Yunus 13: Verily, We destroyed many nations who committed oppression against their Prophets (and denied them), although they had brought miracles to them. And they were not going to believe. This is how We punish a nation of great sinners.

Indeed, before you, though their prophet brought them miracles, because they denied and did wrong, We destroyed many nations, says Allah Almighty. Do people still not see? Are their eyes blind? The people of Lot, the people of Thamud, the people of Ad. Hodja, did we see them? Well, their traces are in history. History tells you, Hodja. It tells the condition of past nations. You believe that, yet though Allah Almighty, in His verse, left you the traces of past peoples, why don't you believe?

Yes. So the disposition, that character — since He gave that person whatever he asked of his Lord, everyone his own state, his life in this world, will prove to Allah, to those around and to himself.

They were never going to believe anyway, He says. yes, though they brought miracles, because they denied and did wrong, many nations We destroyed; they were never going to believe anyway. This is how We punish guilty peoples, He says. O man, just think once with your mind: the Prophet, mercy to the worlds (peace be upon him), is alive among us — according to the verse that says 'while Allah and the Messenger are among you', according to the verse 'I made you alive' — not among us. For the Prophet (peace be upon him), who came as a mercy to the worlds, destructions were lifted; if you are not destroyed for his honour's sake, then at least a little use your mind and give thanks to Allah.

Yes. We are not destroyed like the other peoples. Yes. If the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were not among us, if he had not been sent as a mercy to the worlds, we too, from the fate of the other peoples, would barely have saved our necks.

Today the non-Muslim, Allah's enemy, who says there is no Allah, who wants to prove Allah's non-existence — even that poor man, because he is aware of Allah's existence, is trying to prove His non-existence, non-existence. Who is this? Darwin. With his story. The people of the Sabbath came from apes. That is, people came from apes. Because (?). Because they opposed Allah's commands, Allah Almighty turned their forms into apes. This is why Allah Almighty says they are like the four-legged ones roaming the earth. That Allah Almighty created him honourable and made him worthy of His address — this person, people like this cannot accept it: of the honour of the human form I am not worthy. I am worthy of the form of those animals created as animals, living like them, in a state even lower than them, sir — I am a person worthy of that, he cries out.

He cries out, cries out. Like this. Yes. That is why a person must use his mind.

The peoples who denied Allah and His prophets — Allah Almighty, so that people may take a lesson, recalls in His verse the peoples He destroyed, so that those people do not meet their fate, He gives a warning. Yes.

And most clearly, in the most obvious way, in Surah Yunus, verse 92: O Pharaoh! So that you may be a lesson for those who come after you, today your body, lifeless, We will save, He says. And indeed many people are heedless of Our signs. Today, He says, We will save your body in a lifeless state. Was it saved? It was. Where? In England, what shall I say, in a museum. While in prostration — it had fallen into prostration, but they laid it on its side.

Yes.

Well,

to every sound-minded person — with reason, with address, with your conscience, setting carnal feelings aside — 1400 and some years ago, a written Quran, a sent-down Quran, though Pharaoh's condition was made known in it, these people who believe in Allah's existence, yet out of their own arrogance and pride rebel against what Allah sent — though they searched the Red Sea and found him, though Allah proved these miracles of His and that His being exists, these people still have blind eyes, deaf ears and sealed hearts. Nor are they going to turn to Allah.

Yes.

How else should Allah show Himself to people? How else should He speak to people this way, openly, among visible people? How else — with His verse saying that in His existence He is hidden from those unseeing eyes — to those people, hidden to the unseeing, that is, in this hiddenness of which it says You sent us to a hidden world — how else should He make Himself known to people? But if a person does not use his mind, if his mind goes with his nafs, then they, in keeping with the verse, they — their eyes are blind; they had deaf curtains drawn over their ears, and they had their hearts sealed. Yes, for those people there is a painful punishment, He says.

If Allah Almighty — to the verse, pay attention — If this verse were the way they explained it:

In their hearts is a disease.

Allah has sealed their hearts and their ears. And over their eyes a kind of veil is drawn. and for them there is a great punishment in this world and the hereafter, it says. Now, Allah has sealed their hearts and their ears, it says. Well, if He sealed it, there is no power that can open His seal. You cannot find another power. If He sealed it. If Allah sealed it. Here it gets attributed to Allah. Why did You seal my heart? Why? Why did You draw a curtain over my ears, why did You blind my eye and also draw a curtain over my ears? Well, in this case, would I want to hear Your word? Would he say it or not? I would say it, friend.

I would say it. But look at the correct version of that verse.

