Inserting Frivolities in Qur'aan

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from Chapter 41 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir:

26. Waqala allatheena kafaroo la tasmaAAoo lihatha alqur-ani wailghaw feehi laAAallakum taghliboona

---

26. And those that suppress the Truth say, “Do not listen to this Qur'aan, and insert frivolities in it, so that you may prevail over the believers.”⁵

---

5. During the time the Qur’aan was in the process of being revealed, people who did not believe in it used to disturb the sessions called to publicise fresh revelations, by indulging in talking to each other rather than listening to the revelations. That position still prevails. I have seen people talking to each other in the back rows of a Friday congregation while the Imam is explaining to them the significance of Qur’aanic Verses from the pulpit. They do not listen at all to the Imam. But, besides, there is something more sinister that is happening now! The Imam in most of the Masajid, especially in the Indian sub-continent, is haranguing his gullible audience with things that are not in the Qur’aan, or, rather, that are against the teachings of the Qur’aan! He urges his audience to seek the help of dead saints long back buried in their graves. He devotes most part of his Friday sermon in eulogizing the dead saints rather than the living Allah. And he quotes a Qur’aanic Verse in support of his diatribe, twisting its interpretation with man-influenced and error-prone ahaadeeth. And he spews venom against all those who do not agree with his twisted interpretation of the Qur’aan.

---

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 9^th of March 2018.

Mutashaabihaat

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Mutashaabihaat

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

7. Huwa allathee anzala AAalayka alkitaba minhu ayatun muhkamatun hunna ommu alkitabi waokharu mutashabihatun faamma allatheena fee quloobihim zayghun fayattabiAAoona ma tashabaha minhu ibtighaa alfitnati waibtighaa ta/weelihi wama yaAAlamu ta/weelahu illa Allahu waalrrasikhoona fee alAAilmi yaqooloona amanna bihi kullun min AAindi rabbina wama yaththakkaru illa oloo al-albabi

---

7. It is He Who has sent down the Book upon you. Therein are Verses that are unambiguous and authoritative – these form the essence of the Book – and therein are other Verses, the interpretation of which is not clear to mankind⁵. Those then with dishonesty in their minds, zealously pursue what is not clear thereof, seeking mischief and seeking its interpretation; but no one knows its interpretation but Allah. And persons, deeply versed in knowledge, say, "We believe in it; it is all from our Lord." And none but those endowed with insight receive admonition.⁶

---

5. Mutashaabihaat are Verses, in other words, that are not clearly understood by the human mind. One example is the oft-repeated divine statement that the wicked shall be punished by putting them into Hell-fire. If any person is put into a burning fire in this world, that person is sure to die in a matter of minutes. But the Hell-fire in the Hereafter would be such as wouldn't make persons put in it to die, although they would very much wish to die. The human mind is unable to grasp the concept of such a fire. The Verses that present such concepts which are incomprehensible to the human mind, in this world, are Mutashaabihaat. Muhkamaat, on the other hand, are Verses that are well-explained in the Qur'aan itself, and therefore capable of being well-understood by the human mind, in this world. Muhkamaat, moreover, contain clearly worded divine commands and admonition that are required to be obeyed and acted upon by mankind to get salvation from certain doom.

6. The first Verse of this Qur'aanic Chapter, containing only Arabic letters corresponding to the English letters A L M, is another example of mutashaabihaat. No one knows the interpretation of those letters there, except Allah. The question then arises as to what is the divine purpose of placing such Verses in the Qur'aan, the meanings of which are not clear to the human mind! The purpose obviously is to provide for a test of a believer's faith in the divine authorship of the Qur'aan. As the Verse itself indicates, a true believer shall unquestioningly accept such Verses to be from Allah. But a deviated mind will seek mischief therein.

---

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 24^th November 2017.

Lailatul Qadr

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

During the prolonged and often acrimonious discourse about ‘Word of Allah’, it was apparent that there is confusion in our minds on Lailatul Qadr.

Chapter 97 of the Qur’aan is entirely devoted to this lail (night). My study note on this Chapter, as extracted from QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir, is as under:

Laylatu alqadri – the night that is described in this 97^th Chapter of the Qur’aan – is one of the mutashabihaat (parts of the Holy Book that the human mind cannot clearly understand) in terms of Verse 3:7. Therefore, in pursuance of divine directions in that Verse, we have to content ourselves with what Allah Almighty was pleased to inform us about it in this Chapter. But we are not content! We insist on giving our own error-prone interpretations thereof or on searching for such interpretations in the books of ahaadeeth. We are thus guilty of seeking mischief as the Verse 3:7 tells us. According to that Verse no one but Allah knows its correct interpretation.

