DENIAL: TAFSIR SURAT’L RAHMAN AND SURAH YASIN INSTRUCTOR: Sheikh YASIR QADHI
COURSE NOTES Qabeelat Hosna (AlMaghrib Houston) April ’13 Qabeelah Safaa (AlMaghrib South Florida) May ‘13
Index 3-The Importance of Tafseer 5- Surah YASIN 5- Introduction 6-Central Themes of Surah Yasin 6-The Blessings of Surah Yasin 10-Stories of the Prophet (s) reciting Surah Yasin 12- TAFSIR SURAH YASIN 12-Ayaat 1 to 12: Allah Assuring the Prophet (s) 22-Ayaat 13 to 27: The Famous Story of The People 32-Ayaat 28 to 32: The Destruction of Those That Reject the Prophets 35-Ayaat 33 to 44: The Proofs that Allah Will Resurrect The Dead 42-Ayaat 45 to 47: The Response of the Quraysh is That of Ignorance 45-Ayaat 48 to 54: The Misguidance of The Idolators 49-Ayaat 55 to 58: The Life of the People of Paradise 52-Ayaat 59 to 68: The Isolation of Disbelievers & Their Rebuke on The Day of Judgement 56-Ayaat 69 to 76: The Status of The Prophet (s) 60-Ayaat 77 to 83: The Denial of Life After Death 64-Primary Lessons from Surah Yasin 65-Surah RAHMAN 65-The Blessings of Surah Rahman 66-TAFSIR SURAH RAHMAN 66-Ayaat 1 to 10 72-Ayaat 11 to 20 78-Ayaat 21 to 30 82-Ayaat 31-40 86-Ayaat 41-50 90-Ayaat 51-60 96-Ayaat 61-70 98-Ayaat 71-78
May Allah bless you for embarking on this journey of studying His deen and make your way into Jannah easy. We‟ve done our best with these notes but like all efforts there will surely be mistakes and those are from our own errors. All good is but from Allah (SWT). Please contact
[email protected] for any questions, concerns or comments. 2|Page
The Importance of Tafsir Yasir Bin Muawiya said that the example of a person with knowledge of tafseer verses one who does not is like the example of a group getting a letter from their king in the darkness of the night without a lamp to read it. The one who knows tafsir is like the one who brings the lamp and reads for them the letter from their king. And we know this that after we learn the tafseer of a Surah it takes on a whole different meaning for us, indeed mastering the tafsir of any Surah gives a greater pleasure and understanding to the Qur'an. There are various different categories within Tafsir including Fiqh and Grammar amongst the other genres. In this course we will get a flavor of all genre. Tafseer has levels and the very basic level of tafseer is that which the person who understands Arabic can extract. This level of tafsir is the basic understanding of the Qur'an as Allah intended for it to be understood and to the audience it was revealed for. This is the basic level that most of us strive for when we read translation. But then there is a higher level of tafseer in which scholars of History, Grammar, Fiqh and Lexicography look at an ayah and ask questions such as why? What? When? They ask questions such as how adding the “Huwa” to the first ayah of Surah Ikhlas adds a new dimension to the meaning of the ayah, why is “Ahad” different from “Waahid”? This level of Tafsir can‟t simply be achieved by reading in Arabic. Additionally the study of the Tafsir of an ayah brings in other verses of the Qur'an and ahadith of our beloved Prophet Mohammed (s). And we can never understand the Qur'an fully without having a grasp of these other verses of Qur'an and the ahadith of the Prophet (s). Linguistic analysis on the other hand will only get you so far, and the Qur'an and Sunnah trump linguistic analysis such that if linguistic analysis contradicts Qur'an and hadith it is discarded. As an example, in Surah Yasin why does Allah refer to Himself in the plural? This requires an understanding of theology not just grammar. It is a grave error for a person to think that they can open up the Qur'an and interpret it in the manner of a Mufassir (a scholar specializing in Tafseer). Why so? Because you are claiming to interpret the speech of Allah without the knowledge of how to interpret it. As an analogy, you could not interpret a book of any specialty even if you knew how to read it in English. Can you explain neurosurgery to people even though you read the book? This is a fundamental problem in our times. When Allah wants us to read and translate this is level 1 or the basic beginner lesson, but the purpose of this is not to be able to derive jurisprudence, theology and or even your own interpretation. Until you are qualified to master the 15 sciences of tafsir, you can‟t take it to even this basic level. On top of that if you don‟t know Arabic you are basically walking on someone else‟s crutches, whether that be Abdullah Yusuf Ali or whoever else that has translated the Qur'an you are reading. It is thus very important to know your limits. Abu Bakr As-Siddique (ra) would say, “which shade will give me shade, and which earth will allow me to walk on it, if I speak about the book of Allah in a manner that I do not know”. Thus be very careful about reading the Qur'an and becoming an instantaneous Mufassir via Sheikh Google or Imam Wikipedia. We see such people today finding exotic meanings and interpretations from the Qur'an and this has become very problematic. 3|Page
Why did we choose these 2 Surahs to study? There is really no connection between the two, rather we choose them because these two Surahs are popular in the Ummah today and people read them all the time. The only real similarity between the two is that they are both early to middle Makkan Surahs.
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SURAH YASIN INTRODUCTION OF SURAH YASIN The Concept of Naming a Surah Before we begin to study the names of Surah Yasin we ask who gave these names? Were they revealed by Allah? (Sh. Yasir Qadhi has a paper entitled, “the origins of the names of the Surahs” which can be accessed online for further reading on this topic). We conclude of 3 opinions on this matter but the conclusion that seems to have the most evidence is that the Prophet (s) did not name most of the Surahs, rather most were named by the Sahaba and by the Taabi‟oon. Therefore they understood that the names of the Surahs are open to multiple opinions and there no notion of it being only one. Did the Prophet (s) name any Surahs? Yes, examples include Surah Baqarah, Surah al-„Imran (as evidenced by a hadith in Sahih Bokhari where the Prophetspecifically said, recite Surah Baqarah and Al-„Imran….). Typically however the Surah would be indirectly referenced by the Prophet (s) . As an example, in Sahih Muslim, the Prophet (s) said that, whoever memorizes the 30 ayahs will be saved from Hellfire, than he started reciting Surah Mulk. In Sahih Muslim, the Prophet (s) said that, a surah was just revealed to me that is more precious to me then the whole world and all that it contains, and then he recited Surah Al-Kauthar Thus to this day we have Surahs with multiple names, and these names exist till today. There are Qur'ans in various parts of the world that take on these names and so Surahs will be named differently depending on what Qur'an is read in what part of the world. As examples we have Surah Isra also known as Surah Bani Isra‟eel, Surah Ghaafir is also Surah Momin, Surah Insaan is also Surah Ad-Dahr, Surah Baraa is also Surah Taubah and Surah Fussilat is also known as Surah Ha Mim al-Sajda. Some Surahs will even have a dozen names for them. If we know that the Prophet (s) did not name the Surahs we can conclude that the names are thus not divine, so can someone come along now and decide to rename a Surah? Technically yes but this is not a smart idea because the Ummah knows the Surahs as such and it would cause mass confusion to do so. So when than do we discuss the names that the Sahaba gave to Surahs? This gives us the main themes of the Surahs; we see how the Sahaba viewed the Surahs and their blessings. The Names of Surah Yasin The names of Surah Yasin are: 1. Surah Yasin 2. Al- Mudaafi‟ah Meaning the Surah that repels. “dafa‟a” means to push away, thus this is the Surah that protects against evil.
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3. Al-QaaDHiyah Meaning that which grants you what you want, “Qadha” means to decree. Al-QaaDHiyah is the one that decrees and thus Surah Yasin grants you your wish 4. Al-Mu‟amimah Meaning that which envelopes or that which covers up because the Surah covers one up in Allah‟s blessings and protection These names are very powerful and thus speak of the status of the Surah in the eyes of the Sahaba. Of the names we learn that this Surah grants protection from evil and grants the recite his du‟at. Surah Yasin is a Makki Surah By unanimous consensus Surah Yasin was revealed in Makkah, likely in the middle Makkan era. It shares the common characteristics of all Makki Surahs: 1. It has short verses 2. It is very eloquent and is more rhyming 3. it does not contain any Fiqh or Jurisprudence laws. No marriage, divorce, inheritance laws are mentioned rater there is an emphasis on Tauheed (Oneness of Allah), Risala (Prophethood) and Akhira (Hereafter). In contrast, we see Madani Surahs such as Surah Baqarah the heavy emphasizes on rulings and the lesser emphasis on eloquence. Central Themes of Surah Yasin If we were to say that Surah Yasin has themes, than there would be two central themes 1. The concept of the Resurrection as the major theme 2. Proving the Prophethood of Prophet Mohammed (s) as the minor theme Some of the blessings of Surah Yasin? While Surah Yasin has many ahadith praising it and speaking of it‟s virtues, every one of these ahadith are debated by the scholars.
We will specifically mention 5 evidences (4 ahadith and 1 statement of a Sahabi) concerning the blessings of Surah Yasin Hadith #1 Al-Wathila ibn AsQaa narrates in Musnad Imam Ahmed that the Prophet (s) said:
I have been given instead of the Torah, the 7 long Surahs – Saba‟a Tiwaal -- and I have been given instead of the Zabur (Psalms of David) the mi‟eem Surahs, and instead of the injeel of Esa the mathani surahs and I have been privileged with the mufassal Surahs
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Thus the Prophet (s) divides the Qur'an into 4 characteristics. This shows us that the Qur'an incorporates all the previous scriptures and then adds to the message!
The 7 long Surahs are from Surah Baqarah to Surah Taubah (instead of the Torah): From Surah Baqarah scholars include Surah Anfal and tack it onto Surah Taubah. The 7 are thus up to Surah Taubah. How do we connect this with the Torah? The Torah is known for laws, and the bulk of laws and rulings in the Qur'an occur in these 7 long Surahs.
The mi‟eem are the surahs with around 100 verses from Surah Yunus to Surah Faatir (instead of the Zabur): this includes from Surah Yunus to Surah Faatir. Zabur is known for praise and these Surahs have much praise in them.
The mathani are surahs that are recited frequently from Surah Yasin to Surah Hujurat (instead of Injeel): the surahs that are recited frequently, called mathani because these were the Surahs that the Prophet (s) and sahaba would recite in Salah. The Mathani surahs include the section of the Qur'an from Surah Yasin to Surah Hujurat. Surah Yasin is part of the Mathani Surahs. Thus Surah Yasin is the beginning of the equivalent of the Injeel and we see the connection in how the beginning of the Surah deals with the disciples of Esa.
The mufassal meaning the short surahs from Surah Qaf to Surah Nas (“I was privileged with these surahs”) Mufassal means “lots of breaks” and these include all the short Surahs in the Qur'an including Juz „Amma (the final chapter of the Qur'an). Hadith #2 Hasan Basri via Abu Hurayra, as narrated in Sunan Ad-Darami, the Prophet (s) said:
Whoever reads Surah Yasin in the night (in its entirety) seeking the pleasure of Allah, Allah will forgive him on that night. The chain is authentic till Hasan Basri (who died at 110 AH) after which we must analyze the authenticity of the chain. Abu Hurayra died at 54 and at this time Hasan Basri was a very young child. Hasan Basri was from Basra and Abu Hurayra was in Madinah. The age and location difference between the two outline a fundamental problem: they could not have met! Hasan Basri was too young to be travelling at that time and he didn‟t even enter Madinah until after Abu Hurayra‟s death. Thus this hadith has a slight weakness in that there is a missing link. A missing chain means the hadith is weak, however not all missing chains are the same and some are worse than others. The least problematic of missing links is that between an early taba‟een and a sahaba because fabricating ahadith was an unknown practice in that era. People were more honest at that time and there was still much respect for the Prophet (s). The only real problem that we must watch for in that generation was that of honest mistakes. Thus the verdict on this hadith is that it is slightly weak.
Aside: A commentary on the grading of ahadith Hadith sciences define the authenticity of a hadith within 5 categories: Sahih means grade A or excellent Hasan is the 2nd category and means good or acceptable 7|Page
Sahih and Hasan can both be used for theology (aqeedah), fiqh and other Islamic sciences. Da‟eef is the 3rd category and means weak (there are 30-40 reasons why a hadith can be weak Da‟eef Jidan is the 4th category and means very weak Fabricated is the 5th category and means that the Prophet (s) definitely did not say this, rather at some point someone attributed a lie to him. An example of a fabricated hadith that is commonly circulated: “seek knowledge even if have to go to China.” The Prophet (s) never uttered the word China.
How do we act upon ahadith? If Fabricated we must warn others of it. If Sahih or Hasan we can use it. Da‟eef Jidan is very weak and we can not use this for anything. The use of Da‟eef ahadith a is controversy amongst scholars, what do we do with this? We are not sure that the Prophet (s) said this, maybe he said it and maybe he did not. This above mentioned hadith with both Hasan Basri and Abu Hurayra in it‟s chain is a classical example of a Daeef hadith. So what is the verdict on Da‟eef hadith? The majority of the scholars have said that Da‟eef ahadith can be used with some conditions and this is the opinion of Bokhari, Muslim, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Qayyum al Jawziyyah. Yasir Qadhi also takes this opinion. The 3 conditions of using it: 1. The weakness element be slight and not severe (i.e. it can not be a Da‟eef Jidan or Fabricated classified hadith) 2. The hadith can not be used for law, theology, fiqh or any other fundamentals of our religion. It can be used for encouragement of generic good deeds already sanctioned in Islam such as reading the Qur'an or to reinforce that a Surah has certain blessings 3. That when one uses a Da‟eef hadith or acts upon it they should be aware that it is weak and they should treat it as such i.e. with healthy skepticism and hope for the reward As an example, the hadith that whoever memorizes the Qur'an their parents will have crowns placed on their heads on the Day of Judgement is a Da‟eef hadith but again, we can encourage something that is already praiseworthy.
Back to the hadith #2… Thus we conclude that everyone who recites Surah Yasin at night should be optimistic of reward and have a good opinion of Allah! Hadith #3 Narrated by Anas ibn Malik in Sunnan Tirmidhi, the Prophet (s) said:
Everything has a heart, and the heart of the Qur'an is Surah Yasin, so whoever reads it, it is as if he has read the whole Qur'an ten times.
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This is the most famous hadith about Surah Yasin. Why the most famous hadith? Sunan Tirmidhi narrates it, and if one of the six famous books (Sahih Bokhari, Sahih Muslim, Ahmed, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah) narrates a hadith it automatically becomes more famous. Tirmidhi himself after quoting the hadith says that this is a “ghareeb” or Da‟eef hadith, why? Because there are 2 unknown narrators back to back here (and this actually drops the hadith‟s classification from weak to very weak). He then explicitly says that in the hadith‟s chain of narrators is Haroon Abu Mohammed and he is not known, and he is in the 4th generation. Thus Tirmidhi who narrated the hadith said to be careful with it and there is no question that this hadith is very weak. Thus we can not use it. Scholars add that one of the signs of a weak hadith is that it “sounds weird” or that immense blessings are given for something that is very small. This is clearly problematic with this hadith The scholars of the past were well trained to recognize if a hadith was not authentic or questionable. Ibn Abi Hatim‟s famous story: A fruit seller came to him and asked him how he and other scholars could tell the classification of a hadith simply by listening to it? He asked the fruit seller: when you get
some counterfeit coins how do you know that they are counterfeit? The fruit seller answered that he just knew by flipping it around, and so Ibn Abi Hatim answered that the same way with ahadith we know as well of their grade (classification). Hadith #4 The Prophet (s), in Sunnan Abu Dawud, said:
Al-Baqarah is the pinnacle of the Qur'an, Ayatul Kursi taken from under the throne of Allah, and Yasin is the heart of the Qur'an, no one reads it for the sake of Allah except that his sins are forgiven, read it over your dead (i.e. read it when someone is on his death bed) This hadith repeats phrases from ahadith #2 and #3. Mentioned in Sunnan Abu Dawood and therefore this hadith is also famous in our times. However this hadith is also clearly very weak as there are 2 unknown people in it‟s isnad. Imam Nawawi, Albani and Ibn Hajar have all said that this is a very weak hadith and all other scholars of hadith have agreed so.
But can‟t we use this hadith to support hadith #3? There is a rule that two Da‟eef hadith combined will boost a hadith in status to Hasan. However this rule does not apply here because the ahadith are very weak or Da‟eef Jidan. Again, two unknown people back to back made the hadith Da‟eef Jidan and almost to the level of being Fabricated. Evidence #5: The statement and action of a Sahabi, Ghadayf ibn Harith At-Thumali (ra) One of his students narrates that when when Ghudayf was on his death bed he asked if anyone knew Surah Yasin via memorization, and a young man by the name of Saalih Ibn Shuray affirmed, so he asked for it to be recited over him, Saalih did so and when he reached the 40th ayah Ghudayf passed away. From this we can say that insha‟Allah, because he is a sahabi, and because he asked someone to recite Surah Yasin on him, there is no problem over reciting Surah Yasin over those that are on their death beds. This is the opinion of all madhaahib and Ibn Taymiyyah as well mentions that this is 9|Page
mustahabb. If someone says that this is a sunnah than this is not true, however we can allow this without being strict as this was an action of a Sahabi. When we consider the content of Surah Yasin in that it speaks vividly about the Akhira and especially Jannah, this also makes sense. A very beautiful ayah that is very optimistic for anyone about to die in Surah Yasin further backs up this proof: “It was said to him, enter Jannah, and he said, How I
wish my people knew that my Lord has forgiven me and given me much honor”. And this can be a reason we should recite Surah Yasin over someone who is about to die.
Reviewing the 5 evidences Hadith #1 I have been given instead of the Torah, the 7 long Surahs – Saba‟a Tiwaal -- and I have been given instead of the Zabur (Psalms of David) the mi‟eem Surahs, and instead of the injeel of Esa the mathani surahs and I have been privileged with the mufassal Surahs Hadith #2 Whoever reads Surah Yasin in the night (in its entirety) seeking the pleasure of Allah, Allah will forgive him on that night. - We conclude that the hadith is Weak or Da‟eef but we can use it with skepticism and knowing that it is weak however we follow it‟s good message holding a good opinion of Allah and hope for the reward
Hadith #3 Everything has a heart, and the heart of the Qur'an is Surah Yasin, so whoever reads it, it is as if he has read the whole Qur'an ten times. - We conclude that this hadith is very weak or Da‟eef Jidan and we can NOT use it because it has 2 successive unknown narrators in it‟s chain
Hadith #4 Al-Baqarah is the pinnacle of the Qur'an, Ayatul Kursi taken from under the throne of Allah, and Yasin is the heart of the Qur'an, no one reads it for the sake of Allah except that his sins are forgiven, read it over your dead (i.e. read it when someone is on his death bed) - We conclude that this hadith is very weak or Da‟eef Jidan and we can NOT use it because it has 2 unknown narrators in it‟s chain
Evidence #5: The actions of the sahabi, Ghadayf ibn Harith At-Thumali (ra) - From this we conclude that it is Mustahabb (or liked) to recite Surah Yasin on the dead Instances when the Prophet (s) recited Surah Yasin 1. The night of the Hijrah 10 | P a g e
Ibn Ishaac mentions that on the 9th of HIjrah when an assassination was attempted on the Prophet (s). the house of the Prophet (s) was surrounded by multiple assassins from multiple tribes of the Quraysh. He went outside his home reciting the specific ayah of Surah Yasin, We have put barriers in front of them and behind them and We have blinded them and they could not see, the Prophet (s) used this verse to blind them and he threw sand on each and every one of their heads (as a sign of humiliation for them) while they were unable to do anything. Note that Surah Yasin was not revealed at this specific instance, this is just shows how the Prophet (s) used it. 2. With Abu Jahl
Another story that may be one of the reasons why Surah Yasin was revealed Abu Jahl became very irritated with the Prophet (s) ‟s continued motivation and perseverance in spreading Islam, and made a public threat, “the next time I see the Prophet (s) I will do such and such...” Everyone was then waiting for a showdown. The next morning the Prophetsat at his usual space, and Abu Jahl was seen to walk by completely ignoring him, and the Prophet (s) recited the same ayah of Surah Yasin here. The Prophet (s) thus used the same verse to blind his enemies twice. 3. Al „Aas ibn Waa‟il Al „aas ibn Waa‟il (father of Omar bin Aas), was one of the evil enemies of the Prophet (s) . The enemies of the Prophet (s) were divided into two categories: those who resorted to being vulgar and crude in opposing the Prophet (s) and those that retained some dignity in opposing the Prophet (s). Those in the first category were generally not guided. Those that did retain some decency and nobility in their opposition such as Abu Sufyaan, Amr bin Aas and Khalid bin Waleed were eventually guided. People that included into category one include Ummayah bin Khalaf who was extremely indecent, violent and corrupt against Islam. He was not guided. This shows that people with manners have some decency, and having decency makes you more prone to accept Islam. Al‟aas was one such enemy that was not guided and he died in a state of Kufr. He came to the Prophet (s) with a decayed bone and waived it in his face, saying, “oh Mohammed, are you expecting me to believe that Allah will cause this bone to be resurrected after it has decayed and crumbled” (this is quoted exactly in the ayah in Surah Yasin), the Prophet (s) responded: “yes by Allah, Allah will
resurrect it and you and will cause you to enter Jahannum!” 4. The Incident with Banu Salamah A famous story mentioned in Sahih Bokhari and all books of hadith which is an authentic story is that the Prophet (s) heard the news that the tribe of Banu Salama had decided to move closer to Masjid Nabwi. They were a tribe of Madinah of the many smaller tribes of Madinah. Every tribe in those days had a designated area, Quba being an example; this was the furthest and the Southern-most settlement of Madinah. Banu Salamah were on the opposite side of Quba and are located where Masjid Qiblatayn or the University of Madinah is. These days travelling from the Prophet (s) ‟s (s) masjid to Qiblatayn non-stop will take around 15 minutes by car on a paved road and in those days walking 11 | P a g e
would take around 40 to 45 minutes. The people of Banu Salamah would regularly come to the masjid, some even 5 times a day (meaning if some came for Maghrib, they would have to stay for Isha), and they would come as regularly as they could to be with the Prophet (s) . After considering the amount of work that involved coming to the masjid and being with the Prophet (s) they though why not just move closer? In those days this was a daunting task and required a complete change of lifestyle, selling the land, selling the generational house and so, but they wanted this just to be with the Prophet (s). When the Prophet (s) heard this news, he called them and recited to them an ayah of Surah Yasin,
“We will resurrect the dead, and we are writing down what they send forward and we are writing their footsteps”. He then said to Banu Salamah: Oh Banu Salamah, stay in your houses, Allah is writing your footsteps. From this report some scholars say Surah Yasin is Madani, but this is not true really from what we know and Allah knows best. The context is likely that the Prophet (s) used a verse for Banu Salamah that had been previously revealed. TAFSIR SURAH YASIN AYAAT 1-12 1.
Ya-Sin. [These letters are one of the miracles of the Qur'an, and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings.] What does this mean? The letters are from the genre of Haroof Al-Mukata‟aat i.e. “the broken letters”. This phenomenon is seen often in the Qur'an as the beginning of many Surahs have these letters. Scholars have differed over the meaning of these letters and over 15 opinions exist on what the Haroof Al-Mukata‟aat mean. Two such opinions: 1. The letters stand for the names of Allah. As an example, Alif Laam Meem is Allah, Al-Lateef and AlMajeed 2. These Mukata‟aat are used by Allah to name Surahs. If this opinion were true that would mean all Surahs would have unique names but this is not the case. As an example, “Alif, Laam, Meem” occurs in 6 surahs, including Surah Al-Baqarah, Al-„Imran, Al-Ankabut, Al-Rum, Luqman and Al-Sajdah.
