Ramadan is a time when we do 'all' acts of worship in order to have the blessings of Allah.

One of those acts of worship is learning the interpretation of al-Qur'an(tafsir).

Let us all learn from each other on this thread. Tell us what you learnt from a tafsir session you attended or of a verse you came about while reciting the qur'an which caught your attention and you decided to learn further.

You could also just be our NL tafsir giver.


You are welcome please.

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A profound point in the story of Adam and Shaitan

Allah already said He created Adam for the earth, that was the first announcement, before anything happened and shaitan made him slip, the announcement was that he was created for the earth.

Allah made this announcement to the angels, He didn't say it to Adam . Adam was not created when the announcement was made to the angels.. Allah expressed His plan to create Adam and put him on the earth as a Khalifa. The plan was shared with the angels.

Iblees, a jinn was in the ranks of the angels, Therefore Iblis knows that Adam was created for the earth. So Iblis and all the angels know that Adam was created for the earth.

But Allah does not put him on the earth, does He? Allah told us He created him for the earth but He put him in Jannah. That's strange..

Iblis comes along and says: "Hey, you know that tree you are not supposed to go near, Let me tell us something, You were created for the earth. The only people that get to stay here are people that are either angels or permanent residents. " So shaytan tells them that the tree will cement their place in Jannah

In Surah Araf we see this:

Satan whispered to them so as to expose their unclothedness, which had been hidden from them: he said, ‘Your Lord only forbade you this tree to prevent you becoming angels or permanent residents,’ and he swore to them, ‘I am giving you sincere advice’– (Surah 7 20-21)

What attracts Adam/Hauwa to eat from the tree? Answer: They don't want to go to the earth..

Shaitan puts this idea in their head that from eating this tree is going to prevent their eventual fate...

What is the punishment after eating from the tree? Allah says: Descend from here all of you, one group will be enemies to the other group. And on the earth with be a temporary place of rest for you and utilities until a given time..

Now wait a second:

Adam (Alayhi Salam) could have said: Wait, this was the plan all along, this was all a set-up, I was supposed to go to the earth all along, It is not my fault i ate from the tree because either way i was going to end up on the earth.

This is important because

A lot of times people say: Allah already knows what i am going to do, How is it my fault?

Allah already knew Adam was going to go to the earth, How was it Adam's fault?

We are learning that this question of predestination, people think that they are so smart they just came up with it. That is the oldest question in philosophy.. These are the questions for people who do not want to face-up to reality.

The first human being was the first human being who could have asked that question, Adam could have asked that question but He doesn't... Rather He sought forgiveness..

Now, Iblis refused, In Surah Araf, Shaitan tries to justify why he disobeyed Allah:

....he said, ‘I am better than him: You created me from fire and him from clay.’(Surah Araf:12)

Shaitan is saying here: You created me from fire therefore, i am clearly superior.,

Creatures like jinns that can travel into the stars are clearly more powerful than a human... It is a logical complaint.. Also he has been around for a longer time, Adam has no resume, he just got created.

Now, what am i saying?

Adam could have made a logical complaint but didn't and Iblis did make a logical complaint .. One believed and the other disbelieved

Logic when it comes to complaining against Allah is kufr. Adam and Iblis have a lot in common

i. Both creatures were honoured by Allah

ii. Both creatures disobeyed Allah

iii. Both creatures were given the opportunity to either repent or rationalize their mistake

The one who rationalizes his mistake is Iblis

The one who admits his wrong even if it was known to Allah, is the one that gets forgiven -Adam

One is cursed for eternity, the other is forgiven..

This story occurs 7 times in the Quran, and each time Allah reminds us that we have two choices, The choice of Adam or the choice of Iblis

So

i. It is either you are going to justify and rationalize your sins and give a logical explanation as to why you are sinning

or

ii. You are going to admit your wrong and stop, and seek forgiveness

That is the bottom line of this story.... If you do not understand this bottom line ... You have missed the entire point of this story. Make your choice today..

For more: https://www.nairaland.com/1007823/journey-through-quran-amazing-quran/3

A BusinessTransaction

Surah al Baqarah Ayah 16

Ola-ika allatheena ishtarawoo alddalalata bialhuda fama rabihat tijaratuhum wama kanoo muhtadeena

Usually translated (Yusuf Ali): These are they who have bartered guidance for error: but their traffic is profitless, and they have lost true direction.

