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.

 

O Muslims - 47

 

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir PART I:

34. Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo inna katheeran mina al-ahbari waalrruhbani laya/kuloona amwala alnnasi bialbatili wayasuddoona AAan sabeeli Allahi waallatheena yaknizoona alththahaba waalfiddata wala yunfiqoonaha fee sabeeli Allahi fabashshirhum biAAathabin aleemin

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9:34. O you who believe! Indeed, many of the rabbis and the priests eat away people’s property falsely and turn them away from Allah's Path.¹⁵ And to those, who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend it in Allah's Path, announce a painful punishment,

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15. At the time of the revelation of the Qur’aan, the religious leaders of the Jews and the Christians did this, but now, Muslim religious leaders too do it.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 1^st of January 2021.

Jews & Muslims

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir PART I:

63. Wa-ith akhathna meethaqakum warafaAAna fawqakumu alttoora khuthoo ma ataynakum biquwwatin waothkuroo ma feehi laAAallakum tattaqoona

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2:63. And that time when We took your pledge and raised the Mountain over you! ⁷⁰ "Hold on to what We have given you steadfastly! And do repeatedly refer to and remember its contents in order that you become pious!"⁷¹

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70. We get further explanation on this episode, in the history of the Children of Israel, in Verse 7:171. The mountain was so raised over them (i.e. Moses' people) that they thought it was about to fall on them. Allah thus used even coercion to make the recalcitrant Jews abide by the Book of Allah given to Moses. HE does that even now to the so-called Muslims to make them abide by the Qur'aan. HE coerces them by involving them in some or the other calamity or ignominy every now and then. And we are very much the witnesses thereto! But alas! The Muslims of today generally are as recalcitrant as the Jews had been during Moses' time.

71. This divine command was ostensibly given to the Jews. But it is as if Allah is telling the Muslims of today: 'Hold on to the Qur'aan steadfastly! And do repeatedly refer to and remember its contents in order that you become pious!' Are there any amongst us, listening to the divine Whisper, my fellow Muslims?

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 14^th of June 2019.

People of the Book

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

110. Kuntum khayra ommatin okhrijat lilnnasi ta/muroona bialmaAAroofi watanhawna AAani almunkari watu/minoona biAllahi walaw amana ahlu alkitabi lakana khayran lahum minhumu almu/minoona waaktharuhumu alfasiqoona

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110. You are a better people, picked up for mankind, to enjoin what is right and to forbid what is wrong, and to believe in Allah.¹²⁷ And had the People of the Book believed, it would certainly be better for them. Among them are some who believe, but most of them are dissolute.¹²⁸

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127. This is a divine confirmation that the task of propagating Islam, the Allah-chosen and Allah-perfected Religion for mankind, has been entrusted to the followers of the Qur'aan, after the death of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

128. Although at the time of the revelation of the Qur'aan, the epithet 'people of the Book' was applied to the Jews and the Christians it is applicable now to the Muslims as well. They (the Muslims) too are given a divine Book, and among them too there are some who do believe, but most have gone astray.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 9^th of February 2018.

Promoting Shirk

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Promoting Shirk

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

78. Wa-inna minhum lafareeqan yalwoona alsinatahum bialkitabi litahsaboohu mina alkitabi wama huwa mina alkitabi wayaqooloona huwa min AAindi Allahi wama huwa min AAindi Allahi wayaqooloona AAala Allahi alkathiba wahum yaAAlamoona

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78. And, indeed, there is among them a section who so twist their tongues with the Book that you may think it is from the Book, and it is not from the Book. And they say it is from Allah and it is not from Allah. And they knowingly utter a lie about Allah.⁹³

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93. This Verse might well have been revealed in the perspective of the Jews and the Christians trying then to change the contents of the revealed Books with them. But, in our present-day perspective, we need not get concerned with what those people did then. The Qur'aan is valid for all times. Let us therefore look at this Verse in our own perspective. And let us first look to what we ourselves do with our own Qur'aan, before looking to what the Jews and the Christians are doing with their Books. We are fortunate, by Allah's Grace, that the Arabic text of the Qur'aan is divinely protected. But Arabic is not known to all the Muslims. In fact, a majority from among them do not know Arabic; nor are any sincere efforts made to make Arabic a compulsory subject for all Muslims to learn, all over the world. In this scenario, Satan has manoeuvred the majority Muslim mind into thinking that it is enough for them to learn just to read the Qur'aan. It is indeed a satanic handiwork to delude the intelligence of the Muslim mind against the imperative need to understand what one reads from the Qur'aan. The Moulvis and the Mullahs have, in the circumstances, become the Arbaab (Lords), besides the One Lord, of the common Muslims. For, they (the common Muslims) literally gulp down what their religious leaders tell them, right or wrong. And the Moulvis and Mullahs, many of them semi-literates themselves, often give the commoners a wrong picture of Islam. Besides, in the translations & commentaries of the Qur'aan in other languages, not only do human mistakes creep in inadvertently, but deviations are advertently made to cater to views promoting shirk.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 22^nd December 2017.