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Of the specific interpretations of “YA, SEEN”: 1. Ya Seen is short for Ya Insaan According to the language of an ancient tribe of Arabs called the Tayy tribe, they would say “hey you” or “ya Insaan” as Ya Seen in their language. This opinion is very problematic though because Allah revealed the Qur'an for the tribe of Quraysh, and Arabic in the Qur'an is Qurayshi, so why use other tribal linguistic mechanisms? And it doesn‟t solve the issue of the other mukata‟aat!
2. Based on this above point, another interpretation is that Ya Insaan means specifically THE Insaan i.e. Ya Seen means the Prophet (s). From this the common Indo-Pakistani opinion came that Ya-Seen is one of the names of the Prophet (s)
The correct position, and Allah knows best: The Haroof Al-Muqata‟aat serve one purpose and that is to demonstrate the miraculous nature of the Qur'an by drawing attention to the components of the Qur'an, i.e. Allah has used the alphabet of the Arabs, and the challenge is to produce something similar to the Qur'an, yet still could not. Two (of many) evidences: 1.If you gather all the Haroof you get exactly 14 letters, and Arabic alphabet has 28 letters. Half are used, as if the Arabs are told, “here is half your alphabet, use the other half if you need to even and
bring forth something like the Qur'an, or just one Surah, or even 10 ayaat, or even 1 single ayah if you can!” And if they can‟t then they should accept that the Qur'an is a miracle. 2. Without exception, almost, 99% of the time explicitly the very next verse mentions the Qur'an.
Aside: Imam Malik was asked of the permissibility of naming someone Yaseen and he answered that this is haraam, why? Because the person will be known as Yaseen and if his actions were to be undignified this would be a negative representation of what is essentially The Qur'an. Yasir Qadhi: We
really need to look at the sahaba and generations after, and they did not name their kids Ka Haa Ya Ain „Sad, but they did name their kids the name of the Prophets, and others with positive meanings.
2. By the Qur'an, full of wisdom (i.e. full of laws, evidences, and proofs), The letter “waow” here is the “waow of Qasm”, i.e. the OATH or “I swear by”
I swear by the Qur'an that is Al-Hakeem Allah is swearing, why does He do so? To emphasize! As an example in our daily conversations if someone says “wallahi I am telling the truth” what does wallahi do? It creates an emphasis. But does Allah need to emphasize? No, who speaks more in truth then Allah? So when He emphasizes and swears by something it means we BETTER PAY ATTENTION. 13 | P a g e
What is the ruling on swearing by things other than Allah? We as Muslims are only allowed to swear by Allah‟s Names and Attributes and no other object or person. This is a problem amongst Muslims today. The Prophet (s) said: whoever wants to give an oath, let it be with Allah. As an example, Ibn Abbas was doing Tawwaf and a man swore, “by the
Kabah I am telling the truth”, Ibn Abbas said, “do not swear by the Kabah, swear by the Lord of the Kabah!” What about swearing by the Prophet (s) himself? No, rather swear By His Lord. Thus it is permissible for us to swear, “by the Lord of Mohammed (s)” or “by the Lord of the Kabah” and so on. Contextualizing this to today‟s society, when someone accuses you of lying or you feel you need to defend yourself, you will mention a being or object that is so holy and so respected and so venerated that you wouldn‟t dare tell a lie after mentioning it‟s name, and the only being that deserves to be so Holy, Respected and Venerated in the eyes of a Muslim is Allah. Allah Himself can swear by anything because He does as He pleases, He says often, I swear by your (meaning the Prophet (s) ‟s) Lord (meaning Himself) and He also swears by His creation many times; when He swears in such a way He gives honor to His creation as being a very great creation indeed. Can we swear by the Qur'an? This comes in the category of swearing by Allah because it is the speech of Allah that is uncreated, thus we can swear by the Qur'an. In courts in US and Canada today, as Muslim we should insist on swearing by the Qur'an (the Qur'an itself presented that is sworn upon must be in Arabic) Allah thus swears by the Qur'an that is described as, “Hakeem”. Hakeem comes from “Hikmah” meaning full of wisdom. The adjective Hakeem is typically used for living objects rather than not dead objects, therefore this is a reference that the Qur'an is indeed life-giving. To expand on this beautiful analogy, Allah describes the Qur'an as being a life-giving spirit as one of the names of the Qur'an is the
“Roh”, the spirit that gives life to the spiritually dead, in Surah An-aam Allah says: give the example of the one who was dead so we gave him life (i.e. from a non-Muslim he became a Muslim)
3. Truly, you (O Muhammad) are one of the Messengers, “Inna” as used in the beginning of this verse, is a participle that emphasizes and its only purpose thus is to emphasize. The art of emphasizing was common in languages and cultures of the past such as in Shakespearen English when the words, “verily”, “indeed”, “lo and behold” were used. Today this art has been lost in the English language. The Prophet (s) is emphasized in multiple ways in this ayah, how so? 1. There is a swearing, a qasam 2. The word Innaka is used i.e. a Harf‟l-al-tawkid 14 | P a g e
3. The word “La” is used even though it is not needed linguistically! This type of emphasizes is a unique characteristic of the Qur'an that makes it untranslatable! For us it sounds redundant and awkward, but in Arabic this serves as a buildup. 4. It is a Jumlah ismiyyah Allah emphasizes this point, that the Prophet Mohammed (s) is indeed a Prophet, in FIVE different ways! We will not mention all the ways as this delves more into Arabic grammar. When we are told of someone who has been sent to us, this is the meaning of mursal, thus we can logically ask: 1. Who sent you? Allah is sending him 2. Who have you been sent to? To a nation whose forefathers have not been warned 3. What have you been sent with? With a revelation, the Qur'an Every of these questions is mentioned and answered in the next few verses! “Aziz Ar-Raheem” is sending him, to a nation whose forefathers not been warned, and with what message? The Tanzeel – the Qur'an - and this is why the Qasam begins with the Qur'an.
4. On a Straight Path (i.e. on Allah's religion of Islamic Monotheism). I.e. You, oh Prophet Mohammed (s), are preaching a straight Path i.e. the Siraat which is explained in detail as a common motif of the Qur'an and sunnah. There is only one way for salvation and that is the Pleasure of Allah, and this way is Sirat-ul-Mustaqeen, and there are indeed other paths, but these paths are all crooked. Allah says, this is My path, the straight path, so follow it and do not follow the other paths. Whenever the truth is mentioned it is singular and whenever falsehood is mentioned it is always plural. As an example, Allah speaks of His Nur as a singular, but oppression or Dhulumaat (against one‟s Nafs, others etc) is mentioned in the plural. Sirat-Ul-Mustaqeen is also mentioned as a singular. In Tirmidhi, the Prophet (s) drew a straight line and said that this is Sirat-AlMustaqeen, and then he drew lines going out, and said these are the paths of falsehood and at the head of each path is a shaytaan calling to that path There are two linguistic meanings implied, 1. “Inna ka laminal-mursaleen” i.e. indeed you have been sent as a Prophet (s) and “ala-sirat‟lmustaqeem” i.e. upon the straight path are two SEPARATE sentences. So we translate this as: You are
the Messenger of Allah. You are on the straight path
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2. We can CONNECT the two and say, you are the one sent to those who are searching for the Straight
Path. What will bring us to the Siraat then? The answer is the next verse – the Tanzeel…
5. (This is) a Revelation sent down by the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful, The Tanzeel i.e. that which has come down! And will do what? Will bring us to The Siraat The Qur'an has 4 common names: 1. Qur'an or that which is frequently recited 2. Kitaab or that which is written 3. Al-Dhikr or that which is remembered 4. Tanzeel or that which Allah has sent it down The word, “Tanzeel” Tanzeel comes from the word, “Anzala” and Anzala is different from Nazala. Anzala means Allah revealed the Qur'an bit by bit, whereas Nazala means the Qur'an came down all at once. Tanzeel thus is unique to the Qur'an only, the other previous books of revelation were revealed in full Of the meanings of Tanzeel that we can imply is that Allah shows us the source of the Qur'an; as if Allah is saying I am the one who has sent it down. Thus the Qur'an is a notion of a DIRECT connection with Allah. The Prophet (s) said: the Qur'an is the rope of Allah dangling from the heavens, thus as Muslims we must hold onto the Qur'an, it is a direct link with Allah.
Thus Tanzeel means, 1. That the Qur'an was sent down in stages rather than in full, 2. It implies a direct connection with Allah, as Allah says that He is the one who revealed this. Allah says this Tanzeel comes from Al-Azeez Ar-Raheem Al-Azeez has 3 primary meanings: 1. “Aza” meaning to strengthen 2. It is from Al-Qawiyy; it implies „izah meaning respect, honor and glory and He is the source of this 3. Al-Azeez means The Inconquerable Ar-Raheem comes from “Rahma,” the 2 names of Allah, Ar-Rahman and Ar-Raheem are the 2 most common names of Allah in the Qur'an and both derive from the same root. “Rahima” means to show compassion and mercy, and by deriving multiple names from the same root, Allah shows His merciful nature. Specifically Ar-Rahman is the one merciful by nature, and Ar-Raheem is the one who demonstrates His mercy through His actions. 16 | P a g e
Whenever two names occur together, a third name is derived and in this concept much wisdom that can be derived. The joining of Al-Azeez and Ar-Raheem indicates contrary to human disposition (even though to Allah there are no parallels and analogies), that when a human gains power they become unmerciful and unjust (there are so many example of dictators in history that begin with the right intentions and become corrupt and oppressive very quickly), and on the opposite spectrum when a human is merciful it is usually because they have no power to exact revenge to begin with! With Allah His „Izzah or Might and Power comes without negative cost of being unjust, and His Rahmah emanates from no weakness whatseoever. His mercy does not emanate from any weakness.
6. In order that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, so they are heedless. The people whose forefathers never been warned are indeed the Quraysh who were not sent a messenger or Prophet before. But one may ask, wasn‟t the Prophetsent to all mankind? Why limit him
now? The response is that of two opinions amongst scholars, 1) The primary audience is mentioned here as the Quraysh to give them some honor and privilege, 2) The beginning of The Prophet (s) ‟s dawah was only for the Quraysh. His dawah began from his close family and then to his extended family after which to all of Quraysh and then eventually to all of mankind. The Quraysh are described as a group that never had a Prophet, now one may ask but didn‟t they have Ibrahim and his son Ismael sent to them? Technically yes but realistically it had been so long that they had even forgotten what a Prophet even was; the Quraysh didn‟t even understand the concept of revelation or Prophethood as Ibrahim (as) and Ismael (as) were sent 3,000 years ago. Esa (as) was sent 500 years before the Prophet Mohammed (s), so Allah speaks about them as if they never had a Prophet in the first place.
Ghaafil means unaware. Allah is calling them weak, but this is done not to degrade or insult them to but to highlight and magnify the honor of having a Prophet amongst them, namely Prophet Mohammed (s). As a result the Quraysh are asked to be thankful to Allah for this honor. As an example, a King, before he confers a title to someone he mentions that, you were someone who had absolutely nothing,
you were the low of the low, and now I am giving you this title. The king, by reminding the person of his lowly origin, honors the person even more but specifying just how much he has been elevated now
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thanks to the title. Allah tells them look Quraysh you now have a gift in Prophet Mohammed (s) to
elevate you, so appreciate it!
7. Indeed the Word (of punishment) has proved true against most of them, so they will not believe. “Haqq” has many meanings, the original meaning of the ancient Arabs was, “to conform and to agree” From this original meaning many meanings were derived. The One who brings about conformity is AlHaqq, the one who says what He does and does what He says is Al-Haqq. The issue itself that conforms with the previous statement is Haqq, and the statement itself becomes Haqq. As an example, Allah speaks about the Day of Judgement. These words of His are Haqq because they are truth, Day of Judgement is Haqq because it conforms with the words of truth that have preceded it, and the one who brought about the conformity, Allah, is also called Al-Haqq. “Laqad haqq‟l-qawl” means Allah says, the statements that I have said are true and will be manifested
as truth, the reality will come to pass exactly as I described it! “the word has already been given on most of them that they will not believe” shows Qadr. The Qur'an is full of affirming Qadr. Here because Allah has said it, thus they will not believe. This ayah can be problematic in that most of the people of Makkah did eventually believe at the conquest of Makkah. The interpretation is that they won‟t believe as a result of the preaching of Prophet Mohammed (s) but when they are conquered later on they will believe. Allah consoles the Prophet (s) in saying that his preaching is not at fault or weak, it is the decree of Allah and the state of the people that is the cause. How can we affirm that Allah is consoling the Prophet (s) about his preaching? Because his preaching is mentioned in the next 2 ayat. That Allah uses the words “ala aktharihim” or “most of them” will not believe, we can derive that meaning that a small minority of people will indeed believe. There is hope that people will always turn around to accept faith.
8. Verily! We have put on their necks iron collars reaching to chins, so that their heads are forced up.
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“Ighlal” means chains, and so Allah is saying we have put chains around their necks that go all the way up to the chin, as if their necks have been chained and those chains force their chins and thus their heads to face upwards, and they are “muqmahoon” What is Muqmahoon? Muqmahoon is the word used for camels after they drink water. After gathering water into their mouths by bending their necks down, they raise their heads or jerk their heads backwards a few times to allow the water to enter their body. Allah uses this noun associated with camels as a derogatory term to show that these people are acting like animals. Allah is further saying that their faces are jerked upwards symbolizing their arrogance. They are not even looking at the truth which is right in front of them. Thus Allah says, 1) they are acting like animals, 2) their heads are raised so high in arrogance that they refuse to see the truth which is right in front of them. Not just that, Allah says…
9. And We have put a barrier before them, and a barrier behind them, and We have covered them up, so that they cannot see.
.. and even their eyes are covered so they do not see. This is total immobility! They can‟t look, see or detect the truth in any sense. The ighlal, or chain mentioned here is figurative, some scholars however say that Allah will place a real one on them in the next world. Allah is saying that they are so arrogant that even if the truth is evident they will reject it. Allah criticizes them harshly for their lack of desire to follow the truth and their sheer arrogance. In the earlier verses we spoke of the Prophet (s) feeling let down; why aren‟t they responding to my preaching? And he blamed himself, so Allah consoled him in many verses in the Qur'an such as this. In this case the Prophet (s) is being told it is not his fault, rather it is theirs. The Sirat is right infront of them yet they remain immobile in arrogance and pride. Further that their eyes are covered and they are not even looking at it rather they are “Muqmahoon”, their heads are jotted upward in pride. It does not matter how clear the Siraat is and how strong his preaching is, they will not move. So Allah tells the Prophet (s) that regardless of what you do they will not believe. Here we also see a concept of Qadr: no doubt Allah‟s Qadr is effective, yet Allah‟s Qadr has Wisdom. It is only because they demonstrate such arrogance that Allah said about them that they will not be guided.
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10. It is the same to them whether you warn them or you warn them not, they will not believe. I.e. the Prophet (s) is being told that you will be able to warn those who follow guidance and fear ArRahman in privacy and for such people give them glad tidings of their forgiveness with their Lord. Allah says that those who have some good, Allah will bless and guide them. Allah‟s Qadr is thus based on Wisdom, if you deserve guidance you will be guided and He explicitly says that when they are arrogant they will not be guided. Allah‟s guidance is linked to good in a person and misguidance is linked to bad in a person. Qadr thus does not make us into robots and it is not unjust, it has a strong wisdom associated with it.
11. You can only warn him who follows the Reminder (the Qur'an), and fears the Most Beneficent (Allah) unseen. Bear you to such one the glad tidings of forgiveness, and a generous reward (i.e. Paradise). Allah mentions 2 characteristics for guidance, it is for the one who 1. Follows the Dhikr (one of the names of the Qur'an) so he wants the truth, and 2. He fears Ar-Rahman in the unseen i.e. when people aren‟t looking at him he is still acting in a good manner. Thus of the main characteristics of the Mo‟min is his private conduct. When only Allah watches him he shows his real character of good. When one strives for good in such a state this demonstrates his Eman and thus Allah will guide this person in sha Allah.
What will the one who is guided get…? “Give him good news” Allah says of “Maghfirah” i.e. forgiveness and “ajirin karim” i.e. a great reward The linking of forgiveness and reward is a common motif of the Qur'an. One can not be rewarded unless they are forgiven first, there is no reward without forgiveness, there is no reward of entering Jannah without forgiveness and recompense for sins and bad deeds in the Hellfire or otherwise. As humans our sins are far too much. Allah says, if Allah were to give you what you deserve not a
single person would be left on this earth. The Prophet (s) said; none of you will enter Jannah due to his own actions. When he was asked, what about you Ya Rasool Allah? He 20 | P a g e
answered, not even me! Thus our minor good will never ever live up to the magnificent reward of Jannah.
12. Verily, We give life to the dead, and We record that which they send before (them), and their traces [their footsteps and walking on the earth with their legs to the mosques for the five compulsory congregational prayers, Jihad (holy fighting in Allah's Cause) and all other good and evil they did, and that which they leave behind], and all things We have recorded with numbers (as a record) in a Clear Book.
We will resurrect the dead, why does Allah say this? Allah emphasizes that this life is not the end, indeed there will be a future life to give proper justice.
“qadahum wa atharahum” i.e. and we are writing down all that they have, this phrase has two meanings: 1) We are writing what they sent forward and what their legacies have left behind. “Athar” means legacies and this is in a physical and spiritual sense. Our Athar includes the charities that we left behind, our kids and what benefit they brought, our deeds and so on; literally all our good. 2) We will write down what they sent forward so much so that even their footsteps will be recorded (recall the hadith of Banu Salamah where the Prophet (s) told them to stay where they are because even their footsteps are recorded) Thus Allah will not leave anything of what you did, even every footstep you recorded! Ibn Abbas said: if Allah were to ignore anything of ours He would have ignored our footsteps because even the wind gets rid of it. Thus absolutely nothing of our existence on this earth will be left unrecorded!
“wa kula shay” Shay is the broadest word possible in Arabic, it literally means “everything without exception” Allah says Kula to emphasize! “AhSa” isn‟t just to write down, it is to meticulously record. Example, the department of accounting is called ihSa‟hiyaat
“Imamin Mubin” is in reference to the Laww-hul Mah-foodh. When Allah Created the creation, the first thing He created was the pen, the pen was asked to write, and it wrote everything that would happen until the Day of Judgement. 21 | P a g e
Why is it called “Imam”? Imam comes from the word “Umm” meaning origin and that which you take as your role model and guide. Imam thus becomes the one whom you take as your guide because he leads you in Salah. When Imam is used it as in reference to our entire life and that our guide or chart is right there in front of us telling us what will happen in our life. Mubin means clear to those who have access to it i.e. the angels BENEFITS OF AYAT 1-12 1. Allah emphasizes the Prophethood of Mohammed (s), and through it the Siraat and the Qur'aan which was revealed by Allah via him. 2. Allah also emphasizes from the beginning the main theme of Surah Yasin, that of Resurrection. He says that like the bodies will be resurrected, so too will their deeds. Their lives and their lifestyles both
will be resurrected. 3. Emphasis is given on the meticulousness of preservation; even the footsteps are recorded. Absolutely nothing will be ignored by Allah.
AYAT 13-27: The Famous Story Of The People
13. And put forward to them a similitude; the (story of the) dwellers of the town, [It is said that the town was Antioch (Antakiya)], when there came Messengers to them.
Mathal means a parable or an example, it can be symbolic or it can real. As an example, in the Qur'an Allah sets forth the parables of the mosquito and of the big tree being the Qalima. Here we see an actual story taking place. The Quraysh are being told; if you aren‟t going to learn from
the Qur'an and the Prophet (s) then learn from your own history! They are being told that had an angel been sent down you would have rejected it as well, when a human is sent as a messenger or Prophet it demonstrates that humans can live good lives and this is more effective as an example. A Brief History of Catholicism and Jews of the Time What village is being referred to in this ayah? All the scholars say that this is Antioch or Antaaqiya, a famous city in ancient Sham under the Romans. These days it comes under the modern nation of Turkey. The reference for Antioch is to the followers of Esa going to this city and preaching the message, the New Testament has an equivalent of this story as well with many similarities and differences. Antioch was one of the first cities of Christianity and it still has one of the earliest churches in the world. Antioch is also one of the largest areas after Jerusalem where Jews resided. The early 22 | P a g e
Jewish du‟aat would thus go to Antioch. Therefore it makes sense that Jesus Christ authorized a few of them to go to Antioch and preach there. In the Roman empire, Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity and he made it a state religion. Before this the Romans were Pagans. Pre-Constantine Christianity was a religion of the poor, dedicated to equality and charity, but with him it became the religion of the elite. He officialized the Trinity and the new books of the Bible and the old books of Tauheed and oneness in God were discarded as he adopted Paul‟s version as official. Up until this time there was tension between Jewish Christianity and Pauline Christianity. Constantine basically eliminated Jewish Christianity, how do we know this? The reference is from Salman al-Farsi‟s story, one of his teachers (who he studied under before he found Prophet Mohammed (s) and Islam) said he did not know anyone left that practiced Jewish Christianity. When the Jews rejected Jesus Christ, Allah lifted blessings away from them. Bani Israel had thought that the messiah would be a Superfigure who would overthrow the Roman empire and reclaim the Jewish empire. The new testament‟s main theme is that the kingdom is not here but it is to come. They thus had a notion that the messiah would be a political reformer who would bring them back their kingdom. But this is not what Jesus Christ (as) was preaching. When Jesus Christ came with beliefs that were nothing like what the Jews‟ corrupts beliefs that they had thought of, they were enraged. This is why, according to the New Testament, they attempted to kill him. They handed him over to Pontius Pilot and attempted to execute him. The Jews to this day are still waiting for their reformer, and this is why when the man with one eye, the powerful and the politically influenced i.e. the Dajjal will come, the Jews will believe in him and follow him.
14. When We sent to them two Messengers, they belied them both, so We reinforced them with a third, and they said: "Verily! We have been sent to you as Messengers." The messengers here spoken about are NOT Prophets but only messengers or du‟aat sent by Esa, either directly by him or generically to preach to the other Jews the message of Esa. This shows us that they were not Prophets because Allah‟s way is not that He sends 3 Prophets at the same time, in fact even 2 being sent together is a rare occurrence. Musa and Harun are an exception because Musa asked for help. Generally Allah only sends one Messenger at a time. They are messengers thus on behalf of Jesus Christ. “azazna” means to strengthen, with what? With a third. The new testament mentions this as well in it‟s version of this story. 23 | P a g e
The Jews were the minority while the pagan Romans the majority. Jesus was sent for the Jews mainly, the pagans of Rome were secondary meaning they weren‟t targeted specifically (as we know, the previous Prophets unlike Prophet Mohammed (s) were not sent to all of mankind) One of the tactics of the Jews was that when they got irritated with one of their own, as they had no police force or the government, they would call the Romans to complain about their own, and this is what they did with Esa. When they got irritated they accused him of pretending to be a King. They went to Pontius Pilot, the governor, who put him on trial and allegedly crucified him (as Muslim of course we do not believe this, rather his soul was lifted by Allah before this). It was of their tactics to complain to the predominant power. This is exactly what they did with the 3 messengers. Technically they were doing nothing illegal, so the Romans were coerced in and lies were made against them.
