Divine Test

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from Chapter 3 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Test:

140. In yamsaskum qarhun faqad massa alqawma qarhun mithluhu watilka al-ayyamu nudawiluha bayna alnnasi waliyaAAlama Allahu allatheena amanoo wayattakhitha minkum shuhadaa waAllahu la yuhibbu alththalimeena

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140. If you are hurt, then surely the community is similarly hurt. And We rotate such periods (of hurt) among mankind, and We do so in order that Allah may distinguish those that believe and pick up witnesses from amongst you.¹⁵² And Allah does not love the offenders.

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152. So the hurt that may afflict any person is a test from Allah that would distinguish him/her as believing or non-believing. If the person recognises the hurt as the test and suffers it patiently with prayers to the Lord, employing all fair means to overcome the effects of the hurt, he/she has passed the test. Allah Ta'ala then takes him/her as a witness to the truth of the hurt being only a test. On the other hand, if the person frets and fumes at the hurt, curses his destiny and does not hesitate to employ even foul means to overcome the effects of the hurt, he/she is an offender.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 30^th of March 2018.

Muslims of Today

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

139. Wala tahinoo wala tahzanoo waantumu al-aAAlawna in kuntum mu/mineena

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139. Be not weak and grieve not! And you should have an upper hand if you are strong in Faith.¹⁵¹

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151. And most Muslims of today are not strong in their Faith. So, they are weak as a community, and they grieve a lot.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 23^rd of March 2018.

Recipe for Salvation

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Excerpts from Chapter 41 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir:

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30. Those indeed who say, ‘Allah is Our Lord’ and then remain steadfast, the angels come down to them saying, “Fear not, nor regret, but rejoice in the glad news of Paradise that has been promised to you!”

31. “We are your close friends in this life and in the Hereafter. And in the Hereafter, you will get whatever you desire, and you will have therein whatsoever you ask for”

32. “As gift from the One forgiving, merciful.”⁶

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6. Verses 30, 31 and 32 above together constitute a brief divine recipe for salvation. The recipe is just to have an unshakeable belief in Allah being the Lord (i.e., one’s creator, nourisher, protector, guide, judge, benevolent ruler but also one to give severe punishment to the evil-doer, all rolled into one). It is easy for one to declare that Allah is one’s Lord, but Allah, from time to time, puts that belief to test throughout one’s life. It is important to pass those tests. The Verses also define what the salvation is. It is a gift from the Creator freely available to anyone who would conduct one’s life as per that practical recipe. But are there many takers – even among the so-called Muslims?

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 16^th of March 2018.

Inserting Frivolities in Qur'aan

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from Chapter 41 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir:

26. Waqala allatheena kafaroo la tasmaAAoo lihatha alqur-ani wailghaw feehi laAAallakum taghliboona

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26. And those that suppress the Truth say, “Do not listen to this Qur'aan, and insert frivolities in it, so that you may prevail over the believers.”⁵

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5. During the time the Qur’aan was in the process of being revealed, people who did not believe in it used to disturb the sessions called to publicise fresh revelations, by indulging in talking to each other rather than listening to the revelations. That position still prevails. I have seen people talking to each other in the back rows of a Friday congregation while the Imam is explaining to them the significance of Qur’aanic Verses from the pulpit. They do not listen at all to the Imam. But, besides, there is something more sinister that is happening now! The Imam in most of the Masajid, especially in the Indian sub-continent, is haranguing his gullible audience with things that are not in the Qur’aan, or, rather, that are against the teachings of the Qur’aan! He urges his audience to seek the help of dead saints long back buried in their graves. He devotes most part of his Friday sermon in eulogizing the dead saints rather than the living Allah. And he quotes a Qur’aanic Verse in support of his diatribe, twisting its interpretation with man-influenced and error-prone ahaadeeth. And he spews venom against all those who do not agree with his twisted interpretation of the Qur’aan.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 9^th of March 2018.

The Qur'aan

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

138. Hatha bayanun lilnnasi wahudan wamawAAithatun lilmuttaqeena

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138. This is a plain, well-explained, address for mankind, and a guidance and good advice to those who fear Allah.¹⁵⁰

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150. Obviously, what is referred to here is the Qur'aan. But alas! Most Muslims themselves have abandoned it [refer Verse 25:30]. They do only a ritualistic reading of it, without understanding what they read, as if that's all that the Religion requires them to do! And they are blissfully content therewith!! They never bother to use it as the source of divine guidance and good advice.

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I would also like to draw readers’ attention to my earlier post, Obey the Messenger!, in this context.

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 2^nd March 2018.