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Surah IBRAHIM
(Consists of 7 Ruku; MK-9)
IBRAHIM-The First Ruku
1. Alif Lam Ra - (This is) a Book which We have revealed to you that you may bring forth all men, by their Lord's permission from utter darkness into light-- to the way of the Mighty, the Praised One,
2. It is Allah, Whose is whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth; and woe to the disbelievers on account of the severe chastisement,
3. (To) those who love this world's life more than the hereafter, and turn away from Allah's path and desire to make it crooked; these are in a great error.
4. And We did not send any apostle but with the language of his people, so that he might explain to them clearly; then Allah makes whom He pleases err and He guides whom He pleases and He is the Mighty, the Wise.
5. And certainly We sent Musa with Our AAYAAT, saying: Bring forth your people from utter darkness into light and remind them of the days of Allah; most surely there are signs in this for every patient, grateful one.
6. And when Musa said to his people: Call to mind Allah's favor to you when He delivered you from Pharaoh's people, who subjected you to severe torment, and slew your sons and spared your women; and in this there was a great trial from your Lord.
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Surah IBRAHIM also starts with the MUQATTA’AAT (the 14 disjointed letters that are among the Arabic alphabets that come at the commencement of 29 SURAH in specific combinations); Allah tells at the first AAYAT that “(this is) a Book which We have revealed to you (O Muhammad PBUH) that you may bring forth all men (i.e. all peoples of the world), by their Lord's permission from all utter darkness (of evil) into the light (of the true guidance)-- to the way of the Mighty, the Praised One”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that the darkness is mentioned in plural as the evil has many colors but the light is mentioned in singular as the Truth always is one from ever to ever; note also that the will of Allah, the true Lord, is most necessary for anyone to affect any of the mankind as the AAYAT implies by the phrase “BE-IDHNE-RABBEHEM” (i.e. by the permission of their Lord that actually means by the will of Allah); whatever the people do, they are able to do it only because of the will of Allah but the pleasure of Allah is not in everything; certainly, everything of the creation is working in perfect harmony to the will of Allah though there are two (JINN and the Man) among His creation that have the free-will; because of having the free-will, they would do it by their own but Allah has mentioned in the Quran “and you do not will even, unless (it be) that Allah wills, the Lord of all the worlds” (Surah TAKWIR-29); Al-Hamdu Lillah; so everything occurs by the will of Allah and our task (with total belief in TAQDIR), is to believe in the Quran, the Word of Allah, and we have to work according to it by the guidance of SUNNAH, to get His pleasure; so Allah has permitted these two (JINN and the Man) to do as they please yet all of their actions are totally bound to the will of Allah that have their effect according to it; nothing occurs without the will of Allah and even the Satan knew this when he had asked Allah to allow him extreme length in life that enables him to affect the Man adversely (though Allah allowed him that length but He told him then that whoever takes His shelter, he would not be able to misguide him from the right path); Allah is Mighty (so He makes the effect of all things better by His direct command according to His will) and He is the truly Praised (so He affects all things to lead them all towards the ultimate manner where all creation would only praise Him); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT presents the fact that all persons must understand that everything whether at the heavens or at the earth, belongs to Allah so He actually has provided them all things that they have with them and He certainly has all rights (and all the authority) to take all things back from them; Al-Hamdu Lillah; there is extreme trouble for the disbelievers due to the chastisement they would face for their extreme ingratitude to Allah; the third AAYAT defines these disbelievers that they had always preferred the ease at the life at the world over the true benefits of AKHIRAT and they had stopped all persons around to take the manners in life that benefits at AKHIRAT (so they incline towards the worldly base desires at both individual and collective level) and they seek ways to raise doubts on works that are beneficial to AKHIRAT so that all persons around remain content on preference for the life at the world; their attention is towards what is physically obvious so they do not mention Allah when they understand some physical law but call it one of the natural laws and they care for the physical health rather than the spiritual health and they want attitudes positive only to the life at the world so they raise doubts to the attitudes that ask for the benefit of AKHIRAT; the AAYAT states that all of disbelievers certainly are in the most extreme mistake that would ultimately lead them to the hell-fire; AAYAT-4 reads, “and We did not send any apostle but with the language of his people, so that he might explain to them clearly; then Allah makes whom He pleases err and He guides whom He pleases and He is the Mighty, the Wise”; this implies that Allah willed for all persons to get His message related to the true guidance so He chose the best persons from among different nations at different times and different places, all of whom had the good ability to convey His message in the language that their respective nations understood, in the best manner possible; this implies also that as the Quran is in Arabic (and it is the Guidance to the right path to all peoples of the world), so Arabic is the true language of the Man that Allah has preferred over all languages of the world; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT reads ahead that after they got His message, He led astray those whom He willed (due to their inclination towards the falsehood) and provided TOFIQ to accept that guidance to those whom He willed (due to their good inclination towards the Truth); and He certainly is Mighty (so He makes the effect of all things better by His direct command according to His will) and Most Wise (so He knows well what He has to retain from the effects of attitudes of all persons and with that, He takes the world gradually towards all the right concepts); note that TOFIQ means that Allah provides something good as the reward to some good deeds that the recipient has done before; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-5 tells that Allah sent Moses-AS with nine signs so that he brings out his people from the utter darkness into the light and reminds them of the days of Allah (in which Allah provided extreme destruction to those people who challenged His message when His Messengers provided it to them); Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that the first AAYAT mentioned that the Quran is the true guidance to all peoples as Muhammad PBUH is the Messenger of Allah to all of them that come after him at any place but about Moses-AS, this AAYAT tells that Allah gave Moses the signs to bring out his people from the utter darkness into the light as he was the Messenger of Allah to Bani-Israel only; the AAYAT ends by the words that “most surely there are signs in this for every patient, grateful one”; this implies that the narration of Bani-Israel provides the lesson that whoever remains patient in all troubles at the life at the world without care to go for its assets except for necessity, he deserves very good returns here and in the hereafter; if he does get some notable wealth or status at the life at the world and he praises Allah for this by spending amounts upon the needy and provides the fundamental teachings of Islam to the seekers of it (and does not consider that his abilities have provided such high worldly benefits to him but praises Allah for His blessing), he deserves very good returns especially at AKHIRAT; whatever the Bani-Israel did after leaving the lands of Egypt is another matter yet they had faced the period of slavery by the Egyptians since about two centuries when Moses-AS led them to freedom by the will of Allah; it is most trying for persons who had remained at ease at the world to face such times of slavery afterwards yet in that time, they had never forgotten the message of Israel to remain firm upon the fundamentals of Islam and so Allah provided His blessing to them due to this and gave them the ample space to work virtuously for AKHIRAT; their fault was that (though they showed the patience when needed) they were unable to become truly grateful to Allah after the end of their slavery as the history explicitly presents the matter; they did not present themselves as truly attached to the teachings of Torah (as they took from it whatever they intended and left from it whatever they intended) for centuries ahead with extreme disregard to all Prophets that came unto them and when Jesus Christ-AS came to them after some 1400 years of the departure of Moses-AS from the world, they disbelieved in him and intended to kill him (in which they were unsuccessful) so Allah punished them most severely through the hands of Romans; when they disbelieved in Muhammad PBUH when he became the last Messenger of Allah (at Arabia among the descendants of Ishmael-AS), Allah deposed them of their status to provide His message to all persons around; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT tells that Moses had told them to remember the time in history when Allah delivered them from Pharaoh's people; this implies that he wanted them to become totally grateful to Allah when they had become most uncaring to Him; the Pharaoh’s people had subjected them to severe torment when those people used to slay their sons and spared their women to live-on (so that their population decreases by time); the AAYAT ends by the statement that in this matter, there certainly was the most demanding trial from Allah, the true Lord; so it was their ingratitude to Allah that led them to their extreme disgrace though they had achieved their freedom through their worthy patience at the times of their slavery at the land of Egypt; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
IBRAHIM-The Second Ruku
7. And when your Lord made it known: If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more, and if you are ungrateful, My chastisement is truly severe.
8. And Musa said: If you are ungrateful, you and those on earth all together, most surely Allah is Self-sufficient, Praised;
9. Has not the account reached you of those before you, of the people of Noah and Aad and Thamud, and those after them? None knows them but Allah. Their apostles came to them with clear arguments, but they thrust their hands into their mouths and said: Surely we deny that with which you are sent, and most surely we are in serious doubt as to that to which you invite us.
10. Their apostles said: Is there doubt about Allah, the Maker of the heavens and the earth? He invites you to forgive you your faults and to respite you till an appointed term. They said: You are nothing but mortals like us; you wish to turn us away from what our fathers used to worship; bring us therefore some clear sign.
11. Their apostles said to them: We are nothing but mortals like yourselves, but Allah bestows (His) favor on whom He pleases of His servants, and it is not for us that we should bring you an authority (clear sign) except by Allah's permission; and on Allah should the believers rely.
12. And what reason have we that we should not rely on Allah? And He has indeed guided us in our ways; and certainly we would bear with patience your persecution of us; and on Allah should the reliant rely.
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The first AAYAT of this Ruku tells all peoples of the world that if they show gratitude to Allah, he would provide more of His blessing to them (both at the life at the world and at AKHIRAT) but if they show ingratitude to whatever He provides to them, His most severe chastisement would get them; Moses-AS told the Bani-Israel this thing most clearly when he saw that they were not committed to apply the commands of Allah, that they must not remain under the impression that Allah had chosen them for His favor whatever they do because if they go on showing ingratitude to Allah, He would punish them for it certainly; Allah does not need any specific nation to take-on His task as He would provide the opportunity to some other nation for His task if that nation does not fulfill the commands of Allah; Al-Hamdu Lillah; if they do His task, it actually is better for them as even if all persons at the world including them show ingratitude to Him, that attitude does not worry Him; that would lead to their own destruction and He certainly is truly worthy of praise; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that before the Bani-Israel, Allah sent His Messengers to different nations especially at the areas that were heavily populated but most of the persons in them showed ingratitude and so Allah punished them severely (as we have read especially at AARAAF); now when He raised Moses-AS as His Messenger to them, He provided Torah to him for them to remain committed to His commands and to provide His message to all persons around; they were not destroyed totally even at their wrongs (though they were punished severely at different times as we find at history especially at the times when they were taken slaves by the Babylon and at the times when they were totally devastated by the Romans); however, they miserably failed in their task (as we have read especially at BAQARAH) and so Allah deposed them of their honorable status after He gave them ample time to better their-selves and provided that honorable task to the Muslims at the times of Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah; Al-Hamdu Lillah; this whole Surah has the focus upon the message that the preference of the life at the world over the true life at AKHIRAT is utmost ingratitude to Allah that ultimately leads to infamy & destruction even at the life at the world while there is most heavy chastisement for such manner of living in the true life at AKHIRAT too; Al-Hamdu Lillah; for this focus, it relates the fact as the principle to note that Allah has provided all things at the environment here in such manner that they ensure the safety of the life of the Man most explicitly; the Man needs to care to his necessities only at the life at the world so that the ease remains in his sustenance while his true care would be to get the pleasure of Allah, the true Lord, to achieve the true success at the true life at AKHIRAT as that only is the true aim of life; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-9 reads, “has not the account reached you of those before you, of the people of Noah-AS and AAD (the people of HOODH-AS) and THAMUD (the people of SALEH-AS), and those after them?; none knows them but Allah; their apostles came to them with clear arguments, but they thrust their hands into their mouths and said that surely we deny that with which you are sent, and most surely we are in serious doubt as to that to which you invite us”; this asks (especially the disbelievers at Makkah) to reflect that all those persons who challenged the true guidance that Allah had sent to them, they were ultimately destroyed; note that three of the five Messengers (for whom, the Quran has presented narrations in detail) have been mentioned here; these all were before Abraham-AS and they were known at the land of Arabia; this AAYAT also implies that there were other of nations too (at the land of Arabia or even beyond, before the times of Abraham-AS after these three) unto whom also, Allah had sent His Messengers; but only Allah knows about them and they also like the previous nations, showed disbelief to His Messengers; they all stopped the impression of the teachings of the Messengers of Allah by all ways possible though His Messengers had presented that with very sound arguments; they said plainly that they would disbelieve their teachings because they had extreme doubts about what the Messengers were calling to; the term used for sound arguments is AL-BAYYINAAT that denotes the clear reasoning to get to the true Belief in Allah, the true Lord, and in the judgment at AKHIRAT by the observation of the previous guidance that Allah had provided to the people; the last three AAYAAT of the Ruku provide the dialogue between the Messengers and the influential persons at their respective nations; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the first of them tells that the Messengers whom Allah had sent to them, asked them how could there be any doubt about Allah, the Maker of the heavens and the earth; He had invited them to accept the true guidance and He would forgive them all wrongs and He would allow them the respite till an appointed term to show betterment in all their attitudes; they replied that the Messengers were just mortals like themselves and that they wish to turn them away from what their forefathers used to worship and that they should bring to them some clear sign so that it undoubtedly proves their claim; there were three things that they had said against them so the Messengers responded to the first that though they are nothing but mortals like them, but Allah bestows His favor on whom He pleases of His servants so they need to see the spiritual purity of His Messengers to which they guide them too and not their physique; and the Messengers responded to the third that it is not for them that they bring their nations some clear sign except by the clear permission of Allah; and their response had the subtle answer to the second that the true guidance comes from Allah only and the persons at their nations shall not take the directions of their forefathers for their guidance but give their attention to what Allah has provided to them; certainly upon Allah only, all the good believing persons would rely; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT of the Ruku expresses the fact that they told their respective nations whether they accept them or not, they would rely totally on Allah as He has indeed guided them by the true guidance in their ways; they only had to provide the message of Allah to them and they had done it; they would bear all the persecution that they receive in the fulfillment of this task with total patience; certainly upon Allah only, all the good reliant persons would rely; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
IBRAHIM-The Third Ruku
13. And those who disbelieved said to their apostles that we will most certainly drive you forth from our land, or else you shall come back into our religion. So their Lord revealed to them that most certainly We will destroy the unjust.
14. And most certainly We will settle you in the land after them; this is for him who fears standing in My presence and who fears My threat.
15. And they asked for judgment and every insolent opposing person was disappointed:
16. Hell is before him and he shall be given to drink of festering water:
17. He will drink it little by little and will not be able to swallow it agreeably, and death will come to him from every quarter, but he shall not die; and there shall be vehement chastisement before him.
18. The parable of those who disbelieve in their Lord: their actions are like ashes on which the wind blows hard on a stormy day; they shall not have power over anything out of what they have earned; this is the great error.
19. Do you not see that Allah created the heavens and the earth with truth? If He pleases He will take you off and bring a new creation,
20. And this is not difficult for Allah.
21. And they shall all come forth before Allah then the weak shall say to those who were proud: Surely we were your followers; can you therefore avert from us any part of the chastisement of Allah? They would say: If Allah had guided us, we too would have guided you; it is the same to us whether we are impatient (now) or patient, there is no place for us to fly to.
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The Ruku continues telling about how the disbelievers treated the Messengers of Allah in general; they told the respective Messengers in them that they would most certainly drive the Messengers out of their land except that they conform to their manner of living; so Allah revealed to them that Allah has decided to destroy these unjust persons totally and He would settle highly good persons after them; every one of them would fear standing in front of Him (at the Day of Judgment) and he would fear the warning that if he does not comply to the obedience of Allah, he would face the certain punishment (even at the life at the world); this tells about TAQWA that is the attitude of the heart which means that all the Muslims must fear Allah that they do not get His displeasure by their sins becoming so sinful that they lose the chance to regain JANNAH at AKHIRAT and with that, they also must have such hope towards Him that He would keep them safe from the Satan totally at their life at the world; Al-Hamdu Lillah; so if he/she does not live as the righteous believer in the Truth (the fundamental teachings of Islam) with righteous deeds, he/she would lose the opportunity to show his/her worth for JANNAH and would be put into the hell-fire as Allah would certainly fulfill His word; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the Quran tells all of the mankind that Allah made the earth as an easy ground for them all to live in and made the heaven as the roof to all of them from which He sent waters upon the earth and took out fruits (& crops) of the earth by that for them as edibles; this is which they certainly see clearly so they must not take anyone equal to Him in any of His attributes as He only has the ASL (true) authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT tells about these unjust persons that they asked for judgment at the life at the world by the rejection of the Messengers of Allah so every insolent opposing person was disappointed as all of them were severely punished here and at AKHIRAT, they would be taken to the hell-fire; each person of them would be given such water to drink that would have blood and pus in it which he would drink in sips (that would neither go down the throat properly nor would it satisfy the thirst) and it would seem that the death is getting him from all sides and yet he would not die and there would be more of harsh punishment ahead of him; their works are as ashes which the wind blows hard upon some stormy day; they have no control of aught that they have earned so that is the extreme failure; this illustration tells that the deeds of the disbelievers are so worthless (i.e. ashes) that whenever some trial comes to them (i.e. the wind blowing hard) at some issue of life (i.e. the stormy day) by the will of Allah, they leave the guidance of Allah and as such their seemingly good deeds are totally lost to which they would get no returns at AKHIRAT; this is the extreme failure as the person thinks that he has accumulated so much of good deeds and actually he gets nothing in returns and this also tells that to believe in the Truth needs to obey Allah, the true Lord, in all of the principles that He has given for the issues of life; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAAT 19 & 20 ask, “do you not see that Allah created the heavens and the earth with truth?; if He pleases He will take you off and bring a new creation; and this is not difficult for Allah”; so these all things protect the life of the Man because Allah has commanded them to do so; if He intends to finish off the mankind and then bring some other creation instead of it, He would turn all things against it and that would be its end; this certainly is not difficult for Him; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT mentions that Allah has created this all so that He examines all of the mankind and every person would come before Allah; so when the disbelievers would enter the hell-fire, there the weak persons among them who used to follow their leaders among them at the world without question, would ask those leaders if they are able to avert from them any part of this chastisement of Allah?; but their leaders would say that if Allah had guided them, they would have then guided their followers so now everyone of them would get his extreme punishment whether he is impatient or not upon his punishment and there is no place for safety for any of them; this implies that when Allah has given all persons all the space at the world to live in accordance with His commands (and He has provided all facilities to them for that) then they would believe in Allah truly and they would obey Him with all fervor without care to any such thing which makes their life better at the world but which destroys their life at AKHIRAT that is the true life; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
IBRAHIM-The Fourth Ruku
22. And the Satan shall say after the affair is decided: Surely Allah promised you the promise of truth, and I gave you promises, then failed to keep them to you, and I had no authority over you, except that I called you and you obeyed me, therefore do not blame me but blame yourselves: I cannot be your aider (now) nor can you be my aiders; surely I disbelieved in your associating me with Allah before; surely it is the unjust that shall have the painful punishment.
23. And those who believe and do the good are made to enter gardens, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them by their Lord's permission; their greeting therein is, Peace.
24. Have you not considered how Allah sets forth a parable of the good word (being) like a good tree, whose root is firm and whose branches are in heaven;
25. Yielding its fruit in every season by the permission of its Lord? And Allah sets forth parables for men that they may be mindful.
26. And the parable of an evil word is as an evil tree pulled up from the earth's surface; it has no stability.
27. Allah confirms those who believe with the sure word in this world's life and in the hereafter, and Allah causes the unjust to go astray, and Allah does what He wills.
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The first AAYAT of this Ruku tells that the Satan would deny at AKHIRAT any of his involvement in the punishment of the disbelievers with the statement that Allah had promised them right when He promised that the disbelievers would get the hell-fire but as for him, he had lied to them when he promised them about their well-being on his obedience; the Satan would tell them at AKHIRAT that he only enticed them and they complied to his call though he had no authority over them so they would not blame him for their severe punishment but they would blame their own selves for it; the Satan would state that they must know that he is unable to ease their chastisement in any manner and they too have no authority to help him in any manner; the Satan would tell them that he did reject their act that they used to associate him with Allah before because (though he disobeyed Allah totally for which Allah punished him by the hell-fire forever), even he does not associate anything with Allah Whom he takes as the only Creator Who has all the true authority and he knows well that the unjust persons shall have the most painful punishment; note that this address of the Satan to the disbelievers at the hell-fire, would tell them most clearly that he actually had no authority at the world to force any person to wrongs but he only had the persuading power to wrongs by untrue reasoning and so those who took his word for their well-being erroneously (without any care to take the protection of Allah), did the most unjust act by their own free-will that actually had led them to the hell-fire; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT tells that the true believers who had always done the righteous deeds at the life at the world, would be entered in JANNAAT (the most beautiful gardens at the paradise) beneath which flow the beautiful streams where they would abide forever by the will of Allah, their true Lord; their greetings to each other there would be for peace, security and ease; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAAT 24 & 25 tell that Allah gives the example for the goodly word (i.e. Islam) that it denotes the goodly tree (i.e. the Muslim person) which has its root firmly fixed (i.e. his firm belief in TAUHID) and its branches reach to the heavens (i.e. the righteous deeds that stem from the true belief to affect the coming true life positively) so it gives its fruits (i.e. the goodly benefits) at all seasons (i.e. at all times even at the world and even at AKHIRAT) and Allah sets forth such examples for all persons that they may be mindful; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-26 tells the example for the evil word, “and the example of an evil word (i.e. the disbelief) is like an evil tree (i.e. the disbelieving person who disobeys Allah) that is pulled up from the earth's surface (i.e. his deeds even if seemingly good have no firm grounds that go waste as the time passes on it) so it has no stability (i.e. it does not affect his life at AKHIRAT positively)”; this AAYAT explains the AAYAT-18 further that tells, “the example of those who disbelieve in their Lord - their actions are like ashes on which the wind blows hard on a stormy day; they shall not have power over anything out of what (seemingly good deeds) they have earned; this is the great error”; the last AAYAT of the Ruku concludes that “Allah strengthens those (in impression) who believe with the certain goodly word (i.e. Islam) in this world's life and in the hereafter, and Allah causes the unjust to go astray, and Allah does whatever He wills”; this tells most explicitly that Allah protects the true Muslims (who have the true belief in Islam and they do all the righteous deeds according to that true belief) from all the satanic enticement at their lives at the world and certainly, He would provide them all His blessing at AKHIRAT; and Allah would lead astray all the unjust persons (that are the disbelievers in the Truth) due to their disbelief at the world (that would cause their extreme loss at AKHIRAT) and He certainly does whatever He wills; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
IBRAHIM-The Fifth Ruku
28. Have you not seen those who have changed Allah's favor for ungratefulness and made their people to alight into the abode of perdition (into the hell-fire)?
29. They shall enter into it and an evil place it is to settle in.
30. And they set up equals with Allah that they may lead (people) astray from His path. Say: Please yourselves (with worldly things), for surely your return is to the fire.
31. Say to My servants who believe that they should keep up prayer and spend out of what We have given them secretly and openly before the coming of the day in which there shall be no bartering nor mutual befriending.
32. Allah is He Who created the heavens and the earth and sent down water from the clouds, then brought forth with it fruits as sustenance for you, and He has made the ships subservient to you, that they might run their course in the sea by His command, and He has made the rivers subservient to you.
33. And He has made subservient to you the sun and the moon pursuing their courses, and He has made subservient to you the night and the day.
34. And He gives you of all that you ask Him; and if you count Allah's favors, you will not be able to number them; most surely man is very unjust, very ungrateful.
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This Ruku tells about how Allah has set everything in favor of the human life because He has not only provided the human beings the true guidance by His Messengers for their spiritual security but He also has provided them at the world all such things that assure their physical safety; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the first three AAYAAT of the Ruku tell about the disbelievers that they needed to become grateful to Allah for all His care to them yet they chose to prefer the life at the world over AKHIRAT and did all wrongs to gain the worldly possessions, pleasures and positions; Allah does good to every person by His own good care for them but if someone does wrongs then due to those wrongs, He puts His wrath upon such persons; these AAYAAT read, “have you not seen those who have changed Allah's favor for ungratefulness and made their people to alight into the abode of perdition (into the hell-fire) - they shall enter into it and an evil place it is to settle in; and they set up equals with Allah that they may lead (people) astray from His path – say that you please yourselves (with worldly things), for surely your return is to the fire”; the next AAYAT tells about the true believers in contrast that they read-on SALAH (prayers to Allah) and spend in the way of Allah from all what He has given them spending them secretly and openly before that day (i.e. the Day of Judgment) when there would be no trade to gain virtues (so no-one would become able to get benefits there even by barter by ADL) and there would be no friendship among each other (so no-one would become able to get benefits there even by the affection of each other by EHSAAN); the good SALAH at the life at the world would show their total inclination to AKHIRAT while the provision of high benefits to the people by spending amounts on them (by trade or by friendship) at the life at the world would show their disregard for its gains except for necessity; this provision of high benefits might be due to SADAQAH (the provision of tangible amounts) or this might be due to TABLIGH (the spread of the Islamic teachings); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last three AAYAAT of this Ruku tell about the manner by which Allah has provided all persons their physical safety by the high benefits that they get by things around generally and they read that “Allah is He Who created the heavens and the earth and sent down water from the clouds, then brought forth with it fruits as sustenance for you, and He has made the ships subservient to you, that they might run their course in the sea by His command, and He has made the rivers subservient to you; and He has made subservient to you the sun and the moon pursuing their courses, and He has made subservient to you the night and the day; and He gives you of all that you ask Him; and if you count Allah's favors, you will not be able to number them; most surely (most of) the mankind is very unjust, very ungrateful”; as according to the Quran, the only aim of life that the Man has (like all other creation of Allah), is that he gets the pleasure of Allah by total surrender to Him and besides this, there is no other aim of life (see Surah ZAARIYAAT-56), so Allah has taken care that the Man finds total ease for this necessary task; the words that “He gives you of all that you ask Him” means that Allah has provided the Man everything that would ensure his physical safety so that he fulfills his task with all fervor without any true attachment to the life at the world; Allah has provided the true guidance to him too so that he takes it for his spiritual safety; everything that the Man finds around him works in the favor of his safety and nothing is adverse to it unless he makes such adverse provisions by his own self; this safety totally includes all edibles (that are allowed and that are most pure) that affect the inside of the Man and all set-up of the environment that affects the outside of the Man so he adapts to it well; Al-Hamdu Lillah; please note that this message of the Quran tells us that it is most erroneous that any of the Muslims (who have some authority at their lands to affect the respective people there under their command), cause extreme panic among their people about some issue at hand even if that issue relates to some infectious disease; Allah has given the Man the most wonderful immune system that works-on in his total favor all the time; Al-Hamdu Lillah; please see the note at the first Ruku of Surah YOUNUS too; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
IBRAHIM-The Sixth Ruku
35. And when Ibrahim said: my Lord - make this city secure, and save me and my sons from worshipping idols:
36. My Lord - surely they have led many men astray; then whoever follows me, he is surely of me, and whoever disobeys me, You surely are Forgiving, Merciful:
37. O our Lord - surely I have settled a part of my offspring in a valley unproductive of fruit near Your Sacred House, our Lord - that they may keep up prayer; therefore make the hearts of some people yearn towards them and provide them with fruits; haply they may be grateful:
38. O our Lord - surely You know what we hide and what we make public, and nothing in the earth nor anything in heaven is hidden from Allah:
39. All praise is for Allah, Who has given me in old age Ishmael and Isaac; most surely my Lord is the Hearer of prayer:
40. My Lord - make me keep up prayer and from my offspring (too), O our Lord, and accept my prayer:
41. O our Lord - grant me protection and my parents and the believers on the day when the reckoning shall come to pass!
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The Ruku starts with DUA (the plea of Ibrahim-AS to Allah) that He secures Makkah from idols where he had settled his wife HAJIRAH-AS and his son Ishmael-AS; note that before Ibrahim, the polytheists generally took idols to worship and Noah-AS, HOODH-AS and SALEH-AS, all of these Messengers of Allah before him, had guided their nations to leave the worship of idols and surrender totally to Allah, the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note also that the manner of DUA is to ask for the personal safety from wrongs first then ask for the safety of the near ones; he noted that these idols have led many of the people astray which means that people went into extreme wrongs as they worshipped these idols; he stated that only those are truly his descendants who follow his guidance and who disobey that, those are not truly among his descendants; we have learned that Allah does not accept even the son of the Messenger as among his family i.e. among his true descendants who disbelieves in the message of Allah (see the note at the fourth Ruku of Surah HOODH); Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that Ibrahim made this DUA at his most ripe age as we find here that he praised Allah that He provided him with Ishmael-AS and Isaac-AS (see AAYAT-39 here); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the Muslims always have most highly respected Ibrahim-AS but this is most notable that even the disbelievers at Makkah at those times respected Ibrahim most highly; even the Jews and the Christians respect him most highly to this day; so he was (and is) one of the most respectable figures among them all by the blessing of Allah and so the Ruku tells this to the chiefs at Makkah that his respect does ask that they follow his guidance too which was to avoid taking anyone equal to Allah in authority and so they need to leave the worship of idols totally; Al-Hamdu Lillah; here we find that Ibrahim said about those who do not follow him that Allah surely is Forgiving and Merciful to them; note that Jesus-AS had said, “if You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them then only You certainly are the Mighty, the Wise” (MA’EDAH-118 at its last Ruku); so the difference is that Ibrahim-AS was mentioning the disbelievers that would disobey him at the life at the world and there still would remain the chance for them if Allah wills that they come to the fundamental teachings of Islam at their lives but Jesus-AS was presenting his case at AKHIRAT where he mentioned those persons who had most erroneously believed in trinity at their lives at the world; Al-Hamdu Lillah; it is interesting to note that much about Ibrahim and Jesus is common among them though they have the space of about 2000 years between them; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Ibrahim further asked Allah, the true Lord, that He gives his offspring (which he has settled in a valley that is unproductive of fruits near His Sacred House KA’BAH) such TOFIQ that they keep up prayer and that He makes the hearts of some people yearn towards them and that He provides them with fruits so they remain grateful to Him; so he asked Allah for three things and Ishmael too was with him in this DUA as he called Allah “O our Lord” here (at this AAYAT-37 and AAYAT ahead and at the last AAYAT of the Ruku); Al-Hamdu Lillah; he mentioned two of things here that reflect the guidance that Allah had asked the last Prophet PBUH to provide (at AAYAT-31 at the previous Ruku); that guidance was that “they should keep up prayer and spend out of what We have given them secretly and openly before the coming of the day in which there shall be no bartering nor mutual befriending”; so when Ibrahim-AS asked Allah to provide them fruits of all sorts, he also was asking for them to spend on the needy whatever they find as surplus to their needs in the way of Allah as that would tell that they are truly grateful to Allah; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Ibrahim acknowledged as the AAYAT ahead tells that “O our Lord - surely You know what we hide and what we make public, and nothing in the earth nor any thing in heaven is hidden from Allah”; this denotes that whatever good deeds the believers do, Allah knows well and He would certainly not waste their efforts; AAYAT-16 of Surah LUQMAN reports the words of LUQMAN which he had spoken to his son that “O my son! surely if any deed is the very weight of the grain of a mustard-seed, even though it is in rock, or in the heaven or inside the earth, Allah will bring it forth; surely Allah is Knower of subtleties, Aware”; in the last three AAYAAT of the Ruku, we find that Ibrahim praised Allah (as he was one of the most grateful persons to Allah) for His blessing on him that He gave him Ishmael and Isaac at so very old age and he asked for TOFIQ of reading SALAH for himself and for all his good descendants (as SALAH is the thing that brings very near to Allah and keeps away from the unnecessary inclination to the worldly assets); he also asked for mercy from Allah for his own self, for his parents and for all the good Muslims; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that in DUA, a good person is not disallowed to pray Allah in some of it for his own self and in some of it for other good persons with the best intention; note also that a good person with all his efforts in good deeds, would still ask for mercy from Allah for himself at whatever he has done and would still ask for TOFIQ from Him that he remains totally attentive to Him at all times ahead; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
IBRAHIM-The Last Ruku
42. And do not think Allah to be heedless of what the unjust do; He only respites them to the day on which the eyes shall be fixedly open,
43. Hastening forward, their heads upraised, their eyes not reverting to them and their hearts vacant.
44. And warn people of the day when the chastisement shall come to them, then those who were unjust will say: O our Lord; respite us to near term, (so) we shall respond to Your call and follow the apostles. What - did you not swear before (that) there will be no passing away for you!
45. And you dwell in the abodes of those who were unjust to themselves, and it is clear to you how We dealt with them and We have made (them) examples to you.
46. And they have indeed planned their plan, but their plan is with Allah, though their plan was such that the mountains should pass away thereby.
47. Therefore do not think Allah to be failing in His promise to His apostles; surely Allah is Mighty, the Lord of retribution.
48. On the day, when the earth shall be changed into a different earth, and the heavens (as well); and they shall come forth before Allah, the One, the Supreme.
49. And you will see the guilty on that day linked together in chains.
50. Their shirts made of pitch and the fire covering their faces
51. That Allah may requite each soul (according to) what it has earned; surely Allah is swift in reckoning.
52. This is a clear message for mankind in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that Allah only is the One true Authority and that men of understanding may take heed.
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The Ruku is explicit about the Day of Judgment; note that Surah IBRAHIM relates to asking of preference of AKHIRAT over the life at the world and this Ruku especially addresses that; the first couple of AAYAAT depict the disbelievers on that day that had led their lives with the preference of the life at the world over AKHIRAT as they read, “and do not think Allah to be heedless of what the unjust do; He only respites them to the day on which the eyes shall be fixedly open, hastening forward, their heads upraised, their eyes not reverting to them and their hearts vacant”; this denotes what extreme anxiety their tensed position would present at that day that they would lose the awareness of others around and they would move in such manner to the grounds of HASHR (the gathering at the Day of Judgment) as they rise from dead which would seem extremely wild; the four AAYAAT ahead tell them about their manner of living at their lives at the world but the first of them starts by asking the Prophet PBUH to warn them about that day when they would clearly see their extreme punishment coming to them and then they would ask for respite to near term so that they respond positively to this call that warned them about this specific day and so that they follow the apostles without any reservation; the AAYAAT tell explicitly that they used to swear before that there will be no passing away for them by any calamity and they dwelt in the abodes of those who were unjust to themselves and they were well-aware that Allah had punished them severely so Allah had made them examples for all persons; but they did not reflect on the righteous manner of living their lives and even planned such plans that could have shaken the mountains (i.e. that could have provided most unexpected results if that remained unchecked so that they lived-on in accordance to their own manner of living) but all those plans became useless in front of the authority of Allah; so no one should ever think even that Allah would not fulfill His promise to His apostles; surely Allah is Mighty (so He makes the effect of all things better by His direct command according to His will), the Lord of retribution (so He would surely punish all the disbelievers not only at their lives at the world but also at AKHIRAT); He truly has all authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next four AAYAAT tell about some other matters on that specific day and the first one tells that the looks of the earth and even the looks of heavens would be changed; the first five AAYAAT of Surah INSHIQAQ tell about this by words that “when the heaven is split asunder; and obeys its Lord and it must; and when the earth is stretched; and casts forth what is in it and becomes empty; and obeys its Lord and it must”; so there would be some major change at the earth and at heavens for the set-up of that specific day; and every person would come there in the presence of Allah; on that day, those who would be extremely guilty would be heavily chained and their raiment would be of liquid pitch (which is obtained from a tree) that highly attracts the fire towards it; this all would happen because Allah would punish those persons most severely who had lived their lives at extreme disbelief; certainly, Allah would punish all such persons most swiftly according to His fair justice on that specific day i.e. the Day of Judgment; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT of the Surah reads, “this is a clear message for mankind in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that Allah only is the One true Authority and that men of understanding may take heed”; so Allah has told explicitly to the mankind that the Quran is the message of Allah for all of them that they be warned by it not to put themselves into extreme trouble by disbelief and wrong deeds and that they may know that Allah only has all authority to judge them on their lives at the world, at AKHIRAT; they need to take care that they do not prefer the life at the world over AKHIRAT as that is the righteous attitudes for all such men who reflect on the issues of life most sincerely; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
“Tafsiri-Guide to the Quran” by:
Muhammad Saleem Dada
Here our study of IBRAHIM ends; Al-Hamdu Lillah
www.saleemdada.weebly.com
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Surah HIJR
(Consists of 6 Ruku; MK-6)
HIJR-The First Ruku
1. Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of the Book and (of) Quran that makes (things) clear.
2. Often will those who disbelieve wish that they had been Muslims.
3. Leave them that they may eat and enjoy themselves and (that) hope may beguile them, for they will soon know.
4. And never did We destroy a town but it had a term made known.
5. No people can hasten on their doom nor can they postpone (it).
6. And they say: O you to whom the Reminder has been revealed! you are most surely insane:
7. Why do you not bring to us the angels if you are of the truthful ones?
8. We do not send the angels but with truth, and then they would not be respited.
9. Surely We have revealed the Reminder and We will most surely be its guardian.
10. And certainly We sent (apostles) before you among the nations of yore.
11. And there never came an apostle to them but they mocked him.
12. Thus do We make it to enter into the hearts of the guilty;
13. They do not believe in it, and indeed the example of the former people has already passed.
14. And even if We open to them a gateway of heaven, so that they ascend into it all the while,
15. They would certainly say: Only our eyes have been covered over, rather we are an enchanted people.
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Surah HIJR also starts with the MUQATTA’AAT (the 14 disjointed letters that are among the Arabic alphabets that come at the commencement of 29 SURAH in specific combinations); the first AAYAT tells that all AAYAAT of Surah HIJR are at LAHE-MAHFUZ (because all of the Holy Book Quran is present there; see Surah BURUJ-21 & 22) and they certainly also relate to the Quran that clarifies all the fundamental teachings of Islam; note that the most fundamental teachings of Islam are TAUHID (Allah only is the Creator of all the creation and He always has all His attributes and He only is the true Lord), RISALAT (Allah sent His Messengers to the world to provide the Guidance to the right path and Muhammad PBUH is the last of His Messengers) and AKHIRAT (Allah would judge all peoples of the world at the Day of Judgment); Al-Hamdu Lillah; Surah HIJR gives the message in most clear terms that Allah has not only provided the fundamental teachings of Islam most explicitly but He also has given security to them so that nobody is able to violate that message or/and is able to disregard Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah, in such manner that the true guidance is blurred for the seeker of the Truth as Allah had told Adam that He would present His message time & again to all peoples of the world as the life at the world remains an examination for all peoples of the world; now, the Quran remains the only worthy guide (with its basic explanation for practice at the SUNNAH) to the mankind (and even to the Jinn) for their true guidance as there would never come any more of the true guidance because Allah has completed that in it in the most explicit manner; the second & third AAYAAT here state that the disbelievers in the fundamental teachings of Islam would wish again and again at HASHR that only if they had been Muslims; so leave them on their obsession with the life at the world that they eat-on the variety of foods they could get their hands on and that they get its benefits and that they make efforts for it only; those efforts would keep them involved in such hopes that they become one of the most wealthy persons around them or they achieve prominence among the persons around them by competition at the world or they achieve such status where their worldly directions receive utmost attention to the persons around them; Surah HADID says, “know that this world's life is only sport (at infancy) and play (at childhood) and gaiety (at youth) and boasting among yourselves (at adulthood), and a vying in the multiplication of wealth and children (at the middle-age), like the rain, whose causing the vegetation to grow, pleases the husbandmen, then it withers away so that you will see it become yellow, then it becomes dried up and broken down (so the person comes to his death); and in the hereafter is a severe chastisement (for the evil persons) and forgiveness from Allah and His pleasure (for the good persons); and this world's life is naught but means of deception” (Surah HADID-20); so there are five stages at the life at the world in which the person would either live on with obsession of that life or he would either live on upon the right path as he has the liability to do so and then at the Day of HASHR, the result would be totally in accordance to the manner by which each of the persons lived-on his life at the world; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-4 and AAYAT-5 say; “and never did We destroy a town but it had a term made known; no people can hasten on their doom nor can they postpone (it)”; the disbelievers at Makkah demanded the punishment upon them as they were not prepared to accept Islam so these AAYAAT told them that it is true that when some people reject the fundamental teachings of Islam though they receive it in the clearest manner then Allah brings the punishment on them; but Allah sets time to it and it takes hold of them on that appointed time only so there is no earliness to it and no delay when that time arrives; the disbelievers at Makkah also said about Muhammad PBUH that he has been touched by insanity (i.e. they thought that he has fallen into some play of nerves that asks him to take himself as the Messenger of Allah; may Allah save all good persons from such erroneous notions about Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah); they opined that if he was the Messenger of Allah then he should bring angels to them to endorse the message he is providing to them (i.e. they thought that they also are liable to see the angel that provides him the message of Allah if he is speaking the truth); AAYAT-8 answers them that when Allah sends angels specifically to the world to some people, that is only to fulfill some special assignment that He has given to them that would prove clearly that Allah only has the true authority; they are sent to put the specific chastisement on some people who had openly challenged the message of Allah and we have learnt the event that related their descent at the people of Lot-AS to bring their chastisement upon them at the seventh Ruku of Surah HOODH (and it would come ahead at this Surah i.e. HIJR too); Al-Hamdu Lillah; and Allah has chosen Muhammad PBUH as His Messenger and He has provided him His message by the angel Gabriel-AS (that is the Guidance to the right path) and he would not come at the view of other persons; AAYAT-9 of Surah HIJR is most notable that gives the message that Allah would totally safeguard the message that He has provided to Muhammad PBUH (i.e. the Holy Book Quran); it is named as AD-DHIKR (the Reminder) here and this needs some detail; please note that this name tells us that everyone has the sense of recognition for the Truth (named FITHRAT) due to the covenant taken from each and every person before the life at the world, in the world of Spirits and that sense is addressed by the Holy Book Quran when it presents the fundamental teachings of Islam so in this meaning, it actually is the Reminder to that covenant that is recognized by the Man inside; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Surah AARAAF-172 reads, “and when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants, and made them bear witness against their own souls -am I not your Lord?; -they said -yes -we bear witness; lest you should say on the day of resurrection that surely we were heedless of this”; so this is the covenant that Allah has taken from each and every person before his/her life at the world and he/she needs the highest of attention to it; Al-Hamdu Lillah; as no more of the Messengers of Allah would come at the world because the Prophet Muhammad PBUH was the last of Messengers, the Message of Allah exists written with us all in the form of the Holy Book Quran and Allah has taken the responsibility for its protection upon Himself so that His Word (that He gave to Adam) is not violated that he would keep the Truth always clear for all to accept or to reject so no injustice takes place when He judges all persons at the time of HASHR; everything that was related to the protection of its text and its meaning was given protection; there were such people who wrote it beautifully with utmost care at all times and places even before the printing manner for it was available by the will of Allah and there stood people namely HUFFAZ from the very time of its descent that still stand for it by the will of Allah so these HUFFAZ remembered it amazingly word by word by heart; Ahadith, that reported the SUNNAH of the Last Prophet Muhammad PBUH and explained the Holy Book Quran most clearly, remained most secure at the good books that the compilers of Ahadith compiled for them (that the students of Islam learn beautifully at different Islamic schools) by the will of Allah so that the clarification of it remains available at all times and places; its language Arabic still is very much active language of the world by the will of Allah and in fact, the Holy Book Quran receives, and has always received, the most-high value in the Arabic literature; note also that Allah protected the Muslims from the enemy when they had put the Holy Book Quran into practice individually and collectively with fervor and this tells in most clear terms that whoever and whatever relates to it, Allah would certainly provide security for all such as He has taken the provision of the security of the Quran as His responsibility; this also is undeniable fact (which also expresses its security that Allah has provided to it) that the disbelievers have always remained unable to imitate the Quran as it has amazing integrity not only in its meanings but also in its words; so the AAYAT implies that there is no need to take anything else but the Quran for the Guidance to the right path by the assistance of the SUNNAH and that tells most clearly that Muhammad PBUH was and is the last of Messengers of Allah to all peoples of the world, that come after him at any of times and at any of places in the world to live-on their lives; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next four AAYAAT tell that Allah had sent many of His Messengers before him in all different peoples that had scattered upon all over the land; but whenever any of Messengers of Allah came to any of those peoples, they mocked him in different ways and so Allah made their inclination to mock the true guidance as common pattern of their response to the Messengers; so these disbelievers too would not generally believe in the true guidance that the Quran provides as such has been the manner of the previous peoples that have passed (and that manner has affected these disbelievers which ultimately led many of those previous disbelievers to elimination); these disbelievers have reached such height of disbelief that even if Allah opens one of the gateways to the heaven just above and they keep mounting to its space, they would say unashamedly that their eyes are intoxicated, rather they have become enchanted; this tells that they are not ready to accept Islam even if they get any of the most valid reasons for its acceptance because they would give an aspect of doubt to such valid reasons even, and then they would continue on with their rejection of Islam; these last AAYAAT of the Ruku tell that if they do intend to believe in Islam, they would do it by the good teachings that Muhammad PBUH provides to them and if they ask to believe in Islam by some observation of their own, they actually indicate that they have no intention to believe; they need to leave all arrogance and surrender unconditionally to Allah as He only has all the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
HIJR-The Second Ruku
16. And certainly We have made strongholds (mansions of heavenly bodies) in the heaven and We have made it fair-seeming to the beholders.
17. And We guard it against every accursed Satan,
18. But he who steals a hearing, so there follows him a visible flame.
19. And the earth-- We have spread it forth and made in it firm mountains and caused to grow in it of every suitable thing.