15. They (people of the town) said: "You are only human beings like ourselves, and the Most Beneficent (Allah) has revealed nothing, you are only telling lies." What was the response of the Jews? They said: you are but humans, and Ar-Rahman has not revealed anything, you are merily a bunch of liars. Why is the word Rahman used instead of Allah? The Romans (who were pagans at this time) did not believe in Rahman while in Jewish theology a Jew is never allowed to utter the exact name of Allah which translates as “Yahway” in Hebrew. Thus it is not allowed for a Jew to ever utter the word “Yahway” but rather they name Allah by His attributes. This is considered sacrilegious in Jewish faith and has the penalty of death in some Jewish traditions, and so the description of Allah as Ar-Rahman makes sense in this ayah. Thus we can see that the primary audience is the Jews. Some Christians today follow the same concept of never speaking of Allah by His Name but rather His attributes. Some even Christianize the name of Allah, a common example of this is “Jehovah” The story is being told for the Quraysh, and if we think about it they leveled each and every one of these accusations against the Prophet Mohammed (s) as well; “you are only human”, “Allah has not
sent you with anything”, and “you are lying” These are the standard claims that every Prophet (s) has faced. Allah says, of course we
sent Prophets to be humans, had we sent angels you would have complained and not followed them, and Allah knows it is logical and wise to follow a human! The other significance of using the name Ar-Rahman is that Ar-Rahman is also not something the pagans would call Allah. The argument is being made that even others recognized Allah‟s name as Ar-
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Rahman, so how can you be so arrogant to deny this name when other nations before you that are said to be worse didn‟t deny this name?
16. The Messengers said: "Our Lord knows that we have been sent as Messengers to you,” The Laam in “La-mursaloon” is a laam of emphasis. This ayah emphasizes a key point to those giving dawah: When we face ridicule and persecution we console ourselves by turning to Allah. The messengers say: even if you don‟t know, Allah knows we are
on the truth and preaching the truth, and this should be our attitude as well, we always turn to Allah. Even the Prophet (s) here is being told to seek refuge and consolation in Allah, only preach the truth and whether they accept or reject the message, this is up to them.
17. "And our duty is only to convey plainly (the Message)." Shows us that for the Prophet (s) his job was not to force them to convert but rather only to convey the message, and our message is also the same. Even the Prophet (s) is being told that realize this is but your job, if they accept or reject this is up to them.
18. They (people) said: "For us, we see an evil omen from you, if you cease not, we will surely stone you, and a painful torment will touch you from us." Here we see that when the people could not respond logically, they resorted to stupid and illogical arguments. As mentioned above, the Jews rejected Esa because over the centuries they had tramsuted the concept of the messiah into a super human, a king who would fight the Romans and establish the kingdom of David, even though this is not mentioned in their texts! The Messiah is a spiritual, a purifier, but the Jews wanted power and so they made him into someone who would bring them back the power, so when Esa came as a spiritual reformer not a political activator they rejected him. Later on in time when another person will come with 1 eye with a lot of power, they will see him as a Messiah and this is in reference to the Dajjal. 25 | P a g e
They said „we have considered or found you to be bad luck..” History documents of a drought in the city of Antioch and so they blamed the messengers for this, saying they had brought the bad luck! From this ayah we gather that we are talking about a mix of Romans and Jews, the Jews had complained to the Romans and the Romans responded that because of your agitation we don‟t have rain this year! We get the clear impression that the Jews of Antioch did what the Jews of Jerusalem did when they complained about Jesus Christ (as) to the Romans. They had no political power so instead they complained to the governor, Pontius pilot. Now why would Pontius care about the Jews? He wouldn‟t, so they lied and said that Jesus Christ (as) is pretending to be a political entity and steal kingship away from Pontius Pilot. This is obviously concerning to Pontius and what made him persecute Jesus Christ (as).
“Tatayur” comes from the same verb or noun as a bird, Taa‟ir, the Arabs had birds as Omens, birds existed for good and bad luck. Tayr is bird. In this case the reference is to bad luck or a bad omen. The Romans are saying you people are bad luck! We don‟t believe in such a thing as Muslims, it is also a type of shirk. They said if you don‟t stop we will kill you, stone you to death and kill you severely. This ayah again shows that the Jews had no power and the Roman government i.e. the Antioch municipality got involved. They threatened the messengers that if they did not stop such and such violent acts would be done to them (because again the Jews had no power so if any threats of violence were made it must have been from the Romans). This is the way of all tyrants, when you can‟t win an argument with logical and rational arguments you resort to force. Similar examples seen in the Qur'an include Musa who was threatened with physical force by Firoun if he did not decease in his arguments. Similarly the Qur'an mentions the story of Nimrud and Ibrahim.
19. They (Messengers) said: "Your evil omens be with you! (Do you call it "evil omen") because you are admonished? Nay, but you are a people Musrifun (transgressing all bounds by committing all kinds of great sins, and by disobeying Allah). These 3 messengers bravely defend and say your omens are with you. There are 2 meanings to this: 1. There is no such thing as Omens and your Omens are from your own imagination. Islamically we also don‟t believe in something as ridiculous as superstitions 2. You yourselves are the source of your bad luck and not us, for your lack of rain and draught this year is of your own doing.
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“A‟in Dhukirtum” is the first half of an incomplete sentence meaning, “when you are reminded…..” meaning the messengers said, is this your response to us when we remind you to be good!? All you do is resort to threats and superstition- rather you are a people who have gone beyond bounds! “musrifoon” means to go beyond bounds, above and beyond. As mentioned above, it is the standard of evil to combat truth with brute might, power and illogical things like superstition. When you can‟t fight the truth with logic you fight it with the fist.
20. And there came running from the farthest part of the town, a man, saying: "O my people! Obey the Messengers; From this we gather that it had become a very tense environment when a man from the furthest part
of the town came saying oh people follow them! This shows a very profound and beautiful lesson that no matter where you are you will get help if you follow the truth Why does Allah emphasize that he came from the furthest point of the city? Again that no matter where a person is, help will come to him! Truth attracts followers and this man is so sincere he is coming from the other part of town, not just that he is rushing and running to get there! The Prophet (s) is being told to teach the truth and people will come from where you wouldn‟t even expect to defend you. When you are brave enough to teach the truth people will follow you and from places you don‟t even expect! Generally in those days the ones that lived in the furthest parts of a city were of the poor rather than the elite (today the opposite is true). This person was not of the elite and so he had taken a major risk defending the messengers in that they could kill him should they choose. He says oh my people why
don‟t you follow these people, and he gives logical reasons…. It appears that this man is a Roman converted to Jesus Christ‟s religion of Islam. There is no doubt that Jesus was sent to the Jews (not the Romans) but like every Prophet (s) if anyone else wanted the truth they would be welcomed. It thus appears that a Roman had accepted the message of Esa. The
Roman speaks to his own people thus…
21. "Obey those who ask no wages of you (for themselves), and who are rightly guided. 2 characteristics mentioned here imply that a person is sincere and worthy of being followed: 27 | P a g e
1) They have no reason to be preaching this message especially in that they are not seeking money, and this is the biggest sign of sincerity that you don‟t expect reward, and they are selfless and not selfish 2) The message they preach makes sense The Prophet (s) has no worldly gain to be preaching this message, and is coming with a message of guidance that makes a lot of sense, so why not follow him? Remember the story is being given for the Quraysh and every ayah applies to them. The Prophet (s) is not asking for any monetary recompense, rather he loses a lot by preaching Islam; his prestige, his „izzah, his family, his wealth, his materials and so on.
22. "And why should I not worship Him (Allah Alone) Who has created me and to Whom you shall be returned. Now this man has to defend himself against his fellow Romans Their response shows that they were questioning him as they were shocked as to how a Roman could convert! Did you adopt this faith? Because he is of their own i.e. a Roman they can get away with doing things to him such as killing him that they couldn‟t with others. Why so? Rome was an independent state, each judiciary ran themselves. If they were to kill the messengers it would cause friction, but this man is from their own backyard. His second argument after validating the messengers is that he links his acceptance of Islam with the reality of Allah being the beginning and the end, than asks himself, why shouldn‟t I accept this
message from my Creator? If we examine his words in this ayah, Allah created Me and YOU shall return to Him, we ask why this shift in words? It is that the creation is linked to him, and the return is linked to them. There is an implicit threat from him to them that that in not too long of the future you will be standing in front of Allah, so make sure you have your answers ready.
23. "Shall I take besides Him aliha (gods), if the Most Beneficent (Allah) intends me any harm, their intercession will be of no use for me whatsoever, nor can they save me? That he attacks their theology clearly shows that he is a Roman and a former pagan, not a Jew. 28 | P a g e
He asks a rhetorical question when the answer is obvious and uses himself as the object, why shouldn‟t
I, and does not use the word you. Why is the word Ar-Rahman used in the context of doing harm in this ayah? The man implies that you have done such a heavy wrong and are so foolish that even Ar-Rahman will harm you for your transgressions! The Quraysh said the same thing that the Romans did. They were worshipping false gods thinking the gods would protect and intercede for them. Allah asks them to think and that they knew that these gods would be of no benefit to them, the Qur'an itself says that when the Quraysh are about to die they call out to Allah directly and bypass their intercessors.
Summary points to note: 1) The Quraysh did the same as the Romans did, they turned to their idols for intercession. 2) Allah is called by His attribute Ar-Rahman, as if they claim that He is too merciful to punish. However the punishment will indeed come and it is an embarrassment to these people that they committed such a big sin that even the One who is Ar-Rahman would punish them for this.
24. "Then verily, I should be in plain error. I.e. he attributes to himself that he would be very foolish to worship these gods
25. Verily! I have believed in your Lord, so listen to me!" This is the pinnacle of wisdom, the man has a conversation with his people and he uses the first person to admonish them: if I were to worship I‟d be the fool when in reality they are the fools. In his wisdom he ascribes the foolishness to his self as if they were to do it, thus an important lesson can be derived here that when we preach to others we don‟t go guns blazing in attack mode! Then he puts it in perspective: YOU are going back to Him and He is your Lord. I have believed in your Lord so lets
believe together. In the positive aspects of his preaching he talks about “US” – our death, our God – and in the negative aspects of his preaching he attributes these to his own hypothetical state. A very important lesson is that when we give dawah we never criticize our people‟s culture or religion directly, we take the negative upon ourselves and we attribute the good to them. They did not believe that Allah created them, and so he says Allah created ME. Thus again, he criticizes his people‟s theology via himself, and he gives the good to the people. From this we learn that you will not gain much by insulting others‟ religions, criticism must not insult the ones that we are giving Dawah to. We learn that we don‟t make fun of others‟ creed but rather we speak in a polite and logical manner, “does it make sense that” sounds a lot better instead of “how can you be so stupid?” 29 | P a g e
26. It was said (to him when the disbelievers killed him): "Enter Paradise." He said: "Would that my people knew! How did we go all of a sudden from him preaching his people to listen to him to him entering paradise? So what happened? Allah does not mention what happened but we infer that he was killed by them and not just killed but that the scholars say they gave him a “brutal mob death – kicked, beaten, trampled to death etc” and we can deduce this because we know that he is a, “local” of Antioch thus killing him in any way they should please would not cause an international scene.
A few points to ponder upon.. 1. The Qur'an speaks generally about the good over the bad. The mercy of Allah and the positives are demonstrated more and the gruesome and negatives are generally glossed over. 2. The story is being given for the benefit of Quraysh and they do not need to know that this man was killed because if they were told such it would give them ideas on how to deal with Prophet Mohammed (s). For us though we can benefit from his martyrdom and find wisdom and solace that Allah caused him to enter Jannah. This is the amazing eloquence of the holy Qur'an! How Allah tells the Muslim of his true condition without giving the Quraysh any ideas! 3. The three messengers, the disciples of Esa, were in a terrible situation and facing impending death. There were the ones needing to be saved. Help came from a local Roman who diverted their anger onto him. The Romans thus felt doubly betrayed! And so when he defends himself – why shouldn‟t I! It makes no sense to worship false gods! - they take their anger out on him and they know no trouble will come if they kill one of their own. Allah thus saved the three by making him a martyr, and instantaneously he is told Enter Jannah! He is rewarded with Jannah and the 3 disciples that needed to be saved are saved – they will go to other cities and convert thousands of people. For us Muslims we seek the valuable lesson to put our trust in Allah and preach the truth always, and that help will come to him from anywhere. 4. This is evidence that the shaheed enters Jannah right away before the rest of us. Their soul becomes a green bird which roams in Jannah before they take their righteous place in Jannah after the Day of Judgement has passed and their physical bodies are resurrected.
27. "That my Lord (Allah) has forgiven me, and made me of the honoured ones!" 30 | P a g e
We see the motif mentioned earlier that forgiveness and reward/honor have been combined again, that you must be forgiven before you are rewarded. Again we see the purity and sincerity of this man, people have killed him and beaten him to death in one of the worst of ways, yet when he is instantly in Jannah his heart feels sympathy for those people that have murdered him! SubhanAllah, he overlooked his own brutal murder and he is still feeling sympathy for his people. Ibn Abbas says about him, this was a man sincere to his people alive and
dead. This shows us that when we give dawah to others we can not preach to them if our hearts are filled with hatred of them. Some Muslims preach “wala and bara” with a misunderstanding that we should hate non-Muslims. Did this man hate his people like this? How can you guide people and present Islam to people when your heart is not full of sympathy for them? Car salesmen are taught to be sincere to their product the same and to believe in their product and care about their product and this is someone selling the duniya, we must be infinitely better than car salesmen because we are selling the truth and much more. Allah tells the Prophet (s) that you must forgive your people over and over and over again. This is true sincerity and purity in Dawah. There are two types of guidances: Hidayat-ul-Irshad: the guidance that we preach Hidayat-ul-Taufeeq: the guidance that Allah guides someone to the truth The Prophet (s) ‟s message is Hidayatul Irshad but a person can hear the guidance but refuse to accept it. Taufeeq is that Allah blesses you with guidance. The reaction of the Quraysh after hearing this is the general reaction of disbelief and not caring. Unfortunately most of humanity is like this, “my life is too good and why should I care?” BENEFITS FROM THIS SECTION 1. If you were to read the new testament version, what would be the main differences in style? There would be a lot more details in the bible, so many details that you would lose the plot. The Qur'anic narrative is that whatever relates to the morals of the stories is told, it tells us only what we need to know to derive benefit. 2. Of the wisdoms of the Qur'an is that it uses multiple ways of giving dawah, and stories are one of the main ways. We have enticements or rewards, direct threats, natural ayaat and so on. After trying with direct threats, Allah gives a story as an example. We must understand that Dawah is a long and tedious process and we must try many different avenues to succeed with people but that ultimately guidance is with Allah. Many of us think Dawah is five minutes, but no, the Prophet spent 23 years and the bulk of the people only converted at the end, including his own people the Quraysh. Again, variety and patience in Dawah is very important. 3. The man‟s style of Dawah is of much benefit for us. When he speaks about the follies of idol worship, he ascribes it to himself if he were on their methodology. He criticizes the concept if he were to follow it, not them. 31 | P a g e
4. The Prophet (s) is also being consoled through these verses, “that people before you also tried and
were even killed, but console yourself in remembering that you are on the truth”. As the messengers say, our Lord knows we are telling you the truth as Allah says here, so console yourself always with the truth! 5. It is a tactic to those who oppose Islam to threaten it with force or with ridiculous arguments (in this case the people resorted to superstitions and bad omens) 6. The truth will always have supporters. You put in the work and Allah will give you the helpers, so put your trust and you‟ll be helped from sources you do not even expect 7. A sign of true teaching is that the man teaching is sincere (he does not expect anything in return) and that his message is rational and full of guidance 8. The gruesome death of this man is not mentioned; one of the wisdoms is so we don‟t want the Makkans to gloat or get ideas. Another more important wisdom that the more negative or harsh details are usually glossed over and the Qur'an focuses on the positive. The descriptions of Jannah are more than Jahannam, Allah‟s mercy is more detailed than His adhaab; today we have done the exact opposite in this culture. There are vivid details about crime, murder etc and hearing about these things makes your heart hard and desensitizes this so you don‟t care in the future. Rather when you follow the Qur'anic style of focusing on the positives and the mercy of Allah, you make Islam easier for others to follow. 9. One of the most important lessons of this passage is the man‟s sincerity for his people and his concern for them; he has so much love for the people and wisdom in giving Dawah that even after they killed him – literally one minute he is being kicked on the floor and the next minute in Jannah – his thoughts are still with the people and how he wished they knew better. We thus learn that you can not preach Islam to others if you have no concern for them
Yasir Qadhi: it is really sad that a car salesman will have more passion to sell his car than we have to preach Islam to others. The #1 advice in sales is to be passionate about your product, we MUST believe in our own product! Thus if you don‟t care about Islam or the people that you are teaching you wont be able to give Dawah, he loved them so much that he even ignored their murder of him, he had SO much love for his people! The Prophet (s) and we are being told to have a concern for our people! Today many people have a disdain and arrogance against non-muslims. 10. We learn the importance of overlooking foolishness from your own people, rather forgive and forget and move on! When the man forgave murder, what about us? And indeed everything is less than murder. Ayat 28- 32: The Destruction of Those That Reject The Prophets
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28. And We sent not against his people after him a host from heaven, nor do We send (such a thing). Allah is saying that He did not need to be melodramatic about their destruction – all we needed was one noise, a shout that came and lo! They were all destroyed.
So what is Allah‟s style of punishment… ?
29. It was but one Saihah (shout, etc.) and lo! They (all) were silent (dead-destroyed). One Sayhah (a shout) in reference to the blowing of the trumpet, and they will be “Khamidoon” “Khaamidun” is a precise noun, when the embers give out and all that is left is coal which than crumbles. Khamidoon can also mean a candle flickering to it‟s very last bit before dying, and this is called “Khamada.” This is how Allah describes their punishment; literally like a candle or a coal they
were extinguished out Now Allah shifts focus and speaks of the destruction of those who reject, and the Quraysh are being addresses directly. This is in reference to the Quraysh challenging the Prophet (s) : why doesn‟t Allah send a punishment if you are truthful? The truth is that Allah does not need legions of angels from the sky, and the punishment will come when Allah wants not when you dictate. Now the tone changes and a threat is being given even though this is something of the past. Allah says we didn‟t send a punishment after they killed the man (Allah says “after him” i.e he is no longer there, Allah does not tell us that he died because this is not necessary to mention to the Quraysh, they don‟t need any more ideas on what to do with the Prophet (s)), despite all this Allah says we did not send any army from the heavens nor would we do so. Does Allah ever send punishments? Yes, sometimes, about 6 times, Allah did send His punishment and an entire city was destroyed, but these are the exceptions. This is not Allah‟s sunnah. Historically though Antioch was not destroyed and it is still there, so how do we reconcile? The more plausible (2nd) interpretation is that those who rejected only were destroyed A third interpretation of this ayah is that Allah speaks of the Day of Judgement when one shout will initiate it 33 | P a g e
30. Alas for mankind! There never came a Messenger to them but they used to mock at him.
“Ya Hasra” is used to express regret or remorse. “Hasra” comes from the word Haseer i.e. to become tired, as if you heart has become tired of healing. Allah does not express such, so who is saying this? Some scholars say it is the creation itself such as the sky, the moon, the oceans, the mountains, the animals. In the Qur'an the heavens, the earth were all asked if they wanted the amanah and they refused, but mankind said they want to and so they were given so. As Muslims we thus believe that inanimate objects have some conscious and they communicate with Allah, their conscious is at a different level than ours and we will not comprehend their‟s. In this case they express regret for mankind here. Why is the word, “mocking” used to reject the Messengers sent by Allah? Mocking is the height of disrespect and rejection, you can reject without mocking but you can‟t mock without rejecting. This is the height of arrogance and so no Muslim can ever make fun of Allah, the Qur'an and the Prophet (s). Anybody who does so has committed an act of Kufr, anyone who does so this is worse than clear rejection.
31. Do they not see how many of the generations We have destroyed before them? Verily, they will not return to them.
“Not return” means that their time of glory has passed. Allah is now arguing that if you will not believe from the Qur'an and revelation than look at your own humanity; look at the past and those nations, and look at the glory of yours and ask yourself how long has it lasted and what will become of your glory? And can you reach the level of glory of others? This is because the Quraysh at the time were deemed to be the “lords” of the Arab lands.
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32. And surely, all, everyone of them will be brought before Us. Allah emphasizes that indeed everyone will leave the duniya and will be gathered infront of Him.
Yasir Qadhi: We have neglected this aspect of dawah, we should ask others who we preach about what they think will happen in the next life? BENEFITS FROM THIS SECTION 1. Via Antioch, Allah tells us to learn from history of the greatest and most powerful Empires that fell. That vicious cycle continues to this day, what became of the Roman empire, the British empire and other empires that were once so powerful? 2. All of us will leave the duniya and return to stand in front of Allah 3. Man is in such a sad state that even the Creation and the angels pity us. 4. The entire creation, creations such as the heavens, the earth and the mountains, all rejected the amanah of intellect but mankind took on this responsibility. Ayat 33 - 44: Proofs that Allah Will Resurrect the Dead
33. And a sign for them is the dead land. We gave it life, and We brought forth from it grains, so that they eat thereof. “Ayah” indicates a sign, something that signifies something else. A flag is sometimes called an ayah. An ayah means something that is meant to indicate something else. Ayah is translated as miracle because it makes you think about something else, ayah also means something to ponder over. The next 3 ayaat indicate the power of Allah and the resurrection of the dead. Allah argues that if you won‟t believe in Allah and history than look at the following 3 ayaat then. We may not appreciate this having lived a city life and in North America, but through-out earth it is common to find desert-type land that is barren and basically dead that gets rain and it becomes fertile.
Yasir Qadhi: I have seen this during my time in Madinah myself many times where a land completely barren and you think how can this happen when the rain falls and the land becomes fertile! 35 | P a g e
Allah argues that here is some land which you thought dead and could not cultivate, and Allah is the One who brings it back to life and then He cultivates it as well. Allah says that just like He resurrected this land indeed He can resurrect you as well. 3 miracles are evidences by Allah: the land and how it is revived, the night and the day and the sun and the moon.
34. And We have made therein gardens of date-palms and grapes, and We have caused springs of water to gush forth therein. Grapes and dates are the two common prized fruits mentioned in the Qur'an and they are cherished in whatever society they are grown as they provide much nourishment.
“And we have caused water to gush forth from..” Allah says that the one who gave water is the same one that will resurrect you. If we reflect on the founding and thriving of major civilizations, the primary factor of a city being found is it‟s discovering of water. And Allah says that He provided this.
35. So that they may eat of the fruit thereof, and their hands made it not. Will they not, then, give thanks? Allah mentions the land, fruits, seeds and water – basically all of agriculture – and then yes human beings do a little bit to get the product, but Allah mentions that the raw material of all this came from Allah Himself, without humans doing anything to deserve or obtain the material. And then Allah admonishes them, will you not be thankful? The “MA” has two meanings: 1) their hands did not do it, We did it, so give Thanks, The meaning of this is that Allah does everything, so be thankful. 2) And that which their hands have done, shouldn‟t they give thanks. The meaning of which is that you planted, you irrigated and you protected from weeds but that Allah gave you the land, seeds, water, knowledge and power to farm it all. 36 | P a g e
36. Glory be to Him, Who has created all the pairs of that which the earth produces, as well as of their own (human) kind (male and female), and of that which they know not.