Ola-ika allatheena ishtarawoo alddalalata bialhuda
Those infact are the people that have purchased misguidance selling off guidance

The concept of trade, purchasing and selling is a very powerful concept in the Quran.. Allah uses it to compare this world’s and the next world’s life , our priorities are compared using tradeoffs…

A sales person prefers cash to credit, He prefers cash because the rewards are immediate. Imagine you are offered two deals, one says cash now and the other says cash later. Business men will choose the cash now deal. Human beings when they understand trade, they understand that the better deal is the one you get right away.

Allah offers us a deal, I will give you paradise and everlasting youth, A house in a great neighbourhood, with great neighbours , with everlasting security and peace..

This payment is being offered to us at a later date… It is not cash, it is credit…

Now in credit, there is a level of trust involved…. If you are selling on credit, you have to trust the customer…

Allah is offering us this deal and if we take it up, We would have displayed an incredible amount of trust in Allah….

All you get from Allah is His word, : I will pay you a lot, i will take care of you… All you have to give me is your life and wealth

You ask: for how long

It is until you die…

You ask: When do I get my pay

After you die

Your payment begins after you die…

That is real long-term credit…

Now shaytan comes, Shaytan offers us a payment plan too… He says: If you give me your life and wealth…. You will get instant rewards….

Most humans choose the world over the hereafter.

It take a lot of trust to choose the hereafter over world.

This terminology is used all the time in the Quran…

Now, the hypocrite was offered the credit deal by Allah but he chose misguidance which to them brought benefits right now and they gave up for guidance which would have brought benefits in the hereafter.

There were warding themselves away from harm that they thought will come now but failed to ward themselves away from harm that will last forever…

fama rabihat tijaratuhum

their trade didn’t materialize at all

Allah says their trade did not materialize at all, meaning they gave their part but did not receive on the other end…

And Allah gives the reason

wama kanoo muhtadeena
And they weren’t committed to guidance at all

The hypocrite pretends to be committed to guidance and Allah says, No they are not…

Then Allah gives an example in the next ayah


For more: https://www.nairaland.com/1007823/journey-through-quran-amazing-quran/2

Tbaba doing what he knows best, may Allah reward you for this.

*

I haven't been able to attend any tafsir. This makes a good read.

Jazakallahu khayr

From The Amazing Quran, Season 1 https://www.nairaland.com/972776/amazing-quran-pre-ramadan-study-interactive

A powerful example drawn for shirk (associating partners with Allah)

Allah gives us examples in the Quran, Lets share one beautiful example:

Allah Says in the Quran:

حُنَفَآءَ لِلَّهِ غَيۡرَ مُشۡرِكِينَ بِهِۦ‌ۚ وَمَن يُشۡرِكۡ بِٱللَّهِ فَكَأَنَّمَا خَرَّ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَتَخۡطَفُهُ ٱلطَّيۡرُ أَوۡ تَهۡوِى بِهِ ٱلرِّيحُ فِى مَكَانٍ۬ سَحِيقٍ۬ (٣١

Being true in faith to Allah and never assigning partners to Him: if anyone assigns partners to Allah he is as if he fell from the sky and been snatched up by birds or the wind had swooped and thrown him into a far-distant place. (Surah 22:31)

So Allah describes someone who commits shirk as

i. One who falls from the sky
ii. Been snatched up by birds
iii. The wind throw him off to a distant place

Now for many people, this makes little sense ... How does this tie to shirk?

If you say, 'That movie was cool', A person living in the 1960s would interpret it in a different way because the use of the word 'cool' as an expression for something good was not common in their times. Hence, A person in the 60's looking at that statement would say, it makes no sense...

if one translates this example literally without an understanding of expression, the point is lost. A proper arabic speaker today who is a missionary could look at this and say , this makes no sense.

You see, the Quran was revealed to ancient arabs and ancient arabic also had its own idioms...

Most of the pagan arabs did not believe in an afterlife, They believed everything stopped at death. And reminders of the catastrophic events of the endtime was met with disbelief. So Allah uses a truly remarkable example to describe the one who has ascribed partners to Allah.

