The Carpet-Bombed Elephant

June 30, 2009 – 9:58 am

a big church

This is post #21 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series).

The Sabab-un-Nuzool (reason of revelation) for Surah Fil well-known; you can read all about it, along with some lessons and gems, in this post by Sr. Mariam 3.36. Please read it, since I won’t touch on those points.

I will mention, however, two points not mentioned there–that the Christian tyrant king who brought his elephant, why did he decide to destroy the Ka’bah? He saw how well-known the Ka’bah was, and how great to the people; so he built a church to rival that.

So he built this huge, huge church; not realizing that it’s Allah who puts the love of Ka’bah in the hearts of the people. Honestly, the Ka’bah has a very simple architectural structure; but it’s more beloved than many buildings that are much more beautiful than it.

So one of the bedouins went to his church. “Oh, this is your ka’bah? Here you go.” And pooped in it.

That’s bedouins for you!

So the king got angry … very angry. And he decided to destroy the Ka’bah. Remember, these are tyrant kings we’re talking about.

The Quraysh Made Noble

Allah says, in Surah Fil:

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِ
أَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ كَيْدَهُمْ فِي تَضْلِيلٍ

Translation: Have you not considered, [O Muhammad], how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant? Did He not make their plan into misguidance? [Surah Fil, verses 1-2]

This incident–the incident of Surah Fil–was well-known among the Arabs at that time. In fact, the Messenger of Allah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, was born in the Year of the Elephant–the year that this incident occurred.

Look at the details of the story–the Meccans took their camels and sheep and goats, and they went up into the bleachers, the mountains of Mecca, to watch; the tank, the war-elephant of the Christian king, against the ka’bah.

Allah destroyed them–and in doing this, it seemed that He, subhannahu wa ta’ala, sided with mushrikeen of Mecca against Christians. But really, Allah was defending His great house.

And this showed the Quraysh, the keepers of the Ka’bah, that Allah sided with them! So immediately, their status and nobility went up among the other Arabs; so much so, that raiders and looters wouldn’t accost their caravans.

If you’ve ever lived in India/Pakistan/China/etc. and seen how people crowd around someone from America/Canada and how they’re treated well … that’s what happened to the Quryash after this.

Muhammad Alshareef mentions that when he was in Alexandria, in Egypt, some little kid was accosting him; so he started beating the kid up. And the kid’s bigger sister–like twice his age–came and started pounding and pounding on him.

And he went down! And all the kids around her wer saying, huwa kaanadi, huwa kaanadi–he’s Canadian, he’s Canadian!–and the girl herself cried from what she had done.

Just like that, the Allah raised the status of Quraysh.

Tiny Little Birds, Abaabeel

Allah continues, in verses 3-4:

وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَ
تَرْمِيهِم بِحِجَارَةٍ مِّن سِجِّيلٍ

Translation: And He sent against them birds in flocks (abaabeel), striking them with stones of hard clay,[verses 3-4]

The mufassireen mention, from this ayah, that the birds were small birds. Little birds. Tiny birds. What’s a tiny little bird going to do against an elephant? Nothing!

But Allah didn’t just send one, or two, or three; he sent them … ababeel. Waves and waves and waves of birds that darkened the sky.

And each bird had two stones–one in its beak, and one in its talons. You ever see those tall, tall buildings (Empire State building? CN Tower?), and someone is always tempted to throw a penny from the top floor? What would happen if that hit someone?

What about thousands and thousands of pennies, flying at high-speed? It’s almost like the birds carpet-bombed the army with little tiny rocks.

waves and waves of birds

This is the army of Allah. And we see that he destroys great creations, with the smallest of creations. Like Firawn, who was killed by water, something you drink every day.

Not a Passive God

Allah finishes with verse 5:

فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَّأْكُولٍ

Translation: And He made them like eaten straw.

If you’ve ever seen, like corn on the cob, while it’s on the cob–you’ll see this tall, dense wall of green and yellow. A day later, when all that corn has been picked off, you just see these green husks; and even that, the cows and goats come and eat that, and it becomes like a dead field.

