10 Quranic Gems Nouman Ali Khan

3 retweetLike 126 people like this. Be the first of your friends.

3 retweet

Like 126 people like this. Be the first of your friends.

You are here: Home » Carousel, Quran and Sunnah » 10 Quranic Gems from Nouman Ali Khan

10 Quranic Gems from Nouman Ali KhanPosted by ibnabeeomar • November 3rd, 2008 • Printerfriendly • 8 Comments

I wanted to highlight a series of posts at Tayyibaat regarding the Quranic miracles covered by Br.Nouman at a recent class. We have highlighted a few of these before (see here), and these aredefinitely worth reading insha’Allah.

Session One: Mercy and ForgivenessSession Two: Wali vs MawlaaSession Three: Oaths in the Qur’anSession Four: Syntax in the Qur’anSession Five: The Precise SelectionSession Six: The Miraculous AyahSession Seven: Bonds of BrotherhoodSession Seven pt 2: The Most Noble of TasksSession Eight: Dialogue in the Qur’anSession Eight pt 2: Weakening and Empowering a Statement Session Nine: Cohesion and Consistency in the Qur’an Closing Remarks: The Final Reminder

©MuslimMatters.org by ibnabeeomar on November 3rd, 2008. All rights reserved. Please see legal& other disclaimers here.

8 Responses »

Skip to content

بيطلا ملكلا دعصي هيلإ – To Him ascends the goodly words.(35:10)

HomeAboutCharacteristics of the Qur’anJannah and NaarKnow your DhikrNames of AllahTayyib Media

Session One: Mercy and ForgivenessOctober 6, 2008tags: maghfirah, nouman khan, Qur'an, rahmahby Amatullah

Bismillah

Alhamdulillah, I’ve been blessed to take the Arabic 201 class with Bayyinah Institute for the second timeand mashaAllah br Nouman has this sunnah of taking 10 minutes at the end of each session to share aliterary gem of the Qur’an.

InshaAllah I will be posting all nine that he will share with us; one for each day of the class session.

Here is tonight’s gem:

In Surat Saba, ayah two, Allah azza wa jal says:

روفغلا ميحرلا وهو اهيف جرعي امو ءامسلا نم لزني امو اهنم جرخي امو ضرألا يف جلي ام ملعي

He knows that which goes into the earth and that which comes forth from it, and that which descend fromthe heaven and that which ascends to it. And He is Ar Raheem, Al Ghafoor.

In the Qur’an, Allah ta’ala mentions more than 70 times that He is Al Ghafoorur Raheem. This ayah aboveis the only instance in the whole Qur’an that the order is reversed: Ar Raheemul Ghafoor.

Why?

Imam ibnul Qayyim states that if you study ‘ilm (knowledge) in the Qur’an, you’ll find that Allah ta’alamentions rahmah (mercy) with it. Here are some examples:

املع و ةمحر ءيش لك تعسو انبر

“Our Lord! You comprehend all things in mercy and knowledge“ (40:7)

The duaa of those wellgrounded in knowledge (arraasikhoon) is:

ةمحر كندل نم انل بهو انتيده ذإ دعب انبولق غزت ال انبر

(They say): “Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and grant usmercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower.”

Allah ta’ala begins this ayah from surah Saba with ملعي , He knows, which as we’ll see below, has a directconnection with why Raheem is mentioned first.

When we examine Ghafoor in the Qur’an, or maghfirah (forgiveness), we notice that it is paired withhumans. Here is an example:

Nuh alayhi salaam to his disbelieving nation said:

ارافغ ناك هنإ مكبر اورفغتسا تلقف

“I said (to them): Ask forgiveness from your Lord; Verily, He is OftForgiving” (71:10)

In this ayah from surah Saba, do we see a direct address to humans? There is mention of the earth, whatcomes from the sky, what ascends…Humans are mentioned indirectly, and by examining this indirectaddress, we can see why Raheem is mentioned before Ghafoor.

How so?

ضرألا يف جلي ام ملعي He knows that which goes into the earth: We place seeds into the earth, butfurthermore, we will also go into the earth one day. We will need the rahmah (Mercy) of Ar Raheem whenwe go into the earth.

اهنم جرخي امو And that which comes from it: The plant grows from the earth, but furthermore, we will oneday be resurrected from the earth. We ask for and need the maghfirah (forgiveness) of Al Ghafoor whenwe come out of the earth.

ءامسلا نم لزني امو and that which descends from the heavens: Rain is a rahmah (mercy) upon us, wahy(revelation) comes from the sky and is also a rahmah upon us, our rizq (provision) comes from the skywhich is also a rahmah upon us.

اهيف جرعي امو and that which ascends to it (the sky): What ascends to the sky? Our duaa, our souls, anddeeds. What do we need in all three of these instances from Allah ta’ala? Maghfirah (forgiveness), for ourduaas and deeds to be accepted, and our souls to be forgiven.

Then Allah ta’ala ends the ayah with the subject on this gem: روفغلا ميحرلا وهو And He is the TheEspecially Merciful, the Most Forgiving.

Each part of this ayah connects with these two Names of Allah, in the order that they appear.

SubhanAllah.

The most common “criticsm” of the Qur’an is that the verses repeat too much and the ayaat are all the samein a lot of surahs. But when we pay attention to the Qur’an, when we truly ponder, then we see that there isactually little repitition. These are not ordinary words, they are Divine Words that have a profound wisdom.

In speech, there are two parts:

1 Content: what you say. The Qur’an has Divine content.

2Style: how you say it. The Qur’an presents this content in a profound and miraculous style.

Humans are not capable of having both content and style constantly. Take for example the famous quoteswe all know, “I have a dream” or “there is nothing to fear but fear itself”. These quotes came fromspeeches, but the only part we know or remember are those few words.

This Qur’an, these blessed words of Allah azza wa jal, constantly keeps both content and style and bypondering over these verses in a humble manner, we can taste a few drops of these wisdoms.

May Allah azza wa jal make us companions of this book, Ameen.

One blogger likes this post.

from → Arabic, Awesomeness, Bayyinah Gems, Gems, Good Things, Qur'an, SubhanAllah← “Things” that Loved the ProphetNames of Allah azza wa jal →14 Comments leave one →

1. dailyreminders permalinkOctober 7, 2008 4:19 am

AA

Like

Skip to content



Session Two: Wali vs MawlaaOctober 8, 2008tags: Allah, nouman khan, Qur'an, waliby Amatullah

Bismillah walhamdulillah

During the second night of class with br Nouman, he shared with us a gem on the precision of the Qur’an.

Here it is:

Allah ta’ala says in suratul Baqarah ayah 257:

رونلا ىلإ تاملظلا نم مهجرخي اونمآ نيذلا يلو هللا

‘Allah is the Wali of those who believe, He brings take them from the darknesses into the light.’

تاملظلا ىلإ رونلا نم مهنوجرخي توغاطلا مه ؤايلوأ اورفك نيذلاو

‘and those who disblieve their Awliyaa’ are taghoot, they bring them out of the light to darknesses.’

Wali is a special type of friend, who expresses the will to help to you and support you. A wali is a friend

that you turn to for help, protection and support. The wali is the primary in the relationship, they are thedominant party. Take for example, if a father is the wali to his son, then the father is the primary in therelationship.

Allah ta’ala says in the beginning of the ayah that He is the Wali for the believers. Those who disbelievehave Taghoot (anything and everything that is worshipped besides Allah) as their Awliyaa (plural of wali).

There are two comparisons taking place in this verse: firstly, the believers and those who disbelieve, andsecondly, Allah azza wa jal and taghoot. Looking at the verse again, we see that there is a differentarrangement for each comparison: when Allah ta’ala says He is the Wali of the believers, He comes first.But for those who disbelieve, their wali is mentioned last.

Why is the arrangment different?

Allah ta’ala is being ‘compared’ to taghoot, yet: laysa kamithlihi shayy, there is NOTHING like Him,NOTHING can be compared to Him. These taghoot do not deserve to be mentioned in the same place asAllah azza wa jal was mentioned. They do not deserve to be mentioned in even the same sentence.

Allah ta’ala says in Surat Muhammad ayah 11,

مهل ىلوم ال نيرفاكلا نأو اونمآ نيذلا ىلوم هللا نأب كلذ

‘That is because certainly Allah is the Mawlaa of those who believe, and indeed the disbelievers have noMawlaa.’

Mawlaa is more than a Wali; a Mawlaa is someone who can protect you and actually does so–they areprotecting you, while a Wali is someone who is willing to protect you.

When it came to Wali, both the believers and disbelievers had one, but when it comes to Mawlaa–someonewho CAN protect you–they have no Mawlaa.

SubhanAllah.

Allahumma faqihnaa fid deen, O Allah grant us understanding of the deen, Ameen.

Be the first to like this post.

from → Arabic, Bayyinah Gems, Gems, Good Things← Two Hearts in One ManNOW is the Time to Learn Arabic! →6 Comments leave one →

1. dailyreminders permalinkOctober 9, 2008 4:45 am

Like

Skip to content



Session Three: Oaths in the Qur’anOctober 9, 2008tags: Arabic, Bayyinah, nouman khan, Qur'anby Amatullah

Bismillah

Alhamdulillah third day of class was last night, and I was literally blown away by the gem br Noumanshared with us subhanAllah…by far the best that I have heard. O Allah we ask You for the properunderstanding of Your Book and Your Deen, Ameen.