20. And We have made in it means of subsistence for you and for him for whom you are not the suppliers.
21. And there is not a thing but with Us are the treasures of it, and We do not send it down but in a known measure.
22. And We send the winds fertilizing, then send down water from the sky above and then give it to you to drink; and it is not you who are the holders of the store thereof.
23. And most surely We bring to life and cause to die and We are the heirs.
24. And certainly We know those of you who have gone before and We certainly know those who shall come later.
25. And surely your Lord will gather them together; surely He is Wise, Knowing.
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The first three AAYAAT of this Ruku tell about many of mansions of heavenly bodies at the space as seen from the earth that Allah has beautified; that space has places in them (that are near to earth) that the angels guard so that the Jinn do not get access there and hear their conversation about some event to occur at the near future from which the Jinn would deduct some important happening to occur in general somewhere at earth; note that Allah created the Jinn from the fire mainly as He created the Man from the black mud that ultimately transformed to the sounding clay; they are among the three of creation that possess the awareness of the self; these three are Angels, Jinn and the Man and Allah has given the last two among them the free-will to apply in practice to gain the pleasure of Allah by that; Al-Hamdu Lillah; there are good and bad in Jinn just like human beings (though bad ones are much more in Jinn that are also called as SHAYATIN) and they possess the physical strength much more than human beings; they do not attack men even when they are much stronger as angels are guarding the people by the command of Allah who are more powerful even in the physical strength than Jinn and moreover, men are given much more spiritual power than them indeed (see also the note on the fourth Ruku of Surah BAQARAH); however, if the Jinn become bold enough to approach the angels at the sky near the earth (to which they have access) and steal some of their conversation to get some idea of something to happen somewhere at the near future then as they run back with it to the earth, a flame follows them on their way back to eliminate them at the space before they return to earth; about the flame that manifests at the space, please note the issue as defined today that when a meteoroid enters the atmosphere of the earth at a speed in excess of 20 km/s, the heating due to the speed of that object towards the earth (because of its kinetic energy), produces the flame of light as it glows and leaves the trail of glowing particles at its passage; it is then commonly referred to as the "shooting star" (and if it collides with the ground, it is meteorite); note also that when many of meteoroids appear nearly at the same time and nearly at the same space in the sky, it is called the meteor-shower and this occurs even at the day-time; due to this phenomenon, the comment on these AAYAAT needs much insight yet I, MSD, insha-Allah would present their meaning without discard of the ancient commentaries upon it, with total attention towards Allah, the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the notable points at this matter is that Allah has beautified the sky by stars at all places as seen from the earth at the night and it extremely pleases the sight of the onlooker; the second point is that Allah has set angels at the guard at posts at the sky near to earth (so the pronoun denotes “SAMAA” i.e. the sky above at AAYAT-17 as in the previous AAYAT where it also denotes the sky above; however, AAYAT-17 implies the space near to earth) so that the evil Jinn do not approach the places therein and steal any of the conversation of angels that discloses some event of the near future to happen somewhere at the earth; the third point then is that the angels talk about some events to come (which they are not prohibited to talk about) as they know them because Allah has given that awareness to them; the fourth point is that the evil Jinn (i.e. Satan) that defy the commands of Allah, have the power to approach them, see them and hear them; the fifth point is then that they were disallowed their easy approach to angels since the most ancient times (as Surah JINN tells explicitly and we would see that very soon at our discussion ahead insha-Allah; note that even then they were disallowed any access to far-off distance i.e. Allah had bound them to remain much inside the solar system at their flight at space); the sixth point is that even if after the curtailment of their approach to angels, they do come near to their sites gathering their courage with boldness and then manage to steal some of their speech, the flame of the meteoroid follows them and destroys them at space; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the seventh point is that the AAYAT tells about the evil Jinn that they are accursed as they are burnt by the flames that get them; the eighth point is that the flaming meteors are at the space all the time falling towards earth so this means that the flame captures whatever is at its passage and the AAYAT implies that it happens as the fact of the matter that they follow the Jinn running away to earth and it is not that they specifically target the Jinn only like the guided missiles (though there is some probability that they have inclination to them as the fire they manifest might have attraction to the fire that the Jinn have in their creation); keeping these points in view, the feasible interpretation of these AAYAAT is much possible insha-Allah; note that Surah JINN tells about the group of Jinn which had heard the beautiful AAYAAT of the Quran and there we find that they mentioned in their comments on what they heard, “and that we sought to reach heaven (SAMAA i.e. the sky above near to earth), but we found it filled with strong guards and flaming stars; and that we used to sit in some of the sitting-places thereof to steal a hearing, but he who would listen now would find a flame lying in wait for him (as he runs back to earth)” (JINN-8 & 9); this explains the fifth point that there was some period of time at the ancient times before the last Prophet Muhammad PBUH when the Jinn used to go to the sky near to earth with not much hardship and listen to the speech of the angels but then, the situation changed and Allah commanded the angels for more alertness at guard and the flames then multiplied highly in quantity; it certainly is not possible to approximate the period of time for it yet it might fall between 1000 BC (from whence the quantity of flames began to rise) and then it reached its height at the times of Muhammad PBUH; note that it is reported at some ancient writing (though this is not much authentic) that one of the good Muslims saw one of the Jinn alone at SALAH after much time of passing-away of the Prophet PBUH and he was able to communicate with that Jinn after that Jinn had finished his SALAH who told him that he was one of those Jinn that were in that group which had heard Muhammad PBUH reciting the Quran and he also told him that before him, he had seen Jesus Christ-AS too (reported at SIFATUS-SAFWAH by Ibne-JAUZI); now, keeping these points in view, the AAYAAT at the beginning of Ruku say, “and certainly We have made BURUJ (mansions of heavenly bodies) in the heaven (the sky above as seen from earth) and We have made it beautiful to the onlookers; and We guard it against every accursed Satan (by the angels at posts at the sky near to earth so that the evil Jinn i.e. the Satan are unable to hear any significant event relating to future); but he who steals a hearing (from the conversation of angels at posts), so there follows him a visible flame (of meteoroids as he runs back to earth because the meteoroids are always falling towards the earth and they have increased much from the ancient times that mostly eliminate him at space)”; see also Surah SAAFFAAT-6 to 10 which also present the matter in the same manner as we find at these AAYAAT here where AAYAT-6 tells clearly that the sky related to this matter is the sky near to earth and the basic adornment of this sky is by KAWAKIB (that presumably indicates the planets of the solar system); so this is the feasible interpretation for these AAYAAT at HIJR that the study brings at fore but the last of statements to this all is that most certainly, Allah knows better; Al-Hamdu Lillah; all must always remember this fact that we read the Quran for the Guidance to the right path because the only aim of life, that the Man has (like all other creation of Allah), is to get the pleasure of Allah by total surrender to Him and besides this, there is no other aim of life (see Surah ZAARIYAAT-56) and so whatever other things of knowledge that come to us by the Quran, they come as bonus to us so that we see the integrity at all things at the universe that truly recognizes Allah as the Creator of all things with all authority and that also truly realizes that He only is the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note here that though Surah BURUJ mentions BURUJ at it first AAYAT (where Allah has taken the oath of them) yet Surah FURQAN explicitly mentions them at AAYAT-61 which says, “Blessed is He Who made BURUJ (mansions of heavenly bodies) in the heaven and made therein the lamp (i.e. the sun) and the shining moon”; note also that SAMAA (i.e. the heaven in singular) comes in the meaning of the sky above (which refers to the sky above as seen from earth or the sky above that is near to earth that includes even the space from where the rain descends); note also that at AAYAT-12 at Surah HA-MEEM AS-SAJDAH, it comes by the meaning of each of skies that are above where it reads, “then He ordained them seven heavens in two days and inspired in each heaven (SAMAA) its mandate; and We decked the nether heaven (SAMAA related to earth) with lighted bodies, and rendered it inviolable; that is the decree of the Mighty, the Knower”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next couple of AAYAAT here at HIJR that are 19 & 20 tell about the earth, “and the earth-- We have spread it forth and made in it firm mountains and caused to grow in it of every suitable thing (in due balance); and We have made in it means of subsistence for you and for him for whom you are not the suppliers”; these AAYAT tell clearly what many other of AAYAAT in the Quran have also told explicitly with the expression of the fact that He has especially assigned the sun and the moon to work for the necessary safety of the mankind; we have seen that the last three AAYAAT of the fifth Ruku at Surah IBRAHIM tell us, “Allah is He Who created the heavens and the earth and sent down water from the clouds, then brought forth with it fruits as sustenance for you, and He has made the ships subservient to you, that they might run their course in the sea by His command, and He has made the rivers subservient to you; and He has made subservient to you the sun and the moon pursuing their courses, and He has made subservient to you the night and the day; and He gives you of all that you ask Him (i.e. whatever your sustenance needs); and if you count Allah's favors, you will not be able to number them; most surely (most of) the mankind is very unjust, very ungrateful” (Surah IBRAHIM-32, 33 & 34); note that the words “and caused everything to grow in it as MAUZUN (i.e. in due balance)” indicates that Allah has measured every crops that come by necessity for the human beings at earth and they also remain complementary to the earth itself as the word MAUZUN is related not only to crops but also to spreading forth of the earth and to making of mountains too; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Allah has provided ease at the earth for all of the mankind to earn their sustenance with moderate efforts when they coordinate to each other with care and not only for them but He has provided sustenance to all of His creation that is at waters, at earth or/and fly at above these areas (i.e. birds) with efforts that they are able to bear; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-21 gives some detail for the word MAUZUN as it reads, “And there is not a thing but with Us are the treasures of it, and We do not send it down but in a known measure”; Allah provides things necessary for the life at the earth from His treasures according to the requirement of that examination which He takes of the mankind and the water-cycle is an important feature to observe this measure; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-22 indicates the water cycle by the statement that “and We send the winds fertilizing, then send down water from the sky above and then give it to you to drink; and it is not you who are the holders of the store thereof”; note that the clouds that wander on slowly between the earth and the heaven (at the nearest part of it to the earth), rise due to the condensation of water particles inside and these clouds produce steady rain or snow and they often are referred to as nimbostratus clouds; they store much of waters and the huge mountains store that too at their peaks and the wells too where that flows beneath the surface; the winds steer the clouds to places where they release the waters and they also transfer pollen grains of plants in the manner that they fertilize (i.e. pollination) and come to use for the mankind and other of creation of Allah; note that the rain-water is the most pure water to drink and Surah MURSALAAT points this out, “have We not made the earth to draw together to itself, the living and the dead, and made therein lofty mountains, and given you to drink of sweet water?” (MURSALAAT-25, 26 & 27); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last three AAYAAT of this Ruku at HIJR tell that Allah would ultimately raise all of the mankind and all of the Jinn from dead where they would see their respective accounts of deeds that they had done at the world and they would get their respective results on that basis; these three AAYAAT that are 23, 24 & 25 read, “and most surely We bring (every person) to life and cause to die and We are the heirs; and certainly We know (you all and) those of you who have gone before (i.e. all those who are dead at this time when this AAYAT descends) and We certainly know those who shall come later (in time to the world); and surely your Lord will gather them together (at the grounds of HASHR); surely He is Wise (so your efforts would affect the destiny of the world only as He wills for it), Knowing (so nothing is out of His knowledge though it is of past or present or future)”; most certainly, Allah only has all the true authority, Al-Hamdu Lillah.
HIJR-The Third Ruku
26. And certainly We created the Man by clay that gives forth sound, from black mud that had altered.
27. And the jinn We created before, of intensely hot fire.
28. And when your Lord said to the angels: Surely I am going to create a mortal by clay that gives forth sound, from black mud that had altered.
29. So when I have made him complete and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down making obeisance to him.
30. So the angels made obeisance, all of them together,
31. But IBLIS (did it not); he refused to be with those who made obeisance.
32. He said: O IBLIS -what excuse have you that you are not with those who make obeisance?
33. He said: I am not such that I should make obeisance to a mortal whom Thou hast created of by clay that gives forth sound, from black mud that had altered.
34. He said: Then get out of it, for surely you are driven away:
35. And surely on you is curse until the Day of Judgment.
36. He said: My Lord -then respite me till the time when they are raised.
37. He said: So surely you are of the respited ones
38. Till the period of the time made known.
39. He said: My Lord -because Thou hast made life evil to me, I will certainly make (evil) fair-seeming to them on earth, and I will certainly cause them all to deviate
40. Except Thy servants from among them, the devoted ones.
41. He said: This is the right way with Me:
42. Surely, as regards My servants, you have no authority, over them except those who follow you of deviators.
43. And surely Hell is the promised place of them all:
44. It has seven gates; for every gate there shall be a separate party of them.
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This Ruku provides the narration of Adam and IBLIS for the third time that we have read previously at Surah BAQARAH and Surah AARAAF (please read the supplementary note at AAYAT-11 at the second Ruku of Surah AARAAF to study this event in some detail); here the notable point which the Ruku explicitly provides, is that Allah mentions the matter by which He created Adam that relates to his physique but He commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam only after He had blown the spirit unto him by His blessed command; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the supplementary note at the second Ruku of AARAAF suffices for the comments on this Ruku but I, MSD, would insha-Allah add some complementary remarks to that note as presented by this Ruku; note for the first four AAYAAT here that AL-INSAAN (the Man) means the first of mankind whom Allah created (i.e. Adam-AS) from sounding clay that had come forth by the black mud altered (as massive period of time passed on it); JAANN at the second AAYAT means the first of Jinn (that was created many centuries before Adam) whom Allah created by such fire that had extreme latent heat in it; the third AAYAT has the word BASHAR (the mortal i.e. mainly the physical form of human); note that the difference between INSAAN and BASHAR is that the former term includes also the spirit but the latter presents its body-form where there is not much concern to the spirit he has in him; note that Allah commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam (to give him utmost respect) after He refines his physique and after that, He blows His spirit unto him and not before; note also that Allah commanded them for this prostration to provide respect to Adam and not for his worship as that only is for Allah, the true Lord; further, note also that Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah, had prohibited any such gesture even for the respect of someone and I, MSD, had noted this also at the comment on AAYAT-100 at the eleventh Ruku of Surah YOUSUF that “from the times of Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah, the practical set-up of Islam does not allow to fall prostrate to any of the creation of Allah for any reason whatsoever though at the times of Yousuf-AS, such prostration to show utmost regards to someone (without taking him equal in authority to Allah) was not prohibited”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; here, Allah mentions the material that He put to use in the creation of Adam as the AAYAT reads, “and certainly We created the Man by clay that gives forth sound, from black mud that had altered”; this was presumably the last position of the material for his creation of BASHAR after which Allah refined his physique and then blew His spirit unto him; note that the spirit is something inside that totally recognizes Allah as His Creator who always has all His attributes and realizes that He only is the true Lord of all creation; so the Man with his spirit, has all the connection to Him with all his humane feelings inside; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the material that Allah put to use was TURAB (mentioned at AALE-IMRAN-59 which was the pure sand that He took by His will;) then He changed it to TEEN (mentioned at AN’AAM-2 which was the muddy clay that took place by His will as He mixed TURAB with pure water); then He changed it to HAMA-EM-MASNUN (mentioned here at HIJR-26 which was the black mud that had altered in shape by the change of TEEN by His will with extreme period of time); then at the last stage, He changed the material by His will to SALSAAL (mentioned also at HIJR-26 which is the sounding clay; at Surah RAHMAN-14, it is defined as the sounding clay that is refined for pottery); note here that all these mention the stages of his material in use that were pure sand, muddy clay, extreme black mud that had taken place by alteration of the muddy clay and finally the sounding refined clay by which Allah created Adam-AS by His will; so these are not the stages of the man during his creation but the material of his creation had passed through such stages whereas each stage had most extreme period of time by the will of Allah; this is how the AAYAAT at places present it explicitly but after all said, the last thing to mention is that most certainly, Allah knows better; these four AAYAAT read, “and certainly We created the Man by clay that gives forth sound (i.e. the final form of the material for his physique which had resulted) from black mud that had altered; and the jinn We created before, of intensely hot fire; and when your Lord said to the angels -surely I am going to create a mortal by clay that gives forth sound, from black mud that had altered; so when I have made him complete (i.e. refined him in his parts) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down (at that time only for his utmost respect) making obeisance to him”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next four AAYAAT read, “so the angels made obeisance, all of them together; but IBLIS (did it not); he refused to be with those who made obeisance; Allah said -O IBLIS -what excuse have you that you are not with those who make obeisance?; he said -I am not such that I should make obeisance to a mortal whom Thou hast created of by clay that gives forth sound, from black mud that had altered”; these AAYAAT tell that when Allah ordered the angels to give regards to Adam by prostration in front of him, they fell in prostration to fulfill the order given as they never disobey Allah; but there was a Jinn among them (as Surah KAHF tells explicitly) who did not obey this order; he was allowed to be in angels due to his obedience and worship of Allah but at this time, when with angels he also was included in this command, he showed extreme pride and refused to obey; Allah asked him why he did not obey (so Allah gave him the chance so that he may ask for mercy & obey); in reply, IBLIS said that he was better as Allah had created him by fire and Adam, Allah had created by the sounding clay resulting from the black mud; this was the reason he gave and refused to obey; AAYAAT ahead till the last of Ruku tell about the punishment Allah gave him then and about his reaction to it; taking the comments from the supplementary note at AAYAT-11 of AARAAF, note that the AAYAAT here tell that Allah canceled the permission He had given to him to stay among the angels and He put His wrath upon him and gave the verdict on him for JAHANNUM (the hell-fire); hearing that verdict, IBLIS the Satan, got very angry and finding himself totally incapable of challenging Allah, the true Lord, he turned his anger towards Adam (the cause for his extreme insult there) and for his degraded position, for which he himself was to be blamed, he became the sworn enemy of the Man; this tells us an important thing that when the satanic person does wrong by his own doing, he puts the blame on someone else and tries to take his revenge due to his psyche of “I” and “me” from that person when that person seems to him lesser in power than him; he asked for the extension in time of his life that it may become very long so that he can misguide the people and make them also get the same verdict which he had received for his own self; however, Allah did not allow him to live at the life at the world up-to the day of the Resurrection as he had asked but allowed him his life up-to the day of the appointed time as AAYAT-38 presents the matter; this provides the hope that he would die much before the last day of the world insha-Allah; at that time, he had said that he would try to take all of the mankind that Allah had created for His worship only, to the hell-fire except for those exceptional persons that are most committed to the commands of Allah; he knew that they have physical needs and if he guides them to physical pleasures at height, he would be able to pursue them towards their base desires (to remain obsessed in seeking the pleasures of the life at the world mostly with the wishful thinking that they already have achieved salvation at the Day of Judgment because they believe in such persons that would provide them their salvation there); though Allah gave him extension in time of his life yet He also told him that it is not that he would take all of them to his satanic manners but the fact of the matter is this that all would remain committed to Allah by ultimately asking Allah for His mercy on their wrongs (as the spirit inside the Man realizes the Truth clearly so most surely, he will not be able to misguide them to deviate truly from the way of Allah) but those who incline by his continuous pursuance to wrongs and then they deviate willfully to take his way without asking Allah for His mercy, they all will go with him in the hell-fire; the last AAYAT of the Ruku warns that the hell-fire has seven gates and for every gate there shall be a separate vast group of the disbelievers in the Truth according to the level of evil that they have put themselves upon; note that Surah NISAA states, “O you who believe - do not take the disbelievers for friends leaving away the believers; do you desire that you should give to Allah a manifest proof against yourselves?; surely the hypocrites are in the lowest stage of the fire and you shall not find a helper for them; except those who repent and amend and hold fast to Allah and are sincere in their religion to Allah, these are with the believers, and Allah will grant the believers a mighty reward; why should Allah chastise you if you are grateful and believe?; and Allah is the Multiplier of rewards; Knowing” (NISAA-144 to 147); certainly, Allah only has all the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
HIJR-The Fourth Ruku
45. Surely those who guard (against evil) shall be in the midst of gardens and fountains:
46. Enter them in peace, secure.
47. And We will root out whatever of rancor is in their breasts-- (they shall be) as brethren, on raised couches, face to face.
48. Toil shall not afflict them in it, nor shall they be ever ejected from it.
49. Inform My servants that I am the Forgiving, the Merciful,
50. And that My punishment-- that is the painful punishment.
51. And inform them of the guests of Ibrahim:
52. When they entered upon him, they said, Peace. He said: Surely we are afraid of you.
53. They said: Be not afraid, surely we give you the good news of a boy, possessing knowledge.
54. He said: Do you give me good news (of a son) when old age has come upon me? -- Of what then do you give me good news!
55. They said: We give you good news with truth, therefore be not of the despairing.
56. He said: And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord but the erring ones?
57. He said: What is your business then, O apostles?
58. They said: Surely we are sent towards a guilty people,
59. Except Lot's followers: We will most surely deliver them all,
60. Except his wife; We ordained that she shall surely be of those who remain behind.
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The six AAYAAT at the start of the Ruku depict the pleasant life of those persons who had lived with TAQWA at the world that they would be at JANNAAT beneath which flow the beautiful streams; they would enter that wonderful place (the beautiful eternal gardens) in total peace without any fear; they would enjoy their sittings there at raised couches where they would talk pleasantly with each other without any grudge in their hearts as Allah would cleanse their hearts about each other if there were any complaints between them; so it is possible that the persons, who enter those beautiful eternal gardens, have some complaints to each other (due to their tense relations at the life at the world) yet that would not stay there and they would speak pleasantly face to face with each other; so they would have no troubles of any sort there from each other nor would they ever be ejected from those beautiful eternal gardens as Allah would care most highly for them; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note about TAQWA that it means the attitude of the heart that comes by the true Belief upon Allah with both fear and hope towards Him when the person has totally thrown away all the worldly base desires and so that leads him to the most righteous deeds; all persons need to remember the event that relates to Adam-AS (and we have just read it in the previous Ruku for the third time) that when Allah sent him to the world, He told him that those among his descendants would get JANNAH, their actual dwelling place, who keep to righteousness in their belief and deeds but those who disbelieve and reject the true guidance, they would be put into the hell-fire; AAYAAT-49 & 50 ask Muhammad PBUH to inform all of mankind that Allah is Most Forgiving of their sins when they repent and He is Most Merciful to provide them all ease at the world and at AKHIRAT; but then they need to remember this too that His punishment too which He gives to wrong-doers, is most painful; so all the Muslims must have such hope to Allah that He would keep them safe from the Satan at all times and at all places as He cares for all persons even without their asking; however, with that, all Muslims must have fear of Allah too that they do not get His displeasure by their sins becoming so sinful that they lose the chance to regain JANNAH (singular of JANNAAT); Al-Hamdu Lillah; Surah TOOR also notes the lives of the virtuous persons at JANNAAT at its first Ruku from AAYAT-17 to its last AAYAT (that is AAYAT-28) where we learn about the living manner of the true Muslims at AKHIRAT (as we find here at HIJR) that they would be at JANNAAT (the beautiful eternal gardens of paradise) and would be enjoying the happiness there; they would be totally happy there because of the blessing of Allah for them and because Allah saved them from the punishment of the hell-fire; they would be allowed to eat and drink with all enjoyment there as they sit in couches that are set in rows because they had done the righteous deeds with the true belief; and Allah would wed them to HOORS (the most beautiful women at JANNAAT) who would have the most lovely wide eyes; note about HOORS that these fairest of women would be the dwellers of JANNAAT who would be included in the blessing for the virtuous men who achieve success at AKHIRAT and those righteous women too who had spent their lives in the most virtuous manner at the world, would enter JANNAAT where they would be transformed to most beautiful HOORS; these all good women would have purity in every manner and the women among them who receive it after their success at AKHIRAT, they would become companions to their respective husbands there so if the husband of a woman there is at the upper level, she would be raised to that level and if a woman is at the upper level there, her husband would be raised to that level so that they live-on together; note that the virtuous men would have more than one wife there but the virtuous women would remain attached to their respective husbands there; if the husband of any virtuous woman does not get his entry there, she would be married to one of the virtuous men who has received his placement there; this is due to the respective inclinations of both and Islam takes care to it not only for the life at the world here but also for the true life at AKHIRAT; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Allah would provide them the most wonderful fruits and the most fine meat there extensively as they desire; they would playfully challenge each other there by grabbing the cup of wine, but there would not be any foul talks in that nor any cause of sin; note that consumption of the meat of birds (that have wings to fly with ease) at the world is not appreciable in Islam and note also that wines are totally disallowed at the world yet there at JANNAAT, Allah would provide that to them and that would be totally pure for all persons there as blessed foods and blessed drinks; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAAT of the Ruku provide the event related to Abraham-AS when the angels came to him first when they were on the way to destroy the nation of Lot-AS by the command of Allah; note that I, MSD, have provided the necessary comments about this event at the supplementary note at AAYAT-69 that is in the seventh Ruku of Surah HOODH so please read that for the necessary comments on this Ruku of Surah HIJR that we study; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
HIJR-The Fifth Ruku
61. So when the apostles came to Lot's followers,
62. He said: Surely you are an unknown people.
63. They said: Nay, we have come to you with that about which they disputed.
64. And we have come to you with the truth, and we are most surely truthful.
65. Therefore go forth with your followers in a part of the night and yourself follow their rear, and let not any one of you turn round, and go forth whither you are commanded.
66. And We revealed to him this decree, that the roots of these shall be cut off in the morning.
67. And the people of the town came rejoicing.
68. He said: Surely these are my guests, therefore do not disgrace me,
69. And guard against (the punishment of) Allah and do not put me to shame.
70. They said: Have we not forbidden you from (other) people?
71. He said: These are my daughters, if you will do (aught).
72. By your life! they were blindly wandering on in their intoxication.
73. So the rumbling overtook them (while) entering upon the time of sunrise;
74. Thus did We turn it upside down, and rained down upon them stones of what had been decreed.
75. Surely in this are signs for those who examine.
76. And surely it is on a road that still abides.
77. Most surely there is a sign in this for the believers.
78. And the dwellers of the thicket also were most surely unjust.
79. So We inflicted retribution on them, and they both are, indeed, on an open road pursued.
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The Ruku states that the angels came to Lot’s residence and as he met them, he saw that they were outsiders who did not belong to the area so he addressed them that they were strangers to the place; knowing the nation he was in, he worried about their welfare but they put him at peace by telling him clearly that they were angels who had come to put severe punishment on the nation he was in; that punishment is certain to fall upon them and they certainly are most truthful to him about that; note that those people used to live at Sodom and Gomorrah at south of the dead sea and they were extremely filthy persons who used to commit the heinous sin of sodomy among the men; Lot actually did not belong to that nation but Allah sent him as His Messenger to them and he tried his best to reform them of this heinous sin but to no avail; in fact, they intended to expel him from their city just because he challenged their filth; the angels told him to leave the area at some time of the night and he would move on behind of them to see that all of his followers move on towards the destination to which they had to go (i.e. Syria); note that it is mentioned that there were only his daughters with him that left the area and even his wife remained among that nation which Allah punished most severely; however, before the angels introduced themselves to Lot-AS and directed his action ahead to safety, those sinful people came to his residence rejoicing upon the news that there were some handsome visitors at the residence of Lot; he defended them the best he could by saying that these are his guests so they should not disgrace him among his guests and they should fear Allah and should not belittle him; but those people were so given to their filthy desire that they answered him not to become hindrance to them in this matter; Allah has taken here the oath of the life of Muhammad PBUH which also is one of His blessings upon him and it also indicates to him that he would go on with his task of spreading Islam even when the response of some wrong persons is most adverse to it; note that Lot-AS had clearly indicated to them that Allah had provided women to them (he mentioned them as his daughters because the Messenger of Allah is the spiritual father to the nation) whom they would rightfully take as their wives and fulfill their desire in the righteous manner; then as the angels assured him that they are unable to harm them in any manner and provided him the necessary direction to safety, he was calm and certainly grateful to Allah; then Allah told him that they would be finished as the dawn draws upon them and AAYAT-74 says, “thus did We turn it upside down, and rained down upon them stones of what had been decreed”; AAYAAT ahead tell that therein verily are many of signs for those who may read the signs (in history) that would lead towards the mending of their manners because it surely is at such roads near to which people still pass at their travels; even the believing Muslims would praise Allah as they see by history that He keeps the ultimate safety for the righteous persons only; the last couple of AAYAAT of the Ruku read, “and the dwellers of the thicket (i.e. the people of SHOAIB-AS) also were most surely unjust; so We inflicted retribution on them, and they both (the place of the people of Lot-AS and the place of the people of SHOAIB-AS) are, indeed, on an open road pursued”; note that SHOAIB was sent to such people too who lived at woods and because of their disbelief to his teachings of Islam, they were destroyed by the cloud that came as canopy to their area and caused fire there that burnt them to death (read also the tenth Ruku of Surah SHUA’RAA); certainly, Allah only is the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
HIJR-The Last Ruku
80. And the dwellers of the Rock certainly rejected the apostles;
81. And We gave them Our AAYAAT, but they turned aside from them;
82. And they hewed houses in the mountains in security.
83. So the rumbling overtook them in the morning;
84. And what they earned did not avail them.
85. And We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them but in truth; and the hour is most surely coming, so turn away with kindly forgiveness.
86. Surely your Lord is the Creator of all things, the Knowing.
87. And certainly We have given you seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the grand Quran.
88. Do not strain your eyes after what We have given certain classes of them to enjoy, and do not grieve for them, and make yourself gentle to the believers.
89. And say: Surely I am the plain warner.
90. Like as We sent down on the dividers,
91. Those were who made the Quran into shreds.
92. So, by your Lord, We would most certainly question them all,
93. As to what they did.
94. Therefore declare openly what you are bidden and turn aside from the polytheists.
95. Surely We will suffice you against the scoffers
96. Those are who have set up another god with Allah; so they shall soon know.
97. And surely We know that your breast straitens at what they say;
98. Therefore celebrate the praise of your Lord, and be of those who make obeisance.
99. And serve your Lord until there comes to you that which is certain.
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The last Ruku begins with the narration of the dwellers of the Rock (i.e. the people of SALEH-AS) who were destroyed by an earthquake because of their disbelief in the fundamental teachings of Islam; the previous Ruku told about the people of Lot-AS (who was the Messenger of Allah at the times of Abraham-AS) and about the people of SHOAIB-AS (who was the Messenger of Allah after him) and this Ruku tells about the people of SALEH-AS who was His Messenger before him; the five AAYAAT at the beginning of the Ruku read, “and the dwellers of the Rock (i.e. THAMUD, the people of SALEH) certainly rejected the apostles (as to disbelieve in one of Messengers of Allah is to disbelieve in all of them as the good teachings of all of them were the same); and We gave them Our AAYAAT (among them was the amazing she-camel), but they turned aside from them (and even killed the she-camel); and they hewed houses in the mountains in security (as they had such strength & skill & secured space); so the rumbling (of the earthquake) overtook them in the morning (as Allah sends His punishment at hours when the disbelievers are most relaxed); and what they earned did not avail them (so their strength, skill and security could not help them against the severe punishment that Allah sent upon them)”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next couple of AAYAAT tell that Allah has created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them with set principles for them; He has put it in their make that the Hour (the last day of the world) would certainly take place; therefore O Muhammad PBUH –live with forgiving attitude towards their disbelieving attitude as they certainly would face their doings; Allah has created all the creation and He certainly knows who would commit to what; note that when we Muslims need to say that Allah has created all things, we need to say it in the manner denoted here at AAYAT-85 that Allah only has created the heavens and the earth and what is between them; this is the manner He has provided us to mention all of His creation; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT ahead says that Allah has provided Muhammad PBUH (and all true Muslims through him), with the highest of His blessings that is Surah FATIHA which is oft-repeated (at SALAH) and He has also provided the Holy Book Quran in answer to the plea of Muslims therein for the true guidance; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-88 tells his virtuous attitude as the Messenger of Allah that he would show, as it reads, “do not strain your eyes after what We have given (from the worldly assets) certain classes of them (i.e. the disbelievers) to enjoy, and do not grieve for them (i.e. on their disbelief which would cause them extreme agony at AKHIRAT), and make yourself gentle to the believers (as they have accepted the true guidance that you have presented to them)”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; from AAYAT-89 to the last of the Surah, Allah asks Muhammad PBUH, the last of His Messengers, to fulfill his liability and provide the true guidance to all persons without any care to what attitude they take towards it; he needs to avoid such situation where the disbelievers get proximity to him yet he would provide the true guidance to all persons as better as he can; Allah would save him from any physical trouble from all those disbelievers who mock the teachings of Islam but he needs to tolerate their adverse speech for now for which the cure is to praise Allah all the time by all good manner and to read on SALAH as much as possible; he would remain His committed slave right up-to the certain event (i.e. his death) that would come to him, and certainly forever to eternity; these AAYAAT read, “and say (O Muhammad PBUH) -surely I am the plain warner (like other of Messengers of Allah and I provide the warning) like as Allah sent down (i.e. in the Pentateuch) on the dividers (i.e. the Jews) because those were persons who made the Quran (i.e. its most good teachings especially the Ten Commandments and the commands of financial nature that were also present there at the Pentateuch) into shreds (taking the commands of Allah that they found easy to practice and leaving those of His commands that they found difficult to practice due to their attachment to the world); so, by your Lord (Who actually decides for everything that takes place at the world anytime anywhere), He would most certainly question them all (at the Day of Judgment), as to what they did (so they would most certainly face their wrong-doings); therefore declare openly what you are bidden and turn aside from the polytheists (never letting them have any proximity to you); surely We will suffice you against the scoffers (so they would remain unable to hurt you physically in such manner that you become unable to fulfill your liability); those are who have set up another god with Allah so they shall soon know (what extreme wrong they have committed themselves to); and surely We know that your breast straitens at what they say; therefore (for the cure of this trouble) celebrate the praise of your Lord (all the time as much as humanly possible), and be of those who make obeisance (by reading on SALAH that he did use to read much more than obligatory especially at nights); and serve your Lord until there comes to you that which is certain (i.e. your death and even after that to eternity); Al-Hamdu Lillah.
“Tafsiri-Guide to the Quran” by:
Muhammad Saleem Dada
Here our study of HIJR ends; Al-Hamdu Lillah
www.saleemdada.weebly.com
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Surah NAHL
(Consists of 16 Ruku; MK-9)
NAHL-The First Ruku
1. Allah's commandment has come, therefore do not desire to hasten it; glory be to Him, and highly exalted be He above what they associate (with Him).
2. He sends down the angels with the inspiration by His commandment on whom He pleases of His servants, saying: Give the warning that there is no god but Me, therefore be careful (of your duty) to Me.
3. He created the heavens and the earth with the truth, highly exalted be He above what they associate (with Him).
4. He created man from a small seed and then he is an open contender.
5. And He created the cattle for you; you have in them warm clothing and (many) advantages, and of them do you eat.
6. And there is beauty in them for you when you drive them back (to home), and when you send them forth (to pasture).
7. And they carry your heavy loads to regions which you could not reach but with distress of the souls; most surely your Lord is Compassionate, Merciful.
8. And (He made) horses and mules and asses that you might ride upon them and as an ornament; and He creates what you do not know.
9. And upon Allah it rests to show the right way, and there are some deviating (ways); and if He please He would certainly guide you all aright.
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The Surah starts with the statement that “Allah's commandment has come, therefore do not desire to hasten it; glory be to Him, and highly exalted be He above what they associate (with Him)”; the commandment here means His decision for the destruction of the polytheists if they do not comply to the Truth which Allah has provided to them by His last Messenger Muhammad PBUH, that would fall upon them as its time comes and that time is not far-away; Al-Hamdu Lillah; it tells about TAUHID which means that Allah only is the Creator of all the creation and He always has all His attributes and He only is the true Lord so the people should always obey Him in all His commands; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT complements it that when the people get His message (i.e. by WAHI that He sends to His chosen Messenger, by angels generally by Gabriel-AS), they should accept it and be obedient to Allah because then if they do not comply to the message that He has provided to them, they surely would see the destruction soon; the term that the AAYAT uses is ROOH to mention WAHI i.e. revelation to His Messenger by His commandment; note that WAHI is a thing of AALAM-e-AMR (the world of Command) and not of AALAM-e-KHALQ (the world of creation) and angels and the human spirit are also related to AALAM-e-AMR; the human-physique is related to the earth and its food in essence comes from the earth but the human spirit has come from AALAM-e-AMR and so it needs WAHI to satisfy it truly; when the pure human spirit got acceptance at the court of Allah when Messengers were still coming to the world (but after the Last Prophet Muhammad PBUH, there is no Messenger to come and as such, the WAHI has ceased to come after him), Allah sent WAHI to such pure human spirit directly at heart (as with Jesus Christ-AS and this includes dreams too as with Abraham-AS) or talked to him from behind some veil not coming at fore (as with Moses-AS) or by sending an angel to him that addressed his spirit (as with Muhammad PBUH); all these three would be named as ROOH i.e. the pure human spirit, WAHI and Gabriel-AS (who is noted even in this very Surah NAHL as the holy spirit at AAYAT-102); note that the pure spirit of the Messenger recognized WAHI well when it got that and even the angel when it saw that, as they all belong to the same sphere of life that is AALAM-e-AMR (see also Surah SHURA-51 & 52); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the six AAYAAT ahead in the Ruku from AAYAT-3 to AAYAT-8 tell that Allah has created all things of the world that secures the life of the mankind which also Allah has created as certainly He only is the Creator while all other than Him, is His creation only; Al-Hamdu Lillah; so this Surah i.e. NAHL asks high attention towards the examination that all persons are going through at the world to show that they truly deserve JANNAH for which Allah has provided all of them with all their necessary requirements; there are such AAYAAT in the Quran that have told clearly that Allah has made His creation to work for the benefit of the Man (see for instance Surah JATHIA-12 & 13 and Surah IBRAHIM-32 & 33 & 34) so that he finds convenience in virtuous living according to the fundamental teachings of Islam and here also, there is the indication to that; these AAYAAT read, “He created the heavens and the earth with the truth (i.e. set principles to follow), highly exalted be He above what they associate (with Him); He created man from a small seed and then he is an open contender (as many of them live such lives that challenge the obvious commands of Allah); and He created the cattle for you (sheep, goats, camels and cows); you have in them warm clothing (to save yourselves from the cold weather) and advantages (other than that as getting milk from them), and of them do you eat; and there is beauty in them for you when you drive them back (to home as even their walk seems pleasant), and when you send them forth (to pasture at the early part of the day); and they carry your heavy loads to regions which you could not reach but with distress of the souls; most surely your Lord is Compassionate, Merciful; and (He made) horses and mules and asses that you might ride upon them and as an ornament (though you would avoid the eating of them); and He creates what you do not know (for you to ride and as ornaments for you that would take place at the future)”; note about this last part that it allows some manifestation of beauty of some assets that are in the possession of the Muslim person but he needs to take care that it does not mean that he becomes show-off by their manifestation but it tells that whatever manifests normally in the ordinary living, it does not put any blame to him; also, the words “He creates what you do not know” are important as they note that there would take place such things for the riding of men and as their ornaments, which would provide ease to them in going to places by moving at high pace and even though these things seemingly came about by efforts of men but they needed the will of Allah to come about so these words mention them in the manner that “He creates what you do not know”; this was the best of expression then for vehicles that we find around at present with us and though the AAYAT allows their use but that issue certainly needs to follow the general rule that they would not become excessive is use; I, MSD, would mention air-planes especially (without providing any detail to it here) that we need to use them only for the travel to far-off places and not for the change in area at local places while we need to abandon space vehicles completely; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT of the Ruku tells about the will of Allah that He has set this world up to see how the person gives the examination that Allah has asked from him; the success at this exam (for which Allah has provided all answers at the Quran to make it an open-book exam) would bring him the most pleasant life in JANNAH at AKHIRAT forever and the failure would be total loss for him that would lead him to the hell-fire; He could have made everyone to take the true guidance but due to the exam for which he has set up everything at the world, He would bring the true success only to His true slaves at the day when He would announce all of results; His ultimate judgment is at AKHIRAT, the Day of Judgment; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Second Ruku
10. He it is Who sends down water from the cloud for you; it gives drink, and by it (grow) the trees upon which you pasture.
11. He causes to grow for you thereby herbage, and the olives, and the dates, and the grapes, and of all the fruits; most surely there is a sign in this for the people who reflect.
12. And He has made subservient for you the night and the day and the sun and the moon, and the stars are made subservient by His commandment; most surely there are signs in this for the people who ponder;
13. And what He has created in the earth of varied hues most surely there is a sign in this for the people who are mindful.
14. And He it is Who has made the sea subservient that you may eat fresh flesh from it and bring forth from it ornaments which you wear, and you see the ships cleaving through it, and that you might seek of His bounty and that you may give thanks.
15. And He has cast great mountains in the earth lest it might convulse with you, and rivers and roads that you may go aright,
16. And landmarks; and by the stars they find the right way.
17. Is He then Who creates like him who does not create? Do you not then mind?
18. And if you would count Allah's favors, you will not be able to number them; most surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
19. And Allah knows what you conceal and what you do openly.
20. And those whom they call on besides Allah have not created anything while they are themselves created;
21. Dead (are they), not living, and they know not when they shall be raised.
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The second Ruku continues mentioning the benefits that Allah has provided to the mankind by His creation; AAYAAT-10 & 11 mention the rainwater that is pure water to drink and that causes the trees to flourish; Allah grows the crops and many different fruits by that water (here olives & dates & grapes are mentioned specially with the mention of other fruits in general) and the observant persons need to reflect on this (as it has the sign, mentioned here in singular, to appreciate the beautiful set-up that Allah has provided for the benefits of the mankind); AAYAT-12 tells that He made the night and the day and the sun and the moon subservient to the mankind so that these all benefit the mankind in the best way and the stars too are made subservient by His commandment as they manifest their beauty at the sky above (so there are many of signs, mentioned here in plural, in these for the people who ponder to appreciate the beautiful set-up that Allah has provided for the benefits of the mankind); AAYAT-13 says “and what He has created in the earth of varied hues most surely there is a sign in this for the people who are mindful”; this includes all animals and birds and insects plus their habitats that are jungles & trees & sands in which the mindful persons would find the sign (mentioned here in singular) to appreciate the set-up that Allah has provided for the mankind at the earth; note that these all clarify the statement that AAYAT-3 gave that “He created the heavens and the earth with the truth (i.e. set principles to follow), highly exalted be He above what they associate (with Him)”; AAYAAT ahead in the Ruku also clarify this statement in the most notable manner to guide the persons having intelligence towards the fundamental teachings of Islam, as their message read it well certainly; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next three AAYAAT that are 14 & 15 & 16 tell about the benefits to the mankind from the creation of Allah respectively at the waters and at the earth and at the sky above in addition to what is previously mentioned; Al-Hamdu Lillah; these three AAYAAT read, “and He it is Who has made the sea subservient that you may eat fresh flesh (i.e. fish) from it and bring forth from it ornaments which you wear (i.e. the pearls that come from it; mostly, pearls are made by oysters for their own safety in either the freshwater or either the saltwater and taking them with care does not threaten their lives), and you see the ships cleaving through it (as Allah has set such laws that include even buoyancy), and that you might seek of His bounty (i.e. the necessary assets of use at life in plenty by sea voyages) and that you may give thanks (for all these provisions that Allah has given you and whatever more you achieve by putting these provisions in use); and He has cast great mountains in the earth lest it might convulse with you (so they work as very long highly strong pickets to the earth), and rivers and roads (naturally) that you may go aright; and landmarks (along these rivers & roads that are often close to each other to guide you at your travel); and by the stars (the persons that are very good at navigation) they find the right way (in the physical sense)”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that there are many people at the world today who consider that what understanding they would get by physical means, they would rely upon that only; so they have much difficulty with AAYAAT that indicate mountains as the strong pickets to earth so that it does not convulse and with AAYAAT that indicate heavens as seven of them above and other of such matters that do not come in-line with their physical perception (at-least not to this time); as the good Muslims believe in the Quran with most high commitment (and all praise is to Allah for that) so for them, there is no such attitude of suspicion and they take them as mentioned; though there was and is nothing valid that the physical perception has put against the Quran yet it is the issue of principle that if anything challenges or poses to challenge the Quran, the reliance of the Muslims stands firm with the Quran only; certainly, all praise is for Allah only as He only is the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last five AAYAAT of the Ruku present the fact plainly that Allah only is the true authority as He only is the Creator of all the creation and He only is the true Lord; these AAYAAT read, “is Allah then, Who creates, like him who does not create?; (no one has the true authority except Him); do you not then mind?; (you must see that He has cared for you so much and then you show disbelief to Him and do not obey Him); and if you would count Allah's favors, you will not be able to number them (and this all He has provided to you without your asking so that you live your lives which also He has provided to you, at ease for the exam you are in); most surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful (so the option still remains open for you to come to righteousness); and Allah knows what you conceal and what you do openly (so he forgives you on your weakness when you do have the true belief on Him as you repent towards Him silently without any inclination to major sins and He would care for your good deeds and He would give you the courage to accept the Truth openly); and those whom they call on besides Allah have not created anything while they are themselves created (so it is not right for you to take them as saviors to you at the Day of Judgment where everybody would face his/her doings totally alone); they are dead, not living, and they know not when they shall be raised (so even if they are most righteous, they are unable to hear you at their graves to advocate your plea to Allah and if Allah makes any of them hear that plea, they are still unable to give anything to you that you need because Allah only is the Creator of all creation and He only is the true authority)”; note that it is feasible to send DURUD to Muhammad PBUH (that is DUA to Allah for him) from anywhere and ULAMA often guide to this that angels take that to him (by the will of Allah) but it is not feasible to speak to him even, in the direct manner; he had told at the very beginning of his mission of spreading Islam that he was not able to save anyone who does not take-up the Belief & the practice in Islam and that message remains noteworthy ever; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Third Ruku
22. Your Allah is one (Who only is the Creator of all and the only true Lord); so (as for) those who do not believe in the hereafter, their hearts are ignorant and they are conceited.