Allah describes the army of the elephant as eaten straw. This means that they were pulverized. Obliterated. Annihilated. Destroyed utterly and completely.

Why is this relevant to Meccan tafseer? Because the Quraysh were oppressing the Muslims, torturing the Muslims, killing the Muslims; and Allah is warning them: stop, or else.

And you might say, as a Meccan mushrik, “Can Allah really destroy a people like that?”

And the answer is … He already has.

And this is a stern warning to all those who are oppressing and torturing and killing Muslims in the land. Don’t think you’re fighting against some passive God. Allah has already destroyed waves of nations more powerful than you. It’s not a question of “can He?” It’s more like “when?”

Action Items

  • Reflect on Natural Disasters: Natural disasters (hurricanes, fires, floods, tornadoes) are from Allah. Use YouTube to find videos of these. Watch them. This is the power of Allah at work!
  • Post your own Action Items. I really don’t have anything else that comes to my mind.

Wallahu ta’ala ‘alam.

References:

By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Islam, Qur'an, Tafseer | Tagged , , | Comments (4)

Those Who Show Off in Their Salah

June 16, 2009 – 2:19 pm

Note: This is post #19 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series).

In Surah Ma’oon, Allah says:

فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ
الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَن صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ
الَّذِينَ هُمْ يُرَاءُونَ
وَيَمْنَعُونَ الْمَاعُونَ

Translation: So woe to those who pray; those who are heedless of their prayer, those who make show [of their deeds]; And withhold [simple] assistance (al-ma’oon). [Surah Ma'oon, verses 4-7]

Allah says, “so woe to those who pray.” Don’t stop at this ayah! People who pray are not cursed by Allah! Allah continues: those who show off in their prayer, …

You know what’s interesting about this ayah? What’s really, really interesting about this ayah?

Do you want to know?

Are you sure?

…ok, here goes: Allah says:

إن المنافقين يخادعون الله وهو خادعهم وإذا قاموا إلى الصلاة قاموا كسالى يراؤون الناس ولا يذكرون الله إلا قليل

Translation: Indeed, the hypocrites [think to] deceive Allah , but He is deceiving them. And when they stand for prayer, they stand lazily, showing [themselves to] the people and not remembering Allah except a little … [Surah Nisaa, verse 142]

Here, Allah directly says, “the munafiqeen.” And he says: they show themselves to the people (i.e. showing off) when they pray.

And he says: they pray lazily.

So what about people who don’t pray, at all?

So if you fall into this category–even partially–you should be afraid. Very afraid. This is a very serious matter to Allah, these five-minutes you stand up and pray five times a day.

I’ve discussed this issue in more detail in my post, The Terrible Consequences of Not Praying Salah. If you pray every prayer regularly, alhamdulillah, read it and be reminded about what you’re safe from.

And if you don’t pray, read it insha’Allah; it might help you start, or if you’ve started, it might give you that extra motivational juice to jump farther in your salah.

May Allah protect us all from being those whom He has cursed as a consequence of their actions–ameen ya rabbi!

Allah continues and mentions: those who prevent al-ma’oon. What exactly is al-ma’oon, the thing that caused this surah to get its name?

a big box of crayons

Al-Ma’oon means something small that you do, that wouldn’t even harm you to do it. Muhammad Alshareef describes it as crayons–if you ever see young kids, there might be two kids in a class; one kid has a big box of like 300 crayons with like 15 shades of blue.

So another kid pops by, “can I borrow your blue crayon?”

And the first guy looks over his box of 300 crayons and says … “no!”

That is preventing al-ma’oon. The first kid could give away that crayon, and it wouldn’t even hurt him; but he doesn’t (because kids tend to not return crayons).

And of course, kids are sinless … but we are not.

One example of al-ma’oon I find is, letting people go when it’s heavy traffic and a guy wants to change lanes in front of you. It’s literally bumper-to-bumper, and the guy won’t slow you down; but people tend to speed up and not leave any space, subhanallah.

Action Items:

  • What Is Al-Ma’oon? Insha’Allah see if you can come up with some examples from your own life.
  • Pray More. Hit your five fard salawaat if you haven’t; if you have, fortify it with more sunnah and nawaafil prayers, so you don’t even come close to missing a fard salah.

