Surah Sad, Verse 21-23

Translation: And has there come to you the news of the adversaries, when they climbed over the
wall of [his] prayer chamber (21) When they entered upon David and he was alarmed by them?
They said, Fear not. [We are] two adversaries, one of whom has wronged the other, so judge
between us with truth and do not exceed [it] and guide us to the sound path (22) Indeed this, my
brother, has ninety-nine ewes, and I have one ewe; so he said, Entrust her to me, and he
overpowered me in speech. (23)
Asalmu Alaikum Qurn Weekly.
Today inshAllah were on the 23rd juz and Srat d, the 38th srah of the Quran. Were going
to take a few lessons from the story of Dawd . Part of this conversation is that we in
Islam have a great deal of respect and honor for the Prophets and even though we have the
same names for the Prophets that the Christians and Jews have in their various traditions, the
way we think about Prophets is not how they think about Prophets. The way we respect Prophets
and the way we honor them is not the way that they respect and honor them.
The same story that is mentioned in the Quran about Dawd being in his
)Mirb)- in his praying quarters and of course he was a King, a Khalifa actually, not a king.
They call him King David and we call him Khalifa Dawd because Allah calls him that in ayah 26
of the same surah )
Y Dwdu Inn Ja`alnka Khalfatan F Al
Ari)- someone who is left behind on the earth to take responsibility of executing Allahs
commands.

So the ayahs begin by people scaling the walls of Dawds fort and coming into his praying
quarters. So they came into the most private quarters of the castle, a bunch of people. Hes
obviously shocked. The ayah says, ) Idh Dakhal `Al Dwda Fafazi`a
Minhum Fkum Baynan Bil-aqqi Wa L Tushi WaAhdin Il Sawi A-iri) he was
kind of terrified from them and he was taken aback. The word ) Fafazi`a) is actually fear that
stems from shock and he doesnt really know whats going on.

) Ql L Takhaf)- they said no no dont be afraid, )

Khamni
Bagh Ba`un `Al Ba`in)- were just two groups of people that somehow wronged the other.
We were in a big argument so you need to help us out and kind of clarify the situation. So its not
two people that scaled the wall, because the Arabic word ) Tasawwar) is used and the
)) at the end is plural. ) Fafazi`a Minhum)- he got afraid of ALL of them, not
)Minhum) that would have been afraid of TWO of them.

So a bunch of people just come into his quarters and Dawd can handle himself. Hes
the one that killed Jlt, so we know he can handle himself. But a whole bunch of people just
rushed into his house after scaling a wall, hes kind of taken back by it and hes not really in the
right state of mind. And they said, no no dont be afraid, were here to discuss an issue with you.
Some of us have wronged each other. This is my brother, hes got 99 sheep and Ive only got 1
sheep. So he says, ) Faqla Akfilnh) just give it to me man. Just give me that one
sheep. What are you going to do with one sheep? )

Wa `Azzan F Al-Khibi)
and he was very bullyish when he talked to me he was like come on just give it up already, Ive
been telling you to give me the sheep. So the guy that has the one sheep is the guy that is
speaking right now. Dawd listens to this case and says his verdict and he says in ayah
24, )

Qla Laqad alamaka Bisuuli Na`jatika Il Ni`jihi) youve


wronged this guy by asking for his one sheep to add to your sheep. Youve wronged him.
Wa Inna Kathran Mina Al)


Khulai Layabgh Ba`uhum `Al Ba`in Ill Al-Ladhna man Wa `Amil A-liti Wa
Qallun M Hum) and a lot of times business partners end up wronging each other. How true a
statement! A lot of the time business partners end up messing each other up or taking advantage
of one another except those who truly believe and do righteous deeds, ) Wa Qallun M
Hum)- and how few those are. Then they disappeared immediately. He passed the verdict and
the angels immediately disappeared in front of his eyes.