The pagan arabs were made up of warrior tribes, they used to get into fights over all kinds of trivial issues. The worst kind of death imaginable for anyone is the death of a coward or a loser. Since they did not believe in an afterlife, the reputation and image you live behind is the most important thing and to die the death of a loser or a coward was the worst thing imaginable.


i. 'Falling from the sky'- This was a common expression in ancient arabic. Now imagine there are two tribes fighting, One is on a hill and the other is at the bottom of the hill.. The one at the top has the advantage, If despite of that advantage they lost; maybe they were killed in the battle or as they run away, they trip, fall off and die. They have died the death of a coward or a loser. A disgraceful death.

This is the worst legacy you can leave..This kind of death is expressed in ancient arabic as 'falling from the sky'... The ugliest kind of end they could imagine is captured in the words 'falling from the sky'.

So Allah used the ugliest thing these pagan arabs could imagine to describe shirk, since they had no concept of the hereafter.

ii.'Been snatched up by birds'- What happens after battle? The people come to pick up the bodies of their dead to bury... For those who have died the death of cowards and losers, Nobody comes for them because they brought shame to the tribe and when nobody comes... birds of carrion visit the body and feed on it.... These birds feed on the body of a person who has died a humiliating death and has been disowned by his own tribe. These birds eat to their fill

iii. The wind throw him off to a distant place- Whatever scum is left of the body is blown off when a wind comes. and even if no birds came, the body decomposes and what is left of it is blown away by the wind...

Allah expresses the condition of one who commits shirk from the perspective of the pagan arab. The most horrible thing they could imagine has been displayed in such beautiful terms to show them the seriousness of shirk.

Can you see how powerful the examples in the Quran are?

This also highlights the importance of studying this book and having intellectual humility when we study it....

May Allah make us all students of His book

Combining Acquired Knowledge with Revealed Knowledge - The Challenge of this Generation

Ayah 31

WaAAallama adama al-asmaa kullaha thumma AAaradahum AAala almala-ikati faqala anbi-oonee bi-asma-i haola-i in kuntum sadiqeena

Usually translated (Yusuf Ali): And He taught Adam the names of all things; then He placed them before the angels and said: "Tell Me the names of these if ye are right."

WaAAallama adama al-asmaa kullaha

He taught Adam (Alayhi salam) the names, all of them

This is our introduction to linguistic 101, the originals of all languages are nouns; the way you manipulate those nouns become verbs; Allah taught Adam names of things;

By Allah saying 'Kullaha"; It means all the names there could be..

thumma AAaradahum AAala almala-ikati

Then He brought the things all together; before the angels

The language shows that it includes living and non living things; all categories of things basically; those things all together are brought before the angels...

faqala anbi-oonee bi-asma-i haola-i in kuntum sadiqeena

and said: tell me the names of these things if you are indeed truthful

Meaning: if your claim holds weight; if your claim that this creature is going to shed blood holds any value then go ahead and tell me the names of these things.

Here, it is been displayed that this human being is going to be given knowledge and that knowledge could lead to wonderful advances;

Today all sciences boil down to terminology, It does not matter what subject you are studying; whether, medicine, physics, psychology .. It doesn't matter... In the end, you are learning concepts that are defined by terms and in the end it all boils down to nouns.

At your workplace you have to know certain kinds of terminology;

All modern knowledge today,is a by product of what Adam was given. The ability to label things:

This is not refering to revealed knowledge, this is refering to what is called'secular' knowledge. The origins of all the fields were planted inside Adam to the point that even the angels did not what it was.

And Allah praised that knowledge too in this ayah... Young people that get zealous about religion, they say: i am going to study the religion, that is the knowledge to study'... Yes it is but the study of other fields is also a study of what Allah taught to begin with. It is a study of the signs of Allah also.

Remember we said that the inherently corrupt and the hypocrite separate the things that Allah has commanded to be joined (Ayah 27)... Here, the knowledge of religion and the knowledge of sciences (psychology, medicine, anthropology etc )are supposed to be joined.

All these sciences are not supposed to be divorced from revealed knowledge, they are supposed to be married to revealed knowledge. They are supposed to go hand in hand. These are two sides of the same coin.

You can call this acquired knowledge and revealed knowledge; They are supposed to go hand in hand.... The muslims of the past understood this and that is why some scholars of religion were also the scientists.