Wallahu ta’ala ‘alam.

References:

By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Ibadah, Islam, Qur'an, Salaah, Tafseer, Tazkiyyah | Tagged , | Comments (7)

Do YOU Encourage Good?

June 15, 2009 – 2:06 pm

Note: This is post #18 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series). Insha’Allah we’ll be kicking up the post frequency to three times a week in order to finish before Ramadan.

Allah says, in Surah Ma’oon:

أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يُكَذِّبُ بِالدِّينِ
فَذَلِكَ الَّذِي يَدُعُّ الْيَتِيمَ
وَلَا يَحُضُّ عَلَى طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ

Translation: Have you seen the one who denies the Repayment? For that is the one who drives away the orphan, and does not encourage the feeding of the poor. [Surah Ma'oon, verses 1-3]

Notice the connection here–verse one, the one who denies Ad-Deen, the Day of Repayment. And verse two and three? He drives away orphans, He doesn’t encourage feeding of the poor.

It’s not that he doesn’t feed the poor. It’s that he doesn’t encourange feeding the poor.
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By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Islam, Qur'an, Tafseer, Tazkiyyah | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

Al-Hakumu At-Takathur …

June 9, 2009 – 10:54 am

Note: This is post #17 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series).

empty-grave

Competition in [worldly] increase diverts you, until you visit the graves …

Allah says, in Surah At-Takaathur:

أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ
حَتَّى زُرْتُمُ الْمَقَابِرَ

Translation: Competition in [worldly] increase diverts you, until you visit the graveyards. [Surah At-Takaathur, verses 1-2]

Subhanallah, even though these verses were revealed over 1400 years ago, we still see the exact same situation today. Al-Haakum means, it makes you compete with each other. At-Takaathur is rivalry, competition, in accumulating material things; thinking that life is about toys, and the one with the most (or most expensive) toys wins.

What is Takaathur?
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By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Islam, Qur'an, Tafseer, Tazkiyyah | Tagged , , , | Comments (12)

Arabic Explanation of Surah Takweer

June 2, 2009 – 1:47 pm

Note: This is post #17 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

When the sun is kuwwirat …

We’re going to digress a bit and jump back to Surah Takweer. This post is based on Shaykh Nouman Khan’s tafseer, which heavily emphasizes the Arabic language. I hope you will find, as I found it, as a glimpse of a previously-unseen world, a depth of knowledge that just drips from the Arabic language.

Allah says, in surah Takweer:

إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ

Translation: When the sun is kuwwirat … [verse 1]

There are a lot of gems that we learn even from this first ayah:

  • Idhaa + Past-Tense: Idhaa is an indicator of future-tense “when (something will happen).” Yet, kuwwirat is past-tense; why? This combination means something is so certain, it’s like past-tense. So Allah is saying “when this happens,” yet it’s certain that it WILL happen; as certain as the past is past.
  • Nominal Sentence: The default in Arabic is to put the verb first–”kuwwirat ash-shamsu.” To reverse this into “ash-shamsu kuwwirat,” shows emphasis, and makes it a tougher, stronger sentence. This hints at the audience–Mushrikeen in Mecca, the worst and most obstinate of them, who are listening to this revelation.
  • Passive Voice: Allah could have said, “When I wrap up the sun,” but He didn’t. Why? If you’re biased against someone (say a political party), no matter what they say, even before they open their mouth, you say, “psshh.” But here, passive-voice highlights the maf’ool, the recipient of the action–the sun, the stars–instead of the doer.

As for the meaning of kuwwirat, kawwara means to wrap something around something; it’s used in the context of a turban, something long, that’s wrapped around your head.

Allah is applying the same meaning here–that the light of the sun, something that’s long, will be kuwwirat, wrapped up. Wrapped up meaning, something will cover it, and it will no longer be visible; and it will be wrapped slowly, part by part disappearing–the same way that Allah described the day as wrapping around the night and the night wrapping around the day.