Here it is:

AlAqsaam (Oaths) in the Qur’an

In the Qur’an, there is a relationship between oaths and what follows the oaths. When Allah ta’ala swearsby something, it shows the importance of the object He is swearing by and that object will be elevated.Furthermore, whatever comes after the oath is very important as well. There are many examples in theQur’an, here are two of them:

Allah ta’ala says in Suratul ‘Aadiyaat,

احبض تايداعلاواحدق تايروملافاحبص تاريغملاف

اعقن هب نرثأفاعمج هب نطسوف

By the (steeds) that run, with panting (breath),

Striking sparks of fire (by their hooves),

And scouring to the raid at dawn

And raise the dust in clouds the while,

Penetrating forthwith as one into the midst (of the enemy). (100:15)

Makkee surahs have amazing imagery, and these first five verses are dedicated to horses in battle. Back inthe day when there was no TV, movies, picture books, all that was available was one’s imagination,especially when the audience of the Qur’an were people from a desert with nothing to look at. Allah azzawa jal is painting a magnificient scene in the mind of the Quraysh:

The horses being described here are feminine ( تايداعلا ), why? The Arabs preferred the female horses inbattle because they were faster. Allah azza wa jal is describing the horses in the morning time, when thereis still moisture in the air and instead of the dust rising as it does in a desert, the moisture causes the dust tosettle. Imagine: these horses who are fast by nature, running so fast that they are causing the dust to rise up–even with the moisture, sparks are flying even though there is moisture on the rocks, and they don’t seeinfront of them because of the dust in the air–not knowing if there is an enemy or spear waiting on the otherside.

Think of the amazement of the non Muslims listening to the Prophet alayhi salaatu wa salaam recite theseverses…Anyone amongst them who has a horse realized how loyal their horse is to them; how it will evendie for its owner just out of submission to the master.

Then right after these amazing images, Allah ta’ala says:

دونكل هبرل ناسنإلا نإ

Indeed man is not loyal to his Rabb! (100:6) Just as this horse submits to its master, going into the enemyrange without even knowing what is there, completely loyal to the Master…Allah ta’ala reminds them: manis not loyal to his Rabb.

Not only that he’s not loyal but also:

ديهشل كلذ ىلع هنإو

And to that fact he bears witness (100:7)

Man bears witness to the fact that he is not loyal! He knows! How? Allah azza wa jal just reminded them

of the loyalty of the steeds to their owner in the previous verses; if your horse submits to you, then why doyou not submit to your Owner?

SubhanAllah!

Another example of oaths in the Qur’an is Surah Mursalaat.

There is a difference of opinion if ‘mursalaat’ refers to angels or winds, but in a literary context, ‘winds’ is amore appropriate definition.

Allah azza wa jal says:

افرع تالسرملاو and by the winds that scatter : ‘urf literally means the mane of a horse. If a horse has noreins, the rider only has the mane to hold on too, and if the rider let’s go, the horse will go wild.

This first ayah is showing how if Allah ta’ala let a wind go, it would spread wildly without control.

افصع تافصاعلاف and by the winds that blow violently: the “fa” at the beginning of this verse shows reason,due too, because of the mursalaati ‘urfaa: al’aasifaati ‘asfa. ‘asf literally means inconsiderate movement,such as a bulldozer. (Think of a car coming straight at you on the highway, if that car doesn’t move, andrams right into you–that is ‘asf) It is a merciless wind that destroys everything in its path.

In these two verses, Allah ta’laa is talking about winds that brings destruction. Why? This is a makkeesurah, and Allah ta’ala is reminding the Quraysh–those who mock at the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wasallam to bring the punishment–these winds of punishment CAN be let go and it has been done before, nointricate planning or arrangement is required for your destruction. In Suratul Haqqah, Allah ta’ala describesthe scene of ‘Aad who were destroyed by a wind: for eight days their whole city were being tossed aroundlike it was nothing.

Then Allah ta’ala says in the next ayah:

ارشن تارشانلاو and by the winds that scatter: this ayah begins with a ‘wa’ so we know it is a new oath.Allah ta’ala swears by the winds that do nashr. Nashr means to spread randomly allover, such as the act oftaking seeds and scattering them on the soil. Annaashiraat are those winds that distribute. What do theydistribute? Clouds that bring the rain. If these winds did not distribute the clouds, then cities would sufferfrom drought. Modern science learns now that pollen is also distributed by winds, so without these windsthere would be no vegetation. These naashiraat distribute from both the sky (rain) and the ground(vegetation).

This verse shows the life that the winds carry, while the first two verses displayed death and destruction.

Allah azza wa jal continues:

اقرف تاقرافلاف and by those winds that separate: farq means to distribute and separate, with a very precisedivision.

These winds distribute mercy, just as the first two winds sent punishment. This verse shows us that all ofthese winds, either bringing mercy or punishment, are precisely distributed.

اركذ تايقلملاف and by those that deliver a message: Both of these winds, the ones of mercy and the ones ofdestruction, carry a reminder for the people. The winds of mercy remind us that these winds bring rain,which is a rizq (provision) from the sky, showing we are totally dependent on Allah ta’ala, such as a manwho is feeding a caged animal–the animal is totally dependent on the master. These verses remind us nomatter how disobedient or how wild we are: we depend totally on Allah. When the rain falls from the skythat these winds have scattered, we see the dead earth being brought to life, reminding us that we will beresurrected just as the dead land.

These reminders are:

ارذن وأ ارذع as a justification or to warn: ‘uthra means to receive an excuse or a lesson, or an ignoring.There are two people mentioned in this verse: those who take a reminder of these winds, and those whoignore the reminder.

But either way:

عقاول نودعوت امنإ Surely, what you have been promised will definitely come to pass: the promise of the Dayof Judgment, of Resurrection and the destruction of those who disobey Allah. Those who enjoy the mercyof these winds, the rain, the vegetation, the rizq, they will be destroyed.

May Allah ta’ala make us among those who benefit from the reminder, Ameen.


from → Arabic, Awesomeness, Bayyinah Gems, Gems, Qur'an, SubhanAllah← NOW is the Time to Learn Arabic!Qur’anic Characteristic #3: Full of Dhikr →8 Comments leave one →

1. bint Husayn permalinkOctober 15, 2008 12:20 pm

as salamu`alayki

SubhanAllah you have an amazingly beautiful blog mashaAllah.

2. Amatullah permalink*October 15, 2008 3:49 pm

wa alayki assalam wa rahmatullah ukhtee,

Like

Skip to content



Session Four: Syntax in the Qur’anOctober 14, 2008tags: Arabic, Bayyinah, Gems, nouman khan, Qur'anby Amatullah

Bismillah

Alhamdulillah after a long break, our bayyinah classes with brother Nouman started again! Here was lastnight’s gem:

Syntax in the Qur’an

We learned before that the Qur’an doesn’t compromise style or content; it maintains both aspects flawlessly.

Two simple examples from the Qur’an display this fact.

Allah azza wa jal says in Suratul Muddathir verse three:

ربكف كبرو

“and declare the greatness only of your Rabb”

the letter wow (و) is usually translated as “and”, but this translation is over simplification. In the Qur’an,there are 21 ways و‘wa’ is used and one way is wow al musta’nifah, the wow that separates one sentencefrom another. In the English language, we would put a period and capitalize the next word in the sentenceto show that a new one is beginning.

So this وwow in the ayah is an indication of a new sentence, the sentence is:

ربكف كبر

look at it more closely:

ر ب ب ك ف ك ب برRabbakafaKabbir…when you look at it both ways! SubhanAllah! In English, this is called a“palindrome”, when a word is looked at backwards and forwards and has the same spelling. (race car,radar, mom etc).

In order to construct a palindrome, one would have to look up words, check their spellings, find theirdefinitions, write it down a few times to see if it works and so on…a lot of work! BUT:

1 The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam was an Nabiyy al Ummiyy: he couldn’t read.

2 The Qur’an was not revealed as a written book; but it was oral.

3 The Qur’an was not edited, it was not revised, it was one attempt.

4 Furthermore, the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam didn’t even mention this literally miracle in hislifetime! He did not say: ‘look this ayah is a palindrome, become Muslim!’ This was discovered by thescholars of tafseer, who were so meticulous and intricate with the Qur’an that they counted how manyletters, how many times this word comes, how many times that letter comes and more–The study ofstatistics in the Qur’an started in the second or third century.

The Qur’an is a challenge for humanity; it doesn’t compromise style and content so if someone intended toduplicate this book, they would have to have both. Race car has the style (of a palindrome), but it does nothave the same content as Rabbaka faKabir.

Even if the humans and jinn were to get together, they chose any language, would they be able to create“Rabbaka faKabir” as a palindrome that contains both content and style?

And the irony is in the meaning of the ayah itself: declare the greatness only of your Rabb.

Allahu Akbar.

Another example of syntax are the verses where Allah ta’ala forbids killing children, He says in two surahs:

مهايإو مكقزرن نحن قالمإ نم مكدالوأ اولتقت الو

“and do not kill your children because of poverty, We provide for you and them” (6:151)

مكايإو مهقزرن نحن قالمإ ةيشخ مكدالوأ اولتقت الو

“and do not kill your children due to fear of poverty, We provide for them and for you” (17:31)

The essential difference between these verses are two words:

a) in the first ayah, Allah uses min ( نم ) from, which is called harf ajal, it shows a reason that alreadyexists.

b) in the second ayah, Allah uses khasyah ( ةيشخ ) fear, this is not a reason but rather a fear something thatwill happen, which doesn’t exist yet.