23. Truly Allah knows what they hide and what they manifest; surely He does not love the conceited.
24. And when it is said to them, what is it that your Lord has revealed? They say: Stories of the ancients;
25. That they may bear their burdens entirely on the day of resurrection and also of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without knowledge; now surely evil is what they bear.
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This Ruku has four AAYAAT in total and denotes the punishment that the disbelievers to Islam (who also have hypocrisy in them), get in the world and in AKHIRAT; the first AAYAT tells that “your Allah is one (Who only is the Creator of all and the only true Lord); so (as for) those who do not believe in the hereafter, their hearts are ignorant and they are conceited”; so the hearts of disbelievers to Islam gradually get much away from the Truth and that leads them to becoming most conceited with the loss of their respect among the good people around; note that the AAYAT ahead states explicitly that Allah does not appreciate these conceited people so the result is that they lose their respect totally at the world and that they would get the severe punishment at AKHIRAT; so the next AAYAT states, “truly Allah knows what they hide and what they manifest; surely He does not love the conceited”; note that it seems that AAYAT-19 tells directly to repenting persons on their wrongs who find trouble in the manifestation of their righteous attitudes due to the adverse people around, that “Allah knows what you conceal and what you do openly” so it denotes the care of Allah for them and here AAYAT-23 states about the conceited persons that “Allah knows what they hide and what they manifest” to present their hypocrisy as they misguide the people who ask them about the teachings of Islam, by their extreme fibs; this is how it seems by the repetition and Allah knows better; the last couple of AAYAAT at the Ruku tell about their heinous sin that they misguide the people around when they are asked about the Islamic teachings due to some status they have among the people; these AAYAAT read, “and when it is said to them, what is it that your Lord has revealed? -they say (that these are) stories of the ancients; that they may bear their burdens entirely on the day of resurrection and also of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without knowledge; now surely evil is what they bear”; so they would be punished for their extreme evil totally and for this evil too that they misguided the persons who took their advice to decide for the rejection of the Islamic teachings as that also is counted as their own evil (though the rejecters of Islam would also get their own severe punishment at AKHIRAT to reject Islam even if they decided for that on the advice of those hypocrites); that extreme punishment is the most extreme burden which they put on themselves and they would only realize the severity of that extreme burden at the Day of Judgment; certainly, Allah only is the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Fourth Ruku
26. Those before them did indeed devise plans, but Allah demolished their building from the foundations, so the roof fell down on them from above them, and the punishment came to them from whence they did not perceive.
27. Then on the resurrection day He will bring them to disgrace and say: Where are the associates you gave Me, for whose sake you became hostile? Those who are given the knowledge will say: Surely the disgrace and the evil are this day upon the disbelievers:
28. Those, whom the angels cause to die while they are unjust to themselves; Then would they offer submission: We used not to do any evil. Aye -surely Allah knows what you did.
29. Therefore enter the gates of hell, to abide therein; so certainly evil is the dwelling place of the proud.
30. And it is said to those who guard (against evil): What is it that your Lord has revealed? They say -Good (it is). For those who do good in this world is good, and certainly the abode of the hereafter is better; and certainly most excellent is the abode of those who guard (against evil);
31. The gardens of perpetuity, they shall enter them, rivers flowing beneath them; they shall have in them what they please. Thus does Allah reward those who guard (against evil),
32. Those, whom the angels cause to die in a good state, saying -Peace be on you: enter the garden for what you did.
33. They do not wait aught but that the angels should come to them or that the commandment of your Lord should come to pass. Thus did those before them; and Allah was not unjust to them, but they were unjust to themselves.
34. So the evil (consequences) of what they did afflicted them and that which they mocked encompassed them.
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The fourth Ruku of NAHL tells about the living of the bad persons and of the good persons, at the world and at AKHIRAT; the four AAYAAT at its start read, “those before them did indeed devise plans (to live their lives at the world smoothly with leisure as if they are to stay here), but Allah demolished their building from the foundations (by the severe punishment sent upon them when they rejected the explicit teachings of Islam that they received by the Messengers of Allah), so the roof fell down on them from above them (such was the outcome of their efforts on their care for ease in living at the world without care to AKHIRAT), and the punishment came to them from whence they did not perceive (because it took them by surprise as one of natural calamities and it destroyed them totally being the punishment from Allah upon them); then on the resurrection day He will bring them to disgrace and say -where are the associates you gave Me, for whose sake you became hostile?- (so at AKHIRAT too, they would get extreme torment as they did not believe in TAUHID)- those who are given the knowledge (of the Quran and total belief in it) will say -surely the disgrace and the evil are this day upon the disbelievers (that are) those, whom the angels cause to die while they are unjust to themselves (though if anyone of them repents before death and believes righteously, he would save himself from the extreme torment at AKHIRAT); then would they offer submission -we used not to do any evil- but surely Allah knows what you did (so your lame excuse is unjustified and Allah does not accept the repentance at the time of death); therefore (you would) enter the gates of hell, to abide therein (forever); so certainly evil is the dwelling place of the proud (who thought that they are above all charges whatever they do)”; certainly Allah only is the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next three AAYAAT that are 30, 31 & 32 tell about the believers and the good outcome to their efforts as they read, “and it is said to those who guard (against evil) - what is it that your Lord has revealed?-they say- Good (it is); for those who do good in this world is good, and certainly the abode of the hereafter is better; and certainly most excellent is the abode of those who guard (against evil as those are) the gardens of perpetuity, they shall enter them, rivers flowing beneath them; they shall have in them what they please (as Allah would provide there all things that they need); thus does Allah reward those who guard (against evil); those, whom the angels cause to die in a good state, saying that -peace be on you- (you would) enter the garden for what you did (by the blessing of Allah upon you all as Allah accepts those most virtuous deeds from you all)-“; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that AAYAT-24 states about the disbelievers that when they are asked about the teachings of the Quran, they take them as the stories of the ancients and AAYAT-30 states about the believers that when they are asked about the teachings of the Quran, they answer that they are the blessed teachings from Allah; this certainly is very significant difference among the disbelievers and the believers in Allah; even if some of the disbelievers take the trouble to learn about the teachings of the Quran, their attitude to them is that there were times when these teachings were practical yet they are impractical now at these times; but the true believers in Allah have no doubt that even in these modern times, the Quran is the only practical solution to all ills of the mankind that would provide the blessing to all peoples of the world only if they do believe it and strive hard to bring it into practice (in both the individual & the collective manners) keeping their total attention towards Allah, the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the fact is that it needs its practical application now with the most highest of fervor to it when the world ignores the true authority of Allah in collective issues; all peoples here need to do it fast and I, MSD, tell this in most plain words that if they do not, they all certainly are doomed to destruction; please read also my writing “The Islamic Guidelines” that is available at the net for the better understanding of the practical application of the Quran at the present environment; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last couple of AAYAAT at this Ruku read, “they do not wait aught but that the angels should come to them (at their deaths) or that the commandment of your Lord should come to pass (as the punishment that falls at the rejection of the fundamental teachings of Islam when they get those teachings explicitly); thus did those before them (whom the punishment caught severely when its time occurred); and Allah was not unjust to them (as He gave them the ample time to accept the Truth presenting it with all clarity to them and with all ease at life), but they were unjust to themselves (by their rejection of the Truth); so the evil (consequences) of what they did afflicted them (as Allah punished them severely at the world) and that which they mocked (i.e. the punishment they would get at AKHIRAT due to their rejection of the Truth) encompassed them”; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Fifth Ruku
35. And they who give associates (to Allah) say: If Allah had pleased, we would not have served anything besides Allah, (neither) we nor our fathers, nor would we have prohibited anything without (order from) Him. Thus did those before them; is then aught incumbent upon the apostles except a plain delivery (of the message)?
36. And certainly We raised in every nation an apostle saying: Serve Allah and shun the Satan. So there were some of them whom Allah guided and there were others against whom error was due; therefore travel in the land then see what the end was of the rejecters.
37. If you desire for their guidance, yet surely Allah does not guide him who leads astray, nor shall they have any helpers.
38. And they swear by Allah with the most energetic of their oaths: Allah will not raise him who dies. Yea- it is a promise binding on Him, quite true, but most people do not know;
39. So that He might make manifest to them that about which they differ, and that those who disbelieve might know that they were liars.
40. Our word for a thing when We intend it, is only that We say to it, Be, and it is.
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This Ruku guides to the fundamental teachings of Islam that are TAUHID (Allah only is the Creator of all the creation and He always has all His attributes and He only is the true Lord), RISALAT (Allah sent His Messengers to the world to provide the Guidance to the right path and Muhammad PBUH is the last of His Messengers) and AKHIRAT (Allah would judge all peoples of the world at the Day of Judgment); the first AAYAT tells about the statement of the disbelievers that they said that if Allah willed, they and their forefathers would not have taken anyone equal in authority to Allah and they would not have designated anything without His permission as prohibited; note this most important teaching of Islam that though everything does take place by the will of Allah yet He does not accept it as an excuse from any of disbelievers; Islam commands all persons to see that they certainly have the free-will and this observation asks them to accept Islam by the free-will and do all works accordingly; Islam does not appreciate for Muslims to take up the philosophical detail to issues as the leanings of persons that are present at such argument might take hold of them; they would believe in Islam in the simple manner as it presents in the Quran and put it to practice in the simple manner as it certainly is most simple to practice too; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that one of the most authentic Ahadith relates to this matter that once SAHABA (the companions of the Prophet PBUH) were with him and he was scratching earth (as though in deep thought); then he raised his head to the heaven and addressed them that there is none among them about whom it is not determined if his seat is in the hell-fire or in the Paradise (JANNAH); they asked if they shall not place trust in Allah (and leave the deeds); note his answer to this that he told them to do their good deeds (with all fervor) because to everyone that only is made easy for which he is created (see the Book on Predestination at Tirmidhi); this implies that the Muslims would certainly believe in the will of Allah but they would work strictly according to the Islamic commands by their free-will (that they see plainly that they do have with them without any deep arguments) so as to gain the pleasure of Allah as that only is the aim of life; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note well that to present the will of Allah as an argument for safety at AKHIRAT is totally disallowed so the AAYAT gives no answer to this statement but states that such argument has been presented by those disbelievers too who were before these; it asks if the Messengers of Allah had any other task but to present Islamic teachings with total clarity, so that they understand that they have to accept those teachings (by their free-will that Allah has provided to them) as Allah has put them into an exam here at the world; note that Allah told clearly at AAYAT-9 of this Surah, “and upon Allah it rests to show the right way, and there are some deviating (ways); and if He please He would certainly guide you all aright”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYT-36 at this Ruku states that Allah has sent His Messengers to all nations that they would serve Allah as their Creator and obey Him in all the principles that He has given to them by His commands; this implies that they would not take the following of TAGHUT that leads them against the commands of Allah; note that TAGHUT is such representative of wrongs that advises the people against the commands of Allah knowingly, with whatever authority (to impress the people) it had managed to muster; so there were such persons among them who accepted the Guidance to the right path and there were others in them whom the error took hold of and they wandered away from the right path; as the AAYAT notes that all nations received the Messengers of Allah who guided them to the right path so it asks all observant persons who intend to see the matter that they travel through the land and they would see the consequence that the rejecters of the Truth faced when they disbelieved in the good teachings of the Messengers; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT tells Muhammad PBUH that He would provide the true guidance but it is not his domain to decide who takes that guidance; it is Allah who decides for that and He would never bring such wrong persons to the right path who go astray (and they are most happy with such error) and there never would be such helpers to them who would stand by them when Allah punishes them on their extreme error most severely; for the next three AAYAAT of the Ruku that are its last of AAYAAT, note that the majority of the disbelievers at Arabia believed in the Day of Judgment at that time yet they had the belief that those whom they take equal in authority to Allah would save them from all torments there; however, there were such disbelievers too in them who did not believe that the Day of Judgment would take place; these AAYAAT address such persons who did not believe in that Day by telling them that all facts need to come at fore so that the disbelievers do know that how much in error they were; it certainly is not difficult for Allah to bring that Day for Judgment of all the peoples of the world as He would only order it to be and with that, it would take place; these AAYAAT read, “and they swear by Allah with the most energetic of their oaths that Allah will not raise him who dies; yea- it is a promise binding on Him, quite true, but most people do not know; so that He might make manifest to them that about which they differ, and that those who disbelieve might know that they were liars; Our word for a thing when We intend it, is only that We say to it, Be, and it is”; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Sixth Ruku
41. And those who fly for Allah's sake after they are oppressed, We will most certainly give them the good abode in the world, and the reward of the hereafter is certainly much greater; did they but know;
42. Those, who are patient and, on their Lord do they rely.
43. And We did not send before you any but men to whom We sent revelation-- so ask the followers of the Reminder if you do not know--
44. With clear arguments and scriptures; and We have revealed to you the Reminder that you may make clear to men what has been revealed to them, and that haply they may reflect.
45. Do they then who plan evil (deeds) feel secure (of this) that Allah will not cause the earth to swallow them or that punishment may not overtake them from whence they do not perceive?
46. Or that He may not seize them in the course of their journeys, then shall they not escape;
47. Or that He may not seize them by causing them to suffer gradual loss; for your Lord is most surely Compassionate, Merciful.
48. Do they not consider everything that Allah has created? Its (very) shadows return from right and left, making obeisance to Allah while they are in utter abasement.
49. And whatever creature that is in the heavens and that is in the earth, it makes obeisance to Allah (only), and (among them also) the angels and they do not show any pride.
50. They fear their true Lord above them and they do what they are commanded.
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The Ruku commences with the statement that those who seem weakest among all persons at present, when they leave their native place because they are persecuted there (as they have true belief in Allah Whom they do take as their true Lord), Allah would give them the virtuous abode to live their lives at the world; and the good returns at AKHIRAT to them for their good deeds are even better; though this statement is general which provides good tidings to all Muslims who change their native places to work better on Islam yet note about this that at that time, this happened afterwards when the Muslims left Makkah for Madinah at Hijrah (the migration) that proved to be the base for them to live their lives well upon Islam and thence, it spread all over the known world; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT tells that the disbelievers do not know how Allah gives the virtuous life to the Muslims at the world and how He gives them the best of opportunity to gain all good deeds that lead them to excellence at AKHIRAT; this happens because they are patient to shun the base desires to get the worldly goods (& status) but they trust Allah totally that He would see to their necessities here so they would do better at AKHIRAT; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAAT-43 & 44 state that Allah has provided the teachings of Islam by WAHI to men only (that were the best among the people) so they need to ask the followers of Torah about this if they are unaware of it; Allah provided them His message with such good signs that proved that they certainly are the Messengers of Allah and with scriptures even, before Muhammad PBUH; now, to him also, Allah has provided the same teachings of Islam most explicitly (in the Quran) so that he clarifies that to all peoples of the world especially how those teachings ask for practice at all times and at all places; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the three AAYAAT ahead tell the consequence of disbelieving in Islam and even of ignoring the teachings of Islam in practice, that Allah has all authority to punish such persons in any manner He intends even at the world; these AAYAAT read, “do they then who plan evil (deeds) feel secure (of this) that Allah will not cause the earth to swallow them (by earthquake) or that punishment may not overtake them from whence they do not perceive (by deadly winds and other of natural calamities and even by the hands of other men)?; or that He may not seize them in the course of their journeys (by causing weakness in all that relates to their economics), then shall they not escape; or that He may not seize them by causing them to suffer gradual loss (of health and even lives much); for your Lord is most surely Compassionate, Merciful (to those who live-on after such punishments that numerous of persons around them receive, so that they avail the time they have and come towards Islam)”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT guides to the simple observation that all persons see that shadows take different directions as the day progresses due to change of position of the sun at the day-time so it likens these directions to the postures of SALAH that as the Muslim person makes RUKU and SUJUD in it, these directions too present such obeisance to Allah; this implies that if any person considers himself too smart to get away with his wrongs, that would never happen as with all his free-will that Allah has granted him, he still is bound to the laws that Allah has set for the life; everything in the creation of Allah worships Him only as that is how they are created with no other choice yet the jinn and the mankind have the choice due to the free-will that Allah has granted them to accept or reject His true guidance for which Allah would see due results at the grounds of HASHR (the first day of AKHIRAT); the AAYAT says, “do they not consider everything that Allah has created?; its (very) shadows return from right and left, making obeisance to Allah while they (themselves too) are in utter abasement”; the last couple of AAYAAT at the Ruku emphasize that all of the creation of Allah totally works according to His will and they all (specially the angels) give all compliance to the commands of Allah as they have no option to do otherwise and they do know well that Allah has all true authority to direct all His creation to the manner that He wills; there are three of His creation that possess the awareness of the self and these three are Angels, Jinn and the Man so note here that Allah has given the last two among them the free-will to apply in practice to gain the pleasure of Allah by that though even these two last ones are most certainly bound to His will totally; Al-Hamdu Lillah; they read, “and whatever creature that is in the heavens and that is in the earth (i.e. each of His creatures), it makes obeisance to Allah (only), and (among them also) the angels and they do not show any pride; they fear their true Lord above them and they do what they are commanded”; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Seventh Ruku
51. And Allah has said: Take not two gods; He is only one (that only is Allah); so of Me alone should you be afraid.
52. And whatever is in the heavens and the earth is His, and to Him should obedience be (rendered) constantly; will you then guard against other than (the punishment of) Allah?
53. And whatever favor is (bestowed) on you it is from Allah; then when evil afflicts you, to Him do you cry for aid.
54. Yet when He removes the evil from you, lo- a party of you associate others with their Lord;
55. So that they become ungrateful for what We have given them; then enjoy yourselves; for soon will you know;
56. And they set apart for what they do not know a portion of what We have given them. By Allah, you shall most certainly be questioned about that which you forged.
57. And they ascribe daughters to Allah, glory be to Him; and for themselves (they would have) what they desire.
58. And when a daughter is announced to one of them his face becomes black and he is full of wrath.
59. He hides himself from the people because of the evil of that which is announced to him. Shall he keep it with disgrace or bury it (alive) in the dust? Now surely evil is what they judge.
60. For those, who do not believe in the hereafter is an evil attribute, and Allah's is the loftiest attribute; and He is the Mighty, the Wise.
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The seventh Ruku asks all persons to have utmost care not even to speak anything that is against the prestigious honor of Allah; the Ruku starts by the statement that implies for TAUHID that all persons must worship Allah only with such fear that honors Him as He only is the Creator of all the creation and He always has all His attributes and He only is the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-52 says that whatever is in the heavens and the earth is His only and because He only is the true Lord so all persons must obey Him only in all principles at issues; never must anyone take such principles in issues that challenge His commands as that is against the attitude of TAQWA (i.e. the attitude of the heart which means that all the Muslims must fear Allah that they do not get His displeasure by their sins becoming so sinful that they lose the chance to regain JANNAH and with that, they also must have such hope towards Him that He would keep them safe from the Satan at all times and at all places); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next three AAYAAT tell the disrespectful attitude of the disbelievers towards Allah that though Allah cares for them and removes afflictions from them as they cry only to Him for their aid, they disrespect Him still by taking others (that only are among His creation) as equal to Him in authority; these AAYAAT read, “and whatever favor is (bestowed) on you it is from Allah; then when evil afflicts you, to Him do you cry for aid; yet when He removes the evil from you, lo- a party of you associate others with their Lord (though some do come to Islamic teachings); so that they become ungrateful for what We have given them; then enjoy yourselves; for soon will you know”; AAYAT-56 tells that they even take out something from their worldly assets that Allah has provided to them, to give to the needy in the name of those whom they do not even know (whom they take as equal in authority to Allah) so most certainly, such persons who commit such heinous wrong would be asked most harshly about this at the time when their account would be presented to them at AKHIRAT; the next three AAYAAT that are 57, 58 & 59 tell again of another of their most disrespectful attitude against Allah that they mentioned angels as daughters to Allah though they considered the birth of daughters to them as an insult to themselves; their actual heinous crime was that they mentioned angels as daughters to Allah which was the most disrespectful statement to Allah yet these AAYAAT point out as the manifest issue of the matter that they professed this when they took daughters as an insult to themselves; note that there are many of ULAMA who take the first pregnancy to be girl as better for the parents because AAYAT-49 of Surah SHURA mentions daughters before sons which reads, “the kingdom of the heavens and the earth is of Allah; He creates what He pleases; He grants to whom He pleases daughters and grants to whom He pleases sons”; now, these three AAYAAT at Surah NAHL read, “and they ascribe daughters to Allah, glory be to Him (certainly He is pure from such things); and for themselves (they would have) what they desire; and when a daughter is announced to one of them his face becomes black and he is full of wrath; he hides himself from the people because of the evil of that (as he takes it) which is announced to him; shall he keep it with disgrace or bury it (alive) in the dust?- now surely evil is what they judge”; the last AAYAT of the Ruku states, “For those, who do not believe in the hereafter is an evil attribute, and Allah's is the loftiest attribute; and He is the Mighty, the Wise”; this tells that these disbelievers need offspring (to carry on their names) but Allah certainly does not need any such things; certainly, no person is ever able to prove anything for Him that is against His glory; He commands all His creation as He wills and He decides about the impressions that would remain at the world and about those that He would eliminate; this is so because He certainly is Mighty (so He makes the effect of all things better by His direct command) and Most Wise (so He knows well what He has to retain from the effects of attitudes of all persons and with that, He takes the world gradually towards all the right concepts by His will); He certainly is the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Eighth Ruku
61. And if Allah had destroyed men for their iniquity, He would not leave on the earth a single creature, but He respites them till an appointed time; so when their doom will come they shall not be able to delay (it) an hour nor can they bring (it) on (before its time).
62. And they ascribe to Allah what they (themselves) hate and their tongues relate the lie that they shall have the good; there is no avoiding it that for them is the fire and that they shall be sent before.
63. By Allah, most certainly We sent (apostles) to nations before you, but the Satan made their deeds fair-seeming to them, so he is their guardian today, and they shall have a painful punishment.
64. And We have not revealed to you the Book except that you may make clear to them that about which they differ, and (as) the guidance and the mercy for the people who believe.
65. And Allah has sent down water from the heaven and therewith given life to the earth after its death; most surely there is a sign in this for the people who would listen.
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The Ruku starts with the statement that if Allah had taken men to task on their wrongs, He would not have left any of the unjust creatures on the face of the earth; there are so much of wrongs here that if He did not show patience, He would have sent His severe punishment everywhere that would have caused not only the deaths of men but also of animals; but He does not will that way as He has brought men to life here so that they show themselves worthy of JANNAH by their righteous belief and good deeds according to it; He forgives much of their wrongs so that they reflect on themselves and come to the right path; so He provides ample time to all persons to show their true colors and when His set time comes to punish the wrong-doers severely, He gives no further time to them and destroys them totally as that is necessary to save the righteous persons to live upon the right path; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next couple of AAYAAT tell about the disbelievers that they disrespect Allah and present their doings as the virtuous deeds without any shame saying that they would get all the good ahead as they deserve it; the Satan has made their wrongs seem most praiseworthy to them; these AAYAAT say, “and they ascribe to Allah what they hate (i.e. daughters) and their tongues relate the lie (to which they might be aware or not aware) that they shall have the good (because they take their deeds as good); there is no avoiding it that for them is the hell-fire and that they shall be sent before (many of other disbelievers to that at AKHIRAT); by Allah, most certainly We sent (apostles) to nations before you, but the Satan made their deeds fair-seeming to them, so he is their guardian today (at the world), and they shall have a painful punishment (at AKHIRAT)”; AAYAT-64 relates that Allah has provided this Holy Book Quran to Muhammad PBUH, His last Messenger, so that it clears all the erroneous beliefs that the disbelievers have developed among them; all must see clearly that the fundamental teachings of Islam are TAUHID, AKHIRAT and RISALAT; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Allah has no daughters and He would certainly see at AKHIRAT the belief and the deeds of all persons by the good teachings that He had provided to all of them at the world so none of the disbelievers would be able to claim ignorance in his defense; note that the Quran notes this explicitly that Allah asks every person to know about the most basic fundamental teachings of Islam and the Muslims today are most liable to provide the message of Islam to all peoples of the world; note also that the Holy Book Quran is the only criteria for the righteousness in final terms as of now and certainly, that would manifest at AKHIRAT; it decides at the world for all the differences that arise among peoples while for the true believers, it certainly is the true guidance and the mercy from Allah at all times and at all places; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT at the Ruku tells, “and Allah has sent down water from the heaven and therewith given life to the earth after its death; most surely there is a sign in this for the people who would listen”; though its manifest simple meaning is that the consumption of the pure water keeps the physique of the mankind capable to function in the normal way yet this also means that as the water from the heaven gives life to the earth by the command of Allah so in the same manner, the command of Allah would raise the dead from the graves at the day of HASHR (the first day of AKHIRAT); it also tells that all such persons who are at a loss on issues but who ask to resolve their differences at the world from the Quran, they do get the solution like the good rain from the heaven by which the earth revives; so for them if they really listen to it, the Quran is the sign that would provide the true guidance to them all at all troubles that they face here so that they make all things better for themselves for the Day of HASHR; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Ninth Ruku
66. And most surely there is a lesson for you in the cattle; We give you to drink of what is in their bellies-- from betwixt the feces and the blood-- pure milk, easy and agreeable to swallow for those who drink.
67. And of the fruits of the dates and the grapes-- you obtain from them intoxication and goodly provision; most surely there is a sign in this for the people who ponder.
68. And your Lord revealed to the bee saying: Make hives in the mountains and in the trees and in what they build:
69. Then eat of all the fruits and walk in the ways of your Lord submissively. There comes forth from within it a beverage of many colors, in which there is healing for men; most surely there is a sign in this for the people who reflect.
70. And Allah has created you, then He causes you to die, and of you is he who is brought back to the worst part of life, so that after having knowledge he does not know anything; surely, Allah is Knowing, Powerful.
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The Ninth Ruku has five AAYAAT and it indicates how Allah has provided wonderful liquids for the mankind to drink from the cattle and from the fruits and from the bees that are clean milk, fresh juices & wines and honey that has medicinal properties for the people respectively; note that the previous AAYAT (that is the last AAYAT of the eighth Ruku) had noted that the pure water is one of the highest blessing for the mankind that keeps the life to functioning well physically and with the liquids mention here, these four actually are the liquids that would flow as streams at JANNAH (though Allah has prohibited wines here and He appreciates fresh juices only from fruits); AAYAT-15 at Surah Muhammad (PBUH) states that “the similitude of the JANNAH, which those who keep their duty (to Allah) are promised; therein are streams of water unpolluted, and streams of milk whereof the flavor does not change, and streams of wine delicious to the drinkers, and streams of clear-run honey; therein for them is every kind of fruit, with pardon from their Lord”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; this Ruku commences by the observation that the milk that Allah has provided to the mankind is most wonderful for those who value the intake of liquids; they receive that from the bellies of the female of the cattle though in there is their feces and their blood too yet it makes way to the protuberance of their udders very clean and easy-to-drink for them all; about the liquids from fruits, the second AAYAT notes that from the dates and the grapes, people get both drinks as intoxication and drinks as the good fresh juices; note that the wines that are made by dates and grapes to lose senses ask HADD (the prescribed punishment of 40 lashes as mentioned at FIQH); this position stays for the wines of dates and grapes even if taken just a bit without getting into the drunken state as Islam fixedly designs them as wines that Allah has totally prohibited to consume (see MA’EDAH-90); other such liquids that are known as wines (KHAMR; those related to SAKAR) ask HADD only if they lead the person to the drunken state though those that are recognized as wines are punishable by the laws of the Islamic lands even without the drunken state; however, note that the stream of wines at JANNAH would not cause the drunken state even if the residents of JANNAH take it in by much high quantity (see Surah TOOR-23); the AAYAT gives the beautiful final touch to it by the statement that “most surely there is a sign in this for the people who ponder”; note that the Quran has this most pleasant manner of speech that asks the man to give attention from inside to reflect on the teachings that Allah is providing to him; that would make him more committed to that teaching than if he takes it only as an issue related to ADL (the Islamic law); Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-68 & 69 tell about the works of the bee that provides honey to the mankind; these AAYAAT read, “and your Lord revealed to the bee saying- make hives in the mountains and in the trees and in what they (i.e. the people) build- then eat of all the fruits (and of all of flowers that also are the fruits of plants) and walk in the ways of your Lord (to gather the material you need for producing honey) submissively; there comes forth from within it a beverage of many colors (which men would take-out from hives without any harm to bees so that they gather again to produce more of honey), in which there is healing for men; most surely there is a sign in this for the people who reflect”; note that the milk is pure even when it comes from between the feces and the blood of the cattle; the fresh juices of fruits are pure even when they are used for wines too; and the honey is wonderfully pure even when the bees literally vomit it to each other before finally depositing it at cells; Allah has made these things totally pure for the mankind and certainly Allah knows better; the AAYAT mentions “your Lord” as He has provided the mankind all convenience for the exam He takes of him so He asks for total submission from the mankind to His commands; note that the term for revelation at the AAYAT is derived from WAHI and here it means the knowledge that Allah has given to the bee so it is inherent for it; note that the command Allah gives to the bee is for the feminine gender as the workers among them are all female without exception; it transforms what it takes-in from the fruits (of plants i.e. flowers) into honey and secures it at hives; it has the beautiful sense of direction towards where it would find such things that would enable it to make its honey and even has the skill to convey that direction with the idea of distance to her sister-bees by relevant movements (and by relevant sounds) for which it takes even the assistance of the position of the sun; the AAYAT comments that the honey has medicinal properties to heal physical afflictions and it does have much high significance in the eastern medicine; here, it uses its varieties (that its colors denote) extensively in combination to different herbs & spices for different ills and it sure does satisfy the physical need in much good time; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-69 states that “most surely there is a sign in this for the people who reflect” so I, MSD, would note some facts about the bees taken from different sources that also includes an informative booklet written on them; note that in taxonomy, the specific name given to the bees (by its Genus and species) is Apis mellifera; it has the four-stage life cycle that relates to its class of insects (i.e. egg, larva, pupa, adult); it has three pairs of legs, six legs in total but the rear pair is specially designed with stiff hair to store pollen when in flying from flower to flower while its front pair of legs has special slots to enable it to clean its antenna; its wings are four in total of which the front and rear wings hook together to form one big pair of wings and unhook for easy folding when not flying; they have five eyes that are two large compound eyes and three smaller eyes in the center of its head; Al-Hamdu Lillah; they make hives to produce and store honey and create cavities inside their hives (and even the small ones in these hives might have twenty thousand bees while the bigger ones have them four times more than that); note that each of these cells that have six corners to it actually is the pot of honey; there are three types of bees inside the hive that are the queen-bee, male among bees (i.e. drones which have no sting and they do not gather nectar or pollen but they only mate with the queen-bee which then leads them to their early death and they are lesser than hundred in number at the small hive of twenty thousand bees) and the third are the female worker bees (which protect the queen-bee & the hive and also serve to gather nectar and pollen from fruits of the plants i.e. flowers with which they produce honey); the queen-bee rules the hive but loosely and it cares to see that the hive is built properly; the worker bees select it from amongst the eggs that are assigned to take the queen-bee from and then they specify one of the cavities (with the development of that cell to the royal queen-cup) inside the hive for its living where they protect it fiercely and where it routinely gives eggs; the emergency queens are raised nearby where the next queen develops steadily that replaces the old queen when it faces frustration after few years of providing eggs (and runs away with its swarm if it is lucky, to avoid being killed by those worker bees who had served it recently); but the next queen too has to face challenge by other of emergency virgin queens (all make such noise that alerts them all when the time is ripe and also the worker bees to decide for the queen would-be); most of the emergency queens are killed by the one who ultimately gets her status of the queen-bee (while others escape in swarms); the queen-bee may live to seven years when she accumulates millions of sperms from drones mating with them at flight outside the hive and then she lays eggs at her royal cell selectively for the next few years of her life; the first small batch of these eggs brings forth such bees that one of them could immediately assume the role of the queen-bee on its death as the workers prepare that new one for it (when its position becomes evident) while the second batch brings forth the meager number of male drones; the third batch relates to providing the female worker bees in plenty; the queen-bee feeds on the royal jelly that the glands at the head of the young worker bees provide her so that she develops well for the royal task of giving eggs routinely while other bees have the nectar & the pollen mixed with crude honey only as their foods (though at the first few days of hatching, all of bees would get some of the royal jelly to devour); the male drones among the bees are extremely lazy and if they become totally incapable to mate with the queen-bee (or the queen would-be) then the female worker bees throw them out of the hive to die there; the queen-bee continues giving eggs in hundreds daily (sometimes more than 1000 in a day) and the worker bees (that may be more than fifty thousand in quantity at any given time in a vast hive) in contrast to the male drone bees, work extremely hard to protect the hive; these female worker bees are those that go far-away places to get the nectar and the pollen while they also take care to keep the hive most clean for their work for which they bring forth the needed wax (which they produce by taking some sticky material from trees); these female worker bees are those that actually produce honey by what they bring from thousands of flowers of plants & crops and then they produce spoonful of honey (which comes forth after passing among them mouth to mouth) that they ultimately store at the hive but they are short-lived and their life span is to six weeks maximum; these worker bees protect the queen-bee at winter by remaining close to her so that she gets the necessary warmth to live-on; but it also is interesting to note that if the worker bees find the queen-bee incapable to provide eggs ahead, they come extremely close to her that increases the temperature to lethal height for her which ultimately gets rid of her; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT of the Ruku reads, “and Allah has created you, then He causes you to die (some of you early in life and some at ripe age), and of you is he who is brought back to the worst part of life (i.e. most extreme old age), so that after having knowledge (of many things) he does not know anything; surely, Allah is Knowing (Who has total knowledge of everything and He does not ever lose His knowledge), Powerful (Who has all authority to apply His true knowledge in the most righteous manner)”; note that Allah is from all times to all times because He only has the true life with all of His attributes that are totally true to Him that He never loses so all of His attributes are of Him from all times to all times (QADEEM) and all of His attributes are His very own (ASL) and all of His attributes are limitless (LA-MEHDUD); certainly, He only is the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Tenth Ruku
71. And Allah has made some of you excel others in the means of subsistence, so those who are made to excel do not give away their sustenance to those whom their right hands possess so that they should be equal therein; is it then the favor of Allah which they deny?
72. And Allah has made wives for you from among yourselves, and has given you sons and grandchildren from your wives, and has given you of the good things; is it then in the falsehood that they believe while it is in the favor of Allah that they disbelieve?
73. And they serve besides Allah that which does not control for them any sustenance at all from the heavens and the earth, and they do not have any power.
74. Therefore do not give likenesses to Allah; surely Allah knows and you do not know.
75. Allah sets forth a similitude: (consider) a slave, the property of another, (who) has no power over anything, and one whom We have granted from Ourselves a goodly sustenance so he spends from it secretly and openly; are the two alike? (All) praise is due to Allah! Nay, most of them do not know.
76. And Allah sets forth a similitude of two men; one of them is dumb, not able to do anything, and he is a burden to his master; wherever he sends him, he brings no good; can he be held equal with him who enjoins what is just, and he (himself) is on the right path?
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The Ruku tells about such manifest blessings upon the mankind that makes him see that how much better he is among others by the sustenance Allah has provided to him; at those times, slavery flourished among men as one of aspects to life and though Islam directed in different manners that may lead to eliminate that system with time yet to abolish that with immediate effect was not possible and any efforts for such would have led to extreme chaos among the living manner of the people; it was then necessary to preserve the status-quo in this issue with the most benevolent attitude possible towards slaves; in that set-up of the living manner, the first AAYAT presents the example that manifestly, it would lead to extreme disorder if the owners of slaves bring them equal to their own-selves by providing them the worldly provisions they have (and releasing them to become free as themselves); it reads, “and Allah has made some of you excel others in the means of subsistence, so those who are made to excel do not give away their sustenance to those whom their right hands possess (i.e. their slaves) so that they should be equal therein (as that would cause much deprivation of their own sustenance); is it then the favor of Allah which they deny? (this means that the disbelievers do understand that their slaves would respect them as their masters to keep the order in the set-up of life without any challenge to the possessions they have with them, but they deny giving respect to Allah as their true Lord by taking some persons among them as equal in authority to Him though all persons most certainly are slaves only to Him)”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next couple of AAYAAT indicate other of manifest blessings that relate to life (and the needs of the psyche of the mankind); Allah gave all persons the opportunity to live in jointly with their respective spouses (which Allah has provided to them in their own beings i.e. humankind) and children and grand-children by them and gave all of them enough of foods for their sustenance; so Allah has provided all needs of the psyche and all sustenance to the mankind so that each person gives his/her exam due upon him/her with all convenience without much worry about such needs of life yet what happens is that many of persons believe in the satanic notions so they disrespect Allah in spite of the convenience that He has provided to them in their due exam at the world; they leave all care to Allah by their submission to persons like them in the humankind, though those persons do not have anything in possession to give anyone any sustenance from the heavens and the earth, and those persons certainly do not have any ability to get those; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-74 that is the next AAYAT prohibits to take anyone similar to Allah and the word used for similarity is AMTHAAL and it is plural for both MATHAL and MITHL (both of these denote similarity); note that the disbelievers had the erroneous notion that as a king needs many persons to manage his administration for him so Allah needs such persons too; may Allah save all Muslims from such erroneous notions that led the disbelievers to extreme sinful things in belief and most incorrect deeds; Allah certainly has the true authority and He guides the heavens and the earth and all that is between them with that true authority and His word only is the command that brings results according to His will and He needs no one to enforce that command; as for the matters in the mankind and in the jinn (these both have the free-will to fulfill the examination that Allah has put upon them at the world), He takes them directly and He orders His angels as He wills about them yet the angels totally are bound to His command as all other creatures (except for the mankind and the jinn) and they have no free-will to bring anything by their own; the AAYAT implies that the Muslims would not use any of these terms in the expression for the meaning of similarity to Allah; however, there are some notable points that relate to these terms MATHAL and MITHL and presently our study would address those; the first notable point is that these both have delicate difference in the Quran as the term “MATHAL” also denotes “the attribute” in the Quran though "MITHL" only denotes "the similarity"; MATHAL occurs in this meaning of "the attribute" in the Quran besides other places at AAYAT-60 at this Surah NAHL that “for those who do not believe in AKHIRAT (the hereafter) is an evil attribute (MATHAL-US-SAW-WI), and Allah's is the loftiest attribute (MATHAL-UL-AALA); and He is the Mighty, the Wise” (and it occurs at ROUM-27 too, where also it occurs in the meaning of “the attribute” and implies that all attributes of Allah are QADEEM, ASL and LA-MEHDUD); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the second point is that the term "MATHAL" also relates to expressing the similarity of some of His creation to some other of His creation by comparison so even though it means similarity as the term "MITHL" denotes, but its usage enfolds expressing the comparison between two of creation of Allah but “MITHL” relates to similarity in general; note the usage of both of these terms for this delicate difference at this Surah NAHL where AAYAAT-75 & 76 that are just ahead here, read about MATHAL that "Allah sets forth a similitude- (consider) a slave, the property of another, (who) has no power over anything, and one whom We have granted from Ourselves a goodly sustenance so he spends from it secretly and openly; are the two alike?- (all) praise is due to Allah- nay, most of them do not know; and Allah sets forth a similitude of two men; one of them is dumb, not able to do anything, and he is a burden to his master; wherever he sends him, he brings no good; can he be held equal with him who enjoins what is just, and he (himself) is on the right path?” and at this same Surah, AAYAT-126 read about MITHL "and if you take your turn, then retaliate with the like (MITHL) of that with which you were afflicted; but if you are patient, it will certainly be best for those who are patient”; however, as mentioned, the Quran has strictly forbade the use of both these terms MITHL and MATHAL in the meaning of similarity for Allah; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the third notable point is that for the term “MITHL” that denotes the similarity only, the Quran says categorically at AAYAT-11 of Surah SHURA that “(Allah is) the Originator of the heavens and the earth; He made mates for you from among yourselves, and mates of the cattle too, multiplying you thereby; nothing is like any similarity of Him (LAYSA KA-MITHLE-HE SHAYE-UN); and He is the Hearing, the Seeing”; this AAYAT prohibits to use the term MITHL (i.e. similarity) for Allah with any of His creation and it prohibits even the term MATHAL for such expression in speech, by its implication; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the fourth point is that AAYAT-14 of Surah FAATIR tells that “none would tell you anything like Him Who is the Most Aware (MITHLU-KHABEER)” so the term MITHL occurs to deny any similarity to Him in providing the true insight to matters; Al-Hamdu Lillah; this detail explicitly tells that the Muslims would never use any of these terms MITHL and MATHAL in the meaning of similarity for Allah (as such care in speech is necessary to keep them to the manner of the expression of Quran); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next couple of AAYAAT both provide such similitude that all persons note the blessings of Allah upon them and remain grateful to Him; the first of them i.e. AAYAT-75 compares a slave person to a free person; the former has no control over his possessions as being a slave-person, his assets belong to his master so he has to care for his permission to spend anything that is in his possession while the free-person has authority over his assets to spend it in the way he finds beneficial as he spends it secretly and openly for the pleasure of Allah and does not need to seek any permission; so the matter explicitly tells that they both are not equal and that asks the free-person to praise Allah much but as many of them take this as their rightful status, they do not understand; they must understand that Allah only has provided them this status by His will and certainly, they need to praise Him much; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the second similitude at AAYAT-76 again compares a slave-person to a free-person but this time the AAYAT refers to such slave who has no sense of any goodness in him and he is such a dumb person (as he is deaf too) that he is unable to bring any benefits to his master; at the other side is that free-person who has the sense of justice in all matters of life and he remains to the right path by putting it into practice at his life extensively; they certainly are not equal as the free-person among them is much better in them; Al-Hamdu Lillah; these respectively tell that the Muslims have the true chance to spend their assets in the way of Allah as they are not slaves of their desires and that the Muslims have the true chance to spend their span of life by Islam that is the only just manner of life (to which they guide others and to which they remain committed themselves) as they are not the slaves of their desires so these both point out the goodness for the Muslims that respectively relate to benefits that they provide by their tangible assets and by their justice that also is among their assets though intangible; note that it is mentioned in an authentic Hadith that (besides other books of Ahadith) Tirmidhi has reported explicitly that the Prophet PBUH said that “envy is disallowed except in two cases; one towards the man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends of it by night and by day; other towards the man whom Allah has given the Quran (i.e. its knowledge) and he stands with it giving its right by night and by day”; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Eleventh Ruku
77. And Allah's is the unseen of the heavens and the earth; and the matter of the hour is but as the twinkling of an eye or it is higher still; surely Allah has power over all things.
78. And Allah has brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers-- you did not know anything-- and He gave you hearing and sight and hearts that you may give thanks.
79. Do they not see the birds, constrained in the middle of the sky? None withholds them but Allah; most surely there are signs in this for the people who believe.
80. And Allah has given you place to abide in your houses, and He has given you tents of the skins of cattle which you find light to carry on the day of your march and on the day of your halting, and (He has given you) of their wool and their fur and their hair, household stuff and provision for a time.
81. And Allah has made for you of what He has created shelters, and He has given you in the mountains places of retreat, and He has given you garments to preserve you from the heat and coats of mail to preserve you in your fighting; even thus does He complete His favor upon you, that haply you may submit.
