O Muslims - 12

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from QURÁANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir PART I:

100. Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo in tuteeAAoo fareeqan mina allatheena ootoo alkitaba yaruddookum baAAda eemanikum kafireena

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3:100. O you who believe! If you follow any faction of those upon whom the divine Book was bestowed earlier, they will turn you back to suppressing the Truth after you have come to believe!

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 1^st of May 2020.

The Qur'aan

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

I was born to Muslim parents. But that fact by itself did not make me a real Muslim.

As a child, I just followed what my parents told me to do or to believe. For me then whatever they said was the gospel truth!

But as I grew up, it slowly dawned on me that my parents were not my makers. They were just instruments used in my making. My Maker ought have been a Being of superhuman intelligence, Who has also made everything necessary for my sustenance for a limited period in this world.

I could get this realisation by using the intelligence my Maker had given me. But my intelligence and all the knowledge that I could acquire in this world failed to inform me about the purpose of my short life here.

Only the Qur'aan could give me that information satisfactorily. My Maker did not just leave me alone, with my intelligence and my worldly knowledge, to fend for myself to get that information. HE has given me His Book of Guidance, which tells me what that purpose is, and what I should do to attain it.

So, I spent over 20 years to study this Holy Book, word by word. I humbly present my QUR'AANIC STUDIES for my readers’ perusal. Hopefully, these may lead them to their own studies of the Divine Scripture.

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 22nd February 2019.

Belief in part of Scripture

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Belief in part of Scripture while suppressing another

Excerpt from Chapter 2 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir, addressed primarily to the Children of Israel:

85. Thumma antum haola-i taqtuloona anfusakum watukhrijoona fareeqan minkum min diyarihim tathaharoona AAalayhim bial-ithmi waalAAudwani wa-in ya/tookum osara tufadoohum wahuwa muharramun AAalaykum ikhrajuhum afatu/minoona bibaAAdi alkitabi watakfuroona bibaAAdin fama jazao man yafAAalu thalika minkum illa khizyun fee alhayati alddunya wayawma alqiyamati yuraddoona ila ashaddi alAAathabi wama Allahu bighafilin AAamma taAAmaloona

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85. Yet, it is you who kill your own people and drive a section from among you out of their homes, aiding and abetting in sin and hostility against them. And if they come to you as captives, you ransom them, and it is, in the first place, unlawful for you to drive them out! Do you then believe in part of the Scripture while you suppress another part thereof? Recompense to whoever does so amongst you, is nothing but ignominy in this world. And on Resurrection Day, they will be condemned to intense torment. And Allah is not unaware of what they do^{111 & 112}.

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111. Here's another indirect divine warning for us Muslims, the nominal followers of the Qur'aan! We swear by the Qur'aan, as the Jews swear by the Torah. And like the Jews' suppressing parts of the Torah, we do ignore and blatantly act, knowingly or unknowingly, against divine commands in the Qur'aan. There are examples galore; but, here, I would like to throw light on just one - a glaring one.

112. In Verse 17.110, as pointed out in note 108 above, Allah Ta'ala instructs us not to be too loud in our prayers. But here, in my part of the world, I do often hear Masaajid loudspeakers broadcasting even the prayers, besides the Azaan! Not only are the non-Muslims around disturbed by this, but it disturbs even the Muslims praying in nearby Masjid. This apart, what is more disturbing, inscrutable and universal is the blatant disobedience of the other part of the divine edict. This other part ordains that the prayers should neither be muted nor of too low and feeble sound. Even so, it's a great mystery as to why we say parts of our prayers, like those of Zuhr and Asr, in absolute silence! No wonder then, that ignominy has hit us – and hit us badly, all around the world.

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Will we, the Muslims, ever realise what has hit us? Grant us the wisdom to improve ourselves, Allah!

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 24^th March, 2017.