Today, in the muslim world, The college and university is something else, the madrassa is something else.. there are two seperate worlds; they are like two entities that have nothing to do with each other. Originally these two sides of knowledge are supposed to be interconnected and interact with one another...

Examine the Quran, How much of it deals with observations about creation? look at the sky, look at the mountains, look at the ocean, look at travel, trade, history... Allah forces us to deal with worldly things but they are supposed to be in harmony...

Now what has happened in the modern world is that the muslims either go entirely into religious knowledge and have no idea how the world works or they go into sciences and have no clue about Islam.

If you do not understand how modern finance works; how are you going to provide a solution based on Allah's guidance that works for the modern world, not just muslims?

If you do not understand sociology, how are you going to produce solutions from our religion that helps society get better?

You have to understand both sides of the picture;

How are you going to determine when to do ruqya (for jinn possession (exorcism)) or take for a psychological evaluation? If you do not understand both sciences...
These are sciences that are supposed to go hand in hand...

Our scholars are supposed to be scholars all around and if we can't have that then we should have think tanks where people of different sciences sit together... Where the scholars of fiqh and lawyers sit together,

These two areas of knowledge are not supposed to be divorced from one another..

When they are divorced, you get the worst chaos in the society...

You see, science is blind it has no guidance; when you can use science to create things like the nuclear bomb, you can use science to create chemical weapons.. Science by itself is just the study of how materials interact with one another. That is all it is...

Guidance from revealed knowledge gives it a direction, Here, is how you do research to made the whole a better place...

Today, most scientific researches are driven by greed, Major corporations sponsor research because of greed.. For instance, when medicine is being produced, the driving factor is not whether it is going to help humanity.. The primary purpose is that they will be able to sell it at a huge turnaround cost... Look at the massive corruption in the pharmaceutical industry. The kind of profit margins are criminal.. It is unimaginable that human beings can do that...

If guidance was the driving factor, then it will be for everybody like the ayah 29 before said:

He is the one that created for you, whatever is on the earth for all of you all together

These two things must be married together;

We have to bring revealed knowledge and worldly knowledge together again... We have to make it happen... that is the future of the ummah... We have to do it...

May Allah make it easy for us ...

https://www.nairaland.com/1007823/journey-through-quran-amazing-quran/2

Three Levels Of Faith, Three Kinds Of People, A Parable From The Quran

There are three levels of faith in Islam. The first level is just Islam...

i. Islam: This relates to people who have accepted the faith: those who pray, fast and do all acts. These people have however not experienced the sweetness of Iman (usually translated as faith), they do not yet know what it feels like to cry in the prayer or be overwhelmed by the words of Allah. Allah talks about these kinds of people in the Quran in Surah Hujurat (roughly translated yusuf Ali) :

The desert Arabs, say "We believe." Say "Ye have no faith; but ye (only) say `We have submitted our wills to Allah.' for not yet has Faith entered your hearts. But if ye obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not belittle aught oft your deeds: for Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful."

These people have submitted to Allah and as they develop, they can get to the next level. The next level is Iman..

ii. Iman: These people have tasted the sweetness of Iman,Faith has entered their hearts. They know what it means to feel a connection with Allah and be overwhelmed by His words. As they develop, they might attain the next level Ihsan...

iii. Ihsan: This level is the highest level of faith. These people are always conscious of the presence of Allah. Allah's Apostle (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) described Ihsan as, "To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is seeing you."

Imagine you are working in an office and you boss's eyes are always on you, you will always act accordingly. The person at this level is conscious of Allah all the time... This is the highest level of faith..