82. But if they turn back, then upon you is only the clear deliverance (of the message).
83. They recognize the favor of Allah, yet they deny it, and most of them are ungrateful.
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This Ruku presents the fact explicitly that the mankind needs so many things for sustenance (which Allah has provided to him) and he is bound to many things around, but Allah does whatever He wills as He needs nothing to enforce His commands and no challenge is possible against the manifestation of those commands; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the first AAYAT of the Ruku states, “and Allah's is the unseen of the heavens and the earth (so men shall not take Him as like themselves); and the matter of the hour (the last day of the world) is but as the twinkling of an eye (when it starts to take place) or it is higher still (i.e. even faster); surely Allah has power over all things”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT shows the utmost weakness of the mankind as it reads, “and Allah has brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers-- you did not know anything (so the persons among the mankind learn their manner from the birth)-- and He gave you hearing and sight and hearts (that you may learn by all these and accept the Truth, the sense of which is inside you all) that you may give thanks”; note that the AAYAT mentions hearing first as that mostly applies to learning and then sight; by these, the person gets the realization of the Truth that is already inside him so he certainly needs to be thankful to Allah by acceptance of it totally; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the third AAYAT of the Ruku states, “do they not see the birds, constrained in the middle of the sky?- no one withholds them but Allah; most surely there are signs in this for the people who believe”; this AAYAT asks attention towards the creation around especially the birds that seemingly defy the gravitational force of the earth by flying at the heaven above; note that the Quran has presented the birds as related to most amazing feats at different places which includes the event that AAYAT-260 of BAQARAH narrates when Abraham-AS asked Allah to show how He would raise the dead to life and upon that, Allah asked him if that is due to some lapse in his belief; he replied that he most certainly believes in the resurrection of the dead but he wants only to see how it would happen; He told Abraham to take four birds (unable to fly) and tame them the best he can; when he had domesticated them well, he would then keep the dead body of each one at different mounts near to each other; then standing somewhere nearby where his call reaches easily at all four places, he would call the dead birds the way he used to call them when they were alive; with no lapse of time, all of them would come running to him alive by the will of Allah; so this happened and it is notable that wherever birds are mentioned specifically in the Holy Book Quran, they present some miraculous performance, mostly in service to human beings; this is an interesting phenomenon and does show that Allah is fully capable to take His work from birds even as He wills and this also asks for clear observation to all who need guidance towards Allah; generally, the Muslims are fully aware of the amazing incident of ABA-BIL that happened just before the birth of the last Prophet Muhammad PBUH and Surah FEEL (i.e. Surah 105) presents that event; and Surah NAML tells us that HUD-HUD (i.e. Hoopoe–a bird in family of wood-peckers), brings an information that is something not known even to Solomon and the next AAYAAT tell us that he had brought information about the area of SABA (Sheba) that there a queen was ruling and they had their belief in the sun taking it as their lord and leaving the true Lord Allah; so the birds are doing a strange service to their own species and to human beings; besides birds, the Quran tells the amazing things about the insects too so note that before this incident, this same Surah tells us that “until when they (Solomon and his armies with him) came to the valley of ants, an ant said -O ants - enter your houses, (that) Solomon and his hosts may not crush you while they do not know” (Surah NAML-18); this tells that even ants do have their own system of communication by which they send messages to each other; as the Surah does not mention that Solomon had heard the speech of the ant directly (because Allah had provided him the ability to understand the speech of birds only as we learn by AAYAT-16) so Allah made him aware of this communication among the ants and learning that, he showed his extreme gratitude to Him for this most impressive status that even the ants did care for; Al-Hamdu Lillah; this AAYAT here at NAHL also tells some wonderful aspect about birds that benefits the mankind which tells that “most surely there are signs in this for the people who believe”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next couple of AAYAAT at the Ruku present the two most important needs of the mankind besides foods that are their housing and their clothing; Al-Hamdu Lillah; these AAYAAT read, “and Allah has given you place to abide in your houses, and He has given you tents of the skins of cattle which you find light to carry on the day of your march (at travels or at migration) and on the day of your halting (where you camp in them), and (He has given you) of their wool (i.e. of sheep) and their fur (i.e. of camels) and their hair (i.e. of goats) household stuff (i.e. jackets, caps, blankets etc.) and provision for a time (as they have considerably long life for general use at housing or clothing and the people could use it making cushions of them for their seats); and Allah has made for you of what He has created shelters (i.e. shades of trees and resting places on travel), and He has given you in the mountains places of retreat (caves and large cavities), and He has given you garments to preserve you from the heat (of the land of Arabia) and coats of mail (i.e. coats of armor) to preserve you in your fighting; even thus does He complete His favor upon you, that haply you may submit (without unnecessary worry about the physical needs and you all care for the true success at AKHIRAT towards which Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah, is calling you)”; AAYAT-82 tells explicitly to Muhammad PBUH that he only has to provide the message of Allah in clear terms to them all and it is not upon him to see that they do accept it; when he has given the message, his liability is done; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT at the Ruku tell about the psyche of the disbelievers that “they recognize the favor of Allah (i.e. the Guidance to the right path which the Quran provides explicitly), yet they deny it, and most of them are ungrateful”; they have received the true guidance at home that is such NEMAT (great blessing; highest of favors) from Allah upon them but instead of its acceptance, they disbelieve in it; this tells how ungrateful they are and the next Ruku warns them of the consequence of their denial of this NEMAT at AKHIRAT; note that Allah mentions at AAYAT-89 that is the last AAYAT of that Ruku, about the Holy Book Quran that “We have revealed the Book to you explaining clearly everything, and the guidance and mercy and good news for those who submit”; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Twelfth Ruku
84. And on the day when We will raise up a witness out of every nation, then shall no permission be given to those who disbelieve, nor shall they be made to solicit favor.
85. And when those who are unjust shall see the chastisement, it shall not be lightened for them, nor shall they be respited.
86. And when those who associate (others with Allah) shall see those whom they took as associates (to Him), they shall say: Our Lord, these are those that we took our associates (to Allah) on whom we called besides Thee; but they will give them back the reply that most surely you are liars.
87. And they shall tender submission to Allah on that day; and what they used to forge shall depart from them.
88. (As for) those who disbelieve and turn away from Allah's way, We will add chastisement to their chastisement because they made mischief.
89. And on the day when We will raise up in every people a witness against them from among themselves, and bring you as a witness against these-- and We have revealed the Book to you explaining clearly everything, and the guidance and mercy and good news for those who submit.
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The Ruku commences with the AAYAT that Allah would ask His Messengers to testify against their respective nations that they had provided the message of Allah explicitly to them; this is because the disbelievers do not plead for their defense due to their ignorance to the fundamental teachings of Islam at the Day of Judgment; so the point to note is that every person has the clear recognition of the Truth inside (see AAYAT-172 of Surah AARAAF which also stops him to plead for his defense due to his ignorance at the Day of Judgment) and that was addressed beautifully by the Messenger of Allah by providing him the message of Allah from outside and now after Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah, the Quran addresses that beautifully to all times ahead; so the Messenger of Allah would witness against all the disbelievers of the Truth in his nation that he had provided the message of Allah explicitly to all of them so his liability is totally done and the disbelievers are totally responsible of their doings now at this Day of Judgment; Surah NISAA, at AAYAT-41 that occurs at its sixth Ruku, also tells about this which reads, “how will it be, then, when We bring from every people a witness and bring you, O Muhammad PBUH, as a witness against these?”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT here tells that “then shall no permission be given to those who disbelieve, nor shall they be made to solicit favor” because the world only is the place of examination and that day which is the first day of AKHIRAT, is the Day of Judgment; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next four AAYAAT (from AAYAT-85 to AAYAT-88) tell about the condition of the disbelievers at AKHIRAT which read, “and when those who are unjust shall see the chastisement, it shall not be lightened for them, nor shall they be respited (as that is the Day of Judgment where all results would come at fore); and when those who associate (others with Allah) shall see those whom they took as associates (to Him), they shall say: our Lord, these are those that we took our associates on whom we called besides Thee; but they will give them back the reply that most surely you are liars (as after they had departed from the world, they had no awareness about what these disbelievers had made of them) and these (disbelievers) shall tender submission to Allah on that day; and what they used to forge (i.e. whom they took as associates to Allah) shall depart from them; (as for) those who disbelieve and (they also put their efforts on others to) turn away from Allah's way, We will add chastisement to their chastisement (increasing that) because they made mischief (i.e. they intended to bring the situation to such place where to work for the teachings of Islam becomes utmost difficult)”; the last AAYAT of the Ruku presents the same fact as the first AAYAT of the Ruku presented that the Messengers of Allah would testify against the disbelievers of their respective nations but this time, the AAYAT addresses Muhammad PBUH explicitly that Allah would call him to bear witness against the disbelievers of his people as Allah had made him the Messenger towards them and had given him the Quran to explain all necessary principles of Islam for all significant issues of life; he certainly had fulfilled his liability well and now the Quran remains the true guidance by which the Muslims would necessarily spread the teachings of Islam as they all are among the good following of Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah; He tells about the Quran at this AAYAT that “We have revealed the Book (Quran) to you explaining clearly everything (of issues for life in principles), and the guidance (to the Truth) and mercy (at the world where they might err to see or practice something by Islam unintentionally) and good news (of their true success at AKHIRAT) for those who submit”; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Thirteenth Ruku
90. Surely Allah enjoins the doing of justice and the doing of good and the giving to the kindred, and He forbids indecency and evil and rebellion; He admonishes you that you may be mindful.
91. And fulfill the covenant of Allah when you have made a covenant, and do not break the oaths after making them fast, and you have indeed made Allah surety for you; surely Allah knows the deeds you do.
92. And be not like her who unravels her yarn, disintegrating it into pieces after she has spun it strongly. You make your oaths to be means of deceit between you because (one) nation is more numerous than (another) nation. Allah only tries you by this; and He will most certainly make clear to you on the resurrection day that about which you differed.
93. And if Allah please He would certainly make you a single nation, but He causes to err whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases; and most certainly you will be questioned as to what you did.
94. And do not make your oaths a means of deceit between you, lest a foot should slip after its stability and you should taste evil because you turned away from Allah's way and grievous punishment became your (lot).
95. And do not take a small price in exchange for Allah's covenant; surely what is with Allah is better for you, did you but know.
96. What is with you passes away and what is with Allah is enduring; and We will most certainly give to those who are patient their reward for the best of what they did.
97. Whoever does the good whether male or female and he is believer, We will most certainly make him live a happy life, and We will most certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did.
98. So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan,
99. Surely he has no authority over those who believe and rely on their Lord.
100. His authority is only over those who befriend him and those who associate others with Allah.
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This Ruku starts by the AAYAT that ULAMA quote much at the sermon of Fridays as it tells explicitly how to live upon Islam; note that Muhammad PBUH is the Messenger of Allah to all persons that ever come to the world from his times to all times ahead as he is the last of all Messengers; after his death, the Muslims together have the liability to provide the message of Islam to all peoples of the world by the Quran (understanding it by Ahadith) and even if some of them do the task in the worthy manner that it deserves, the liability of all of them is done; note that the Quran gives the guidance for all issues of the life by principles and it reminds all the Muslims at the beginning of this Ruku that their attitude shall be compliance to it as they have committed totally that Allah only is their true Lord; the first AAYAT of the Ruku reads, “surely Allah enjoins the doing of justice (ADL) and the doing of good (EHSAAN) and the giving (of amounts as their right on the Muslims) to the kindred; and He forbids indecency (so eliminate it by EHSAAN) and injustice (so eliminate it by ADL) and rebellion (so avoid it by practicing charity for near ones always); He admonishes you that you may be mindful”; for this, I, MSD, would present first some matter generally related to ADL and EHSAAN whereas ADL literally means “justice” and EHSAAN literally means “goodness of intention and deed”; note that the AAYAT starts by the command of Allah that “surely Allah enjoins.....” so both of these are necessary to have at the Islamic environment for the implementation of the Islamic commands in all issues that are the commands of Allah; individually too, the Muslims would develop such attitudes that represent ADL and EHSAAN for the betterment of life yet they are highly important at the level of administration; certainly, the Muslims do not need to take actions that are sudden or imposed by force as Islam commands respect naturally that does not need such forced way to manifest itself so Insha-Allah, the Muslims would change the current society into an Islamic society by taking some necessary steps for elimination of injustice there and the necessary good attitudes would take place as a matter of natural inclination insha-Allah; note that Allah provides authority to Muslims as His AMANAT (Trust) to them that they must use to put Allah's commands into practice as much as possible; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the true Muslims accept Islam by all heart making the belief totally righteous, believing Allah as the only authority Who only has to be worshipped, truly obeyed and truly loved; and believing that the Messengers have provided the message of Allah well and Muhammad PBUH was the last of them; and believing that AKHIRAT (the true life after the life at the world) has to come where the result for this life’s belief and doings would come at fore; the true belief is the highest of blessing to the Muslim person but after that, the highest of physical blessing the man has received from Allah is his built and strength specially when he is at his youth while the highest of physical blessing the woman has received from Allah is her charm and beauty specially when she is at her youth; and for the betterment of deeds, the Holy Book Quran addresses these two blessings directly at places by asking to avoid injustice and shameful behavior; in-fact, AAYAAT-168 & 169 of BAQARAH provides the total Islamic Manifesto to apply for the conversion of environment to the Islamic environment well by addressing these two matters; they read, “O mankind! eat of that which is lawful and wholesome in the earth, and follow not the footsteps of the Satan; lo- he is an open enemy for you; he enjoins upon you only the evil (injustice) and the foul (shameful deeds), and that you should tell concerning Allah that which you know not (assigning partners to Him in His authority)”; in the world that we have today, the strength of the man includes his official status too while attraction of the woman also includes her glamorous presentation of herself besides her natural beauty that Allah has provided her; note that the Man and the Woman are equal in matters of AKHIRAT yet in this world, she has been given in his shelter for her own advantage as her father has the responsibility to see to her economic needs and her security in all ways according to the teachings of the Holy Book Quran before her marriage and her husband is liable for that after marriage so she would live in such bondage as daughter or as wife caring for the home with pleasure; accordingly, the man has to see that nothing objectionable by Islamic values takes place by the strength he has (and that might be his official strength) that leads to the occurrence of injustice and the woman has to see keeping to HEJAB that nothing adverse to Islamic values takes place by her natural beauty that attracts men which may lead the environment to shameful behavior; the Islamic administration would give attention at the environment for both of these matters by ADL (by the force of law) and EHSAAN (by guiding to the natural tendency towards virtues) respectively; the actual work to do is to guide attention towards the Holy Book Quran getting it into practice totally instead of going for material-gains & worldly-status; note that the western thinkers in the good-name of deep-thought, have tried to prove intentionally or unintentionally that the Man is only an animal; they have disregarded his spiritual existence totally (in fact under the influence of such thinkers, Taxonomy as of today, takes the Man as such); this indeed is an idiotic thought yet sadly I, MSD, remark that it has its adverse impression all over the world as of now and not a single notable person of high intelligence even among the Muslims, is challenging it fairly; in the previous couple of centuries since now (2020), some of these western thinkers tried to address the economic problem of the man to unreasonable proportion emphasizing the physical needs especially of foods and drinks as if they are animals only; some tried their best to illustrate the man as bound to his animal-desire (the sexual-drive) that this only is the focus of actions that the man takes; some tried to focus on his wildness so they mentioned him as like animals that mark their individuality by being guards to their own territory (taking territories of others too by force if possible) even if that asks for high violence and killing the rival ferociously; some tried to justify the display of power for territories that animals present at times by their sudden actions, for the sake of “nationalism” (the meaning of which might be twisted on their necessity for the reason of committing injustice to weaker nations); some tried to present this idiotic thought that the man is but an animal unashamedly by discussion that the man is the descendant of some animal that took different forms with time and place to come to the physical status as of today because he had to survive against the force of environment and this conversion relates to the survival of the fittest; though this idiotic thought that the man is only an animal has never been proved and would never be proved for sure as his spiritual-feature is most clear to mark his difference so on the contrary, the expression of issues among the humankind all the time disprove it; Al-Hamdu Lillah; yet the repetition of this idiocy at gatherings of seemingly sober persons and no challenge to it there, have led to its taking grounds even among some of the learned; however this only demonstrates that the psyche of the man has still to learn much to avoid the direct attack from the Satan when he presents some high wrong with some matter that does have some truth in it; note that this idiotic thought was brought at fore by its professors when many of intelligent persons got to many of accurate physical laws clearly that were operating at life; against this idiotic thought, Islam tells us that the Man is born between the angelic character and the animal character having both the aspects in his human character; he must either live at the angelic character by the spiritual development that is the asking of EHSAAN or either live at-least at the same human character at which he was basically born (named as FITHRAT) that is the asking of ADL; he must never live at the animal character and the point to note here is that he is allowed by Islam to fulfill his physical needs up-to necessity by valid means according to the Islamic viewpoint as that would let him remain on the human character with no adversity to that; note that the only state that Islam has forbidden to live upon, is the animal character; but it is precisely that which has been asked by the idiotic thought of one-sided worldly thinkers who left aside the guidance of Allah totally putting their total trust on their own minds; this leads to disintegration of the person accepting it at the individual level and to high chaos at the environment; note that such people would surely get what they deserve at AKHIRAT yet even in this world, the result to such thinking and to its acceptance is the punishment of hunger or/and all sorts of fear that is put on such people as these both are what animals have to deal with all the time; AAYAT-112 at the fifteenth Ruku of NAHL (that is just ahead) tells about this punishment to all those who are the rejecters of blessings of Allah; note that Allah has given the worldly-life to all persons as their examination so that they prove that they really deserve JANNAH by their true belief and by their righteous deeds as that only would bring the pleasure of Allah; it is not for any other reason so all persons need to prove their worth to the task; Al-Hamdu Lillah; now coming to the comments on AAYAT-90, the first AAYAT of the Ruku, note that Allah commands for three things here and forbids three other things; the message here is that taking-up three good things in practice that comprise of all the righteousness would eliminate the three bad things in practice that represent all the satanic misguidance; so the AAYAT provides the indication that EHSAAN eliminates all of the shameful behavior and ADL eliminates all of injustice though the sequence to state this elimination is inverse for these two; the spending towards the needy among the near ones for the pleasure of Allah counters any thought that might lead towards hypocrisy that in turn, might lead towards challenging the commands of Allah; the message for this part here is that “INFAAQ” (spending amounts in the way of Allah from what Allah has provided) keeps away “NIFAAQ” (hypocrisy); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT denotes the importance of the fulfillment of the word that the Muslim person gives as his commitment; it says, “and fulfill the covenant of Allah when you have made a covenant, and do not break the oaths after making them fast, and you have indeed made Allah surety for you; surely Allah knows the deeds you do”; note that all oaths that the Muslim person takes would care not to challenge the Islamic teachings in any manner; among them, those oaths are most important for the mankind that relate to business transactions that the men make among their-selves (which they have to fulfill mostly by ADL) and Allah sees their commitment; so if someone breaks these oaths, he commits such sin/crime that makes him highly unjust in his deeds; besides them, there are those important oaths that relate to the marriage of the man and his wife as they commit to care for each other with trust among themselves (which they have to fulfill mostly by EHSAAN) and Allah sees their commitment; so if someone among the Muslims breaks these oaths by avoiding the announcement of the marriage or by avoiding the responsibility the person has towards the spouse or by avoiding the asking of the required trust among each other, then each of these things makes the person incline towards most shameful acts that he/she is accountable for at the court of Allah and that disgraces him/her amongst all the people around; may Allah guide all the Muslims to fulfill all their oaths among themselves in the finest of manners; Al-Hamdu Lillah; with this comment, please note also that this AAYAT addresses specially such Muslims who accepted it by all study and left all vague concepts they had before its acceptance and pledged with commitment that they shall adhere to Islam whatever comes; they shall fulfill its demands in their practice remaining totally attentive to Allah, the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-92 gives the similitude for those Muslim persons who break their oaths for their personal motives; it reads, “and be not like her who unravels her yarn, disintegrating it into pieces after she has spun it strongly; you make your oaths to be means of deceit between you because (one) nation is more numerous than (another) nation; Allah only tries you by this; and He will most certainly make clear to you on the resurrection day that about which you differed”; note that there was an insane old woman at Makkah at those times who habitually used to spin the yarn well all the day long but at the end of the day, disintegrated it into pieces; providing her as the instance to this matter, this AAYAT denotes that to break a valid oath is like the disintegration of yarn that is spun well; when some Muslim person breaks any of his significant oath for any personal motive, he affects his integrity in the most adverse manner and asks for the wrath of Allah upon him; and if any of the Muslim administrations has made some significant oath (or pact) at the administrative level and then takes the breach of it against the side that is committed to it (due to consideration towards such people who seem better placed than that side and they pursue them for such breach, at the worldly issues), it would bring the wrath of Allah in such manner that they would incur extreme mistrust of all peoples of the world in settlement of issues ahead; may Allah save all Muslims from such wrongs; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last part of the AAYAT tells “and He will most certainly make clear to you on the resurrection day that about which you differed”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; all AAYAAT ahead at the Ruku provide some detail to the previous couple of AAYAAT and so three of them that are ahead tell, “and if Allah please He would certainly make you a single nation, but He causes to err whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases; and most certainly you will be questioned as to what you did; and do not make your oaths a means of deceit between you, lest a foot should slip after its stability and you should taste evil because you turned away from Allah's way and grievous punishment became your (lot); and do not take a small price in exchange for Allah's covenant; surely what is with Allah is better for you, did you but know”; so He has made the world the place of examination where the difference of opinion would exist but the Muslims need to care that there is no difference about the Islamic concepts that relate to principles in issues and according to their commitment to Islam, they would care to bring it to practice on the collective level with all decency possible as Islam commands total respect indeed from the inside of all men; any such administration, even if it claims to represent the Muslims, that intends that its people increase the number of challengers to Islam by their support to those who take-up concepts against Islam, they would gain nothing but extreme trouble at the Day of Judgment; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the breaches of pacts among nations (especially if any of the Muslim administrations is liable for it), would cause mistrust among each other and so retaliation to such breaches might lead to wars among nations and troubles to the common man to fulfill the commands of Islam; moreover, the ignorance of any of the Muslim administrations to the teachings of Islam in practice for the worldly cause, would give the most negative impression to spreading the message of Islam among all peoples of the world and so Allah would certainly punish such administration most severely; all Muslims need to see that they have committed to Allah to live upon Islam so as they fulfill their commitment, Allah would certainly provide them the highest of blessing even in the world; AAYAAT-96 & 97 guide attention of the Muslims on the individual level that most certainly, whatever worldly assets that they have, that would end (at their deaths) yet whatever of blessings that Allah would provide to them at AKHIRAT, that would stay-on with them; and Allah would provide them the best of returns to all of their good deeds (that would be ten times for each one) as Allah appreciates sincerity to Him in all of good deeds; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Allah requires that all the good deeds that the person does, whether a man or a woman, he/she does it with sincere belief upon Allah remaining among the true Muslims so then Allah would provide him/her the most pleasant life at the world and would provide him/her the best of returns to all of his/her good deeds at AKHIRAT, the true life; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last three AAYAAT of the Ruku ask Muhammad PBUH, and with him all the true Muslims, that as they recite the Quran, they need to seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan; they would seek this refuge of Allah in as simple words as possible with all inclination to purify their heart to get the true message of the Quran as better as possible; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the pursuance of the accursed Satan does not affect the true Muslims adversely as they believe in Allah most sincerely and rely on Him when they take-up any task to accomplish to gain His pleasure; he affects those only who lean towards his pursuance due to desires for worldly assets and due to associating others in the authority of Allah whom they erroneously take as their intercessors and whom they consider as able to save them from all troubles at the day of HASHR; note that the recitation of the Quran does not mean its reading only (which also is certainly necessary) but it also means to see its teachings with total belief on it and to put it into practice and spread its teaching to all peoples of the world so that they also put it into practice; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Fourteenth Ruku
101. And when We change (one) AAYAT for (another) AAYAT, and Allah knows best what He reveals, they say- you commit forgery. Nay, most of them do not know.
102. Say: the holy-spirit has revealed it from your Lord with the truth that it may establish those who believe and as a guidance and good news for those who submit.
103. And certainly We know that they say: Only a mortal teaches him. The tongue of him whom they reproach is barbarous, and this is clear Arabic tongue.
104. (As for) those who do not believe in Allah's AAYAAT, surely Allah will not guide them, and they shall have a painful punishment.
105. Only they forge the lie, who do not believe in Allah's AAYAAT and these are the liars.
106. He who disbelieves in Allah after his having believed, not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith, but he who opens (his) breast to disbelief-- on these is the wrath of Allah, and they shall have a grievous chastisement.
107. This is because they love this world's life more than the hereafter, and because Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.
108. These are they on whose hearts and their hearing and their eyes Allah has set a seal and these are the heedless ones.
109. No doubt that in the hereafter they will be the losers.
110. Yet surely your Lord, with respect to those who fly after they are persecuted then they struggle hard and are patient, most surely your Lord after that is Forgiving, Merciful.
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The first AAYAT of this Ruku mentions that Allah changes one AAYAT for another AAYAT in command as He wills; due to this change, the disbelievers blamed the Prophet PBUH that he has committed forgery in presenting the Quran; the notable point about this is that this relates to the matter that we studied at Surah BAQARAH-106 where the word NUNSEHA (whatever We cause to be forgotten) tells about it; note that BAQARAH-106 says that “whatever AAYAT We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it; do you not know that Allah has power over all things?”; at this AAYAT the words MA-NANSAKH (whatever We abrogate) tell that Allah abrogates some of the previous commands that relate to Torah and the word NUNSEHA (whatever We cause to be forgotten) relates to the Holy Book Quran which means that Allah causes to cease some specific aspect of the command previously given in the Holy Book Quran by providing another AAYAT for that command; He brings this other AAYAT for His command by His will that has more ease in it for practice than the previous or it is very similar to it and He certainly has total authority for this; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Surah AA’LA reads that, “We will make you recite so you shall not forget, except what Allah pleases, surely He knows the manifest (in command), and what is hidden” (Surah AA’LA-6 & 7); its recitation still goes on as there certainly is no such AAYAT that Allah descended at the Quran and then He placed it out of its TILAWAT i.e. recitation, by any manner of abrogation; note that Shah WALIULLAH (d-1759 AD) has counted five places for this change in his booklet FAUZUL-KABIR; he mentioned these five as (1) AAYAT-180 at BAQARAH that is changed in command by NISAA-11 & 12; (2) AAYAT-240 at BAQARAH that is changed by BAQARAH-234; (3) AAYAT-65 at ANFAAL that is changed by ANFAAL-66; (4) AAYAT-50 of AHZAAB that is changed by AHZAAB-52; (5) AAYAT-12 of MUJADILAH that is changed by MUJADILAH-13; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that the abrogation of AAYAAT (that was previously at Torah) or the change about any of AAYAAT (at the Quran) occurs at commands only; for the example to this change in command, it is proper to see one of these five places so note the AAYAAT at ANFAAL that read, “O Prophet (PBUH) - urge the believers to war; if there are twenty patient ones of you they shall overcome two hundred, and if there are a hundred of you they shall overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they are a people who do not understand” (AAYAT-65); “for the present Allah has made light your burden, and He knows that there is weakness in you; so if there are a hundred patient ones of you they shall overcome two hundred, and if there are a thousand they shall overcome two thousand by Allah's permission, and Allah is with the patient” (AAYAT-66); Al-Hamdu Lillah; so AAYAT-65 of ANFAAL asks the Prophet PBUH to urge the Muslims for QITAL (the fight against the disbelievers) and gives this good tidings that even if the true Muslims are twenty in number only, they would be enough to win the field against two hundred of disbelievers; if the true Muslims that are hundred and they face a thousand of disbelievers, the Muslims would even then defeat them; the quantity of disbelievers would not stand against the quality of the Muslims to fight them for the simple reason that they are not aware of the blessing of the Islamic teachings when they are in the practice of the true Muslims clearly; this AAYAT though statement, provides this as command that the Muslims (if they face disbelievers that are ten times more in quantity) have to fight them and they would not back-out from the combat though if the disbelievers are much more, then the Muslims have the option to withdraw their-selves from QITAL; the next AAYAT gives concession in the command and makes the Muslims liable to fight the disbelievers necessarily when at maximum they are double in number to the Muslims and beyond that, the Muslims have the option to withdraw; the reason for this concession is given at the AAYAT that they do have some weakness (in the power to fight) yet Allah would assist them if they do relate themselves to SABR (patience); please see the note at the thirteenth Ruku of BAQARAH too for this matter related to AAYAAT; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next four AAYAAT clarify that this Quran is the word of Allah that He has sent to Muhammad PBUH by the most respectable angel Gabriel-AS (the holy-spirit); Allah has told at AAYAT-102 here about the beauty of the Quran to the Muslims as He has presented at AAYAT-89 too; Allah sent it with HAQQ (i.e. the Truth) to establish the practice of Islamic teachings among the Muslims so it is the Guidance to the right path for them at the world and certainly, the good news for them about the success at AKHIRAT; note that by AAYAT-89, we get the detail of HAQQ that it explains clearly everything for the life of the mankind (in essence) and there Allah mentioned it as mercy too towards the Muslims so this AAYAT-102 provides the detail for the mercy that it establishes the practice of Islamic teachings among the Muslims for their magnificent strength at the world; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-103 tells that when the disbelievers could not challenge the Islamic teachings at the Quran, they tried to blame Muhammad PBUH that he had learnt these issues from some person; Allah replies by telling them that the person that they indicate in their blame is not an Arab and the Quran has presented these teaching in clear Arabic; note about this answer that though it implies attention to integrity of the Islamic teachings at the Quran too yet it actually points out that even the text of the Quran that provides those teachings, is miraculous as it is totally inimitable; certainly, those who disbelieve the Quran by such blames, Allah would never guide them to the right path and they certainly would face the most severe punishment; those who lie by their forgery are actually the disbelievers who have disbelieved in the AAYAAT that Allah has sent (and who blame the Prophet PBUH in different manners about them), and they actually are such liars who try to present erroneous teachings to misguide the persons around; the next AAYAAT from AAYAT-106 till the last of the Ruku present the attitudes of two types of the Muslim persons that happen to face such critical situation that threatens their lives directly; at such situation, only those Muslim persons would remain totally committed to Islam who are most attentive to Allah with all sincerity towards Him; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the four AAYAAT from 106 to 109 read, “he who disbelieves in Allah after his having believed, not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith, but he who opens (his) breast to disbelief- on these is the wrath of Allah, and they shall have a grievous chastisement; this is because they love this world's life more than the hereafter, and because Allah does not guide the disbelieving people; these are they on whose hearts and their hearing and their eyes Allah has set a seal and these are the heedless ones; no doubt that in the hereafter they will be the losers”; AAYAT-106 indicate those who at the times of extreme crisis, leave Islam and go towards disbelief that they shall have grievous chastisement; but there is an exception that this AAYAT presents by the words to the effect that “not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith”; note that there were such early Muslims who accepted Islam when the message of Islam reached them as Muhammad PBUH started providing it on the command of Allah to all people around; the disbelievers violently tortured those that were the weakest of those Muslims as they did not have any defense to offer against their tyranny; though many of them accepted death even at such times yet there were few of them who could not bear such torture and succumbed to the pressure upon them to leave Islam by saying disbelieving words against Islam; even among these few, the better number was of those who for the sake of their safety, said the disbelieving words but they actually believed Islam totally at heart; the exception at the AAYAT refers to such persons and there are accounts of such persons that they used to cry on such words that they uttered to safety that seemingly denoted disbelief but this AAYAT relieved them due to their plight at those times by acceptance of their true repentance; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT tells about the other of these few who left Islam (because of their inclination to their tribal manners or because of their expectation of getting high amounts of money or because of some status that they might receive at the world) when they were pressurized at their belief in Islam and showed no repentance on their doing ahead, that they would certainly see the most grievous chastisement; this would come to them as they preferred the world over AKHIRAT and Allah does not provide the true guidance to such disbelieving people; Allah has put seal upon their hearts because of their inclination to worldly things and upon their hearing ability and their seeing ability so they would remain oblivious to the true guidance ahead; note that when the hearing ability and the seeing ability does not lead to the acceptance of the Truth at heart then it actually means that they are not available to the person who seemingly has them; and so they certainly would be the losers at AKHIRAT; note that at those times, Islam highly needed such committed persons who would remain firm upon it even when they face extreme troubles so that they would ultimately challenge (and change) the situation of “might is right” that prevailed extensively at those times bringing it to the total commitment to Allah, the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT of the Ruku tells that Allah cares for such persons who remain committed to Islam whatever comes as it reads, “yet surely your Lord, with respect to those who fly after they are persecuted then they struggle hard and are patient, most surely your Lord after that is Forgiving, Merciful”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; this not only soothes such person that AAYAT-106 had denoted as an exception by the words that “not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith” but it also expresses the good tidings to all those persons who come to Islam and stay firm on it, that due to their acceptance of Islam, Allah has eliminated all of their previous wrong doings and He would surely provide them such space ahead (which might be at other land than at which they had been living) that they would gain the best of deeds there as they remain totally attentive to Allah, the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Fifteenth Ruku
111. (Remember) the day when every soul shall come, pleading for itself and every soul shall be paid in full for what it has done, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly.
112. And Allah sets forth a parable: (Consider) a town safe and secure to which its means of subsistence come in abundance from every quarter; but it became ungrateful to Allah's favors, therefore Allah made it to taste the utmost degree of hunger and fear because of what they wrought.
113. And certainly there came to them an Apostle from among them, but they rejected him, so the punishment overtook them while they were unjust.
114. Therefore eat of what Allah has given you, lawful and good (things), and give thanks for Allah's favor if Him do you serve.
115. He has only forbidden you what dies of itself and blood and flesh of swine and that over which any other name than that of Allah has been invoked, but whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring nor exceeding the limit, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
116. And, for what your tongues describe, do not utter the lie, (saying) this is lawful and this is unlawful, in order to forge a lie against Allah; surely those who forge the lie against Allah shall not prosper.
117. A little enjoyment and they shall have a painful punishment.
118. And for those who were Jews We prohibited what We have related to you already, and We did them no injustice, but they were unjust to themselves.
119. Yet surely your Lord, with respect to those who do an evil in ignorance, then turn after that and make amends, most surely your Lord after that is Forgiving, Merciful.
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This Ruku guides the attention to the fact that the day of HASHR would certainly take place when every person would plead for the safety of his/her own self and every person would certainly receive only what he/she deserves so there would be no injustice; after the mention of the Day of Judgment, the Ruku goes on to ask for care to eat only the allowed clean-to-take foods; note that the Quran has clearly told at places that the intake of anything affects the Man not only in physical sense but even in the spiritual sense and so it asks at places to take care about what he eats (see for instance AAYAAT 168 & 169 of Surah-BAQARAH); so the Muslims would incline to foods that are HALAAL (allowed to eat) and TAYYIBAH (clean-to-take-in) and for this, they must see the KITAB (the Quran) and the SUNNAH (the practical guidance of the Prophet PBUH by his words, his actions or/and his silence on some matter); the lack of even one of these properties (that are HALAAL and TAYYIBAH in something seemingly edible) prohibits the intake of it; note also that Allah had commanded Adam & Eve to keep away from going near even to the tree that had the prohibited fruit for them on it; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-112 gives the example of such town that had all security from enemy and the people there were living peacefully as they got all necessary commodities with ease for their subsistence in abundance from different places to it; but it happened that they ignored the practice of commands of Allah in their lives and inclined to living with luxuries rather than necessities and they went beyond comforts as they wanted all sort of worldly assets available that they could manage to get; they had no worry if that caused troubles to the fellow-beings and they became restless even with the peace that they had with them and developed such psyche that had the quest for more and more of the world; this ultimately led them to ignore the practice of commands of Allah and to become most ungrateful to Him; their lives became competition with each other for the world, to show that they have more worth to accumulate the worldly finances and it even became the pursuit to satisfy their animal desires; Allah provided them some trying situations that came as hunger or/and all sorts of fear to them as their manner of living was turning like the manner of animals at jungle and these both (extreme hunger and troublesome fear) are what animals have to deal with all the time; this was put on them so that they take the heed to the righteous manner of living and leave their inclination to the world; but they were so unjust that they did not take-up simplicity as their living manner even when a Messenger of Allah came into them from their own selves to teach them the teachings of Islam (that ask for simplicity in the manner of living) and due to their disregard to His Messenger, Allah punished them most severely; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAAT-114 & 115 at the Ruku ask to eat from all HALAAL (allowed to eat) and TAYYIBAH (clean-to-take-in) only and to remain totally grateful to Allah; but if the extreme necessity asks to eat from such things that are neither HALAAL nor TAYYIBAH then the person has to take it only for necessity and up-to necessity; these things include such animal (that is ordinarily allowed & clean-to-eat) that dies of itself; and blood and flesh of swine and that over which any other name than that of Allah has been invoked; the Muslims need to strictly avoid these things except where extreme necessity tells that the death would most probably occur if they do not take any of these though even then that would be to necessity only; and Allah would forgive the sin then as He certainly is Most Forgiving and Most Merciful (see also the first Ruku of Surah MA’EDAH); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT ahead tells the Muslims not to decide for something as HALAAL and TAYYIBAH by own-selves because Allah only is the true authority; only KITAB and SUNNAH (that show the commands of Allah to fulfill as to get the pleasure of Allah) would decide about the foods and drinks to take-in as HALAAL and TAYYIBAH; to decide by own self in such manner about the foods and the drinks are nothing but lies that would benefit such liars in no manner; even if they enjoy these things by the effect of their lies for the time-being at the world yet they would ultimately face extreme punishment on their extreme lies in this crucial issue so they need to avoid it strictly; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Allah tells at AAYAT-118 that Allah had prohibited some of foods and drinks on the Jews which He has told Muhammad PBUH before though some of them were even HALAAL and TAYYIBAH in general; note that AAYAT-146 of AN’AAM reads, “and to those who were Jews We made unlawful every animal having claws, and of oxen and sheep We made unlawful to them the fat of both, except such as was on their backs or the entrails or what was mixed with bones: this was a punishment We gave them on account of their rebellion, and We are surely Truthful”; note also that Jacob-AS had prohibited the consumption of meat of camels upon himself at his times (only with the intention to get the pleasure of Allah) and Allah kept this prohibition too to remain among the Jews; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT at the Ruku gives concession to all those Muslims who had consumed any of the prohibited foods or/and drinks by ignorance; if their mistake is genuine where they had taken some prohibited foods or/and drinks, Allah gives them the recognition of their folly and gives them the space to better their position by avoiding all such wrongs ahead in whatever they consume when they are not yet seemingly near to their deaths; they need to accept the recognition early as that comes to them and compensate for their folly by avoidance of all such wrongs ahead with all commitment to the guidance that they had received explicitly; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Last Ruku
120. Surely Ibrahim was an exemplar, obedient to Allah, upright, and he was not of the polytheists.
121. Grateful for His favors; He chose him and guided him on the right path.
122. And We gave him good in this world, and in the next he will most surely be among the good.
123. Then We revealed to you: Follow the faith of Ibrahim, the upright one, and he was not of the polytheists.
124. The Sabbath was ordained only for those who differed about it, and most surely your Lord will judge between them on the resurrection day concerning that about which they differed.
125. Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and have disputations with them in the best manner; surely your Lord knows best those who go astray from His path, and He knows best those who follow the right path.
126. And if you take your turn, then retaliate with the like of that with which you were afflicted; but if you are patient, it will certainly be best for those who are patient.
127. And be patient and your patience is not but by (the assistance of) Allah, and grieve not for them, and do not distress yourself at what they plan.
128. Surely Allah is with those who guard (against evil) and those who do the good (to others).
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The last Ruku of NAHL starts by telling about Ibrahim-AS that “Surely Ibrahim was an exemplar (UMMAH), obedient to Allah, upright, and he was not of the polytheists”; UMMAH actually has the meaning of “the people that have united upon a significant cause” so note that strictly according to Islam, there are two nations only in the world that are rejecters of the Truth and the believers of the Truth (see TAGHABUN-2); see also the comments at AAYAT-143 of Surah BAQARAH which tells, “and thus We have made you a medium nation (UMMAH) that you may be the bearers of witness to the people and (that) the Messenger may be a bearer of witness to you” so this is one of the most important tasks of the Muslims as nation; even if only some of the people in the world remain as the believers in the Islamic teachings who practice it and provide it to others, they still would certainly remain whole nation in their own capacity and Ibrahim-AS alone represented the Muslim UMMAH at his time though soon after, his wife Sarah-AS and his nephew Lot-AS (who then became the Messenger of Allah) accepted the teachings of Islam with him; as the AAYAT mentions him as UMMAH so it points out that there would be the believers of the Truth who would fervently care for it in his descendants and that he had all virtues to height in him that Islam asks of all true Muslims (especially the ability by the blessing of Allah to provide the message of Islam to all peoples) yet it also informs that even if one man is at the right path, he truly is the whole UMMAH and he actually represents the standard to see how the virtuous person would live; Al-Hamdu Lillah; this clarifies that the Muslims of a specific place or of a specific time even if all of them are not included in the mention, they still are the UMMAH in their own capacity; it is such concept of unity that shows by any tangible substantial gathering of the good Muslims anywhere even at these current times, so the beautiful concept of UMMAH in Islam renders it indivisible if the Muslims do understand it well as due to the true concept of “nation” by the Islamic viewpoint, there is no possibility for anyone to divide the Muslims into factions anywhere at any time; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that even the disbelievers at Makkah at the times of Muhammad PBUH held Ibrahim in most high esteem (and the people of the Book too respect him most highly to this day) so the AAYAT mentions him that he believed in the Islamic teachings and that he did put into his practice; he taught those teachings only with total obedience to Allah with his total attention towards Him in all issues of life; and he certainly was not among the polytheists; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT implies that when the disbelievers say that they do respect Ibrahim and they neither follow him in their belief nor in their practice so what kind of respect is this; AAYAAT-121 & 122 explicitly tell about him that “he was grateful for the favors of Allah (that he remained pleased without asking for abundance at whatever He had granted him)- He chose him (as His Prophet) and guided him on the right path (i.e. the path of Islam); and We gave him good (the most pleasant life) in this world, and in the next (i.e. AKHIRAT) he will most surely be among the good”; here the ILTIFAAT (change of the pronoun at statements in the Quran) is notable that in AAYAT-122, Allah speaks in the royal manner to express His true authority by the pronoun “We” that His will reigns truly everywhere at the earth and at the heavens and at all that is between them; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that even when the Quran applies the ILTIFAAT, the meanings to the AAYAAT still remain most obvious at such places; note also that we have just studied at AAYAT-97, “whoever does the good whether male or female and he is believer, We will most certainly make him live a happy life (at the world), and We will most certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did (at AKHIRAT)”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT tells that Allah has provided the same message of Islam to Muhammad PBUH that He had given to Ibrahim-AS, that he would follow in the most committed manner and all of his UMMAH would too, to remain on the right path (as Allah clarified all the basics of that right path beautifully in the times of Ibrahim and they always were the same); and Ibrahim certainly was never among the polytheists; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-124 tells that the Jews whom Allah had commanded to sanctify the day of Saturday (and they were the only ones that Allah had commanded for it), they disputed about it and disrespected it so Allah would settle all disputes among them at the Day of Judgment (see also the note at the eighth Ruku of BAQARAH); Allah brings this AAYAT here to tell that Allah did provide different commands even after Ibrahim though He had provided the basics of the right path most clearly to believe at his times; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-125 tells about providing the message of Allah (to all peoples of the world with care to their respective inclinations) to which the Muslims have their extreme liability as of now after the death of Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah; and the next three AAYAAT till the last of the Ruku (which also is the last of Surah NAHL) provide even more clarity to this matter; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-125 reads, “(O Muhammad PBUH)- call to the way of your Lord with wisdom (those learned persons who are most studious yet in need of getting the Islamic teachings) and with goodly exhortation (by addressing the good emotions in those persons who value the good feelings among the fellow beings), and have disputations with those (who would not even listen properly to the good Islamic teachings due to their negative manner to challenge everything that comes their way, even when the true Muslims provide all good reasoning for them to accept Islam in their benefit), in the best manner; surely your Lord knows best those who go astray from His path, and He knows best those who follow the right path (so you have the liability to providing the message of Islam to all peoples of the world and Allah only would decide who gets the true guidance)”; note that HIKMAT (i.e. wisdom) means such high intelligence that tells how to put the Islamic commands into practice so the Muslims would call the learned persons that have the inclination to HIKMAT, by the manner of HIKMAT (as that is the asking of ADL); and they would call those persons who have the sense that the world needs to live in peace where all persons care about the fellow beings with such good principles that they all apply at practice, by the manner of goodly exhortation (as that is the asking of EHSAAN); Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-126 & 127 relate to retaliation by the same level of offence if the last type of them come to challenge them practically in some most adverse manner; so AAYAT-126 asks all true Muslims to stand firm together against their adverse practical efforts to challenge Islam though it appreciates the preference to patience where it is possible on their wrong-doings and leave such persons on their own (note that this Surah came to the Prophet PBUH at the MAKKI period); however, Allah commands the Prophet PBUH at AAYAT-127 especially to observe patience with the indication that though it is difficult in general yet Allah would give him the ability to observe it with easiness and asks him not to grieve upon their disbelief (by the concern why they reject these good teachings when he is providing these to them only so that they get highest of benefits by them) and guides him not to distress himself on whatever adverse plans that they make against the expression of his teachings (as Allah would certainly save him from all their adverse efforts as he fulfills his liability well) so unless they take some adverse action against Islam practically, the better thing for him is to avoid all such persons by ignoring them at this time as much as possible; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT of the Surah tells about all those that come to Islam by its total acceptance that they also become part of the Muslim UMMAH and Allah would care for all true Muslims who do care for the commands of Allah in all issues of life; it reads, “surely Allah is with those who guard (against evil that nothing adverse touches their true belief on Islam as they remain attentive to Allah) and those who do the good (deeds that benefit them highly and that benefit even others)”; so most certainly, these are such persons who would live the most pleasant life at the world, and Allah would most certainly give them their good reward in the best of manners for whatever good they did, at AKHIRAT; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
“Tafsiri-Guide to the Quran” by:
Muhammad Saleem Dada
Here our study of NAHL ends; Al-Hamdu Lillah
www.saleemdada.weebly.com
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-CONTINUED
www.m-saleemdada.com/
Surah IBRAHIM
(Consists of 7 Ruku; MK-9)
IBRAHIM-The First Ruku
1. Alif Lam Ra - (This is) a Book which We have revealed to you that you may bring forth all men, by their Lord's permission from utter darkness into light-- to the way of the Mighty, the Praised One,
2. It is Allah, Whose is whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth; and woe to the disbelievers on account of the severe chastisement,
3. (To) those who love this world's life more than the hereafter, and turn away from Allah's path and desire to make it crooked; these are in a great error.