This is something scary–that you see the sun wrapped up, and losing its light. But there’s more …

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By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Arabic, Arabic Grammar, Islam, Qur'an, Tafseer | Tagged , | Comments (8)

Indeed, We Gave You Al-Kawthar

May 26, 2009 – 3:31 pm

Note: This is post #16 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

Indeed, We gave you Al-Kawthar.

Allah says, in Surah Al-Kauthar:

إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ
فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ
إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ

Translation: Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], al-Kawthar. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice [to Him alone]. Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off. [Surah Kawthar, verse 1-3]

Many of you know the hadith where the Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) was napping under a tree, and he woke up, smiling; and he said, Allah revealed to me this surah.

Interestingly, the ‘ulama have discussed this–is it possible that Allah sends revelation in a dream? The answer is, surprisingly, no; of the 6-7 ways, the most common is through Jibreel (alayhi salaam). Even here, there’s no indication that the surah was revealed through a dream–perhaps Jibreel (alayhi salaam) came to the Prophet once he had woken, and revealed it to him. (For more information, check our posts on Route 114: Uloom Al-Qur’an)

In verse 1, Allah says: Inna ‘ataynaaka al-kawthar. These two words allude to an enormous giver, giving an enormous gift. Allah could’ve just said: ataytuka al-kawthar; but that would’ve been weak, human speech. Instead, he uses inna–emphasis, and refers to himself in the “royal we” (something we have in English, too).

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By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Islam, Qur'an, Tafseer | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

When the War-Horses Pant …

May 21, 2009 – 11:20 am

Note: This is post #15 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

Allah begins Surah Aadiyaat by saying:

وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا
فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا
فَالْمُغِيرَاتِ صُبْحًا
فَأَثَرْنَ بِهِ نَقْعًا
فَوَسَطْنَ بِهِ جَمْعًا

Translation: By the ‘aadiyaat, when they pant, and the muwriyraat striking (when their hoves strike the ground and make sparks), and the mughiyraat, at dawn (when they raid), stirring up thereby [clouds of] dust, arriving thereby in the center collectively, …

This is a qasam (oath), a big oath that spans five ayaat. I’m going to dive into word-for-word translation, because no translation can do justice (without paragraphs of brackets).

‘Aadiyaat (عَادِيَات) are horses (plural: sound feminine plural, in fact). Not those horses you see Canadian Mounties riding; but real, true, WAR horses. If you’ve ever seen war-horses (send us a picture!), they have a special, particular intensity to them.

Dabhaa (ضَبْحًا) means to pant. Pant meaning, if you’ve ever run in a 100-meter race, or tried to run until you’re tired, and you start breathing heavily through your mouth–that’s panting. Why are the ‘aadiyaat panting? Because they are charging into battle.

You’ll see lots of war concepts here. The Arabs at the time of the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) knew these things very, very well; and when Allah testifies, these things he testifies by–nobody would deny them.

Muwriyaat (مُورِيَات) are also war-horses–the ones that strike. Strike meaning, when they run, their hooves strike up sparks on the ground. I definitely don’t encourage watching movies, so if you’ve ever read seerah stories, or perhaps Lord of the Rings, or similar books, you might find these kinds of concepts in their battles.

Mughiyraat (مُغِيرَات) are the raiding horses. In the time of the Prophet, they would have raids; you would see a whole army of horses and riders sweeping into a city, and they’d kill everybody and destroy it. Mughiyraat are those raiding horses that they rode.

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By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Islam, Qur'an, Tafseer | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

The Reality of Time

May 14, 2009 – 10:47 am

Note: this is our 14th post in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

85741170

Allah says, in Surah ‘Asr:

وَالْعَصْرِ
إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ

“By Time. Indeed, mankind is at loss. Except for those who have believed, done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.” [Asr: 1-3]

Allah swears by time–which shows how enormous and noble this creation is. Time.

Imam Shafi said about this revelation that had it been the only revelation sent to mankind, it would have been enough.  What motivated him to say this?
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By ilm candy | Posted in Islam, Islamic Work, Qur'an, Tafseer | Tagged , , | Comments (4)

Tafseer or Surah Inshrah

May 12, 2009 – 9:21 am

Note: this is our 13th post in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

flower-erupts-through-concrete
Stand up and do more. Muslims don’t retire or quit from working for the deen. Persist. Be like the flower that springs through concrete.

