Quran: a verse & a comment

[TashaN]

Alsalam Alykom,

Brothers and Sisters, When i was reading the Quran, suddnly i saw a wonderful verse which i felt like i must do somthing with it.

Therefore, i will post everyday insyaAllah a verse and my comment about it and it's affect in my life, on people or anything else which concern me.

I would love you to join me if you want to post a verse and your comment about it, and we can also discuss about a specific verse and add more information about it too releated to it.

You don't have to expand too much about your verse if you don't want to but you can simply say few words about it.


I'll start with this verse:

"It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards East or West; but it is righteousness to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practise regular charity, to fulfil the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the God-fearing". (Quran 2:177)

My comment is:

I feel this is how a muslim must behave toward himself and toward his society, this is the real example of how Allah wants us to be.

Peace ...

 

[Cordoba]

Assalamo Alaikom Brother Truth:

That's an excellent topic you chose, though for the comments you may need to do a lot of reading and research.

Will try to contribute as much as possible In-Shaa-Allah.

Salam and all the best.

 

[Judgement Day]

Wa'alaikum Salam Warahmatullahi Wabarokatuh,

An excellent topic indeed Brother The Truth. Will try to contribute. [size=-1]May Peace, Mercy and Blessings of Allah the Almighty God be upon you all ! ! !

JD
[/size]

 

[jamaesi]

What a great post!
Frubals for you. : )


I love that verse. It doesn't matter how righteous you act or what great feats you do, the only thing that matters is being a good person and doing good things.

 

[TashaN]

Thank you guys ..

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

[1] Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;


[2] Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;


[3] He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;


[4] And there is none like unto Him. (Quran 112:1-4)

This is a very short Surah in Quran but i never found a comprehnsive and perfect description for God more than this one.

By the way, this Surah is equal to 1/3 of the Quran which means it's so great and have huge value in Islam.

 

[Popeyesays]

Assalamo Alaikom Brother Truth:

That's an excellent topic you chose, though for the comments you may need to do a lot of reading and research.

Will try to contribute as much as possible In-Shaa-Allah.

Salam and all the best.

I hope no one minds a comment from me. I found the verse and commentary fascinating and would couple it with a verse from the Parsi (Zoroastrian) sacred texts: "5. And in this Zaothra with this Baresman I desire to approach the man who recites the ritual
rites with my praise, who is maintaining thus the thought well thought, and the word well
spoken, and the deed well done, and Piety the bountiful, even him who maintains the Mathra
of the Saoshyant, by whose actions the settlements are advanced in the righteous order."
(The Zend-Avesta, Avesta - Visperad)
The idea of "right thought, right word and right deed" seems to be particularly apt to this verse from the Qur'an.

Regards,
Scott

 

[Nehustan]

Thank you guys ..

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

[1] Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;


[2] Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;


[3] He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;


[4] And there is none like unto Him. (Quran 112:1-4)

This is a very short Surah in Quran but i never found a comprehnsive and perfect description for God more than this one.

By the way, this Surah is equal to 1/3 of the Quran which means it's so great and have huge value in Islam.

I think that this is precisely why it is called Al Ikhlas, or sincerity/purity of faith. I think that pondering the differences between, Allahu Ahad (Allah is One), Al Wahid (The Unique), and wahid as a number can give an insight to Tawheed.

 

[TashaN]

Thank you guys for your comments ..

"We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power:" (Quran 97:1)

Most of scholars " and ibn-abbas the cousin of the prophet and the one whom called the translator of the Quran was one of them" believed that this verse meant that Allah have revealed the whole Quran at once in that night (laylat of al-gadar) in Ramadan. Allah revealed it all at once from "the sacred board" to the house of "Izza" in the first "Donya" sky "heaven". Then it was revealed to Mohammed "peace be upon him" in 23 years according to the events of the life of prophet Mohammed "peace be upon him".

 

[Judgement Day]

This interesting verse was quoted by Brother The Truth in another thread:

"And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers".(Quran 3:85)

I think this verse refers to someone who already knows that Islam is the truth but then rejects the truth. My conclusion came after reading a couple of verses ahead of it, because as we know, sometimes a verse needs to be understood by reading the verse before and after the regarding verse. Sometimes, if we just read one particular verse without any concerns on other verses, we can misunderstand it.

