Futility in the guise of knowledge

swallowAllah Ta’ala has mentioned in Surah Feel,

وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَ

“And he sent upon them flights of birds, Ababeel” (105:3)

Allah Ta’ala has mentioned that some birds were sent on to the army of Abraha, who charged Makkah with his elephants. The word used in the Qur’an is “Ababeel”. Some people including knowledgeable ones have ascribed this “ababeel” to “swallow bird” which is a small black bird.

However the Linguists and the Exegists have mentioned that this “ababeel” refers to “a flight of birds” and not any particular type of bird.

Imam Fakhrud Deen Razi rahimahullah has mentioned,”What is ababeel? As for the linguists, Abu Ubaydah says that it refers to a gathering/grouping.”(Mafateeh al Ghayb 23/292)

Al Jauwhari rahimahullah said that it is a plural which does not have a singular. Allamah Suyuti rahimahullah has mentioned that they were flights of birds in succession, one after the other.

Nonetheless, many people have mistaken them to be swallow bird. Perhaps, this view gained hold, especially among the subcontinental Muslims because “ababeel” happens to be the urdu word for “swallow bird”. Moreover, one can find many swallow birds in the haram. Hence, making a connection between these two was not far-fetched.

Perhaps, the birds which Allah sent upon the army of Abrahah was indeed these swallow birds (ababeel). It is equally possible that this is not the case. But the reality of the matter is that such a discussion is futile. The word for swallow bird in arabic is al-Khataf or al-Sinunu(الخطاف أو السنونو ). If the reality of this bird was something so significant, then Allah Ta’ala would surely have mentioned it. But the Qur’an is free from futile talks.

Nowadays, muslims have too much free time on their hands, and engagement in useless and futile things gives more pleasure than engaging in fruitful discussions. What will be gained from such a discussion. As soon as one will start searching, one will be faced with multiple opinions.

Ibn Sireen rahimahullah mentions from Ibn Abbas radiallahu anhu that these birds were such that they had trunks like that of elephants, and paws like tat of dogs. Ataa’ rahimahullah mentions that they were black birds which flew in from the side of the ocean in waves. Sa’eed bin Jubayr rahimahullah on the other hand says that they were white in colour. Imam Razi rahimahullah mentions that his opinion is that since ther came in waves, it is entirely possible that they included different birds. (Mafateeh al Ghayb 23/292)

On the first leg the researcher will get an array of opinions in which the real intent of the Qur’an would be distracted. Allah intended to defeat an army of elephants with mere birds, and Allah did so. This was mentioned in this surah. Hence, there s no need for anything further on the birds. Still, we have so many muslims who spend their days and nights contemplating on the type, quality and appearance of these birds.

This is the futility hidden in guise of knowledge. Even people of knowledge would start wasting their time trying to acquire these bits of information. And this acquisition is in no way limited to what I have spoken of, rather it refers to all those fruitless discussions which we tend to slide into while thinking that we are exerting our energy towards learning Qur’an.

Another such discussion is mentioned by Hazrat Mufti Rasheed Ludhiyanwi Saheb rahimahullah in one of his sermons. He says that a discussion erupted among some knowledgeable one where one inquired, “What was that sign which Allah placed on the angels who aided the Muslim in Badr?”

I replied, “O Allah’s slave, what does it concern you what that sign was? What need is there for you to look for such information.”

But the person was bent on doing his research to find out. He opened different exegesis, historical accounts and other books to get a glimpse what this sign would be? Instead of resolving the issue, he got further and further confused when the opinions started popping in different books. With all these different opinions, how is he to know what is the preferred opinion? Hence, he became more confused than what he was in the beginning.

A best response in such cases is normally found from Hazrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi rahimahullah Saheb. When this same issue was checked in his Bayan al Qur’an, he mentions regarding this sign, “it must be some sign.” With this he closes down the case and any door which may lead people towards spending hours of their precious time in futile and fruitless research.

(adapted from a khutba of Hazrat Maulana Yusuf Ludhiyanwi)

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