The Great Retraction

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

In this extract from QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir PART II, the divine explanation, why wicked persons are made to suffer in the Hereafter, is discussed:

46. Wakanoo yusirroona AAala alhinthi alAAatheemi

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56:46. And they had persisted in the Great Retraction¹

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1. There is an inner conviction in every human being that he/she is created by One Powerful Creator Who has also created everything else in the Universe. And he/she intrinsically pledges his/her obedience to that One Creator. But most stray away from that pledge because of carnal desires generated under satanic influence. Remember how Adam and Eve were seduced by the Satan in retracting against their solemn pledge to Allah while they were living most comfortably in Paradise. Those first humans were thrown out into this world of trials and tribulations after their very first act of Retraction. But most of their progeny here, despite being given many chances, persist in the Great Retraction. The Verse here speaks of those wicked people.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 17^th August 2018.

Muslim Position

On the Editorial Page of the Indian Express issue dated December 27, 2017, there is an article giving a frank analysis of the position the Muslims find themselves in. The article in question is entitled ‘The Other, The Enemy’ by Abdul Khaliq, secretary general of Lok Janashakti Party.

For their sorry plight as depicted in the article, the Muslims themselves, largely, are responsible. They are Muslims only in name. They are badly divided among themselves. And, more importantly, they hardly follow the divine instructions given them in the Qur’aan. Had they – a majority among them, at least – followed those instructions meticulously, their position would not be as bad as that article depicts. For, in that case, they would be under the safe protection of Allah Almighty.

Kindly see, in this context excerpt below from Chapter 46 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir:

13. Inna allatheena qaloo rabbuna Allahu thumma istaqamoo fala khawfun AAalayhim wala hum yahzanoona

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13. Those indeed who say, ‘Allah is Our Lord’, and then remain steadfast, they shall have no fear then, nor shall they grieve!⁵

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5. Refer also, in this context, to similar Verse 41:30, which is a further elaboration of this Verse here. The Verse depicts, in a nutshell, the character of a believer in this world.

That character is missing in the Muslims of today. They may well declare, with their tongues, ‘Allah is our Lord’, but the declaration does not come from their hearts. Their belief is not strong enough to withstand the trials and tribulations of this worldly life. The weakness of their belief makes them neglect the Qur’aanic do’s and don’ts. So, Allah makes them suffer at the hands of other communities here. Allah subjects them to this suffering to make them realise their waywardness and turn back to absolute Trust in Him. If they do not learn their lesson, they may continue to suffer, not only here, but, Allah forbid, in the Hereafter as well!

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 5^th of January 2018.

Divine Punishment

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

56. FapaImma allatheena kafaroo faoAAaththibuhum AAathaban shadeedan fee alddunyta waal-akhirati wama lahum min nasireena

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56. "So I punish, with severe punishment in this world and the Hereafter, ⁷¹ those who suppress the Truth. And they shall have none to help them."

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71. Had the preposition fee (in) been used also before akhirati (Hereafter), then it would have meant that the severe punishment would be given both here and in the Hereafter. But the construction of the phrase here, – treating 'here and the hereafter' as one unit in relation to the prefix 'in' – indicates that some suppressors of the Truth may not be subjected to the severe punishment, in this world. Suppressors of the Truth, as the Qur'aan repeatedly says, are bound to be punished severely in the Hereafter. And incorrigible suppressors of the Truth like the people of Noah and the people of Lot are known to have suffered severe punishment in this world also.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 15^th of December 2017.

Homosexuality

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

The Qur’aan unequivocally condemns homosexuality as a fahishah (indecency, obscenity). If it is indulged in, in privacy, between two consulting adults, human society cannot mete out any punishment to them, but in modern societies, there is an increasingly on-going move to decriminalize even public display of this divinely proclaimed obscenity. The people to whom Prophet Lot (Loot) was sent during ancient times, were the first to indulge in this publicly; and for that public display, Allah Almighty annihilated them completely except for Lot and some of his immediate family. HE has warned future generations against such public display of homosexuality by leaving behind some remains of their annihilated habitations. Please see an extract from Chapter 29 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir, in this context:

35. Walaqad tarakna minha ayatan bayyinatan liqawmin yaAAqiloona

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35. And verily We have left thereof a manifest sign⁵ for a people who reflect.

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5. Watch the YouTube video. It is based on Biblical narratives, but it does confirm this Qur’aanic assertion.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 8^th of September 2017.

Divine Punishment

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

The ancient tribe of Thamood did not believe that one of their own brethren, Salih, was Allah’s Messenger sent to them. And they asked for a Sign. They were given a she-camel and were warned of divine punishment in case they harmed her. But they did harm her! The extract below, from Chapter 26 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir, discusses the punishment meted out to the tribe and the lesson to be learnt therefrom by the modern man:

158. Faakhathahumu alAAathabu inna fee thalika laayatan wama kana aktharuhum mu/mineena

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158. And then the punishment befell them. There is indeed in this a sign, and most of them believed not.⁶

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6. The ancient tribe of Thamood was given the sign of the she-camel. And yet most of the tribe did not believe. Other pre-historic tribes too were given such signs, and most of them, likewise, believed not. They were deficient in knowledge as compared to the peoples of this historic age. Allah Almighty had therefore given signs to His Messengers sent to those peoples so that they could thereby recognize the Messengers as authentically from Allah. But no such extraordinary or miraculous sign was given to Muhammad (peace on him), His Messenger sent for this historic age, claims to the contrary prevalent among some misguided sections of Muslims notwithstanding. Nothing in the Qur’aan supports such claims. The Qur’aan, on the contrary, urges the believers to look around them and to ponder over the innumerable natural phenomena contrived specifically for sustenance of human and other lives on this planet. The provision of absolutely essential things like free air and almost-free water, the occurrence of day and night continually succeeding each other, the deliberate tilt of earth’s axis at a particular angle to cause seasonal changes, the mind-boggling orbital movements of trillions and trillions of the heavenly bodies in a perfect mathematically correct balance of centripetal and centrifugal forces without bumping into one another, and innumerable such phenomena in nature provide signs galore, for those who reflect, of a super-intellectual Being in perfect control. The miraculous signs of old are now redundant and superfluous.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 23^rd of June 2017.