How shall Allah guide a people who disbelieved after their believing and (after) they had borne witness that the Messenger was true and clear arguments had come to them; and Allah does not guide the unjust people.(Quran 3:86)

(As for) these, their reward is that upon them is the curse of Allah and the angels and of men, all together.(Quran 3:87)

Abiding in it; their chastisement shall not be lightened nor shall they be respited.(Quran 3:88)

Except those who repent after that and amend, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.(Quran 3:89)

Surely, those who disbelieve after their believing, then increase in unbelief, their repentance shall not be accepted, and these are they that go astray.(Quran 3:90)


Peace to all of you!
JD

 

[TashaN]

This interesting verse was quoted by Brother The Truth in another thread:

"And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers".(Quran 3:85)

I think this verse refers to someone who already knows that Islam is the truth but then rejects the truth. My conclusion came after reading a couple of verses ahead of it, because as we know, sometimes a verse needs to be understood by reading the verse before and after the regarding verse. Sometimes, if we just read one particular verse without any concerns on other verses, we can misunderstand it.

How shall Allah guide a people who disbelieved after their believing and (after) they had borne witness that the Messenger was true and clear arguments had come to them; and Allah does not guide the unjust people.(Quran 3:86)

(As for) these, their reward is that upon them is the curse of Allah and the angels and of men, all together.(Quran 3:87)

Abiding in it; their chastisement shall not be lightened nor shall they be respited.(Quran 3:88)

Except those who repent after that and amend, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.(Quran 3:89)

Surely, those who disbelieve after their believing, then increase in unbelief, their repentance shall not be accepted, and these are they that go astray.(Quran 3:90)


Peace to all of you!
JD

I have been looking in many Tafseers in these few days and i found out that thise verse was revealed because one of the muslims and his name was (al-harith bin sowaid) he left Islam with other 12 friends of him and they moved to Mecca with the unbelievers there. After that, these verses were revealed to prophet Mohammed "peace be upon him" so once (al-harith) heard about these verses you just mentioned, he felt sorry for what he did and he asked for forgivness from the prophet by sending his muslims brother (al-jalas bin sowaid) to prophet Mohammed. He became a muslim again after that.

Thanks for your wonderful words and for your deep studying on verses.

 

[TashaN]

"For each (such person) there are (angels) in succession. Before and behind him: they guard him by command of Allah. Verily never will Allah change the condition of a people until they change it themselves (with their own souls). But when (once) Allah willeth a people's punishment, there can be no turning it back, nor will they find, besides Him, any to protect". (Quran 13:11)

This part of the verse (in red) is the most common verse among Muslims and the most verse mentioned by scholars in their lectures.

In arabic it's (لا يغي&#1585 the first word in arabic it's ( la ) it means never ever especially when Allah says ( la ) so it's a huge matter and the second one is (yogayer) which means change.

If we examined the entire we notice that Allah mentioned angels which protect us.

There are angels which guard us during the day and others at night, two angels from our right and our left to write our right and bad deeds (the one on the right write the good deeds and the left one write the bad deeds of what we do), and two protect us one before us and the other in behind. So, there are four angels protect us during the day and also four at night.

Those angels protect us except from the will of Allah when he decide that somthing will happen to us by the permission of him. Nothing will happen to us unless he give the permission to it then this thing once he reach to us the angels will leave us to face it and this is a test from Allah to see who will be patient and consider his patient as somthing for Allah to be rewarded for it and also to see who will freak out and give up in his/her believing in Allah.

The other part in the verse which i mentioned earlier is warning from God that he will not change the condition of a people until they change it themselves whether from bad condition to good one and vice versa like what happened in the battle of (ohod) when the unbelievers of Quryish almost defeated the Muslims because there some muslims whom prophet Mohammed ordered to stand by over the mountain went from their positions to collect the weapons, goods, etc.

Therefore brother and sisters, Allah will never change what we are at now of weakness until we change ourselves to be better and to worship Allah and obey him the way he wants us to do so because when Allah willeth a people's punishment, there can be no turning it back, nor will they find, besides Him, any to protect.

So, if we seeked help from any rather than Allah so Allah will let us sink more and more and weakness and darkness like when people before Islam were calling the name of Jinn to not harm them when they walk through lonesome places so instead of making them safe they were increasing them in folly and fear. We only have to fear Allah almighty and no one else of his weak creatures whom can't even protect themselves from the will and the word of Allah.

'True, there were persons among mankind who took shelter with persons among the Jinns, but they increased them in folly. (Quran 72:6)

 

[TashaN]

[196] Let not the strutting about of the Unbelievers through the land deceive thee:
[197] Little is it for enjoyment: their ultimate abode is Hell; what an evil bed (to lie on)! (Quran 3:196-197)

These two verses are my favorite, i always was wondering why most of Muslims are useless nowdays, but not the unbelievers? these verses answered my question.

Despite the weakness in the Ummah nowdays because they stopped applying the real teaching of islam in their life, the unbelievers enjoyment will be temporary, only in this life, let them be. If we tried to get all what they have, we might give up in many things in our religion. Therefore, God willing, the majority of Muslims will be always moderate, not extreme, and not so easy about their own religion. We will build the bright future together with peace as the Muslims before us did so when they were the kings of the world at that time before us.

