Waseelah

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from Chapter 5 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir PART I:

35. Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo ittaqoo Allaha waibtaghoo ilayhi alwaseelata wajahidoo fee sabeelihi laAAallakum tuflihoona

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5:35. O you who believe! Fear Allah and seek means of approach to Him and struggle in His Path, so that you get success.¹⁹

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19. The Arabic word alwaseelata (means of approach) has been grossly misunderstood by many Muslims of today. They think that in the light of this Verse, they can invoke the good offices of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and other dead pious men, for conferring of worldly benefits to them and for redressal of their worldly woes. Attention of such Muslims is invited to Verses 17:56 and 17:57 wherein the futility of invoking anyone other than Allah, is clarified. And in Verse 35:22, the Qur'aan categorically tells mankind, "And you are in no position to make those to hear who are in the graves." The 'means of approach' to Allah are those means which were employed by those great men themselves. They had persistently struggled in Allah's Path as indicated at the end of this Verse itself. 'Struggling in Allah's Path' is therefore the means. And 'struggling in Allah's Path' does not mean suicide attacks on soft targets as some may mistakenly believe! It is, on the other hand, to "believe, and do righteous deeds, and admonish with the Truth and admonish with Patience" as enunciated in Surah 103. And 'righteous deeds' are deeds that Allah Almighty commands mankind to do through His Message, the Qur'aan.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 31^st of August 2018.

Intercession

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from Chapter 34 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir:

23. Wala tanfaAAu alshshafaAAatu AAindahu illa liman athina lahu hatta itha fuzziAAa AAan quloobihim qaloo matha qala rabbukum qaloo alhaqqa wahuwa alAAaliyyu alkabeeru

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23. And intercession is of no avail with Him, except from him whom He permits. Until when fear is removed from their hearts, they (seekers of intercession) ask (those whom they considered to be their intercessors), “What is it that your Lord said?” They say, “The Truth. And He is the High, the Great.”⁷

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7. It is unfortunate that a majority among Muslims consider Prophet Muhammad (peace on him) to be their intercessor with Allah on the Judgment Day. In this they follow Christians who take Prophet Jesus (peace on him) as their intercessor. Both communities have gone astray from divine teachings. The divine teaching in this Verse is a categorical No to intercession, but the No has a rider by way of a test – to test mankind whether they would succumb to subtle satanic deviation inherent therein. After the categorical No to intercession, the Verse here alludes that Allah Ta’ala may however accept the intercession of him whom He may permit to intercede. But the Qur’aan has nowhere told us that Allah Almighty has permitted Prophet Muhammad or any other Prophet to intercede! The Muslims – and not Allah Almighty – have given their Prophet the permission!! They have thus fallen deeply into the unpardonable crime of shirk just as their Christian brothers have. Also, please see Verse 2:48 and the study note thereunder (Manzil I) in this regard.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 10^th of November 2017.

No Intercession

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from Chapter 2 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir, in which the divine declaration, that there shall be no intercession in the Hereafter, is discussed:

48. Waittaqoo yawman la tajzee nafsun AAan nafsin shay-an wala yuqbalu minha shafaAAatun wala yu/khathu minha AAadlun wala hum yunsaroona

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48. And fear that Day when none can be of any avail on anything to another, when no intercession will be accepted from anyone nor any ransom taken, and when they will be given no help!⁵³

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53. This is a divine statement, made quite categorically! In defiance thereof, however, almost the entire Christendom and most Muslims cling to their futile fond hopes that Jesus and Muhammad (may peace be upon them both) shall ransom their sinning souls out, with their – the two Messengers' – respective powers(?) of intercession!

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Save us from the evil of following falsehoods, Allah!

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 10^th of January, 2017.