A commentary on the words Alhumdulilah and SubhanAllah Alhumdu is the complimentary opposite of Subhana. Alhumdu is to praise Allah for His perfection, Subhana means to glorify Allah for the imperfections that He does not possess. Alhumdu means affirming the positives, subhana meaning to negate the negatives. As examples, when they ascribe to Allah a son, Allah responds with, “Subhanu” and so “Subhanu” is generally used for Allah in the mention and negation of Shirk (such as Christianity) and Idols. So Glory is to Allah in what? In the pairs in plants, humans and that which we do not know. Botany has proved that even plants today have pairs. There is much mercy and benefit of us being created in genders as Allah has done. Allah here thus speaks of the miracle of creation and of life, that all of us are in pairs. The Arabs would fertilize and cross-pollinate the date palms and they knew this concept very well. What about the amoeba and viruses that exist as singular organisms? The response is that when Allah says He has created everything in pairs this is a generality in the Qur'an i.e. this is how things are but yes exceptions do exist. So we don‟t be a literalist about this concept, 99% of the creation of Allah does exist in pairs and we do have 1-2 exceptions. There are ways in Arabic to emphasize complete generality without exception, Allah does not use these terms here! Some examples of this seen in the Qur'an: 1) “Kula Shay” means the bulk of things but not 100% of things, 2) Negating and then affirming is a way of doing the 100% (examples of this include the shahadah when we say there is NO God but…)
37. And a sign for them is the night, We withdraw therefrom the day, and behold, they are in darkness. This is a beautiful verse. Allah says that one of the signs that they should think about is how we peel away the day till they are left in darkness
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Yasir Qadhi: Today we have exaggerated on the scientific miracles of the Qur'an, and yes there is an element of truth to it. Qur'an scientifically is not about the details, rather the words used are very precise. “Naslakh” is one such amazing word, but the irony is that it is not really associated with night and day. Naslakh means peeling the skin or hide off of a dead animal, so it has nothing to do with night and day. But why so precisely used for the night and day than? The night is literally that we PEEL away the layers of the day one after the other. If you look at the sun setting, literally every 1 degree the sun goes down a peel goes away. The density or brightness of the light diminishes with each peel at a time, till finally there is darkness. This verb that Allah uses is very accurate, subhanAllah.
38. And the sun runs on its fixed course for a term (appointed). That is the Decree of the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing. “Mustakar” can have two meanings, 1) Its final resting place as it means in classical Arabic and this is what the early scholars of Islam said; that the sun goes and rests at a certain place, pauses, then returns 2) According to it‟s own schedule i.e. predetermined and planned, and with this we believe that indeed Allah has set an exact schedule to the Sun.
A hadith that indicates the first meaning might be true… The Prophet (s) asked Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (as narrated in Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bokhari): Do you know where the sun sets? Abu Dharr replied: Allah and His messenger know best, the Prophet (s) responded: After the sun sets, it goes until it prostrates under
the throne of Allah, than it asks permission to Allah to come back up, and this is the mustaqar of the shams and then the Prophet (s) quoted this ayah. The Prophet (s) further said that the sun stays under the throne of Rahman every night? And that it waits for permission to rise the next morning. One day Allah will tell the sun to not rise except from where it came, and this will bring about the chaos that is the Day of Judgement. Unfortunately this has led many people to reject Islam and the ahadith of the Prophet (s) . NonMuslims have leveled accusations against Islam because of this as well, how could the sun possibly have a, “resting place” when science today has shown otherwise?. According to Ibn Taymiyyah this hadith is not problematic at all. We believe that the sun and the moon and every single creature and object is perpetually prostrating to Allah. The sun can prostrate in a manner that it does, like Allah says that everything in the creation praises Allah but you (humans) do not understand this praise. In the Qur'an Allah even says that your shadows even prostrate to Allah. Ibn Taymiyyah thus points out that the sujjood of the sun is relative to it not us humans. 38 | P a g e
”Taqdeer” is from Qadr, Allah has apportioned it and He is Azeez Wal Aleem. Here we learn and there is a clear reference to the sun that is MOVING. At the time the bulk of man believed that either the Earth or the Sun are stationary, yet the Qur'an references this in contrary to popular opinion at the time without there being any astronomical models available. Even Copernicus centuries later said that the sun is stationary, but no! Experts in astronomy understand this concept and they demonstrate that the sun is itself going in it‟s orbit hurdling through space. The earth tries to catch the sun as it goes that fast, and the moon is trying to catch the Earth, and Allah indicates this phenomenon to the Arabs and to us centuries before! Who did all this? Only someone with POWER and KNOWLEDGE can do this, i.e Allah who is Azeez Wal Aleem.
39. And the moon, We have measured for it mansions (to traverse) till it returns like the old dried curved date stalk. There are 28 manazil for the moon (manazim means stages), on the 29th night we look for it if we can even see it, and the moon also has apportioned resting places. “Urjoon” is the stalk from which we pluck the dates from, once the date is plucked this fiber becomes useless, it becomes yellow and it shrivels up, becoming very frail and thin. Allah describes the moon as frail, thin, shriveled and yellow like the date stalk after the date has been plucked from it. And then it returns to it‟s other manazils as it becomes brighter and regular.
40. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. They all float, each in an orbit. “Falak” is an arch, a portion of the circle Allah says that every one of these objects, the sun, the earth and the moon, are travelling in their own orbit, and there is extreme precision in their orbits. The sun for example has an extremely precise yet complex three-dimensional orbit that has only recently been charted. Furthermore, these objects are controlled with such precision and magnitude that we bring about our entire concept of time based on their orbits. How can this come about except for one who is Azeez al Aleem? Allah argues that this precision could not emanate except for a being so powerful that He can also bring the dead back to 39 | P a g e
life. Elsewhere in the Qur'an Allah himself says the creation of the heavens and earth is a bigger sign than the creation of mankind, but that man does not reflect. . Modern science has only caught up with Qur'anic understanding until recently these mechanisms and orbits were discovered but even than we do not know or understand the how and the whys of these intricate orbits and movements.
The third sign…
41. And an Ayah (sign) for them is that We bore their offspring in the laden ship [of Nuh (Noah)]. “Fulk” means ship, “mushoon” means loaded with goods There are two interpretations as to what this means? 1. The ship is a reference to Nuh, Allah is saying we carried their children i.e. the children of mankind left, and the ship was laden i.e. with the other animals, Noh is the “second Adam” – according to our tradition only the 3 sons of Noh remained. Allah is saying that that had we not preserved them humanity would not have survived. 2. We carried them i.e. the Quraysh and their children in laden ships with their goods (when they go to Ethiopia, Yemen, India etc)
42. And We have created for them of the like thereunto, so on them they ride. Similar to the ships Allah has created what they ride i.e. Allah is saying thank ME for literally every
mode of travel that you have! Allah gifted the knowledge and know-how of constructing of the ship to Nuh, Jibreel was sent down to Nuh to facilitate this blessing. If Allah had not taught Nuh how to build a ship we would never have knowledge of travelling via the water, which is most of the Earth, could we have discovered new lands such as North America without ships? But “ride” in this ayah includes vehicles that are natural and artificial such as cars, trains and planes. Allah says I have allowed you to do this! And that we should be thankful for all our vehicles of transportation. Had Allah not willed we would never have discovered these things! We also believe that Allah has taught us the sciences, many of them directly. As examples, Allah taught Adam how to speak, building ships to Prophet Nuh, writing with pens was taught to Prophet Idris, who 40 | P a g e
was the first to ever write, Prophet Dawud was taught how to make iron malleable. Allah takes full credit for all this. The Prophet (s) said: the very first person to write with the Qalam was Idris. If he was not taught this we would never have figured out how to transcribe these sounds and pass them down! And this civilization of ours of the sciences and arts would not exist without this knowledge and ability provided to us solely by Allah, what a blessing.
Yasir Qadhi: It is unfortunate that for us that we never think twice about ships or other modes of transportation as they are quite common, but just because we understand the dynamic should not take away from us appreciating the miracle. Here we are sitting on a chair in the sky! Hurling towards our destination at super fast speeds! How can we even possibly think about flying as we do?. A pebble dropped into the water will sink very fast, yet modern ships today can carry more than a small city in people and over 100,000 tons in weight. Allah has gifted us all this!
43. And if We will, We shall drown them, and there will be no shout (or helper) for them (to hear their cry for help) nor will they be saved. Allah says that if we wanted to we could control and destroy your vehicles of transport, like a ship that sinks and a people that drown as a result. “Sareekha” means one who answers the call of help, and “Sarakha” is to shout of help The point of the verse is that Allah emphasizes, oh Mankind you are helpless infront of Allah and you
need Allah to help you and if you don‟t have Allah‟s help than all of your blessings can be taken away instantaneously.
44. Unless it be a mercy from Us, and as an enjoyment for a while. “Ila” in the context of this ayah means that they are not going to be destroyed except that we have given and blessed them with this mercy and “mata” means to enjoy, and this is but for a time being. Allah has allowed us to enjoy these blessings as a direct mercy to us and a temporary pleasure. BENEFITS FROM THIS SECTION 1. Here are the Prophets of Allah calling people to believe in Him, yet there are signs all around us that are so powerful you don‟t need Prophets! Allah mentions 3 signs that testify to His magnificence and that we must reflect upon these signs. These signs testify directly to the power of Allah, and indirectly that if He is so powerful He can definitely resurrect the dead 41 | P a g e
2. We learn the blessings of being in pairs, e.g. the male and female, each having strength and weaknesses that the other is in compatibility with. An example is how Allah describes the night as being the absence of the day in the most precise of terms, “naslakhu” meaning the stripping of the day, literally. 3. The fact that the sun itself has been explicitly described as moving, the moon also as moving, and the moon having “manazil” or stages, and the sun has “mustaqar” or a schedule, and we as humans have synchronized our time to this to the precision of a milli-second, it is amazing when you think of the size of these objects, how large they are yet how precise they are! We know exactly when an eclipse happens! We know it all but really who put it to such precision down to a mill-second? Indeed this is Allah. The Shams, Qamar and Fulk are all also mentioned in Surah Rahman 4. Allah does describe some power that He has given us - yes we did do some work - but Allah is saying that you could not do it without what I have given you. The lesson we take is that we can do nothing without Allah‟s direct help. The true Khaaliq is the one who brings about without anything else, we can NOT be this! Whatever we invent, take we need a raw material that Allah has created for us. 5. Allah testifies that He has established the laws of nature as we understand them. Allah has explicitly told us that it is so because I have made it so! In the Qur'an Allah mentions things physically impossible as evidence of his infinite power and ability, if I had wanted to I could have made the rain water salty. Anyone with grade 3 physics says this is not possible, yet if Allah had wanted to, evaporation would take salt with it. Allah says I could have done so! But no, Allah created these laws for the benefit of humans. Ayaat 45-47: The response of the Quraysh to the aforementioned miracles is that they completely ignore them
45. And when it is said to them: "Beware of that which is before you (worldly torments), and that which is behind you (torments in the Hereafter), in order that you may receive Mercy (i.e. if you believe in Allah's Religion - Islamic Monotheism, and avoid polytheism, and obey Allah with righteous deeds).
“Taqwa” to develop protection and save yourself from the punishment and anger of Allah Combining this with the statement, “That which is in front of you and behind” means? 1) The blessings you have been given (in the past) and will be given (in the future) 2) The punishments in this world and the Next
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3) The punishments of the previous nations and your nations …should all cause you to have Taqwa
What do the Quraysh do? They ignore it completely! No response of theirs is even mentioned in the ayaat.
46. And never came an Ayah from among the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of their Lord to them, but they did turn away from it. “Ayah” here as mentioned means every single natural phenomenon, historical event, every verse in the Qur'an How do they response? They are “mu‟ridheen” i.e. respond with the height of arrogance in that they turn their back to it ignore it‟s existence, much less attributing the blessing to Allah.
47. And when it is said to them: "Spend of that with which Allah has provided you," those who disbelieve say to those who believe: "Shall we feed those whom, if Allah willed, He (Himself) would have fed? You are only in a plain error." The people that are giving them dawah to accept Islam invite them to two specific things, 1) To have Taqwa, 2) Spend in the case of Allah From this we learn that when we call others to Islam we don‟t just call them to theology and fearing Allah, but we also call them to good manners and morals. These are kuffar yet the believers are telling them to be good and generous. Shows us that dawah is not just about pillars of emaan! Yasir Qadhi:
Perhaps today teaching non-Muslims about the mercy, compassion and morals of Islam will have a greater impact than theology In the time of Makkah there were no Islamic laws that were set, yet still charity is being mentioned here, why so? Because even though Zakah was not Wajib certain basic Islamic rulings were revealed 43 | P a g e
such as being good to the orphans. Being generous was thus revealed before it was made Wajib or required, this shows us the importance of being charitable. The virtues of Sadaqah The Prophet (s) said: nothing extinguishes Allah‟s anger like Sadaaqah thus it is very important for us to be regular in our Sadaqah. The word, “Sadaqah” as mentioned in the Qur'an comes from the root word for “truth” and it is called so because it is a sign of how true you are to Allah. Giving charity in the way of Allah is literally called truthfulness because nothing tests your truth like giving your money believing that Allah will give you more. Do you believe in Allah? Your sadaqah literally shows that you believe in Allah that whatever you donate will be returned to you by Him in multiple folds.
And so how do the Quraysh respond? They ask the Prophet (s), do you expect us to feed those that if Allah wanted to He could have fed? The original command is “Anfiqu” i.e. give charity (generally), yet they change it in their tongues to “Anud‟imu” even though they were not asked for this. Tu‟aam means food, this is only one of the many types of charity. Why food? Food is the most commonly available item, everyone has it, and it is the most needed charity to those who don‟t have it and get it. By changing the noun from Nafaqa to
Tu‟aam Allah shows their stingyness! That they won‟t give of the most commonly available item that is most needed for mankind, this is the height of rejecting and being stingy! BENEFITS FROM THIS SECTION 1. Allah says about the rejectors that no Ayah comes except they turn away and ignore. From this we benefit that anyone who ignores Allah‟s ayaat has a symptom of the symptom of Kufr in him, and therefore of the purposes of the ayaat of the Qur'an is that when the believers read them our Emaan should go up, and if it doesn‟t we should question our Emaan. 2. If the disbelievers don‟t benefit from advice, those who do benefit from the advice are those who have Emaan. Allah mentions this in the Qur'an: remind each other because reminding benefits
the believers 3. Next time someone gives you advice that you know deep down inside is true, and you show arrogance, know that you are not responding with Emaan in that response. Even if the other person has a different agenda or intention, be grateful to the advice and use it to increase your Emaan. 4. Being charitable is of the most important correlations of Emaan. Even before giving charity was Wajib or required via the command of Zakah it was a part of our religion! Thus being charitable goes hand in hand with Emaan. 5. The existence of evil is explained in the above section. Just as the Quraysh responded that Allah should deal with the situation itself i.e. the hunger, Atheists respond the same; why does God allow poverty to happen? Why does God allow natural disasters to happen? And then they ask about the wisdom behind suffering and evil on this Earth. Quraysh thus showed their arrogance and Atheists are worse, rejecting Allah because they are unable to explain suffering on this Earth. 44 | P a g e
6. This ayah explains some of the wisdoms of evil, just like the believers are the ones feeding the poor, Allah uses the good to take care of the evils of society and through this the good become good. You need hunger to be charitable! If there were no hungry people you would not be charitable, suffering necessitates compassion, and these ayaat proves this. 7. The evil people don‟t want to stop evil and this is what makes them evil, and the good want to stop the evil and this is what makes them good. The believers see this as an opportunity to bring about good and this makes them good! As for those suffering we believe Allah will provide them mercy through this. 8. Another simple benefit of these verses is that emaan leads to morality and a softening of the heart. When you have emaan your heart will be soft for others, especially when it comes to charity. 9. Within charity, feeding the poor is one of the fundamental characteristics of Emaan. In Surah Haaka, verses 33-34 Allah says: Neither did he believe in Allah nor did he encourage charity to the
poor. Notice the link here, because he didn‟t believe he didn‟t give food to the poor. And again in Surah Maun, Allah says, do you not see the one who rejects the religion on Day of Judgement , that is the one who does not encourage the feeding of the poor. Feeding the poor and having Eman are thus intrinsically linked 10. These ayaat explain why Emaan and doing righteous actions are linked: you need to have good theology to be a good person. You may have good here and there, but you can‟t be a 24/7 morally upright person unless you believe in Allah. 11. Even if a group has rejected Islam, we can still invite them to morality and ethics as this may be their door to Islam. That the Muslims are telling the Kuffar to be generous, though they know they are Kuffar, means we preach our values and morals to people even though we know their Kufr. Ayat 48-54: The Misguidance of the Idolators
48. And they say: "When will this promise (i.e. Resurrection) be fulfilled, if you are truthful?" They not only reject, but they reject with sarcasm. Sarcasm - challenging Allah and making fun of Him and His Prophet (s) – is not from the mannerisms from the heart of any believer.
49. They await only but a single Saihah (shout, etc.), which will seize them while they are disputing! 45 | P a g e
“Yakhisimoon” means that they are having debates i.e. over anything really; their politics, their market prices, their daily affairs ...and the Day of Judgement will come to them completely by surprise while they are so engrossed in their daily lives. Why does Allah describe the Day of Judgement in such detail? That Allah describes the Day of Judgement in such vivid detail shows us that Allah knows and controls the Day of Judgement. The Prophet (s) said that the Day of Judgement will come and two people will be arguing over the price of a camel, one will raise food to his mouth and not eat it, (they will be engaged in their daily lives)…. Allah in the Qur'an says that the Day of Judgement is something that will come so quick, it is
like the twinkling of an eye or even faster
50. Then they will not be able to make bequest, nor they will return to their family.
They will be hit with such surprise… and they will die where they are.. How many trumpets will be blown? The understanding amongst the majority of scholars is that there will be 2 trumpets blown. These scholars include Al-Qurtubi and Qushayri, but there are some scholars, including Ibn Katheer, Ibn Taymiyyah and As-Showkani,that say that 3 trumpets will be blown instead of 2. The first trumpet is that of terror or “faza” (as mentioned in Surah Naml: 87), the 2nd trumpet is that of falling unconscious (as mentioned in Surah Zumr: 68) and the third trumpet is that of standing (as mentioned in Surah Zumr: 68 also) What is their evidence? In Surah Naml-87: Allah calls one of the trumpets the trumpet of terror. The trumpet will be blown and everyone will be terrified. This is #1 of the trumpet blown to make people terrified. In Surah Zumr-68: Allah speaks of the trumpet of falling into a coma/unconscious. The trumpet will be blown and everyone will fall down unconscious. Thus they say the first is terror, second death and third of standing up or resurrection The scholars that hold the view that there are only 2 trumpets counter that the “Nafkha” of terror is the same as that of death. IN Sahih Muslim, the Prophet says that, between the two trumpets is a
period of 40 (i.e. there will be 2 trumpets). In Surah Yasin as well there are 2 trumpets that are mentioned only. The Angel of the Tumpet
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Allah has created an angel with the job of blowing the trumpet and it‟s name is Israfeel. The Prophet (s) would praise Allah and seek refuge in Allah with the Lord of the major angels including Israfeel, but where do we get this name from even though it is not mentioned in the Qur'an? The Prophet (s) according to one hadith was once very alarmed and agitated and he was asked why he was so. He said: How can I not be alarmed when Israfeel has placed the trumpet to his lips and he is
waiting for the commandment of Allah. In another hadith, the Prophet (s) said: Israfeel has not blinked ever since Allah created him, as he is staring at the throne of Allah waiting for the commandment to come, and because of this his eyes have become glazed like white pearls (mustadrak al-Haatim) The trumpet will be blown at a time where they will be no Muslims left on this Earth There will be a time after Jesus Christ after the Antichrist has been killed and after the fitan of Mag/Yaggog has passed, when there will only be believers in this world. A beautiful wind from Yemen will come which will cause everyone with Emaan to die a peaceful death. A group without Emaan will thus remain, and then generations (Allah knows how many) will come and in those generations our Prophet (s) said that the Qur'an will be lifted up, the Kabah will be destroyed, the Prophet (s) ‟s masjid abandoned (the dogs and wolves will come into the masjid). At this point in time much fahishah (lude, immodest deeds), killing and sins of all sorts will occur, and at that time the trumpet will be blown, the Prophet (s) said about this generation that the generation of mankind upon whom the trumpet will be blown is the worst of mankind.
51. And the Trumpet will be blown (i.e. the second blowing) and behold! From the graves they will come out quickly to their Lord. “Fa-idha” means suddenly “Yansiloon” means racing towards their Lord I.e. that without their knowledge of what is happening they will be resurrected and they will be rushing to their Lord
52. They will say: "Woe to us! Who has raised us up from our place of sleep." (It will be said to them): "This is what the Most Beneficent (Allah) had promised, and the Messengers spoke truth!" 47 | P a g e
“MarQadh” is the place where one rests and takes comfort. But we know that in the graves the nonbelievers will undergo much torment, so why does Allah use this word of rest? Two opinions here: 1. The Kuffar will actually go to sleep between the 2 trumpets, 2. Even though the punishments of the grave are severe, compared to the terror of Day of Judgement (we aren‟t even speaking about Hellfire yet) the punishment of the grave will seem trivial and like a place of rest for the non-believers. Who responds to the non-believers? Some say that the angels will respond, but by context it seems that the believers will respond, isn‟t this
what Allah promised you? Didn‟t the messengers speak the truth?
There is a unique Tajweed rule here, the “Sakta” or stop at the middle of the ayah means to stop your breathe and continue with the same breathe. There are only 4 such Saktas in the Qur'an. Why do we use this rule? We must pause because there is a new conversation here beginning at the second half of the ayah
53. It will be but a single Saihah (shout, etc.), so behold! They will all be brought up before Us! In verse 49, Allah says “Ma Yandharoona” they are only waiting, now Allah says that there is no waiting, there is only one “Sayhah”
54. This Day (Day of Resurrection), none will be wronged in anything, nor will you be requited anything except that which you used to do.
“on this day none will be wronged in any manner” In Arabic, a way to indicate that there are no exceptions is to negate first and then affirm. When you negate this is called, “nakhira” and there are two Nakhiras here in this ayah alone without any affirmations, meaning definitely there will be no exceptions.
“Shay‟a” is the broadest Nakhira, it literally means anything and everything. Allah is saying, “No soul shall be wronged in the slightest without any exceptions in the souls and without any exceptions in the slightest. You will not get back anything except what you used to do.” He is thus threatening the non-believers and assuring the believers. 48 | P a g e
“Yowm” here is the Day of Judgement BENEFITS OF THIS SECTION 1. That Allah describes the Day of Judgement in such a dramatic fashion and in such vivid detail means that indeed it is true 2. The Day of Judgement will come like a twinkling of an eye, the people will not even be able to go back to their families or even write a will 2. When the Day of Judgement does occur, people will be fully aware of what is happening, they will have their physical faculties and their senses intact. They will be intelligent enough to ask questions and even engage in conversations; we see that the believers respond to the Kuffar. 3. The fact that the believers are able to give a calm response shows that they will not be terrified the way the Kuffar will be terrified. To give a response means that your mind is working at a more rational and calm level, and so the Muslim is not terrified. 4. The terror of uncertainty is worse than the terror of physical pain. On Day of Judgement, the terror of adhaabul-Kabr (the punishment of the grave) becomes a place of rest because the terror of Day of Judgement overshadows that of the punishments of the grave. May Allah protect us. 5. Those who know the Day of Judgement and believe in the descriptions have nothing to fear on that day. The believers are saying indeed this is what the Ar-rahman promised. Thus we conclude that if you believe in these descriptions you won‟t face terror on that day, and if you rejected it is you would face terror on that day. This is evidenced indirectly here but directly in other verses in the Qur'an: I
knew I would meet my hisaab and so he was not worried. Everyone who is certain of the Day of Judgement and acts righteously toward that day will not fear it inshaAllah. 6. That no soul shall be tested for more than it has done. This is a benefit of Islam that other religions reject. Hindus believe in reincarnation, that you are who you are today because of the evil or good actions of the person before you. Christians believe in the concept of original sin and because of this God had to create a son for the sins of humanity. Ayaat 55-58: The Life of The People of Paradise
55. Verily, the dwellers of the Paradise, that Day, will be busy in joyful things. This “Yowm”, unlike in the previous ayah, is post-Day of Judgement From this ayah we derive an interesting benefit. In Surah Yasin we read of an explicit description of the terror of Kuffar, did we read about the believers on the Day of Judgement? No. Thus the yowm for the Kuffar begins on the Day of Judgement (and from there It is all downhill) while the yowm for believers begins post-Day of Judgement as if Qayamah is a quick stop before they get to their ultimate destination. As an analogy, when you describe a fancy room in a hotel you don‟t talk about the lobby, 49 | P a g e
you talk about the room. The Prophet (s) said that for the believers, the Qiyamah will be like
the time between Asr and Maghrib. Because this is the shortest time of the day, we learn that for believers the Day of Judgement will be a very short time. Will some believers experience terror on the Day of Judgement? Yes and Allah will use this terror to forgive them for their sins.