4. And We did not send any apostle but with the language of his people, so that he might explain to them clearly; then Allah makes whom He pleases err and He guides whom He pleases and He is the Mighty, the Wise.
5. And certainly We sent Musa with Our AAYAAT, saying: Bring forth your people from utter darkness into light and remind them of the days of Allah; most surely there are signs in this for every patient, grateful one.
6. And when Musa said to his people: Call to mind Allah's favor to you when He delivered you from Pharaoh's people, who subjected you to severe torment, and slew your sons and spared your women; and in this there was a great trial from your Lord.
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Surah IBRAHIM also starts with the MUQATTA’AAT (the 14 disjointed letters that are among the Arabic alphabets that come at the commencement of 29 SURAH in specific combinations); Allah tells at the first AAYAT that “(this is) a Book which We have revealed to you (O Muhammad PBUH) that you may bring forth all men (i.e. all peoples of the world), by their Lord's permission from all utter darkness (of evil) into the light (of the true guidance)-- to the way of the Mighty, the Praised One”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that the darkness is mentioned in plural as the evil has many colors but the light is mentioned in singular as the Truth always is one from ever to ever; note also that the will of Allah, the true Lord, is most necessary for anyone to affect any of the mankind as the AAYAT implies by the phrase “BE-IDHNE-RABBEHEM” (i.e. by the permission of their Lord that actually means by the will of Allah); whatever the people do, they are able to do it only because of the will of Allah but the pleasure of Allah is not in everything; certainly, everything of the creation is working in perfect harmony to the will of Allah though there are two (JINN and the Man) among His creation that have the free-will; because of having the free-will, they would do it by their own but Allah has mentioned in the Quran “and you do not will even, unless (it be) that Allah wills, the Lord of all the worlds” (Surah TAKWIR-29); Al-Hamdu Lillah; so everything occurs by the will of Allah and our task (with total belief in TAQDIR), is to believe in the Quran, the Word of Allah, and we have to work according to it by the guidance of SUNNAH, to get His pleasure; so Allah has permitted these two (JINN and the Man) to do as they please yet all of their actions are totally bound to the will of Allah that have their effect according to it; nothing occurs without the will of Allah and even the Satan knew this when he had asked Allah to allow him extreme length in life that enables him to affect the Man adversely (though Allah allowed him that length but He told him then that whoever takes His shelter, he would not be able to misguide him from the right path); Allah is Mighty (so He makes the effect of all things better by His direct command according to His will) and He is the truly Praised (so He affects all things to lead them all towards the ultimate manner where all creation would only praise Him); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT presents the fact that all persons must understand that everything whether at the heavens or at the earth, belongs to Allah so He actually has provided them all things that they have with them and He certainly has all rights (and all the authority) to take all things back from them; Al-Hamdu Lillah; there is extreme trouble for the disbelievers due to the chastisement they would face for their extreme ingratitude to Allah; the third AAYAT defines these disbelievers that they had always preferred the ease at the life at the world over the true benefits of AKHIRAT and they had stopped all persons around to take the manners in life that benefits at AKHIRAT (so they incline towards the worldly base desires at both individual and collective level) and they seek ways to raise doubts on works that are beneficial to AKHIRAT so that all persons around remain content on preference for the life at the world; their attention is towards what is physically obvious so they do not mention Allah when they understand some physical law but call it one of the natural laws and they care for the physical health rather than the spiritual health and they want attitudes positive only to the life at the world so they raise doubts to the attitudes that ask for the benefit of AKHIRAT; the AAYAT states that all of disbelievers certainly are in the most extreme mistake that would ultimately lead them to the hell-fire; AAYAT-4 reads, “and We did not send any apostle but with the language of his people, so that he might explain to them clearly; then Allah makes whom He pleases err and He guides whom He pleases and He is the Mighty, the Wise”; this implies that Allah willed for all persons to get His message related to the true guidance so He chose the best persons from among different nations at different times and different places, all of whom had the good ability to convey His message in the language that their respective nations understood, in the best manner possible; this implies also that as the Quran is in Arabic (and it is the Guidance to the right path to all peoples of the world), so Arabic is the true language of the Man that Allah has preferred over all languages of the world; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT reads ahead that after they got His message, He led astray those whom He willed (due to their inclination towards the falsehood) and provided TOFIQ to accept that guidance to those whom He willed (due to their good inclination towards the Truth); and He certainly is Mighty (so He makes the effect of all things better by His direct command according to His will) and Most Wise (so He knows well what He has to retain from the effects of attitudes of all persons and with that, He takes the world gradually towards all the right concepts); note that TOFIQ means that Allah provides something good as the reward to some good deeds that the recipient has done before; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-5 tells that Allah sent Moses-AS with nine signs so that he brings out his people from the utter darkness into the light and reminds them of the days of Allah (in which Allah provided extreme destruction to those people who challenged His message when His Messengers provided it to them); Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that the first AAYAT mentioned that the Quran is the true guidance to all peoples as Muhammad PBUH is the Messenger of Allah to all of them that come after him at any place but about Moses-AS, this AAYAT tells that Allah gave Moses the signs to bring out his people from the utter darkness into the light as he was the Messenger of Allah to Bani-Israel only; the AAYAT ends by the words that “most surely there are signs in this for every patient, grateful one”; this implies that the narration of Bani-Israel provides the lesson that whoever remains patient in all troubles at the life at the world without care to go for its assets except for necessity, he deserves very good returns here and in the hereafter; if he does get some notable wealth or status at the life at the world and he praises Allah for this by spending amounts upon the needy and provides the fundamental teachings of Islam to the seekers of it (and does not consider that his abilities have provided such high worldly benefits to him but praises Allah for His blessing), he deserves very good returns especially at AKHIRAT; whatever the Bani-Israel did after leaving the lands of Egypt is another matter yet they had faced the period of slavery by the Egyptians since about two centuries when Moses-AS led them to freedom by the will of Allah; it is most trying for persons who had remained at ease at the world to face such times of slavery afterwards yet in that time, they had never forgotten the message of Israel to remain firm upon the fundamentals of Islam and so Allah provided His blessing to them due to this and gave them the ample space to work virtuously for AKHIRAT; their fault was that (though they showed the patience when needed) they were unable to become truly grateful to Allah after the end of their slavery as the history explicitly presents the matter; they did not present themselves as truly attached to the teachings of Torah (as they took from it whatever they intended and left from it whatever they intended) for centuries ahead with extreme disregard to all Prophets that came unto them and when Jesus Christ-AS came to them after some 1400 years of the departure of Moses-AS from the world, they disbelieved in him and intended to kill him (in which they were unsuccessful) so Allah punished them most severely through the hands of Romans; when they disbelieved in Muhammad PBUH when he became the last Messenger of Allah (at Arabia among the descendants of Ishmael-AS), Allah deposed them of their status to provide His message to all persons around; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT tells that Moses had told them to remember the time in history when Allah delivered them from Pharaoh's people; this implies that he wanted them to become totally grateful to Allah when they had become most uncaring to Him; the Pharaoh’s people had subjected them to severe torment when those people used to slay their sons and spared their women to live-on (so that their population decreases by time); the AAYAT ends by the statement that in this matter, there certainly was the most demanding trial from Allah, the true Lord; so it was their ingratitude to Allah that led them to their extreme disgrace though they had achieved their freedom through their worthy patience at the times of their slavery at the land of Egypt; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
IBRAHIM-The Second Ruku
7. And when your Lord made it known: If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more, and if you are ungrateful, My chastisement is truly severe.
8. And Musa said: If you are ungrateful, you and those on earth all together, most surely Allah is Self-sufficient, Praised;
9. Has not the account reached you of those before you, of the people of Noah and Aad and Thamud, and those after them? None knows them but Allah. Their apostles came to them with clear arguments, but they thrust their hands into their mouths and said: Surely we deny that with which you are sent, and most surely we are in serious doubt as to that to which you invite us.
10. Their apostles said: Is there doubt about Allah, the Maker of the heavens and the earth? He invites you to forgive you your faults and to respite you till an appointed term. They said: You are nothing but mortals like us; you wish to turn us away from what our fathers used to worship; bring us therefore some clear sign.
11. Their apostles said to them: We are nothing but mortals like yourselves, but Allah bestows (His) favor on whom He pleases of His servants, and it is not for us that we should bring you an authority (clear sign) except by Allah's permission; and on Allah should the believers rely.
12. And what reason have we that we should not rely on Allah? And He has indeed guided us in our ways; and certainly we would bear with patience your persecution of us; and on Allah should the reliant rely.
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The first AAYAT of this Ruku tells all peoples of the world that if they show gratitude to Allah, he would provide more of His blessing to them (both at the life at the world and at AKHIRAT) but if they show ingratitude to whatever He provides to them, His most severe chastisement would get them; Moses-AS told the Bani-Israel this thing most clearly when he saw that they were not committed to apply the commands of Allah, that they must not remain under the impression that Allah had chosen them for His favor whatever they do because if they go on showing ingratitude to Allah, He would punish them for it certainly; Allah does not need any specific nation to take-on His task as He would provide the opportunity to some other nation for His task if that nation does not fulfill the commands of Allah; Al-Hamdu Lillah; if they do His task, it actually is better for them as even if all persons at the world including them show ingratitude to Him, that attitude does not worry Him; that would lead to their own destruction and He certainly is truly worthy of praise; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that before the Bani-Israel, Allah sent His Messengers to different nations especially at the areas that were heavily populated but most of the persons in them showed ingratitude and so Allah punished them severely (as we have read especially at AARAAF); now when He raised Moses-AS as His Messenger to them, He provided Torah to him for them to remain committed to His commands and to provide His message to all persons around; they were not destroyed totally even at their wrongs (though they were punished severely at different times as we find at history especially at the times when they were taken slaves by the Babylon and at the times when they were totally devastated by the Romans); however, they miserably failed in their task (as we have read especially at BAQARAH) and so Allah deposed them of their honorable status after He gave them ample time to better their-selves and provided that honorable task to the Muslims at the times of Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah; Al-Hamdu Lillah; this whole Surah has the focus upon the message that the preference of the life at the world over the true life at AKHIRAT is utmost ingratitude to Allah that ultimately leads to infamy & destruction even at the life at the world while there is most heavy chastisement for such manner of living in the true life at AKHIRAT too; Al-Hamdu Lillah; for this focus, it relates the fact as the principle to note that Allah has provided all things at the environment here in such manner that they ensure the safety of the life of the Man most explicitly; the Man needs to care to his necessities only at the life at the world so that the ease remains in his sustenance while his true care would be to get the pleasure of Allah, the true Lord, to achieve the true success at the true life at AKHIRAT as that only is the true aim of life; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-9 reads, “has not the account reached you of those before you, of the people of Noah-AS and AAD (the people of HOODH-AS) and THAMUD (the people of SALEH-AS), and those after them?; none knows them but Allah; their apostles came to them with clear arguments, but they thrust their hands into their mouths and said that surely we deny that with which you are sent, and most surely we are in serious doubt as to that to which you invite us”; this asks (especially the disbelievers at Makkah) to reflect that all those persons who challenged the true guidance that Allah had sent to them, they were ultimately destroyed; note that three of the five Messengers (for whom, the Quran has presented narrations in detail) have been mentioned here; these all were before Abraham-AS and they were known at the land of Arabia; this AAYAT also implies that there were other of nations too (at the land of Arabia or even beyond, before the times of Abraham-AS after these three) unto whom also, Allah had sent His Messengers; but only Allah knows about them and they also like the previous nations, showed disbelief to His Messengers; they all stopped the impression of the teachings of the Messengers of Allah by all ways possible though His Messengers had presented that with very sound arguments; they said plainly that they would disbelieve their teachings because they had extreme doubts about what the Messengers were calling to; the term used for sound arguments is AL-BAYYINAAT that denotes the clear reasoning to get to the true Belief in Allah, the true Lord, and in the judgment at AKHIRAT by the observation of the previous guidance that Allah had provided to the people; the last three AAYAAT of the Ruku provide the dialogue between the Messengers and the influential persons at their respective nations; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the first of them tells that the Messengers whom Allah had sent to them, asked them how could there be any doubt about Allah, the Maker of the heavens and the earth; He had invited them to accept the true guidance and He would forgive them all wrongs and He would allow them the respite till an appointed term to show betterment in all their attitudes; they replied that the Messengers were just mortals like themselves and that they wish to turn them away from what their forefathers used to worship and that they should bring to them some clear sign so that it undoubtedly proves their claim; there were three things that they had said against them so the Messengers responded to the first that though they are nothing but mortals like them, but Allah bestows His favor on whom He pleases of His servants so they need to see the spiritual purity of His Messengers to which they guide them too and not their physique; and the Messengers responded to the third that it is not for them that they bring their nations some clear sign except by the clear permission of Allah; and their response had the subtle answer to the second that the true guidance comes from Allah only and the persons at their nations shall not take the directions of their forefathers for their guidance but give their attention to what Allah has provided to them; certainly upon Allah only, all the good believing persons would rely; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT of the Ruku expresses the fact that they told their respective nations whether they accept them or not, they would rely totally on Allah as He has indeed guided them by the true guidance in their ways; they only had to provide the message of Allah to them and they had done it; they would bear all the persecution that they receive in the fulfillment of this task with total patience; certainly upon Allah only, all the good reliant persons would rely; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
IBRAHIM-The Third Ruku
13. And those who disbelieved said to their apostles that we will most certainly drive you forth from our land, or else you shall come back into our religion. So their Lord revealed to them that most certainly We will destroy the unjust.
14. And most certainly We will settle you in the land after them; this is for him who fears standing in My presence and who fears My threat.
15. And they asked for judgment and every insolent opposing person was disappointed:
16. Hell is before him and he shall be given to drink of festering water:
17. He will drink it little by little and will not be able to swallow it agreeably, and death will come to him from every quarter, but he shall not die; and there shall be vehement chastisement before him.
18. The parable of those who disbelieve in their Lord: their actions are like ashes on which the wind blows hard on a stormy day; they shall not have power over anything out of what they have earned; this is the great error.
19. Do you not see that Allah created the heavens and the earth with truth? If He pleases He will take you off and bring a new creation,
20. And this is not difficult for Allah.
21. And they shall all come forth before Allah then the weak shall say to those who were proud: Surely we were your followers; can you therefore avert from us any part of the chastisement of Allah? They would say: If Allah had guided us, we too would have guided you; it is the same to us whether we are impatient (now) or patient, there is no place for us to fly to.
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The Ruku continues telling about how the disbelievers treated the Messengers of Allah in general; they told the respective Messengers in them that they would most certainly drive the Messengers out of their land except that they conform to their manner of living; so Allah revealed to them that Allah has decided to destroy these unjust persons totally and He would settle highly good persons after them; every one of them would fear standing in front of Him (at the Day of Judgment) and he would fear the warning that if he does not comply to the obedience of Allah, he would face the certain punishment (even at the life at the world); this tells about TAQWA that is the attitude of the heart which means that all the Muslims must fear Allah that they do not get His displeasure by their sins becoming so sinful that they lose the chance to regain JANNAH at AKHIRAT and with that, they also must have such hope towards Him that He would keep them safe from the Satan totally at their life at the world; Al-Hamdu Lillah; so if he/she does not live as the righteous believer in the Truth (the fundamental teachings of Islam) with righteous deeds, he/she would lose the opportunity to show his/her worth for JANNAH and would be put into the hell-fire as Allah would certainly fulfill His word; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the Quran tells all of the mankind that Allah made the earth as an easy ground for them all to live in and made the heaven as the roof to all of them from which He sent waters upon the earth and took out fruits (& crops) of the earth by that for them as edibles; this is which they certainly see clearly so they must not take anyone equal to Him in any of His attributes as He only has the ASL (true) authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT tells about these unjust persons that they asked for judgment at the life at the world by the rejection of the Messengers of Allah so every insolent opposing person was disappointed as all of them were severely punished here and at AKHIRAT, they would be taken to the hell-fire; each person of them would be given such water to drink that would have blood and pus in it which he would drink in sips (that would neither go down the throat properly nor would it satisfy the thirst) and it would seem that the death is getting him from all sides and yet he would not die and there would be more of harsh punishment ahead of him; their works are as ashes which the wind blows hard upon some stormy day; they have no control of aught that they have earned so that is the extreme failure; this illustration tells that the deeds of the disbelievers are so worthless (i.e. ashes) that whenever some trial comes to them (i.e. the wind blowing hard) at some issue of life (i.e. the stormy day) by the will of Allah, they leave the guidance of Allah and as such their seemingly good deeds are totally lost to which they would get no returns at AKHIRAT; this is the extreme failure as the person thinks that he has accumulated so much of good deeds and actually he gets nothing in returns and this also tells that to believe in the Truth needs to obey Allah, the true Lord, in all of the principles that He has given for the issues of life; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAAT 19 & 20 ask, “do you not see that Allah created the heavens and the earth with truth?; if He pleases He will take you off and bring a new creation; and this is not difficult for Allah”; so these all things protect the life of the Man because Allah has commanded them to do so; if He intends to finish off the mankind and then bring some other creation instead of it, He would turn all things against it and that would be its end; this certainly is not difficult for Him; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT mentions that Allah has created this all so that He examines all of the mankind and every person would come before Allah; so when the disbelievers would enter the hell-fire, there the weak persons among them who used to follow their leaders among them at the world without question, would ask those leaders if they are able to avert from them any part of this chastisement of Allah?; but their leaders would say that if Allah had guided them, they would have then guided their followers so now everyone of them would get his extreme punishment whether he is impatient or not upon his punishment and there is no place for safety for any of them; this implies that when Allah has given all persons all the space at the world to live in accordance with His commands (and He has provided all facilities to them for that) then they would believe in Allah truly and they would obey Him with all fervor without care to any such thing which makes their life better at the world but which destroys their life at AKHIRAT that is the true life; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
IBRAHIM-The Fourth Ruku
22. And the Satan shall say after the affair is decided: Surely Allah promised you the promise of truth, and I gave you promises, then failed to keep them to you, and I had no authority over you, except that I called you and you obeyed me, therefore do not blame me but blame yourselves: I cannot be your aider (now) nor can you be my aiders; surely I disbelieved in your associating me with Allah before; surely it is the unjust that shall have the painful punishment.
23. And those who believe and do the good are made to enter gardens, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them by their Lord's permission; their greeting therein is, Peace.
24. Have you not considered how Allah sets forth a parable of the good word (being) like a good tree, whose root is firm and whose branches are in heaven;
25. Yielding its fruit in every season by the permission of its Lord? And Allah sets forth parables for men that they may be mindful.
26. And the parable of an evil word is as an evil tree pulled up from the earth's surface; it has no stability.
27. Allah confirms those who believe with the sure word in this world's life and in the hereafter, and Allah causes the unjust to go astray, and Allah does what He wills.
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The first AAYAT of this Ruku tells that the Satan would deny at AKHIRAT any of his involvement in the punishment of the disbelievers with the statement that Allah had promised them right when He promised that the disbelievers would get the hell-fire but as for him, he had lied to them when he promised them about their well-being on his obedience; the Satan would tell them at AKHIRAT that he only enticed them and they complied to his call though he had no authority over them so they would not blame him for their severe punishment but they would blame their own selves for it; the Satan would state that they must know that he is unable to ease their chastisement in any manner and they too have no authority to help him in any manner; the Satan would tell them that he did reject their act that they used to associate him with Allah before because (though he disobeyed Allah totally for which Allah punished him by the hell-fire forever), even he does not associate anything with Allah Whom he takes as the only Creator Who has all the true authority and he knows well that the unjust persons shall have the most painful punishment; note that this address of the Satan to the disbelievers at the hell-fire, would tell them most clearly that he actually had no authority at the world to force any person to wrongs but he only had the persuading power to wrongs by untrue reasoning and so those who took his word for their well-being erroneously (without any care to take the protection of Allah), did the most unjust act by their own free-will that actually had led them to the hell-fire; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT tells that the true believers who had always done the righteous deeds at the life at the world, would be entered in JANNAAT (the most beautiful gardens at the paradise) beneath which flow the beautiful streams where they would abide forever by the will of Allah, their true Lord; their greetings to each other there would be for peace, security and ease; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAAT 24 & 25 tell that Allah gives the example for the goodly word (i.e. Islam) that it denotes the goodly tree (i.e. the Muslim person) which has its root firmly fixed (i.e. his firm belief in TAUHID) and its branches reach to the heavens (i.e. the righteous deeds that stem from the true belief to affect the coming true life positively) so it gives its fruits (i.e. the goodly benefits) at all seasons (i.e. at all times even at the world and even at AKHIRAT) and Allah sets forth such examples for all persons that they may be mindful; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-26 tells the example for the evil word, “and the example of an evil word (i.e. the disbelief) is like an evil tree (i.e. the disbelieving person who disobeys Allah) that is pulled up from the earth's surface (i.e. his deeds even if seemingly good have no firm grounds that go waste as the time passes on it) so it has no stability (i.e. it does not affect his life at AKHIRAT positively)”; this AAYAT explains the AAYAT-18 further that tells, “the example of those who disbelieve in their Lord - their actions are like ashes on which the wind blows hard on a stormy day; they shall not have power over anything out of what (seemingly good deeds) they have earned; this is the great error”; the last AAYAT of the Ruku concludes that “Allah strengthens those (in impression) who believe with the certain goodly word (i.e. Islam) in this world's life and in the hereafter, and Allah causes the unjust to go astray, and Allah does whatever He wills”; this tells most explicitly that Allah protects the true Muslims (who have the true belief in Islam and they do all the righteous deeds according to that true belief) from all the satanic enticement at their lives at the world and certainly, He would provide them all His blessing at AKHIRAT; and Allah would lead astray all the unjust persons (that are the disbelievers in the Truth) due to their disbelief at the world (that would cause their extreme loss at AKHIRAT) and He certainly does whatever He wills; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
IBRAHIM-The Fifth Ruku
28. Have you not seen those who have changed Allah's favor for ungratefulness and made their people to alight into the abode of perdition (into the hell-fire)?
29. They shall enter into it and an evil place it is to settle in.
30. And they set up equals with Allah that they may lead (people) astray from His path. Say: Please yourselves (with worldly things), for surely your return is to the fire.
31. Say to My servants who believe that they should keep up prayer and spend out of what We have given them secretly and openly before the coming of the day in which there shall be no bartering nor mutual befriending.
32. Allah is He Who created the heavens and the earth and sent down water from the clouds, then brought forth with it fruits as sustenance for you, and He has made the ships subservient to you, that they might run their course in the sea by His command, and He has made the rivers subservient to you.
33. And He has made subservient to you the sun and the moon pursuing their courses, and He has made subservient to you the night and the day.
34. And He gives you of all that you ask Him; and if you count Allah's favors, you will not be able to number them; most surely man is very unjust, very ungrateful.
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This Ruku tells about how Allah has set everything in favor of the human life because He has not only provided the human beings the true guidance by His Messengers for their spiritual security but He also has provided them at the world all such things that assure their physical safety; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the first three AAYAAT of the Ruku tell about the disbelievers that they needed to become grateful to Allah for all His care to them yet they chose to prefer the life at the world over AKHIRAT and did all wrongs to gain the worldly possessions, pleasures and positions; Allah does good to every person by His own good care for them but if someone does wrongs then due to those wrongs, He puts His wrath upon such persons; these AAYAAT read, “have you not seen those who have changed Allah's favor for ungratefulness and made their people to alight into the abode of perdition (into the hell-fire) - they shall enter into it and an evil place it is to settle in; and they set up equals with Allah that they may lead (people) astray from His path – say that you please yourselves (with worldly things), for surely your return is to the fire”; the next AAYAT tells about the true believers in contrast that they read-on SALAH (prayers to Allah) and spend in the way of Allah from all what He has given them spending them secretly and openly before that day (i.e. the Day of Judgment) when there would be no trade to gain virtues (so no-one would become able to get benefits there even by barter by ADL) and there would be no friendship among each other (so no-one would become able to get benefits there even by the affection of each other by EHSAAN); the good SALAH at the life at the world would show their total inclination to AKHIRAT while the provision of high benefits to the people by spending amounts on them (by trade or by friendship) at the life at the world would show their disregard for its gains except for necessity; this provision of high benefits might be due to SADAQAH (the provision of tangible amounts) or this might be due to TABLIGH (the spread of the Islamic teachings); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last three AAYAAT of this Ruku tell about the manner by which Allah has provided all persons their physical safety by the high benefits that they get by things around generally and they read that “Allah is He Who created the heavens and the earth and sent down water from the clouds, then brought forth with it fruits as sustenance for you, and He has made the ships subservient to you, that they might run their course in the sea by His command, and He has made the rivers subservient to you; and He has made subservient to you the sun and the moon pursuing their courses, and He has made subservient to you the night and the day; and He gives you of all that you ask Him; and if you count Allah's favors, you will not be able to number them; most surely (most of) the mankind is very unjust, very ungrateful”; as according to the Quran, the only aim of life that the Man has (like all other creation of Allah), is that he gets the pleasure of Allah by total surrender to Him and besides this, there is no other aim of life (see Surah ZAARIYAAT-56), so Allah has taken care that the Man finds total ease for this necessary task; the words that “He gives you of all that you ask Him” means that Allah has provided the Man everything that would ensure his physical safety so that he fulfills his task with all fervor without any true attachment to the life at the world; Allah has provided the true guidance to him too so that he takes it for his spiritual safety; everything that the Man finds around him works in the favor of his safety and nothing is adverse to it unless he makes such adverse provisions by his own self; this safety totally includes all edibles (that are allowed and that are most pure) that affect the inside of the Man and all set-up of the environment that affects the outside of the Man so he adapts to it well; Al-Hamdu Lillah; please note that this message of the Quran tells us that it is most erroneous that any of the Muslims (who have some authority at their lands to affect the respective people there under their command), cause extreme panic among their people about some issue at hand even if that issue relates to some infectious disease; Allah has given the Man the most wonderful immune system that works-on in his total favor all the time; Al-Hamdu Lillah; please see the note at the first Ruku of Surah YOUNUS too; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
IBRAHIM-The Sixth Ruku
35. And when Ibrahim said: my Lord - make this city secure, and save me and my sons from worshipping idols:
36. My Lord - surely they have led many men astray; then whoever follows me, he is surely of me, and whoever disobeys me, You surely are Forgiving, Merciful:
37. O our Lord - surely I have settled a part of my offspring in a valley unproductive of fruit near Your Sacred House, our Lord - that they may keep up prayer; therefore make the hearts of some people yearn towards them and provide them with fruits; haply they may be grateful:
38. O our Lord - surely You know what we hide and what we make public, and nothing in the earth nor anything in heaven is hidden from Allah:
39. All praise is for Allah, Who has given me in old age Ishmael and Isaac; most surely my Lord is the Hearer of prayer:
40. My Lord - make me keep up prayer and from my offspring (too), O our Lord, and accept my prayer:
41. O our Lord - grant me protection and my parents and the believers on the day when the reckoning shall come to pass!
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The Ruku starts with DUA (the plea of Ibrahim-AS to Allah) that He secures Makkah from idols where he had settled his wife HAJIRAH-AS and his son Ishmael-AS; note that before Ibrahim, the polytheists generally took idols to worship and Noah-AS, HOODH-AS and SALEH-AS, all of these Messengers of Allah before him, had guided their nations to leave the worship of idols and surrender totally to Allah, the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note also that the manner of DUA is to ask for the personal safety from wrongs first then ask for the safety of the near ones; he noted that these idols have led many of the people astray which means that people went into extreme wrongs as they worshipped these idols; he stated that only those are truly his descendants who follow his guidance and who disobey that, those are not truly among his descendants; we have learned that Allah does not accept even the son of the Messenger as among his family i.e. among his true descendants who disbelieves in the message of Allah (see the note at the fourth Ruku of Surah HOODH); Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that Ibrahim made this DUA at his most ripe age as we find here that he praised Allah that He provided him with Ishmael-AS and Isaac-AS (see AAYAT-39 here); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the Muslims always have most highly respected Ibrahim-AS but this is most notable that even the disbelievers at Makkah at those times respected Ibrahim most highly; even the Jews and the Christians respect him most highly to this day; so he was (and is) one of the most respectable figures among them all by the blessing of Allah and so the Ruku tells this to the chiefs at Makkah that his respect does ask that they follow his guidance too which was to avoid taking anyone equal to Allah in authority and so they need to leave the worship of idols totally; Al-Hamdu Lillah; here we find that Ibrahim said about those who do not follow him that Allah surely is Forgiving and Merciful to them; note that Jesus-AS had said, “if You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them then only You certainly are the Mighty, the Wise” (MA’EDAH-118 at its last Ruku); so the difference is that Ibrahim-AS was mentioning the disbelievers that would disobey him at the life at the world and there still would remain the chance for them if Allah wills that they come to the fundamental teachings of Islam at their lives but Jesus-AS was presenting his case at AKHIRAT where he mentioned those persons who had most erroneously believed in trinity at their lives at the world; Al-Hamdu Lillah; it is interesting to note that much about Ibrahim and Jesus is common among them though they have the space of about 2000 years between them; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Ibrahim further asked Allah, the true Lord, that He gives his offspring (which he has settled in a valley that is unproductive of fruits near His Sacred House KA’BAH) such TOFIQ that they keep up prayer and that He makes the hearts of some people yearn towards them and that He provides them with fruits so they remain grateful to Him; so he asked Allah for three things and Ishmael too was with him in this DUA as he called Allah “O our Lord” here (at this AAYAT-37 and AAYAT ahead and at the last AAYAT of the Ruku); Al-Hamdu Lillah; he mentioned two of things here that reflect the guidance that Allah had asked the last Prophet PBUH to provide (at AAYAT-31 at the previous Ruku); that guidance was that “they should keep up prayer and spend out of what We have given them secretly and openly before the coming of the day in which there shall be no bartering nor mutual befriending”; so when Ibrahim-AS asked Allah to provide them fruits of all sorts, he also was asking for them to spend on the needy whatever they find as surplus to their needs in the way of Allah as that would tell that they are truly grateful to Allah; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Ibrahim acknowledged as the AAYAT ahead tells that “O our Lord - surely You know what we hide and what we make public, and nothing in the earth nor any thing in heaven is hidden from Allah”; this denotes that whatever good deeds the believers do, Allah knows well and He would certainly not waste their efforts; AAYAT-16 of Surah LUQMAN reports the words of LUQMAN which he had spoken to his son that “O my son! surely if any deed is the very weight of the grain of a mustard-seed, even though it is in rock, or in the heaven or inside the earth, Allah will bring it forth; surely Allah is Knower of subtleties, Aware”; in the last three AAYAAT of the Ruku, we find that Ibrahim praised Allah (as he was one of the most grateful persons to Allah) for His blessing on him that He gave him Ishmael and Isaac at so very old age and he asked for TOFIQ of reading SALAH for himself and for all his good descendants (as SALAH is the thing that brings very near to Allah and keeps away from the unnecessary inclination to the worldly assets); he also asked for mercy from Allah for his own self, for his parents and for all the good Muslims; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that in DUA, a good person is not disallowed to pray Allah in some of it for his own self and in some of it for other good persons with the best intention; note also that a good person with all his efforts in good deeds, would still ask for mercy from Allah for himself at whatever he has done and would still ask for TOFIQ from Him that he remains totally attentive to Him at all times ahead; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
IBRAHIM-The Last Ruku
42. And do not think Allah to be heedless of what the unjust do; He only respites them to the day on which the eyes shall be fixedly open,
43. Hastening forward, their heads upraised, their eyes not reverting to them and their hearts vacant.
44. And warn people of the day when the chastisement shall come to them, then those who were unjust will say: O our Lord; respite us to near term, (so) we shall respond to Your call and follow the apostles. What - did you not swear before (that) there will be no passing away for you!
45. And you dwell in the abodes of those who were unjust to themselves, and it is clear to you how We dealt with them and We have made (them) examples to you.
46. And they have indeed planned their plan, but their plan is with Allah, though their plan was such that the mountains should pass away thereby.
47. Therefore do not think Allah to be failing in His promise to His apostles; surely Allah is Mighty, the Lord of retribution.
48. On the day, when the earth shall be changed into a different earth, and the heavens (as well); and they shall come forth before Allah, the One, the Supreme.
49. And you will see the guilty on that day linked together in chains.
50. Their shirts made of pitch and the fire covering their faces
51. That Allah may requite each soul (according to) what it has earned; surely Allah is swift in reckoning.
52. This is a clear message for mankind in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that Allah only is the One true Authority and that men of understanding may take heed.
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The Ruku is explicit about the Day of Judgment; note that Surah IBRAHIM relates to asking of preference of AKHIRAT over the life at the world and this Ruku especially addresses that; the first couple of AAYAAT depict the disbelievers on that day that had led their lives with the preference of the life at the world over AKHIRAT as they read, “and do not think Allah to be heedless of what the unjust do; He only respites them to the day on which the eyes shall be fixedly open, hastening forward, their heads upraised, their eyes not reverting to them and their hearts vacant”; this denotes what extreme anxiety their tensed position would present at that day that they would lose the awareness of others around and they would move in such manner to the grounds of HASHR (the gathering at the Day of Judgment) as they rise from dead which would seem extremely wild; the four AAYAAT ahead tell them about their manner of living at their lives at the world but the first of them starts by asking the Prophet PBUH to warn them about that day when they would clearly see their extreme punishment coming to them and then they would ask for respite to near term so that they respond positively to this call that warned them about this specific day and so that they follow the apostles without any reservation; the AAYAAT tell explicitly that they used to swear before that there will be no passing away for them by any calamity and they dwelt in the abodes of those who were unjust to themselves and they were well-aware that Allah had punished them severely so Allah had made them examples for all persons; but they did not reflect on the righteous manner of living their lives and even planned such plans that could have shaken the mountains (i.e. that could have provided most unexpected results if that remained unchecked so that they lived-on in accordance to their own manner of living) but all those plans became useless in front of the authority of Allah; so no one should ever think even that Allah would not fulfill His promise to His apostles; surely Allah is Mighty (so He makes the effect of all things better by His direct command according to His will), the Lord of retribution (so He would surely punish all the disbelievers not only at their lives at the world but also at AKHIRAT); He truly has all authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next four AAYAAT tell about some other matters on that specific day and the first one tells that the looks of the earth and even the looks of heavens would be changed; the first five AAYAAT of Surah INSHIQAQ tell about this by words that “when the heaven is split asunder; and obeys its Lord and it must; and when the earth is stretched; and casts forth what is in it and becomes empty; and obeys its Lord and it must”; so there would be some major change at the earth and at heavens for the set-up of that specific day; and every person would come there in the presence of Allah; on that day, those who would be extremely guilty would be heavily chained and their raiment would be of liquid pitch (which is obtained from a tree) that highly attracts the fire towards it; this all would happen because Allah would punish those persons most severely who had lived their lives at extreme disbelief; certainly, Allah would punish all such persons most swiftly according to His fair justice on that specific day i.e. the Day of Judgment; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT of the Surah reads, “this is a clear message for mankind in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that Allah only is the One true Authority and that men of understanding may take heed”; so Allah has told explicitly to the mankind that the Quran is the message of Allah for all of them that they be warned by it not to put themselves into extreme trouble by disbelief and wrong deeds and that they may know that Allah only has all authority to judge them on their lives at the world, at AKHIRAT; they need to take care that they do not prefer the life at the world over AKHIRAT as that is the righteous attitudes for all such men who reflect on the issues of life most sincerely; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
“Tafsiri-Guide to the Quran” by:
Muhammad Saleem Dada
Here our study of IBRAHIM ends; Al-Hamdu Lillah
www.saleemdada.weebly.com
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Surah HIJR
(Consists of 6 Ruku; MK-6)
HIJR-The First Ruku
1. Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of the Book and (of) Quran that makes (things) clear.
2. Often will those who disbelieve wish that they had been Muslims.
3. Leave them that they may eat and enjoy themselves and (that) hope may beguile them, for they will soon know.
4. And never did We destroy a town but it had a term made known.
5. No people can hasten on their doom nor can they postpone (it).
6. And they say: O you to whom the Reminder has been revealed! you are most surely insane:
7. Why do you not bring to us the angels if you are of the truthful ones?
8. We do not send the angels but with truth, and then they would not be respited.
9. Surely We have revealed the Reminder and We will most surely be its guardian.
10. And certainly We sent (apostles) before you among the nations of yore.
11. And there never came an apostle to them but they mocked him.
12. Thus do We make it to enter into the hearts of the guilty;
13. They do not believe in it, and indeed the example of the former people has already passed.
14. And even if We open to them a gateway of heaven, so that they ascend into it all the while,
15. They would certainly say: Only our eyes have been covered over, rather we are an enchanted people.
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Surah HIJR also starts with the MUQATTA’AAT (the 14 disjointed letters that are among the Arabic alphabets that come at the commencement of 29 SURAH in specific combinations); the first AAYAT tells that all AAYAAT of Surah HIJR are at LAHE-MAHFUZ (because all of the Holy Book Quran is present there; see Surah BURUJ-21 & 22) and they certainly also relate to the Quran that clarifies all the fundamental teachings of Islam; note that the most fundamental teachings of Islam are TAUHID (Allah only is the Creator of all the creation and He always has all His attributes and He only is the true Lord), RISALAT (Allah sent His Messengers to the world to provide the Guidance to the right path and Muhammad PBUH is the last of His Messengers) and AKHIRAT (Allah would judge all peoples of the world at the Day of Judgment); Al-Hamdu Lillah; Surah HIJR gives the message in most clear terms that Allah has not only provided the fundamental teachings of Islam most explicitly but He also has given security to them so that nobody is able to violate that message or/and is able to disregard Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah, in such manner that the true guidance is blurred for the seeker of the Truth as Allah had told Adam that He would present His message time & again to all peoples of the world as the life at the world remains an examination for all peoples of the world; now, the Quran remains the only worthy guide (with its basic explanation for practice at the SUNNAH) to the mankind (and even to the Jinn) for their true guidance as there would never come any more of the true guidance because Allah has completed that in it in the most explicit manner; the second & third AAYAAT here state that the disbelievers in the fundamental teachings of Islam would wish again and again at HASHR that only if they had been Muslims; so leave them on their obsession with the life at the world that they eat-on the variety of foods they could get their hands on and that they get its benefits and that they make efforts for it only; those efforts would keep them involved in such hopes that they become one of the most wealthy persons around them or they achieve prominence among the persons around them by competition at the world or they achieve such status where their worldly directions receive utmost attention to the persons around them; Surah HADID says, “know that this world's life is only sport (at infancy) and play (at childhood) and gaiety (at youth) and boasting among yourselves (at adulthood), and a vying in the multiplication of wealth and children (at the middle-age), like the rain, whose causing the vegetation to grow, pleases the husbandmen, then it withers away so that you will see it become yellow, then it becomes dried up and broken down (so the person comes to his death); and in the hereafter is a severe chastisement (for the evil persons) and forgiveness from Allah and His pleasure (for the good persons); and this world's life is naught but means of deception” (Surah HADID-20); so there are five stages at the life at the world in which the person would either live on with obsession of that life or he would either live on upon the right path as he has the liability to do so and then at the Day of HASHR, the result would be totally in accordance to the manner by which each of the persons lived-on his life at the world; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-4 and AAYAT-5 say; “and never did We destroy a town but it had a term made known; no people can hasten on their doom nor can they postpone (it)”; the disbelievers at Makkah demanded the punishment upon them as they were not prepared to accept Islam so these AAYAAT told them that it is true that when some people reject the fundamental teachings of Islam though they receive it in the clearest manner then Allah brings the punishment on them; but Allah sets time to it and it takes hold of them on that appointed time only so there is no earliness to it and no delay when that time arrives; the disbelievers at Makkah also said about Muhammad PBUH that he has been touched by insanity (i.e. they thought that he has fallen into some play of nerves that asks him to take himself as the Messenger of Allah; may Allah save all good persons from such erroneous notions about Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah); they opined that if he was the Messenger of Allah then he should bring angels to them to endorse the message he is providing to them (i.e. they thought that they also are liable to see the angel that provides him the message of Allah if he is speaking the truth); AAYAT-8 answers them that when Allah sends angels specifically to the world to some people, that is only to fulfill some special assignment that He has given to them that would prove clearly that Allah only has the true authority; they are sent to put the specific chastisement on some people who had openly challenged the message of Allah and we have learnt the event that related their descent at the people of Lot-AS to bring their chastisement upon them at the seventh Ruku of Surah HOODH (and it would come ahead at this Surah i.e. HIJR too); Al-Hamdu Lillah; and Allah has chosen Muhammad PBUH as His Messenger and He has provided him His message by the angel Gabriel-AS (that is the Guidance to the right path) and he would not come at the view of other persons; AAYAT-9 of Surah HIJR is most notable that gives the message that Allah would totally safeguard the message that He has provided to Muhammad PBUH (i.e. the Holy Book Quran); it is named as AD-DHIKR (the Reminder) here and this needs some detail; please note that this name tells us that everyone has the sense of recognition for the Truth (named FITHRAT) due to the covenant taken from each and every person before the life at the world, in the world of Spirits and that sense is addressed by the Holy Book Quran when it presents the fundamental teachings of Islam so in this meaning, it actually is the Reminder to that covenant that is recognized by the Man inside; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Surah AARAAF-172 reads, “and when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants, and made them bear witness against their own souls -am I not your Lord?; -they said -yes -we bear witness; lest you should say on the day of resurrection that surely we were heedless of this”; so this is the covenant that Allah has taken from each and every person before his/her life at the world and he/she needs the highest of attention to it; Al-Hamdu Lillah; as no more of the Messengers of Allah would come at the world because the Prophet Muhammad PBUH was the last of Messengers, the Message of Allah exists written with us all in the form of the Holy Book Quran and Allah has taken the responsibility for its protection upon Himself so that His Word (that He gave to Adam) is not violated that he would keep the Truth always clear for all to accept or to reject so no injustice takes place when He judges all persons at the time of HASHR; everything that was related to the protection of its text and its meaning was given protection; there were such people who wrote it beautifully with utmost care at all times and places even before the printing manner for it was available by the will of Allah and there stood people namely HUFFAZ from the very time of its descent that still stand for it by the will of Allah so these HUFFAZ remembered it amazingly word by word by heart; Ahadith, that reported the SUNNAH of the Last Prophet Muhammad PBUH and explained the Holy Book Quran most clearly, remained most secure at the good books that the compilers of Ahadith compiled for them (that the students of Islam learn beautifully at different Islamic schools) by the will of Allah so that the clarification of it remains available at all times and places; its language Arabic still is very much active language of the world by the will of Allah and in fact, the Holy Book Quran receives, and has always received, the most-high value in the Arabic literature; note also that Allah protected the Muslims from the enemy when they had put the Holy Book Quran into practice individually and collectively with fervor and this tells in most clear terms that whoever and whatever relates to it, Allah would certainly provide security for all such as He has taken the provision of the security of the Quran as His responsibility; this also is undeniable fact (which also expresses its security that Allah has provided to it) that the disbelievers have always remained unable to imitate the Quran as it has amazing integrity not only in its meanings but also in its words; so the AAYAT implies that there is no need to take anything else but the Quran for the Guidance to the right path by the assistance of the SUNNAH and that tells most clearly that Muhammad PBUH was and is the last of Messengers of Allah to all peoples of the world, that come after him at any of times and at any of places in the world to live-on their lives; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next four AAYAAT tell that Allah had sent many of His Messengers before him in all different peoples that had scattered upon all over the land; but whenever any of Messengers of Allah came to any of those peoples, they mocked him in different ways and so Allah made their inclination to mock the true guidance as common pattern of their response to the Messengers; so these disbelievers too would not generally believe in the true guidance that the Quran provides as such has been the manner of the previous peoples that have passed (and that manner has affected these disbelievers which ultimately led many of those previous disbelievers to elimination); these disbelievers have reached such height of disbelief that even if Allah opens one of the gateways to the heaven just above and they keep mounting to its space, they would say unashamedly that their eyes are intoxicated, rather they have become enchanted; this tells that they are not ready to accept Islam even if they get any of the most valid reasons for its acceptance because they would give an aspect of doubt to such valid reasons even, and then they would continue on with their rejection of Islam; these last AAYAAT of the Ruku tell that if they do intend to believe in Islam, they would do it by the good teachings that Muhammad PBUH provides to them and if they ask to believe in Islam by some observation of their own, they actually indicate that they have no intention to believe; they need to leave all arrogance and surrender unconditionally to Allah as He only has all the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
HIJR-The Second Ruku
16. And certainly We have made strongholds (mansions of heavenly bodies) in the heaven and We have made it fair-seeming to the beholders.
17. And We guard it against every accursed Satan,
18. But he who steals a hearing, so there follows him a visible flame.
19. And the earth-- We have spread it forth and made in it firm mountains and caused to grow in it of every suitable thing.