Allah says, in verse 3:

وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ

Translation: And raised high for you your repute.

If you see those polls on CNN and BBC and all those places, “Who is the most famous person in the world?” And all those emails go out, “vote for the Prophet,” “vote for the Messenger of Allah.” Indeed, he IS (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) the most famous person world-wide; the one who had the biggest influence. Even non-Muslims know it; perhaps that is why Muhammad is the most-common name in the world.

One scholar mentioned, that this also applies to the sahaba–like Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, and ‘Ali, radiallahu anhum ajmaeen. Like the example of ‘Ali–he is one of the companions who is known world-wide; and yet, his father Abu Talib, the only reason we know him is because of his son. In this way, Allah has raised the names of these people, and others like them, throughout time; while there are millions of other Muslims who lived and died, and nobody even knows their names.

Allah says, in Surah Inshrah, verse 7:

فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانصَبْ

Translation: So when you have finished [your duties], then stand up [for worship]. [Surah Inshrah, verse 7]

This ayah alludes to a deep point–that there really isn’t an ending to the work, until you die. When a project ends, when the time to move on appears, Allah says: stand up.

This happens when people transition from highschool MSA to university, or from university MSA to work-world; they say “I’ve done my duty for 1-3 years, I’m done here.” Stand up, and keep going.

Or you might see people working on an Islamic project–maybe a halaqah they’ve run for the last two years; or a blog they’ve maintained for the last six months; or a dinner or event they’ve been planning for the last year.

Don’t stop! Keep going! Find another project to do, another door to open, if necessary.

Wallahu ta’ala ‘alam.

Action Items:

  • Stand Up. Did you do more for Islam in the past than you did now? Are you at a low-point? Find something small and consistent you can do; or find another way to make your existing work Islamic–for example, intending to continue your studies in university so you can work to earn halal rizq for your family. Or if you’re graduated, intending to earn halal rizq to support yourself and your family.
  • Keep Going. Is there some project that you just completed? Take a day or two to rest, and start another one! Let the momentum drive you to better and quicker results, insha’Allah.

References:

By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Islam, Islamic Work, Qur'an, Tafseer | Tagged , | Comments (4)

Tafseer of Surah Duhaa

May 7, 2009 – 1:24 pm

Note: this is our 12th post in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

Islam is about social service and shukr (thankfulness).

Insha’Allah in this post, we’re going to discuss three points:

  1. The close relationship between Allah and His prophet
  2. A glimpse of Paradise
  3. A core theme of social services in Islam

The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) received revelation prior to Surah Duhaa. Then for a while, nothing. Umm Jameelah, the wife of Abu Lahab, came to him and said: “I hope your shaytaan has finally left you.” Because the Arabs used to say, if someone was really good at something, that they had a shaytaan helping them. (No doubt like some of the musicians today.)

Still nothing came. The people began to talk … and they said, maybe his Lord has left him. Maybe He has abandoned him.

And so Allah revealed:

In Surah Duhaa, Allah says:

وَالضُّحَى
وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى
مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى

Translation: By duhaa (the morning brightness after Fajr), and [by] the night when it covers with darkness, your Lord has not taken leave of you, [O Muúammad], nor has He detested [you].

[This hadith is found in Bukhari and Muslim, and is quoted in Tafseer ibn Katheer]

This shows us two things: first, that the people knew when revelation came; that it was a big deal, and everybody knew about it. And second, the immense love of Allah for His prophet. How close their relationship–that even something as small as this stress, Allah revealed verses on behalf of the prophet, to reassure him. Subhanallah!

What’s more, Allah swears by duhaa–by the brightness of the day right after the sun has come up–and by the night, as it covers up the day with darkness. (This shows the greatness of these creations–that Allah swears by them. Who would deny these things? Nobody!)

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By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Islam, Islamic Work, Qur'an, Tafseer, Tazkiyyah | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)