So there are two different types of parents mentioned in these two verses:

a) Those who are already poor. (MIN) They already fear their own nourishment.

b) Those who fear poverty after children. (KHASYAH) They have a fear of providing for children.

When Allah azza wa jal speaks to the first group of parents, who are already worried about themselves, Hepromises that they will be taken care of ( مكقزرن نحن )–as they already are and also their children. We learnhere that children are a cause of rizq (provision).

When He ta’ala addresses the second group, those whose fear is associated with children, Allah ta’alamentions that He will take care of the children ( مهقزرن نحن ), and He will take care of you (the parents).

SubhanAllah! This analysis takes about 10 mins to explain, but Allah ta’ala only changes a few words todeliver the message.

May Allah ta’ala make us companions of the Qur’an, Ameen.

One blogger likes this post.

from → Arabic, Bayyinah Gems, Gems, Good Things, Qur'an← Al MalikSession Five: The Precise “Selection” →18 Comments leave one →

1. stranger permalinkOctober 14, 2008 3:36 pm

SubhanAllah. This also shows that each time the verses are repeated, they mean something different.They are not redundant and meaningless. Just the difference of one word makes the address different.

Like

Skip to content



Session Five: The Precise “Selection”October 16, 2008tags: Arabic, Gems, nouman khan, Qur'anby Amatullah

Bismillah walhamdulillah,

These gems keep getting better as the class progresses mashaAllah. We actually received a doublewhammy on Tuesday. I think these gems are my favorite so far, so here’s Qur’anic gem #5 from Tuesdaynight:

In Suratul Hajj (22) Allah ta’ala uses two distinct words to give the meaning of “selection”. ( ىبتجا andىفطصا )

Allah ta’ala says in ayah 75:

سانلا نمو السر ةكئالملا نم يفطصي هللا

Allah selects messengers out of angels and man.

Then He ta’ala says in ayah 77:

مكابتجا وه

He has selected you (muslims).

Both of these words carry the same English meaning of ‘selection’ or ‘to choose’, yet there is a profounddifference between the two which shows the precise choice of these words.

Istafaa’ is from the root saadfawow ( و ف ص ) and it means to be chosen based on purity. When Allahta’ala selects Messengers, He selects the purest of mankind. We learn this from our creed (aqeedah) that theMessengers are all pure. The Jews and Christians on the other hand did not keep this standard and in theirbooks that they claim to be divine, there are references to these Messengers that are lewd and horrifying.When we hear anything horrendous, we automatically know it is wrong based on this ayah. We know itcannot be from the revelation because it questions the purity of the Messengers.

Another meaning of istafaa’ is to make a choice that is purely your own, no explanation is needed for thischoice and it is free from any agendas, pressures and dictates. This protects another aspect of theMessengers. At the time of the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, the Jews and the Quraysh denied theMessengership of the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam just because he was not Jewish or not rich; theyquestioned the choice of Allah ta’ala. Allah’s Choice is BEYOND our question, and by using istafaa’Allah ta’ala makes that clear. We cannot say the Messenger alayhi salaatu wa salaam was picked for X, Yor Z reasons–we should stop at: Allah chose Him.

Ijtibaa’ on the other hand is from jeembaya ( ي ب ج ), Ijtibaa’ is to pick something for a purpose, anagenda, and based on qualifications. For example, this word is used to collect taxes, and when collectingtaxes there is a purpose: to store the money in the treasury. Another example is when a recruiter hires anemployee: he chooses based on the qualifications of the employee. There is a reason for ijtibaa’.

Everyone who has the priviledge of saying la ilaaha il Allah has been selected. Allah ta’ala did not justselect us, but there is a reason, something that He ta’ala sees in us that He sees us as qualified for this taskand the mission of this ummah. The vast majority of the people on this earth were not chosen; yet we makeup the small minority of those whom Allah ta’ala selected.

This shows great honor, but at the same time: great responsibility. SubhanAllah.

These two examples are from Suratul Hajj, and it connects with the last ayah of this surah which is anemotional roller coaster:

مكامس وه ميهاربإ مكيبأ ةلم جرح نم نيدلا يف مكيلع لعج امو مكابتجا وه هداهج قح هللا يف اودهاجواوتآو ةالصلا اوميقأف سانلا ىلع ءادهش اونوكتو مكيلع اديهش لوسرلا نوكيل اذـه يفو لبق نم نيملسملا

ريصنلا معنو ىلوملا معنف مكالوم وه هللاب اومصتعاو ةاكزلا

(I did not translate this ayah for a reason)

In a previous ayah, ayah 74, Allah ta’ala said: هردق قح هللا اوردق ام they did not make a just estimate ofAllah as He deserves. The ayah above begins with an impossible goal: هداهج قح هللا يف اودهاج tostruggle before Allah as much as He deserves. SubhanAllah! Can we ever thank Allah as He deserves?Can we ever pray to Allah as He deserves? Can we ever fear Allah as He deserves? The first thing wethink of when reading this statement is that we cannot do it! It’s too difficult!

But directly after this statement, Allah azza wa jal says: مكابتجا وه He selected you. Allah azza wa jal seesit in us to carry this task.

Furthermore He says: جرح نم نيدلا يف مكيلع لعج امو He did not place in this deen for you anyconstriction. Our deen is not that hard.

Then He reminds us that we are the continuation of a legacy before us: ميهاربإ مكيبأ ةلم the religion ofyour father Ibrahim (alayhi salaam). Ibrahim alayhi salaam struggled so much in his life: he was throwninto the fire, sought to slaughter his beloved son, leaving his wife and child in the desert. Imagine if wewere late in coming home, and our phones were off and we could not be reached, what happens to ourmothers? And if we are mothers, what do we think? Imagine those thoughts, and now imagine howIbrahim alayhi salaam felt: leaving his child and wife in a barren desert, a certain death! The last thing wethink of about his life alayhi salaam is that it was easy, yet Allah ta’ala says that there is no haraj (hardship)in this deen.

What is the lesson here? If Allah ta’ala can make jumping into the fire easy for Ibrahim, if He can substitutea ram in place of his son, if He can send a river in the middle of the desert for his family…then what do youhave that is so hard? There is no comparison.

Then Allah ta’ala reminds us that: نيملسملا مكامس وه He is the one who named you “Muslims”, there is adifference of opinion if the “he” in this ayah is Allah ta’ala or Ibrahim alayhi salaam. In Suratul Baqarah,Allah states that Ibrahim made the duaa while building the Ka’bah and said “ummatan Muslimatan.” If thisayah means that Allah named us Muslims, then we should be in trust to Allah that He chose us and namedus.

We were Muslims: اذـه يفو لبق نم before (the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam), and now.

How do you feel now? Encouraged, right?

But Allah ta’ala reminds us again:

مكيلع اديهش لوسرلا نوكيل so that the Messenger is a witness against you. Allah ta’ala says مكيلع , ‘alaahere means against. If the Messenger alayhi salaam is a witness against us, then that means we have amission to complete. Just because of the qualification, doesn’t mean we will do the job. Allah ta’ala isreminding us here, if we do not fulfill our mission then our Messenger will be the one complaining to Allahazza wa jal!

Furthermore, سانلا ىلع ءادهش اونوكتو and that you all are witnesses against mankind. Not only is theMessenger alayhi salaatu wa salaam a witness against us; we will also be a proof and witness againsthumanity, if we fulfilled our mission or not. SubhanAllah, on one side it is the Messenger sal Allahu alayhiwa sallam complaining and on the other side it’s humanity!

Now we realize the magnitude of our mission, but before you become uneasy, Allah ta’ala consoles usagain:

ةاكزلا اوتآو ةالصلا اوميقأف then perfectly establish the prayer and give zakah. Salah is the therapy andreinforcement for the Muslim, and through giving zakah, Allah ta’ala ensures our purification. And if youwant to pray and give zakah properly: هللاب اومصتعاو and hold fast to Allah. Hold fast to the rope of Allah,

the Qur’an.

Then Allah ta’ala says at the end of this ayah:

مكالوم وه He is your Mawlaa. Not only is a Mawlaa a friend, but a Mawlaa is the ONLY ONE who canprotect you. When you embark on this hard journey, this great mission, He is the One who will help you.

ريصنلا معنو ىلوملا معنف and how awesome a Mawlaa, and how awesome a Helper.

SubhanAllahil A’dheem. O Allah we ask you to grant us istqaamah and to make us bearers of Your deen,and to grant us success as callers. Ameen.


from → Arabic, Awesomeness, Bayyinah Gems, Gems, Good Things, Qur'an← Session Four: Syntax in the Qur’anAl Quddoos – Absolutely Pure →5 Comments leave one →

1. hiddensouls permalinkOctober 16, 2008 10:54 pm

SubhanAllah, reading all these true arabic gems makes me feel like I know absolutely no arabic andI’m an arab myself…it’s just so beautiful…jazakillahu khairan for taking the time to type up thisgold…

2. Amatullah permalink*October 22, 2008 10:39 am

wa iyyaki ukhtee, May Allah ta’ala make us companions of the Qur’an, Ameen!

3. baitussyifaonline permalinkJanuary 19, 2010 7:37 pm

Assalamualaikum ya ukhti..I’ve recently been guided by Allah to stumble upon Bro Nouman’s videos on Youtube..and after afew days of listening to his lectures i was guided again to stumble upon your blog..

