WEBVTT 00:00:10.859 --> 00:00:13.859 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 00:00:13.859 --> 00:00:18.940 The story of our mother Hawwa (Eve). 00:00:18.940 --> 00:00:23.640 The honoring of our mother Hawwa. 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:26.640 The first story in Surat al-Baqarah. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:29.699 It is the story of our father Adam and his wife. 00:00:29.699 --> 00:00:32.700 Among the important aspects of this story 00:00:32.700 --> 00:00:35.700 is the aspect of Iblis’s enmity toward the family, 00:00:35.700 --> 00:00:38.700 the ways he uses to corrupt it, 00:00:38.700 --> 00:00:41.700 and the ways to resist this enemy, 00:00:41.700 --> 00:00:44.700 along with an explanation of the path to salvation and happiness for the family. 00:00:44.700 --> 00:00:47.929 Allah the Almighty said: 00:00:47.929 --> 00:00:50.929 "And when We said to the angels, 00:00:50.929 --> 00:00:53.929 'Prostrate before Adam,' 00:00:53.929 --> 00:00:56.929 so they prostrated, 00:00:56.929 --> 00:00:59.929 except for Iblis, who refused 00:00:59.929 --> 00:01:02.929 and was arrogant, 00:01:02.929 --> 00:01:05.930 and he became of the disbelievers." 00:01:05.930 --> 00:01:08.930 And We said, "O Adam, 00:01:08.930 --> 00:01:11.930 O Adam, dwell, you 00:01:11.930 --> 00:01:14.930 and your wife, in Paradise, 00:01:14.930 --> 00:01:17.930 and eat from it in ease and abundance from wherever 00:01:17.930 --> 00:01:20.930 you both will, but do not approach 00:01:20.930 --> 00:01:23.930 this tree, 00:01:23.930 --> 00:01:26.930 lest you be 00:01:26.930 --> 00:01:30.730 among the wrongdoers." 00:01:30.730 --> 00:01:33.730 The command to prostrate to Adam came before 00:01:33.730 --> 00:01:37.049 his creation. Allah the Almighty said: 00:01:37.049 --> 00:01:40.049 "Your Lord said to the angels, 00:01:40.049 --> 00:01:43.049 'Indeed, I am going to create 00:01:43.049 --> 00:01:46.049 a human being from clay 00:01:46.049 --> 00:01:49.049 of altered black mud. 00:01:49.049 --> 00:01:52.049 So when I have proportioned him 00:01:52.049 --> 00:01:55.049 and breathed into him of My spirit, then fall down to him 00:01:55.049 --> 00:01:58.400 in prostration.'" 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:01.459 This is part of Allah’s honoring of Adam. 00:02:01.459 --> 00:02:04.459 Ibn Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 00:02:04.459 --> 00:02:07.459 This is a great honor from Allah the Almighty to Adam, 00:02:07.459 --> 00:02:10.560 which He bestowed upon his descendants, 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:13.560 as He informed us that He commanded the angels 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:16.590 to prostrate to Adam. 00:02:16.590 --> 00:02:19.590 This honor includes both male and female 00:02:19.590 --> 00:02:22.590 equally, 00:02:22.590 --> 00:02:25.590 as the Almighty said: 00:02:25.590 --> 00:02:28.849 “Verily we have honoured the Children of Adam. We carry them on the land and the sea, and have made provision of good things for them, and have preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment.” (17:70) 00:02:28.849 --> 00:02:31.849 “Verily we have honoured the Children of Adam. We carry them on the land and the sea, and have made provision of good things for them, and have preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment.” (17:70) 00:02:32.849 --> 00:02:35.849 "And she was created for his sake so that he might find comfort in her," 00:02:35.849 --> 00:02:38.849 so the honor includes her as well. 00:02:38.849 --> 00:02:41.849 And the descendants of Adam only emerged from the womb of our mother Hawwa. 00:02:41.849 --> 00:02:45.009 Honor does not mean preference. 00:02:45.009 --> 00:02:48.009 That is why the Almighty said 00:02:48.009 --> 00:02:51.039 in the remainder of the verse: 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:54.039 "And We provided them with good things and preferred them," 00:02:54.039 --> 00:02:57.039 “Verily we have honoured the Children of Adam. We carry them on the land and the sea, and have made provision of good things for them, and have preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment.” (17:70) 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:00.099 a clear preference. 00:03:00.099 --> 00:03:03.099 [This is] through knowledge and intellect, 00:03:03.099 --> 00:03:06.199 the sending of messengers, and the revealing of scriptures. 