Questions by Jewish Rabbis & Importance of InshaAllah - Our Prophet 4 - 44/71

But these pagans, nothing would stop them. They still wanted to test whether Muhammad was saying the truth or not. So they are like, look, send a group of people to Medina. There are Jews over there. They have the holy scriptures. Ask them about Muhammad. I mean, if this guy's really a prophet, these guys should know, because they are familiar with how prophet hood works. They are familiar with divine messages.

So they send a group of people, Makkans to Medina. They meet a group of rabbis and Jewish scholars. They ask the rabbis, we have got a man who's claiming he is a prophet. How should we treat this? How do we know if he's a prophet? They tell them, ask him three questions. If he answered correctly, he is a prophet. If he didn't, kill him, get rid of him. He is lying. What's the three questions?

The first one: ask him about a group of youth who got lost in a cave. What's their story? Number two, ask him about a man whom God gave a vast kingdom and power and he would build dams. Who is he? And number three, ask him about the Ruh, the soul. What's the soul? If he gave you the answer to the first two questions and the third question, he didn't answer it, he is a prophet. This is written in our scriptures.

They come back happy. We have got a perfect way to discredit the Prophet. We have tough questions. He doesn't know how to answer. They come to the Prophet. Oh, Muhammad you are truthful? Let's test you. Tell us about a group of youth who got lost in the cave. Who were they? And who is that man whom God gave power in kingdom and he went from east to west? And what is the Ruh? What is the soul?

The Prophet told them, come tomorrow, I'll give you the answer. They're like, okay. The next day, the Prophet is waiting for the Wahy, because he never spoke from himself. He's waiting for revelation to come. Revelation does not come. No answer. The Prophet has not come with an answer. Two days, three days, four days. Some hadith state 15 days passed by, nothing.

People are anxious. What's going on? He said, I will have an answer for you. Some of them are like, See? He doesn't have an answer. Those early Muslims, some of them with a weak heart, they were shaken. What's going on? This is a messenger of God. Some hadith say this lasted 40 days. At the end of 40 days, Jibra'il came.

Now, how can we look at this? The Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa alihi, according to these sources, he asked Jibra'il, Jibra'il, my brother Jibra'il, what happened to you? Where are you? I've been waiting for the answer.

He gives him a verse in Surat ul-Kahf: "Wa la taqulanna li shai'in inni fa'ilun dhalika ghadan" (18:23), "illa an yasha'a Allah" (18:24). O Muhammad, when you said, I'll bring the answer tomorrow, you did not say, in sha Allah, by the will of God, and Allah withdrew me from coming to you.

You have to say, by the will of God, I'll comment on that. The Prophet tells according to, for example, Ibn Is-haq and his Sirah, he says, the Prophet told Jibra'il, look, I started having bad doubts when you stopped coming. What happened?

This is not acceptable. The Prophet does not have bad doubts. These are weak Hadiths, you know. However, there's a verse like that, and we do have verses that we do have Hadith that state revelation was delayed. Now why?

Most Muslims believe it's because the Prophet made a mistake. He did not say in sha Allah by the will of God. So Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala, wanted to teach him a lesson that everything, whenever you promise something, don't say it certainly. Say with the permission of God, Allah was teaching him a lesson, and that's why.

The correct view of our scholars, it wasn't that the Prophet made a mistake. This was a plan by Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala, to demonstrate to Muslims and everyone the importance of saying In sha Allah.

That even Wahyi, revelation, which is so sensitive when you need it the most to give the answers, if you don't say In sha Allah, it'll be withdrawn from you. So it was a practical example by the Prophet that, look, if you don't say in sha Allah, even Jibra'il is not going to come.

So Muslims always say it. Always remember that everything is by the will of God. Don't plan for your future and think you're so powerful you can do anything you want. No. Have Tawakkul on Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala.

So it's not that the Prophet really made a mistake, but Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala, wanted to practically demonstrate to the people, because, look, you can tell people all you want, say in sha Allah, it's not that effective. But when they see Jibra'il did not come 15 or 40 days, they'll never forget that. It's powerful. It's a practical example.

So according to our scholars, yes, he was informed by a lot that this would happen. So it's not that he did a mistake. Yes, it's like he was instructed by God. That's one way of looking at it anyway. Yeah, he did not make a mistake. Definitely was not a mistake.

Oh yes, we talked about that. We talked about Surat Al-Dhuha where there are some who claim the Wahyi is after the first time the Prophet met Jibra'il and the cave of Hira, we examined what happened. You know, some say Surat Al-Dhuha came and the Prophet thought Allah was abandoning him. No, no, that happened much, much earlier. This happened actually later.

So in any case, you know, this was a very good example of always having Tawakkul on Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala. And, you know, unfortunately, in our common language, we use in sha Allah, but we don't use it properly. Oftentimes, if you want to get rid of someone, you want to say no politely, you say in sha Allah. Right? Or like parents, when your kids want something from you. in sha Allah, in sha Allah baba, in sha Allah.

That is not respecting in sha Allah. in sha Allah... exactly, sometimes you will see a child, no don't say it, that means no. See, we have to treat this word with respect, with dignity, with honour. It's sacred. Truly mean it. Not, when you want to get rid of someone or you want to say no, politely say in sha Allah. In sha Allah. Don't take this word lightly. Truly have Tawakkul 'ala Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala.

In any case, Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala reveals the verses of Surat ul-Kahf. As for the first question, Allah reveals the Surah of Kahf. Allah tells us exactly what happened to those people. Allah mentions their story of those youth who got lost in the cave.

And Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala, in Surat ul-Kahf also mentions the story of Dhul Qarnayn. That king, you know, some say it was Alexander the Great, some say it was Cyrus. There are some possibilities here. Anyway, Dhul Qarnayn was a man who was given powers and kingdom. Allah talks about history in the Qur'an.

And the third question: "Wa yas'alunaka 'an ar-Ruh"(17:85), they asked you about the Ruh. "Qul ar-Ruhu min amri Rabbee"(17:85). Say The Ruh, is from my Lord, from the affairs of my Lord, Don't get into it.

He gave them these three answers, they realized no, he is really a prophet. Just as those Jewish rabbis told us. He gave us the answer. And still they rejected.