JUZ TWENTY
The twentieth juz begins with verse fifty-six of Surah al-Naml and ends at verse forty-five of Surah al-ʿAnkabut. In between, we have Surah Qasas. The stories of the prophets continue to flow through this juz as a core theme but the focus shifts to the tests of life and how to deal with them.
Surah al-Naml focuses on the beautiful story of Prophet Sulayman and his daʿwah to the people of Sheba. This is a powerful story worth reflecting on. A primary lesson we can extract from this story is the importance of gratitude during times of ease. When Sulayman was granted blessings and victory, he always responded with gratitude.
He smiled and laughed at her words, and said, “My Lord, direct me to be thankful for the blessings you have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and to do good works that please You. And admit me, by Your grace, into the company of Your virtuous servants.”
Verses fifty-nine to sixty-six are a beautiful passage about the majesty of Allah. Take some time to recite these verses, read their translations and reflect on their meanings.
Say, “Praise God, and peace be upon His servants whom He has selected. Is God better, or what they associate?” Or Who created the heavens and the earth, and rains down water from the sky for you? With it We produce gardens full of beauty, whose trees you could not have produced. Is there another god with God? But they are a people who equate. Or Who made the earth habitable, and made rivers flow through it, and set mountains on it, and placed a partition between the two seas? Is there another god with God? But most of them do not know.
Or Who answers the one in need when he prays to Him, and relieves adversity, and makes you successors on earth? Is there another god with God? How little you pay attention. Or Who guides you through the darkness of land and sea, and Who sends the winds as heralds of His mercy? Is there another god with God? Most exalted is God, above what they associate. Or Who originates the creation and then repeats it, and Who gives you livelihood from the sky and the earth? Is there another god with God? Say, “Produce your evidence, if you are truthful.” Say, “No one in the heavens or on earth knows the future except God; and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected.” In fact, their knowledge of the Hereafter is confused. In fact, they are in doubt about it. In fact, they are blind to it.
In verse eighty-nine, Allah says, “Whoever brings a virtue will receive better than it, and they will be safe from the horrors of that Day.” This verse relates to the story of Prophet Musa who will be safe from the horrors of the Last Day due to his righteousness. The previous surahs began and ended with descriptions of the horrors of the Last Day. This surah shows us how to protect ourselves on that day.
Surah al-Qasas focuses on the story of Prophet Musa. This story shows us the power and decree of Allah. Musa as a helpless baby in the water is protected by Allah. Pharaoh with all his wealth and power is drowned by that same water. This shows us that whoever Allah wishes to protect, nobody can harm, and Allah is in control of everything.
But We desired to favor those who were oppressed in the land, and to make them leaders, and to make them the inheritors.
Surah Qasas showed us the tests that Musa and his followers went through before attaining victory with Allah’s assistance. Similarly, Surah al-ʿAnkabut begins with a reminder that we too will be tested to separate the truthful from the hypocrites.
Have the people supposed that they will be left alone to say, “We believe,” without being put to the test? We have tested those before them. God will surely know the truthful, and He will surely know the liars.
Surah al-Qasas gave us the example of Pharaoh who had a false sense of security in his own power, Haman who had a false sense of security in Pharaoh’s power, and Qarun who had a false sense of security in his wealth. All three lost everything overnight. Surah al-ʿAnkabut at the end of this juz gives us the perfect parable of this false sense of security: the spider’s web.
The likeness of those who take to themselves protectors other than God is that of the spider. It builds a house. But the most fragile of houses is the spider’s house. If they only knew.
By Dr. Omar Suleiman & Sh. Ismail Kamdar
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