Like

Skip to content



Session Six: The Miraculous AyahOctober 19, 2008tags: Arabic, Bayyinah, Gems, nouman khanby Amatullah

Bismillah walhamdulillah,

May Allah ta’ala make us companions of the Qur’an. Ameen.

I’ve been realizing how true the statement “the more you learn, the less you know” is. SubhanAllah asmany Qur’an classes you or myself have taken, the bottom line is that we can never finish studying theQur’an; there is always something to learn.

On Wednesday night we learned about the Miraculous Ayah, Qur’anic gem # six:

The word “ayah” ( ةيآ ) is commonly translated as “verse” in English, yet this definition is not properbecause it does not capture the true meaning of Ayah. When you mention “verse” to an English speakingperson, it reminds them of three things: the Bible, poetry or a song. The problem is that the Qur’an deniesbeing similar to any of these things, so “verse” does not give the correct connotation of “ayah”.

Another definition of ayah is “sentence”, yet an ayah is not a sentence. For example, the first three ayaat

(plural of ayah) from Faatihah are a sentence, but three separate ayaat. Also, ayatad dayn is one page long,yet it’s only one ayah. Multiple ayaat can make one sentence, and one ayah could be a paragraph. The besttranslation (according to brother Nouman) is: a miraculous sign.

One example from the Qur’an how ayah cannot be translated in from Surah Fath (48).

اميلع هللا ناكو ضرألاو تاوامسلا دونج هللو مهناميإ عم اناميإ اودادزيل نينمؤملا بولق يف ةنيكسلا لزنأ يذلا وهاميكح

“He it is Who sent down AsSakinah (calmness and tranquility) into the hearts of the believers, that theymay grow more in Faith (emaan) along with their (present) Faith. And to Allah belong the soldiers of theheavens and the earth, and Allah is Ever AllKnower, AllWise.” (48:4)

This surah was revealed after the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah (article here), a treaty that was enacted betweenthe Muslims of Madinah and the Quraysh when the Muslims traveled with the intention to perform ‘umrah.Allah azza wa jal says that He sent down Sakinah (tranquility) into the hearts of the believers. Why? Sothat they put their trust in Allah ta’ala even though they cannot make ‘umrah, there is good in it.

He says in the above ayah: ضرألاو تاوامسلا دونج هللو and to Allah belongs the soldiers of the heavens andthe earth. This statement appears twice when Allah ta’ala mentions the believers in ayah four, and in ayahseven, after He mentions the hypocrites.

In ayah six, Allah ta’ala mention the hypocrites and their punishment:

هللا بضغو ءوسلا ةرئاد مهيلع ءوسلا نظ هللاب نيناظلا تاكرشملاو نيكرشملاو تاقفانملاو نيقفانملا بذعيواريصم تءاسو منهج مهل دعأو مهنعلو مهيلع

“And that He may punish the Munafiqoon (hypocrites), men and women, and also the Mushrikoon menand women, who think evil thoughts about Allah, for them is a disgraceful torment, and the Anger of Allahis upon them, and He has cursed them and prepared Hell for them, and worst indeed is that destination.”(48:6)

Take a deeper look at this arrangement:

When Allah ta’ala mentions the believers, He mentions in the SAME ayah that He owns the soldiers of theheavens and the earth…because the believers belong to the armies of Allah!

Yet when Allah ta’ala describes the hypocrites, He mentions that He owns the soldiers of the heavens andthe earth in the next ayah. Allah ta’ala SEPARATES them by separating the ayah. They do not belong inthe armies of Allah, yet they claim to be amongst the believers.

At the end of ayah 4, Allah says He is: اميكح اميلع All Knowing, All Wise, and in ayah 7 He says He is:اميكح ازيزع All Mighty, All Wise. ‘Aleema appears with the believers, and ‘Azeeza appears with the

hypocrites.

‘Aleeman is mentioned with the believers because the believers were in a frustrating position with thisTreaty and having been stopped from performing ‘umrah, yet the only one who knew it was a victory wasAllah azza wa jal. He gave the believers tranquility because He is Hakeem–All Wise. Out of His Ultimate

Wisdom, He knew this situation was good for them, whether they knew it or not.

‘Azeezan is mentioned with the hypocrites because they did not go with the believers to perform ‘umrah.Reason being that they did not want to encounter the mushriks for the second time–after they surroundedMadinah during the Battle of Ahzaab (or Khandaq/ditch) for weeks a few months prior. This battle was theonly time that the soldiers of the opposing side were more in number than the actual inhabitants of the city!Allah azza wa jal gave victory to the believers; Allah ta’ala sent a wind (mentioned in 33:9) to help them.The hypocrites did not travel with the believers after the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam received thedream to go for ‘umrah because they thought this meeting was too early, having just met the mushriks atAhzaab–they saw it as going straight into the mouth of the wolf and that the believers would be killed.They thought:

ادبأ مهيلهأ ىلإ نونمؤملاو لوسرلا بلقني نل نأ

“that the Messenger and the believers would never return to their families” (48:12) So what did they do?They began planning who would take authority of Madinah, but Allah ta’ala is ‘Azeez: Authority belongsto Him. They had confidence in their authority, as Allah says: مكبولق يف كلذ نيزو “and that was madefairseeming in their hearts” (48:12) The only reason that Allah ta’ala hasn’t shown them His Authority isbecause He is Hakeem: it is all part of a plan that He Knows.

May Allah ta’ala make us among the true believers, Ameen!


from → Arabic, Awesomeness, Bayyinah Gems, Gems, Qur'an← Al Quddoos – Absolutely PureSession Seven: Bonds of Brotherhood →18 Comments leave one →

1. serendipitouslife permalinkOctober 20, 2008 7:22 am

JazakAllahkhair. You are absolutely right! We probably taste just the drop of the wisdom & miraclefound in the study of Quran.

I didn’t fully comprehend this one. So i checked from my mushaf & then alhumdullilah, yourexample became clear.

2. serendipitouslife permalinkOctober 20, 2008 8:45 am

Like

Skip to content



Session Seven: Bonds of BrotherhoodOctober 21, 2008tags: Arabic, Bayyinah, Gems, nouman khan, Qur'anby Amatullah

Bismillah

walhamdulillah, we received another double gem session last night, but since they are different topicsinshaAllah I will post them separately.

So here is Qur’anic gem # seven:

In surah Shu’ara (26), Allah ta’ala mentions the stories of many Prophets, and He says:

حون مهوخأ مهل لاق ذإ

When their brother Nuh (alayhi salaam) said to them, and this format repeats for Saalih, Lut and Hud(alayhum assalaam). Whenever a nation is mentioned, Allah says “ مهوخأ ” their brother about the Prophet.

However, when Allah ta’ala mentions Shu’ayb alayhi salaam, He says:

بيعش مهل لاق ذإ

When Shu’ayb (alayhi salaam) said to them. (26:177) Why do the other Prophets receive “their brother”,and Shu’ayb (alayhi salaam) does not? We even see in another surah, Allah says:

ابيعش مهاخأ نيدم ىلإو

And to Madyan, their brother Shu’ayb (7:85). Allah mentions ‘their brother’ in this ayah.

To understand this, we need to look at the city of Madyan itself. There are two names of Madyan in theQur’an: the first one is Madyan and the second one is Ashaabul Aykah (companions of the tree). Aykahrefers to a giant tree that they used to worship.

So, when it comes to location, the city is referred to as Madyan. When it comes to the people, the city isreferred to as Ashaabul Aykah.

How does Allah ta’ala refer to them in Surah Shu’ara, where “their brother” is not mentioned? He says:

نيلسرملا ةكيألا باحصأ بذك

Ashaabul Aykah denied the messengers. (26:176)

When Allah ta’ala mentions the location (such as 7:85), He ta’ala says مهاخأ their brother. When it comesto their religious identity, Allah ta’ala does not say “ مهاخأ “, only Shu’ayb. When it comes to the location,Shu’ayb alayhi salaam is their brother. But when it comes to the religion, they are not brothers even thoughthey have the same blood line, the same citizenship, the same identity and the same geographical location.

The precision of the Qur’an, SubhanAllah!


from → Arabic, Awesomeness, Bayyinah Gems, Gems, Qur'an, SubhanAllah← Session Six: The Miraculous AyahQur’anic Oath: By the Fleeting Passage of Time! →4 Comments leave one →

1. nuh permalinkOctober 21, 2008 11:48 am

Assalmu ‘Alikum

Thank you for another great gem.it reminded me the story of Nuh (AS), but insted of bonds of brotherhood, it talks about the bonds offamily.

Like

Skip to content



Session Seven pt 2: The Most Noble of TasksOctober 24, 2008tags: Arabic, Bayyinah, Gems, nouman khan, Qur'anby Amatullah

Bismillah

walhamdulillah

Allah ta’ala mentions this statement many times in the Qur’an:

رومألا مزع نم كلذ نإ

Certainly that is from the noble tasks.

When this statement occurs, it is always in reference to sabr (patience).

However, when this statement appears in Surah Shoora (42), something different occurs that does not in allthe other ayaat….Allah azza wa jal states:

رومألا مزع نم ل كلذ نإ

Truly that is certainly from the noble tasks. (42:43)

This ayah is a special case because there is an extra letter, a laam. This laam is for emphasis: certainly. Butwhy does this ayah have more emphasis, but the rest of the similar ayaat do not? It is because there are twodifferent types of patience (sabr) being referenced for these two ayaat.

