Quran Garden

Have you ever reached a point where nothing works?  You've tried every solution, exhausted every option, and every door seems closed.  It is a reason for despair!  Imagine, then, standing trapped between a raging sea and an army closing in behind you.  No escape.  No hope.  This was the reality facing Moses and his people.  Yet in that impossible moment, he spoke words that every believer should remember when life feels overwhelming.

Session 636

Chapter 4

Verses 50 and 51

Look how they fabricate lies about God; this in itself is a ?agrant sin!  (Chapter 4: Verse 50)

The verse begins with a command to our beloved Muhammad, "Look," and every address to the Messenger of God is an address to you, me, and his entire Ummah.  We also learned that "fabrication" is deliberate lying.  Many people fabricated lies against Allah, boast, and purify themselves above any faults.  Listen to the following Ayat,

The Jews and Christians say, "We are God's children and His loved ones." (from 5:18)

And in another chapter,

And they say, "None will enter Paradise except one who is a Jew or a Christian." That is their wishful thinking.  Say, "Produce your proof, if you should be truthful." (2:111)

It is one thing to lie to your peer, because he or she might believe you, but to lie to your Creator,  that is audacious!  Thus, God describes it as, "this in itself is a ?agrant sin!" Lying is a sin, but lying to Allah is on a totally different level.   Perhaps, more importantly, lying to the people around you may bring you some benefit, but lying to Allah does not benefit you at all.

Now, we move to the next Aya in Surah An-Nisaa.  God says,

Do you not see how those given a share of the Scripture now believe in idols and evil powers, and say of the disbelievers, "They are more rightly guided than the believers"?

(Chapter 4: Verse 51)

We begin with the phrase "those given a share of the Scripture," meaning they had a real connection to heaven, to messengers, and to Divine Books that carried God's teachings.  If they had been people with no such knowledge, their claims might have been more understandable.  They could have been excused because the guidance and message from heaven had not reached them.

But people who have the Scripture!  They have no excuse.  The foremost duty of heavenly Books is to connect you to your Creator, a connection that nurtures and prepares you to face life's difficulties grounded.  Why is this so important?  Because there are moments in life when all the tools and means God placed before you seem to fail.  You try everything, yet nothing works.  Those who lack a connection to God often fall into despair, turn to drugs or alcohol, and may even think about ending their lives.  But the true believer pauses and says, "The means and resources themselves do not control my fate.  I am connected to my Creator, in whose hands lie all means and all causes."

Thus, faith in Allah gives you strength and plants your feet on solid ground, no matter the circumstances, no matter the resources available to you.  When you remember the Lord, new horizons open before you, and you begin to feel the vastness of the universe.  People fall into despair and even suicide when they feel trapped, as though the world has closed in on them with no hope and no escape from suffering.  But when a believer cries out, "O Lord!" relief begins even before the prayer is answered.  Why?  Because the believer has turned to the One who controls all causes when every other cause has failed.

The moment you turn to the Lord, strength enters your heart from places you never expected.  Simply saying, "O Lord," brings peace to the soul because you have connected it back to its Creator.  Remember, even though your body, emotions, and abilities seem to belong to you and are under your control, they are ultimately not yours; they belong to Allah.  Listen to the following Aya,

On that Day We shall seal up their mouths, but their hands will speak to Us, and their feet bear witness to everything they have done.  (36:65)

On the Day of Judgment, your legs will testify before the Lord, and so will your skin, hands, and ears.  Today, these limbs obey your commands.  You tell your hand to pick up a glass of water, and it does.  You decide to walk to the store, and your legs carry you there without question.  All of this is only because God has placed these abilities at your disposal.  But on the Day of Resurrection, will they obey your will?  No.  On that Day, they will answer only to God.  He says,

They will say to their skins, "Why did you testify against us?" and their skins will reply, "God, who gave speech to everything, has given us speech- it was He who created you the first time, and to Him you have been returned-" (41:21)

And in another chapter,

The Day when they will come out and nothing about them will be concealed from God.  "Who has control today?" "God, the One, the Conqueror." (40:16)

Thus, when challenges overwhelm you and all your faculties, your limbs, your mind, your skills, have been exhausted without success, you turn to God, crying, "O Lord!  Help me!" Instantly, a sense of calm settles within you, even before the response arrives.  You then confront the same trials with steady hands, firm feet, and a heart grounded in trust and connected to the true source of all blessings.

Perhaps the most powerful story we can bring you is that of our beloved Moses.  He, peace be upon him,  wanted to take the Children of Israel, escape from Pharaoh's tyranny, and move his people to Palestine.  When Pharaoh became aware of their plan, he gathered his army and came at them full force.  The Israelites were chased all the way to the shore, trapped with the vast sea in front and Pharaoh's forces closing in from behind.  They turned to Moses and said,

and as soon as the two sides came within sight of one another, Moses' followers said, "We shall definitely be caught." (26:61)

Would anyone deny this statement?!  Is it a lie?  No, they were perfectly logical.  They planned, they ran, and they exhausted all the means God put at their disposal.  What did Moses say?  He, peace be upon him, recognized that all worldly means have failed, so he looked to the Owner and Creator of the means and loudly said with full conviction,

"NO!  My Lord is with me: He will guide me." (26:62)

Capture and death seemed certain.  Yet our beloved Moses did not rely upon the material means, for those means had reached their limit.  Instead, he looked to the Lord of the means and declared, "No!  My Lord is with me.  He will guide me." This is the fruit of true faith.  And how did the Lord respond?

So We revealed to Musa, "Strike the sea with your staff." And it split in two, each part like a towering cliff.  (26:63)

Allah did not command Moses to confront Pharaoh's army or defeat them by force; rather, He commanded him only to strike the sea with his staff.  What a miracle!  A matter and its opposite demonstrating God's infinite power!  We know the natural properties of water and the laws governing it.  A cliff possesses firmness and solidity, while water is defined by softness and fluidity.  So how could you build a mountain out of fluid?  Water's nature is to flow; it cannot remain suspended above lower ground but must move into and through it.  Yet by Allah's command, the sea stood firm.  Moses crossed with his people, yet still sought reassurance through ordinary human thinking.  After safely crossing, Moses struck the sea again, thinking in ordinary human terms, wishing for the waters to return to their normal course and form a barrier that would stop Pharaoh and his army from following.  God comforted Moses and reassured him.

Leave the sea divided as it is.  They are an army that will be drowned.  (44:24)

The dry seabed enticed Pharaoh's army to chase.  God restored the water's flow and overwhelmed them.  The Almighty saved and destroyed with the same element.

When life's challenges feel bigger than anything you can handle, do not despair.  Turn to Allah with sincere faith, and He will open doors you never imagined, just as He guided Yusuf and Moses through the impossible.  Let this be a reminder that you are never alone.  Join the Qurangarden community by subscribing, and grow together in faith and the wisdom of the Quran.