“As-haab” means the companions of Jannah “Faakihoon” comes from the word “Fakaha” which implies to good conversations and general activities that one finds enjoyment in.. “Faakiha” means generic fruits that one would enjoy to eat.
“Shughul” means being occupied or busy. Faakihoon does not usually mix with Shughul because being busy in today‟s world means taking on stress and being tense all the time. But Allah says that the believers will be completely pre-occupied with enjoying themselves i.e. Shughulin Faakihoon.
56. They and their wives will be in pleasant shade, reclining on thrones. “Muttaqi‟oon” means reclining Allah now speaks of the fun that the believers will have with their spouses. “Zawj” means spouse This shows us that people will be with their families In Jannah. As the Prophet (s) said of Jannah: the
person will be with those whom he loves. A person loves to be with those who he loves because pleasure that you achieve alone is minimum, you always want to enjoy anything with those whom you love. It is human nature to do things in company with those whom you love. After all who goes on vacation by themselves? Pleasures are doubled by those whom you enjoy being with. “under the shade” indicates the sun shining – so the sun in always shining so you‟ll always be in shade. “Fi Dhilal” means good weather!
So the people will be with their families in Jannah even though some Muslims will attain different levels due to their deeds? Allah speaks about this in Rad: 23 – they shall enter Jannah and live in it forever along with those who were good of their parents, spouses and children Allah says that the goal is to make it to Jannah. As long as the family did so one of the best blessings of Jannah is that they will be together because humans love to socialize with those whom they love. Of the greatest blessings of Jannah is companionship. We should try our best to marry righteous, raise good children and so on. This shows us why we should associate with good and righteous people. Once one gets in via Allah‟s mercy and their actions, they would get, “a free upgrade” if someone higher up wants them there with them. This does not work for someone outside of Jannah. Again, once
you get in, everybody will get a free upgrade if the know someone in first class
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There Is a clear connotation of sexuality. In ayah 55, Allah mentions that they will be “shughlin
faakihoon” and then immediately after the next ayah mentions the spouse. This is the modest grammatical beauty of the Qur'an. The pleasures of Jannah are mentioned here because these are the only pleasures that we know but Jannah is even more that we won‟t even be able to understand. Thus what is enticing is what we understand, and then Allah says they have even more than that of what they don‟t know! The Prophet (s) said: In Jannah is that which the eyes have never seen, the
ears have never heard, and the mind has never conceived. There will be many other “shughuls” as well and one of the connotations of the shughuls is that there will be many conversations. One of the conversations will be reminiscing on the good days of the duniya. The inhabitants of Jannah will have perfect memory and they will be able to meet many people, even people that they met only once in the duniya. It will be a nice sunny day and they will have shade, “fi dhilalin”, and these are the days that you feel energetic and active. Reclining is the epitome of chilling and relaxing. There is no sleep in Jannah as the Prophet (s) said: Sleep is the brother of dead and nobody dies in Jannah, so this is the ultimate relaxing and luxury position for the inhabitant of Jannah. One can not recline unless you are in full ease and comfort, yet the people of Jannah will be reclining, “Alal araaki mutaki‟oon!”
“Ara‟ik” means couches, “mutaki-oon” means reclining Lastly, Allah mentions that there will be no envy, jealousy or hatred towards one another in Jannah.
57. They will have therein fruits (of all kinds) and all that they ask for. “Faakiha” means fruit, it does not just mean apples as is commonly translated. When we look at these ayaat, we are told in a very modest and compacted way of unlimited pleasures in Jannah, of companionships and conversations. Literally anything that one wants will be given to them. This is explicitly mentioned in many hadith, a Sahabi came to the Prophet (s) and said: oh
messenger of Allah, I love to cultivate, will I be able to cultivate in Jannah? Will I have a farm? The Prophet (s) replied: Yes you will, and he described it in vivid descriptions of the plant and seeing it grow. He said: Not a seed will you plant except that right then and there it will be the largest. One of the sahaba commented to the Prophet (s) that whoever asked that question must be from the Ansar because the Muhajiroon (and the Bedouins) hate cultivating. In Sahih Muslim we learn of the hadith of the last person who will enter Jannah. He will ask for everything in this duniya and more, and Allah will give him 10 times that. Why is this the lowest level of Jannah? Because this poor man can only imagine this world. So what about the highest level of
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Jannah then? Here there are things that the eyes have not seen, the ears have not heard, the mind
can‟t perceive.
58. (It will be said to them): Salamun (peace be on you), a Word from the Lord (Allah), Most Merciful. The wording shows that the Salam comes as a surprise, they are busy enjoying the infinite pleasure of Jannah and it comes as a statement from an ever forgiving and ever Generous and Merciful Lord. From this we derive that the Salaam from Allah will be the greatest blessing of Jannah because it is mentioned last. Allah speaks of everything and anything that the inhabitants of Jannah would want, than He mentions His Salaam. What Salaam is this again? A Word or Phrase from a Merciful and Generous Lord. It is as if they are being told that in addition to all that they want they will get an unexpected surprise that Allah will be speaking to them directly, and of the best pleasures of Jannah is that of hearing and seeing Allah and there is nothing higher than this. In Ahlus- Sunnah, we believe that we will see the face of our Lord and this is in the Qur'an and the Prophet (s) said this in various ahadith as well, he even commanded us to make du‟a: oh Allah I ask you the pleasure of looking at your noble
face. The term Salam means to be free of any harm, it is a du‟a for you from the one who bestowed it to you. This is why when you see a Muslim you say, “may no harm ever come to you” and of the names of Allah is Al-Salaam because Allah is free of evil, The Source of Protection and Peace, and of the names of Jannah is Darus-salam because Jannah is the only place where there is no evil or harm. Thus
those who believe in Al-Salaam, when they enter Darus-Salaam, they will be greeted by Allah who is Al-Salaam with the greetings of As-Salaam, they shall forever be in Salaam after that greeting of Assalam in Darus Salam! This is a du‟a from Allah to you.
Ayaat 59-68: The Isolation of The Disbelievers and Their Rebuke on The Day of Judgement
59. (It will be said): "And O you Al-Mujrimun (criminals, polytheists, sinners, disbelievers in the Islamic Monotheism, wicked evil ones, etc.)! Get you apart this Day (from the believers). 52 | P a g e
The Surah now returns to Day of Judgement…. Again we are shown that the Day of Judgement will be a very traumatic time for those that rejected Allah, and for the believers it will be the opposite. Who is speaking in this ayah? It is either Allah or the Angels “Imtaza” means get away or get aside. Get away from? The believers, or that you will separate yourselves. On the Day of Judgement everyone will be separated by groups, theologies, religions etc, and this is said by Allah elsewhere in the Qur'an.
60. Did I not ordain for you, O Children of Adam, that you should not worship Shaitan (Satan). Verily, he is a plain enemy to you. Allah now speaks in first person. This ayah clearly shows that one of the primary ways of worship is obedience and that most of humanity, “O Children of Adam” as Allah says, does not “worship” but rather are obedient to Shaytaan. What if someone were to say they don‟t worship Shaytaan i.e. they are not Satanists, this is not how worship is understood, rather if one does not worship Allah is worshipping some aspect of Shaytaan even if he does not bow to Shaytaan. The Prophet (s) called people “Abd-dinar” and “Abd‟Dirham” i.e. slaves of (and worshippers of) Dinaar and slaves of Dirham even though no one literally bows down to money. Allah warned us of Shaytaan often and from the very beginning of our creation. As soon as Adam was created, before he entered Jannah, after entering Jannah, before Adam came to this world, and from there on every single Prophet came with the same warning against Shaytaan.
61. And that you should worship Me [Alone Islamic Monotheism, and set up not rivals, associate-gods with Me]. That is a Straight Path. The reference to the straight path returns. Allah reminds us from the very beginning and again not to listen to Shaytaan, he is the one who wants to destroy us
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62. And indeed he (Satan) did lead astray a great multitude of you. Did you not, then, understand? How did man respond to Allah‟s continued warnings? You did not pay heed and you did not learn from
history One of the motifs of Surah Yasin is that Allah brings forward the past as if to say, look at the nations
before you! “Jibila” meaning “jabal” or mountain, Jibila thus is a large group of mountains An important lesson that we learn here is that majorities do not dictate morality! IN Islam morality is not up for democracy or votes. Allah in the Qur'an clearly says: if you follow the majority of people they will lead you away to
their desires
63. This is Hell which you were promised! Allah is telling the non-believers that because they denied it they are entering it, had they affirmed it they would not enter it
64. Burn therein this Day, for that you used to disbelieve.
“Isloha” means be burned, “Solah” means to burn There is yet another “yowm” mentioned her, this is the day after the torment of the grave and the Day of Judgement which is considerably worse than the two. For the non-believers, their situation will get worse every day, and may Allah protect us all from this state.
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65. This Day, We shall seal up their mouths, and their hands will speak to Us, and their legs will bear witness to what they used to earn. (It is said that one's left thigh will be the first to bear the witness). [Tafsir At-Tabari, Vol. 22, Page 24] This day the evil-doers hands will speak and their feet testify, why the hands speak? Because the hands are what did most of the crimes while the feet happened to be present. In Surah Fussilat, Allah describes that the people will say to their own skins, why did you testify against us?, and they will question their own limbs who will answer, the one who makes everything talk made us talk as well. The person on Day of Judgement will ask Allah, did you not say that you will be just? and Allah will reply, Yes, so the man will say I will not accept the testimony of anyone else thinking that this is his way out. So Allah will say, very well as you wish, you will testify against yourself (and his mouth will
seal) and his body will testify exactly what it did. This is the height of justice as no one wants an external witness. Allah could have made the walls, instruments to testify against us but He did not. This is the epitome of perfection of justice in that one can‟t reject their own testimony.
66. And if it had been Our Will, We would surely have wiped out (blinded) their eyes, so that they would struggle for the Path, how then would they see? “Tamasa” to wipe away their eyes There are 2 meanings here: 1) The symbolic meaning i.e. the blindness of the heart, that Allah is saying had we wanted to we could have blinded the eyes of the soul (their spiritual guidance) and they would try to find the Siraat-
Al-Mustaqeem but they would be unable to see. So Allah challenges, how would they find it? 2) The physical meaning, literally that they would be blinded and that the siraat is any physical that they even be unable to find Allah says, oh Quraysh do not fool yourselves! Allah will take away your blessings and make you blind
at any time as He wishes
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67. And if it had been Our Will, We could have transformed them (into animals or lifeless objects) in their places. Then they should have been unable to go forward (move about) nor they could have turned back. [As it happened with the Jews see Verse 7:166 The Qur'an]. “Masakha” means to transform. Transform can mean that they would be converted into other animals (The Qur'an mentions apes, monkey and pigs elsewhere of the fate of nations) or that they would be immobilized. Again Allah shows His full Power over the Quraysh to threaten them. The purpose of 66-67 is the same, as if Allah is saying, oh Quraysh! Realize that Allah has ultimate
power over you and that if Allah willed then every single blessing, including movement and eyesight, can be taken away at any instance, so thank Allah and worship Him!
68. And he whom We grant long life, We reverse him in creation (weakness after strength). Will they not then understand? “naqasa” means to return i.e. flip to where it began And Allah argues that if these 2 threats will not move you i.e the Quraysh realize that even long life is it‟s own punishment. With old age people become infantile as they were in the start of their life as babies. The reality is that the older one gets the more they lose their memory, their physical faculties, their sanity and so on. Allah says that some of you will be led to an old age, until after knowing and
learning a lot the one returns to a state of knowing nothing. The Prophet (s) would make du‟a to Allah: oh Allah I seek refuge in you from being allowed to live until I am old and senile We don‟t want to live to an age where we could become a burden on others. Allah at the end of the ayah asks us to understand that eventually everything comes back to Him, and that even we will be in His Power, whether through blindness, through immobilization or death, the circle of life will indeed proceed and nothing can be done about it. Allah says in The Qur'an: He created you in weakness, than after he gave you strength, than after strength you will return to being weak and hold. Allah mentions the cycle or the circle of life here as well. Ayaat 69 to 76: The Status of The Prophet (s)
69. And We have not taught him (Muhammad) poetry, nor is it meet for him. This is only a Reminder and a plain Qur'an. Another motif of this Surah now begins: affirming the status of the Prophet Mohammed (s) 56 | P a g e
Why is he mentioned here? In the previous ayaat Allah speaks about two fundamentals of our religion:
Tauhid (worshipping Him alone) and Akhira, and Risala or belief in the Prophet (s) is now left to talk about as the third pillar. The only thing left for them to say was that it was poetry, Allah responds we did not teach the Prophet (s) this. Waleed ibn Mugheera was the leader of Banu Makhzoom and was the top poet of the Quraysh. Yet even he was stumped for two to three days thinking what Prophet Mohammed (s) could be doing, until all he could say was that this is some type of magic, he even knew that this was not poetry. Allah asks: where do you think he got this Qur'an from? For 40 years of his life the Prophet (s) did not write a book or poetry – he was illiterate and unlettered and he was not known to be someone who would write or speak such things. Even non-Muslim Arabs consider the Qur'an to be the pinnacle of their language, and Allah says in the Qur'an: You did not write a book with your right hand, nor
a novel or anything, if you did this than maybe people could doubt that this is a fabrication. And Allah says to those that say he was a poet: You did not teach him poetry and neither did we. In the Qur'an the Prophet (s) says: I lived a lifetime with you people, do you not understand? And from the revelation onwards the Prophet (s) began to recite such a powerful book as the Qur'an, and the stories of the Bani Israel, the Propehts Yusuf (as) and Musa (as) and of the people and Prophets of before. But now all of a sudden from the middle of no where, with no library for miles, he became lettered? The Quraysh had no knowledge of such and the Prophet (s) did not contact a Rabbi or a priest. And Allah says about Mohammed (s) that you were not there when the Prophets were mentioned, and to this day opponents of Islam have no answer even though the non-Muslims try diligently to find the answer to this question of how the Prophet (s) really knew. In their minds he is a super-human academic yet they do not know where he got this knowledge from. The hallmark of our society is education, yet we take much pride in the fact that our beloved Prophet (s) was unlettered. For us to learn we need to read the books of men, but the one with direct access to Allah does not need any books. So for the Rasool of Allah, illiteracy was a positive thing but for us he encouraged us to read and write. The ruling on poetry Some poetry is ok and allowable but too much of if it that prevents worship is haraam. It may be Mustahabb for those doing it for a good cause such as Hasan ibn Thabit (as) but for the Prophet (s) this is not good because his Maqam dictates that nothing should interfere with the beauty of the Qur'an. The Prophet (s) though did engage in poetry. The Prophet (s) once said that the most truthful line of poetry was by Labeed: “everything except for Allah is a waste” and he even quoted this poetry with his mouth. And at the instance of when the Muslims were digging the trench before the battle of the Confederates or Trench, he recited poetry than too, yet Allah says that poetry is not befitting of him. How do we reconcile? Again, that the Prophet (s) quoted other poetry but he did not versify or create the lines.
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And so we get to an important point, why did Allah reveal the Qur'an?.....
70. That he or it (Muhammad or the Qur'an) may give warning to him who is living (a healthy minded the believer), and that Word (charge) may be justified against the disbelievers (dead, as they reject the warnings). The Qur'an is thus a warning to the living, those whose hearts are alive and that are spiritually alive. As for one whose heart is dead they will find no benefit in the Qur'an. Allah says that if your heart has life than you will be guided and Allah‟s Qadr does not force us to act like robots. If you have good in your heart Allah will bless you with more good. So Allah‟s Qadr has much wisdom in it!
71. Do they not see that We have created for them of what Our Hands have created, the cattle, so that they are their owners. The Qur'an is explicit that Allah has created animals for us. This refutes classical arguments of vegans and vegetarians who do not want to consume animals for animal rights causes. The Qur'an mentions many blessings of animals: that they are for carrying, for fur, for honey etc and that they are a blessing. The Qur'an mentions that this whole world and everything in it was made for us. Thus if a Muslim says it is immoral to eat animals they are going against the verses of the Qur'an. People that say it is wrong to eat meat likely come from the Darwinism theory that cows are related to us. On Animal and Human Evolution “We” in this ayah means that Allah and the angels have done so, and this does not mean Allah fashioned animals as they are (i.e. that we don‟t believe in animals evolving). We can not use this verse to say that animals were fashioned by Allah, the “we” here means that the angels are in charge with the command of Allah. Rather with the creation of the humans Allah ascribes the fashioning of the human to Himself in the direct singular form. Thus we have no problems with animal evolution, but yes we have major problems with human evolution. It is not problematic to affirm micro and macro evolution. This ayah does not mean Allah sent one cow, one sheep and all the rest came from this. The theory of evolution does have strength in other biological creatures, but for us theology is clear and the Qur'an is clear: human evolution does not exist. If we think of the domino analogy, where one domino falling led to another and this is how species evolved, it is logical to conclude that one without theology will think of the last domino as the 58 | P a g e
source of human creation instead of from Allah. Yes, it is true that our DNA matches animal DNA and this is but Allah‟s perfection and His creation, but again in Islam we are clear that while we may believe in animal evolution we do not believe in human evolution.
72. And We have subdued them unto them so that some of them they have for riding and some they eat. Horses, cows, buffalos, camels and other animals that we utilize are much more powerful than humans and could kill us should they choose. But Allah says We made these animals docile for them, and when
they see humans they become meek and subservient. Allah has given us thus mastery over these animals.
73. And they have (other) benefits from them (besides), and they get (milk) to drink, will they not then be grateful? And again, we take so much benefit from animals, they provide our fur, food, honey, milk, carry our goods and provide much for us, and Allah asks, why not be thankful to Allah than?
74. And they have taken besides Allah aliha (gods), hoping that they might be helped (by those so called gods). And they respond in an even worse way, instead of thankful Allah they turn to others beside Him!
75. They cannot help them, but they will be brought forward as a troop against those who worshipped them (at the time of Reckoning). This is a powerful verse that shows the weakness of the idols! We can derive multiple interpretations from these ayaat:
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1. “Wahum” the gods, “Lahum” the people who worship them. You yourselves for the sake of your idols become armies fighting for the idols, how do you think these idols will help you when they can‟t even defend themselves? 2. The second interpretation is that on the Day of Judgement, Jesus Christ will dissociate from Christians (there are multiple ahadith and ayat where Esa will return and say that he did not tell the people to worship him), the angels will say we never told the Quraysh to worship us, and every single good person that was worshipped beside Allah (i.e. as an idol) will become an enemy to those who worshipped them beside Allah. When an idol is insulted you become defenders of your OWN gods, how can they defend you? Abdul-Qadir Al Jilani was a righteous man, but today millions worship him. On the Day of Judgement he will become an enemy to those who worshipped him.
76. So let not their speech, then, grieve you (O Muhammad ). Verily, We know what they conceal and what they reveal. This ayah was revealed when Waleed Ibn Mugheera acknowledged in private to Abu Jahl that the Prophet Mohammed (s) was not a poet, madman or a magician but they still agreed to lie in public and to tell the people that he is all that. Allah tells the Prophet (s) that he should not be grieved at what they do. Being grieved is human nature but it is the sunnah of Allah to console the one in tragedy as He does for His Prophet (s) and so we as well should use this principle for others as well. Allah says we know what they have said in secret and what they say in public, do not grieve because we
know truly the reality of their souls. BENEFITS FROM THIS SECTION 1. The miracle of the Qur'an is the ultimate miracle. 2. Nature and the animals around us are Allah‟s gift to us. We may believe in guided animal evolution but that Allah created animals in this form for us. 3. Many who reject the Prophet (s) reject him publicly while affirming him privately. 4. When someone is in distress, we should console them and be sympathetic because Allah even consoled the Prophet (s) , “Fala yahzunka qowlahum” 5. The Surah begins and ends by affirming the Prophethood of Prophet Mohammed (s), this is how important he is. Ayaat 77-83: The Denial of Life After Death, and the Refutation of This Idea
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77. Does not man see that We have created him from Nutfah (mixed male and female discharge semen drops). Yet behold! He (stands forth) as an open opponent. Allah challenges man that He created life from that despised fluid (semen) so why can He not from a piece of bone? Indeed man has much arrogance when he challenges Allah. As if Allah is saying, He
comes from a fluid and an origin that he himself does not want to think about, and he comes to us and challenges us about this bone and does he himself not see where he came from! This powerful concept is a refutation of every single atheist that exists today. You yourself are a living proof of Allah‟s existence but you are blind and you can‟t see the proofs.
78. And he puts forth for Us a parable, and forgets his own creation. He says: "Who will give life to these bones when they have rotted away and became dust?" What is the reference here? To Al-Aas ibn Waa‟il who came to the Prophet (s) and waived the bone in front of his face and said oh Mohammed, do you really believe that Allah will cause this bone to come
back to life after it has decayed? This ayah is thus about the arrogance of this man. The Prophet (s) responded, I swear by Allah, Allah will cause this bone to be resurrected just like He will cause you to die and resurrect and cause you to go to Hell!
79. Say: (O Muhammad ) "He will give life to them Who created them for the first time! And He is the All-Knower of every creation!" And Allah says that the creation of the heavens and the earth is a bigger feat than the creation of the man, if you really want miracles, the miracle of the heavens, the constellations and the stars is bigger than the creation of man. Indeed, Allah has created the creation and He will Create it all over and over again and it will be easier for Him. Ibn Abbas: Nothing is difficult for Allah, even if difficult it will be
easy for Him within a second
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80. He, Who produces for you fire out of the green tree, when behold! You kindle therewith. Allah speaks about the beauty of creation in the magnificent colors that are seen; the blue waters that feel the green trees that can burn to give the red fire. And Allah asks who Else could do all this but Him? And indeed for Him He can surely bring back the dead to life. We return to our main motif that Surah Yasin is about resurrection.
81. Is not He, Who created the heavens and the earth Able to create the like of them? Yes, indeed! He is the All-Knowing Supreme Creator. Al-Khalaaq is the one creating, recreating, creating and recreating always. Why the reference of AllKnowing? Because there is no Creation without Knowledge of it, thus He is Al-Aleem. So how than can you deny the Signs of Allah when they are all around you, and how can you deny the resurrection?
82. Verily, His Command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, "Be!" and it is! “Innama“ is exclusivity, meaning all He needs to do No other creation and no other false deity or object has the power or will to do so. This is The Ultimate Creator.
