The Perfect Artiste

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

7. Waalssama-i thati alhubuki

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51:7. By the heaven full of perfectly defined pathways²

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2. One might well have seen a circus artiste keeping onlookers spellbound with his artistry of playing with 3 or 4 balls with his two hands continuously for a few minutes without the balls crashing against one another or without their being floored. But the artiste is a human being after all. He can sustain the show only for a limited period and with limited number of balls. But consider the superhuman Artiste Who has been sustaining such a Show for an infinitely long time now and with innumerable balls [heavenly bodies] billions of times bigger than the poor circus artiste can ever handle. We are witness to this Show day in and day out without being ever spellbound by it or without ever giving recognition to the Great Artiste! The Show is brought about by the interplay of innumerable centripetal and centrifugal forces. The mathematical precision with which this is done is simply mind-boggling.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 15^th of June 2018.

Believers

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from Index to QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir PART II [v stands for Qur’aanic (Q) Verse, n for my study note, numeral to left of colon (:) for Q Chapter & that to its right for Q Verse number]:

Believers: on guidance from Allah & successful v2:3-5, who do good deeds are promised bountiful eternal lives in Paradise v2:25, fear overpowers them not, nor shall they grieve v2:62, do love Allah the most v2:165, exhorted to eat wholesome food & be grateful v2:172, urged to get into Islam thoroughly & not to follow Satan v2:208, for whom to expect Allah’s Mercy v2:218, Allah is wali of v2:257, Allah will pay them their full rewards v3:57, fight in Allah’s Path v4:76, may rest assured Alah’s group shall triumph v5:56, divine admonitiom while they are at war in Allah’s Path v8:45-48, engage themselves in righteous struggle with their wealth & lives v9:88, divine establishment bound to save them v10:103, get better reward in the Hereafter v12:57, Allah establishes them both here & in the Hereafter v14:27, Satan has no authority over them v16:99, their reward not wasted v18:30, Allah creates affection for them v19:96, Allah delivers them from grief v21:88, Allah repels evil from them v22:38, Angels pray for forgiveness for them v40:7, Allah helps them in the life of this world v40:51, Qur’aan is guidance & cure for them v41:44, they fear the Hour & know it to be the Truth v42:18, Allah respomds to them v42:26, Signs for them in heaven & earth v45:3, directed to forgive those who do not believe in the Hereafter v45:14, Allah will efface their bad deeds & set them right v47:2, Allah is their Patron v47:11, directed to obey Allah & the Messenger v47:33, definition of v49:15, asked to be humble & to submit to Qur’aanic directives, and not to be like those given divine revelations earlier v57:16, will be exalted to high ranks v58:11, directed to fear Allah v59:18, exhort one another to patience & mercy v90:17, doing righteous deeds are best of all creatures v98:7.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 8^th of June 2018.

Lessons in Etiquette

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from Chapter 49 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir PART II:

11. Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo la yaskhar qawmun min qawmin AAasa an yakoonoo khayran minhum wala nisaon min nisa-in AAasa an yakunna khayran minhunna wala talmizoo anfusakum wala tanabazoo bial-alqabi bi/sa al-ismu alfusooqu baAAda al-eemani waman lam yatub faola-ika humu alththalimoona

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49:11. O you who believe! Let not one community laugh at another, lest the latter be better than the former. Nor let women laugh at other women, lest the latter be better than the former. Insult not your own people or call one another by nick-names. It is bad to be called by a name indicating transgressions against divine law after attaining to faith. And one that turns not in repentance – such are the wicked ones! ¹

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12. Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo ijtaniboo katheeran mina alththanni inna baAAda alththanni ithmun wala tajassasoo wala yaghtab baAAdukum baAAdan ayuhibbu ahadukum an ya/kula lahma akheehi maytan fakarihtumoohu waittaqoo Allaha inna Allaha tawwabun raheemun

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49:12. O you who believe! Avoid most of speculation! Speculation in some cases indeed is sin. And spy not on one another, nor let some of you backbite on others. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor it! And fear Allah! Allah is indeed Acceptor of repentance, Merciful. ¹

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1. Lessons on moral conduct!

