O Muslims - 63

 

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

2. Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo la tarfaAAoo aswatakum fawqa sawti alnnabiyyi wala tajharoo lahu bialqawli kajahri baAAdikum libaAAdin an tahbata aAAmalukum waantum la tashAAuroona

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49:2. O you who believe! Raise not your voices above the Prophet’s voice, nor speak loudly to him as you speak loudly to one another, lest your deeds become unwittingly worthless.

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The Prophet’s personal voice can no longer be heard now, but the content of that voice remains recorded in the Qur’aan! So, this Verse, in the circumstance, means that believers now ought not to suppress the Qur’aanic stipulations, nor should they act against these, either in letter or in spirit.

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 23^rd of April 2021.

 

 

O Muslims -57

 

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

53. Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo la tadkhuloo buyoota alnnabiyyi illa an yu/thana lakum ila taAAamin ghayra nathireena inahu walakin itha duAAeetum faodkhuloo fa-itha taAAimtum faintashiroo walamusta/niseena lihadeethin inna thalikum kana yu/thee alnnabiyya fayastahyee minkum waAllahu layastahyee mina alhaqqi wa-itha saaltumoohunna mataAAan fais-aloohunna min wara-i hijabinthalikum atharu liquloobikum waquloobihinna wama kana lakum an tu/thoo rasoola Allahi wala an tankihoo azwajahu min baAAdihi abadan inna thalikum kana AAinda Allahi AAatheeman

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33:53. O you who believe! Enter not the houses of the Prophet unless invited there for a meal, but then go not there too early as to wait for the meal to be ready. But enter at the time you are invited, and as soon as you have finished your meals, disperse! And linger not for a customary talk. This does indeed cause inconvenience to the Prophet, but he is too embarrassed to tell you. And Allah is not embarrassed to express the truth. And when you ask for anything from them (ladies of the Prophet’s household), ask of them from behind a curtain. This would be better for the purity of your hearts and of theirs. And it behoves you not to cause inconvenience to the Messenger of Allah, nor to marry his wives after him. This is indeed a matter of great significance with Allah.

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These divine instructions were primarily meant for believers living on this earth at the time the Prophet was living. But the etiquette, the instructions point to, should largely be taken care of even now, while accepting invitations from friends, relatives, and others.

 

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 12^th of March 2021.

Prophet Worship

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

79. Ma kana libasharin an yu/tiyahu Allahu alkitaba waalhukma waalnnubuwwata thumma yaqoola lilnnasi koonoo AAibadan lee min dooni Allahi walakin koonoo rabbaniyyeena bima kuntum tuAAallimoona alkitaba wabima kuntum tadrusoona

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3:79. A man, whom Allah has given the Book and the Command and the Prophethood, cannot say to the people, “Be worshippers of me besides Allah.” But be you all faithful worshippers of your Lord in accordance with what you have been teaching from the Book and in accordance with what you have been studying/learning from it.⁹⁴

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94. The Verse is a direct indictment of the Christians. They worship Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) as God Himself or as Son of God. This tendency to worship God's Messenger as God Himself is not restricted, among mankind, to the Christians alone. Worshipping of Rama and Krishna in India appears to be a result of the same tendency. Why blame other communities? There is a palpable tendency among the Muslims themselves to give their own Prophet (peace upon him) some of the divine powers. They have already 'given' him the power of intercession, as the Christians have given Jesus, to ensure their safe entry into Paradise despite their sins committed here on earth. There is nothing in the Qur'aan to show that Allah has given the power of intercession to any of His Messengers/Prophets. The Qur'aan, in fact, categorically states that there shall be no intercession on the Day of Judgement (Verse 2:254)

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 8^th of November 2019.

The Last Messenger

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

35. Wa-in kana kabura AAalayka iAAraduhum fa-ini istataAAta an tabtaghiya nafaqan fee al-ardi aw sullaman fee alssama-i fata/tiyahum bi-ayatin walaw shaa Allahu lajamaAAahum AAala alhuda fala takoonanna mina aljahileena

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6:35. And if their aversion is hard on you, then, if you can, seek an opening deep into the earth or a ladder [link] up into the heavens, and then bring them a sign. And if Allah had so willed, He would certainly have gathered them all on guidance. Be not then of those who are ignorant.⁶

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6. This is an obvious reprimand from Allah to His Messenger. HE has put this on record here to let mankind know that His Messengers too are His creatures, and not His partners in Creation. The Messengers too, being human, were prone to errors. What this Verse reveals to us is that the Prophet (peace be upon him) ardently desired Allah to give him a sign to show to his people to convince them of his being His accredited Messenger. But Allah had other plans. HE did not want His last Messenger to mankind to be recognised based on any obvious sign like those given to his predecessors, Jesus and Moses. Those signs, in any case, had yielded little results. HE, in His Wisdom, knew that His last Messenger was being sent at the threshold of an era of proliferation of knowledge. Allah now wanted His last Messenger to be recognised based on the intellect He had granted mankind. HE wanted the people to use this intellect, and the knowledge they are now getting, to scrutinise the character of the person sent as the last Messenger and to scrutinise the Message he was conveying to them. Allah here reminds His Messenger that He knows what to do to guide His creatures. Nothing – not even the ardent personal desire of His Messenger – can come in the way of His plans.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 8^th of March 2019.

Abee Lahab

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from QUR’AANIC STUDIES -A Modern Tafsir PART II:

1. Tabbat yada abee lahabin watabba

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111:1. Abee Lahab’s¹ hands are perished; and he too is!

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1. Abee Lahab was the Prophet’s own uncle; and he was his immediate neighbour at Makkah. But the man was deadly against the nephew for preaching the religion of Islam. His wife used to lay thorns at the Prophet’s door; the enmity they both felt against him was so intense! This Verse predicted Abee Lahab’s pathetic end some years later. He died of a disease considered malignant; and he was left by his own family to die alone. He was one of the richest in Makkah, but his wealth was of no avail to him at the time of his death. Although this was to happen some years later, the Verse is in the perfect tense; for Allah Almighty could see it happening in advance.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 9^th of November 2018.

Meelaadunnabi

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extracted below, from QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir, are my renderings of Qur’aanic Verses 19:12 to 19:15 into English and my study note #2 on these Verses. These relate to Prophet John (Yahya).

12. “O John! Hold on to the Book firmly.” And We granted him the authority over men while he was yet a child.

 13. And We gave him the gift of compassion from Us and of purity, and he feared Allah.

 14. And ever courteous to his parents, he was never insolent, disobedient.

15. And peace on him on the day he was born, the day he dies, and the day he is raised to life again.²

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2. The plain meaning of this Verse is that Allah is ever well pleased with John – at his birth, his death and his resurrection on the Judgment Day. It gives no authority for any celebration of his birth and death anniversaries. And yet some misguided Muslims quote this Verse as divine authority for celebrating the birth and death anniversaries of our Prophet (peace on him) and of other saintly persons. Such celebrations, as we do see in cases of other celebrities, amount to nothing but showy and ritual eulogy of the persons concerned. They do not lead to any character-building on the parts of the participants in such celebrations. The Muslims should rather emulate the example of our Prophet by trying to abide by the Qur’aan, as the Prophet did, in their day-to-day lives.

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Guide us all to the Right Path, Allah!

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 6^th of January, 2017