83. So Glorified is He and Exalted above all that they associate with Him, and in Whose Hands is the dominion of all things, and to Him you shall be returned. Why is the word, “Subhana” used? Remember that it is use to negate Allah from a negative. Yes, you and the non-believers deny that Allah can Re-Create and Resurrect, No! Subhana! Allah is far exalted and above such stupid claims. Even if you deny resurrection, you can not deny that you will return to Allah. No one can deny this return. Think about this reality and your end when you will return to Him. BENEFITS FROM THIS SECTION 1. How arrogant is man to deny the power of Allah when he himself is a living testimony to that power. It is the height of arrogance to question Allah when ignoring your own origins, your capability, your life 62 | P a g e
and your own power. Atheists in particular are being spoken to here: how dare they challenge Allah‟s existence when their own existence is a testament to Allah 2. The issue of the proofs for the existence of God: Ibn Taymiyyah was a staunch opponent to all of the proofs of God‟s non-existence during his time. He once told Ibn-ul-Quyyum Al Jawziyyah, how do
you expect me to go about finding proofs of Allah when everything around me is a proof of His existence. Thus in Islam we don‟t waste our time with those who deny Allah‟s existence. To add to this arrogance, Allah indicates that he comes from a drop of despised fluid and now he challenges the existence of Allah. A nobleman in his society was well-respected, when he would walk by everyone would stand in respect of him but the scholars would not. The man became irritated and approached them, asking, do you know who I am? One scholar responded, yes, you are the one who has come from a drop of despised
fluid, now you carry your own defecation inside you, then when you die you will become an ugly body that no one will want to touch and worms will eat. The man was put in his place and silenced. 3. Kibr or arrogance is thus one of the sins that is not forgiven. We thus have no right to be arrogant and humility is a sign of Emaan. Allah is telling us that there are so many signs around us that indicate Allah‟s power, what is so strange about believing in life after death? Indeed the creation of the heavens and earth is a bigger miracle than the creation of man. 4. Allah does not need to do anything to get the task done, He simply needs to Will it or Intend it without striving as we need to do. Surely a God that is this powerful, majestic is deserving of our ultimate gratitude and praise! “Fa-Subhanaladhi” as Allah begins the last ayah. 5. We worship Allah because of who He is, than and only then because of what He did for us. Even if He did not create us He would be worthy of worship.
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PRIMARY LESSONS FROM SURAH YASIN 1. Allah uses multiple techniques and evidences to prove the Resurrection; describing the Day of Judgement , the physical signs (sun, the moon, the Earth, the ships, the dead land), signs of previous nations, the creation of Heavens and Earth and it being a bigger miracle and finally the continuity of life and how man comes from a drop of despised fluid (and He can create man all over again). This to show us that indeed the Resurrection will happen, indeed all of mankind will stand and answer before Allah on the Day of Judgement.. 2. The secondary theme of Surah Yasin is to establish the Prophethood of Mohammed (s) and this is done at the beginning and at the end of the Surah. 3. We learn that there are some people that will not accept Islam no matter what you do. If this is the case then move on to others who have more hope of responding to your call and do not be grieved by those that did not respond. 4. The specific recording of our deeds is mentioned in Surah Yasin: we write all that they do and their
footsteps 5. The story of the people of Antioch and it‟s relevance to the people of Makkah shows us the wisdom of using stories in the proper context. 6. We learn from the way the Romans handled his people that we should not criticize people directly, it is not advisable to launch a frontal assault on them. Rather the man took the negatives upon himself and gave them the positives in his Dawah. 7. From the numerous evidences of the Day of Judgement we are reminded of the Power of Allah over and over again. That only He is worthy of being worshipped 8. When the punishments of the Day of Judgement are mentioned in context of the non-believers, Allah does not mention the punishments of Jahannam. Jannah is mentioned in vivid detail. Of this we learn that one of the primary methodologies of the Qur'an Is to focus on the positives more than the negatives. 9. Allah emphasizes that so many blessings have been given to us – the animals, the earth and the ships – and that Ar-Rahman is far more than all of this. 10. Man‟s own creation and the creation of the world around him is the biggest sign in itself of the creation of the human being and the truth of the Day of Judgement. In all the magnificent signs we understand that only Allah is worthy of being worshipped 11. The foolishness of shirk is seen in this Surah, how it is illogical and stupid. Truly only Allah is worthy of being worshipped. 12. Righteousness is rewarded in this world and evil is punished. 13. Allah‟s Qadr is indeed true and whatever Allah says will happen 14. Finally that man should benefit from his own history, specifically the easy destruction of nations of before that claimed much might and power.
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SURAT‟L- RAHMAN THE BLESSINGS OF SURAT‟L RAHMAN 1. The Prophet (s) said that Surah Ar-Rahman is part of the Mufassal surahs, as previously covered, the Prophet (s) said:
I have been given instead of the Torah, the 7 long Surahs – Saba‟a Tiwaal -- and I have been given instead of the Zabur (Psalms of David) the mi‟eem Surahs, and instead of the injeel of Esa the mathani surahs and I have been privileged with the mufassal Surahs (which begin with Surah Qaf and include Surat‟l Rahman) In the Mushaf of Ibn Mas‟ud, he had Surah Rahman as the beginning of the Mufassal. It was different from that of Uthman due to a difference in the arrangements of the Surahs and this was not from the arrangement prescribed by the Prophet (s) . In our Mushaf the Mufassal begin with Surah Qaf. 2. In Tirmidhi it is narrated that once the Prophet (s) recited the entire Surah outside of Salah (this in itself is a big blessing of Surat‟l Rahman) in front of the Sahaba. Then he said to them that, “I recited this Surah to the Jinn on Laylatal Jinn and they responded better than your response,” The sahaba asked what they responded, and he said, “every time I recited, Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny? they responded, “not with any of your blessings will we
attempt to deny our Lord, for all praise is due to you” Thus of the blessings of Surat‟l Rahman is that the Prophet (s) chose to recite this Surah on the night of the Jinn i.e. Laylat‟l Jinn. This is a night in Makkah where ibn-Masud narrates that, “one night we
could not find the Prophet (s) and we searched the entire city and we could not find him and we became terrified that an evil had come to him from the Quraysh, and we spent the worse night of our lives. Finally in the morning the Prophet (s) came walking into the city, and we asked rushingly where he was, he replied: „someone came to me from the Jinn and told me to come to their camp, and I went to them to preach Islam, and I spent the night with them‟. Ibn Masud said he showed us the remnants of their camp; their fire and what they left behind the next morning. Perhaps it occurred more than once, but Laylat‟l Jinn is the night that the Prophet (s) taught the Jinn Islam, and the Sahaba of the Jinn that studied from him taught Islam to the rest of the Jinn. The Prophet (s) must have also taught them the fiqh that they needed to know because we do know bits of this fiqh, for example we can‟t use bones to cleanse ourselves because the Prophet (s) told the jinn that any bone consumed by the Muslims will be for the Jinn to consume as nutrition, so we don‟t make it najis for the sake of our Muslim brothers of the Jinn. 3. Of the blessings of Surat‟l Rahman, the books of Seerah mention (we note that the authenticity of Seerah books is not as high as those of Hadith books) that one the Sahaba mentioned to another Sahaba that the Quraysh have not yet heard the Qur'an, so they asked who will recite the Qur'an publicly in Makkah for the first time. Ibn Masud wanted to be the first but they rejected him, saying, 65 | P a g e
No! you can‟t recite the Qur'an because you have no protection and it we worry that they will beat you up or even kill you. Ibn Masud insisted to have this honor, citing his trust in Allah, and so when he insisted he was given the honor. He went in front of the Ka‟bah and recited in a loud and beautiful voice Surat‟l Rahman and he was indeed beaten up. Nevertheless the first person to publicly recite the Qur'an. This shows us that Surat‟l Rahman was revealed in Early Makkah and must be one of the earliest of revelations. There are no other explicit ahadith about Surat‟l Rahman nor any specific reasons as to why it was revealed. However some have said it was revealed because the Quraysh questioned the Prophet (s) and asked him, who is Al-Rahman? 4. The names of Surat‟l Rahman Of the names given to Surat‟l Rahman by later scholars, is „Aroos al Qur'an. ‟Aroos means bride, but much more than that, it means the most well-decorated and polish bride, perhaps the bride on her wedding night. 5. The entire Surah is a direct explanation of the name of Allah, Al-Rahman, and every single ayah goes back directly to Al-Rahman. This is also why the verse then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny makes sense, as if Allah is saying My Rahma is something that you use every single day, in every single instance, yet you still end up denying Me. “aala” means a blessing, gift or favor and only Ar-Rahman is capable of giving this. 6. The uniqueness of the Surah The Surah is unique in 2 ways, 1) It‟s repeating ayaat, Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny, an ayah repeated 31 times (no other ayah is repeated like this in the Qur'an) 2) it begins directly with a name of Allah, and this name is a complete Ayah, “Ar-Rahman” TAFSIR SURAT‟L RAHMAN
1. Ar-Rahman! This is one of the most powerful names of Allah, occurring over 71 times in the Qur'an. It is also the only name of Allah used as a stand-alone name by itself along with Allah. Allah and Ar-Rahman are used independently, frequently and without any other names. In the Qur'an, Allah says call upon
Allah or Ar-Rahman, whichever name you use, all Names belong to Him. The benefits of the Name Ar-Rahman
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The Name Ar-Rahman is also one of the most common names used in Surah Yasin (in fact He uses the name Ar-Rahman more then the name of Allah). Whenever Allah speaks of His throne (as he does 7 times), Allah only uses the name Ar-Rahman and not Allah, and He says that He has risen over the throne, what is the wisdom behind this? The throne is the largest creation of Allah! When Allah speaks of Day of Judgement He also uses His name Ar-Rahman (Surah Maryam Allah says, all that is in the
heavens and earth will come infront of Ar-Rahman). Lastly when Allah speaks of the Creation of the heavens and the earth and how He rises over the Earth, He mentions His name Ar-Rahman. Ar-Rahman is the most comprehensive and unique Name of Allah and a Name that permeates literally everything. Usually in ayaat we find that all the Names of Allah are paired together, but Ar-Rahman is not paired in such a way, rather it is a stand-alone name. All these show the beauty and the importance of the Name Ar-Rahman The difference between AR-Rahman and Ar-Raheem? Ar-Raheem is Merciful through His actions, ArRahman is Mercy in Being
Question: Can we say some names are more powerful than others? Yes we can, and all Names of Allah are the most powerful but within themselves some names have more power than others. According to some, the Quraysh denied the name Ar-Rahman and so Allah reveals the entire Surah to explain who is Ar-Rahman. There is an opinion that Haroof al-Mukata‟aat are the names of Allah. Saeed ibn Jubbayr, the student of Ibn Abbas, held this position as well who said that “Alef Laam Ra” and “Haa Meem” and then “Noon” all join to form Ar-Rahman. There is the theme of duality in this entire Surah, except for in the ayah of the mention of Ar-Rahman, why so? Because Allah is One. Allah demonstrates that, “I am unique and ONE and everything else is
not unique.” The tone of the Surah is set right from the very beginning thus and only Allah has the privilege of being singular while everything else is in pairs, even the oft-repeated verse, then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny is in dual form.
2. Has taught (you mankind) the Qur'an (by His Mercy).
See below, the tafsir of ayah 4
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3. He created man.
See below, the tafsir of ayah 4
4. He taught him eloquent speech. The beautiful order mentioned in these ayaat is that Allah mentions the Qur'an first, then man and then speech. From this we get our priorities straight, as if Allah is saying that existence without guidance is useless. The Qur'an is more important and more noble than the creation of man; and from this we understand that religious guidance is more important. Even before we are created the purpose of our creation has already been laid out. We were not put on Earth except Allah had our code of living already established. That Allah guides us through the Qur'an is more important for us than our own existence thus. As Allah says, did man think that he would live without guidance? i.e. anarchism A second point to note is to look at the verbs used: He TAUGHT Qur'an, He CREATED man. Imam Ahmed and classical scholars prove that the Qur'an is uncreated, part of Allah‟s „Ilm and Allah‟s Knowledge is NOT created. Our defining characteristic in Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah is that the Qur'an is uncreated, why care? We now see why this is a big deal when we look at the progressive and modernist groups today. Their leaders and “scholars” say they follow the Mu‟tazilite position that the Qur'an is created. What they say is that when we say the Qur'an is created what we mean is that it is
not perfect. If it is imperfect what follows is that they say that you do not have to follow every single verse, rather you can get the “meaning” and “spirit” of it without having to worry about the wording of the Qur'an. If it is created that further means that it is open to being modified as well. But our theology dictates that the „ilm of Allah is NOT created, and because we say that the Qur'an is an attribute of Allah Himself this means that we absolutely must follow it to the letter and that we can not modify it under any circumstance. One may logically ask: to WHOM did He teach the Qur'an? This is not mentioned because Qur'an is meant for all mankind. Everyone in the world has access to the Qur'an. Another benefit is that Allah is saying Allah taught man speech and this, “Bayyan” is what separates us from all other animals and creation. No doubt animals communicate with one another and speak at a rudimentary level. Qur'an says that the ants communicate with one another, and modern science has managed to record conversations between whales. Ants leave behind a scent and trail, yet what makes us different? The level of our communication! Animals can only communicate basic things, whereas man has risen to the level of poetry, arts, history, analysis and a higher level of communication than any other creature. This is Bayyan and a much higher form of speech. To this day modern scientists 68 | P a g e
that believe in Darwin‟s theory have this as a stumbling block; how did we get language and other creations didn‟t? Language is this #1 factor that separates humans from any other creation. Vocal chords are present in apes etc, yet humans can do exponentially more than apes can! Allah taught Adam how to speak and all languages go back to Adam. The common theory in linguists is that all languages go back to one common origin, we believe this as well in Islam. What if someone were to say, why did Allah say He taught man speech, but isn‟t our biggest blessing that of intellect? The response that you can‟t have Bayyan without intellect, it is a condition! Allah focuses on speech and intellect is definitely already implied and included in all this. What separates us from other creatures is our knowledge. Our knowledge is so supreme that we have knowledge or our own knowledge! Animals cant study themselves. This is called meta-cognition: the cognition of our own cognition. Another blessing is that the Qur'an and Bayyan are complimentary in that Bayyan is eloquent speech, and the Qur'an is the most eloquent of speech, and the meaning of Qur'an is, “that which is recited”. As if Allah is saying I ONLY taught you Bayyan in order to understand and recite the Qur'an. Qatadah, the student of Ibn Abbas, said: Allah taught man Bayyan so that he make clear to him
Haraam and Halaal
5. The sun and the moon run on their fixed courses (exactly) calculated with measured out stages for each (for reckoning, etc.). “Husbaan” means in perfect harmony, complete courses that are already pre-calculated, Surah Yasin talks about this miracle as well. The amazing fact is that we don‟t time these massive celestial objects, rather these bodies are what give us time. When we consider how large they are, it is amazing that we can derive time to the millisecond through them. According to some scholars, Allah mentions Shams wal Qamar i.e. Sun and Moon because both our Lunar and Solar calendars are derived from their fixed course and there are civilizations that work on both calendars. During the time of the Prophet (s) the Romans did have a solar calendar. The concept of the Sun and Moon and their resulting effects on our lives is something that we take for granted, yet Allah mentions this often in the Qur'an as a blessing to us and a testament to His Might. In the Qur'an, Allah says, Say if Allah were to put you in perpetual darkness, and you were to be in
night forever, who could bring you the day except Allah? And, Say if Allah would have thrown you into perpetual daylight, who could bring you a darkness that you could find comfort in. Allah also says in the Qur'an, of His blessings and Rahma, He has given you the night so you can rest and He has given you the day that you can be active. There are areas in world closer to the Northern and South poles 69 | P a g e
where there is a day or night for months at a time. Here there is much difficulty in humans adapting and functioning in their daily lives. When we consider this we understand the blessing of the day and the night.
6. And the herbs (or stars) and the trees both prostrate. Shajr means Trees
Najm has 2 meanings, 1) The stars, and if this is the case than there is a good parallel here in that the stars are high and the trees are low (and everything in between is implied) 2) The vines that crawl on the ground that do not rise up. Even the shrubs on the ground and the tall trees are both prostrating Regardless of which meaning of Najm we follow, in both cases there is a contrast of high to low. All beings are prostrating to Allah! We have no problems believing in this because we believe that prostrating is what all living objects do. Allah says that even the shade or the “dhilal” prostrate to Him. As Allah says in the Qur'an, There is nothing that exists except that it sings it‟s praises but you do not
understand it‟s singing and it‟s praise. And we see examples of this in the Sunnah, the mountain of Uhud as the Prophet (s) addressed it after the battle of Uhud and how he praised it (as he said, Uhud is a mountain that loves us and we love it), the tree trunk that cried when the Prophet (s) moved away from giving Khutbahs close to it, the stones that praised Allah that the Prophet (s) mentioned he saw at the time he was spending much time in the cave of Hira, and so on. Today theories in modern science speak of even inanimate objects having some type of consciousness.
7. And the heaven He has raised high, and He has set up the Balance.
The theme of duality continues.. the heavens are raised and the “meezan” or the balance has been lowered The two nouns used are the Heavens and the Meezan, than the verbs associated with each are
“Rafa‟a” meaning to raise and “wadha‟” meaning to lower Meezan is typically translated as the scale or the balance, but the real meaning of Meezan is the concept of justice. Meezan is called such (the scale, the balance) because it is the manifestation of justice, Allah says I have raised the Heavens and have sent down Justice. Balance is but a type of showing of Justice, and Allah is implying more than this. 70 | P a g e
“Sama‟a” literally means all that is above us; the skies, the stars and all celestial objects. “Samou” is something high, in Arabic we use this for “your royal highness”
Why did He do such…?
8. In order that you may not transgress (due) balance. I.e. don‟t go to extremes, don‟t act unjustly, establish the scales of Justice and do not diminish that justice
Surah Hadeed mentions that Allah has sent down Justice, and this is ingrained in every single human, this innate feeling that we want to be fair and that we love for people to be fair to us, and finally that none of us want injustice. “Meezan” in the context here means the Qur'an because this is the ultimate criteria of good and evil
9. And observe the weight with equity and do not make the balance deficient. Allah says, I have created everything and I have perfected Justice so you do the same with each other Ibn Taymiyyah commented on this verse and said: Justice is so beloved to Allah that He will
allow a just nation that does not believe in Him to flourish (in this world) and He will destroy a Muslim kingdom that does not flourish even though they believe in Him. Yasir Qadhi: And we see this today, what is the status of justice in the Muslim lands? Whatever we do say it is true that this land allows so much equality and opportunity that it is un-parallelled in the modern world today. Many of us today are products of the fairness of this country. Had we gone to other countries, many countries of our own religion, we may not have been given the same opportunities and perhaps this is one of the reasons why this land is so powerful today in the modern economy. This is not blanket praise of this land, rather our religion tells us to speak the truth
10. And the earth He has put for the creatures. Similar to Surah Yasin, Allah is saying that He Created the Earth and then He subjugated it to us humans. The world has thus been created for our own consumption. “An‟am” here means primarily men and Jinn.
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11. Therein are fruits, date-palms producing sheathed fruit-stalks (enclosing dates).
“Faakiha” as mentioned before is every fruit, but of those the date tree is mentioned specifically because of it‟s usefulness We must remember through-out that all of these ayaat are linking back to Ar-Rahman, These verses are a direct tafsir of Allah‟s name Ar-Rahman “Nakhl” means date palms. At the time date palms were one of the most prized things to have. They provide nutrition, shelter and are an indication of civilization. In the Arabian desert a group of date palms cultivated after a long journey meant that a town or people resided at that area. The Nakhl was praised by the Prophet (s) as well, who said there is a tree amongst all trees that represents Islam and
Muslims and that is the Nakhl. “Akmaam” is plural form meaning covering. So the date palms are that which cover and give you shade.
12. And also corn, with (its) leaves and stalk for fodder, and sweet-scented plants.
“Habb” does not just mean corn but every seed. “Asf” is one part of the tree and “reyhaan” is another part of the tree. Asf is the pillar while Rayhan applies to the tree in that good scent comes from the fruit and flowers, thus Reyhaan refers to the fruits and the flowers of a tree.
Allah is mentioning all these blessings, yet we deny worshipping Him and attributing all this to Him, as if an argument is being made, “If you reject Him than do not use these blessings”
13. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny? The letter “FA” is a FA of response translating as “therefore” or “in light of what has proceeded….”, as if Allah is saying, now that you have heard these blessings… therefore “BIYYEH” means “which one”, “AALA” comes from “ilyun” meaning a blessing or a favor. This word occurs in many places in the Qur'an; In Surah A‟araf:69 when the Prophet (s) Hud tells his people, “remember the blessings of Allah 72 | P a g e
if you want to be successful” and in Surah Najm verse 55, “which of the blessings of your Lord are you going to disagree on” and this word is seen often in the sunnah as well. The Prophet (s) said: think about the blessings of Allah and do not think about Allah Himself as narrated in Tabarani (because we do not have the capacity to think about Allah)
Is this ayah unique to Surah Rahman or is there a similar ayah elsewhere in the Qur'an? This ayah is unique to Surah Rahman, although a similar ayah is present in Surah Najm:55
Which of the blessings of your Lord will you argue about What does the duality mean? Why to, the both of you? The Prophet (s) recited these ayaat to the Jinn and to the Ins, and so the duality is a reference to the Jinn and the men. Amongst other opinions, the duality also may refer to Muslims and Non-Muslims and to men and women. Another opinion is that the duality is the reference to the singular in a form meant to emphasize this verse to the one person. To speak to the person in the dual is a method of emphasizing what is being said. This opinion thus says that there is no actual duality. The evidence for this opinion is that this method of emphasizes is used commonly in Arabic poetry in which one person is spoken to as if he is two. Another evidence is in Surah Qaf, where Allah uses, Al-qiya (the dual) for Jahannam – the both of
you thrown into Jahannum. In this case there is no true duality but just an emphasizes to the punishment of Jahannam
What do we conclude? Allah knows best, the primary meaning seems to be men and Jinn, though the others do have some base. We conclude this based on the context of the ayah.
“Tukadhibaan” meaning, “consider to be false”. “Kadhaba” means to reject or consider something false. In this case Tukadhibaan has 3 meanings types (there are many types of takdheeb, 3 types are mentioned here and they become progressively less in severity as we go down the list) 1) To reject that Allah has given a blessing This is the worst type. To deny that Allah has given you that blessing, this is what Atheists do and Shaytaan is guilty of. Qaroon was guilty of this as well (in the Qur'an he says, I earned my money), the man of the garden as mentioned in the story of Surah Kahf is guilty of this as well. 2) To accept Allah has given a blessing but associate others to and with it This is what the Kufr of Shirk. This is what the Quraysh and many Polytheists are guilty of, as an example Hindus attribute the blessings to their god Krishna. 3) To not thank Allah properly 73 | P a g e
Kufr an-Na‟imah is something that unfortunately many of us Muslims fall into. It is to be ungrateful to the one who gave you the gift. Unfortunately many of us fall into that part of Tukadhibaan that we have not thanked Him the way He deserves to be thanked. This is the least problematic of Takdheeb but this does not make you a non-Muslim but rather an ungrateful Muslim.