Amen ...

 

[Nehustan]

Although this is neither from the Quran nor the Hadith to my knowledge it was said to me by a Muslim brother and I think it relevant to the last post, and the troubles of the believers in this time, and something I should certainly heed myself, the closest ears to my mouth being my own....

'Is it better to live three days as free then a whole life imprisoned, or three days imprisoned, then a whole life as free?'​

 

[TashaN]

'Is it better to live three days as free then a whole life imprisoned, or three days imprisoned, then a whole life as free?'

Indeed, anyone of us have the choice in this life, whether to stick in all the enjoyment in this life (which Allah describe the life as it's cheaper than a wing of a mosquito) or to the eternal enjoyment in the afterlife where there is no death, no disease, no work, no worshiping but to enjoy and to thank Allah almighty of what he gave us.

I was wondering when prophet Mohammed told us (i frogot the excact hadith but i'll look for it), when he said that if this life worth even a wing of a mosquito to Allah, he wouldn't let the unbelievers eat and drink from his "Risgh" رزق in it.(i guess risgh means in english Allah's gifts to human beings such as food, drink, money, etc). Even i become more surprised when Allah didn't say it's not worth to Allah a mosquito but lower than that, a wing of a mosquito, "it doesn't worth even that wing". Imagine now the greatness of heaven. Therefore, i prefer to be imprisoned for three days, then a whole life as free.

May Allah gather me with you all in heaven, Amen.

Thank you brother Nehustan for the wonderful wisdom ...

 

[Cordoba]

Assalamo Alaikom Brother Truth:

To continue with this topic, here is An Introduction to The Qur'an, which may be of interest.

Week 1:

The Qur’an was revealed to prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, from God through angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years.

When the prophet was 40 years old, meditating in a cave in the outskirts of Makkah, he saw angel Gabriel for the first time, and the following first 5 verses of The Qur’an were revealed:

In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

1. Recite in the name of your Lord who created.

2. Created man from a clinging substance.

3. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous.

4. Who taught by the pen.

5. Taught man that which he knew not.

These verses are in Chapter 96 of The Qur’an (96:1-5).

Why are they not in Chapter 1?

The answer to this question is that the order of chapters in The Qur’an is not the same as the chronological order of revelation.

But before going into that topic, I think it’s important to start with the 2 main sections of The Qur’an: the verses revealed to Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, in Makkah during the first 13 years of his Prophethood, and the verses revealed to him in Madinah during the following 10 years, after he migrated from Makkah in the year 622.

The Qur’an has a total of 114 Chapters, of which around 85 chapters were revealed in the Makkan period (before the prophet’s migration), and the remaining 29 chapters after the migration to Madinah.

So why is it important to distinguish between the two eras?
The answer to this question is very important in understanding The Qur’an.

The Prophet’s migration from Makkah was indeed a very important event, as it was a turning point for Islam as a faith, and for all Muslims till the present date.

Why did Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, migrate from Makkah, his beloved town where he was born, and where he spent the first 53 years of his life?

The reason was the persecution of Muslims in Makkah and the hostility of most of its inhabitants towards the “new” religion. Years earlier, a group of Muslims had fled from Makkah and went to the distant lands of Habasha (Ethiopia), where they lived under the protection of its Christian King (Al-Nagashi). With time, hostility increased against the Prophet and the few Muslims who remained in Makkah, till they were authorized to leave, one by one and migrate to Madinah.

Prophet Muhammad stayed behind in Makkah till most of his followers had migrated, and with his best friend (Abu-Bakr) in the year 622 he left Makkah on the night when the leaders of the Makkan tribes had decided to kill him, in order to stop this “new” religion which taught the worship of the One and Only God, and in order to stop people from hearing The Qur’an which spoke against the worship of idols (at that time, Makkah had 360 idols which people worshipped, with each of the main tribe having its own idol).

To go back to understanding the importance of the Prophet’s migration from Makkah, and the Qur’an revealed after that major event, I would like to draw an important parallel with Jesus, peace be upon him, as a similar event took place at the end of his life, when people who also saw his teachings as a “threat” decided to kill him.

In Islam, self-defence is a legitimate human right, and though from a Muslim perspective, God saved Jesus, peace be upon him, from his enemies, this was through a miracle from God. In the case of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, God saved him from his enemies in Makkah by inspiring him to leave town at the right moment, and to migrate to a new land (Madinah) where he would be safe, and where he would be able to protect himself and his followers from the aggression of his enemies.

And this is the crucial turning point in understanding the difference in The Qur’an between the verses revealed in Makkah which mainly focused on the faith and the duties of Muslims as individuals, and between the verses revealed in Madinah which addressed among other topics how Muslims should deal with life as a community, and later as a state, not just as individuals. Without that turning point, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, would not have lived to convey The Qur’an, God’s final Revelation to mankind, as his enemies would have ended his life, as was the case with earlier prophets sent by God to guide humanity to Monotheism.