A Quranic Parable- Three kinds of personalities:

In surah baqarah, Allah says in the Quran (roughly translated):

Then your hearts hardened like rock; or even harder. For among rocks there are some from which rivers gush forth; and out of rocks there are those that crack open and water is found; and others which fall for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unmindful of what ye do. (surah 2 :74)

In this Ayah, Allah gave the example of three types of rocks or stones, rocks in the parable refer to hearts as indicated, water is used often in the Quran to represent purity and faith. So lets examine the three types of rocks

i. rivers gush forth
ii. Rocks that are cracked open and water is found
iii. Rocks that fall out of the fear of Allah.

i. For among rocks there are some from which rivers gush forth:
So there is this person who is deeply reflective, thinking about the purpose of life, asking deep questions about the reality of existence. Now when the solution is brought to them and it clicks, there is no hesitation. There is an excitement, just like a rock that rivers gush forth. Water inside the rock is faith inside the heart. This person had a faith inside of them and they were looking for something to confirm that faith. Revelation came, it clicks with what was already inside and the faith just gushes forth like a river. An example in Islamic history is the companion: Abu bakr (RA), deep person who accepted the truth without hesitation when it came to him

ii. Rocks that are cracked open and water is found
This person is not exactly as philosophical. They are very active, they have stuff to do. The purpose of life is not something, they think about. They just have too many things to do to worry about that kind of stuff. They have water inside but they need a traumatic experience to crack it open. Maybe the death of a friend or a family member or a near death experience. Something traumatic happens in the life that cracks open the rock that is the heart and underneath it is Iman (water). An example of that kind of person in Islamic history is Umar (RA).. Umar (RA) was a very active person. When his sister converted to Islam, he went to her house furious and struck her across the face. Seeing blood streaming from the face of his sister, he softens up and the rock cracked.. He reads the Quran and became muslim.. That traumatic experience was enough for him to look at the Quran.

iii. Rocks that fall out of the fear of Allah. -
This person does all that is expected of a muslim, he prays , he fasts, he does it all. He has submitted his will. However, he has not tasted the sweetness of Iman. He fears Allah and observes all he has to but he doesn't experience the tranquility of Iman, he doesn't yet know the feeling of crying in the salat. There might be water in the rock but it has not yet been reached.

Rock I -A person of Ihsan with his faith gushing forth
Rock II- A person who tastes the sweetness of Iman but needed his rock to be cracked
Rock III - A person of Islam who has submitted

So why does Allah use this parable? This discussion in surah baqarah was to the Jews of medina. The story of Musa and water gushing from rock is familiar to the Jews so Allah uses an example that resonates with them in presenting this parable. SubhanAllah.

May Allah give us knowledge and help us become humble as we acquire this Knowledge, like the branches of a tree falls when it bears fruit.

May Allah guide us on the straight path and help us perfect our faith and reach the level of ihsan.

Jazaka Allahu Khairan

Assalam aleikum

Three Levels Of Faith, Three Kinds Of People, A Parable From The Quran

There are three levels of faith in Islam. The first level is just Islam...

i. Islam: This relates to people who have accepted the faith: those who pray, fast and do all acts. These people have however not experienced the sweetness of Iman (usually translated as faith), they do not yet know what it feels like to cry in the prayer or be overwhelmed by the words of Allah. Allah talks about these kinds of people in the Quran in Surah Hujurat (roughly translated yusuf Ali) :

The desert Arabs, say "We believe." Say "Ye have no faith; but ye (only) say `We have submitted our wills to Allah.' for not yet has Faith entered your hearts. But if ye obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not belittle aught oft your deeds: for Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful."

These people have submitted to Allah and as they develop, they can get to the next level. The next level is Iman..

ii. Iman: These people have tasted the sweetness of Iman,Faith has entered their hearts. They know what it means to feel a connection with Allah and be overwhelmed by His words. As they develop, they might attain the next level Ihsan...

iii. Ihsan: This level is the highest level of faith. These people are always conscious of the presence of Allah. Allah's Apostle (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) described Ihsan as, "To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is seeing you."

Imagine you are working in an office and you boss's eyes are always on you, you will always act accordingly. The person at this level is conscious of Allah all the time... This is the highest level of faith..