( Wa anna Dwdu Annam Fatannhu) And Dawd realized we were testing

him
( Fstaghfara RabbahuWa Kharra Rki`an Wa Anba) so he
made istighfr to his Master and he fell into sajda and he repented. By the way, this is an ayah
of sajda, so once youre done watching this video, well make sajda because I have to make one
too. But lets finish talking about it first.
The Israelites position, the biblical narrative of the same story, is that [ Nouman
Ali Khan is seeking refuge in Allah from the story and beliefs of the Israelites about Prophet
Dawd] this is not something we say about Prophets, that Dawd was interested in the
wife of one of his generals and he actually sent that general off to battle so he could fight and be
killed and then Dawd would be able to marry her. Because Dawd had 99 wives and wanted his
100th, Allah taught him a lesson for wanting that 100th wife by bringing in these people with
their sheep problem and all of that and thats why he made repentance.
Our narrative in the Quran is very clear. First of all, we dont accept the Israelites narrative
because it accuses prophets of something we dont even expect from bad Muslims. How can we
accuse a prophet of that? And second, more importantly than that, the ayat themselves have the
answers to what really happened. A bunch of people came into his court, he was shocked,
obviously a judge when hes about to judge a case cannot be in an emotionally traumatized
state, thats the first problem. ( Fafazi`a Minhum) he was shocked by them, he was
taken aback by them and he wasnt in his right state of mind because of them. Then they
started presenting their case. The guy said I have one sheep but he wants my sheep. But a judge
in his right mind, if hes in his right mind, is supposed to say, hold on, whats your evidence?
Youve made your case, but whats your evidence? And let me hear the other side even if youre
calling him guilty that doesnt make him guilty. Let me hear what he has to say. But in this story,
Dawd rushed to judgment because he was taken by surprise. He rushed to judgment
and passed a judgment immediately saying youve wronged your brother by asking him for that
one sheep and immediately they disappeared and he realized I should not have rushed the
judgment. I should have calmed down first, understood the situation fully, asked both sides their
opinion then I shouldve passed my verdict. The lesson Im learning here is dont rush to
judgment. Thats what he made repentance for.
So then Allah says,
( Y Dwdu Inn Ja`alnka


Khalfatan F Al-Ari Fkum Bayna An-Nsi Bil-aqqi). Heres the lesson learned: Dawd we
have made you a khalifa in the land so judge between people with justice. If this was about him
being a criminal, the ayah would have said, we have sent you a khalifa on the earth, then be fair
yourself. If this was about him and wanting a 100th wife, then the verdict at the end, the lesson
to be taught to Dawd, would have been you should be fair yourself. Have you learned your
lesson? Instead Allah says, Ive sent you as a khalifa on this earth, someone who will leave a
legacy behind and someone whos been left behind to take care of business, so judge between
people with justice.

( Wa L Tattabi`iAl-Haw Fayuillaka `An

Sabli) and dont follow your whim, dont follow your gut. Judges cant just say I have a gut
feeling Im going to go with this, I find this compelling because then itll take you away and
misguide you from the path of Allah. This is the lesson taught to Dawd .

Its actually a very beautiful lesson in the justice system; the judge cannot have emotional
biases, he cannot be under pressure. You know in corrupt countries, you have judges that are
threatened before they go into court. Their families are held hostage before they go into their
court, theyre bribed before they go into their court, they have something emotionally bothering
them before they go into court. Also you have cases like divorce law, where the judge himself
just went through a divorce, right? And hes like burnt about it and then a man and a woman are
standing in front of him, who is he going to favor? Hes going to see this woman getting a divorce
and remember his wife and let it out on her. She gets nothing. Or if the judge is a woman, then
its the other way around. So the judge has to be emotionally neutral and if not, hes not going to
be able to do his job. That is the lesson we are learning in this beautiful beautiful surah and this
beautiful story about the high standards of justice that Allah has set. And that people that are
put in a position to make judgments between people should not be people of emotional biases
and should not be under stress or distracted at the time that theyre passing judgments. This is
the verdict we take and in your family too not just in court. This is not just for people that are
judges in courts but in your family when you have to settle disputes, or work things out between
friends and things like that, you better be the neutral party before you pass any judgment or say
anything and both sides are equal even if you dont like one guy and dislike the other guy. You
better be fair. This is the lesson that we take from these remarkable ayat.
Remember your sajda!
) BarakAllahu Li Walakum)
) Wa Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu)