Allah has forsaken 'Muslims'

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

An extract from Chapter 3 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir:

160. In yansurkumu Allahu fala ghaliba lakum wa-in yakhthulkum faman tha allathee yansurukum min baAAdihi waAAala Allahi falyatawakkali almu/minoona

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160. If Allah helps you, none can get the better of you. And if He forsakes you, who is there to help you thereafter? In Allah, then, believers should put their trust.

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Does that superb divine statement need any human explanatory note? None, at all! It tells us, in no uncertain terms, that Allah has forsaken the so-called believers, the Muslims, as a community in today’s world. The community has become the favourite whipping boy for every Tom, Dick and Harry. The divine Verse, therefore, conclusively tells us that the Muslims have generally failed to put their trust in Allah.

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 28^th of April 2017.

Ponder, Muslims!

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from Chapter 23 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir:

105. Alam takun ayatee tutla AAalaykum fakuntum biha tukaththiboona

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105. Were not My Verses/signs recited to you and you rejected them? ¹⁵

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15. This is how Allah Almighty shall address those consigned to Hell-fire on the Day of Judgment. Muslims should ponder deeply, gravely and fearing whether they would be among those so addressed. Are they sure they do not reject the Qur’aanic Verses? Is not non-compliance of those Verses virtually and factually tantamount to their rejection?

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May we have the wisdom to understand properly and then comply with Qur’aanic Verses, Allah!

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 21^st of April 2017.

Allah has no son

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Excerpts from Chapter 2 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir, wherein the Qur’aanic reiteration of the subject matter is discussed:

116. And they say, "Allah has a son!" HE is much too glorified to have one!! HIS, on the other hand, is everything that is in the heavens and the earth!!! All are obedient to Him.

117. Originator of the heavens and the earth! And when He decides to accomplish anything, He just tells it, "Be!" And, it is!!¹⁷⁰

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170. And thus, in these two divine Verses (2:116 and 2:117), does the Creator logically demolish that man-conceived concept!! Everything in the heavens and the earth is His creation. He has just to say, "Be", and anything, He wishes, comes into existence. Why would He then come down to the level of His creatures to beget a son?! A human being may need a son to support him when he becomes weak in his old age, or to inherit and look after his worldly property when he is no more. But that obviously is not the case with Allah! There is no question of He ever becoming weak or being 'no more'!! The idea of a 'divine son' is therefore nothing but a figment of man's imagination. This idea places him on an entirely false, and therefore wrong, footing that would inevitably lead him astray in this world and make him completely lost in the next!

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Spare us from being succumbed to man-made innovations, Allah!

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 14^th of April 2017.

Wali

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Wali

Extract from Chapter 2 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir, discussing the meaning of the Qur’aanic term wali:

107. Alam taAAlam anna Allaha lahu mulku alssamawati waal-ardi wama lakum min dooni Allahi min waliyyin wala naseerin

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107. Are you not aware that, certainly, it is Allah who has absolute sovereignty over the heavens and the earth? And none is there for you, other than Allah, as a wali¹⁵⁴ nor anyone who can help! ¹⁵⁵

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154. I find it difficult to find an appropriate English word for this Qur'aanic word, wali (plural: awliya). Some translators have rendered it as 'guardian' or 'protector'. But in Verse 10:62, the Qur'aan has called some good human beings as awliya of Allah. Surely it would be preposterous to call human beings as 'guardians' or 'protectors' of Allah! Let us therefore go to the literal meaning of the three-letter Arabic root word wali, which is to be close or near. It is used in the Qur'aan in that very sense. So, when the Qur'aan says that good, Allah-fearing persons are awliya of Allah, it means that Allah is so pleased with such persons that He has kept them spiritually close to Himself. In Verse 2:257, we are told that Allah is the wali of the believers. In other words, Allah is so very close to the believers that He protects and guides them at every step they take in their worldly lives. In Verse 60:9, Allah forbids the believers from being close to (tawallaw) only those who fight with them on religion, etc. It is in this sense that in Verse 5:51, Allah asks believers not to take Jews and Christians as awliya. Otherwise, Allah makes it clear in Verse 60:8, that He does not forbid the believers to have normal good relations with them if they do not fight with them (the believers) in religious matters, etc.

155. In the Qur'aanic light delineated in the preceding Note, the obvious meaning of the latter part of this Verse is that if anyone were not to accept Allah as his/her wali, there could be no one else who could be that person's wali or helper. If one accepts, without any reservations whatsoever, Allah as one's wali, then there could be one's other awliya among living believers, by way of being one's confidants, advisors and helpers in worldly and spiritual matters. But there could be no question of any person, dead or martyred – or of any unseen being (jinn) – becoming a wali or helper of a living person. If one takes such a being as one's wali or helper, besides Allah, one is committing the sin of shirk (polytheism). Alas! A majority among the Muslims today are openly indulging in this unpardonable sin. Allah asks, "Do then those who suppress the Truth think that, other than Me, they can take My worshippers as awliya? ..." [Q: 18:102]

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Keep us away from the sin of shirk, Allah!

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 7^th of April, 2017.