A Quranic Parable- Three kinds of personalities:

In surah baqarah, Allah says in the Quran (roughly translated):

Then your hearts hardened like rock; or even harder. For among rocks there are some from which rivers gush forth; and out of rocks there are those that crack open and water is found; and others which fall for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unmindful of what ye do. (surah 2 :74)

In this Ayah, Allah gave the example of three types of rocks or stones, rocks in the parable refer to hearts as indicated, water is used often in the Quran to represent purity and faith. So lets examine the three types of rocks

i. rivers gush forth
ii. Rocks that are cracked open and water is found
iii. Rocks that fall out of the fear of Allah.

i. For among rocks there are some from which rivers gush forth:
So there is this person who is deeply reflective, thinking about the purpose of life, asking deep questions about the reality of existence. Now when the solution is brought to them and it clicks, there is no hesitation. There is an excitement, just like a rock that rivers gush forth. Water inside the rock is faith inside the heart. This person had a faith inside of them and they were looking for something to confirm that faith. Revelation came, it clicks with what was already inside and the faith just gushes forth like a river. An example in Islamic history is the companion: Abu bakr (RA), deep person who accepted the truth without hesitation when it came to him

ii. Rocks that are cracked open and water is found
This person is not exactly as philosophical. They are very active, they have stuff to do. The purpose of life is not something, they think about. They just have too many things to do to worry about that kind of stuff. They have water inside but they need a traumatic experience to crack it open. Maybe the death of a friend or a family member or a near death experience. Something traumatic happens in the life that cracks open the rock that is the heart and underneath it is Iman (water). An example of that kind of person in Islamic history is Umar (RA).. Umar (RA) was a very active person. When his sister converted to Islam, he went to her house furious and struck her across the face. Seeing blood streaming from the face of his sister, he softens up and the rock cracked.. He reads the Quran and became muslim.. That traumatic experience was enough for him to look at the Quran.

iii. Rocks that fall out of the fear of Allah. -
This person does all that is expected of a muslim, he prays , he fasts, he does it all. He has submitted his will. However, he has not tasted the sweetness of Iman. He fears Allah and observes all he has to but he doesn't experience the tranquility of Iman, he doesn't yet know the feeling of crying in the salat. There might be water in the rock but it has not yet been reached.

Rock I -A person of Ihsan with his faith gushing forth
Rock II- A person who tastes the sweetness of Iman but needed his rock to be cracked
Rock III - A person of Islam who has submitted

So why does Allah use this parable? This discussion in surah baqarah was to the Jews of medina. The story of Musa and water gushing from rock is familiar to the Jews so Allah uses an example that resonates with them in presenting this parable. SubhanAllah.

May Allah give us knowledge and help us become humble as we acquire this Knowledge, like the branches of a tree falls when it bears fruit.

May Allah guide us on the straight path and help us perfect our faith and reach the level of ihsan.

Jazaka Allahu Khairan

Assalam aleikum

Ayatul Kursi - The Ayah Of The Throne Part 1

Allahu la ilaha illa huwa
alhayyu alqayyoomu
la ta/khuthuhu sinatun wala nawmun
lahu ma fee alssamawati wama fee al-ardi
man tha allathee yashfaAAu AAindahu illa bi-ithnihi
yaAAlamu ma bayna aydeehim wama khalfahum
wala yuheetoona bishay-in min AAilmihi illa bima shaa
wasiAAa kursiyyuhu alssamawati waal-arda
wala yaooduhu hifthuhuma wahuwa alAAaliyyu alAAatheemu

1. Allahu la ilaha illa huwa

Allah, There is no one worthy of worship, love and Obedience in any way, shape or form except He.

The word Ilah in Arabic has several meanings, It connotes love and obedience. An entity that is worthy of extreme love. No body deserves to be loved like Him. That is one of the meanings. It also refers to leaning towards someone, like how you lean on a wall. When you are exhausted from life ... Who are you supposed to lean on? It is Allah.

An example of where the dominant meaning of Ilah is love and Obedience , In Surah Jathiyah, Allah says:

Have you seen the one who takes His empty desires as an Ilah... (Ayah 23)

He turns his empty desires and temptations into his Ilah,

Now ask yourself this, What kind of desires? maybe greed, lust.... etc.. Do people pray to those desires? Do they worship those desires or do they obey, love and obsess over these desires?

There are people who do not have a stature in front of them but are mushrik because they are enslaved to their taste for money at whatever cost. That is an Ilah that demands from them obedience as well. (Obey your taste??).

So Ilah is an entity that demands obedience.

This is important to highlight because muslims sometimes separate worship from obedience. There are muslims that worship Allah but do not obey him in their dealings, the way they speak, the way they do business, etc..

Whenever we see translation of La illaha Illa llah , It is often : There is no one worthy of worship except Allah.

A more comprehensive understanding is : There is no one worthy of worship, love and obedience in any way, shape or form except Allah.

