Surah Luqman

04. A Thematic Overview

Summary (1c)

Surah Luqman (31): Who is a Wise Person?

“And we definitely gave Luqman wisdom so that he might be grateful to Allah” OR “And we definitely gave Luqman wisdom so that he was grateful for the sake of Allah” (31:12)

  •  There is a time and place to speak to everyone! Luqman (A) spoke to his son when the right time came

  •  Part of being a wise person is that in any situation you’ve ever been given is that you find something to be grateful for in every situation that you’ve been put into

  •  Belief in Allah doesn’t just mean belief in the entity, the being that is Allah. It leads to certain kinds of attitudes. The first of these attitudes is gratitude, positivity and appreciation that lead to your mentality shifting.

    “And whoever is grateful/thankful then certainly he is grateful/thankful for himself. And whoever is ungrateful then certainly Allah is completely Independent, Praiseworthy”

 Allah doesn’t need people to praise Him! If there was no creation, if nothing had ever been made to praise Him He would still be worthy of praise, it’s part of His quality of حميد

Day 3 │Qur’an for Young Adults │1

Any passage you study in the Qur’an will come back to one of 4 things:

1. Believe

  1. 2. Do good deeds

  2. 3. Counsel each other truthfully

  3. 4. Counsel each other patiently

“And when Luqman said to his son while he was giving him loving advice: come here young son, don’t associate anyone with Allah" (31:13)

  •  There is a time and place to speak to everyone! Luqman (A) spoke to his son when the right time came

  •  The word يعظ means that it’s meaningful, loving, caring advice and instruction, meaning that Luqman (A) chose to impart his advice in this time, so he’s trying impact his son emotionally

  •  Luqman (A) uses يا بني to reduce the stress and feelings of harshness had he just said the word son in the phrase “come here my dear son” as opposed to “come here son”

  •  First piece of advice: be good to Allah first, don’t associate a partner with Allah (swt)... as elaborated on by Ibn Taymiyyah, our slavery to Allah is categorized as such:

  1. 1. We Pray to Him

  2. 2. We Obey Him

  3. 3. We Trust Him

  •  This trust is unique because He doesn’t have to earn it. We already rely on him (توكل) without trying (ex. our heartbeat, our breathing, etc.)

  •  Other people in life can and always will let you down in some way but Allah never will

Day 3 │Qur’an for Young Adults │2

4. We Love Him

  •   Your heart has to be tied to Allah (swt.) You can’t allow something like a crush, or your family to distract you in times of worship because if Allah is truly in your heart, your thoughts will be on him, not on other things!

  •   If our love of our families, our friends, or even our obligations is not based on our love for Allah, then these relationships can become a form of shirk. Practically, this means that if you love someone and that love takes you away from Allah, then you are committing shirk.

5. Allah (swt) decides the terms of the relationship...not you and me!

***Here Allah interjects with His words, and begins talking about the mother.

"And We have enjoined upon man [care] for his parents. His mother carried him, [increasing her] in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the [final] destination.” (Sahih International) (31:14)

 Allah (swt) mentions being grateful to Him, and then brings up our parents first. Why? Because He protects us, feeds us, gives us what we need to survive, He teaches us - all of this through our parents.

Day 3 │Qur’an for Young Adults │3

“And if they (parents) strive to make you take partners with me/be ungrateful to Me with what you have no knowledge, don’t obey them but stay in their company in a good way.”

  •   A lot of times we feel like if our parents are pushing us to something that’s bad we can stop spending time with them, but Allah (swt) says we HAVE to spend more time with them, in an excellent manner! Remain in their company decently, friendly, respectfully, and in service to them.

  •   There is a 99% chance that you, the child, are being entitled or arrogant, so make sure you ALWAYS act in the best way to them.

“And follow the path of whoever turned back to Me”

“then I will inform you of the things you used to do." (31:15)

 If you aren’t able to use your parents as mentors, find people who turn back to Allah, people who strive in the path of Islam. Find people who make you want to be better and emulate them.

 

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