Giving Credit

 In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

One of the things prohibited under Qur'aanic Verse 2:173 is وما اهل بهى لغيرالله (that for which credit is attributed to anything or anyone other than Allah).

Based on its context of animals being killed for food, it is generally interpreted to mean the meat derived from an animal killed in the Name of anyone other than Allah. Sacrifices are indeed made at the altars of other deities. Meat derived from such sacrifices is of course prohibited.

But the phrase quoted above from Verse 2:173 has a much wider meaning. It is not restricted to food derived from animals only. It connotes anything, material or even non-material, the credit for the being or emergence of which is attributed to anything or anyone other than Allah!

Some Muslims, in the Indian subcontinent especially, visit tombs of dead saints and pray there for some worldly benefits to them. And if they do get any of those worldly benefits thereafter, it is attributed to the saints whose tombs they had visited and prayed at! The quoted phrase alludes to such attribution too!

Persons who visit such tombs bring back home some تبرک (eatables supposedly blessed by those dead saints) for their relatives and neighbours. Such تبرک too is covered by the said Qur'aanic phrase!

Muslims and non-Muslims alike, do give credit, for some public good done, to a person or a group of persons. But that person or that group cannot by itself accomplish any good work without divine assistance. That is why Muslims are wont to say ما شاء اللہ (with the Will of Allah) whenever they mention such public good done. Giving credit for any good work done to anybody, without associating therewith the essential divine assistance, does also come under the purview of the Qur'aanic phrase we are discussing here.

It should be the duty of every Muslim to understand the correct meaning of this phrase and of every other edict of the Qur'aan!

Mohammad Shafi 

Friday, the 27th of August 2021.

 

Condition of Muslims

 In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

For about 9 centuries, from the 7th century AD, Muslims, as a community, had been in a good position, politically or even otherwise, on a large part of this world. But gradually, the community lost its Muslim character, and, consequently, lost its good position too. The Muslims are still in ruling positions in some countries, but they carry no weight, internationally.

The Qur'aanic Verse 13:11 tells us that Allah does not change a community's condition until it changes its own character (ان الله لا يغيرو ما بقوم حتى يغيرو ما بانفسهم ٠٠٠). The Muslims themselves are responsible for their continually worsening condition. Most of today's Muslims do really have no faith in Allah. Their minds entertain doubts even about the existence of Allah. And they doubt the divine authorship of the Qur'aan! That is why they do not try to follow the Qur’aan, in letter, and in spirit.

ہمیں شک ہے کہ شک ہی میں غرق ہو جاینگے ہم 

جانتے بوجھتے، دیکھتے ہی دیکھتے، ﷲ کی مار کھاینگے ہم۔ 

(We are in doubt that in doubt itself we're going to drown

Knowingly, imminently, we're going to suffer Allah's frown)

In the very same Verse quoted above, the Qur'aan informs us that when Allah wills calamity on any community, none, other than He Himself, can avert it.

May Allah have mercy on us!

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 20^th of August 2021.

 

Friday Prayer

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

The Qur'aanic Verse 62:9 (و اذا ندى للصلاة من يوم الجمعة ٠٠٠) stipulates that when the call for the Friday prayer is given, the believers should abandon worldly business and hasten towards meditation on Allah. And the next Verse tells them that this restriction ends at the completion of the Friday prayer. So, the duration of the restriction is only about an hour! Such restriction, on the other hand, was extended to an entire day - Sabbath - for the Jews. We, Muslims, ought to be thankful to Allah Almighty for this concession!

But what do we do? We try our best to get over this little restriction even, in dubious ways. Some of us say that the أذان (call for prayer) with which the restriction starts is not the first, but the second one given just before the ritual congregational prayer starts. The ritual prayer lasts for less than 10 minutes. So, the duration of the restriction would be 10 minutes at the most!

This is just nonsense! The 2nd اذان is given when the people are already engaged in ذكر الله at the places of prayer! They are not engaged in their worldly affairs then. It is the first اذان that the Verses mentioned above refer to. At the first اذان most people are indeed engaged in their worldly affairs. The اذان serves as a notice to them to abandon those affairs and prepare themselves for ذكر الله.

This divine restriction is for all believers, both male, and female. But the females, particularly those in the Indian subcontinent, consider themselves exempted. They remain engaged in their household activities during this restricted time!

When Muslims are so openly unmindful about divine instructions to them, why would Allah Almighty care for them? They have consequently become the favourite whipping boys for any Tom, Dick, or Harry of this world, today!

Mohammad Shafi 

Friday, the 13th of August 2021.

 

Zul Qarnain

 In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Qur'aanic Verses 18:83 to 18:99 provide some information about this prehistoric personality.

Scholars identify him variously as Alexander the Great, Cyrus the Great, or Darius the Great. Some even identify him as Prophet Muhammad himself (peace on him)! But it is all speculation. Only Allah Almighty knows who he was. So, let us restrict ourselves to just what the Qur'aan says about him.

Allah Almighty had established him with a good position in this world. And he had the means to undertake expeditions, at Allah's behest, in various directions from his seat of power.

In the first expedition described in the Qur'aan, he went westwards. He found a people living near a huge pond of muddy water extending right up to the horizon in the west. The people were apparently a mixed lot of good and wicked persons. Zul Qarnain had the full authority and power to deal with them as he pleased. But he exercised his power in a just manner. The wicked were punished and the good were well treated.

And his just use of power is the important point that the Qur'aan highlights here about Zul Qarnain. His identification with any historical figure was not important. He was more just than most rulers in today's world!

Zul Qarnain's 2nd expedition that the Qur'aan records was to the East. Here he comes across a community that lived in the open. This community could not have been of human beings, as Allah has given them enough creative power to build for themselves some sort of shelter against heat and rain. The community could therefore be of wild animals. Zul Qarnain could do nothing about it. Here Allah showed him his limitations as a human being!

In the 3rd recorded expedition, Zul Qarnain came across a people harassed by unduly mobs coming across a pass between 2 mountains. Zul Qarnain had the resources to close the pass with iron gates plastered with molten brass. The gates effectively prevented the unruly mobs from coming across. It was thus seen that Zul Qarnain was not only just, but was extremely helpful, to people he came across during his expeditions!

A Chinese traveller during the 7th century AD records in his travelogue the existence of those iron gates far away in the North from the Arabian Peninsula (source: Wikipedia). There was, therefore, hardly any chance of any Arab personally knowing about those gates, at the time the Qur'aan was revealed. Mention of those gates in the Qur'aan does certainly show that the knowledge displayed in it could have come only from Allah!

The Qur'aan further states that, in due course, the gates would be demolished. And, sure enough, the gates are no longer there! This also points to the divine nature of the Qur'aan.

At the end of the Qur'aanic narration of the story of Zul Qarnain, the Holy Book truly predicts the intermingling of the various communities of this world, as a prelude to their being gathered for Judgement Day!

O Muslims! Do you still entertain doubts about the divine origin of the Qur'aan!? And, if you don't, why don't you follow the Qur'aan, in letter, and in spirit!?

 Mohammad Shafi 

Friday, the 6^th of August 2021.