Muslim Behaviour

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Excerpt from Chapter 2 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir, that mirrors the behaviour, in general terms, of a modern-day Muslim:

78. Waminhum ommiyyoona la yaAAlamoona alkitaba illa amaniyya wa-in hum illa yathunnoona

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78. And among them are illiterates who know nothing of the Book - they know nothing but their own desires/fancies. And they do not but guess! ^{102 & 103}

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102. Even at the risk of sounding repetitive, I wish to reiterate the fact that the All-knowing Allah hasn't given us these glimpses of Jewish history just to remember these for answering questions in a written test. HE knew beforehand that a substantial majority of those who profess to follow the Qur'aan, would in fact be following the footsteps of the Jews, in their behaviour and attitude towards divine Guidance! HE has given these glimpses at some length, and even sometimes repeatedly, to warn us against following those faulty footsteps.

103. The illiteracy among the professed followers of the Qur'aan, now, may not be as high as among the Jews at the time of the revelation of the Qur'aan. But we have a sort of neo-illiterates now! These neo-illiterates do know how to read the Qur'aan, and do read it, in original Arabic, but they do not know – nor do they deem it necessary to know – what the Arabic text means!! These neo-illiterates, like the illiterate Jews before them, know nothing of the Book; they do but know their own false desires, and they do not but guess!!!

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I appeal to my brothers/sisters in Islam to introspect deeply and sincerely. These worldly lives of ours are uncertainly short. We can't be sure whether we would be alive even for another minute!

But for making this very uncertain life 'secure' and 'comfortable', we devote our entire time and energy. And we care practically little for making our ever-lasting lives in the Hereafter really secure and comfortable. We can do that only by following the Allah-bestowed Book of Guidance - the Qur'aan!

Do we put in any sincere efforts to study and follow the divine Book?

Bring us back to the Right Path, Allah!

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 24^th February, 2017.

Who Can Achieve Salvation?

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Excerpts from Chapter 2 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir, analyzing implications of Quráanic Verse 2:62:

62. Inna allatheena amanoo waallatheena hadoo waalnnasara waalssabi-eena man amana biAllahi waalyawmi al-akhiri waAAamila salihan falahum ajruhum AAinda rabbihim wala khawfun AAalayhim wala hum yahzanoona

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62. Indeed, those who believe and those who are Jews, the Christians and the Saabieen – whosoever believed in Allah and in the Last Day, and acted righteously ⁶⁸ – for them then, of course, is their reward with their Lord. And fear shall overpower them not; nor shall they grieve! ⁶⁹

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68. In Verse 8:29, the Qur'aan informs the believers that Allah creates for them the furqaan, the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, if they are pious! Even a thief, when he steals, knows in his heart of hearts that he is doing something wrong! But he suppresses this call of his conscience. And with its repeated suppressions, his conscience so to say dies much before his physical death! A pious, Allah-fearing man, on the other hand, does not suppress his conscience - his furqaan! The Qur'aan guides us further in this regard by explaining, in Verses 2:44, 2:177 and 2:189, what Al-Birr (good, righteous conduct or behaviour) ought to be!

69. From Adam to Muhammad (peace be upon them all), all the Prophets have preached but one Religion - the Religion of Islam! And the fundamentals of this Religion have always been: belief in Allah, belief in the Hereafter and performance of righteous deeds. So, no eyebrows need be raised when this Verse 2:62 informs us that even the Jews and the Christians shall attain to salvation if they only satisfied the three conditions mentioned. And no dichotomy be sought between this Verse here and Verse 3:85, wherein Allah informs us that no religion other than Islam shall be accepted! The moot question that now arises is whether the present-day Christians and the present-day Jews – with all their notions about Trinity, and about each being the chosen people of God with guaranteed divine visas to Paradise, and with their outright rejection of Muhammad and of the Qur'aan as the last Prophet and the last divine Testament - do thus satisfy the three fundamental conditions to be entitled to Salvation. And the moot question also is whether the present-day Muslims - with their neglect and ignorance of, and therefore with their fundamental deviations from, divine commands laid down in the Qur'aan - do thus satisfy the three fundamental conditions to be entitled to Salvation.

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Grant us the wisdom to understand Your Verses correctly, Allah!

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 17^th February, 2017