Why is this verse repeated 31 times? To emphasize each of these blessings one after the other. Every time Allah mentions a blessing He will repeat the verse to emphasize and give credit. Siddique Hasan Khan (a scholar who passed away about 110 years ago) wrote a tafsir of the Qur'an in which he mentions that this verse occurs 31 times, his analysis is amazing and no one else has done so. That he did this and he was relatively recent shows us that in Islamic sciences there is still much room for work to be done. His Tafsir: 1. The first 8 mentions of this verse follow Allah‟s blessing in this world, 2. the next 7 occur after threats of Allah‟s punishment (because Jahannum has 7 doors) 3. the next 8 follow a description of the highest levels of Jannah, because Jannah has 8 doors, 4. the next 8 come after Allah describes the lower levels of Jannah So he concludes that, whoever acknowledges the first 8 will be saved from the next 7 doors of
Jahannum and enter through all the 2nd 8 doors of Jannah to get to the final 8 doors of Jannah as well. This is a total of exactly 31 times!
14. He created man (Adam) from sounding clay like the clay of pottery. Why does Allah repeat that He created man again when this was previously mentioned? After saying that He created man, now Allah elaborates as to the How He did so, speaking about the source of creation. Going back to our discussion of what the duality in, Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?, means, Allah mentions this ayah in 13. and then mentions men followed by Ins in the next ayah. This is clear evidence that the duality is likely relating to man and to jinn.
“SalSaal” like Fakhaar. Salsaal is a dry clay used by the potters when they make their pottery, and called so because it means the one that reverberates, meaning that when you knock the sound will reverberate and you will hear the hollow sound inside. The mention of the Creation of men in the Qur'an Allah says in the Qur'an He created men and uses different nouns. Sources of creation of man by Allah 74 | P a g e
1) Water: Allah says in many verses He created everything from water. In Surah Nur: 45 Allah says,
and Allah created every creature from water. In Surah Anbiyyah: 30, Allah says, we have made from water every single living thing. In Surah Furqan: 54, Allah says, He is the one who has created from water man 2) Dry Sand, or “Turaab” as the source of creation We know this from the story of the man and the two gardens in Surah Kahf: Allah created you from
Turaab 3) Earth or “Ardh” This is mentioned twice in the Qur'an, In Surah Hud 61: he has caused you to come from the earth The Prophet (s) also told us that Allah took it a handful from the Earth (all around the Earth) and therefore He said, man comes according to the soil, it‟s colors and quality. So if we look at the colors of our skins they are literally the color of sand and soil. The Prophet (s) said: he took him even from the
pure and the filthy and the fertile and infertile and the easy and the hard, so man as well is pure and filthy, easy and stubborn and hard. This shows us that man comes from Earth 4) Sticky Clay or “Teen” In one verse Allah describes teen as sticky Safaa: 11 we have created them from Teen al_laazim – playdo that the kids play with 5) Dry Clay or “Salsaal” as mentioned here in Surat‟l Rahman. Fakhaar is another term for clay that potter‟s use. This term is used 1-2 times in the Qur'an as well. Allah says, I have created you from clay
like the potter‟s use 6) Dark and hard clay or, “Hamaa‟in Masnoon” This is the type of clay that comes from an oven or furnace
Are the contradictions in any of the above? How can He create us from all the above and how do we reconcile? This is easy, the above are all stages of the creation of man. Together our two primary (base) components are water and sand. From here we get “Teen” or sticky clay, “Ardh” or Earth is a version of “Teen” but it is moist with water. “Salsaal” or dry clay is from water and sand and then we finally become dark and hardened clay i.e. “Hama‟il Masnoon.”
How do we reconcile this study with modern science and evolution? There is a debate available on Youtube that Yasir Qadhi himself participated, “theological debate on
evolution”
15. And the jinns did He create from a smokeless flame of fire.
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“Maarij” is a mixture of Naar or fire (blue, red and orange fires). Allah says He created jinn from different types of fire and the scholars say that this is orange, red, white and blue fire. Yasir Qadhi‟s opinion: Jinns are a type of energy and Naar was a reference to energy not really fire. Allah calls it smokeless fire, how and why? We know Jinns are a type of energy because in our modern world we do have detections of these entities. Specific equipment is used to measure different types of energies. And when we consider their other characteristics this also makes sense. They go through physical barriers, travel at the speed of light, have no shape and can take any other shape. And Allah knows best.
What is the original shape of jinn? The question comes from our own paradigm that everything must have an original shape. They don‟t have a shape and take it just to come to our world. Even though the Jinn are more in quantity than the humans and they were created before us (we know this from the story of Iblis - Iblis was told to do Sajdah to Adam - this is the sajdah of respect not worship – but he refused), our superiority is shown in that that we are mentioned before the Jinn. Also the Qur'an is the best book and the primary audience of this is men, not jinn, further demonstrating our superiority.
16. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny? Again, the repetition is a focus, a place marker, to remind us that the aforementioned blessings are to remind us of the bounty of Allah over us. Husayn ibn Fadl said: by repeating the verse, heedlessness is removed and the evidence is established.
17. (He is) the Lord of the two easts (places of sunrise during early summer and early winter) and the Lord of the two wests (places of sunset during early summer and early winter).
The Lord of the 2 easts and 2 wests, why are there two Easts and two Wests mentioned here? Allah speaks about the Lord of the East and West elsewhere in the Qur'an. The singular, dual and plural all exist in the Qur'an, how do we reconcile? Scholars say that this is in reference to the rising and setting of the sun in different spots of the horizon every single day. The sun rises at a slightly different place every single day, and through-out the year it follows a different spectrum. The 2 equinoxes is the center of this spectrum This detailed knowledge of the sun‟s setting in different places in a cycle with the cycle centered at the equinox was not known to the Arabs but it was to ancient civilizations: the Incas, the Greek, the 76 | P a g e
Romans, the civilization of the Polynesian islands (on the days of the equinox there is a shadow cast that is unique just for that day only so this is how they knew this day was the day of the equinox). So it makes sense that there are different easts and wests. Another opinion is that the Two Easts and Two Wests are speaking of the 4 points of the compass i.e. add in North and South Another opinion is that this is the two Easts and Wests mentioned are that of the sun and that of the moon Yet others have said that this is an indication of differences in seasons and timings of salah. And Allah knows best.
18. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
19. He has let loosed the two seas (the salt water and the sweet) meeting together.
“Maraja” means to send forth or it could mean to mix or to allow to flow “Barzakh” barrier So when we speak of East and West we stop at the land, rather this is not true, Allah says He controls
the oceans as well Allah says that water is not stagnant and the waters of the world are interconnected and run together. Thus Allah speaks of the flow of water through His mercy. To this day we do not understand how and why streams, rivers and water bodies flow, but Allah says He is the one who caused them to spread and mix.
What two oceans are referenced here? Some say this reference is to salty verses non-salty water. If this is the case than the reference to the “Barzakh” or barrier is that the two waters do not cross each other. Natural sciences calls it the “hallo-
climb phenomenon” that when certain conditions are met including specific temperatures, salinity and pressures that are only met in a few places in the world. Here when salt and fresh water meet, a type of shimmering barrier is seen that can be seen by scuba drivers and people on a ship. There are youtube videos that exist on this phenomenon as well. This does not mean that the two do not mix, just that there is an illusion of a barrier. A second opinion is that “Bahrain” are two specific waters, the Persian ocean and the Red sea waters. The Barzakh is therefore the Peninsula of Arabia. 77 | P a g e
A third opinion that this is referencing the land and the sea, and had Allah willed the oceans would swallow us all up.
20. Between them is a barrier which none of them can transgress.
See above, the tafsir of ayah 19
21. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
22. Out of them both come out pearl and coral. “Lulo” means pearls “Marjaan” means corals Many past civilizations would use these both in matters of beauties. Why does Allah mention 2 things that are used for beautification and are not the most beneficial of things that we extract from the ocean? The response that Allah mentions that which is least useful yet these items that are so useless are so prized, how much does a pearl necklace cost today? Something unnecessary for life is valued! It is as if Allah is arguing that if something so unnecessary is valued, what about the other things in the ocean that are far more important to us? That being said, Allah does in the later ayaat describe the things of benefit to us from the ocean.
23. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
24. And His are the ships going and coming in the seas, like mountains.
“Jawari” is not the common way of talking about ships, it is the plural of “Jaariy” or a young girl, why does Allah mention such? Young girls always run around everywhere and can‟t sit down in one place. Thus Jawari signals the motion of the ships literally running through the water. 78 | P a g e
“Munsha‟aat” means constructed. These ships are not natural, they must have been made. Allah reminds us that He allowed us the knowledge of building the ships “Al‟alaam” means mountains, why does Allah call ships mountains? It shows their sheer size and weight, the ships of today are called “floating cities.” Another reasons is that similar to how we can recognize a mountain from the distance, any ship in the distance in the ocean can be seen similarly through sticking up from the water distinctively.
25. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
26. Whatsoever is on it (the earth) will perish. How many blessings does Allah mention already? The skies, the earth and everything on it, the sun and the moon, the ships and the oceans. Allah reminds that these blessings are only temporal. The shift now occurs from the transient nature of this life to the permanence of the Hereafter.
“Faan” does not mean just to die, but literally means to be extinguished and perished. It is a more powerful term than dying because absolutely nothing remains. Allah speaks of the complete annihilation of every single person and thing on this Earth.
27. And the Face of your Lord full of Majesty and Honour will abide forever. The Face of Allah has been mentioned as a Face of honor and ikram (one that bestows favors). Anyone who sees this Face has thus been given the highest of honor and favor. Ahuls-Sunnah affirm that using “Wajh” or Face is ok, and yes Allah has a Face and this is seen here and elsewhere in our books, but we do not question or try to imagine the face of Allah, rather we know that it is, “dhul dhalaali wal ikraam” The Prophet (s) said: Allah says that Allah‟s hijab is Noor. If Allah were to lift His veil, the rays that come from his Wajh will destroy everything that His eyes sees (narrated in Sahih Muslim). So Allah‟s Eyes see everything and Allah‟s Hijab is to protect us from His own Beauty
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Why is only His Wajh mentioned? By mentioning the most noble aspect of Allah‟s Sifaat, the other Characteristics are automatically included. The Prophet (s) said: whoever asks by the Wajh of Allah, Allah never refuse him of what he wants. From this ayah some people have derived the name of Allah Al-Baaqi. There is much controversy over these names. Al-Baaqi may or may not be in the 99 names. Allah‟s names are Al-Qaabid and Al-Baasit, Allah never calls Himself that, but from the verbs we get the two Names. So yes we can get nouns from verbs. But it is not allowed to just take any verb and make it into a noun (thus Al-Baaqi is controversial), rather only a specialist can decide this. As an example, we don‟t call Him the One Who Curses Kuffar. When Allah says, “Qulu man Allaya Faan” some think that everything will be destroyed, rather no, the Throne, the inhabitants and of Jannah and Naar will not. QULU does not mean you can‟t not have exceptions but rather that exceptions are allowed. What about the the Heavens and Earth? Yes they will be destroyed. Allah says in the Qur'an about the queen of Sheeba from Hud-hud, She has been given of everything, and the word, “Qulu” is used here as well. Was she given of absolutely everything? Of course not, this is a just a way of conversation. Again, exceptions exist.
28. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
29. Whosoever is in the heavens and on earth begs of Him (its needs from Him). Every day He has a matter to bring forth (such as giving honour to some, disgrace to some, life to some, death to some, etc.)! After mentioning that everything will be destroyed and only Allah will remain forever, Allah mentions another Characteristic of His: that He is the Ever-living and the Sustainer. From the combination of both these Characteristics we derive Allah‟s Names, Al-Hayy and Al-Qayyoom. According to many scholars, these are the greatest names of Allah. The concept that He is the one that remains and He is the one who gives what everyone needs is a very powerful concept. All that is in the heavens asks of Him, what if someone were to say, the kaafir doesn‟t ask though! We respond, 1) This ayah speaks in a general sense 2) The Kaafir does in fact ask Allah in times of need 3) They may not ask with the tongue of asking but yes with the circumstance of asking 80 | P a g e
And so what are they asking? It is not specified and thus we conclude that they are asking for everything.
“Sha‟an” means importance. So what does it mean that everyday He is engaged in matters of importance? Abu Darda narrated the Prophet (s) said: From his Sha;‟an is that He forgives a sin, alleviates a suffering, raises a group and debases another group. The point of hope is that Allah is actively involved in our daily lives! From this and other ayahs scholars derive the 5 levels of Qadr; 1) The eternal Qadr that exists in Allah‟s knowledge 2) The Qadr written down 50,00 years before creation i.e. Lawhal Mahfoudh 3) The Qadr of our birth, when the roh is blown into us when we are in the wombs of our mothers. This is when the angel writes our Qadr again and asks Allah if we are to be a 1. Boy or girl, 2. What is our Rizq, 3. Our deeds, 4. How long we will live, and 5. If we are to be of those that enter Hellfire or Heaven 4) The Yearly Qadr i.e. laylatul Qadr. On this night Allah announces the decree of the upcoming year 5) The daily qadr, “qula yowmin howa fi sha‟an” The lowest levels of Qadr can change, but the higher levels do not change and there is no clear distinction what is low and high and the change occurs within them. To further explain, the Qadr at the time of our creation, our yearly and daily Qadr can change from one to another, but these changes have been recorded in the eternal Qadr i.e. the Lowhal Mahfoudh, the preserved tablet, and this is within Alllah‟s Knowledge. As an example, Allah can decree that a person lives 60 years, 3 months and 5 days in the life-time level of Qadr i.e. the womb of his mother. Because he has been righteous and pious and he has accumulated much good (example he went to Umrah and Hajj which increases life), when the man reaches 60 Allah tells the angels on Layla-tul-Qadr for an extension. The opposite may also happen, the man may be a sinner and thus Allah may tell the angels to take his life early. However all these changes are in Allah‟s Knowledge and have been recorded already in Lowhal Mahfoudh but the angels do not know of them. The angels are the ones that carry out the decree of Qadr.
More on Qadr Ibn Abbas said that Qadr is a secret of Allah and one should not try to delve too much into it The Prophet (s) said: Think about the blessings of Allah, do not think about the essence of Allah. So we do not think about what Allah, What He is or what He looks like etc but rather we focus on His blessings. 81 | P a g e
We can assign all calamities to Qadr; it happened because of his Qadr, but we must be very careful in justifying sins because it was already written for us to sin.
30. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
31. We shall attend to you, O you two classes (jinns and men)! The scene shifts, “Sanafraghu lakum” i.e. SHORTLY We will make ourselves concentrating on you, We will set aside time for you. This is in reference to Day of Judgement where time will be set aside just for us. Ibn Abbas said about that “Sanafraghu” which means literally We will stop and concentrate on you, that Allah is not in need of stopping and concentrating on one thing at the expense of the other (Allah can do infinite at any one time), rather it is a means of terrifying His creation that His entire attention would be paid to us. And we know that no other being will be called to task except Jinn and men. This is of the many evidences that prove that the Jinn along with Ins will be judged, both rewarded and punished. It also proves that the other creation will not be rewarded and punished
Two ways of talking about the future: “Sa” Means in a short period of time “Sowfa” Means after a while “Thaqal” means heavy, “thaqalaan” is means two mighty nations, this is what the Jinn and Ins are called.
32. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
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33. O assembly of jinns and men! If you have power to pass beyond the zones of the heavens and the earth, then pass (them)! But you will never be able to pass them, except with authority (from Allah)! This verse is further evidence that duality is with the ins and jinn
“Nafadha” means to go quickly or break with speed. “AQTaar” is the boundary, of what? The heavens and earth. Recall that earlier in the Surah Allah mentions that He created man and then He created Jins but here Allah reverses the order, He mentions Jinn than Humans, why? The primary audience now being spoken to is the Jinn. When it comes to breaking through the barriers of heavens, the Jinn do this not the men. Allah also presents a challenge to the Jinn and Humans, if you want to, than get together in groups
instead of doing it yourselves, go ahead and get as much help as you need, you will still be unable to go beyond the zones of the heavens and the Earth. This is so true today. If we look at our times today and with the technology that we have developed, we as humans still haven‟t be able to achieve inter-galactic travel unless we invented what our minds can‟t even comprehend. One simple factor – the time involved in undertaking such a journey – is our limit, let alone other factors.
A commentary on “Samawaat” or the Heavens versus “Jannat” or Paradise The 7 Heavens are not Paradise. Paradise is a reward for the believers after the Day of Judgement. The heavens are what we are living in today, the Earth and the galaxy are all the first heaven and we have no traversed past this even! What is the reality of the 2nd, 3rd and successive heavens? We have no idea yet we are so proud of having sent someone to Mars and this journey would take half a human lifetime! Paradise occupies the 7th heaven. The Jinn also are unable to go beyond the heavens, as we know this occurred after the birth of the Prophet (s) . Let‟s forget about going beyond the first heaven, what about the Earth itself? Allah challenges us, how deep can you go? Even with all our technology, how deep have we been able to go into the crust of the earth? The deepest machine, not human, has traversed approximately 5.5 miles into the Earth and after this level anything that we have will simply melt.
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What is “Sultan”? This is a reference to the permission of Allah. Allah thus humbles us in reminding us that we can‟t cross even a minute fraction of the 1st heaven or we can‟t even begin to explore our own Earth without His permission. And we know from Isra wal Mi‟raaj that the Prophet (s) was indeed given permission to cross the heavens.
34. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
35. There will be sent against you both, smokeless flames of fire and (molten) brass, and you will not be able to defend yourselves.
“Shuadh” is a precise term, it means a fire without smoke. Smoke is literally the particles of the air. “Nuhaas” is copper or the color of copper The reference of the meteors is that the Jinn would go up before the birth of the Prophet (s) and listen to the conversations between the angels, this would allow them to know the decree of Allah before it happened. The skies however were closed at the birth of the Prophet (s) , though the Jinn are given some partial access and only with the permission of Allah. Meteors are a dull copper color and this could be Nuhaas What about the smoke being without fire? This is such a precise term because smoke comes from the particle in our atmosphere i.e. air, and in space there is no air or atmosphere, thus the fire would not have any smoke.
36. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
Now begins the Day of Judgement..
37. Then when the heaven is rent asunder, and it becomes rosy or red like red-oil, or red hide. 84 | P a g e
“Wardah” is the color rose red or blood red. The reference is that the skies will be crimson red. It is in our fitrah to see a red sky as scary and something indicating the end of time, and movies today that show an apocalypse or indicate doom show the same. “Deehan” has two meanings, 2) used oil, 1) tanned leather. Both are around yellow-red tinge colored. What is the scene described here? The galaxies and the stars will be crashing into one another, the sun will be folded onto itself and destroyed, and the stars will fall, all our realities will be destroyed, especially those that we count on and see as being stable. No doubt when this happens this will cause a terrifying effect in this duniya; this is the Day of Judgement
38. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
39. So on that Day no question will be asked of man or jinn as to his sin, (because they have already been known from their faces either white or black). This ayah says that you won‟t be asked about your sins? This is problematic because the Qur'an tells us that we will be asked about our sins, and the ahadith say the same thing. Example, in Surah Hijr: 93, Allah says by your Lord we will ask every one of them of what they use to
do In Surah Safaa: 24, Allah says, Stop them, they will be asked, and what is the hisaab except a
questioning How do we reconcile? The first interpretation is that Allah is saying they will not be questioned at some times on the Day of Judgement, and they will be at other times. At certain times the punishment will be no questioning and at other times it will be questioning. Imagine if people are all rounded up and sent to jail without being presented to a court and without a chance to explain their circumstance. Now imagine that they were waiting to go to court and did not know if they would end up in jail or not, the very uncertainty is punishment for them, than when they are sent in the court this is another form of punishment for them. The Day of Judgement as we know is very long, during certain times on this day they will be punished by not being allowed to speak (the punishment of waiting for judgement and being given the chance to speak and defend themselves) and than they will be punished through being allowed to speak and being rejected of their excuses. Another interpretation is that this is when they are being dragged to Jahannum without excuses being taken from them. Yet another interpretation is that the questioning that won‟t happen is that of defense because no one can defend themselves. 85 | P a g e
All the above opinions are valid and all have legitimate evidences from the Qur'an and Sunnah.
40. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
41. The Mujrimun (polytheists, criminals, sinners, etc.) will be known by their marks (black faces), and they will be seized by their forelocks and their feet. Of the mention of the Day of Judgement is the mention of the sinner and their fate first. Than Allah (in the later ayaat) speaks about the reward of the righteous believer, why are the ayaat organized in such a way? Man is motivated by the fear of punishment more so than incentive of the reward. This is why even modern law today focuses on punishing the criminals and creating an environment of fear of committing a sin. Secondly, the rewards are mentioned last because it is the nature of the Qur'an to concentrate on the good over the bad. When the reader is left to ponder over the reward of the Day of Judgement this leaves a good impression with him. Thirdly we notice when we look at the later ayaat that the mention of the reward far exceeds that of the punishment. This also emphasizes that the Qur'an in general focuses more so on the good and positive aspects than the negative and evil aspects. The title for the criminal chosen is, “mujrim,” why is this so? Because he has committed the greatest crime which is crimes against Allah
What are their marks as mentioned in this ayah? There are two opinions on this matter 1. Every sin leaves a particular unique mark on its carrier. People who murdered will have different signs on their body versus those that committed shirk, and the marks will be different compared to the thieves, and so on 2..The mark of the sinner is the absence of the mark of the believer. The marks of the believers are that of Nur from the face, the signs of wudhu on the body and Sajdah on the forehead. Whoever does not have these marks will automatically bare the the marks of the Mujrim. The Prophet (s) said the
believer will be known from the effects of the wudhu, and the Prophet (s) said that the believers will be resurrected will their limbs shining white and their foreheads shining white, just like the most precious horse has white streaks on his forehead and limbs. Wudhu thus is how the Prophet (s) will recognize us, when asked about his pool and how he would call people to drink from his blessed hands from the pool on the Day of Judgement, he said he would recognize us from the effects of our wudhu
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“Nawasi” means forehead “Aqdaam” means feet
This shows us the utter humiliation and complete incapacitation of the one who is punished. If someone holds you from your head and feet than this is a picture of strength and a painful picture for the one being held. There is nothing that one can do when this happens, the picture is that of complete and utter power, and the angels are very powerful indeed. This applies to those who committed shirk and rejected Allah. May Allah protect us. Every single believer, even if he or she is punished, has a different punishment than that of a Kaafir. Anyone who has some Emaan and has done good will not be treated like the one who rejected Allah and never ever prostrated to Allah in the first place.
42. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
43. This is Hell which the Mujrimun (polytheists, criminals, sinners, etc.) denied. Surah Yasin has a similar ayah, you denied it (Hell) which is why you are going there, to the disbelievers. There is a sense of mockery from the non-believers and a demonstration of their arrogance, and Allah answers in a similar mocking way to them, this is the Jahannum, here it is, do you
still deny it? This also clearly implies that Allah is saying that, had you accepted it and believed in it you would not be here.
44. They will go between it (Hell) and the boiling hot water!
“Yatoofo” is back and forth (think Tawwaf) “Hameem” and “Aan” are synonyms but two separate nouns that both describe the water of Hellfire, they mean water that is both boiling and scalding. Generally water gives you comfort and extinguishes the fire, but the water of Jahannam is such that the Mujrimoon will try to escape the fire via the water, only to find it‟s punishment also severe. And they will be running back and forth between the fire and the water, and this is their Tawwaf. There will be absolutely no respite for this punishment. Allah says in the Qur'an, if they ask for help, they shall be helped with water that is like burning oil. Thus both the fire and the water will punish in it‟s own way. 87 | P a g e
Why is the punishment so severe? Because what was asked of was so simple, logical and rational and yet they still refused. This punishment is not for the sinners of the Muslims, rather for those that rejected Allah and his messenger, and there is a big difference between the two. Again, this punishment is for the one who refuses to acknowledge Allah as his Lord
Will the believers be spared the sights and sounds of Jahannum? Yes from the sights and sounds that cause distress and grief, Allah says they won‟t hear the hissing but
they will be shown Jahannum (as a means to show Allah‟s bounty that you have been saved from it)
45. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
The surah now shifts focus to Jannah…. A number of opinions exist about the levels of Jannah that are mentioned in the ayaat that follow. Ayah 46 mentions that, whoever fears the station of his Lord will have 2 Jannahs, and ayah 62 mentions that beside these two (mention in ayah 46), there are two other Jannahs which are lesser than them or below them. The majority opinion is that what is being talked about is two levels of Jannah, a higher Jannah (46 onward) and a lower level (62 onward) and that the elite get the higher level and those not as elite get the lower level of Jannah.
A second opinion is that Allah mentions that everyone will get all 4 of these Jannahs, two high and two low.
A third opinion is that some people will get four and some will get 2 higher and some will get 2 lower The first opinion which is the majority opinion has much Qur'anic evidence. On multiple times occasions, Allah references 3 categories of people, 2 righteous types and 1 of sinners. In Surah Waqi‟ah, Allah mentions 2 good types of people (Ashab‟l yameen) and 1 bad (Ashab‟l shimaal). In Surah Faatir: 32 Allah defines 3 explicit categories: we gave the book to those who we
chose amongst our servants, some dhaalim (who wrong themselves), some muqtassid (they are moderate) and some are saabiqun Khayraat (foremost in good deeds)! Why does Allah lump all sinners in 1 and 2 categories for the righteous even though there are a higher number of sinners?
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There are more details given of those that are good people to encourage us to do good, and less details for the bad to show us that we really don‟t want to go there.
46. But for him who [the true believer of Islamic Monotheism who performs all the duties ordained by Allah and His Messenger Muhammad , and keeps away (abstain) from all kinds of sin and evil deeds prohibited in Islam and] fears the standing before his Lord, there will be two Gardens (i.e. in Paradise).
“Maqam” has two meanings, 1) The status of Allah. Whoever fears the status of Allah and the rank that Allah is most-deserving of 2) Our own status i.e. Whoever fears his own standing on the Day of Judgement Are there are really two Jannahs or is a generic way of saying multiple Jannat, how do we reconcile with the reference in this ayah of “Jannataan”?
In Surah Saba: 15, Allah speaks of plurality in a dual form. The people of Saba had a great miracle, they had 2 jannahs, 1 on the right and 1 on the left. From history we know the people of Saba had many Jannaat yet Allah says they had Janataan (in the dual form). Allah knows best, thus we conclude that Janataan is generic for many Jannahs and we know that the more righteous people will get more and more. It is also ok to be literalistic and say that this means two Jannahs only and this is allowable. The Prophet (s) said (as narrated in Sahih Bokhari), Everyone will get two Jannahs of silver and two Jannahs of gold, everything silver in the first two and everything gold in the other two, and this gives credence to the opinion that everyone will get 4 Jannahs. Allah links obtaining these Jannahs to fear. There are three primary emotions needed to enter Jannah and these are love, fear and hope. So why is fear emphasized? Because the most important factor that prevents committing sins is fear, the other reason is that anytime one of these two emotions are mentioned the other two are implied.
Comparing this to the mention of Jannah in verse 62, Those on a lesser level, “doon” in Arabic means lesser than. The quantity is the same (2 Jannahs) but the quality is different, and this is what we notice in these 2 comparisons.
47. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny? 89 | P a g e
So what is inside the Jannah?...
48. With spreading branches; “Afnan” is branches, “Zawata” means both are full. We don‟t usually describe gardens by it‟s branches do we? We describe gardens by it‟s fruits, flowers and greenery and so on. That Allah chooses to describe the garden by simply it‟s branches, Allah implies that what makes the garden beautiful is so amazing that it can not be described in words. As an analogy if we talk about a fancy hotel and if the beauty of the room is just beyond describable in words, we talk about something sub-standard such as the lobby, if the lobby was so nice just imagine
how good the room was! When you hear of a garden so lush, green and beautiful, one may ask, where is the water coming
from?
49. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
50. In them (both) will be two springs flowing (free) The two springs are running all around the garden. In the comparison in ayah 66 in the lesser Jannaat we learn of the springs are simply bubbling out (“NuDa Khataan”) rather than flowing.
51. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
Now we want to know what are the fruits in these gardens?..
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52. In them (both) will be every kind of fruit in pairs. In the two are two pairs of fruits, which fruits? “Kuli faakiha” means all fruits and not only that but that fruit exists in 2 different species, 2 stages of development, 2 different types etc. Every single type of fruit that you want is there and even those fruits will be in varieties.
As for the comparison in the lower Jannah, in ayah 68: They are given a list rather than a blanket mention of ALL fruits. From this list there are no dualities, no different species and varieties are mentioned within the list. The list includes fruits, dates and pomegranates.
53. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
54. Reclining upon the couches lined with silk brocade, and the fruits of the two Gardens will be near at hand. “Muttaki” is from the word, “Ittika” which is the epitome of chilling “Furshin” means couches The inner lining – “Bataa‟in” – is “istabraq” – the finest type of silk When you buy something such as a couch, is the inner lining the first thing you look at or is the outer? That Allah says that the inner lining is this beautiful, made of the finest of silk, implies that the outer lining must be exponentially more beautiful and what is beyond description.
“Janna” means to dangle close, this word is not from the word of Jannah. The two Jannas are dangling close meaning the inhabitants of Paradise do not need to stand up to pluck the fruits, whenever they want something it dangles to them.
Notice the order of description: We begin with the property of Jannah, it‟s description, the waters of Jannah, what grows there, who lives in it and then the furniture…
55. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny? 91 | P a g e
Next the mention of the Hoor al-„ayn An Introduction to the important subject matter of the Hoor by Yasir Qadhi
Some serious talk here, sisters; I will never be able to understand the awkwardness of this situation for you though I can somewhat sympathize, but as a person of knowledge let me say that it is ok to question the wisdom, but it is not ok to reject or find disgusting anything Allah has said. You are not obligated to understand Allah‟s Commands and Blessings, but you are obligated to accept them. Don‟t find yourself rejecting it. You must believe the words of Allah, even if you can‟t rationalize the concept. It is allowed for you to ask questions for the sake of clarification and seeking knowledge, but it is not ok for you to challenge the wisdom of Allah, this is an indication of a serious weakness of Emaan and could be Kufr. Ibrahim asks Allah, oh Allah allow me to see how You resurrect the dead, Allah asks Ibrahim, don‟t you believe?, Ibrahim answers, Yes I do but just for my heart‟s sake. Thus again we learn that it is ok to ask for the purpose of clarification and seeking knowledge. Many sisters are almost rejecting this section of the Qur'an and sunnah and this is problematic, so question with the attitude of positive inquisitiveness. The concept of spouses in Jannah is undeniable in the Qur'an and sunnah, mentioned dozens of times in explicit detail, therefore to metaphorically interpret this concept away as has been done by progressives and modernists is to destroy language entirely. A famous progressive trend is to reinterpret Hur Ul „een to mean grapes. This type of philosophy to be so embarrassed at your own book that you must reject parts of it to accept others is logically doomed to failure, it is more logical to reject the book even though the kufr is bigger. Islam is a full package that must be accepted, we can not pick and choose. For the brothers: we don‟t find a single instance of the Prophet (s) or any sahabi mentioning the Hur infront of their wife to embarrass or ridicule their wife. Any man who speaks like this, this man is not a gentleman and is not demonstrating the character of a Muslim, brothers this is not funny when you joke about hur. If you want hur, pray Tahajjud. You won‟t earn Hur by joking with your wife about it. How would you like it if they had the same? You would not be able to stand it. How would you like it if your wife commented on another man? You would not stand it, yet many of you think it is ok to joke with your wife about another woman in this world and of another world. This is today unfortunately one of our biggest problems, many Muslim men think it is funny to crack jokes about a second wife or the Hur, like they were when they were single. This is foolish and immature, just dumb. It is not something that a gentleman does. Don‟t think your wife would love you, and the Prophet (s) did not do this even with the wives he was legally able to get. That having been said, sisters understand that Allah has created men and He knows us best, and frankly, Jannah would not be Jannah for men without Hoor al „ayn. Realize that Allah does indeed know best and there are certain realities about mankind and men in particular that most women are ignorant of, and it is something that is awkward to mention but those sisters who are married or involved in counseling are more familiar with. Generally speaking, men are sexual and this is undeniable regardless of women denying it, making fun of it or getting angry at it. This urge is a strong factor in 99% of men, and sometimes it urges them to heinous crimes, and we saw this last week in this country (the 92 | P a g e
reference is to the men who kept three women locked up in their basements and abused them in the worst of ways, at least one woman bore a child in captivity). In the bulk of mankind, this does not turn to violence. Look at how the media uses skin too as power. Sisters: many of you are naïve when it comes to how men view sexuality, denying or despising it does not change the nature of men. Next time you see TV or a magazine, look at how every single ad in the world almost uses naked and semi naked women, and it works every time, over and over again, whether they are selling shoes, soap, cars or tractors there is an image there, and it works. You can be as irritated as you want, it does not change the way that Allah created us, and it is in the nature of men to desire this one thing, and Allah created us and he knows what we desire. The reason these things are placed in Jannah is because this is what the vision of Jannah would be for every man, and Jannah wouldn‟t be Jannah without that pleasure. Look at the habits and customs of those who don‟t believe in Allah and what do they do: the pleasures of the stomach and those below the stomach. This is the way men are indeed. NO doubt women also have this desire, but theirs is markedly different, in men it is far more efficacious, powerful and for women they can cap it easier, for men they are constantly bombarded. The more I read the more the wisdom of Islam makes sense, Allah knows how He has created men and women. Generally speaking men are more sexual. Therefore men have been promised Halaal rewards of a nature that they can understand and relate to. Every single man wants that blessing far more than the other blessings that have been mentioned. The purpose is to make a man closer to Allah, and strive for perfection to get those rewards. Allah is mentioning what He knows will be massive incentives for us due to our nature. This is the number one incentive on men‟s minds; as Allah says the #1 thing on men‟s minds is women and the Prophet (s) said I have not left a bigger fitnah than that of women. The Qur'an is beautiful in that the Hoor are not described in explicit or detailed, there is always a decency level and the rest is left to the imagination. There is no vulgarity. If you were to ask ten men for Jannah they‟d all ask for the same thing, for sisters this differs by individual. Sisters, you know that this is not the #1 thing on your mind when you think of Jannah for there to be male Hoor, and Allah has created you and knows you best. And Allah says they have whatever they want in it. As for women, it is not in the modesty of women to be dangled with sexual pleasures, it is the man who pursues and initiates, not the woman, even those that are married they know this within their own marriage. Women are more modest and shy in general and it is not in their nature that sexual rewards are dangled, but for men it is in their nature. IN Jannah there will be no tension or jealousy so whatever your husband is blessed with will not concern you or bother you at all. This is no doubt one of the blessings for men, as for women they will not feel threatened or jealous because of this blessing to their husband, and they will enjoy the same intimacy and romance to their men without jealousy, again, in Jannah there is no jealousy. A woman may say I want to prevent Hoor from my husband; it is not your prerogative to do so! Your job is to get to Jannah and once there don‟t worry, in Surah Yasin we learnt that the romance of the couples is better than Hoor, and there is a connotation that the couples will have a relationship more than just intimacy, and with the Hoor it is just intimacy, in Surah Yasin they are having a conversation and enjoying companionship, as for the Hoor there is no companionship other than intimacy. Aisha narrates on the topic of Hoor, she said that 93 | P a g e
if someone boasts or if Hur boast about their beauty, women of Jannah should respond we are more beautiful than you, we fasted, prayed and read Qur'an when you didn‟t. So in other words, the women of Jannah will be better than the Hur because they earned Jannah. Women will have this pleasure but Allah does not mention it explicitly because it isn‟t in their nature. As for women who have not had a husband, they will have the same pleasure, how? Scholars say maybe they‟ll have a man in Jannah, maybe a male equivalent of the Hoor, but there are no singles in Jannah, the Prophet (s) said: no one remains single in Jannah. Singular is not perfection, there is always something missing when you are single. No one in Jannah will indeed be deprived of this pleasure, in Jannah. Will there be a Hoor for women then? Or will there be something else? We don‟t know but there are both opinions that are mentioned, and we are pleased with what Allah has for us.
56. Wherein both will be those (maidens) restraining their glances upon their husbands, whom no man or jinn yatmithhunna (has opened their hymens with sexual intercourse) before them. The tone of the ayah changes to “FE HINA” (before the ayaat all used the words FE HEEMA). Scholars say that all the other blessings of the couches, trees, rivers and palaces are in public view for all to see, but the blessings of the Hoor are such that no man wants another man to see, for them is FEHINA “embedded inside somewhere, covered inside.” Allah very subtly indicates that the Hoor are in private not in public view
“Qa siraatat-it Tarfi” means there gaze is diverted or lowered down. There are two meanings that we can derive: 1. Women lower their gaze to their husbands, meaning the women have no desire to look at any other men. They have been created with the love for their husband and him alone, and today we all know that first loves are the most powerful, and the hur has been created with that love for her husband. 2. The Hur are so beautiful that the men‟s gaze does not need to go beyond them, what women could do such a thing for a man? The Hur is that beautiful. “Tamitha” literally means to break the hymen, so no one has touched them before their husbands. This shows us that Jinn also have relations with each other. The spouses will have a higher rank then the Hur. Aisha narrated that if the Hoor are described, we will
boast over the Hoors, for we will tell them we are the ones who fasted, prayed so they have no right to boast over us. Recall in Surah Yasin we spoke about them and their wives, “shughulin faakihoon” and there is a description of communications, sharing of emotions, and having much fun. The Hur are merely just physical pleasures and nothing more.
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57. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
58. (In beauty) they are like rubies and coral. “Ka-anahum” means it is as if they are
“Yaqoot” is as the word that the Arabs use for Rubies “Marjaan” can mean corals or pearls. Most scholars interpret them to be red and white, Yaqoot is the redness of the blushing that every man is attracted by. This could be a reference to their beauty, fragility, protection. The ruby is usually red and to this day all the women know that red is the most attractive. Ibn Qatadah: Their purity shall be like rubies and their brightness like pearls
59. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
60. Is there any reward for good other than good? This is the conclusion of the description of the higher levels of Jannah (Ayaat 48-59). As if Allah asks a rhetorical question, what else do you think would happen with all the good that you did but that you
would get good in return? Fakhraden Ar-Razi said that this is one of those Ayat that the scholars have over 100 interpretations
about. A few interpretations: 1. The good referenced here is highest level as per the Hadith Jibreel that defined Eman, Islam and Ihsan. Ihsan is the perfection of worship or the highest level of excellence in worship, and in our relationship with others it is to give more than what is expected and to receive less than what is deserved. Our Ihsan is limited and Allah‟s reward is infinite. An analogy to understand this concept: A king that says to a farmer, you do good and I will do good, the farmer‟s imagination goes everywhere because the King is so capable (compared to the little that the farmer can do), and Allah‟s ihsan is beyond imagination! 95 | P a g e
What is the response of the Ihsan of humans when they perfect their worship of Allah other than Allah will perfect His reward for them! And Allah‟s perfection is infinitely more perfect than human perfection 2. A second interpretation is that Ihsan means Tauheed, and the 2nd Ihsan means Jannah.
A few points of note: -
There is also an allusion that worship in this world pays off in forgiving worship in the next,
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that when you worship Allah in this world than you don‟t have to worship him in the next world. Allah asks this question right after the Hur to mention without explicit mention to encourage the believer to ponder, how beautiful will these Hur be?
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And this is mentioned for the highest level of Jannah because it has those things the lower won‟t have, as the Prophet (s) said: in the highest levels are that which no eyes, have seen no
ear has heard, and no mind has ever conceived of. And this explains why Allah tempts us in Jannah with physical pleasures because these are the only pleasures that we know! Palaces, cushions, women etc but Jannah does have other and much better pleasures! How can Allah entice us with other pleasures if we haven‟t tasted them in this world?
61. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny
So now we begin the mention of the lower Jannah 62. And besides these two, there are two other Gardens (i.e. in Paradise).
63. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
64. Dark green (in colour).
“Mudham-mataan”, the both are dark green in color. This is a unique verse because it is the smallest verse that is a full sentence in the Qur'an. The color green is most pleasing and soothing to us. It is also an indication of life. 96 | P a g e
65. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
66. In them (both) will be two springs gushing forth water. The duality is again emphasized as, “aynaan” which could literally mean at least two springs if not more which are definitely running through the gardens. “Nudha-khataan” means bubbling forth
67. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
68. In them (both) will be fruits, and date- palms and pomegranates. Unlike in ayah 52, a list is mentioned here which automatically limits the options, even though the fruits mentioned – dates, pomegranates and fruits – are very good. Also there is no mention of fruits of different varieties, species, tastes etc like in ayah 52.
69. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
70. Therein (gardens) will be fair (wives) good and beautiful; The words “FEE HINA” again are because of the connotation of privacy. 97 | P a g e
Khayr is the opposite of evil and sharh, and “khayraat” means these are women that are pure without spiritual or physical evil or pollution. Physically they will have no urine, defecation, menses or anything of this nature and emotionally they don‟t complain, whine etc (The men as well would not have to defecate or urinate and this is what khayraat means. The sahaba would ask what would happen to the food? Belches of perfume was the answer!)
“Hisaan” is the plural of “Hasna” meaning “stunning” and beautiful Khayraat thus speaks of their purity, and Hisaan their beauty!
71. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
72. Houris (beautiful, fair females) restrained in pavilions; In the higher level, in ayah 56, even the word Hur is not used. Why so? They are beyond, even better and more beautiful in every way than the Hur. The lower level (here) gets the description of Hur. Hoor has no translation in English, but the word derives from “Hawwarra” meaning a woman who has a large whiteness of her eyes (sclera) contrasted with the darkness of her pupils. This was one of the most important characteristics of beauty of women in the past. Even today supermodels have this characteristic and when non-Muslims decide what is beautiful, Hawar is one of their descriptions. Allah emphasizes this one concept of the eyes, even though it is not the most beautiful, when we consider beauty in a woman we don‟t necessarily think of eyes as the main feature, so why does Allah mention only the eyes? There are two reasons: 1. It is not befitting for the majesty of Allah and for the modesty of the Qur'an to describe the rest of their creation 2. If their eyes are so perfect, we are left to ponder upon how beautiful the rest of their creation may be
“QA SIRAAT” is used in the equivalent ayah before of the higher level and this means that they are sequestered. The Prophet (s) said there will be tents in Jannah carved from the inside of a pearl, and how big are these tents? 60 miles to travel! We can only imagine how amazing the actual houses would be!
“MUQSURAT” as mentioned here means that they have been set aside into “khiyam” i.e. tents.
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There is a subtle way of showing that the “QaSiraat” have more emotion and passion because they are the ones causing the men to lower their gaze, and the “Maksooraat” mentioned here in comparison have just been set aside in tents. But in both levels we see that the Hur have been created only for the Men that they are assigned to
73. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
74. Whom no man or jinn yatmithhunna (has opened their hymens with sexual intercourse) before them.
75. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
76. Reclining on green cushions and rich beautiful mattresses.
“Rafraf” could be a cushion between a person and the floor or can be a rug or a mattress that one sits on. As a practical example, when you set up a tent, the thick mat that put over the ground or grass is Rafraf.
“Furush” is a pillow “Khudrin” means a luxurious green color. Many things are described as green in Jannah and it has connotations to our psyche – we like this color as well.
“Abqari” is an interesting word. It comes from Abqar which is the legendary capital of the land of the Jinn in Arabic legend and folklore. And so anything that is magical, super human, super strong and super intelligent was called Abqari. In modern Arabic Abqari means an intellectual. Abqari means something that astounds the minds actually. Allah is saying that the cushion is beyond our imagination! In a hadith Abqari is described by the Prophet (s) to be a strong man. We can derive a lesson here that modern Arabic is not the same as classical Arabic.
“Hisaan” means beauty and perfection as mentioned before 99 | P a g e
Do realize Jannah has more colors, the Prophet (s) said: I looked at this tree at the pinnacle of Jannah
and it has colors enveloping it that I do not know how to describe for you. For us our colors are heavily limited, in Jannah there will be colors beyond what we know! Often times non-Muslims ridicule our Jannah; your Jananh is full of flowers, rivers, gardens, and palaces, what kind of Jannah is this!? Yet we say that you can not change the nature of men and women. When we build the most luxurious palaces and mansions, what do we do except we combine fancy mansions with water and greenery. If they were given millions they would do exactly what they make fun of. Date palms are a sign of luxury even today. As for the Hoor they try themselves to get their own as well. We should not be ashamed of Jannah, every man‟s idea of Jannah will be exactly like this.
77. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
78. Blessed be the Name of your Lord (Allah), the Owner of Majesty and Honour. After talking about all these descriptions of Jannah, Allah concludes by praising Himself. It is a common Quranic practice to begin and end a Surah with the Names and the Praise of Allah. “Tabarak” comes from Baraka and the verb means Allah has reached the pinnacle of Baraka and Baraka means the source of blessings and good. Tabarak means Allah is the source of all good, and all good is His, and all good is from Him and no evil attributed to Him. May He be glorified and exalted. Another Qur'an phenomenon is that sometimes Allah praises Himself and other times He praises His name. If the name of Allah deserves barakah and tabarak than what about Allah Himself? “Ismu” means the name of your Lord. It is common in the Qur'an to praise Allah and the name of Allah separately, the beauty here is that if even the name of Allah is worthy of praise how much more so is Allah worthy of being glorified. How did Allah describe Himself? Usually by Rabb and the reference is that in this case it is to the Prophet (s) due to the “ka” meaning you in “Rabbika” This is the only reference in the entire Surah to the Prophet (s) and this is an honor for the Prophet Mohammed (s) to be referenced as his Lord for all of us, though He is all of our Lords.
Rabbika implies a direct relationship between Allah and the Prophet (s) , “KA” means the Prophet (s) . Even though the whole Surah has talked about Jinn and Ins, at the very end Allah mentions, “the name of your Lord oh Mohammed shall be exalted” In this use of the word, “Rabbika” it also accomplishes many things: 100 | P a g e
1. An honor for the Prophet (s) 2. The Prophet (s) is being reminded that I am your Rabb (Lord, Sustainer, Master) 3. There is an indication that all these blessings mentioned, you oh Prophet (s) will have the ultimate share of them all 4. Clearly an indication that whoever wants these blessings, you MUST praise Allah to get these blessings because this is what Allah does 5. Also the indication that if you want these blessings you too must affirm the relationship between Allah and His messenger, if you don‟t affirm Rabbika you won‟t get these blessings. 6. That if Allah is his Rabb, and of the meanings of Rabb is taking care, the Prophet (s) is told after mentioning the blessings that these are yours as well “Dhil Jalal” is the ayah, why not Dhul Jalal? In Dhul it went back to the face of Allah. In this ayah Allah says your Rabb is Dhil Jalal. “Ikram” is one who is generous and gives. And this is the best way to end the Surah. Allah has bestowed upon us these countless blessings without us even asking for them or deserving of them. “Jalal” means Might and Honor, a description of His name, if His name only is worthy of honor how much more is Allah Himself worthy of honor? Therefore our response should be to praise Allah, to worship Him and to never reject the blessings that Allah has ever given!
“None of these blessings our Lord we will deny for all praise is due to You”
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