20. And We have made in it means of subsistence for you and for him for whom you are not the suppliers.
21. And there is not a thing but with Us are the treasures of it, and We do not send it down but in a known measure.
22. And We send the winds fertilizing, then send down water from the sky above and then give it to you to drink; and it is not you who are the holders of the store thereof.
23. And most surely We bring to life and cause to die and We are the heirs.
24. And certainly We know those of you who have gone before and We certainly know those who shall come later.
25. And surely your Lord will gather them together; surely He is Wise, Knowing.
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The first three AAYAAT of this Ruku tell about many of mansions of heavenly bodies at the space as seen from the earth that Allah has beautified; that space has places in them (that are near to earth) that the angels guard so that the Jinn do not get access there and hear their conversation about some event to occur at the near future from which the Jinn would deduct some important happening to occur in general somewhere at earth; note that Allah created the Jinn from the fire mainly as He created the Man from the black mud that ultimately transformed to the sounding clay; they are among the three of creation that possess the awareness of the self; these three are Angels, Jinn and the Man and Allah has given the last two among them the free-will to apply in practice to gain the pleasure of Allah by that; Al-Hamdu Lillah; there are good and bad in Jinn just like human beings (though bad ones are much more in Jinn that are also called as SHAYATIN) and they possess the physical strength much more than human beings; they do not attack men even when they are much stronger as angels are guarding the people by the command of Allah who are more powerful even in the physical strength than Jinn and moreover, men are given much more spiritual power than them indeed (see also the note on the fourth Ruku of Surah BAQARAH); however, if the Jinn become bold enough to approach the angels at the sky near the earth (to which they have access) and steal some of their conversation to get some idea of something to happen somewhere at the near future then as they run back with it to the earth, a flame follows them on their way back to eliminate them at the space before they return to earth; about the flame that manifests at the space, please note the issue as defined today that when a meteoroid enters the atmosphere of the earth at a speed in excess of 20 km/s, the heating due to the speed of that object towards the earth (because of its kinetic energy), produces the flame of light as it glows and leaves the trail of glowing particles at its passage; it is then commonly referred to as the "shooting star" (and if it collides with the ground, it is meteorite); note also that when many of meteoroids appear nearly at the same time and nearly at the same space in the sky, it is called the meteor-shower and this occurs even at the day-time; due to this phenomenon, the comment on these AAYAAT needs much insight yet I, MSD, insha-Allah would present their meaning without discard of the ancient commentaries upon it, with total attention towards Allah, the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the notable points at this matter is that Allah has beautified the sky by stars at all places as seen from the earth at the night and it extremely pleases the sight of the onlooker; the second point is that Allah has set angels at the guard at posts at the sky near to earth (so the pronoun denotes “SAMAA” i.e. the sky above at AAYAT-17 as in the previous AAYAT where it also denotes the sky above; however, AAYAT-17 implies the space near to earth) so that the evil Jinn do not approach the places therein and steal any of the conversation of angels that discloses some event of the near future to happen somewhere at the earth; the third point then is that the angels talk about some events to come (which they are not prohibited to talk about) as they know them because Allah has given that awareness to them; the fourth point is that the evil Jinn (i.e. Satan) that defy the commands of Allah, have the power to approach them, see them and hear them; the fifth point is then that they were disallowed their easy approach to angels since the most ancient times (as Surah JINN tells explicitly and we would see that very soon at our discussion ahead insha-Allah; note that even then they were disallowed any access to far-off distance i.e. Allah had bound them to remain much inside the solar system at their flight at space); the sixth point is that even if after the curtailment of their approach to angels, they do come near to their sites gathering their courage with boldness and then manage to steal some of their speech, the flame of the meteoroid follows them and destroys them at space; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the seventh point is that the AAYAT tells about the evil Jinn that they are accursed as they are burnt by the flames that get them; the eighth point is that the flaming meteors are at the space all the time falling towards earth so this means that the flame captures whatever is at its passage and the AAYAT implies that it happens as the fact of the matter that they follow the Jinn running away to earth and it is not that they specifically target the Jinn only like the guided missiles (though there is some probability that they have inclination to them as the fire they manifest might have attraction to the fire that the Jinn have in their creation); keeping these points in view, the feasible interpretation of these AAYAAT is much possible insha-Allah; note that Surah JINN tells about the group of Jinn which had heard the beautiful AAYAAT of the Quran and there we find that they mentioned in their comments on what they heard, “and that we sought to reach heaven (SAMAA i.e. the sky above near to earth), but we found it filled with strong guards and flaming stars; and that we used to sit in some of the sitting-places thereof to steal a hearing, but he who would listen now would find a flame lying in wait for him (as he runs back to earth)” (JINN-8 & 9); this explains the fifth point that there was some period of time at the ancient times before the last Prophet Muhammad PBUH when the Jinn used to go to the sky near to earth with not much hardship and listen to the speech of the angels but then, the situation changed and Allah commanded the angels for more alertness at guard and the flames then multiplied highly in quantity; it certainly is not possible to approximate the period of time for it yet it might fall between 1000 BC (from whence the quantity of flames began to rise) and then it reached its height at the times of Muhammad PBUH; note that it is reported at some ancient writing (though this is not much authentic) that one of the good Muslims saw one of the Jinn alone at SALAH after much time of passing-away of the Prophet PBUH and he was able to communicate with that Jinn after that Jinn had finished his SALAH who told him that he was one of those Jinn that were in that group which had heard Muhammad PBUH reciting the Quran and he also told him that before him, he had seen Jesus Christ-AS too (reported at SIFATUS-SAFWAH by Ibne-JAUZI); now, keeping these points in view, the AAYAAT at the beginning of Ruku say, “and certainly We have made BURUJ (mansions of heavenly bodies) in the heaven (the sky above as seen from earth) and We have made it beautiful to the onlookers; and We guard it against every accursed Satan (by the angels at posts at the sky near to earth so that the evil Jinn i.e. the Satan are unable to hear any significant event relating to future); but he who steals a hearing (from the conversation of angels at posts), so there follows him a visible flame (of meteoroids as he runs back to earth because the meteoroids are always falling towards the earth and they have increased much from the ancient times that mostly eliminate him at space)”; see also Surah SAAFFAAT-6 to 10 which also present the matter in the same manner as we find at these AAYAAT here where AAYAT-6 tells clearly that the sky related to this matter is the sky near to earth and the basic adornment of this sky is by KAWAKIB (that presumably indicates the planets of the solar system); so this is the feasible interpretation for these AAYAAT at HIJR that the study brings at fore but the last of statements to this all is that most certainly, Allah knows better; Al-Hamdu Lillah; all must always remember this fact that we read the Quran for the Guidance to the right path because the only aim of life, that the Man has (like all other creation of Allah), is to get the pleasure of Allah by total surrender to Him and besides this, there is no other aim of life (see Surah ZAARIYAAT-56) and so whatever other things of knowledge that come to us by the Quran, they come as bonus to us so that we see the integrity at all things at the universe that truly recognizes Allah as the Creator of all things with all authority and that also truly realizes that He only is the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note here that though Surah BURUJ mentions BURUJ at it first AAYAT (where Allah has taken the oath of them) yet Surah FURQAN explicitly mentions them at AAYAT-61 which says, “Blessed is He Who made BURUJ (mansions of heavenly bodies) in the heaven and made therein the lamp (i.e. the sun) and the shining moon”; note also that SAMAA (i.e. the heaven in singular) comes in the meaning of the sky above (which refers to the sky above as seen from earth or the sky above that is near to earth that includes even the space from where the rain descends); note also that at AAYAT-12 at Surah HA-MEEM AS-SAJDAH, it comes by the meaning of each of skies that are above where it reads, “then He ordained them seven heavens in two days and inspired in each heaven (SAMAA) its mandate; and We decked the nether heaven (SAMAA related to earth) with lighted bodies, and rendered it inviolable; that is the decree of the Mighty, the Knower”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next couple of AAYAAT here at HIJR that are 19 & 20 tell about the earth, “and the earth-- We have spread it forth and made in it firm mountains and caused to grow in it of every suitable thing (in due balance); and We have made in it means of subsistence for you and for him for whom you are not the suppliers”; these AAYAT tell clearly what many other of AAYAAT in the Quran have also told explicitly with the expression of the fact that He has especially assigned the sun and the moon to work for the necessary safety of the mankind; we have seen that the last three AAYAAT of the fifth Ruku at Surah IBRAHIM tell us, “Allah is He Who created the heavens and the earth and sent down water from the clouds, then brought forth with it fruits as sustenance for you, and He has made the ships subservient to you, that they might run their course in the sea by His command, and He has made the rivers subservient to you; and He has made subservient to you the sun and the moon pursuing their courses, and He has made subservient to you the night and the day; and He gives you of all that you ask Him (i.e. whatever your sustenance needs); and if you count Allah's favors, you will not be able to number them; most surely (most of) the mankind is very unjust, very ungrateful” (Surah IBRAHIM-32, 33 & 34); note that the words “and caused everything to grow in it as MAUZUN (i.e. in due balance)” indicates that Allah has measured every crops that come by necessity for the human beings at earth and they also remain complementary to the earth itself as the word MAUZUN is related not only to crops but also to spreading forth of the earth and to making of mountains too; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Allah has provided ease at the earth for all of the mankind to earn their sustenance with moderate efforts when they coordinate to each other with care and not only for them but He has provided sustenance to all of His creation that is at waters, at earth or/and fly at above these areas (i.e. birds) with efforts that they are able to bear; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-21 gives some detail for the word MAUZUN as it reads, “And there is not a thing but with Us are the treasures of it, and We do not send it down but in a known measure”; Allah provides things necessary for the life at the earth from His treasures according to the requirement of that examination which He takes of the mankind and the water-cycle is an important feature to observe this measure; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-22 indicates the water cycle by the statement that “and We send the winds fertilizing, then send down water from the sky above and then give it to you to drink; and it is not you who are the holders of the store thereof”; note that the clouds that wander on slowly between the earth and the heaven (at the nearest part of it to the earth), rise due to the condensation of water particles inside and these clouds produce steady rain or snow and they often are referred to as nimbostratus clouds; they store much of waters and the huge mountains store that too at their peaks and the wells too where that flows beneath the surface; the winds steer the clouds to places where they release the waters and they also transfer pollen grains of plants in the manner that they fertilize (i.e. pollination) and come to use for the mankind and other of creation of Allah; note that the rain-water is the most pure water to drink and Surah MURSALAAT points this out, “have We not made the earth to draw together to itself, the living and the dead, and made therein lofty mountains, and given you to drink of sweet water?” (MURSALAAT-25, 26 & 27); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last three AAYAAT of this Ruku at HIJR tell that Allah would ultimately raise all of the mankind and all of the Jinn from dead where they would see their respective accounts of deeds that they had done at the world and they would get their respective results on that basis; these three AAYAAT that are 23, 24 & 25 read, “and most surely We bring (every person) to life and cause to die and We are the heirs; and certainly We know (you all and) those of you who have gone before (i.e. all those who are dead at this time when this AAYAT descends) and We certainly know those who shall come later (in time to the world); and surely your Lord will gather them together (at the grounds of HASHR); surely He is Wise (so your efforts would affect the destiny of the world only as He wills for it), Knowing (so nothing is out of His knowledge though it is of past or present or future)”; most certainly, Allah only has all the true authority, Al-Hamdu Lillah.
HIJR-The Third Ruku
26. And certainly We created the Man by clay that gives forth sound, from black mud that had altered.
27. And the jinn We created before, of intensely hot fire.
28. And when your Lord said to the angels: Surely I am going to create a mortal by clay that gives forth sound, from black mud that had altered.
29. So when I have made him complete and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down making obeisance to him.
30. So the angels made obeisance, all of them together,
31. But IBLIS (did it not); he refused to be with those who made obeisance.
32. He said: O IBLIS -what excuse have you that you are not with those who make obeisance?
33. He said: I am not such that I should make obeisance to a mortal whom Thou hast created of by clay that gives forth sound, from black mud that had altered.
34. He said: Then get out of it, for surely you are driven away:
35. And surely on you is curse until the Day of Judgment.
36. He said: My Lord -then respite me till the time when they are raised.
37. He said: So surely you are of the respited ones
38. Till the period of the time made known.
39. He said: My Lord -because Thou hast made life evil to me, I will certainly make (evil) fair-seeming to them on earth, and I will certainly cause them all to deviate
40. Except Thy servants from among them, the devoted ones.
41. He said: This is the right way with Me:
42. Surely, as regards My servants, you have no authority, over them except those who follow you of deviators.
43. And surely Hell is the promised place of them all:
44. It has seven gates; for every gate there shall be a separate party of them.
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This Ruku provides the narration of Adam and IBLIS for the third time that we have read previously at Surah BAQARAH and Surah AARAAF (please read the supplementary note at AAYAT-11 at the second Ruku of Surah AARAAF to study this event in some detail); here the notable point which the Ruku explicitly provides, is that Allah mentions the matter by which He created Adam that relates to his physique but He commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam only after He had blown the spirit unto him by His blessed command; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the supplementary note at the second Ruku of AARAAF suffices for the comments on this Ruku but I, MSD, would insha-Allah add some complementary remarks to that note as presented by this Ruku; note for the first four AAYAAT here that AL-INSAAN (the Man) means the first of mankind whom Allah created (i.e. Adam-AS) from sounding clay that had come forth by the black mud altered (as massive period of time passed on it); JAANN at the second AAYAT means the first of Jinn (that was created many centuries before Adam) whom Allah created by such fire that had extreme latent heat in it; the third AAYAT has the word BASHAR (the mortal i.e. mainly the physical form of human); note that the difference between INSAAN and BASHAR is that the former term includes also the spirit but the latter presents its body-form where there is not much concern to the spirit he has in him; note that Allah commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam (to give him utmost respect) after He refines his physique and after that, He blows His spirit unto him and not before; note also that Allah commanded them for this prostration to provide respect to Adam and not for his worship as that only is for Allah, the true Lord; further, note also that Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah, had prohibited any such gesture even for the respect of someone and I, MSD, had noted this also at the comment on AAYAT-100 at the eleventh Ruku of Surah YOUSUF that “from the times of Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah, the practical set-up of Islam does not allow to fall prostrate to any of the creation of Allah for any reason whatsoever though at the times of Yousuf-AS, such prostration to show utmost regards to someone (without taking him equal in authority to Allah) was not prohibited”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; here, Allah mentions the material that He put to use in the creation of Adam as the AAYAT reads, “and certainly We created the Man by clay that gives forth sound, from black mud that had altered”; this was presumably the last position of the material for his creation of BASHAR after which Allah refined his physique and then blew His spirit unto him; note that the spirit is something inside that totally recognizes Allah as His Creator who always has all His attributes and realizes that He only is the true Lord of all creation; so the Man with his spirit, has all the connection to Him with all his humane feelings inside; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the material that Allah put to use was TURAB (mentioned at AALE-IMRAN-59 which was the pure sand that He took by His will;) then He changed it to TEEN (mentioned at AN’AAM-2 which was the muddy clay that took place by His will as He mixed TURAB with pure water); then He changed it to HAMA-EM-MASNUN (mentioned here at HIJR-26 which was the black mud that had altered in shape by the change of TEEN by His will with extreme period of time); then at the last stage, He changed the material by His will to SALSAAL (mentioned also at HIJR-26 which is the sounding clay; at Surah RAHMAN-14, it is defined as the sounding clay that is refined for pottery); note here that all these mention the stages of his material in use that were pure sand, muddy clay, extreme black mud that had taken place by alteration of the muddy clay and finally the sounding refined clay by which Allah created Adam-AS by His will; so these are not the stages of the man during his creation but the material of his creation had passed through such stages whereas each stage had most extreme period of time by the will of Allah; this is how the AAYAAT at places present it explicitly but after all said, the last thing to mention is that most certainly, Allah knows better; these four AAYAAT read, “and certainly We created the Man by clay that gives forth sound (i.e. the final form of the material for his physique which had resulted) from black mud that had altered; and the jinn We created before, of intensely hot fire; and when your Lord said to the angels -surely I am going to create a mortal by clay that gives forth sound, from black mud that had altered; so when I have made him complete (i.e. refined him in his parts) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down (at that time only for his utmost respect) making obeisance to him”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next four AAYAAT read, “so the angels made obeisance, all of them together; but IBLIS (did it not); he refused to be with those who made obeisance; Allah said -O IBLIS -what excuse have you that you are not with those who make obeisance?; he said -I am not such that I should make obeisance to a mortal whom Thou hast created of by clay that gives forth sound, from black mud that had altered”; these AAYAAT tell that when Allah ordered the angels to give regards to Adam by prostration in front of him, they fell in prostration to fulfill the order given as they never disobey Allah; but there was a Jinn among them (as Surah KAHF tells explicitly) who did not obey this order; he was allowed to be in angels due to his obedience and worship of Allah but at this time, when with angels he also was included in this command, he showed extreme pride and refused to obey; Allah asked him why he did not obey (so Allah gave him the chance so that he may ask for mercy & obey); in reply, IBLIS said that he was better as Allah had created him by fire and Adam, Allah had created by the sounding clay resulting from the black mud; this was the reason he gave and refused to obey; AAYAAT ahead till the last of Ruku tell about the punishment Allah gave him then and about his reaction to it; taking the comments from the supplementary note at AAYAT-11 of AARAAF, note that the AAYAAT here tell that Allah canceled the permission He had given to him to stay among the angels and He put His wrath upon him and gave the verdict on him for JAHANNUM (the hell-fire); hearing that verdict, IBLIS the Satan, got very angry and finding himself totally incapable of challenging Allah, the true Lord, he turned his anger towards Adam (the cause for his extreme insult there) and for his degraded position, for which he himself was to be blamed, he became the sworn enemy of the Man; this tells us an important thing that when the satanic person does wrong by his own doing, he puts the blame on someone else and tries to take his revenge due to his psyche of “I” and “me” from that person when that person seems to him lesser in power than him; he asked for the extension in time of his life that it may become very long so that he can misguide the people and make them also get the same verdict which he had received for his own self; however, Allah did not allow him to live at the life at the world up-to the day of the Resurrection as he had asked but allowed him his life up-to the day of the appointed time as AAYAT-38 presents the matter; this provides the hope that he would die much before the last day of the world insha-Allah; at that time, he had said that he would try to take all of the mankind that Allah had created for His worship only, to the hell-fire except for those exceptional persons that are most committed to the commands of Allah; he knew that they have physical needs and if he guides them to physical pleasures at height, he would be able to pursue them towards their base desires (to remain obsessed in seeking the pleasures of the life at the world mostly with the wishful thinking that they already have achieved salvation at the Day of Judgment because they believe in such persons that would provide them their salvation there); though Allah gave him extension in time of his life yet He also told him that it is not that he would take all of them to his satanic manners but the fact of the matter is this that all would remain committed to Allah by ultimately asking Allah for His mercy on their wrongs (as the spirit inside the Man realizes the Truth clearly so most surely, he will not be able to misguide them to deviate truly from the way of Allah) but those who incline by his continuous pursuance to wrongs and then they deviate willfully to take his way without asking Allah for His mercy, they all will go with him in the hell-fire; the last AAYAT of the Ruku warns that the hell-fire has seven gates and for every gate there shall be a separate vast group of the disbelievers in the Truth according to the level of evil that they have put themselves upon; note that Surah NISAA states, “O you who believe - do not take the disbelievers for friends leaving away the believers; do you desire that you should give to Allah a manifest proof against yourselves?; surely the hypocrites are in the lowest stage of the fire and you shall not find a helper for them; except those who repent and amend and hold fast to Allah and are sincere in their religion to Allah, these are with the believers, and Allah will grant the believers a mighty reward; why should Allah chastise you if you are grateful and believe?; and Allah is the Multiplier of rewards; Knowing” (NISAA-144 to 147); certainly, Allah only has all the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
HIJR-The Fourth Ruku
45. Surely those who guard (against evil) shall be in the midst of gardens and fountains:
46. Enter them in peace, secure.
47. And We will root out whatever of rancor is in their breasts-- (they shall be) as brethren, on raised couches, face to face.
48. Toil shall not afflict them in it, nor shall they be ever ejected from it.
49. Inform My servants that I am the Forgiving, the Merciful,
50. And that My punishment-- that is the painful punishment.
51. And inform them of the guests of Ibrahim:
52. When they entered upon him, they said, Peace. He said: Surely we are afraid of you.
53. They said: Be not afraid, surely we give you the good news of a boy, possessing knowledge.
54. He said: Do you give me good news (of a son) when old age has come upon me? -- Of what then do you give me good news!
55. They said: We give you good news with truth, therefore be not of the despairing.
56. He said: And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord but the erring ones?
57. He said: What is your business then, O apostles?
58. They said: Surely we are sent towards a guilty people,
59. Except Lot's followers: We will most surely deliver them all,
60. Except his wife; We ordained that she shall surely be of those who remain behind.
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The six AAYAAT at the start of the Ruku depict the pleasant life of those persons who had lived with TAQWA at the world that they would be at JANNAAT beneath which flow the beautiful streams; they would enter that wonderful place (the beautiful eternal gardens) in total peace without any fear; they would enjoy their sittings there at raised couches where they would talk pleasantly with each other without any grudge in their hearts as Allah would cleanse their hearts about each other if there were any complaints between them; so it is possible that the persons, who enter those beautiful eternal gardens, have some complaints to each other (due to their tense relations at the life at the world) yet that would not stay there and they would speak pleasantly face to face with each other; so they would have no troubles of any sort there from each other nor would they ever be ejected from those beautiful eternal gardens as Allah would care most highly for them; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note about TAQWA that it means the attitude of the heart that comes by the true Belief upon Allah with both fear and hope towards Him when the person has totally thrown away all the worldly base desires and so that leads him to the most righteous deeds; all persons need to remember the event that relates to Adam-AS (and we have just read it in the previous Ruku for the third time) that when Allah sent him to the world, He told him that those among his descendants would get JANNAH, their actual dwelling place, who keep to righteousness in their belief and deeds but those who disbelieve and reject the true guidance, they would be put into the hell-fire; AAYAAT-49 & 50 ask Muhammad PBUH to inform all of mankind that Allah is Most Forgiving of their sins when they repent and He is Most Merciful to provide them all ease at the world and at AKHIRAT; but then they need to remember this too that His punishment too which He gives to wrong-doers, is most painful; so all the Muslims must have such hope to Allah that He would keep them safe from the Satan at all times and at all places as He cares for all persons even without their asking; however, with that, all Muslims must have fear of Allah too that they do not get His displeasure by their sins becoming so sinful that they lose the chance to regain JANNAH (singular of JANNAAT); Al-Hamdu Lillah; Surah TOOR also notes the lives of the virtuous persons at JANNAAT at its first Ruku from AAYAT-17 to its last AAYAT (that is AAYAT-28) where we learn about the living manner of the true Muslims at AKHIRAT (as we find here at HIJR) that they would be at JANNAAT (the beautiful eternal gardens of paradise) and would be enjoying the happiness there; they would be totally happy there because of the blessing of Allah for them and because Allah saved them from the punishment of the hell-fire; they would be allowed to eat and drink with all enjoyment there as they sit in couches that are set in rows because they had done the righteous deeds with the true belief; and Allah would wed them to HOORS (the most beautiful women at JANNAAT) who would have the most lovely wide eyes; note about HOORS that these fairest of women would be the dwellers of JANNAAT who would be included in the blessing for the virtuous men who achieve success at AKHIRAT and those righteous women too who had spent their lives in the most virtuous manner at the world, would enter JANNAAT where they would be transformed to most beautiful HOORS; these all good women would have purity in every manner and the women among them who receive it after their success at AKHIRAT, they would become companions to their respective husbands there so if the husband of a woman there is at the upper level, she would be raised to that level and if a woman is at the upper level there, her husband would be raised to that level so that they live-on together; note that the virtuous men would have more than one wife there but the virtuous women would remain attached to their respective husbands there; if the husband of any virtuous woman does not get his entry there, she would be married to one of the virtuous men who has received his placement there; this is due to the respective inclinations of both and Islam takes care to it not only for the life at the world here but also for the true life at AKHIRAT; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Allah would provide them the most wonderful fruits and the most fine meat there extensively as they desire; they would playfully challenge each other there by grabbing the cup of wine, but there would not be any foul talks in that nor any cause of sin; note that consumption of the meat of birds (that have wings to fly with ease) at the world is not appreciable in Islam and note also that wines are totally disallowed at the world yet there at JANNAAT, Allah would provide that to them and that would be totally pure for all persons there as blessed foods and blessed drinks; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAAT of the Ruku provide the event related to Abraham-AS when the angels came to him first when they were on the way to destroy the nation of Lot-AS by the command of Allah; note that I, MSD, have provided the necessary comments about this event at the supplementary note at AAYAT-69 that is in the seventh Ruku of Surah HOODH so please read that for the necessary comments on this Ruku of Surah HIJR that we study; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
HIJR-The Fifth Ruku
61. So when the apostles came to Lot's followers,
62. He said: Surely you are an unknown people.
63. They said: Nay, we have come to you with that about which they disputed.
64. And we have come to you with the truth, and we are most surely truthful.
65. Therefore go forth with your followers in a part of the night and yourself follow their rear, and let not any one of you turn round, and go forth whither you are commanded.
66. And We revealed to him this decree, that the roots of these shall be cut off in the morning.
67. And the people of the town came rejoicing.
68. He said: Surely these are my guests, therefore do not disgrace me,
69. And guard against (the punishment of) Allah and do not put me to shame.
70. They said: Have we not forbidden you from (other) people?
71. He said: These are my daughters, if you will do (aught).
72. By your life! they were blindly wandering on in their intoxication.
73. So the rumbling overtook them (while) entering upon the time of sunrise;
74. Thus did We turn it upside down, and rained down upon them stones of what had been decreed.
75. Surely in this are signs for those who examine.
76. And surely it is on a road that still abides.
77. Most surely there is a sign in this for the believers.
78. And the dwellers of the thicket also were most surely unjust.
79. So We inflicted retribution on them, and they both are, indeed, on an open road pursued.
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The Ruku states that the angels came to Lot’s residence and as he met them, he saw that they were outsiders who did not belong to the area so he addressed them that they were strangers to the place; knowing the nation he was in, he worried about their welfare but they put him at peace by telling him clearly that they were angels who had come to put severe punishment on the nation he was in; that punishment is certain to fall upon them and they certainly are most truthful to him about that; note that those people used to live at Sodom and Gomorrah at south of the dead sea and they were extremely filthy persons who used to commit the heinous sin of sodomy among the men; Lot actually did not belong to that nation but Allah sent him as His Messenger to them and he tried his best to reform them of this heinous sin but to no avail; in fact, they intended to expel him from their city just because he challenged their filth; the angels told him to leave the area at some time of the night and he would move on behind of them to see that all of his followers move on towards the destination to which they had to go (i.e. Syria); note that it is mentioned that there were only his daughters with him that left the area and even his wife remained among that nation which Allah punished most severely; however, before the angels introduced themselves to Lot-AS and directed his action ahead to safety, those sinful people came to his residence rejoicing upon the news that there were some handsome visitors at the residence of Lot; he defended them the best he could by saying that these are his guests so they should not disgrace him among his guests and they should fear Allah and should not belittle him; but those people were so given to their filthy desire that they answered him not to become hindrance to them in this matter; Allah has taken here the oath of the life of Muhammad PBUH which also is one of His blessings upon him and it also indicates to him that he would go on with his task of spreading Islam even when the response of some wrong persons is most adverse to it; note that Lot-AS had clearly indicated to them that Allah had provided women to them (he mentioned them as his daughters because the Messenger of Allah is the spiritual father to the nation) whom they would rightfully take as their wives and fulfill their desire in the righteous manner; then as the angels assured him that they are unable to harm them in any manner and provided him the necessary direction to safety, he was calm and certainly grateful to Allah; then Allah told him that they would be finished as the dawn draws upon them and AAYAT-74 says, “thus did We turn it upside down, and rained down upon them stones of what had been decreed”; AAYAAT ahead tell that therein verily are many of signs for those who may read the signs (in history) that would lead towards the mending of their manners because it surely is at such roads near to which people still pass at their travels; even the believing Muslims would praise Allah as they see by history that He keeps the ultimate safety for the righteous persons only; the last couple of AAYAAT of the Ruku read, “and the dwellers of the thicket (i.e. the people of SHOAIB-AS) also were most surely unjust; so We inflicted retribution on them, and they both (the place of the people of Lot-AS and the place of the people of SHOAIB-AS) are, indeed, on an open road pursued”; note that SHOAIB was sent to such people too who lived at woods and because of their disbelief to his teachings of Islam, they were destroyed by the cloud that came as canopy to their area and caused fire there that burnt them to death (read also the tenth Ruku of Surah SHUA’RAA); certainly, Allah only is the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
HIJR-The Last Ruku
80. And the dwellers of the Rock certainly rejected the apostles;
81. And We gave them Our AAYAAT, but they turned aside from them;
82. And they hewed houses in the mountains in security.
83. So the rumbling overtook them in the morning;
84. And what they earned did not avail them.
85. And We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them but in truth; and the hour is most surely coming, so turn away with kindly forgiveness.
86. Surely your Lord is the Creator of all things, the Knowing.
87. And certainly We have given you seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the grand Quran.
88. Do not strain your eyes after what We have given certain classes of them to enjoy, and do not grieve for them, and make yourself gentle to the believers.
89. And say: Surely I am the plain warner.
90. Like as We sent down on the dividers,
91. Those were who made the Quran into shreds.
92. So, by your Lord, We would most certainly question them all,
93. As to what they did.
94. Therefore declare openly what you are bidden and turn aside from the polytheists.
95. Surely We will suffice you against the scoffers
96. Those are who have set up another god with Allah; so they shall soon know.
97. And surely We know that your breast straitens at what they say;
98. Therefore celebrate the praise of your Lord, and be of those who make obeisance.
99. And serve your Lord until there comes to you that which is certain.
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The last Ruku begins with the narration of the dwellers of the Rock (i.e. the people of SALEH-AS) who were destroyed by an earthquake because of their disbelief in the fundamental teachings of Islam; the previous Ruku told about the people of Lot-AS (who was the Messenger of Allah at the times of Abraham-AS) and about the people of SHOAIB-AS (who was the Messenger of Allah after him) and this Ruku tells about the people of SALEH-AS who was His Messenger before him; the five AAYAAT at the beginning of the Ruku read, “and the dwellers of the Rock (i.e. THAMUD, the people of SALEH) certainly rejected the apostles (as to disbelieve in one of Messengers of Allah is to disbelieve in all of them as the good teachings of all of them were the same); and We gave them Our AAYAAT (among them was the amazing she-camel), but they turned aside from them (and even killed the she-camel); and they hewed houses in the mountains in security (as they had such strength & skill & secured space); so the rumbling (of the earthquake) overtook them in the morning (as Allah sends His punishment at hours when the disbelievers are most relaxed); and what they earned did not avail them (so their strength, skill and security could not help them against the severe punishment that Allah sent upon them)”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next couple of AAYAAT tell that Allah has created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them with set principles for them; He has put it in their make that the Hour (the last day of the world) would certainly take place; therefore O Muhammad PBUH –live with forgiving attitude towards their disbelieving attitude as they certainly would face their doings; Allah has created all the creation and He certainly knows who would commit to what; note that when we Muslims need to say that Allah has created all things, we need to say it in the manner denoted here at AAYAT-85 that Allah only has created the heavens and the earth and what is between them; this is the manner He has provided us to mention all of His creation; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT ahead says that Allah has provided Muhammad PBUH (and all true Muslims through him), with the highest of His blessings that is Surah FATIHA which is oft-repeated (at SALAH) and He has also provided the Holy Book Quran in answer to the plea of Muslims therein for the true guidance; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-88 tells his virtuous attitude as the Messenger of Allah that he would show, as it reads, “do not strain your eyes after what We have given (from the worldly assets) certain classes of them (i.e. the disbelievers) to enjoy, and do not grieve for them (i.e. on their disbelief which would cause them extreme agony at AKHIRAT), and make yourself gentle to the believers (as they have accepted the true guidance that you have presented to them)”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; from AAYAT-89 to the last of the Surah, Allah asks Muhammad PBUH, the last of His Messengers, to fulfill his liability and provide the true guidance to all persons without any care to what attitude they take towards it; he needs to avoid such situation where the disbelievers get proximity to him yet he would provide the true guidance to all persons as better as he can; Allah would save him from any physical trouble from all those disbelievers who mock the teachings of Islam but he needs to tolerate their adverse speech for now for which the cure is to praise Allah all the time by all good manner and to read on SALAH as much as possible; he would remain His committed slave right up-to the certain event (i.e. his death) that would come to him, and certainly forever to eternity; these AAYAAT read, “and say (O Muhammad PBUH) -surely I am the plain warner (like other of Messengers of Allah and I provide the warning) like as Allah sent down (i.e. in the Pentateuch) on the dividers (i.e. the Jews) because those were persons who made the Quran (i.e. its most good teachings especially the Ten Commandments and the commands of financial nature that were also present there at the Pentateuch) into shreds (taking the commands of Allah that they found easy to practice and leaving those of His commands that they found difficult to practice due to their attachment to the world); so, by your Lord (Who actually decides for everything that takes place at the world anytime anywhere), He would most certainly question them all (at the Day of Judgment), as to what they did (so they would most certainly face their wrong-doings); therefore declare openly what you are bidden and turn aside from the polytheists (never letting them have any proximity to you); surely We will suffice you against the scoffers (so they would remain unable to hurt you physically in such manner that you become unable to fulfill your liability); those are who have set up another god with Allah so they shall soon know (what extreme wrong they have committed themselves to); and surely We know that your breast straitens at what they say; therefore (for the cure of this trouble) celebrate the praise of your Lord (all the time as much as humanly possible), and be of those who make obeisance (by reading on SALAH that he did use to read much more than obligatory especially at nights); and serve your Lord until there comes to you that which is certain (i.e. your death and even after that to eternity); Al-Hamdu Lillah.
“Tafsiri-Guide to the Quran” by:
Muhammad Saleem Dada
Here our study of HIJR ends; Al-Hamdu Lillah
www.saleemdada.weebly.com
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Surah NAHL
(Consists of 16 Ruku; MK-9)
NAHL-The First Ruku
1. Allah's commandment has come, therefore do not desire to hasten it; glory be to Him, and highly exalted be He above what they associate (with Him).
2. He sends down the angels with the inspiration by His commandment on whom He pleases of His servants, saying: Give the warning that there is no god but Me, therefore be careful (of your duty) to Me.
3. He created the heavens and the earth with the truth, highly exalted be He above what they associate (with Him).
4. He created man from a small seed and then he is an open contender.
5. And He created the cattle for you; you have in them warm clothing and (many) advantages, and of them do you eat.
6. And there is beauty in them for you when you drive them back (to home), and when you send them forth (to pasture).
7. And they carry your heavy loads to regions which you could not reach but with distress of the souls; most surely your Lord is Compassionate, Merciful.
8. And (He made) horses and mules and asses that you might ride upon them and as an ornament; and He creates what you do not know.
9. And upon Allah it rests to show the right way, and there are some deviating (ways); and if He please He would certainly guide you all aright.
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The Surah starts with the statement that “Allah's commandment has come, therefore do not desire to hasten it; glory be to Him, and highly exalted be He above what they associate (with Him)”; the commandment here means His decision for the destruction of the polytheists if they do not comply to the Truth which Allah has provided to them by His last Messenger Muhammad PBUH, that would fall upon them as its time comes and that time is not far-away; Al-Hamdu Lillah; it tells about TAUHID which means that Allah only is the Creator of all the creation and He always has all His attributes and He only is the true Lord so the people should always obey Him in all His commands; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT complements it that when the people get His message (i.e. by WAHI that He sends to His chosen Messenger, by angels generally by Gabriel-AS), they should accept it and be obedient to Allah because then if they do not comply to the message that He has provided to them, they surely would see the destruction soon; the term that the AAYAT uses is ROOH to mention WAHI i.e. revelation to His Messenger by His commandment; note that WAHI is a thing of AALAM-e-AMR (the world of Command) and not of AALAM-e-KHALQ (the world of creation) and angels and the human spirit are also related to AALAM-e-AMR; the human-physique is related to the earth and its food in essence comes from the earth but the human spirit has come from AALAM-e-AMR and so it needs WAHI to satisfy it truly; when the pure human spirit got acceptance at the court of Allah when Messengers were still coming to the world (but after the Last Prophet Muhammad PBUH, there is no Messenger to come and as such, the WAHI has ceased to come after him), Allah sent WAHI to such pure human spirit directly at heart (as with Jesus Christ-AS and this includes dreams too as with Abraham-AS) or talked to him from behind some veil not coming at fore (as with Moses-AS) or by sending an angel to him that addressed his spirit (as with Muhammad PBUH); all these three would be named as ROOH i.e. the pure human spirit, WAHI and Gabriel-AS (who is noted even in this very Surah NAHL as the holy spirit at AAYAT-102); note that the pure spirit of the Messenger recognized WAHI well when it got that and even the angel when it saw that, as they all belong to the same sphere of life that is AALAM-e-AMR (see also Surah SHURA-51 & 52); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the six AAYAAT ahead in the Ruku from AAYAT-3 to AAYAT-8 tell that Allah has created all things of the world that secures the life of the mankind which also Allah has created as certainly He only is the Creator while all other than Him, is His creation only; Al-Hamdu Lillah; so this Surah i.e. NAHL asks high attention towards the examination that all persons are going through at the world to show that they truly deserve JANNAH for which Allah has provided all of them with all their necessary requirements; there are such AAYAAT in the Quran that have told clearly that Allah has made His creation to work for the benefit of the Man (see for instance Surah JATHIA-12 & 13 and Surah IBRAHIM-32 & 33 & 34) so that he finds convenience in virtuous living according to the fundamental teachings of Islam and here also, there is the indication to that; these AAYAAT read, “He created the heavens and the earth with the truth (i.e. set principles to follow), highly exalted be He above what they associate (with Him); He created man from a small seed and then he is an open contender (as many of them live such lives that challenge the obvious commands of Allah); and He created the cattle for you (sheep, goats, camels and cows); you have in them warm clothing (to save yourselves from the cold weather) and advantages (other than that as getting milk from them), and of them do you eat; and there is beauty in them for you when you drive them back (to home as even their walk seems pleasant), and when you send them forth (to pasture at the early part of the day); and they carry your heavy loads to regions which you could not reach but with distress of the souls; most surely your Lord is Compassionate, Merciful; and (He made) horses and mules and asses that you might ride upon them and as an ornament (though you would avoid the eating of them); and He creates what you do not know (for you to ride and as ornaments for you that would take place at the future)”; note about this last part that it allows some manifestation of beauty of some assets that are in the possession of the Muslim person but he needs to take care that it does not mean that he becomes show-off by their manifestation but it tells that whatever manifests normally in the ordinary living, it does not put any blame to him; also, the words “He creates what you do not know” are important as they note that there would take place such things for the riding of men and as their ornaments, which would provide ease to them in going to places by moving at high pace and even though these things seemingly came about by efforts of men but they needed the will of Allah to come about so these words mention them in the manner that “He creates what you do not know”; this was the best of expression then for vehicles that we find around at present with us and though the AAYAT allows their use but that issue certainly needs to follow the general rule that they would not become excessive is use; I, MSD, would mention air-planes especially (without providing any detail to it here) that we need to use them only for the travel to far-off places and not for the change in area at local places while we need to abandon space vehicles completely; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT of the Ruku tells about the will of Allah that He has set this world up to see how the person gives the examination that Allah has asked from him; the success at this exam (for which Allah has provided all answers at the Quran to make it an open-book exam) would bring him the most pleasant life in JANNAH at AKHIRAT forever and the failure would be total loss for him that would lead him to the hell-fire; He could have made everyone to take the true guidance but due to the exam for which he has set up everything at the world, He would bring the true success only to His true slaves at the day when He would announce all of results; His ultimate judgment is at AKHIRAT, the Day of Judgment; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Second Ruku
10. He it is Who sends down water from the cloud for you; it gives drink, and by it (grow) the trees upon which you pasture.
11. He causes to grow for you thereby herbage, and the olives, and the dates, and the grapes, and of all the fruits; most surely there is a sign in this for the people who reflect.
12. And He has made subservient for you the night and the day and the sun and the moon, and the stars are made subservient by His commandment; most surely there are signs in this for the people who ponder;
13. And what He has created in the earth of varied hues most surely there is a sign in this for the people who are mindful.
14. And He it is Who has made the sea subservient that you may eat fresh flesh from it and bring forth from it ornaments which you wear, and you see the ships cleaving through it, and that you might seek of His bounty and that you may give thanks.
15. And He has cast great mountains in the earth lest it might convulse with you, and rivers and roads that you may go aright,
16. And landmarks; and by the stars they find the right way.
17. Is He then Who creates like him who does not create? Do you not then mind?
18. And if you would count Allah's favors, you will not be able to number them; most surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
19. And Allah knows what you conceal and what you do openly.
20. And those whom they call on besides Allah have not created anything while they are themselves created;
21. Dead (are they), not living, and they know not when they shall be raised.
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The second Ruku continues mentioning the benefits that Allah has provided to the mankind by His creation; AAYAAT-10 & 11 mention the rainwater that is pure water to drink and that causes the trees to flourish; Allah grows the crops and many different fruits by that water (here olives & dates & grapes are mentioned specially with the mention of other fruits in general) and the observant persons need to reflect on this (as it has the sign, mentioned here in singular, to appreciate the beautiful set-up that Allah has provided for the benefits of the mankind); AAYAT-12 tells that He made the night and the day and the sun and the moon subservient to the mankind so that these all benefit the mankind in the best way and the stars too are made subservient by His commandment as they manifest their beauty at the sky above (so there are many of signs, mentioned here in plural, in these for the people who ponder to appreciate the beautiful set-up that Allah has provided for the benefits of the mankind); AAYAT-13 says “and what He has created in the earth of varied hues most surely there is a sign in this for the people who are mindful”; this includes all animals and birds and insects plus their habitats that are jungles & trees & sands in which the mindful persons would find the sign (mentioned here in singular) to appreciate the set-up that Allah has provided for the mankind at the earth; note that these all clarify the statement that AAYAT-3 gave that “He created the heavens and the earth with the truth (i.e. set principles to follow), highly exalted be He above what they associate (with Him)”; AAYAAT ahead in the Ruku also clarify this statement in the most notable manner to guide the persons having intelligence towards the fundamental teachings of Islam, as their message read it well certainly; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next three AAYAAT that are 14 & 15 & 16 tell about the benefits to the mankind from the creation of Allah respectively at the waters and at the earth and at the sky above in addition to what is previously mentioned; Al-Hamdu Lillah; these three AAYAAT read, “and He it is Who has made the sea subservient that you may eat fresh flesh (i.e. fish) from it and bring forth from it ornaments which you wear (i.e. the pearls that come from it; mostly, pearls are made by oysters for their own safety in either the freshwater or either the saltwater and taking them with care does not threaten their lives), and you see the ships cleaving through it (as Allah has set such laws that include even buoyancy), and that you might seek of His bounty (i.e. the necessary assets of use at life in plenty by sea voyages) and that you may give thanks (for all these provisions that Allah has given you and whatever more you achieve by putting these provisions in use); and He has cast great mountains in the earth lest it might convulse with you (so they work as very long highly strong pickets to the earth), and rivers and roads (naturally) that you may go aright; and landmarks (along these rivers & roads that are often close to each other to guide you at your travel); and by the stars (the persons that are very good at navigation) they find the right way (in the physical sense)”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that there are many people at the world today who consider that what understanding they would get by physical means, they would rely upon that only; so they have much difficulty with AAYAAT that indicate mountains as the strong pickets to earth so that it does not convulse and with AAYAAT that indicate heavens as seven of them above and other of such matters that do not come in-line with their physical perception (at-least not to this time); as the good Muslims believe in the Quran with most high commitment (and all praise is to Allah for that) so for them, there is no such attitude of suspicion and they take them as mentioned; though there was and is nothing valid that the physical perception has put against the Quran yet it is the issue of principle that if anything challenges or poses to challenge the Quran, the reliance of the Muslims stands firm with the Quran only; certainly, all praise is for Allah only as He only is the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last five AAYAAT of the Ruku present the fact plainly that Allah only is the true authority as He only is the Creator of all the creation and He only is the true Lord; these AAYAAT read, “is Allah then, Who creates, like him who does not create?; (no one has the true authority except Him); do you not then mind?; (you must see that He has cared for you so much and then you show disbelief to Him and do not obey Him); and if you would count Allah's favors, you will not be able to number them (and this all He has provided to you without your asking so that you live your lives which also He has provided to you, at ease for the exam you are in); most surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful (so the option still remains open for you to come to righteousness); and Allah knows what you conceal and what you do openly (so he forgives you on your weakness when you do have the true belief on Him as you repent towards Him silently without any inclination to major sins and He would care for your good deeds and He would give you the courage to accept the Truth openly); and those whom they call on besides Allah have not created anything while they are themselves created (so it is not right for you to take them as saviors to you at the Day of Judgment where everybody would face his/her doings totally alone); they are dead, not living, and they know not when they shall be raised (so even if they are most righteous, they are unable to hear you at their graves to advocate your plea to Allah and if Allah makes any of them hear that plea, they are still unable to give anything to you that you need because Allah only is the Creator of all creation and He only is the true authority)”; note that it is feasible to send DURUD to Muhammad PBUH (that is DUA to Allah for him) from anywhere and ULAMA often guide to this that angels take that to him (by the will of Allah) but it is not feasible to speak to him even, in the direct manner; he had told at the very beginning of his mission of spreading Islam that he was not able to save anyone who does not take-up the Belief & the practice in Islam and that message remains noteworthy ever; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Third Ruku
22. Your Allah is one (Who only is the Creator of all and the only true Lord); so (as for) those who do not believe in the hereafter, their hearts are ignorant and they are conceited.