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 1^st of June 2018.

Divine Mantra for Success

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

200. Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo isbiroo wasabiroo warabitoo waittaqoo Allaha laAAallakum tuflihoona

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200. O you who believe! Be patient, exhort patience, maintain good relations with one another and fear Allah, in order that you succeed.¹⁸⁶

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186. This is a veritable divine mantra for success. But, alas, there are very few Muslims in today's world with a strong enough Faith to make use of this mantra! The Muslims wouldn't be in the doldrums, they find themselves in, otherwise.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 25^th of May 2018.

Evidences Galore of Divine Existence

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Extract from Chapter 47 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir PART II:

24. Afala yatadabbaroona alqur-ana am AAala quloobin aqfaluha

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24. Why do they not, then, ponder over this Qur’aan? Or are there locks upon their minds to keep it [Qur’aan] out? ³

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3. Pease view this video in this context – or another. There are many more such videos available on youtube.com. You may also go through my article wherein it is explained how the Qur’aan virtually mentions blood circulation by means of which human body is grown and maintained. The Qur’aan discloses this hundreds of years before scientists discovered it!

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 18^th of May 2018.

Doomsday

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Doomsday

Extract from Chapter 46 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir:

35. Faisbir kama sabara oloo alAAazmi mina alrrusuli wala tastaAAjil lahum kaannahum yawma yarawna ma yooAAadoona lam yalbathoo illa saAAatan min naharin balaghun fahal yuhlaku illa alqawmu alfasiqoona

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35. Then have patience (O Muhammad) just as those endowed with determination among the Messengers (of old) had patience! And be not in haste concerning them. The Day they see what they are promised (it will so appear to them) as though they had stayed but an hour of daytime.⁷ A culmination! Shall any be destroyed [then] save the profligates?

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7. The Day of Judgment may in fact occur thousands of years after a man dies. But when that Day does occur, it will appear to him as if it had occurred an hour after his death! So the Prophet is being advised, in this Verse, that he should not worry about the doomsday being unduly delayed for a wicked person. The doomsday will come to him virtually as soon as he dies. That will be the culmination of his life on earth.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 11^th of May 2018.

Hadeeth

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Hadeeth

Extract from Chapter 7 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir:

185. Awalam yanthuroo fee malakooti alssamawati waal-ardi wama khalaqa Allahu min shay-in waan AAasa an yakoona qadi iqtaraba ajaluhum fabi-ayyi hadeethin baAAdahu yu/minoona

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185. Do they not ponder over the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatever things Allah has created, and over the likelihood of their own death being near? What hadeeth⁷⁴ would they then believe in after this?

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74. This Arabic word has been used in the Qur’aan variously in the meanings of (i) story, (ii) discourse, (iii) speech, or (iv) the Qur’aan itself. In the context of the preceding sentence, in this very Verse, the word here could connote the broad statement as under:

The orderly behaviour of the entire universe gives enough proof of the existence of a super-intelligent Being faultlessly governing it. When that Being can so control such a gigantic thing, He can obviously do the far less complex task of managing and controlling, inter alia, every human life. It is this Being – Whom we call Allah – that is guiding mankind in the proper conduct of their lives, through this Qur’aan. Every human being should grasp this Reality before it is too late. No one knows when death would come. It may be just around the corner.

But the word hadeeth came to acquire another meaning after the completion of the revelation of the Qur’aan, and the departure of the Prophet from this world. Centuries after the death of the Prophet, his orally reported sayings, and those of his companions, came to be recorded in writing. And these recorded sayings came to be known as ahaadeeth (plural of hadeeth). Allah Almighty knows all about the future. And at the time of the revelation of this Verse, He was aware of this future meaning of the term hadeeth. He (Allah), in that sense, is disapprovingly hinting here at future generations of the Muslim Ummah believing in such man-influenced, error-prone ahaadeeth in preference to the well-explained teachings in the Qur’aan, which can also be taken as referred to by the pronoun hu in baAAdahu of the Arabic text. The Verse is thus telling us categorically that the Qur’aan is the best hadeeth; one need not go after other ahaadeeth.  

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 4^th of May 2018.