With this introduction, the first part of the thread will focus on the first stage of the revelation of The Qur’an in Makkah, and when that stage is complete, we could move on to the second stage, with samples of verses taken from the chapters revealed in Madinah.

Till next week, for anyone interested in knowing more about how The Qur’an was revealed, I would strongly recommend as background readings the on-line book of Ahmad Von Denffer, a German Muslim scholar, titled “Ulum Al-Qur’an” or (An Introduction to the Sciences of The Qur’an)

Chapter 5 is titled “Makkan and Madinan Revelations”:

http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/B..._uaq/Ch5S1.htm
And Chapter 2 is titled “Transmission of the Revelation”:

http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/B..._uaq/Ch5S1.htm
All the best.

 

[Cordoba]

Week 2

Last week, I posted the first five verses revealed from the Qur'an to Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, in Makkah, which are the following:

In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

1. Recite in the name of your Lord who created.

2. Created man from a clinging substance.

3. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous.

4. Who taught by the pen.

5. Taught man that which he knew not.
(96:1-5).

The next verses revealed from The Qur'an were either from Chapter 73 or from Chapter 74, but most probably it was Chapter 73 titled "Al-Muzzammil". These are the first 9 verses:

1- O you who wraps himself [in clothing]

2- Arise [to pray] the night, except for a little -

3- Half of it – or substract from it a little

4- Or add to it, and recite the Qur'an with measured recitation

5- Indeed, We will cast upon you a heavy word.

6- Indeed, the hours of the night are more effective for concurrence [of heart and tongue] and more suitable for words

7- Indeed, for you by day is prolonged occupation

8- And remember the name of your Lord and devote yourself to Him with [complete] devotion.

9- [He is] the Lord of the East and the West; there is no deity except Him, so take Him as Disposer of [your] affairs.


Explanation of Verses (73:1-9)

Allah commands His Messenger to cease being wrapped up, and this means to sleep and to be covered during the night. He commands him to get up and stand in prayer to His Lord.

God commanded him to stand in prayer for half of the night, either a little more than it or a little less. There is no hardship concerning that (slight increase or decrease).

God commanded him to recite the Qur'an slowly, for that will help in understanding the Qur'an and contemplating it. This is how the Prophet used to recite.

(Indeed We will cast upon you a heavy word) It has been said that it means it will be heavy at the time of its revelation due to its magnificence. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said the following of the revelation of The Qur'an:

"Sometimes it comes to me like the ringing of a bell, and it is most severe upon me. Then this state passes away from me after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the angel comes to me in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says."

Then the verses continue to indicate that standing at night (for prayer) is better for training the heart and the tongue, and more conducive to recitation, and that during the day you will have many occupations therefore, leave the night open for your religious devotion.

And remember the name of your Lord and devote yourself to Him with [complete] devotion.
Meaning, make much remembrance of Allah, devote yourself to Him and spend your time worshipping Him when you have completed your occupations and what you need from the affairs of your worldly matters.

God is the Owner and Controller of affairs in the east and in the west. He is the One except whom there is no deity worthy of worship. Just as you single Him out for worship, you should also single Him out for reliance. Therefore, take Him as a guardian and trustee.

All the best.

 

[ΩRôghênΩ]

alecom asalema! i'm not a muslim (rather a mystical christian), but i find your post motvational

 

[ΩRôghênΩ]

Ibelieve it is only gods place to judge who goes where. who are you to judge others?

 

[Abdul Latif]

"Say: 'Are those who know equal to those who know not?' It is only men of understanding who will remember (that is get a lesson from Allah's signs)." [Soorah az-Zumar (39):9]​

 

[Nehustan]

This is very pertinent verse, and when I think of it the voice in my head always warns me of pride in that which Allah has revealed, and the grace and mercy he has shown us to know that truth. I in no way mean to criticise, rather post the ayat I often remind myself of along with this verse...

Bismillah Ar Rahman Ar Raheem

O THOU human being! Consider this Qur’an full of wisdom: verily, thou art indeed one of God’s message-bearers, pursuing a straight way, by [virtue of] what is being bestowed from on high by the Almighty, the Dispenser of Grace,6 [bestowed upon thee] so that thou mayest warn people whose forefathers had not been warned, and who therefore are unaware [of the meaning of right and wrong]. Indeed, the word [of God’s condemnation] is bound to come true against most of them: for they will not believe. Behold, around their necks We have put shack*les, [FONT=Verdana,Arial]reaching up to their chins, so that their heads are forced up.[/FONT]
​

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]
Sura Ya Sin, 36:1-8
[/FONT]​