23. Truly Allah knows what they hide and what they manifest; surely He does not love the conceited.
24. And when it is said to them, what is it that your Lord has revealed? They say: Stories of the ancients;
25. That they may bear their burdens entirely on the day of resurrection and also of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without knowledge; now surely evil is what they bear.
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This Ruku has four AAYAAT in total and denotes the punishment that the disbelievers to Islam (who also have hypocrisy in them), get in the world and in AKHIRAT; the first AAYAT tells that “your Allah is one (Who only is the Creator of all and the only true Lord); so (as for) those who do not believe in the hereafter, their hearts are ignorant and they are conceited”; so the hearts of disbelievers to Islam gradually get much away from the Truth and that leads them to becoming most conceited with the loss of their respect among the good people around; note that the AAYAT ahead states explicitly that Allah does not appreciate these conceited people so the result is that they lose their respect totally at the world and that they would get the severe punishment at AKHIRAT; so the next AAYAT states, “truly Allah knows what they hide and what they manifest; surely He does not love the conceited”; note that it seems that AAYAT-19 tells directly to repenting persons on their wrongs who find trouble in the manifestation of their righteous attitudes due to the adverse people around, that “Allah knows what you conceal and what you do openly” so it denotes the care of Allah for them and here AAYAT-23 states about the conceited persons that “Allah knows what they hide and what they manifest” to present their hypocrisy as they misguide the people who ask them about the teachings of Islam, by their extreme fibs; this is how it seems by the repetition and Allah knows better; the last couple of AAYAAT at the Ruku tell about their heinous sin that they misguide the people around when they are asked about the Islamic teachings due to some status they have among the people; these AAYAAT read, “and when it is said to them, what is it that your Lord has revealed? -they say (that these are) stories of the ancients; that they may bear their burdens entirely on the day of resurrection and also of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without knowledge; now surely evil is what they bear”; so they would be punished for their extreme evil totally and for this evil too that they misguided the persons who took their advice to decide for the rejection of the Islamic teachings as that also is counted as their own evil (though the rejecters of Islam would also get their own severe punishment at AKHIRAT to reject Islam even if they decided for that on the advice of those hypocrites); that extreme punishment is the most extreme burden which they put on themselves and they would only realize the severity of that extreme burden at the Day of Judgment; certainly, Allah only is the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Fourth Ruku
26. Those before them did indeed devise plans, but Allah demolished their building from the foundations, so the roof fell down on them from above them, and the punishment came to them from whence they did not perceive.
27. Then on the resurrection day He will bring them to disgrace and say: Where are the associates you gave Me, for whose sake you became hostile? Those who are given the knowledge will say: Surely the disgrace and the evil are this day upon the disbelievers:
28. Those, whom the angels cause to die while they are unjust to themselves; Then would they offer submission: We used not to do any evil. Aye -surely Allah knows what you did.
29. Therefore enter the gates of hell, to abide therein; so certainly evil is the dwelling place of the proud.
30. And it is said to those who guard (against evil): What is it that your Lord has revealed? They say -Good (it is). For those who do good in this world is good, and certainly the abode of the hereafter is better; and certainly most excellent is the abode of those who guard (against evil);
31. The gardens of perpetuity, they shall enter them, rivers flowing beneath them; they shall have in them what they please. Thus does Allah reward those who guard (against evil),
32. Those, whom the angels cause to die in a good state, saying -Peace be on you: enter the garden for what you did.
33. They do not wait aught but that the angels should come to them or that the commandment of your Lord should come to pass. Thus did those before them; and Allah was not unjust to them, but they were unjust to themselves.
34. So the evil (consequences) of what they did afflicted them and that which they mocked encompassed them.
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The fourth Ruku of NAHL tells about the living of the bad persons and of the good persons, at the world and at AKHIRAT; the four AAYAAT at its start read, “those before them did indeed devise plans (to live their lives at the world smoothly with leisure as if they are to stay here), but Allah demolished their building from the foundations (by the severe punishment sent upon them when they rejected the explicit teachings of Islam that they received by the Messengers of Allah), so the roof fell down on them from above them (such was the outcome of their efforts on their care for ease in living at the world without care to AKHIRAT), and the punishment came to them from whence they did not perceive (because it took them by surprise as one of natural calamities and it destroyed them totally being the punishment from Allah upon them); then on the resurrection day He will bring them to disgrace and say -where are the associates you gave Me, for whose sake you became hostile?- (so at AKHIRAT too, they would get extreme torment as they did not believe in TAUHID)- those who are given the knowledge (of the Quran and total belief in it) will say -surely the disgrace and the evil are this day upon the disbelievers (that are) those, whom the angels cause to die while they are unjust to themselves (though if anyone of them repents before death and believes righteously, he would save himself from the extreme torment at AKHIRAT); then would they offer submission -we used not to do any evil- but surely Allah knows what you did (so your lame excuse is unjustified and Allah does not accept the repentance at the time of death); therefore (you would) enter the gates of hell, to abide therein (forever); so certainly evil is the dwelling place of the proud (who thought that they are above all charges whatever they do)”; certainly Allah only is the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next three AAYAAT that are 30, 31 & 32 tell about the believers and the good outcome to their efforts as they read, “and it is said to those who guard (against evil) - what is it that your Lord has revealed?-they say- Good (it is); for those who do good in this world is good, and certainly the abode of the hereafter is better; and certainly most excellent is the abode of those who guard (against evil as those are) the gardens of perpetuity, they shall enter them, rivers flowing beneath them; they shall have in them what they please (as Allah would provide there all things that they need); thus does Allah reward those who guard (against evil); those, whom the angels cause to die in a good state, saying that -peace be on you- (you would) enter the garden for what you did (by the blessing of Allah upon you all as Allah accepts those most virtuous deeds from you all)-“; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that AAYAT-24 states about the disbelievers that when they are asked about the teachings of the Quran, they take them as the stories of the ancients and AAYAT-30 states about the believers that when they are asked about the teachings of the Quran, they answer that they are the blessed teachings from Allah; this certainly is very significant difference among the disbelievers and the believers in Allah; even if some of the disbelievers take the trouble to learn about the teachings of the Quran, their attitude to them is that there were times when these teachings were practical yet they are impractical now at these times; but the true believers in Allah have no doubt that even in these modern times, the Quran is the only practical solution to all ills of the mankind that would provide the blessing to all peoples of the world only if they do believe it and strive hard to bring it into practice (in both the individual & the collective manners) keeping their total attention towards Allah, the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the fact is that it needs its practical application now with the most highest of fervor to it when the world ignores the true authority of Allah in collective issues; all peoples here need to do it fast and I, MSD, tell this in most plain words that if they do not, they all certainly are doomed to destruction; please read also my writing “The Islamic Guidelines” that is available at the net for the better understanding of the practical application of the Quran at the present environment; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last couple of AAYAAT at this Ruku read, “they do not wait aught but that the angels should come to them (at their deaths) or that the commandment of your Lord should come to pass (as the punishment that falls at the rejection of the fundamental teachings of Islam when they get those teachings explicitly); thus did those before them (whom the punishment caught severely when its time occurred); and Allah was not unjust to them (as He gave them the ample time to accept the Truth presenting it with all clarity to them and with all ease at life), but they were unjust to themselves (by their rejection of the Truth); so the evil (consequences) of what they did afflicted them (as Allah punished them severely at the world) and that which they mocked (i.e. the punishment they would get at AKHIRAT due to their rejection of the Truth) encompassed them”; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Fifth Ruku
35. And they who give associates (to Allah) say: If Allah had pleased, we would not have served anything besides Allah, (neither) we nor our fathers, nor would we have prohibited anything without (order from) Him. Thus did those before them; is then aught incumbent upon the apostles except a plain delivery (of the message)?
36. And certainly We raised in every nation an apostle saying: Serve Allah and shun the Satan. So there were some of them whom Allah guided and there were others against whom error was due; therefore travel in the land then see what the end was of the rejecters.
37. If you desire for their guidance, yet surely Allah does not guide him who leads astray, nor shall they have any helpers.
38. And they swear by Allah with the most energetic of their oaths: Allah will not raise him who dies. Yea- it is a promise binding on Him, quite true, but most people do not know;
39. So that He might make manifest to them that about which they differ, and that those who disbelieve might know that they were liars.
40. Our word for a thing when We intend it, is only that We say to it, Be, and it is.
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This Ruku guides to the fundamental teachings of Islam that are TAUHID (Allah only is the Creator of all the creation and He always has all His attributes and He only is the true Lord), RISALAT (Allah sent His Messengers to the world to provide the Guidance to the right path and Muhammad PBUH is the last of His Messengers) and AKHIRAT (Allah would judge all peoples of the world at the Day of Judgment); the first AAYAT tells about the statement of the disbelievers that they said that if Allah willed, they and their forefathers would not have taken anyone equal in authority to Allah and they would not have designated anything without His permission as prohibited; note this most important teaching of Islam that though everything does take place by the will of Allah yet He does not accept it as an excuse from any of disbelievers; Islam commands all persons to see that they certainly have the free-will and this observation asks them to accept Islam by the free-will and do all works accordingly; Islam does not appreciate for Muslims to take up the philosophical detail to issues as the leanings of persons that are present at such argument might take hold of them; they would believe in Islam in the simple manner as it presents in the Quran and put it to practice in the simple manner as it certainly is most simple to practice too; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that one of the most authentic Ahadith relates to this matter that once SAHABA (the companions of the Prophet PBUH) were with him and he was scratching earth (as though in deep thought); then he raised his head to the heaven and addressed them that there is none among them about whom it is not determined if his seat is in the hell-fire or in the Paradise (JANNAH); they asked if they shall not place trust in Allah (and leave the deeds); note his answer to this that he told them to do their good deeds (with all fervor) because to everyone that only is made easy for which he is created (see the Book on Predestination at Tirmidhi); this implies that the Muslims would certainly believe in the will of Allah but they would work strictly according to the Islamic commands by their free-will (that they see plainly that they do have with them without any deep arguments) so as to gain the pleasure of Allah as that only is the aim of life; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note well that to present the will of Allah as an argument for safety at AKHIRAT is totally disallowed so the AAYAT gives no answer to this statement but states that such argument has been presented by those disbelievers too who were before these; it asks if the Messengers of Allah had any other task but to present Islamic teachings with total clarity, so that they understand that they have to accept those teachings (by their free-will that Allah has provided to them) as Allah has put them into an exam here at the world; note that Allah told clearly at AAYAT-9 of this Surah, “and upon Allah it rests to show the right way, and there are some deviating (ways); and if He please He would certainly guide you all aright”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYT-36 at this Ruku states that Allah has sent His Messengers to all nations that they would serve Allah as their Creator and obey Him in all the principles that He has given to them by His commands; this implies that they would not take the following of TAGHUT that leads them against the commands of Allah; note that TAGHUT is such representative of wrongs that advises the people against the commands of Allah knowingly, with whatever authority (to impress the people) it had managed to muster; so there were such persons among them who accepted the Guidance to the right path and there were others in them whom the error took hold of and they wandered away from the right path; as the AAYAT notes that all nations received the Messengers of Allah who guided them to the right path so it asks all observant persons who intend to see the matter that they travel through the land and they would see the consequence that the rejecters of the Truth faced when they disbelieved in the good teachings of the Messengers; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT tells Muhammad PBUH that He would provide the true guidance but it is not his domain to decide who takes that guidance; it is Allah who decides for that and He would never bring such wrong persons to the right path who go astray (and they are most happy with such error) and there never would be such helpers to them who would stand by them when Allah punishes them on their extreme error most severely; for the next three AAYAAT of the Ruku that are its last of AAYAAT, note that the majority of the disbelievers at Arabia believed in the Day of Judgment at that time yet they had the belief that those whom they take equal in authority to Allah would save them from all torments there; however, there were such disbelievers too in them who did not believe that the Day of Judgment would take place; these AAYAAT address such persons who did not believe in that Day by telling them that all facts need to come at fore so that the disbelievers do know that how much in error they were; it certainly is not difficult for Allah to bring that Day for Judgment of all the peoples of the world as He would only order it to be and with that, it would take place; these AAYAAT read, “and they swear by Allah with the most energetic of their oaths that Allah will not raise him who dies; yea- it is a promise binding on Him, quite true, but most people do not know; so that He might make manifest to them that about which they differ, and that those who disbelieve might know that they were liars; Our word for a thing when We intend it, is only that We say to it, Be, and it is”; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Sixth Ruku
41. And those who fly for Allah's sake after they are oppressed, We will most certainly give them the good abode in the world, and the reward of the hereafter is certainly much greater; did they but know;
42. Those, who are patient and, on their Lord do they rely.
43. And We did not send before you any but men to whom We sent revelation-- so ask the followers of the Reminder if you do not know--
44. With clear arguments and scriptures; and We have revealed to you the Reminder that you may make clear to men what has been revealed to them, and that haply they may reflect.
45. Do they then who plan evil (deeds) feel secure (of this) that Allah will not cause the earth to swallow them or that punishment may not overtake them from whence they do not perceive?
46. Or that He may not seize them in the course of their journeys, then shall they not escape;
47. Or that He may not seize them by causing them to suffer gradual loss; for your Lord is most surely Compassionate, Merciful.
48. Do they not consider everything that Allah has created? Its (very) shadows return from right and left, making obeisance to Allah while they are in utter abasement.
49. And whatever creature that is in the heavens and that is in the earth, it makes obeisance to Allah (only), and (among them also) the angels and they do not show any pride.
50. They fear their true Lord above them and they do what they are commanded.
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The Ruku commences with the statement that those who seem weakest among all persons at present, when they leave their native place because they are persecuted there (as they have true belief in Allah Whom they do take as their true Lord), Allah would give them the virtuous abode to live their lives at the world; and the good returns at AKHIRAT to them for their good deeds are even better; though this statement is general which provides good tidings to all Muslims who change their native places to work better on Islam yet note about this that at that time, this happened afterwards when the Muslims left Makkah for Madinah at Hijrah (the migration) that proved to be the base for them to live their lives well upon Islam and thence, it spread all over the known world; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT tells that the disbelievers do not know how Allah gives the virtuous life to the Muslims at the world and how He gives them the best of opportunity to gain all good deeds that lead them to excellence at AKHIRAT; this happens because they are patient to shun the base desires to get the worldly goods (& status) but they trust Allah totally that He would see to their necessities here so they would do better at AKHIRAT; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAAT-43 & 44 state that Allah has provided the teachings of Islam by WAHI to men only (that were the best among the people) so they need to ask the followers of Torah about this if they are unaware of it; Allah provided them His message with such good signs that proved that they certainly are the Messengers of Allah and with scriptures even, before Muhammad PBUH; now, to him also, Allah has provided the same teachings of Islam most explicitly (in the Quran) so that he clarifies that to all peoples of the world especially how those teachings ask for practice at all times and at all places; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the three AAYAAT ahead tell the consequence of disbelieving in Islam and even of ignoring the teachings of Islam in practice, that Allah has all authority to punish such persons in any manner He intends even at the world; these AAYAAT read, “do they then who plan evil (deeds) feel secure (of this) that Allah will not cause the earth to swallow them (by earthquake) or that punishment may not overtake them from whence they do not perceive (by deadly winds and other of natural calamities and even by the hands of other men)?; or that He may not seize them in the course of their journeys (by causing weakness in all that relates to their economics), then shall they not escape; or that He may not seize them by causing them to suffer gradual loss (of health and even lives much); for your Lord is most surely Compassionate, Merciful (to those who live-on after such punishments that numerous of persons around them receive, so that they avail the time they have and come towards Islam)”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT guides to the simple observation that all persons see that shadows take different directions as the day progresses due to change of position of the sun at the day-time so it likens these directions to the postures of SALAH that as the Muslim person makes RUKU and SUJUD in it, these directions too present such obeisance to Allah; this implies that if any person considers himself too smart to get away with his wrongs, that would never happen as with all his free-will that Allah has granted him, he still is bound to the laws that Allah has set for the life; everything in the creation of Allah worships Him only as that is how they are created with no other choice yet the jinn and the mankind have the choice due to the free-will that Allah has granted them to accept or reject His true guidance for which Allah would see due results at the grounds of HASHR (the first day of AKHIRAT); the AAYAT says, “do they not consider everything that Allah has created?; its (very) shadows return from right and left, making obeisance to Allah while they (themselves too) are in utter abasement”; the last couple of AAYAAT at the Ruku emphasize that all of the creation of Allah totally works according to His will and they all (specially the angels) give all compliance to the commands of Allah as they have no option to do otherwise and they do know well that Allah has all true authority to direct all His creation to the manner that He wills; there are three of His creation that possess the awareness of the self and these three are Angels, Jinn and the Man so note here that Allah has given the last two among them the free-will to apply in practice to gain the pleasure of Allah by that though even these two last ones are most certainly bound to His will totally; Al-Hamdu Lillah; they read, “and whatever creature that is in the heavens and that is in the earth (i.e. each of His creatures), it makes obeisance to Allah (only), and (among them also) the angels and they do not show any pride; they fear their true Lord above them and they do what they are commanded”; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Seventh Ruku
51. And Allah has said: Take not two gods; He is only one (that only is Allah); so of Me alone should you be afraid.
52. And whatever is in the heavens and the earth is His, and to Him should obedience be (rendered) constantly; will you then guard against other than (the punishment of) Allah?
53. And whatever favor is (bestowed) on you it is from Allah; then when evil afflicts you, to Him do you cry for aid.
54. Yet when He removes the evil from you, lo- a party of you associate others with their Lord;
55. So that they become ungrateful for what We have given them; then enjoy yourselves; for soon will you know;
56. And they set apart for what they do not know a portion of what We have given them. By Allah, you shall most certainly be questioned about that which you forged.
57. And they ascribe daughters to Allah, glory be to Him; and for themselves (they would have) what they desire.
58. And when a daughter is announced to one of them his face becomes black and he is full of wrath.
59. He hides himself from the people because of the evil of that which is announced to him. Shall he keep it with disgrace or bury it (alive) in the dust? Now surely evil is what they judge.
60. For those, who do not believe in the hereafter is an evil attribute, and Allah's is the loftiest attribute; and He is the Mighty, the Wise.
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The seventh Ruku asks all persons to have utmost care not even to speak anything that is against the prestigious honor of Allah; the Ruku starts by the statement that implies for TAUHID that all persons must worship Allah only with such fear that honors Him as He only is the Creator of all the creation and He always has all His attributes and He only is the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-52 says that whatever is in the heavens and the earth is His only and because He only is the true Lord so all persons must obey Him only in all principles at issues; never must anyone take such principles in issues that challenge His commands as that is against the attitude of TAQWA (i.e. the attitude of the heart which means that all the Muslims must fear Allah that they do not get His displeasure by their sins becoming so sinful that they lose the chance to regain JANNAH and with that, they also must have such hope towards Him that He would keep them safe from the Satan at all times and at all places); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next three AAYAAT tell the disrespectful attitude of the disbelievers towards Allah that though Allah cares for them and removes afflictions from them as they cry only to Him for their aid, they disrespect Him still by taking others (that only are among His creation) as equal to Him in authority; these AAYAAT read, “and whatever favor is (bestowed) on you it is from Allah; then when evil afflicts you, to Him do you cry for aid; yet when He removes the evil from you, lo- a party of you associate others with their Lord (though some do come to Islamic teachings); so that they become ungrateful for what We have given them; then enjoy yourselves; for soon will you know”; AAYAT-56 tells that they even take out something from their worldly assets that Allah has provided to them, to give to the needy in the name of those whom they do not even know (whom they take as equal in authority to Allah) so most certainly, such persons who commit such heinous wrong would be asked most harshly about this at the time when their account would be presented to them at AKHIRAT; the next three AAYAAT that are 57, 58 & 59 tell again of another of their most disrespectful attitude against Allah that they mentioned angels as daughters to Allah though they considered the birth of daughters to them as an insult to themselves; their actual heinous crime was that they mentioned angels as daughters to Allah which was the most disrespectful statement to Allah yet these AAYAAT point out as the manifest issue of the matter that they professed this when they took daughters as an insult to themselves; note that there are many of ULAMA who take the first pregnancy to be girl as better for the parents because AAYAT-49 of Surah SHURA mentions daughters before sons which reads, “the kingdom of the heavens and the earth is of Allah; He creates what He pleases; He grants to whom He pleases daughters and grants to whom He pleases sons”; now, these three AAYAAT at Surah NAHL read, “and they ascribe daughters to Allah, glory be to Him (certainly He is pure from such things); and for themselves (they would have) what they desire; and when a daughter is announced to one of them his face becomes black and he is full of wrath; he hides himself from the people because of the evil of that (as he takes it) which is announced to him; shall he keep it with disgrace or bury it (alive) in the dust?- now surely evil is what they judge”; the last AAYAT of the Ruku states, “For those, who do not believe in the hereafter is an evil attribute, and Allah's is the loftiest attribute; and He is the Mighty, the Wise”; this tells that these disbelievers need offspring (to carry on their names) but Allah certainly does not need any such things; certainly, no person is ever able to prove anything for Him that is against His glory; He commands all His creation as He wills and He decides about the impressions that would remain at the world and about those that He would eliminate; this is so because He certainly is Mighty (so He makes the effect of all things better by His direct command) and Most Wise (so He knows well what He has to retain from the effects of attitudes of all persons and with that, He takes the world gradually towards all the right concepts by His will); He certainly is the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Eighth Ruku
61. And if Allah had destroyed men for their iniquity, He would not leave on the earth a single creature, but He respites them till an appointed time; so when their doom will come they shall not be able to delay (it) an hour nor can they bring (it) on (before its time).
62. And they ascribe to Allah what they (themselves) hate and their tongues relate the lie that they shall have the good; there is no avoiding it that for them is the fire and that they shall be sent before.
63. By Allah, most certainly We sent (apostles) to nations before you, but the Satan made their deeds fair-seeming to them, so he is their guardian today, and they shall have a painful punishment.
64. And We have not revealed to you the Book except that you may make clear to them that about which they differ, and (as) the guidance and the mercy for the people who believe.
65. And Allah has sent down water from the heaven and therewith given life to the earth after its death; most surely there is a sign in this for the people who would listen.
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The Ruku starts with the statement that if Allah had taken men to task on their wrongs, He would not have left any of the unjust creatures on the face of the earth; there are so much of wrongs here that if He did not show patience, He would have sent His severe punishment everywhere that would have caused not only the deaths of men but also of animals; but He does not will that way as He has brought men to life here so that they show themselves worthy of JANNAH by their righteous belief and good deeds according to it; He forgives much of their wrongs so that they reflect on themselves and come to the right path; so He provides ample time to all persons to show their true colors and when His set time comes to punish the wrong-doers severely, He gives no further time to them and destroys them totally as that is necessary to save the righteous persons to live upon the right path; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next couple of AAYAAT tell about the disbelievers that they disrespect Allah and present their doings as the virtuous deeds without any shame saying that they would get all the good ahead as they deserve it; the Satan has made their wrongs seem most praiseworthy to them; these AAYAAT say, “and they ascribe to Allah what they hate (i.e. daughters) and their tongues relate the lie (to which they might be aware or not aware) that they shall have the good (because they take their deeds as good); there is no avoiding it that for them is the hell-fire and that they shall be sent before (many of other disbelievers to that at AKHIRAT); by Allah, most certainly We sent (apostles) to nations before you, but the Satan made their deeds fair-seeming to them, so he is their guardian today (at the world), and they shall have a painful punishment (at AKHIRAT)”; AAYAT-64 relates that Allah has provided this Holy Book Quran to Muhammad PBUH, His last Messenger, so that it clears all the erroneous beliefs that the disbelievers have developed among them; all must see clearly that the fundamental teachings of Islam are TAUHID, AKHIRAT and RISALAT; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Allah has no daughters and He would certainly see at AKHIRAT the belief and the deeds of all persons by the good teachings that He had provided to all of them at the world so none of the disbelievers would be able to claim ignorance in his defense; note that the Quran notes this explicitly that Allah asks every person to know about the most basic fundamental teachings of Islam and the Muslims today are most liable to provide the message of Islam to all peoples of the world; note also that the Holy Book Quran is the only criteria for the righteousness in final terms as of now and certainly, that would manifest at AKHIRAT; it decides at the world for all the differences that arise among peoples while for the true believers, it certainly is the true guidance and the mercy from Allah at all times and at all places; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT at the Ruku tells, “and Allah has sent down water from the heaven and therewith given life to the earth after its death; most surely there is a sign in this for the people who would listen”; though its manifest simple meaning is that the consumption of the pure water keeps the physique of the mankind capable to function in the normal way yet this also means that as the water from the heaven gives life to the earth by the command of Allah so in the same manner, the command of Allah would raise the dead from the graves at the day of HASHR (the first day of AKHIRAT); it also tells that all such persons who are at a loss on issues but who ask to resolve their differences at the world from the Quran, they do get the solution like the good rain from the heaven by which the earth revives; so for them if they really listen to it, the Quran is the sign that would provide the true guidance to them all at all troubles that they face here so that they make all things better for themselves for the Day of HASHR; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Ninth Ruku
66. And most surely there is a lesson for you in the cattle; We give you to drink of what is in their bellies-- from betwixt the feces and the blood-- pure milk, easy and agreeable to swallow for those who drink.
67. And of the fruits of the dates and the grapes-- you obtain from them intoxication and goodly provision; most surely there is a sign in this for the people who ponder.
68. And your Lord revealed to the bee saying: Make hives in the mountains and in the trees and in what they build:
69. Then eat of all the fruits and walk in the ways of your Lord submissively. There comes forth from within it a beverage of many colors, in which there is healing for men; most surely there is a sign in this for the people who reflect.
70. And Allah has created you, then He causes you to die, and of you is he who is brought back to the worst part of life, so that after having knowledge he does not know anything; surely, Allah is Knowing, Powerful.
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The Ninth Ruku has five AAYAAT and it indicates how Allah has provided wonderful liquids for the mankind to drink from the cattle and from the fruits and from the bees that are clean milk, fresh juices & wines and honey that has medicinal properties for the people respectively; note that the previous AAYAT (that is the last AAYAT of the eighth Ruku) had noted that the pure water is one of the highest blessing for the mankind that keeps the life to functioning well physically and with the liquids mention here, these four actually are the liquids that would flow as streams at JANNAH (though Allah has prohibited wines here and He appreciates fresh juices only from fruits); AAYAT-15 at Surah Muhammad (PBUH) states that “the similitude of the JANNAH, which those who keep their duty (to Allah) are promised; therein are streams of water unpolluted, and streams of milk whereof the flavor does not change, and streams of wine delicious to the drinkers, and streams of clear-run honey; therein for them is every kind of fruit, with pardon from their Lord”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; this Ruku commences by the observation that the milk that Allah has provided to the mankind is most wonderful for those who value the intake of liquids; they receive that from the bellies of the female of the cattle though in there is their feces and their blood too yet it makes way to the protuberance of their udders very clean and easy-to-drink for them all; about the liquids from fruits, the second AAYAT notes that from the dates and the grapes, people get both drinks as intoxication and drinks as the good fresh juices; note that the wines that are made by dates and grapes to lose senses ask HADD (the prescribed punishment of 40 lashes as mentioned at FIQH); this position stays for the wines of dates and grapes even if taken just a bit without getting into the drunken state as Islam fixedly designs them as wines that Allah has totally prohibited to consume (see MA’EDAH-90); other such liquids that are known as wines (KHAMR; those related to SAKAR) ask HADD only if they lead the person to the drunken state though those that are recognized as wines are punishable by the laws of the Islamic lands even without the drunken state; however, note that the stream of wines at JANNAH would not cause the drunken state even if the residents of JANNAH take it in by much high quantity (see Surah TOOR-23); the AAYAT gives the beautiful final touch to it by the statement that “most surely there is a sign in this for the people who ponder”; note that the Quran has this most pleasant manner of speech that asks the man to give attention from inside to reflect on the teachings that Allah is providing to him; that would make him more committed to that teaching than if he takes it only as an issue related to ADL (the Islamic law); Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-68 & 69 tell about the works of the bee that provides honey to the mankind; these AAYAAT read, “and your Lord revealed to the bee saying- make hives in the mountains and in the trees and in what they (i.e. the people) build- then eat of all the fruits (and of all of flowers that also are the fruits of plants) and walk in the ways of your Lord (to gather the material you need for producing honey) submissively; there comes forth from within it a beverage of many colors (which men would take-out from hives without any harm to bees so that they gather again to produce more of honey), in which there is healing for men; most surely there is a sign in this for the people who reflect”; note that the milk is pure even when it comes from between the feces and the blood of the cattle; the fresh juices of fruits are pure even when they are used for wines too; and the honey is wonderfully pure even when the bees literally vomit it to each other before finally depositing it at cells; Allah has made these things totally pure for the mankind and certainly Allah knows better; the AAYAT mentions “your Lord” as He has provided the mankind all convenience for the exam He takes of him so He asks for total submission from the mankind to His commands; note that the term for revelation at the AAYAT is derived from WAHI and here it means the knowledge that Allah has given to the bee so it is inherent for it; note that the command Allah gives to the bee is for the feminine gender as the workers among them are all female without exception; it transforms what it takes-in from the fruits (of plants i.e. flowers) into honey and secures it at hives; it has the beautiful sense of direction towards where it would find such things that would enable it to make its honey and even has the skill to convey that direction with the idea of distance to her sister-bees by relevant movements (and by relevant sounds) for which it takes even the assistance of the position of the sun; the AAYAT comments that the honey has medicinal properties to heal physical afflictions and it does have much high significance in the eastern medicine; here, it uses its varieties (that its colors denote) extensively in combination to different herbs & spices for different ills and it sure does satisfy the physical need in much good time; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-69 states that “most surely there is a sign in this for the people who reflect” so I, MSD, would note some facts about the bees taken from different sources that also includes an informative booklet written on them; note that in taxonomy, the specific name given to the bees (by its Genus and species) is Apis mellifera; it has the four-stage life cycle that relates to its class of insects (i.e. egg, larva, pupa, adult); it has three pairs of legs, six legs in total but the rear pair is specially designed with stiff hair to store pollen when in flying from flower to flower while its front pair of legs has special slots to enable it to clean its antenna; its wings are four in total of which the front and rear wings hook together to form one big pair of wings and unhook for easy folding when not flying; they have five eyes that are two large compound eyes and three smaller eyes in the center of its head; Al-Hamdu Lillah; they make hives to produce and store honey and create cavities inside their hives (and even the small ones in these hives might have twenty thousand bees while the bigger ones have them four times more than that); note that each of these cells that have six corners to it actually is the pot of honey; there are three types of bees inside the hive that are the queen-bee, male among bees (i.e. drones which have no sting and they do not gather nectar or pollen but they only mate with the queen-bee which then leads them to their early death and they are lesser than hundred in number at the small hive of twenty thousand bees) and the third are the female worker bees (which protect the queen-bee & the hive and also serve to gather nectar and pollen from fruits of the plants i.e. flowers with which they produce honey); the queen-bee rules the hive but loosely and it cares to see that the hive is built properly; the worker bees select it from amongst the eggs that are assigned to take the queen-bee from and then they specify one of the cavities (with the development of that cell to the royal queen-cup) inside the hive for its living where they protect it fiercely and where it routinely gives eggs; the emergency queens are raised nearby where the next queen develops steadily that replaces the old queen when it faces frustration after few years of providing eggs (and runs away with its swarm if it is lucky, to avoid being killed by those worker bees who had served it recently); but the next queen too has to face challenge by other of emergency virgin queens (all make such noise that alerts them all when the time is ripe and also the worker bees to decide for the queen would-be); most of the emergency queens are killed by the one who ultimately gets her status of the queen-bee (while others escape in swarms); the queen-bee may live to seven years when she accumulates millions of sperms from drones mating with them at flight outside the hive and then she lays eggs at her royal cell selectively for the next few years of her life; the first small batch of these eggs brings forth such bees that one of them could immediately assume the role of the queen-bee on its death as the workers prepare that new one for it (when its position becomes evident) while the second batch brings forth the meager number of male drones; the third batch relates to providing the female worker bees in plenty; the queen-bee feeds on the royal jelly that the glands at the head of the young worker bees provide her so that she develops well for the royal task of giving eggs routinely while other bees have the nectar & the pollen mixed with crude honey only as their foods (though at the first few days of hatching, all of bees would get some of the royal jelly to devour); the male drones among the bees are extremely lazy and if they become totally incapable to mate with the queen-bee (or the queen would-be) then the female worker bees throw them out of the hive to die there; the queen-bee continues giving eggs in hundreds daily (sometimes more than 1000 in a day) and the worker bees (that may be more than fifty thousand in quantity at any given time in a vast hive) in contrast to the male drone bees, work extremely hard to protect the hive; these female worker bees are those that go far-away places to get the nectar and the pollen while they also take care to keep the hive most clean for their work for which they bring forth the needed wax (which they produce by taking some sticky material from trees); these female worker bees are those that actually produce honey by what they bring from thousands of flowers of plants & crops and then they produce spoonful of honey (which comes forth after passing among them mouth to mouth) that they ultimately store at the hive but they are short-lived and their life span is to six weeks maximum; these worker bees protect the queen-bee at winter by remaining close to her so that she gets the necessary warmth to live-on; but it also is interesting to note that if the worker bees find the queen-bee incapable to provide eggs ahead, they come extremely close to her that increases the temperature to lethal height for her which ultimately gets rid of her; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT of the Ruku reads, “and Allah has created you, then He causes you to die (some of you early in life and some at ripe age), and of you is he who is brought back to the worst part of life (i.e. most extreme old age), so that after having knowledge (of many things) he does not know anything; surely, Allah is Knowing (Who has total knowledge of everything and He does not ever lose His knowledge), Powerful (Who has all authority to apply His true knowledge in the most righteous manner)”; note that Allah is from all times to all times because He only has the true life with all of His attributes that are totally true to Him that He never loses so all of His attributes are of Him from all times to all times (QADEEM) and all of His attributes are His very own (ASL) and all of His attributes are limitless (LA-MEHDUD); certainly, He only is the true authority; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Tenth Ruku
71. And Allah has made some of you excel others in the means of subsistence, so those who are made to excel do not give away their sustenance to those whom their right hands possess so that they should be equal therein; is it then the favor of Allah which they deny?
72. And Allah has made wives for you from among yourselves, and has given you sons and grandchildren from your wives, and has given you of the good things; is it then in the falsehood that they believe while it is in the favor of Allah that they disbelieve?
73. And they serve besides Allah that which does not control for them any sustenance at all from the heavens and the earth, and they do not have any power.
74. Therefore do not give likenesses to Allah; surely Allah knows and you do not know.
75. Allah sets forth a similitude: (consider) a slave, the property of another, (who) has no power over anything, and one whom We have granted from Ourselves a goodly sustenance so he spends from it secretly and openly; are the two alike? (All) praise is due to Allah! Nay, most of them do not know.
76. And Allah sets forth a similitude of two men; one of them is dumb, not able to do anything, and he is a burden to his master; wherever he sends him, he brings no good; can he be held equal with him who enjoins what is just, and he (himself) is on the right path?
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The Ruku tells about such manifest blessings upon the mankind that makes him see that how much better he is among others by the sustenance Allah has provided to him; at those times, slavery flourished among men as one of aspects to life and though Islam directed in different manners that may lead to eliminate that system with time yet to abolish that with immediate effect was not possible and any efforts for such would have led to extreme chaos among the living manner of the people; it was then necessary to preserve the status-quo in this issue with the most benevolent attitude possible towards slaves; in that set-up of the living manner, the first AAYAT presents the example that manifestly, it would lead to extreme disorder if the owners of slaves bring them equal to their own-selves by providing them the worldly provisions they have (and releasing them to become free as themselves); it reads, “and Allah has made some of you excel others in the means of subsistence, so those who are made to excel do not give away their sustenance to those whom their right hands possess (i.e. their slaves) so that they should be equal therein (as that would cause much deprivation of their own sustenance); is it then the favor of Allah which they deny? (this means that the disbelievers do understand that their slaves would respect them as their masters to keep the order in the set-up of life without any challenge to the possessions they have with them, but they deny giving respect to Allah as their true Lord by taking some persons among them as equal in authority to Him though all persons most certainly are slaves only to Him)”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next couple of AAYAAT indicate other of manifest blessings that relate to life (and the needs of the psyche of the mankind); Allah gave all persons the opportunity to live in jointly with their respective spouses (which Allah has provided to them in their own beings i.e. humankind) and children and grand-children by them and gave all of them enough of foods for their sustenance; so Allah has provided all needs of the psyche and all sustenance to the mankind so that each person gives his/her exam due upon him/her with all convenience without much worry about such needs of life yet what happens is that many of persons believe in the satanic notions so they disrespect Allah in spite of the convenience that He has provided to them in their due exam at the world; they leave all care to Allah by their submission to persons like them in the humankind, though those persons do not have anything in possession to give anyone any sustenance from the heavens and the earth, and those persons certainly do not have any ability to get those; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-74 that is the next AAYAT prohibits to take anyone similar to Allah and the word used for similarity is AMTHAAL and it is plural for both MATHAL and MITHL (both of these denote similarity); note that the disbelievers had the erroneous notion that as a king needs many persons to manage his administration for him so Allah needs such persons too; may Allah save all Muslims from such erroneous notions that led the disbelievers to extreme sinful things in belief and most incorrect deeds; Allah certainly has the true authority and He guides the heavens and the earth and all that is between them with that true authority and His word only is the command that brings results according to His will and He needs no one to enforce that command; as for the matters in the mankind and in the jinn (these both have the free-will to fulfill the examination that Allah has put upon them at the world), He takes them directly and He orders His angels as He wills about them yet the angels totally are bound to His command as all other creatures (except for the mankind and the jinn) and they have no free-will to bring anything by their own; the AAYAT implies that the Muslims would not use any of these terms in the expression for the meaning of similarity to Allah; however, there are some notable points that relate to these terms MATHAL and MITHL and presently our study would address those; the first notable point is that these both have delicate difference in the Quran as the term “MATHAL” also denotes “the attribute” in the Quran though "MITHL" only denotes "the similarity"; MATHAL occurs in this meaning of "the attribute" in the Quran besides other places at AAYAT-60 at this Surah NAHL that “for those who do not believe in AKHIRAT (the hereafter) is an evil attribute (MATHAL-US-SAW-WI), and Allah's is the loftiest attribute (MATHAL-UL-AALA); and He is the Mighty, the Wise” (and it occurs at ROUM-27 too, where also it occurs in the meaning of “the attribute” and implies that all attributes of Allah are QADEEM, ASL and LA-MEHDUD); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the second point is that the term "MATHAL" also relates to expressing the similarity of some of His creation to some other of His creation by comparison so even though it means similarity as the term "MITHL" denotes, but its usage enfolds expressing the comparison between two of creation of Allah but “MITHL” relates to similarity in general; note the usage of both of these terms for this delicate difference at this Surah NAHL where AAYAAT-75 & 76 that are just ahead here, read about MATHAL that "Allah sets forth a similitude- (consider) a slave, the property of another, (who) has no power over anything, and one whom We have granted from Ourselves a goodly sustenance so he spends from it secretly and openly; are the two alike?- (all) praise is due to Allah- nay, most of them do not know; and Allah sets forth a similitude of two men; one of them is dumb, not able to do anything, and he is a burden to his master; wherever he sends him, he brings no good; can he be held equal with him who enjoins what is just, and he (himself) is on the right path?” and at this same Surah, AAYAT-126 read about MITHL "and if you take your turn, then retaliate with the like (MITHL) of that with which you were afflicted; but if you are patient, it will certainly be best for those who are patient”; however, as mentioned, the Quran has strictly forbade the use of both these terms MITHL and MATHAL in the meaning of similarity for Allah; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the third notable point is that for the term “MITHL” that denotes the similarity only, the Quran says categorically at AAYAT-11 of Surah SHURA that “(Allah is) the Originator of the heavens and the earth; He made mates for you from among yourselves, and mates of the cattle too, multiplying you thereby; nothing is like any similarity of Him (LAYSA KA-MITHLE-HE SHAYE-UN); and He is the Hearing, the Seeing”; this AAYAT prohibits to use the term MITHL (i.e. similarity) for Allah with any of His creation and it prohibits even the term MATHAL for such expression in speech, by its implication; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the fourth point is that AAYAT-14 of Surah FAATIR tells that “none would tell you anything like Him Who is the Most Aware (MITHLU-KHABEER)” so the term MITHL occurs to deny any similarity to Him in providing the true insight to matters; Al-Hamdu Lillah; this detail explicitly tells that the Muslims would never use any of these terms MITHL and MATHAL in the meaning of similarity for Allah (as such care in speech is necessary to keep them to the manner of the expression of Quran); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next couple of AAYAAT both provide such similitude that all persons note the blessings of Allah upon them and remain grateful to Him; the first of them i.e. AAYAT-75 compares a slave person to a free person; the former has no control over his possessions as being a slave-person, his assets belong to his master so he has to care for his permission to spend anything that is in his possession while the free-person has authority over his assets to spend it in the way he finds beneficial as he spends it secretly and openly for the pleasure of Allah and does not need to seek any permission; so the matter explicitly tells that they both are not equal and that asks the free-person to praise Allah much but as many of them take this as their rightful status, they do not understand; they must understand that Allah only has provided them this status by His will and certainly, they need to praise Him much; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the second similitude at AAYAT-76 again compares a slave-person to a free-person but this time the AAYAT refers to such slave who has no sense of any goodness in him and he is such a dumb person (as he is deaf too) that he is unable to bring any benefits to his master; at the other side is that free-person who has the sense of justice in all matters of life and he remains to the right path by putting it into practice at his life extensively; they certainly are not equal as the free-person among them is much better in them; Al-Hamdu Lillah; these respectively tell that the Muslims have the true chance to spend their assets in the way of Allah as they are not slaves of their desires and that the Muslims have the true chance to spend their span of life by Islam that is the only just manner of life (to which they guide others and to which they remain committed themselves) as they are not the slaves of their desires so these both point out the goodness for the Muslims that respectively relate to benefits that they provide by their tangible assets and by their justice that also is among their assets though intangible; note that it is mentioned in an authentic Hadith that (besides other books of Ahadith) Tirmidhi has reported explicitly that the Prophet PBUH said that “envy is disallowed except in two cases; one towards the man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends of it by night and by day; other towards the man whom Allah has given the Quran (i.e. its knowledge) and he stands with it giving its right by night and by day”; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Eleventh Ruku
77. And Allah's is the unseen of the heavens and the earth; and the matter of the hour is but as the twinkling of an eye or it is higher still; surely Allah has power over all things.
78. And Allah has brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers-- you did not know anything-- and He gave you hearing and sight and hearts that you may give thanks.
79. Do they not see the birds, constrained in the middle of the sky? None withholds them but Allah; most surely there are signs in this for the people who believe.
80. And Allah has given you place to abide in your houses, and He has given you tents of the skins of cattle which you find light to carry on the day of your march and on the day of your halting, and (He has given you) of their wool and their fur and their hair, household stuff and provision for a time.
81. And Allah has made for you of what He has created shelters, and He has given you in the mountains places of retreat, and He has given you garments to preserve you from the heat and coats of mail to preserve you in your fighting; even thus does He complete His favor upon you, that haply you may submit.
