Worldly Life

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

185. Kullu nafsin tha-iqatu almawti wa-innama tuwaffawna ojoorakum yawma alqiyamati faman zuhziha AAani alnnari waodkhila aljannata faqad faza wama alhayatu alddunya illa mataAAu alghuroori

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3:185. Everyone must taste the death. And only on the Resurrection Day, shall your earnings be fully paid. So then, whoever is moved away from the Fire and admitted to the Garden, he indeed has achieved success. And the life of this world is nothing but ways and means of deception.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 3^rd of January 2020.

Suppressors of Truth

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

178. Wala yahsabanna allatheena kafaroo annama numlee lahum khayrun li-anfusihim innama numlee lahum liyazdadoo ithman walahum AAathabun muheenun

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3:178. And let not the suppressors of the Truth think that the long rein We give them is any good for them. The long rein to them is only for the purpose that they may add to their sins. And for them is a disgraceful punishment.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 27^th December 2019.

Trust Allah

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

160. In yansurkumu Allahu fala ghaliba lakum wa-in yakhthulkum faman tha allathee yansurukum min baAAdihi waAAala Allahi falyatawakkali almu/minoona

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3:160. If Allah helps you, none can get the better of you. And if He forsakes you, who is there to help you thereafter? In Allah, then, believers should put their trust.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 20^th of December 2019.

Human Mind

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Excerpts from QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir PART I (the historical background, in which the Qur’aanic Verse quoted was revealed, was the battle of Uhud wherein Muslims had suffered many casualties):

154. Thumma anzala AAalaykum min baAAdi alghammi amanatan nuAAasan yaghsha ta-ifatan minkum wata-ifatun qad ahammat-hum anfusuhum yathunnoona biAllahi ghayra alhaqqi thanna aljahiliyyati yaqooloona hal lana mina al-amri min shay-in qul inna al-amra kullahu lillahi yukhfoona fee anfusihim ma la yubdoona laka yaqooloona law kana lana mina al-amri shay-on ma qutilna hahuna qul law kuntum fee buyootikum labaraza allatheena kutiba AAalayhimu alqatlu ila madajiAAihim waliyabtaliya Allahu ma fee sudoorikum waliyumahhisa ma fee quloobikum waAllahu AAaleemun bithati alssudoori

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3:154. Then, after the sorrow, He sent down the peace of slumber covering one section of you, while another section cared about their own selves, entertaining wrong thoughts about Allah – thoughts prevalent during the times of ignorance. They said, "Have we had the authority to take decision in any matter?" Say, "The authority in taking decisions in all matters indeed rests with Allah." They hide within their own selves what they do not reveal to you. They say, "If we had anything to do with taking any decision in this affair, we would not have been slain here." Say, "Even if you had stayed in your houses, those for whom death was decreed would certainly have gone forth to their decreed places of death." And in order that¹⁶¹ Allah might test that which is in your conscious minds and purge that which is in your subconscious.¹⁶² For Allah knows well the secrets of your minds.

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161. What follows in this sentence is the 2nd purpose of Allah Ta'ala in inflicting sorrow upon sorrow on the Muslim army. The first purpose, mentioned in the preceding Verse, was to prevent the believers from indulging in grief over what they had lost and what befell them in the battlefield. The sorrows succeeded one another so rapidly that the believers had no time for grief. And immediately after the causes for the sorrows ended, the believers were overcome with a becalming slumber.

162. The mind operates at two stages - one, conscious, and the other subconscious. It is the conscious mind that exercises the freedom of choice given to man and takes the decisions on any course of action. The decisions may be influenced by events that are still fresh in the conscious mind, but these are also influenced by events that have got submerged into the subconscious and by feelings and emotions that have their bases in the subconscious. In this Verse, sudoor (plural of sadr) has been used to refer to the conscious mind, whereas quloob (plural of qalb has been used to refer to the subconscious. Conviction on anything, good or bad, comes from the subconscious. In religious discussions, we modern-day Muslims may reiterate our faith in the Qur'aan and in all the divine directives therein. But in practical life, most of us forget those directives and do not mind resorting to falsehoods and corruption to get our worldly things done in our favour. That is because Islam has not become a matter of conviction with us. In other words, Faith has not entered our subconscious, as the Qur'aan says in Verse 49:14. The subconscious is within the conscious mind as confirmed in Verse 22:46. In the context of the battle, in the perspective of which these Verses were revealed, Allah tested the minds of those in whose subconscious still lurked wrong thoughts of the period of ignorance, before their exposure to Islam. Allah's 2nd purpose of inflicting sorrow upon sorrow on the Muslim army was to bring out into open those wrong thoughts and to purge them from the subconscious.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 13^th of December 2019.

Muslims of Today - 2

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Muslims of Today

Derived from QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir PART I:

139. Wala tahinoo wala tahzanoo waantumu al-aAAlawna in kuntum mu/mineena

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3:139. Be not weak and grieve not! And you should be better off if you are strong in Faith.¹⁵¹

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151. And most Muslims of today are not strong in their Faith. So, they are weak as a community, and they grieve a lot.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 6^th of December 2019.

Atheist vs Believer

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Atheist vs Believer

Extract from QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir PART 1:

109. Walillahi ma fee alssamawati wama fee al-ardi wa-ila Allahi turjaAAu al-omooru

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3:109. And to Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth. And to Allah, the matters return.¹²⁶

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126. Here's a crucial point of difference between an atheist and a believer believing in an Entity consciously creating and sustaining the entire Universe. For an atheist, this worldly life is the 'be-all' and 'end-all' of all things. To him, a man is just a superior type of animal. Nothing more. Like all other animals, he is born, he lives for an uncertain number of years, and he dies. During his span of life in this competitive world, if he uses his intelligence shrewdly in out-manoeuvring others in the games of life, he can enjoy the fruits, although temporary, thereof. Otherwise, his life would be miserable. For him, there is none to sit in judgement on the propriety or impropriety of his actions. For a believer in Allah, on the other hand, death is not the 'end-all'. Life for him here is only a test. The matters he is involved in are referred to his Creator for final adjudication. Along with the matters, he too is returned to the Creator, after death, for facing His judgement on his performance in this life. He is accountable to Allah for all his acts of omission and commission.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 29^th November 2019.

Good Deeds

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

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

            

115. Wama yafAAaloo min khayrin falan yukfaroohu waAllahu AAaleemun bialmuttaqeena

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3:115. And whatever good they do, nothing will be suppressed there from.¹³¹ And Allah knows those who fear Him.

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131. There is a general apprehension, in the minds of those who do not have a strong belief in Allah, that the good one does is not adequately appreciated and, therefore, wasted. They are thus inclined to give as much publicity as possible to their good deeds, whereby they hope to get good names and other benefits for themselves. Had their belief in Allah been strong enough, they wouldn't hanker after such mundane benefits. They would be sure that Allah, their Lord, wouldn't let their good deeds go waste.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 22^nd of November 2019.