of the Quran, Adh-Dhariyat, verse 56, Allah identified the purpose of humanity. The reason that we’re here, the objective of life. Allah said:
Our purpose is ibada (worship). To worship Allah. In one verse. There’s no need for a long discourse on this. We have been created to worship.
Maybe in your classes, especially the classes that you’re taking in philosophy, you have some atheists and maybe someone would say to you, “Well, I don’t believe in this. I don’t believe that we’re here to be servants.”
Tell them, “Okay, don’t use the restroom. Don’t sleep. Don’t eat. Don’t get tired. Don’t pick your nose when nobody’s looking. Don’t blink your eyes.”
They’re going to tell you, “I can’t. I can’t not do that.”
“Yes, because you are the slave of something. You are enslaved.”
They’re going to say, “Oh, this is physics.”
“You can call it what you want to call it, man. We call it enslavement. Stephen Hawking calls it physics. But we call it ibada.”



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