00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:09.199 It is a preference through the virtues He specifically granted them, 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:12.199 and the merits He favored them with, 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:15.199 which other types of creatures do not possess. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:18.419 The difference between preference and honor 00:03:18.419 --> 00:03:21.460 is one of generality and specificity. 00:03:21.460 --> 00:03:24.460 Honor considers the dignity of the being in itself, 00:03:24.460 --> 00:03:27.460 while preference considers 00:03:27.460 --> 00:03:30.460 its distinction above others. 00:03:30.460 --> 00:03:33.460 It is that He favored him with the intellect 00:03:33.460 --> 00:03:36.460 by which he manages his affairs and wards off harm from himself, 00:03:36.460 --> 00:03:39.460 and with various types of knowledge and sciences. 00:03:39.460 --> 00:03:42.650 This is the intended meaning of preference. 00:03:42.650 --> 00:03:45.650 Al-Raghib al-Isfahani said: 00:03:45.650 --> 00:03:48.650 "When 'fadl' (preference/favor) is used to denote the superiority of one of two things 00:03:48.650 --> 00:03:51.650 over the other, it falls into three categories: 00:03:51.650 --> 00:03:54.650 Preference in terms of genus, 00:03:54.650 --> 00:03:57.710 such as the preference of the animal genus over the plant genus; 00:03:57.710 --> 00:04:00.710 preference in terms of species, 00:04:00.710 --> 00:04:03.710 such as the preference of humans over other animals. 00:04:03.710 --> 00:04:06.710 In this manner is His saying: 00:04:06.710 --> 00:04:09.710 “Verily we have honoured the Children of Adam. We carry them on the land and the sea, and have made provision of good things for them, and have preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment.” (17:70) 00:04:09.710 --> 00:04:12.780 up to His saying, 'a clear preference.'" 00:04:12.780 --> 00:04:15.780 And preference in terms of the individual, 00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:18.939 such as the preference of one man over another. 00:04:18.939 --> 00:04:21.939 The first two are essential [inherent]. 00:04:22.939 --> 00:04:25.939 As for acquiring preference, 00:04:25.939 --> 00:04:28.939 like a horse and a donkey, 00:04:28.939 --> 00:04:31.939 they cannot acquire the virtue 00:04:31.939 --> 00:04:34.939 that is specific to humans. 00:04:34.939 --> 00:04:37.939 The third type of preference may be accidental, 00:04:37.939 --> 00:04:40.939 as there is a way to acquire it. 00:04:40.939 --> 00:04:43.939 Of this type is the preference mentioned 00:04:43.939 --> 00:04:46.939 in His saying, "And Allah has favored some of you," 00:04:46.939 --> 00:04:49.939 “And Allah hath favoured some of you above others in provision. Now those who are more favoured will by no means hand over their provision to those (slaves) whom their right hands possess, so that they may be equal with them in respect thereof. Is it then the grace of Allah that they deny?” (16:71) 00:04:50.939 --> 00:04:53.970 meaning wealth and what is acquired. 00:04:53.970 --> 00:04:56.970 And His saying, "Men are the protectors and maintainers," 00:04:56.970 --> 00:04:59.970 “Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great.” (4:34) 00:04:59.970 --> 00:05:02.970 over others, it means 00:05:02.970 --> 00:05:05.970 the virtue specifically granted to the man, 00:05:05.970 --> 00:05:08.970 which is inherent to him, and the favor that 00:05:08.970 --> 00:05:12.060 he has been given in terms of capability, wealth, and status, 00:05:12.060 --> 00:05:15.060 and strength. Thus, man and woman 00:05:15.060 --> 00:05:18.060 are equal in honor. 00:05:18.060 --> 00:05:21.060 However, the male species is preferred over the female species 00:05:21.060 --> 00:05:24.060 by Allah’s preference for him. 00:05:24.060 --> 00:05:27.129 There is no way for the woman to remove this preference. 00:05:27.129 --> 00:05:30.129 The first flaw that occurs in the family 00:05:30.129 --> 00:05:33.129 because of Iblis 00:05:33.129 --> 00:05:36.129 is the man’s degradation of the woman 00:05:36.129 --> 00:05:39.129 and his rejection of this honor, 00:05:39.129 --> 00:05:42.129 whether in belief or in action, 00:05:42.129 --> 00:05:45.129 as is the custom of some societies, 00:05:46.129 --> 00:05:49.129 and the actions that diminish the rights of women. 00:05:49.129 --> 00:05:52.319 So what should the woman do in this situation? 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:55.319 We will continue in a future meeting, if Allah wills. 00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:59.790 The story of our mother Hawwa.