82. But if they turn back, then upon you is only the clear deliverance (of the message).
83. They recognize the favor of Allah, yet they deny it, and most of them are ungrateful.
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This Ruku presents the fact explicitly that the mankind needs so many things for sustenance (which Allah has provided to him) and he is bound to many things around, but Allah does whatever He wills as He needs nothing to enforce His commands and no challenge is possible against the manifestation of those commands; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the first AAYAT of the Ruku states, “and Allah's is the unseen of the heavens and the earth (so men shall not take Him as like themselves); and the matter of the hour (the last day of the world) is but as the twinkling of an eye (when it starts to take place) or it is higher still (i.e. even faster); surely Allah has power over all things”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT shows the utmost weakness of the mankind as it reads, “and Allah has brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers-- you did not know anything (so the persons among the mankind learn their manner from the birth)-- and He gave you hearing and sight and hearts (that you may learn by all these and accept the Truth, the sense of which is inside you all) that you may give thanks”; note that the AAYAT mentions hearing first as that mostly applies to learning and then sight; by these, the person gets the realization of the Truth that is already inside him so he certainly needs to be thankful to Allah by acceptance of it totally; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the third AAYAT of the Ruku states, “do they not see the birds, constrained in the middle of the sky?- no one withholds them but Allah; most surely there are signs in this for the people who believe”; this AAYAT asks attention towards the creation around especially the birds that seemingly defy the gravitational force of the earth by flying at the heaven above; note that the Quran has presented the birds as related to most amazing feats at different places which includes the event that AAYAT-260 of BAQARAH narrates when Abraham-AS asked Allah to show how He would raise the dead to life and upon that, Allah asked him if that is due to some lapse in his belief; he replied that he most certainly believes in the resurrection of the dead but he wants only to see how it would happen; He told Abraham to take four birds (unable to fly) and tame them the best he can; when he had domesticated them well, he would then keep the dead body of each one at different mounts near to each other; then standing somewhere nearby where his call reaches easily at all four places, he would call the dead birds the way he used to call them when they were alive; with no lapse of time, all of them would come running to him alive by the will of Allah; so this happened and it is notable that wherever birds are mentioned specifically in the Holy Book Quran, they present some miraculous performance, mostly in service to human beings; this is an interesting phenomenon and does show that Allah is fully capable to take His work from birds even as He wills and this also asks for clear observation to all who need guidance towards Allah; generally, the Muslims are fully aware of the amazing incident of ABA-BIL that happened just before the birth of the last Prophet Muhammad PBUH and Surah FEEL (i.e. Surah 105) presents that event; and Surah NAML tells us that HUD-HUD (i.e. Hoopoe–a bird in family of wood-peckers), brings an information that is something not known even to Solomon and the next AAYAAT tell us that he had brought information about the area of SABA (Sheba) that there a queen was ruling and they had their belief in the sun taking it as their lord and leaving the true Lord Allah; so the birds are doing a strange service to their own species and to human beings; besides birds, the Quran tells the amazing things about the insects too so note that before this incident, this same Surah tells us that “until when they (Solomon and his armies with him) came to the valley of ants, an ant said -O ants - enter your houses, (that) Solomon and his hosts may not crush you while they do not know” (Surah NAML-18); this tells that even ants do have their own system of communication by which they send messages to each other; as the Surah does not mention that Solomon had heard the speech of the ant directly (because Allah had provided him the ability to understand the speech of birds only as we learn by AAYAT-16) so Allah made him aware of this communication among the ants and learning that, he showed his extreme gratitude to Him for this most impressive status that even the ants did care for; Al-Hamdu Lillah; this AAYAT here at NAHL also tells some wonderful aspect about birds that benefits the mankind which tells that “most surely there are signs in this for the people who believe”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next couple of AAYAAT at the Ruku present the two most important needs of the mankind besides foods that are their housing and their clothing; Al-Hamdu Lillah; these AAYAAT read, “and Allah has given you place to abide in your houses, and He has given you tents of the skins of cattle which you find light to carry on the day of your march (at travels or at migration) and on the day of your halting (where you camp in them), and (He has given you) of their wool (i.e. of sheep) and their fur (i.e. of camels) and their hair (i.e. of goats) household stuff (i.e. jackets, caps, blankets etc.) and provision for a time (as they have considerably long life for general use at housing or clothing and the people could use it making cushions of them for their seats); and Allah has made for you of what He has created shelters (i.e. shades of trees and resting places on travel), and He has given you in the mountains places of retreat (caves and large cavities), and He has given you garments to preserve you from the heat (of the land of Arabia) and coats of mail (i.e. coats of armor) to preserve you in your fighting; even thus does He complete His favor upon you, that haply you may submit (without unnecessary worry about the physical needs and you all care for the true success at AKHIRAT towards which Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah, is calling you)”; AAYAT-82 tells explicitly to Muhammad PBUH that he only has to provide the message of Allah in clear terms to them all and it is not upon him to see that they do accept it; when he has given the message, his liability is done; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT at the Ruku tell about the psyche of the disbelievers that “they recognize the favor of Allah (i.e. the Guidance to the right path which the Quran provides explicitly), yet they deny it, and most of them are ungrateful”; they have received the true guidance at home that is such NEMAT (great blessing; highest of favors) from Allah upon them but instead of its acceptance, they disbelieve in it; this tells how ungrateful they are and the next Ruku warns them of the consequence of their denial of this NEMAT at AKHIRAT; note that Allah mentions at AAYAT-89 that is the last AAYAT of that Ruku, about the Holy Book Quran that “We have revealed the Book to you explaining clearly everything, and the guidance and mercy and good news for those who submit”; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Twelfth Ruku
84. And on the day when We will raise up a witness out of every nation, then shall no permission be given to those who disbelieve, nor shall they be made to solicit favor.
85. And when those who are unjust shall see the chastisement, it shall not be lightened for them, nor shall they be respited.
86. And when those who associate (others with Allah) shall see those whom they took as associates (to Him), they shall say: Our Lord, these are those that we took our associates (to Allah) on whom we called besides Thee; but they will give them back the reply that most surely you are liars.
87. And they shall tender submission to Allah on that day; and what they used to forge shall depart from them.
88. (As for) those who disbelieve and turn away from Allah's way, We will add chastisement to their chastisement because they made mischief.
89. And on the day when We will raise up in every people a witness against them from among themselves, and bring you as a witness against these-- and We have revealed the Book to you explaining clearly everything, and the guidance and mercy and good news for those who submit.
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The Ruku commences with the AAYAT that Allah would ask His Messengers to testify against their respective nations that they had provided the message of Allah explicitly to them; this is because the disbelievers do not plead for their defense due to their ignorance to the fundamental teachings of Islam at the Day of Judgment; so the point to note is that every person has the clear recognition of the Truth inside (see AAYAT-172 of Surah AARAAF which also stops him to plead for his defense due to his ignorance at the Day of Judgment) and that was addressed beautifully by the Messenger of Allah by providing him the message of Allah from outside and now after Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah, the Quran addresses that beautifully to all times ahead; so the Messenger of Allah would witness against all the disbelievers of the Truth in his nation that he had provided the message of Allah explicitly to all of them so his liability is totally done and the disbelievers are totally responsible of their doings now at this Day of Judgment; Surah NISAA, at AAYAT-41 that occurs at its sixth Ruku, also tells about this which reads, “how will it be, then, when We bring from every people a witness and bring you, O Muhammad PBUH, as a witness against these?”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT here tells that “then shall no permission be given to those who disbelieve, nor shall they be made to solicit favor” because the world only is the place of examination and that day which is the first day of AKHIRAT, is the Day of Judgment; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next four AAYAAT (from AAYAT-85 to AAYAT-88) tell about the condition of the disbelievers at AKHIRAT which read, “and when those who are unjust shall see the chastisement, it shall not be lightened for them, nor shall they be respited (as that is the Day of Judgment where all results would come at fore); and when those who associate (others with Allah) shall see those whom they took as associates (to Him), they shall say: our Lord, these are those that we took our associates on whom we called besides Thee; but they will give them back the reply that most surely you are liars (as after they had departed from the world, they had no awareness about what these disbelievers had made of them) and these (disbelievers) shall tender submission to Allah on that day; and what they used to forge (i.e. whom they took as associates to Allah) shall depart from them; (as for) those who disbelieve and (they also put their efforts on others to) turn away from Allah's way, We will add chastisement to their chastisement (increasing that) because they made mischief (i.e. they intended to bring the situation to such place where to work for the teachings of Islam becomes utmost difficult)”; the last AAYAT of the Ruku presents the same fact as the first AAYAT of the Ruku presented that the Messengers of Allah would testify against the disbelievers of their respective nations but this time, the AAYAT addresses Muhammad PBUH explicitly that Allah would call him to bear witness against the disbelievers of his people as Allah had made him the Messenger towards them and had given him the Quran to explain all necessary principles of Islam for all significant issues of life; he certainly had fulfilled his liability well and now the Quran remains the true guidance by which the Muslims would necessarily spread the teachings of Islam as they all are among the good following of Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah; He tells about the Quran at this AAYAT that “We have revealed the Book (Quran) to you explaining clearly everything (of issues for life in principles), and the guidance (to the Truth) and mercy (at the world where they might err to see or practice something by Islam unintentionally) and good news (of their true success at AKHIRAT) for those who submit”; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Thirteenth Ruku
90. Surely Allah enjoins the doing of justice and the doing of good and the giving to the kindred, and He forbids indecency and evil and rebellion; He admonishes you that you may be mindful.
91. And fulfill the covenant of Allah when you have made a covenant, and do not break the oaths after making them fast, and you have indeed made Allah surety for you; surely Allah knows the deeds you do.
92. And be not like her who unravels her yarn, disintegrating it into pieces after she has spun it strongly. You make your oaths to be means of deceit between you because (one) nation is more numerous than (another) nation. Allah only tries you by this; and He will most certainly make clear to you on the resurrection day that about which you differed.
93. And if Allah please He would certainly make you a single nation, but He causes to err whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases; and most certainly you will be questioned as to what you did.
94. And do not make your oaths a means of deceit between you, lest a foot should slip after its stability and you should taste evil because you turned away from Allah's way and grievous punishment became your (lot).
95. And do not take a small price in exchange for Allah's covenant; surely what is with Allah is better for you, did you but know.
96. What is with you passes away and what is with Allah is enduring; and We will most certainly give to those who are patient their reward for the best of what they did.
97. Whoever does the good whether male or female and he is believer, We will most certainly make him live a happy life, and We will most certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did.
98. So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan,
99. Surely he has no authority over those who believe and rely on their Lord.
100. His authority is only over those who befriend him and those who associate others with Allah.
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This Ruku starts by the AAYAT that ULAMA quote much at the sermon of Fridays as it tells explicitly how to live upon Islam; note that Muhammad PBUH is the Messenger of Allah to all persons that ever come to the world from his times to all times ahead as he is the last of all Messengers; after his death, the Muslims together have the liability to provide the message of Islam to all peoples of the world by the Quran (understanding it by Ahadith) and even if some of them do the task in the worthy manner that it deserves, the liability of all of them is done; note that the Quran gives the guidance for all issues of the life by principles and it reminds all the Muslims at the beginning of this Ruku that their attitude shall be compliance to it as they have committed totally that Allah only is their true Lord; the first AAYAT of the Ruku reads, “surely Allah enjoins the doing of justice (ADL) and the doing of good (EHSAAN) and the giving (of amounts as their right on the Muslims) to the kindred; and He forbids indecency (so eliminate it by EHSAAN) and injustice (so eliminate it by ADL) and rebellion (so avoid it by practicing charity for near ones always); He admonishes you that you may be mindful”; for this, I, MSD, would present first some matter generally related to ADL and EHSAAN whereas ADL literally means “justice” and EHSAAN literally means “goodness of intention and deed”; note that the AAYAT starts by the command of Allah that “surely Allah enjoins.....” so both of these are necessary to have at the Islamic environment for the implementation of the Islamic commands in all issues that are the commands of Allah; individually too, the Muslims would develop such attitudes that represent ADL and EHSAAN for the betterment of life yet they are highly important at the level of administration; certainly, the Muslims do not need to take actions that are sudden or imposed by force as Islam commands respect naturally that does not need such forced way to manifest itself so Insha-Allah, the Muslims would change the current society into an Islamic society by taking some necessary steps for elimination of injustice there and the necessary good attitudes would take place as a matter of natural inclination insha-Allah; note that Allah provides authority to Muslims as His AMANAT (Trust) to them that they must use to put Allah's commands into practice as much as possible; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the true Muslims accept Islam by all heart making the belief totally righteous, believing Allah as the only authority Who only has to be worshipped, truly obeyed and truly loved; and believing that the Messengers have provided the message of Allah well and Muhammad PBUH was the last of them; and believing that AKHIRAT (the true life after the life at the world) has to come where the result for this life’s belief and doings would come at fore; the true belief is the highest of blessing to the Muslim person but after that, the highest of physical blessing the man has received from Allah is his built and strength specially when he is at his youth while the highest of physical blessing the woman has received from Allah is her charm and beauty specially when she is at her youth; and for the betterment of deeds, the Holy Book Quran addresses these two blessings directly at places by asking to avoid injustice and shameful behavior; in-fact, AAYAAT-168 & 169 of BAQARAH provides the total Islamic Manifesto to apply for the conversion of environment to the Islamic environment well by addressing these two matters; they read, “O mankind! eat of that which is lawful and wholesome in the earth, and follow not the footsteps of the Satan; lo- he is an open enemy for you; he enjoins upon you only the evil (injustice) and the foul (shameful deeds), and that you should tell concerning Allah that which you know not (assigning partners to Him in His authority)”; in the world that we have today, the strength of the man includes his official status too while attraction of the woman also includes her glamorous presentation of herself besides her natural beauty that Allah has provided her; note that the Man and the Woman are equal in matters of AKHIRAT yet in this world, she has been given in his shelter for her own advantage as her father has the responsibility to see to her economic needs and her security in all ways according to the teachings of the Holy Book Quran before her marriage and her husband is liable for that after marriage so she would live in such bondage as daughter or as wife caring for the home with pleasure; accordingly, the man has to see that nothing objectionable by Islamic values takes place by the strength he has (and that might be his official strength) that leads to the occurrence of injustice and the woman has to see keeping to HEJAB that nothing adverse to Islamic values takes place by her natural beauty that attracts men which may lead the environment to shameful behavior; the Islamic administration would give attention at the environment for both of these matters by ADL (by the force of law) and EHSAAN (by guiding to the natural tendency towards virtues) respectively; the actual work to do is to guide attention towards the Holy Book Quran getting it into practice totally instead of going for material-gains & worldly-status; note that the western thinkers in the good-name of deep-thought, have tried to prove intentionally or unintentionally that the Man is only an animal; they have disregarded his spiritual existence totally (in fact under the influence of such thinkers, Taxonomy as of today, takes the Man as such); this indeed is an idiotic thought yet sadly I, MSD, remark that it has its adverse impression all over the world as of now and not a single notable person of high intelligence even among the Muslims, is challenging it fairly; in the previous couple of centuries since now (2020), some of these western thinkers tried to address the economic problem of the man to unreasonable proportion emphasizing the physical needs especially of foods and drinks as if they are animals only; some tried their best to illustrate the man as bound to his animal-desire (the sexual-drive) that this only is the focus of actions that the man takes; some tried to focus on his wildness so they mentioned him as like animals that mark their individuality by being guards to their own territory (taking territories of others too by force if possible) even if that asks for high violence and killing the rival ferociously; some tried to justify the display of power for territories that animals present at times by their sudden actions, for the sake of “nationalism” (the meaning of which might be twisted on their necessity for the reason of committing injustice to weaker nations); some tried to present this idiotic thought that the man is but an animal unashamedly by discussion that the man is the descendant of some animal that took different forms with time and place to come to the physical status as of today because he had to survive against the force of environment and this conversion relates to the survival of the fittest; though this idiotic thought that the man is only an animal has never been proved and would never be proved for sure as his spiritual-feature is most clear to mark his difference so on the contrary, the expression of issues among the humankind all the time disprove it; Al-Hamdu Lillah; yet the repetition of this idiocy at gatherings of seemingly sober persons and no challenge to it there, have led to its taking grounds even among some of the learned; however this only demonstrates that the psyche of the man has still to learn much to avoid the direct attack from the Satan when he presents some high wrong with some matter that does have some truth in it; note that this idiotic thought was brought at fore by its professors when many of intelligent persons got to many of accurate physical laws clearly that were operating at life; against this idiotic thought, Islam tells us that the Man is born between the angelic character and the animal character having both the aspects in his human character; he must either live at the angelic character by the spiritual development that is the asking of EHSAAN or either live at-least at the same human character at which he was basically born (named as FITHRAT) that is the asking of ADL; he must never live at the animal character and the point to note here is that he is allowed by Islam to fulfill his physical needs up-to necessity by valid means according to the Islamic viewpoint as that would let him remain on the human character with no adversity to that; note that the only state that Islam has forbidden to live upon, is the animal character; but it is precisely that which has been asked by the idiotic thought of one-sided worldly thinkers who left aside the guidance of Allah totally putting their total trust on their own minds; this leads to disintegration of the person accepting it at the individual level and to high chaos at the environment; note that such people would surely get what they deserve at AKHIRAT yet even in this world, the result to such thinking and to its acceptance is the punishment of hunger or/and all sorts of fear that is put on such people as these both are what animals have to deal with all the time; AAYAT-112 at the fifteenth Ruku of NAHL (that is just ahead) tells about this punishment to all those who are the rejecters of blessings of Allah; note that Allah has given the worldly-life to all persons as their examination so that they prove that they really deserve JANNAH by their true belief and by their righteous deeds as that only would bring the pleasure of Allah; it is not for any other reason so all persons need to prove their worth to the task; Al-Hamdu Lillah; now coming to the comments on AAYAT-90, the first AAYAT of the Ruku, note that Allah commands for three things here and forbids three other things; the message here is that taking-up three good things in practice that comprise of all the righteousness would eliminate the three bad things in practice that represent all the satanic misguidance; so the AAYAT provides the indication that EHSAAN eliminates all of the shameful behavior and ADL eliminates all of injustice though the sequence to state this elimination is inverse for these two; the spending towards the needy among the near ones for the pleasure of Allah counters any thought that might lead towards hypocrisy that in turn, might lead towards challenging the commands of Allah; the message for this part here is that “INFAAQ” (spending amounts in the way of Allah from what Allah has provided) keeps away “NIFAAQ” (hypocrisy); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT denotes the importance of the fulfillment of the word that the Muslim person gives as his commitment; it says, “and fulfill the covenant of Allah when you have made a covenant, and do not break the oaths after making them fast, and you have indeed made Allah surety for you; surely Allah knows the deeds you do”; note that all oaths that the Muslim person takes would care not to challenge the Islamic teachings in any manner; among them, those oaths are most important for the mankind that relate to business transactions that the men make among their-selves (which they have to fulfill mostly by ADL) and Allah sees their commitment; so if someone breaks these oaths, he commits such sin/crime that makes him highly unjust in his deeds; besides them, there are those important oaths that relate to the marriage of the man and his wife as they commit to care for each other with trust among themselves (which they have to fulfill mostly by EHSAAN) and Allah sees their commitment; so if someone among the Muslims breaks these oaths by avoiding the announcement of the marriage or by avoiding the responsibility the person has towards the spouse or by avoiding the asking of the required trust among each other, then each of these things makes the person incline towards most shameful acts that he/she is accountable for at the court of Allah and that disgraces him/her amongst all the people around; may Allah guide all the Muslims to fulfill all their oaths among themselves in the finest of manners; Al-Hamdu Lillah; with this comment, please note also that this AAYAT addresses specially such Muslims who accepted it by all study and left all vague concepts they had before its acceptance and pledged with commitment that they shall adhere to Islam whatever comes; they shall fulfill its demands in their practice remaining totally attentive to Allah, the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-92 gives the similitude for those Muslim persons who break their oaths for their personal motives; it reads, “and be not like her who unravels her yarn, disintegrating it into pieces after she has spun it strongly; you make your oaths to be means of deceit between you because (one) nation is more numerous than (another) nation; Allah only tries you by this; and He will most certainly make clear to you on the resurrection day that about which you differed”; note that there was an insane old woman at Makkah at those times who habitually used to spin the yarn well all the day long but at the end of the day, disintegrated it into pieces; providing her as the instance to this matter, this AAYAT denotes that to break a valid oath is like the disintegration of yarn that is spun well; when some Muslim person breaks any of his significant oath for any personal motive, he affects his integrity in the most adverse manner and asks for the wrath of Allah upon him; and if any of the Muslim administrations has made some significant oath (or pact) at the administrative level and then takes the breach of it against the side that is committed to it (due to consideration towards such people who seem better placed than that side and they pursue them for such breach, at the worldly issues), it would bring the wrath of Allah in such manner that they would incur extreme mistrust of all peoples of the world in settlement of issues ahead; may Allah save all Muslims from such wrongs; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last part of the AAYAT tells “and He will most certainly make clear to you on the resurrection day that about which you differed”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; all AAYAAT ahead at the Ruku provide some detail to the previous couple of AAYAAT and so three of them that are ahead tell, “and if Allah please He would certainly make you a single nation, but He causes to err whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases; and most certainly you will be questioned as to what you did; and do not make your oaths a means of deceit between you, lest a foot should slip after its stability and you should taste evil because you turned away from Allah's way and grievous punishment became your (lot); and do not take a small price in exchange for Allah's covenant; surely what is with Allah is better for you, did you but know”; so He has made the world the place of examination where the difference of opinion would exist but the Muslims need to care that there is no difference about the Islamic concepts that relate to principles in issues and according to their commitment to Islam, they would care to bring it to practice on the collective level with all decency possible as Islam commands total respect indeed from the inside of all men; any such administration, even if it claims to represent the Muslims, that intends that its people increase the number of challengers to Islam by their support to those who take-up concepts against Islam, they would gain nothing but extreme trouble at the Day of Judgment; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the breaches of pacts among nations (especially if any of the Muslim administrations is liable for it), would cause mistrust among each other and so retaliation to such breaches might lead to wars among nations and troubles to the common man to fulfill the commands of Islam; moreover, the ignorance of any of the Muslim administrations to the teachings of Islam in practice for the worldly cause, would give the most negative impression to spreading the message of Islam among all peoples of the world and so Allah would certainly punish such administration most severely; all Muslims need to see that they have committed to Allah to live upon Islam so as they fulfill their commitment, Allah would certainly provide them the highest of blessing even in the world; AAYAAT-96 & 97 guide attention of the Muslims on the individual level that most certainly, whatever worldly assets that they have, that would end (at their deaths) yet whatever of blessings that Allah would provide to them at AKHIRAT, that would stay-on with them; and Allah would provide them the best of returns to all of their good deeds (that would be ten times for each one) as Allah appreciates sincerity to Him in all of good deeds; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Allah requires that all the good deeds that the person does, whether a man or a woman, he/she does it with sincere belief upon Allah remaining among the true Muslims so then Allah would provide him/her the most pleasant life at the world and would provide him/her the best of returns to all of his/her good deeds at AKHIRAT, the true life; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last three AAYAAT of the Ruku ask Muhammad PBUH, and with him all the true Muslims, that as they recite the Quran, they need to seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan; they would seek this refuge of Allah in as simple words as possible with all inclination to purify their heart to get the true message of the Quran as better as possible; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the pursuance of the accursed Satan does not affect the true Muslims adversely as they believe in Allah most sincerely and rely on Him when they take-up any task to accomplish to gain His pleasure; he affects those only who lean towards his pursuance due to desires for worldly assets and due to associating others in the authority of Allah whom they erroneously take as their intercessors and whom they consider as able to save them from all troubles at the day of HASHR; note that the recitation of the Quran does not mean its reading only (which also is certainly necessary) but it also means to see its teachings with total belief on it and to put it into practice and spread its teaching to all peoples of the world so that they also put it into practice; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Fourteenth Ruku
101. And when We change (one) AAYAT for (another) AAYAT, and Allah knows best what He reveals, they say- you commit forgery. Nay, most of them do not know.
102. Say: the holy-spirit has revealed it from your Lord with the truth that it may establish those who believe and as a guidance and good news for those who submit.
103. And certainly We know that they say: Only a mortal teaches him. The tongue of him whom they reproach is barbarous, and this is clear Arabic tongue.
104. (As for) those who do not believe in Allah's AAYAAT, surely Allah will not guide them, and they shall have a painful punishment.
105. Only they forge the lie, who do not believe in Allah's AAYAAT and these are the liars.
106. He who disbelieves in Allah after his having believed, not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith, but he who opens (his) breast to disbelief-- on these is the wrath of Allah, and they shall have a grievous chastisement.
107. This is because they love this world's life more than the hereafter, and because Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.
108. These are they on whose hearts and their hearing and their eyes Allah has set a seal and these are the heedless ones.
109. No doubt that in the hereafter they will be the losers.
110. Yet surely your Lord, with respect to those who fly after they are persecuted then they struggle hard and are patient, most surely your Lord after that is Forgiving, Merciful.
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The first AAYAT of this Ruku mentions that Allah changes one AAYAT for another AAYAT in command as He wills; due to this change, the disbelievers blamed the Prophet PBUH that he has committed forgery in presenting the Quran; the notable point about this is that this relates to the matter that we studied at Surah BAQARAH-106 where the word NUNSEHA (whatever We cause to be forgotten) tells about it; note that BAQARAH-106 says that “whatever AAYAT We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it; do you not know that Allah has power over all things?”; at this AAYAT the words MA-NANSAKH (whatever We abrogate) tell that Allah abrogates some of the previous commands that relate to Torah and the word NUNSEHA (whatever We cause to be forgotten) relates to the Holy Book Quran which means that Allah causes to cease some specific aspect of the command previously given in the Holy Book Quran by providing another AAYAT for that command; He brings this other AAYAT for His command by His will that has more ease in it for practice than the previous or it is very similar to it and He certainly has total authority for this; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Surah AA’LA reads that, “We will make you recite so you shall not forget, except what Allah pleases, surely He knows the manifest (in command), and what is hidden” (Surah AA’LA-6 & 7); its recitation still goes on as there certainly is no such AAYAT that Allah descended at the Quran and then He placed it out of its TILAWAT i.e. recitation, by any manner of abrogation; note that Shah WALIULLAH (d-1759 AD) has counted five places for this change in his booklet FAUZUL-KABIR; he mentioned these five as (1) AAYAT-180 at BAQARAH that is changed in command by NISAA-11 & 12; (2) AAYAT-240 at BAQARAH that is changed by BAQARAH-234; (3) AAYAT-65 at ANFAAL that is changed by ANFAAL-66; (4) AAYAT-50 of AHZAAB that is changed by AHZAAB-52; (5) AAYAT-12 of MUJADILAH that is changed by MUJADILAH-13; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that the abrogation of AAYAAT (that was previously at Torah) or the change about any of AAYAAT (at the Quran) occurs at commands only; for the example to this change in command, it is proper to see one of these five places so note the AAYAAT at ANFAAL that read, “O Prophet (PBUH) - urge the believers to war; if there are twenty patient ones of you they shall overcome two hundred, and if there are a hundred of you they shall overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they are a people who do not understand” (AAYAT-65); “for the present Allah has made light your burden, and He knows that there is weakness in you; so if there are a hundred patient ones of you they shall overcome two hundred, and if there are a thousand they shall overcome two thousand by Allah's permission, and Allah is with the patient” (AAYAT-66); Al-Hamdu Lillah; so AAYAT-65 of ANFAAL asks the Prophet PBUH to urge the Muslims for QITAL (the fight against the disbelievers) and gives this good tidings that even if the true Muslims are twenty in number only, they would be enough to win the field against two hundred of disbelievers; if the true Muslims that are hundred and they face a thousand of disbelievers, the Muslims would even then defeat them; the quantity of disbelievers would not stand against the quality of the Muslims to fight them for the simple reason that they are not aware of the blessing of the Islamic teachings when they are in the practice of the true Muslims clearly; this AAYAT though statement, provides this as command that the Muslims (if they face disbelievers that are ten times more in quantity) have to fight them and they would not back-out from the combat though if the disbelievers are much more, then the Muslims have the option to withdraw their-selves from QITAL; the next AAYAT gives concession in the command and makes the Muslims liable to fight the disbelievers necessarily when at maximum they are double in number to the Muslims and beyond that, the Muslims have the option to withdraw; the reason for this concession is given at the AAYAT that they do have some weakness (in the power to fight) yet Allah would assist them if they do relate themselves to SABR (patience); please see the note at the thirteenth Ruku of BAQARAH too for this matter related to AAYAAT; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next four AAYAAT clarify that this Quran is the word of Allah that He has sent to Muhammad PBUH by the most respectable angel Gabriel-AS (the holy-spirit); Allah has told at AAYAT-102 here about the beauty of the Quran to the Muslims as He has presented at AAYAT-89 too; Allah sent it with HAQQ (i.e. the Truth) to establish the practice of Islamic teachings among the Muslims so it is the Guidance to the right path for them at the world and certainly, the good news for them about the success at AKHIRAT; note that by AAYAT-89, we get the detail of HAQQ that it explains clearly everything for the life of the mankind (in essence) and there Allah mentioned it as mercy too towards the Muslims so this AAYAT-102 provides the detail for the mercy that it establishes the practice of Islamic teachings among the Muslims for their magnificent strength at the world; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-103 tells that when the disbelievers could not challenge the Islamic teachings at the Quran, they tried to blame Muhammad PBUH that he had learnt these issues from some person; Allah replies by telling them that the person that they indicate in their blame is not an Arab and the Quran has presented these teaching in clear Arabic; note about this answer that though it implies attention to integrity of the Islamic teachings at the Quran too yet it actually points out that even the text of the Quran that provides those teachings, is miraculous as it is totally inimitable; certainly, those who disbelieve the Quran by such blames, Allah would never guide them to the right path and they certainly would face the most severe punishment; those who lie by their forgery are actually the disbelievers who have disbelieved in the AAYAAT that Allah has sent (and who blame the Prophet PBUH in different manners about them), and they actually are such liars who try to present erroneous teachings to misguide the persons around; the next AAYAAT from AAYAT-106 till the last of the Ruku present the attitudes of two types of the Muslim persons that happen to face such critical situation that threatens their lives directly; at such situation, only those Muslim persons would remain totally committed to Islam who are most attentive to Allah with all sincerity towards Him; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the four AAYAAT from 106 to 109 read, “he who disbelieves in Allah after his having believed, not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith, but he who opens (his) breast to disbelief- on these is the wrath of Allah, and they shall have a grievous chastisement; this is because they love this world's life more than the hereafter, and because Allah does not guide the disbelieving people; these are they on whose hearts and their hearing and their eyes Allah has set a seal and these are the heedless ones; no doubt that in the hereafter they will be the losers”; AAYAT-106 indicate those who at the times of extreme crisis, leave Islam and go towards disbelief that they shall have grievous chastisement; but there is an exception that this AAYAT presents by the words to the effect that “not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith”; note that there were such early Muslims who accepted Islam when the message of Islam reached them as Muhammad PBUH started providing it on the command of Allah to all people around; the disbelievers violently tortured those that were the weakest of those Muslims as they did not have any defense to offer against their tyranny; though many of them accepted death even at such times yet there were few of them who could not bear such torture and succumbed to the pressure upon them to leave Islam by saying disbelieving words against Islam; even among these few, the better number was of those who for the sake of their safety, said the disbelieving words but they actually believed Islam totally at heart; the exception at the AAYAT refers to such persons and there are accounts of such persons that they used to cry on such words that they uttered to safety that seemingly denoted disbelief but this AAYAT relieved them due to their plight at those times by acceptance of their true repentance; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT tells about the other of these few who left Islam (because of their inclination to their tribal manners or because of their expectation of getting high amounts of money or because of some status that they might receive at the world) when they were pressurized at their belief in Islam and showed no repentance on their doing ahead, that they would certainly see the most grievous chastisement; this would come to them as they preferred the world over AKHIRAT and Allah does not provide the true guidance to such disbelieving people; Allah has put seal upon their hearts because of their inclination to worldly things and upon their hearing ability and their seeing ability so they would remain oblivious to the true guidance ahead; note that when the hearing ability and the seeing ability does not lead to the acceptance of the Truth at heart then it actually means that they are not available to the person who seemingly has them; and so they certainly would be the losers at AKHIRAT; note that at those times, Islam highly needed such committed persons who would remain firm upon it even when they face extreme troubles so that they would ultimately challenge (and change) the situation of “might is right” that prevailed extensively at those times bringing it to the total commitment to Allah, the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT of the Ruku tells that Allah cares for such persons who remain committed to Islam whatever comes as it reads, “yet surely your Lord, with respect to those who fly after they are persecuted then they struggle hard and are patient, most surely your Lord after that is Forgiving, Merciful”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; this not only soothes such person that AAYAT-106 had denoted as an exception by the words that “not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith” but it also expresses the good tidings to all those persons who come to Islam and stay firm on it, that due to their acceptance of Islam, Allah has eliminated all of their previous wrong doings and He would surely provide them such space ahead (which might be at other land than at which they had been living) that they would gain the best of deeds there as they remain totally attentive to Allah, the true Lord; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Fifteenth Ruku
111. (Remember) the day when every soul shall come, pleading for itself and every soul shall be paid in full for what it has done, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly.
112. And Allah sets forth a parable: (Consider) a town safe and secure to which its means of subsistence come in abundance from every quarter; but it became ungrateful to Allah's favors, therefore Allah made it to taste the utmost degree of hunger and fear because of what they wrought.
113. And certainly there came to them an Apostle from among them, but they rejected him, so the punishment overtook them while they were unjust.
114. Therefore eat of what Allah has given you, lawful and good (things), and give thanks for Allah's favor if Him do you serve.
115. He has only forbidden you what dies of itself and blood and flesh of swine and that over which any other name than that of Allah has been invoked, but whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring nor exceeding the limit, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
116. And, for what your tongues describe, do not utter the lie, (saying) this is lawful and this is unlawful, in order to forge a lie against Allah; surely those who forge the lie against Allah shall not prosper.
117. A little enjoyment and they shall have a painful punishment.
118. And for those who were Jews We prohibited what We have related to you already, and We did them no injustice, but they were unjust to themselves.
119. Yet surely your Lord, with respect to those who do an evil in ignorance, then turn after that and make amends, most surely your Lord after that is Forgiving, Merciful.
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This Ruku guides the attention to the fact that the day of HASHR would certainly take place when every person would plead for the safety of his/her own self and every person would certainly receive only what he/she deserves so there would be no injustice; after the mention of the Day of Judgment, the Ruku goes on to ask for care to eat only the allowed clean-to-take foods; note that the Quran has clearly told at places that the intake of anything affects the Man not only in physical sense but even in the spiritual sense and so it asks at places to take care about what he eats (see for instance AAYAAT 168 & 169 of Surah-BAQARAH); so the Muslims would incline to foods that are HALAAL (allowed to eat) and TAYYIBAH (clean-to-take-in) and for this, they must see the KITAB (the Quran) and the SUNNAH (the practical guidance of the Prophet PBUH by his words, his actions or/and his silence on some matter); the lack of even one of these properties (that are HALAAL and TAYYIBAH in something seemingly edible) prohibits the intake of it; note also that Allah had commanded Adam & Eve to keep away from going near even to the tree that had the prohibited fruit for them on it; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-112 gives the example of such town that had all security from enemy and the people there were living peacefully as they got all necessary commodities with ease for their subsistence in abundance from different places to it; but it happened that they ignored the practice of commands of Allah in their lives and inclined to living with luxuries rather than necessities and they went beyond comforts as they wanted all sort of worldly assets available that they could manage to get; they had no worry if that caused troubles to the fellow-beings and they became restless even with the peace that they had with them and developed such psyche that had the quest for more and more of the world; this ultimately led them to ignore the practice of commands of Allah and to become most ungrateful to Him; their lives became competition with each other for the world, to show that they have more worth to accumulate the worldly finances and it even became the pursuit to satisfy their animal desires; Allah provided them some trying situations that came as hunger or/and all sorts of fear to them as their manner of living was turning like the manner of animals at jungle and these both (extreme hunger and troublesome fear) are what animals have to deal with all the time; this was put on them so that they take the heed to the righteous manner of living and leave their inclination to the world; but they were so unjust that they did not take-up simplicity as their living manner even when a Messenger of Allah came into them from their own selves to teach them the teachings of Islam (that ask for simplicity in the manner of living) and due to their disregard to His Messenger, Allah punished them most severely; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAAT-114 & 115 at the Ruku ask to eat from all HALAAL (allowed to eat) and TAYYIBAH (clean-to-take-in) only and to remain totally grateful to Allah; but if the extreme necessity asks to eat from such things that are neither HALAAL nor TAYYIBAH then the person has to take it only for necessity and up-to necessity; these things include such animal (that is ordinarily allowed & clean-to-eat) that dies of itself; and blood and flesh of swine and that over which any other name than that of Allah has been invoked; the Muslims need to strictly avoid these things except where extreme necessity tells that the death would most probably occur if they do not take any of these though even then that would be to necessity only; and Allah would forgive the sin then as He certainly is Most Forgiving and Most Merciful (see also the first Ruku of Surah MA’EDAH); Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT ahead tells the Muslims not to decide for something as HALAAL and TAYYIBAH by own-selves because Allah only is the true authority; only KITAB and SUNNAH (that show the commands of Allah to fulfill as to get the pleasure of Allah) would decide about the foods and drinks to take-in as HALAAL and TAYYIBAH; to decide by own self in such manner about the foods and the drinks are nothing but lies that would benefit such liars in no manner; even if they enjoy these things by the effect of their lies for the time-being at the world yet they would ultimately face extreme punishment on their extreme lies in this crucial issue so they need to avoid it strictly; Al-Hamdu Lillah; Allah tells at AAYAT-118 that Allah had prohibited some of foods and drinks on the Jews which He has told Muhammad PBUH before though some of them were even HALAAL and TAYYIBAH in general; note that AAYAT-146 of AN’AAM reads, “and to those who were Jews We made unlawful every animal having claws, and of oxen and sheep We made unlawful to them the fat of both, except such as was on their backs or the entrails or what was mixed with bones: this was a punishment We gave them on account of their rebellion, and We are surely Truthful”; note also that Jacob-AS had prohibited the consumption of meat of camels upon himself at his times (only with the intention to get the pleasure of Allah) and Allah kept this prohibition too to remain among the Jews; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT at the Ruku gives concession to all those Muslims who had consumed any of the prohibited foods or/and drinks by ignorance; if their mistake is genuine where they had taken some prohibited foods or/and drinks, Allah gives them the recognition of their folly and gives them the space to better their position by avoiding all such wrongs ahead in whatever they consume when they are not yet seemingly near to their deaths; they need to accept the recognition early as that comes to them and compensate for their folly by avoidance of all such wrongs ahead with all commitment to the guidance that they had received explicitly; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
NAHL-The Last Ruku
120. Surely Ibrahim was an exemplar, obedient to Allah, upright, and he was not of the polytheists.
121. Grateful for His favors; He chose him and guided him on the right path.
122. And We gave him good in this world, and in the next he will most surely be among the good.
123. Then We revealed to you: Follow the faith of Ibrahim, the upright one, and he was not of the polytheists.
124. The Sabbath was ordained only for those who differed about it, and most surely your Lord will judge between them on the resurrection day concerning that about which they differed.
125. Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and have disputations with them in the best manner; surely your Lord knows best those who go astray from His path, and He knows best those who follow the right path.
126. And if you take your turn, then retaliate with the like of that with which you were afflicted; but if you are patient, it will certainly be best for those who are patient.
127. And be patient and your patience is not but by (the assistance of) Allah, and grieve not for them, and do not distress yourself at what they plan.
128. Surely Allah is with those who guard (against evil) and those who do the good (to others).
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The last Ruku of NAHL starts by telling about Ibrahim-AS that “Surely Ibrahim was an exemplar (UMMAH), obedient to Allah, upright, and he was not of the polytheists”; UMMAH actually has the meaning of “the people that have united upon a significant cause” so note that strictly according to Islam, there are two nations only in the world that are rejecters of the Truth and the believers of the Truth (see TAGHABUN-2); see also the comments at AAYAT-143 of Surah BAQARAH which tells, “and thus We have made you a medium nation (UMMAH) that you may be the bearers of witness to the people and (that) the Messenger may be a bearer of witness to you” so this is one of the most important tasks of the Muslims as nation; even if only some of the people in the world remain as the believers in the Islamic teachings who practice it and provide it to others, they still would certainly remain whole nation in their own capacity and Ibrahim-AS alone represented the Muslim UMMAH at his time though soon after, his wife Sarah-AS and his nephew Lot-AS (who then became the Messenger of Allah) accepted the teachings of Islam with him; as the AAYAT mentions him as UMMAH so it points out that there would be the believers of the Truth who would fervently care for it in his descendants and that he had all virtues to height in him that Islam asks of all true Muslims (especially the ability by the blessing of Allah to provide the message of Islam to all peoples) yet it also informs that even if one man is at the right path, he truly is the whole UMMAH and he actually represents the standard to see how the virtuous person would live; Al-Hamdu Lillah; this clarifies that the Muslims of a specific place or of a specific time even if all of them are not included in the mention, they still are the UMMAH in their own capacity; it is such concept of unity that shows by any tangible substantial gathering of the good Muslims anywhere even at these current times, so the beautiful concept of UMMAH in Islam renders it indivisible if the Muslims do understand it well as due to the true concept of “nation” by the Islamic viewpoint, there is no possibility for anyone to divide the Muslims into factions anywhere at any time; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that even the disbelievers at Makkah at the times of Muhammad PBUH held Ibrahim in most high esteem (and the people of the Book too respect him most highly to this day) so the AAYAT mentions him that he believed in the Islamic teachings and that he did put into his practice; he taught those teachings only with total obedience to Allah with his total attention towards Him in all issues of life; and he certainly was not among the polytheists; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the AAYAT implies that when the disbelievers say that they do respect Ibrahim and they neither follow him in their belief nor in their practice so what kind of respect is this; AAYAAT-121 & 122 explicitly tell about him that “he was grateful for the favors of Allah (that he remained pleased without asking for abundance at whatever He had granted him)- He chose him (as His Prophet) and guided him on the right path (i.e. the path of Islam); and We gave him good (the most pleasant life) in this world, and in the next (i.e. AKHIRAT) he will most surely be among the good”; here the ILTIFAAT (change of the pronoun at statements in the Quran) is notable that in AAYAT-122, Allah speaks in the royal manner to express His true authority by the pronoun “We” that His will reigns truly everywhere at the earth and at the heavens and at all that is between them; Al-Hamdu Lillah; note that even when the Quran applies the ILTIFAAT, the meanings to the AAYAAT still remain most obvious at such places; note also that we have just studied at AAYAT-97, “whoever does the good whether male or female and he is believer, We will most certainly make him live a happy life (at the world), and We will most certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did (at AKHIRAT)”; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the next AAYAT tells that Allah has provided the same message of Islam to Muhammad PBUH that He had given to Ibrahim-AS, that he would follow in the most committed manner and all of his UMMAH would too, to remain on the right path (as Allah clarified all the basics of that right path beautifully in the times of Ibrahim and they always were the same); and Ibrahim certainly was never among the polytheists; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-124 tells that the Jews whom Allah had commanded to sanctify the day of Saturday (and they were the only ones that Allah had commanded for it), they disputed about it and disrespected it so Allah would settle all disputes among them at the Day of Judgment (see also the note at the eighth Ruku of BAQARAH); Allah brings this AAYAT here to tell that Allah did provide different commands even after Ibrahim though He had provided the basics of the right path most clearly to believe at his times; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-125 tells about providing the message of Allah (to all peoples of the world with care to their respective inclinations) to which the Muslims have their extreme liability as of now after the death of Muhammad PBUH, the last Messenger of Allah; and the next three AAYAAT till the last of the Ruku (which also is the last of Surah NAHL) provide even more clarity to this matter; Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-125 reads, “(O Muhammad PBUH)- call to the way of your Lord with wisdom (those learned persons who are most studious yet in need of getting the Islamic teachings) and with goodly exhortation (by addressing the good emotions in those persons who value the good feelings among the fellow beings), and have disputations with those (who would not even listen properly to the good Islamic teachings due to their negative manner to challenge everything that comes their way, even when the true Muslims provide all good reasoning for them to accept Islam in their benefit), in the best manner; surely your Lord knows best those who go astray from His path, and He knows best those who follow the right path (so you have the liability to providing the message of Islam to all peoples of the world and Allah only would decide who gets the true guidance)”; note that HIKMAT (i.e. wisdom) means such high intelligence that tells how to put the Islamic commands into practice so the Muslims would call the learned persons that have the inclination to HIKMAT, by the manner of HIKMAT (as that is the asking of ADL); and they would call those persons who have the sense that the world needs to live in peace where all persons care about the fellow beings with such good principles that they all apply at practice, by the manner of goodly exhortation (as that is the asking of EHSAAN); Al-Hamdu Lillah; AAYAT-126 & 127 relate to retaliation by the same level of offence if the last type of them come to challenge them practically in some most adverse manner; so AAYAT-126 asks all true Muslims to stand firm together against their adverse practical efforts to challenge Islam though it appreciates the preference to patience where it is possible on their wrong-doings and leave such persons on their own (note that this Surah came to the Prophet PBUH at the MAKKI period); however, Allah commands the Prophet PBUH at AAYAT-127 especially to observe patience with the indication that though it is difficult in general yet Allah would give him the ability to observe it with easiness and asks him not to grieve upon their disbelief (by the concern why they reject these good teachings when he is providing these to them only so that they get highest of benefits by them) and guides him not to distress himself on whatever adverse plans that they make against the expression of his teachings (as Allah would certainly save him from all their adverse efforts as he fulfills his liability well) so unless they take some adverse action against Islam practically, the better thing for him is to avoid all such persons by ignoring them at this time as much as possible; Al-Hamdu Lillah; the last AAYAT of the Surah tells about all those that come to Islam by its total acceptance that they also become part of the Muslim UMMAH and Allah would care for all true Muslims who do care for the commands of Allah in all issues of life; it reads, “surely Allah is with those who guard (against evil that nothing adverse touches their true belief on Islam as they remain attentive to Allah) and those who do the good (deeds that benefit them highly and that benefit even others)”; so most certainly, these are such persons who would live the most pleasant life at the world, and Allah would most certainly give them their good reward in the best of manners for whatever good they did, at AKHIRAT; Al-Hamdu Lillah.
“Tafsiri-Guide to the Quran” by:
Muhammad Saleem Dada
Here our study of NAHL ends; Al-Hamdu Lillah
www.saleemdada.weebly.com
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