Stories in the Quran August 16, 2013

Mind Maps - Class 2

16th August 2013

August 15, 2013 MindMaps Stories in the Quran

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3. Greed: Story of the People of Gardens

We can see from the story of the people of the Gardens that Greed leads to being

deprived. In this story there is division among the people of the Garden

1. One person who is the most fair among them.

2. Rest of the people of the Garden

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Now we will see the Ayat in Surah Qalam where the Story is mentioned.

Indeed, We have tried them as We tried the companions of the

garden, when they swore to cut its fruit in the [early] morning

Without making exception.

So there came upon the garden an affliction from your Lord while

they were asleep.

And it became as though reaped.

And they called one another at morning,

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[Saying], "Go early to your crop if you would cut the fruit."

So they set out, while lowering their voices,

[Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor

person."

And they went early in determination, [assuming themselves] able.

But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost;

Rather, we have been deprived."

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The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you

not exalt [ Allah ]?' "

They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers."

Then they approached one another, blaming each other.

They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors.

Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed,

we are toward our Lord desirous."

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Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the

Hereafter is greater, if they only knew.

We can see initially that Allah is testing the people of the garden. Allah will test

people with Khair (Good) and the Shar (Evil). The test of the people of the Garden

is with Khair (Good) regarding the garden that they inherited from their father.

The story is showing us in detail how if the greed is in the heart what the person

will say and what will he do.

First we will create a map for Greed (sickness of the heart). The place of the

sickness of greed is in the heart but when the test comes the sickness is

revealed, it surfaces and it becomes apparent. When the sickness comes on the

surfaces then it becomes evident and it can be detected as it shows on the

utterances (tongue). When the sickness it inside the heart a person cannot know

if it has the sickness but when the test comes then it becomes apparent as the

sickness is revealed through utterances. Before the test it is inside, after the test

the sickness is on the surface and it results in producing two types of hearts

1. Loser: The sickness of the heart when comes on the surface will result in

it becoming evident in his utterances and his limbs. He will speak ill and

it will show on his limbs.

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2. Winner: When the sickness of the heart comes on the surface he will put

his heart in a cage i.e. Taqwa. The Taqwa will prevent the impact of the

sickness on the outside (tongue /limbs)

Allah brings the test to us so we can adopt Taqwa. Taqwa is actions of the heart.

What makes us to not react to the sickness of the heart? It is Taqwa that helps

suppress the sickness of the heart. The result of nurturing and Taqwa is Qalab e

Saleem, which is a pure heart. A person having Qalab e Saleem is cured and no

one can deceive or misguide him. This shows the importance of a pure heart.

Now we will see the sickness of Greed of the People of the Garden. We will see

how it exists in the heart and then it is shown on the tongues and the limbs.

Initially the sickness is only in the heart and only Allah knows about it. Allah first

describes their utterances. When a person is greedy and he does not have any

Taqwa then it shows on their tongues. They said two things in the night:

1. They swear that they will pluck all the fruits so no poor person can

benefit from it.

2. They did not say In Shaa Allah

The above two things show their utterances in the darkness of the night. This

shows their determination in depriving the poor people from the fruits of their

gardens.

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In the morning when the sun rises they said the following two things (Action of

the tongue):

1. They are calling out to each other

2. They are commanding to go to the garden to do what they planned i.e.

what they planned.

Now comes the action:

1. They proceeded very fast. Their greed is making them hasty.

2. They are going secretly

While they are walking they are talking (action of the tongue). They are saying

that today no poor can enter their garden

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When they reached the garden we have their action (two things):

1. They went very serious in their determination.

2. They are having full power and ability to do what they had planned.

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Now we will see how Allah dealt with them. When they had the greed and in the

night they only had the intention but in the morning they saw the actions of

Allah i.e. the entire gardens were destroyed by hurricane even before they could

act upon their intention.

After the punishment let us see how the people reacted and returned to Allah. In

the beginning they thought they lost the way. Then they realized that they have

been deprived. Then an advice came to them from their brother who is most just

among them and they did not listen to him before. He said did I not tell you

before to glory Allah. This is the problem that makes them to go on and on with

their sickness of the heart i.e. they were not glorifying Allah. This means to think

positive about Allah and freeing him from all imperfections. This is the solution

to the problem of greed.

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Now we will see how the people changed after the advice and how they returned

to Allah. They returned to Allah after two things:

1. When they saw their destroyed gardens

2. After the brother advised them

After the advice they started to go towards Allah by glorying Allah and freeing

Him of all imperfections. This is the way to return to Allah. They came back to

Allah after they received the advice and we can see the change straight away.

They said “Subhana Rabbina” then we are told about their regret.

There are three statements used here to show the regret. They said the

following:

1. They are among the Zalimeen. They are accusing themselves of Zulm.

2. They are blaming each other.

3. They realized they actually exceeded their boundary.

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This is the first part of their returning to Allah. The second part, after they

blamed each other and realized that they transgressed, they then had the desire

that Allah will give them better in return. Sometimes when we make a mistake

we need to admit to Allah, confess, regret and lastly we should have hope in

Allah. The story is telling us how to return to Allah in repentance. They admitted

and listened to the advise which is the start of the their return to Allah by

regretting and having hope in Allah.