What Allah is pleased to inform us is that the Qur’aan was sent down in that Night. HE does not inform, as some people seem erroneously to believe, that it was sent down on Prophet Muhammad (peace on him) entirely on that Night itself. Only a divine decree was issued to the angels, that Night, for revelation of the Qur’aan to the Prophet. This is what we can infer in the light of Verse 97:4. An unknown – unknown to man – number of other matters were decreed upon besides, that Night!

To illustrate this with an example, suppose, my Creator has issued a decree, to the angels for my death, during the last Lailatul Qadr. It does not mean that I die that night itself. My death could have been scheduled for a particular date and time during the intervening period till the occurrence of the next Lailatul Qadr.

Likewise, although the angels came down with a divine decree, for revelation of the Qur’aan to the Prophet, that Lailatul Qadr, it does not mean the Holy Book was revealed to him all at once (jumlatan wahidatan) that night itself! The entire Qur’aanic text in itself provides ample evidence that it was scheduled to be revealed, passage by passage, during the course of Muhammad’s entire prophethood.

Another thing about this particular Night is that Allah Ta’ala has not specified when it occurs. Nevertheless, going against divine admonition in Verse 3:7, some people assume that it occurs on the 27^th of Ramadan every year. Some others believe it may occur on any of the odd dates after the 20^th of Ramadan. All human conjectures, nothing else!

The Truth is: Allah Almighty has not deemed it necessary to let us humans know when the Night occurs. So be it! We should stop celebrating any night as that Night. It’s not a Night when any special duty is assigned for mankind. It’s a Night when duties are assigned for angels to do till the occurrence of the next Lailatul Qadr. Muslims should continue performing their duties in accordance with the Qur’aan, throughout their lives.

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 4^th of August 2017.

O You Who Go

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

A few days back I heard my wife humming a few lines from an old Hindi song. It was from a film, and had its own romantic ramifications.

But I found myself explaining to her my own interpretations of those lines in an Islamic perspective. Below are those interpretations:

Kahan ja raha hai tu ae jane wale (Where are you going, O you who go)

Most men and women are wont to go about in this world pursuing their limited worldly objectives. They want to lead comfortable lives, with ample means to do so. They get upset if someone or something comes in the way of getting that objective fulfilled. Then they resort to doing things, fair or foul, that could overcome those hindrances.

This worldly life is the be-all and end-all of their existence. They don’t believe in any life after death. And they don’t believe in any divine punishments for any misdeeds on their part. So, they go on grabbing whatever they lay their hands on.

Some of them believe in and worship their personal gods. Some believe that some of their own kind, dead or alive, achieve divine powers, to whom they go to for redressal of any of their personal problems.

But whatever way they go in their worldly pursuits, there is a common, pervading feeling of unhappiness and unfulfillment among them. The poet addresses such a one in his line above.

Andhera hai man ka (A mental darkness it only is)

He is telling such a one that the latter is just groping in the dark. It is unlikely that he will find any real happiness and satisfaction because of the darkness that his own mind has created. The causes for the mental darkness are his misconceptions about the purpose of his life. He perceives that he is superior intellectually to any other form of life on this earth. That perception misleads him to the false belief that he is the master of what he surveys. It has led him to believe that there is no such thing as a Creator of this world/universe, which he thinks has come up on its own! He has become aware of the exquisite planning, wisdom, wizardry, craftmanship and care that has gone into the making of his own body, but he dismisses any idea of God bringing it into being and guiding and monitoring his actions here in this world.

That is his undoing; he continues to grope in the dark!

Diya to jala le (Just you put the light on please!)

The Maker Who has created him with such superhuman intelligence has not left him just to grope in the dark after his creation. HE has given him a mind which time and again prompts him to see the wisdom of recognizing the existence of the Maker. HE has provided evidences galore of His Existence. And He has sent down His Book of Guidance, the Qur’aan! This is the Light that is capable of extinguishing the utter mental darkness of the man. But the man, in his self-destructive arrogance, has refused to put that Light on!

The above poetic line beckons man to just put on that Light to put an end to all his misery.

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 28^th of July 2017.