How does this make a practical difference in the life of a muslim? So many people worship Allah but do not love Him, So many worship Allah but they don't obey Him. They could worship a lot but their business is haram or they consume haram. People make a distinction in their head, they could be very religious in their worship on one hand but disobey Allah in their family life, their dealings with their neighbours, their business life etc.

This is why this meaning of La illaha Illa llah needs to be highlighted. Someone should not think that they have done right with La illaha Illa llah just by worshipping Allah. There is a love matter, an obedience matter, a loyalty matter and a worship matter. That is all included in la ilaha illa huwa.


2. alhayyu alqayyoomu

The living, The one who continously and is extremely engaged in keeping things standing.

The 'Al' here denies the existence of any other. So Allah is The living and all life that exists is because of Him. The Alif lam has that benefit here.

Someone who is watching over something and making sure it stays intact. You know when you have a delicate plant, and the farmer has to make sure it stays alive by looking after it all the time. This is qayyim.

Allah is Qayyoom, constantly watching over all of existence so that it does not fall apart. qayyim is temporary, Qayyum is excessive and it is permanent.

So Allah is the source of all life and He maintains all existence and harmony.

More to come, Insha Allah.

deols: I haven't been able to attend any tafsir. This makes a good read.

Jazakallahu khayr

Salaam

Tbaba is referring us to some other threads on the same topic of tafsir
It is tedious going back and forth (of course that is inexcusable laziness given that another person typed out all of that). I prefer to read all the materials on one thread. This thread is already a word/pdf doc for me BTW.
Can we not just put everything together on one thread and make it sticky even if only for this Ramadan period
Although looking at some of the stuff that typically appear on the main page, personally I believe that a good thread on the Qur'an (our best companion) should be PERMANENTLY sticky

PLease all comments on the quoted post should be on the complaints thread.
link

BetaThings:

Salaam

Tbaba is referring us to some other threads on the same topic of tafsir
It is tedious going back and forth (of course that is inexcusable laziness given that another person typed out all of that). I prefer to read all the materials on one thread. This thread is already a word/pdf doc for me BTW.
Can we not just put everything together on one thread and make it sticky even if only for this Ramadan period
Although looking at some of the stuff that typically appear on the main page, personally I believe that a good thread on the Qur'an (our best companion) should be PERMANENTLY sticky

Salaam to all
For those who have access to the bandwidth to do this
There is a series of Tafsir by one young brother - Musa Menk
This is the link to the first episode. There are about 27, each of about 30mins


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bdrCqLf8SA

Very interesting and beneficial

There is also one by brother Nouman Khan (he has many) that gives insight into the miracle and truth of the Quran
I will try and locate it, Insha Allah
Here is it the shortest (there are others that are longer)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPs8cApW8Bw

^^thanks for That.

Ayatul Kursi (roughly translated)

Allah, There is no one worthy of worship, love and Obedience in any way, shape or form except He. The living, The one who continously and is extremely engaged in keeping things standing. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him. He exclusively owns whatever and whoever is in the skies and whatever is on the earth. Who is there that can intercede with Him except by His leave? He knows what is before them and what is behind them but they do not comprehend any of His knowledge except what He wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, And their protection does not exhaust Him, He is the ultimately High, the tremendeous. (Surah 2: 255)

Answering the deviations in Shirk.

Ayatul kursi answers all of the deviations in shirk in a pretty remarkable way... Most deviations in shirk are dealt with in Ayatul kursi

Deviation 1: There are many gods deserving of worship

Response 1: Allah, There is no one worthy of worship, love and Obedience in any way, shape or form except He.

Deviation 2: God died for our sins, God created everything and left it to roll on it own.

Response 2: The living, The one who continously and is extremely engaged in keeping things standing.

Deviation 3: God created the earth and the earth and rested on the 7th day

Response 3: Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him

Deviation 4: God created but he doesn't own us, just because you created something doesn't mean you own it.

Response 4: He exclusively owns whatever and whoever is in the skies and whatever is on the earth.

Deviation 5: Ok, fine he owns us but someone will come and save us on Judgement day... Jesus (alayhi Salam), the saints, the righteous men, mother teresa etc

Response 5: Who is there that can intercede with Him except by His leave?