There are many types of sabr in this deen, but they all fall into two basic categories:

1. When something happens to you and you have the power to respond and take action (ie,revenge/retaliate).

2. When something happens to you and you do not have the power to respond.

Here are some examples that display these two types of patience:

Someone stealing your car (power to take action) vs. your car getting damaged in a storm.Getting food poisoning from a restaurant vs getting a cold on your own.Someone pushing you vs someone with a weapon pushing you.

In situations when you cannot take take action, it is still a great thing to have patience. For example thesahaba in Makkah, they did not have the power to retaliate but Allah ta’ala still commanded them to havepatience and He praised those who were patient. Also with the Battle of Uhud or Ahzaab, they did nothave the power to retaliate but still had patience in their situation.

Then the Conquest of Makkah occured, and those who overpowered the Sahaba before, those who kickedthem out of their homes, those who tortured them and their families were right there–easily able to takerevenge. Does THAT not require sabr? Which sabr is more difficult? It is the sabr that one practices whenthey have the ABILITY to take revenge and retaliate, but they do not!

Allah ta’ala mentioned in the same ayah before that statement: رفغو ربص نملو “and for the one who haspatience and forgives” This person could have had sabr, and retaliated BUT they had sabr and chose toforgive…so this ayah, the only time it occurs in the Qur’an, gets an extra laam.

رومألا مزع نمل كلذ نإ رفغو ربص نملو

“And surely, whosoever shows patience and forgives that would truly be from the noble tasks” (42:43)

If you have the upper hand and you are in a position to retaliate and respond, but you chose to forgive–thatis the harder sabr, and truly from the noble tasks.


from → Arabic, Bayyinah Gems, Gems, Qur'an← Best Hosary Recitation EVERNew Series: Jannah and Naar →6 Comments leave one →

Like

Skip to content



Session Eight: Dialogue in the Qur’anOctober 27, 2008tags: Arabic, Bayyinah Gems, nouman khan, Qur'anby Amatullah

Bismillah

walhamdulillah,

One of the powerful means that the Qur’an spreads its teachings is by dialogue. In many surahs in theQur’an, Allah ta’ala displays to us the conversations between people: Allah ta’ala and the Angels, Ibrahimalayhi salaam and his father, Musa alayhi salaam and Khidr, the two men of the garden (surah Kahf), andMusa alayhi salaam and Fir’awn.

The beauty of these dialogues is that Allah azza wa jal could have told us what happened, but rather Hechose to convey to us in the form of dialogue.

One subcategory of dialogues in the Qur’an is the idea of transitions. In the Qur’an, Allah ta’ala displaystransitions that help us as the audience visualize the scene.

An amazing example of both dialogues and transitions in the Qur’an is from Surah Shu’ara (26), the story

of Musa alayhi salaam and Firawn.

Allah azza wa jal says to Musa alayhi salaam, نوقتي الأ نوعرف موق نيملاظلا موقلا تئا نأ “go to the wrongdoing people–the People of Firawn, will they not have taqwa?” (1011)

He responded to Allah ta’ala, نوبذكي نأ فاخأ ينإ “O my Rabb, I am scared that they will belie me” (12)Musa alayhi salaam mentions another fear of his in the coming verses, that they will kill him for his crime,but the first fear he mentions is that they will belie him. He is more afraid that he will not fulfill the missionthat Allah ta’ala gave Him, than of his own safety.

Then he alayhi salaam expresses his shortcomings:

نوراه ىلإ لسرأف يناسل قلطني الو يردص قيضيو

“and that my breast will tighten and my tongue will not be fluent, so send (with me) Haroon” (13) Musaalayhi salaam was known for his temper and when someone has a temper, they do not express themselvesclearly which results in their chest being constricted. He alayhi salaam is saying that: if I do fail in mymission, then at least send Haroon alayhi salaam with me to help.

The thing in the mind of Musa alayhi salaam is fulfilling this mission–which is why he explains hisconcerns to Allah azza wa jal. He then mentions:

نولتقي نأ فاخأف بنذ يلع مهلو

“and they have upon me a sin, so I fear that they will kill me” (14) Musa alayhi salaam mentions theaccidental killing of the Egyptian man, and if they kill him and he cannot fulfill the mission, Haroon alayhisalaam can continue it.

Allah azza wa jal responds to him: الك , “No!” انتايآب ابهذاف “both of you go with our signs”, Allah ta’ala didnot respond to Musa alayhi salaam saying, “Haroon will be a messenger”, but Allah’s Speech is concise,He said: fathhabaa, both of you go!

نوعمتسم مكعم انإ “there is no doubt that I will be alongside listening” (15) The dialogue about to takeplace now between Musa alayhi salaam and Firawn is so important that we must listen closely. Why?Because Allah azza wa jal said Himself that He was نوعمتسم “one who listens attentively”, He did noteven says ‘musme’oon: one who listens’, but نوعمتسم , one who listens carefully and closely.

Allah azza wa jal instructs them:

نيملاعلا بر لوسر انإ الوقف نوعرف ايتأف “And when you both come to Firawn, say: We are the Messengerof the Rabb of the ‘Alameen” (16). Rasool is singular, because they are presenting themselves as one entity,they are inseperable.

Let’s look more at the situation: Musa alayhi salaam is a fugitive in their eyes, and Haroon alayhi salaam isfrom a people, who according to Firawn, are second class citizens. Then they have to go to Firawn, directlyto his palace and say we are messengers from Rabb al ‘Aalameen. Firawn already claimed and thought hewas rabb! This message was already offensive to Firawn.

Then they say: ليئارسإ ينب انعم لسرأ نأ ,“So allow the Children of Israel to go with us. ” (17). It’s likethey (alayhum assalaam) are saying to Firawn: For your information, there is another Rabb, the True Rabb,and second of all, send with us those who you have enslaved….This seems to be a a BIG request for thelike of Firawn!

In the next ayah, a shift occurs. The previous dialogue was between Allah ta’ala and Musa alayhi salaam,then Allah ta’ala switches the scene where they are already speaking to Firawn.

How does Firawn react to their claim? He says: نينس كرمع نم انيف تثبلو اديلو انيف كبرن ملأ , “Did we notbring you up among us as a child? And you did dwell many years of your life with us.” (18) Musa alayhisalaam said: We are messengers from Rabb al ‘Aalameen, and send with us Bani Isra’eel. Firawn did noteven respond to his requests, rather he goes straight to Musa alayhi salaam and attacks his character andalligence. Firawn is a politician, he addressed everything but the issue.

Then he says:

نيرفاكلا نم تنأو تلعف يتلا كتلعف تلعفو “And you did your deed, which you did. And you are one of theungrateful.” (19) Firawn is being sarcastic by using “fa’alta”, he doesn’t even say the murder of the manbecause he is undermining and threatening Musa alayhi salaam. So Firawn, instead of responding to therequests of Musa alayhi salaam: questions his loyalties (did we not raise you up?) and suggests that he is acriminal.

At this point in the dialogue, it seems that Firawn has the upper hand. But of Musa’s alayhi salaam genius,he addresses some of what he says and he goes in order of importance:

1. نيلاضلا نم انأو اذإ اهتلعف “I did it then, when I was an ignorant” (20) This was the last point Firawnaddressed but it was the first of importance to Musa alayhi salaam, because it was not deliberate but amistake.

2. مكتفخ امل مكنم تررفف “So I fled from you when I feared you.” (21) Look at the bravery of Musaalayhi salaam, he says to Firawn, in his own palace infront of all of his chiefs: مكتفخ امل when Ifeared you, meaning: You don’t scare me anymore!

3. نيلسرملا نم ينلعجو امكح يبر يل بهوف “Then my Rabb has granted me religious knowledge andappointed me as one of the Messengers.” (21) Notice that Musa alayhi salaam keeps mentionedRabb, he did not even say Allah. Remember in the conversation with Allah ta’ala, Musa alayhisalaam was concerned about not fulfilling the mission? Here, by mentioning Rabb over and over, heis not moving from the agenda of conveying that he is messenger from Rabb al ‘Aalameen.

4. يلع اهنمت ةمعن كلتو “and that was a favor that you gave me” (22) Musa alayhi salaamacknowledges the favor that Firawn gave him that he allowed him to stay in his midst.

5. BUT: ليئارسإ ينب تدبع نأ “(is that a reason) that you have enslaved the children of Isra’eel?” (22)Musa alayhi salaam is saying: just because you raised me in your home, does that give you the rightto enslave Bani Isra’eel, a whole nation? Or is it because you raised me, I cannot ask you for theirrelease? There is a whole in the arguments of Firawn, and Musa alayhi salaam is not moving fromhis agenda.

In response, Firawn tries to comeback after being cornered:

نيملاعلا بر امو “And what is Rabb al ‘Aalameen?” (23) Firawn intentionally says ام “what”, instead of

“man” (who). “Maa” is something which can be an imaginary idea, something that is not real, this isextremely condescending.

Musa alayhi salaam keeps his cool and answers briefly and succinctly:

امهنيب امو ضرألاو تاوامسلا بر “Rabb of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them both” (24)The people of Firawn thought that they were the descendants of the “Sun God”, but Musa alayhi salaamremoves this from them and attacks their religious beliefs with this statement: my Rabb is the Rabb of yoursupposed “god”, and the Rabb of the supposed ‘rabb’ (Firawn) of this earth.

Then he turns to the crowd–imagine now how big the audience must be at this point, he says: متنك نإنينقوم “if you seek to be convinced with certainty” (24)

Now Firawn is getting very nervous and feels the blow of the answer. So what does he do? He says to hischiefs and those around him:

نوعمتست الأ “You hear that, don’t you?” (25) In an attempt to laugh Musa alayhi salaam to his closepeople, he says. In an administration, when one looses the close people around them, then they looseeverything, so Firawn out of his nervousness stops talking to Musa and turns to his chiefs: do you realizewhat he is saying?! Implying mockery and that they are listening to Musa alayhi salaam over him.

How does Musa alayhi salaam respond? He doesn’t move from the agenda!

نيلوألا مكئابآ برو مكبر “Your Rabb and the Rabb of your forefathers” (26) My Rabb is the Rabb of eventhe first of you pharaohs.

When someone is in a debate and they are stumped, the best thing they can do is turn to characterassassination…That is exactly what Firawn does. He says:

نونجمل مكيلإ لسرأ يذلا مكلوسر نإ “Certainly this messenger who has been sent to you is insane!” (27)Firawn attacks the message by attacking the messenger. Once you destroy the reputation of the Rasool, thepeople don’t care about the message anymore. As Muslims, we believe otherwise, as Ali radi Allahu anhusaid: Judge the statement before we judge the speaker. However, it’s of the nature of humans to bejudgmental.

Firawn thinks the crazy claim will put an end to Musa, but Musa alayhi salaam continues:

“Rabb of the East and the West, and all that is between them both” نولقعت متنك نإ “If you do butunderstand!” (28) Musa alayhi salaam is claiming: if I am crazy, then why would I saw somethingintellectual that makes complete sense? (‘aql means the intellect). Furthermore, Musa alahyi salaam saysAllah is the Rabb of the East and the West, why is this so significant? Because the people of Firawn usedto worship the sun, and Musa is conveying to them: my Rabb is the Rabb of where the sun rises from andsets!

Now imagine the anger of Firawn! The audience is definitely captivated by what Musa alayhi salaam issaying. So he turns to threats:

نينوجسملا نم كنلعجأل يريغ اهـلإ تذختا نئل “if you take a deity (ilaah) other than me, surely I will make

you among the prisoners!” (29) The way Firawn phrased this statement, it shows us that there were alreadypeople being imprisoned. If you opposed or went against him, then you went to jail. Firawn, as mentionedbefore, is the ultimate politician and reading his statements is like learning Politics 101. The more policingyou need to do in your administration, the less powerful your government is. If Firawn throws every singleperson who disagrees with him in jail, then this shows how powerless he is, he has nothing.

Musa alayhi salaam is still not nervous, he says:

نيبم ءيشب كتئج ولوأ “Even if I bring you something manifest and clear?” (30) Now Firawn cannot say noto this request because Musa has already intrigued his people, and they would demand to see this manifestproof, yet at the same time, maybe Firawn was thinking that he could carry on his claim that Musa alayhisalaam was crazy if he brought a proof that was weak…Whatever the reason is, Firawn agreed: نإ هب تأف

نيقداصلا نم تنك “bring it then, if you are truthful” (31)

Musa alayhi salaam brings the two ayaat:

نيرظانلل ءاضيب يه اذإف هدي عزنو نيبم نابعث يه اذإف هاصع ىقلأف

“So he threw his stick, and behold, it was a serpent, manifest. And he drew out his hand, and behold, itwas white to all beholders!” (3233)

Firawn, continuing with the attacks says to his chiefs around him–sensing how mesmerized and impressedthey were by these powerful ayaat: ميلع رحاسل اذـه نإ “Indeed this is a learned magician!” (34) Now thisattack contradicts the claim that Musa alayhi salaam is crazy…How can he be an intelligent magician andcrazy at the same time? Firawn, out of his weakness, realized that when the crazy argument didn’t work, hemoved on to magic.

Then he riles up the patriotism of the chiefs: نورمأت اذامف هرحسب مكضرأ نم مكجرخي نأ ديري “He wants todrive you out of your land by his sorcery, then what is it your counsel, and what do you command?” (35)The best way to oppose someone who brings something new to society is to display them as a securitythreat to your nation. Firawn says he is a threat to his national integrity. In order to make the chiefs unifyagainst Musa alayhi salaam, he unifies them upon nationalism. Look at the cunning of Firawn, Musa alayhisalaam did not say he wanted them to leave, rather he said: give us Bani Isra’eel so we can leave!

So what do the chiefs advise? ميلع راحس لكب كوتأي نيرشاح نئادملا يف ثعباو هاخأو هجرأ “Put him off andhis brother, and send callers to the cities; and bring up to you every wellversed sorcerer” (3637) Thechiefs, seeing that Musa alayhi salaam has clear and manifest proofs, advise Firawn to bring not only asaahir (magician), but a راحس ‘sahhaar’, a wellversed and veteran magician, one who knows what he isdoing, the experts.

مولعم موي تاقيمل ةرحسلا عمجف “So the sorcerers were assembled at a fixed time on a day appointed.”(38)Now we can see the transition in the dialogue, which moves from the palace of Firawn to another day.

The debate between Musa alayhi salaam and the magicians was on the day of the fair, it was a nationalevent, such a known that that people were invited and asked to come to support their nation: له سانلل ليقو

نيبلاغلا مه اوناك نإ ةرحسلا عبتن انلعل نوعمتجم متنأ “And it was said to the people: are you (too) going toassemble? That we may follow the sorcerers if they are the winners.” (3940) There was a whole

assemble? That we may follow the sorcerers if they are the winners.” (3940) There was a wholeprocession for the magicians, and Musa alayhi salaam was painted as the traitor while the magicians werethe national heroes.

The magicians were of course hired by Firawn, and they claimed that they were competing with Musaalayhi salaam for their nation, for their people and for Firawn, but this pandering they do in public isdifferent from what they do in private, another transition occurs and the conversation moves to Firawn andthe magicians:

نيبلاغلا نحن انك نإ ارجأل انل نئأ “Will there surely be a reward for us if we are the winners?” (41) Allahta’ala gives us insight to their private discussion: we’re going to get paid, right? Firawn replies that he willpay them and will give them high positions نيبرقملا نمل اذإ مكنإو معن “Yes! and you shall then verily be ofthose brought near (to myself).”(42) In private there is capitalism, but they convinced everyone else that itwas nationalism…greed is the main factor.

You may be thinking that this is something similar you’d see on CSpan or the news, but this is from theQur’an! Allah ta’ala is showing us how people ar swayed…This was the media of all times.

We learn from this that there is not enough attention given to dialogue in the Qur’an–these dialogues giveus a lens into how society runs. This one simple example contains so much to learn.

May Allah ta’ala grant us understanding of His Book, Ameen.

I am not the biggest Mishary fan, but the way he recites this surah (Shu’ara) is absolutely amazing…enjoy:


from → Arabic, Bayyinah Gems, Gems, Qur'an← Qur’anic Characteristic #4: MubaarakSession Eight pt 2: Weakening and Empowering a Statement →8 Comments leave one →

1. BZ permalinkNovember 5, 2008 5:35 am

Assalamualikum,this is absolutely amazing!

2. Serendipitouslife permalinkNovember 7, 2008 9:26 am

Like

Skip to content



Session Eight pt 2: Weakening and Empoweringa StatementOctober 28, 2008tags: Arabic, Bayyinah, Gems, nouman khan, Qur'anby Amatullah

Bismillah, walhamdulillah.

In Arabic, there are means in which you can empower a statement and also weaken it in degrees. Allahta’ala says:

نيملاظ انك انإ انليو اي نلوقيل كبر باذع نم ةحفن مهتسم نئلو

“And if a breath of the Torment of your Rabb touches them, they will surely cry: “Woe unto us! Indeed wehave been wrongdoers.” (21:46)

The ayah begins with:

نئل – “if“, a sentence discussing reality is greater than one discussing a possibility–so this sentence starts ofweak, because it is referring to if this would occur, it has not happened yet.

مهتسم “it touched them“, this is a fi’l* . Grammatically when a statement begins with an ism* it is morepowerful than when it comes with a fi’l. This word is already past tense= something that has alreadyoccurred once. Present tense and future tense continues, but past test is weaker, therefore less.

Furthermore, there are many words to describe the act of touching/hitting someone in Arabic, such as“daraba” (to strike) and “laqiya” (to meet/clash). This ayah however uses the least degree of contact,something that barely touches you: سم ‘mass’ .

Already this statement is very weak: the weakest possible beginning of a sentence, the weakest possiblestructure and tense, and the weakest possible form of contact.

Then Allah says:ةحفن “a wind, whiff”. Nafhatun is a wind that is barely noticeably cool wind. If this was a warm wind,

then it would be a lafhah.This statement has gotten weaker and weaker: Even if the slightest cool breeze touched them once….

باذع نم from punishment. The coolest breeze is a breeze of punishment. Allah ta’ala says: Nafhatun minathaab , a breeze FROM the punishment: another way of weakening the statement.

Whose punishment? Allah ta’ala does not say His punishment, or the punishment of the Fire, but Hechooses: كبر your Rabb. In the Qur’an, Rabb comes with the mention of mercy (rahmah). Rabb is: TheOwner, The Provider, The Cherisher, The Sustainer–when describing the punishment, He uses the mostlenient of Names and even more so He says: your Rabb: the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam). Allahta’ala could have said Rabb al ‘Aalameen: Rabb of all that exists because then the people would be worthyof punishment, but rather Allah ta’ala mentioned the one whom He is MOST Merciful too: Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wa sallam.

The first half of this ayah shows us that there is no way you could punish someone less: it’s the leastcontact, only a part of the breeze and not from the whole breeze, and when He sends the punishment, it isfrom your Rabb. This is a microscopic punishment.

How about the other half of the ayah?

.certainly, with this first letter there is already emphasis لنلوقيل surely they would definitely say. If you want to double emphasize this word, you add a noon

mushaddah: yaqoolunn. If you want to triple emphasize this word, you add the ‘la”, la yaqoolunna: theywill say again and again, over and over:

انإ indeed We, this word is نإ in (indeed) and ان naa (we) fused together: these people are so desperate. Thenature of humans is that when they are punished they tend to blame others, but when the punishment is sointense, so severe, their cognitive ability to lie is lost and they have no other option but to tell the truth.

نيملاظ انك we had always been wrongdoers. The pain of these people is making them remember all of thewrong and sins they committed that they forgot about.

Notify me of followup comments via email.

Notify me of new posts via email.

Post CommentPost Comment

Before the Day of Judgment, these people blame others for the punishment BUT if a whiff, a breeze fromthe punishment simply touched them, they would cry out.

__________________________________________________

*fi’l: a word stuck in time. (past, present or future).

*ism: a person, place, thing, idea, adjective, adverb and more.


from → Arabic, Bayyinah Gems, Gems, Qur'an← Session Eight: Dialogue in the Qur’anSession Nine: Cohesion and Consistency in the Qur’an →One Comment leave one →

Trackbacks

1. 10 Quran Gems from Nouman Ali Khan | Sheikhonderun's Weblog

Leave a Reply

type and press enter

Like

Enter your comment here...

Guest Log InLog In Log InLog In Log InLog In

Email (required) (Not published)

Name (required)

Website

Skip to content



Session Nine: Cohesion and Consistency inthe Qur’anOctober 28, 2008tags: Arabic, Bayyinah Gems, nouman khan, Qur'anby Amatullah

Bismillah, walhamdulilah.

In the Qur’an, the only place where the story of Aadam alayhi salaam occurs twice consecutively backtoback is suratul Israa (17) and suratul Kahf (18). The story of Aadam alayhi salaam is mentioned in othersurahs such as A’raaf and Baqarah, but here in these two surahs, his story is mentioned in the middle of thesurahs right after one another.

The story in both surahs begins similarly:

سيلبإ الإ اودجسف مدآل اودجسا ةكئالملل انلق ذإو

“And when We said to the angels prostrate to Aadam, then they all did so with the exception of Iblees”(17:61, 18:50)

What follows in the rest of the ayaat differ. What we find in suratul Israa (which is also known as SurahBani Isra’eel) are the words of Iblees. Iblees says:

نيط تقلخ نمل دجسأأ

“Shall I prostrate to the one whom You created from clay?” This is what is recorded at the end of theayah, the complaint of Iblees. When we turn to suratul Kahf, there is something different. Instead of thestatement of Iblees, there is his profile:

هبر رمأ نع قسفف نجلا نم ناك

“He was from the Jinn, thus he violated the commandment of his Rabb”

Suratul Israa begins with the mention of Bani Isra’eel:

اريبك اولع نلعتلو نيترم ضرألا يف ندسفتل باتكلا يف ليئارسإ ينب ىلإ انيضقو

“And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture, that indeed you would do mischief on theearth twice and you will become tyrants and extremely arrogant!” (17:4)

Suratul Kahf begins with the mention of the Christians:

ادلو هللا ذختا اولاق نيذلا رذنيو

“And warn those who say Allah has taken a son” (18:4)

Now, the story of Aadam, is it known to both Jews and Christians? Yes. This story was told both in surah17 and 18. But the Jews have a different theological problem, their problem of coming to emaan is differentand the problem of the Christians is different.

The problem of the Jews at the time of the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam can be summed up in oneword: arrogance. They were not willing to accept an Arab over one of them. The part of the story that ismentioned in surah 17 is when Iblees says: why should I make sajdah to him?, the part of the lesson theyare forgetting. Iblees became Iblees because of his arrogance.

The Christians, on the other hand, for the most part are humble people. When they came to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam during the delegation of Najran, they were not arrogant with him but they sat withhim and talked with him. What is their deviation in this story? They say that Iblees was not a Jinn, but hewas an angel. This is true of the Christians in general; they take basics of religion and confuse them. (ex:God is 3 in 1) They took the theological component of this story and said he was a fallen angel, but Allahta’ala clarifies: he was from the jinn, He told the Christians what they need to hear. Allah ta’ala also addedsomething else: after the departure of Esa alayhi salaam from this earth, they came to the consensus thatthey are going to abandon the laws of Musa alayhi salaam. Did Esa alayhi salaam abandon the law of Musaalayhi salaam? No. They left the law, and Allah told the Christians the thing they should know about Ibleesis that he violated the commands of his Rabb. Why is that important for Christians? They systematicallyviolated the commands of their Rabb by abandoning the law of Musa alayhi salaam.

The ayaat begin the exact same way but the endings are different to correspond to the people who are being

addressed in each surah.

These two surahs are beautifully connected in other ways:

Firstly, through the dhikr of Allah. Suratul Israa begins: يذلا ناحبس SubhanAllah. Suratul Kahfbegins: هلل دمحلا Alhamdulillah. One begins with Allah’s Perfection and one begins with Allah’s Hamd.

In Suratul Israa, Allah begins: يذلا ىصقألا دجسملا ىلإ مارحلا دجسملا نم اليل هدبعب ىرسأ يذلا ناحبسانتايآ نم هيرنل هلوح انكراب Glorified and Exalted be He, Who took His slave for a journey by night from Al

MasjidalHaram to the farthest mosque, the neighbourhood whereof We have blessed, in order that Wemight show him of Our Ayat. On the other hand, in suratul Kahf, Allah begins: ىلع لزنأ يذلا هلل دمحلا

باتكلا هدبع All praise and thanks are only for the One who sent down upon His slave the Book.

In surah 17, the slave has been taken in the middle of the night up to receive revelation from Allah, and insurah 18, the book has been sent down upon His slave. In one the slave goes up, and in the other, the bookcomes down.

Both of these surahs mention Musa alayhi salaam. One surah mentions his public life and the othermentions his private life. The Jews appreciated the public life of Musa alayhi salaam: when he rescuedthem from Firawn is mentioned in Israa. The Christians are a private people; they appreciate spirituality sowhich journey of Musa is mentioned in Kahf? The private journey of Musa alayhi salaam with Khidr, ajourney of knowledge, discovery and wisdom which was appropriate to what the Christians needed to hear.

Secondly, through Tawheed . How do we get to know Allah ta’ala? Through three ways: by His Names,by His creation and by His revelation.

The second last ayah of suratul Israa gives us the first means to know Allah:

ىنسحلا ءامسألا هلف اوعدت ام ايأ نـمحرلا اوعدا وأ هللا اوعدا لقCall upon Allah or call upon the Most Merciful–whichever Name you call, to Him belongs the MostBeautiful Names. (17:110) Knowing Allah ta’ala by His Names and Attributes.

The second last ayah of suratul Kahf gives us the second and third means to know Allah:

اددم هلثمب انئج ولو يبر تاملك دفنت نأ لبق رحبلا دفنل يبر تاملكل ادادم رحبلا ناك ول لق

Say: “If the sea were ink for the Words of my Lord, surely, the sea would be exhausted before the Words ofmy Rabb would be finished, even if we brought (another sea) like it for its aid.” (18:109) The Mufassiroon(scholars of Tafseer) comment that there are two kinds of “Words of Allah” ( تاملك ):

Revelation are the Words of AllahHis word “kun” (be). The consequence of the word “kun” is all of creation.

In the first surah, the Names of Allah are mentioned, and in the next surah, the other means to know Allahta’ala (His revelation and creation) are mentioned.

Thirdly, through Shirk. When you get to know Allah ta’ala, you have acquired tawheed. The opposite of

tawheed as we know is shirk, and the ending ayaat of both surahs are denouncements of shirk.

There are different kinds of denouncing of shirk. In simple terms: if you elevate any creation above where itbelongs, that is shirk, and if you say anything about Allah that is lower than He deserves, that is shirk.Either you are taking the creation too high or bringing the Creator lower.

Suratul Israa ends:

اريبكت هربكو لذلا نم يلو هل نكي ملو كلملا يف كيرش هل نكي ملو ادلو ذختي مل يذلا هلل دمحلا لقو

And say: “All the praises and thanks are only for Allah, Who has not taken a son, and Who has no partnerin (His) Dominion, nor does He have a supporter in His Glory. And declare His Greatness above allgreatness. (17:111)

To reduce the status of Allah azza wa jal, in His Attributes, in His Wisdom, is a form of shirk, which wascommitted by the Jews and has been denounced in this ayah.

On the other hand, The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam is commanded in the last ayah of Kahf:

كرشي الو احلاص المع لمعيلف هبر ءاقل وجري ناك نمف دحاو هـلإ مكهـلإ امنأ يلإ ىحوي مكلثم رشب انأ امنإ لقادحأ هبر ةدابعب

Say: “I am only a man like you. It has been inspired to me that your Ilah is One Ilah. So whoever hopesfor the Meeting with his Rabb, let him work righteousness and associate none as a partner in the worshipof his Rabb.”

The word used for man is رشب bashar, which literally means one that has skin that is exposed. Allah ta’aladid not say insaan (man), but rather emphasized that the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam is just fleshand bones like them. The only difference: يلإ ىحوي , revelation has been given to me that: دحاو هـلإ مكهـلإ ,that your Ilaah, the One worthy of worship, is One. By saying this, the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallamis making sure that no one takes him more than a bashar, which is the other shirk of elevating the creationtoo high.

