Why Allah Tests You Internally First (Surah Al-Ankabut Reflection) — Transcript

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1. 0:00Don't think that your test is going to
2. 0:01start externally, majority [music] of
3. 0:02times it is internal. This surah is
4. 0:04called Al-Ankabut, the spider. Why? The
5. 0:07obvious answer is the spider is
6. 0:09mentioned in the surah. In the ayah
7. 0:13When I read this ayah, because I thought
8. 0:14this is going to be the answer to my
9. 0:16question, why is the surah called the
10. 0:17spider? So, I read the ayah, which is
11. 0:19towards the end of the surah. Allah says
12. 0:20the parable of those who take protectors
13. 0:22[music] and guardians other than Allah
14. 0:25are like the spider when it takes a
15. 0:27home, i.e. builds a spider's web. And
16. 0:29then Allah says "And indeed the weakest
17. 0:30of homes is the spider's web." And then
18. 0:32the ayah ends by saying something that
19. 0:34confronted me. "If only they knew."
20. 0:36If only [music] they knew. You know what
21. 0:37what's my immediate response to that
22. 0:39was? I don't know. I don't know anything
23. 0:41about the spider. That's probably why
24. 0:42I'm not getting it. And then a few ayahs
25. 0:43down, you know what it says? "These are
26. 0:44the parables, examples that we give to
27. 0:47humanity. And only those who possess
28. 0:49knowledge understand them and comprehend
29. 0:51them." [music] So, this was saying to me
30. 0:52again, the reason why you do not
31. 0:54understand the parable that Allah is
32. 0:56giving is because you have no knowledge
33. 0:57of the spider. So, you know what I
34. 0:59started doing? researching the spider in
35. 1:01order to understand the surah. And this
36. 1:02is what [music] I discovered. The
37. 1:03spider, its home is the most corrupt
38. 1:07home. The mother kills the father.
39. 1:08[music] The children, they kill the
40. 1:10mother. Absolute chaos, turmoil. And
41. 1:13when I discovered this fact about the
42. 1:14spider, then I started reading the surah
43. 1:16again from the beginning. Allah says
44. 1:19"Do the people think that they will be
45. 1:20left alone to say we believe [music] and
46. 1:22they won't be tested? Certainly we have
47. 1:23tested those who came before them."
48. 1:25What's the objective?
49. 1:28>> [music]
50. 1:29>> So, that it's a apparent to Allah those
51. 1:31who are truthful in the faith that they
52. 1:32claim and those who are not truthful.
53. 1:34So, now let's talk about tests and
54. 1:36trials. If you go further along, Allah
55. 1:38he starts mentioning different types and
56. 1:40examples of trials. Allah says we have
57. 1:43advised man to be dutiful and kind to
58. 1:45his parents. Now, the context of this
59. 1:46surah, this surah is Makki, i.e.
60. 1:48revealed before in Mecca. The Sahaba are
61. 1:50going through a lot of trials and
62. 1:51difficulties in Mecca. Their own
63. 1:53families are trying to force them to
64. 1:54abandon their faith, their own parents.
65. 1:56So, then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he
66. 1:58starts by mentioning this because for
67. 2:00them this is a difficult test. Your
68. 2:01family, your parents, those that you
69. 2:03love unconditionally are trying [music]
70. 2:04to force you to leave that which matters
71. 2:06more to you, your faith. It's a
72. 2:07difficult test. But, what kind of test
73. 2:08is it? It's internal. [music] It's like
74. 2:10the spider's home. It's full of turmoil,
75. 2:12difficulty, and trials. Allah is saying,
76. 2:14"Don't think that the test is going to
77. 2:16start externally. Start internally."
78. 2:17After the parents, you know what Allah
79. 2:19mentions? He mentions Nuh alayhis
80. 2:20salaam. Nuh alayhis salaam was tested
81. 2:21with his wife and his son. [music] Then,
82. 2:23after that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he
83. 2:24mentions Ibrahim alayhis salaam. Ibrahim
84. 2:26alayhis salaam was tested with his
85. 2:27father. And then straight after that
86. 2:28Allah mentions Lut alayhis salaam. Lut
87. 2:30alayhis salaam was tested with his wife.
88. 2:32And then after that Allah subhanahu wa
89. 2:33ta'ala, he mentions Musa. And after
90. 2:35Musa, he says, "Wa Qarun wa Fir'awn wa
91. 2:38Haman." Who's worse? Fir'awn or Qarun?
92. 2:40Fir'awn of course, right? Then, why is
93. 2:42Qarun mentioned before Fir'awn? Because
94. 2:44Qarun was from Bani Isra'il, from the
95. 2:46people of Musa, but he betrayed them and
96. 2:48took the side of the enemy. It hurts
97. 2:49more when one of your own takes the side
98. 2:51of the enemy. All [music] the tests were
99. 2:53internal. So, Allah is saying, "Just
100. 2:54like the spider's home is full of
101. 2:56internal tests." But then also, I
102. 2:58discovered something else about the
103. 3:00spider. The spider, [music]
104. 3:01Allah calls its home the spider's web.
105. 3:04He calls it the weakest of homes. But,
106. 3:07in reality, the material the spider's
107. 3:09web is made of is one of the strongest
108. 3:10materials. So, what is he referring to
109. 3:12by calling it the weakest of homes? He's
110. 3:14talking about functionality. [music] How
111. 3:16does the spider's web function as? It
112. 3:18functions as a trap for other insects.
113. 3:21So, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying,
114. 3:22"Those who take guardians and protectors
115. 3:26and a safety net other than Allah are
116. 3:29like the spider when [music] it builds a
117. 3:30spider's home. All of that's an
118. 3:32illusion." You know, your job, that you
119. 3:34rely on your family, certain
120. 3:35relationships, your status. [music] All
121. 3:37of these things, your wealth, all of
122. 3:38these things that you build your life
123. 3:41around, Allah is saying, "It's like the
124. 3:42[music] spider's web." You The spider
125. 3:44makes a lot of effort building its home
126. 3:46with precision and detail, building that
127. 3:48web. But, the moment a bit of pressure
128. 3:49comes, what happens to the spider's web?
129. 3:51It collapses. [music] Allah subhanahu wa
130. 3:52ta'ala is saying that is your faith one
131. 3:55that collapses under pressure just
132. 3:57[music] like the spider's web. When you
133. 3:59lose these things that you rely on other
134. 4:02than Allah, you think that this is where
135. 4:03your safety relies and this is where
136. 4:05your comfort is. The moment you lose
137. 4:07these things that you're dependent on so
138. 4:09much, you lose your job, you lose your
139. 4:11family, you lose your wealth, you lose
140. 4:13your status. All of these things that
141. 4:14Allah granted you, you lose them, are
142. 4:16you also going to lose faith? That is a
143. 4:18test. [music] Allah is saying, "I'm
144. 4:19going to make you faith dependent on the
145. 4:21material and the relationships that
146. 4:23Allah has granted [music] you. But faith
147. 4:24should only be attached to Allah. That's
148. 4:26the only relationship that is safe."
149. 4:28Allah [music] is saying. "All of these
150. 4:29things that you rely on reality, they
151. 4:31are trapped just like the spider's web."
152. 4:33It's saying. "It traps you in becoming
153. 4:34dependent [music]
154. 4:35on them and the moment you lose them,
155. 4:37which you can, it affects your faith
156. 4:39greatly. Don't allow that to happen from
157. 4:41the beginning. Do not become attached."
158. 4:43Allah is saying. "The only attachment
159. 4:44you should have is to Allah. Everything
160. 4:46else can be taken away." But then I
161. 4:47discovered something else about the
162. 4:49spider as well. The spider goes