Here we open it up a little. From those who denied Allah at the covenant of 'Alastu bi-Rabbikum', from what they did, they had their hearts sealed by Allah there. Who? According to their desires and wishes, according to their aims. I don't know You — (?) strike the seal, you say. Bang, you strike the seal. The partial will, you see. In man, the partial will, you see. Yes. They had weights put in their ears and curtains drawn over their eyes. For them there is also a (?). What happened? Since people's desires and wishes, their own aims, are their destiny, when Allah Almighty lifts their partial will from them and uses His own will over them, what does He want from these people?

Would Allah be like that? Allah Almighty doesn't discriminate among His servants, does He? But from the great value He gave man, from the spirit He gave that man, from its part, from the loftiness of this spirit He gave no other being in the universe, He left people free in their own will, and wrote their desires and wishes, their aims, for them as destiny. In this case: they wanted, and He did. Whatever you wanted. How can you pin this on Allah? You have Allah do the sealing? Allah seals it, but the person does it himself. Just as we had our destinies written — I had my own destiny written. I had it written.

Allah has no fault. In the sin, the unbelief I commit — within my destiny, the events I would carry out within that destiny, within that (?), my aim. Good deeds, charitable works — events within my destiny. I had it written. You had your states and actions written. If you attribute it to Allah, you blame Allah. Yes.

And then they write Qurans. They write translations. They take it for review. Is there a minister who will review this? Who can review it. Oh! A minister who can review it. There must be a minister above this to review it.

If you don't understand this, if you can't grasp this, what of it will you review? First call the man who wrote this and find out his situation. Why did you write this like this? Find out first. Yes. You cannot deny that it is correct. But there is knowledge here. Knowledge. This was written with knowledge. Your knowledge of Arabic is not enough to write this. Yes. We are taking the verse again. We pass over what we said without (?). Indeed, before you, though their Prophet brought them miracles, because they denied and did wrong, We destroyed many nations. They were never going to believe anyway. This is how We punish guilty peoples, says Allah Almighty.

We explain it nicely, don't we? By Allah's leave, God willing. The peoples who denied Allah's prophets — Allah Almighty, so that people may take a lesson, recalls in His verse the peoples He destroyed, so that those people do not meet their fate, their (?), He gives a warning. Here too, in Surah Yunus, verse 92, we showed Pharaoh's fate, we discussed it. Since Allah Almighty is merciful and judges with justice, for His existence He showed miracles to peoples who asked for miracles. Although they saw these miracles, since they still kept on denying Allah and His Prophet, Allah Almighty seized these peoples as in a public case and destroyed these peoples.

They say 'public case' — He applied a public case to Allah's attribute too. Of course He brought a public case.

Do you know what a public case means?

Whatever Our custom was in pre-eternity, so it is in eternity, He says. So what is His custom? People who overstep His word, which is true, people who overstep the limits — Allah Almighty's custom in pre-eternity, whatever it is, so it is in eternity. In this case, when a person asks of his prophet: show me such a miracle — his prophet, by prayer, that miracle shows.

If he does not believe that miracle, Allah Almighty is not a toy. He is not to be taken lightly. He destroys them. This is the public case. His word does not go unfulfilled. This is Allah. Salih's people said: bring a camel out of the rock. He brought it out. They said: make the dead speak; He made them speak. When they still did not believe, they too were destroyed.

In this case Allah Almighty brings a public case. His word does not go unfulfilled.

In the previous verses, how the destroyed peoples were destroyed we wrote. Let's recall a few here and move on. Of these, the people of Noah by the Flood, that is, by floods; the people of Lot by a cry; Pharaoh's people by drowning in the Red Sea; Nimrod's people by a fly; the peoples of Thamud and Ad, because of the transgression they committed and overstepping the limits, were destroyed. They were never going to believe anyway. His saying this: because Allah Almighty, (?), what each person's spirit desired He wrote for them as destiny, so He knows what kind of people they are.

Knowing they were not upon faith, and since, because of their denial, they were peoples who overstepped the limits, He destroyed them. His granting life to those who come after, and, in place of the peoples destroyed, creating new peoples and bringing new generations, is a warning so that people take a lesson. So His saying 'this is how Allah punishes guilty peoples' — Allah, openly among us making His existence felt, seen and unseen by the eye, tangible and intangible, in light and darkness, aware of everything, that He is with them, that He lets no one get away with what they have done — this He reminds us.

That is Allah. One day, while Pharaoh was in his room, Satan comes and knocks on his door.

Pharaoh says: who is it? Who is there? Satan calls from outside. What kind of god are you? You can't tell who's at your door, he says. Come in, let me see who you are, he says. I am Satan, he says. For a god like you, a helper like me is very fine, he says. We suit each other, he says. We suit each other, he says.

Yes.