In surah 17, the shirk of reducing the status of Allah is denied, and in surah 18, the shirk of elevatingcreation is denied.

The second last ayaat of both surahs are introductions to tawheed, and the last ayaat of both are adenouncing of shirk.

And finally:

At the end of suratul Israa, Allah says:

هلل دمحلا لقو

Say Alhamdulillah. A command.

How does suratul Kahf begin?

هلل دمحلا

Alhamdulillah.

SubhanAllah, how beautifully connected!

Why did br Nouman share this gem? Because when we read translation, it seems to us that the subjects andstories are jumping from one to another. The scholars have given a lot of reflection as to why our Rabb hasorganized the Message this way, it is not random or chaos, but there is divine revelation in the sequence.Not only is an ayah a manifestation of divine wisdom, the sequence of the ayaat are a manifestation ofdivine wisdom as well so it deserves attention and reflection. Allah ta’ala is teaching us how tocommunicate and organize our thoughts by showing us the utmost fashion in which thoughts and amessage may be organized.

May Allah ta’ala give us a deep appreciation of the Qur’an, and a love of Qur’an for us and our families.Ameen.


from → Arabic, Bayyinah Gems, Gems, Qur'an← Session Eight pt 2: Weakening and Empowering a StatementClosing Remarks: The Final Reminder →2 Comments leave one →

1. Amatullah permalink*October 28, 2008 3:38 pm

The first ayah of suratul Kahf has to be one of my favorites in the Qur’an subhanAllah…check outthe tafseer here: http://trueword.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/tafsirsurahkahfayah1/

Trackbacks

1. 10 Quran Gems from Nouman Ali Khan | Sheikhonderun's Weblog

Leave a Reply

Like

Skip to content



Closing Remarks: The Final ReminderOctober 28, 2008tags: Arabic, Bayyinah Gems, nouman khan, Qur'anby Amatullah

Bismillah

Alhamdulillah, the Bayyinah course was an awesome three weeks of being immersed in the remembranceof Allah ta’ala and the language of His Book. I hope this compilation of the gems have been beneficialinshaAllah. To see everything that was shared again, check out the Bayyinah Gems category. May Allahta’ala grant Bayyinah Institute success, and bless all of its instructors with guidance, knowledge andtawfeeq and may He ta’ala grant them Firdaws al ‘Alaa for their work, Ameen.

As a close to these gems, I wanted to share the final reminder that br Nouman gave us.

The Final Reminder

Why are we learning Arabic?

Allah ta’ala poses a challenge to us all: ركذلل نآرقلا انرسي دقلو

We have certainly facilitated the Qur’an for remembrance. (54: 17)

Allah ta’ala calls the Qur’an a rembrance many times:

ركذ الإ وه نإ

indeed it is only a Reminder. (81:27)

ركذلا انلزن نحن انإ

Indeed We have sent down this Reminder. (15:9)

هللا ركذ ىلإ اوعساف

Race to the Remembrance of Allah. (62:9)

The longest part of salaah is qiyaam, in which we read the Qur’an. Allah says about the salah: ةالصلا مقأيركذل Establish the salaah to remember Me (20:14). The ultimate remembrance of Allah are His own

Words, which is why He says: مكملع امك هللا اوركذاف remember Allah how He taught you (2:239). So theultimate reminder of Allah is the Book of Allah, which calls itself the ultimate means to reminder:

ةركذت اهنإ الك

Rather, it is only an admonition! (80:11)

ديعو فاخي نم نآرقلاب ركذف

And remind by the Qur’an, him who fears My Threat. (50:45)

What does ‘reminder’ mean? It is not necessarily new knowledge. When you remind someone ofsomething, they already knew about it. So a reminder is sort of repetitive, as opposed to knowledge whichcan be something new.

From that point of view, we can address one of the main criticisms of the Qur’an in the west which is “theQur’an repeats too much.” The first response to that is that the first purpose of the Qur’an is not toeducate, it is to remind. Even more so, the reminder is not the main goal but the main goal is guidanceand the means to guidance is the reminder. The Qur’an calls itself reminder and it always calls itselfguidance.

What is the means to remembrance? It is the salaah. Allah ta’ala ensured that we do not loose a single daywithout going before Him, leaving the world behind us to stand in front of Him, making sure we all recitethe ultimate remembrance in hopes that we may be guided. The biggest testimony to this is that we recite“ihdinas siraatal mustaqeem” in Fatihah, and then we recite something from the dhikr.

There are two central terms in appreciating the Qur’an for all of us that have been undermined. What isbeing overemphasized is the knowledge of Qur’an, the tafseer of Qur’an, the sciences of Qur’an, thegrammar of Qur’an, tajweed of Qur’anthese are all important, but the MOST important of all of these isthe GUIDANCE of the Qur’an by means of the reminder of the Qur’an. These are the two key

components, and if you are missing these two, you can be a mufassir of the Qur’an, a reciter of Qur’an, atajweed expert – but that will not help you at all because that is not the primary function of the Qur’an.

The word ‘guidance’ in and of itself is very cliché and we use the term fairly loosely. But let’s look to asimple definition of guidance to drive the point home; don’t think of it as a religious term but as a wordlyterm. Take these examples: when do you ask for guidance in school? When you don’t know which careerto chose or which classes to take, so you go to the guidance counselor. Or how about if you’re lost on theway to the airport, what do you do? You stop and ask for guidance. Guidance, generally speaking, is whensomeone has a goal in mind, and they do not know how to reach this goal so they ask for help. This makesguidance seem like knowledge. If I knew which courses to take, I wouldn’t need to see the guidancecounselor. If I knew the directions, I wouldn’t ask for help. So we think of guidance almost the same as wethink of knowledge and these two seem to be tied together.

This association of knowledge and guidance works for everything else in life but it does not work for ourdeen and our relationship with Allah azza wa jal.

Why not? Think about it:

Do you know Muslims who know something is haraam yet they still do it?

Did Allah speak about people who have a lot of knowledge, and still rejected the Messenger?

So knowledge does not necessarily lead to guidance, and knowledge and guidance are not the same thing.It is very possible that a person can have a lot of knowledge and still be void of guidance.

Allah ta’ala speaks of people who are very knowledgeable in the Qur’anand think about it, if Allah ta’alasays they have knowledge then that means they must of have a lot of knowledge. Yet in the same passagewhere Allah tells us that they are knowledgeable, He tells us that they rejected the Messenger and theychanged their books after they understood them…They did not change the book because they did notunderstand, but Allah says:

هولقع ام دعب نم هنوفرحي they altered it even after they understood it (2:75). So there was no knowledgemissing. We can see from this that there is a difference between knowledge and guidance.

So what is the relationship between knowledge and guidance? Knowledge is a stepping stone TOguidance but it is not necessarily the case that when you take the step to knowledge, that you areguaranteed guidance.

Those who have knowledge and did not take the next step to guidance are greater criminals than the oneswho did not have knowledge and did not seek guidance. Allah ta’ala calls these people: مهيلع بوضغملاthose who received anger upon them. After knowledge they still disobeyed and turned away fromguidance.

An increase in knowledge is not an increase in guidance…UNLESS you want it to be.How do you do this? The more your knowledge increases, the more your remembrance shouldincrease. And when you remember Allah, beg Allah for guidance.

The next clarification is between being Muslim and being guided. Being Muslim does not guarantee one

being guided. Guidance is a day to day, an hour to hour, a salaah to salaah thing…Choices we must makeeveryday, which is why we have to keep asking Allah for it because we do not know which choice we willtake when it comes up.

The purpose of this course and learning Arabic is to give us a reason to remember Allah. We can learnabout some tafseer which is great, but the number one thing is that we want to do is empower ourremembrance of Allah, and the real remembrance of Allah is salaah. We should upgrade from havingan artificial definition of khushoo’, to experiencing the real thing.

There is a serious state of emergency for our ummah with regards to the Qur’an. The great thing about theSahaba radi Allahu anhum is that they were in love with this Book. Umar radi Allahu anhu would makesure there was duroos (classes) of Qur’an in every community. We are now moving more and more fromthis Book.

Our intentions should be to remember Allah azza wa jal by means of His Words. For example, if youwant to gain a love for the sunnah, study the Qur’an. You will appreciate how Allah loves His Messengersal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, and that will make you love the messenger even more. A Sahabi or a scholarcan write their love for the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, but when Allah ta’ala shares His love forthe Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam…that is just amazing.

Finally, we sincerely ask Allah ta’ala to make us among those whom the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wasallam mentioned:

هملع و نارقلا ملعت نم مكريخ

The best of you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it. (Bukhari)

We all say ‘Ameen’ together now, but when you are alone in your home or driving by yourself, beg Allahta’ala to make you among these people for your effort in learning His book.

When learning the Qur’an and studying it, we should not let shaytaan come to us and incite us withwhispers of pride or think we have a lot of knowledge. We should remain firm and steadfast in our coursesof study, and take up the challenge that Allah ta’ala posed in first ayah here:

ركدم نم لهف Allah made the Qur’an easy for dhikr, is there anyone who will put in the effort toremember?

Allah ta’ala did not start by telling us to remember the Qur’an, rather He started by telling us the Qur’an isEASY, so in that case… Who amongst us will step forward?

ADVERTISEMENT

Documents

10 Quranic Gems Nouman Ali Khan