Deviation 6: God doesn't know eveything that is going on, He has bigger things to worry about, super novas and black holes in the universe. He is going to worry about my little deeds

Response 6: He knows what is before them and what is behind them

Deviation 7: I don't understand this God, how come He does this and that? How come He made a Judgement day?

Response 7: but they do not comprehend any of His knowledge except what He wills.

Deviation 8: How do you know God is still there?

Response 8: His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, And their protection does not exhaust Him, He is the ultimately High, the tremendeous


All of that deviation that can happen inside the mind has been addressed in Ayat kursi so Allah says rightfully in the next ayah that truth has been made clear from falsehood.

SubhanAllah!!

^^^^
This is really full of insight

For everyone that is seeking

Parables in the Quran are sources of incredible wisdom. In surah Hajj, Allah presents an example:

People, here is an illustration, so listen carefully: those you call on beside God could not, even if they combined all their forces, create a fly, and if a fly took something away from them, they would not be able to retrieve it. The seeker and the sought are both inherently weak! (Surah 22:73)

Allah says that if all the gods people called besides Allah combined their forces to do one thing, i.e create a fly, they would not be able to The first thing to understand is who people call besides Allah. we have idols, false gods, prophets, righteous people, leaders, kings, pharaohs, priests, saints, aliens, ancestors etc.

In general, people either call on the living or they call on the dead. When people worship a priest or a leader or the pope, they are worshiping the living. When people worship idols or pictures or an idea or a philosophy, they worship the dead.

This ayah covers the living and the dead.

Let's start with the dead:

Have a look at the pagan cultures of the world. In many of these beliefs, you have shrines where the idols are kept. One of the common feature of these places is that all kinds of food are kept in front of the idol. If i come into the temple and i attempt to eat the food kept in front of the idol, the worshipers would not allow me to do so because it is supposed to be for the statue. It is blasphemous for me to try and eat the food reserved for their gods and i could get in big trouble for even attempting that.

Now imagine a fly, a disrespectful fly flies all the way to the food that is reserved for the god, eats to its fill (while even staring at the idol) and flies off. This happens right in front of the worshipers and the idol, they are constantly trying to fend off flies from eating their god's food. A fly destroys the foundations of their faith before their eyes on a daily basis.

Allah said: if a fly took something away from them, they would not be able to retrieve it..

The flies do it every time. For anyone paying attention, the temple itself is teaching tawhid by the fly. If the god created the fly, the fly will obey him and not mess with his food. Not only does the god not have the power to create, it does not have the power to take back its own food.

Now let us examine a living false god:

Pharaoh is having lunch in his castle and here comes a disrespectful fly again, it takes a pinch out a pharaoh food and flies off.. Pharaoh gets angry at the disrespect shown by the fly and summons the entire army to catch this fly and retrieve the food stolen by this fly. The fly is caught, the microscope and petri dish are invented immediately to retrieve the piece of food stolen by this fly.

One significant fact however, is that flies start digesting their food immediately they come in contact with it, they release saliva that wraps around the food and acidifies it, chemically altering the food so they would never be able to retrieve pharaoh food as there is nothing to recover, they can't get it back SubhanAllah!!

Like Allah says if the fly did take something away. They can't get it back.

Then Allah says: The seeker and the sought are both inherently weak

The idol and pharaoh are seekers, the fly is the sought.

Also the idol worshiper is a seeker and the idol is the sought

Allah says the seeker and the sought is weak... The fly is weak and so is pharaoh, the fly proves the weakness of the pharaoh, The idols themselves are weak because they can't help themselves and because the worshiper seeks them that means that he is also weak.

The Universal lesson

Like many ayat of the Quran, there are universal lessons

We are all seekers, some of us are seeking jobs, others are seeking children, others are seeking to get married or graduate, some people seek a promotion, some are seeking to graduate, Some are seeking to buy a car.. We are all seekers.

Allah says that we are all weak because we are seekers. Seeking itself is a show of weakness. And everything we seek is also weak. if you are seeking a car, the car is not strong, it is weak. If you are seeking a career, the career is also weak. If you are seeking children, they are also weak. You are seeking money, money itself is weak.

We are weak and everything we run after is weak. In the very next ayah, Allah says:

They have no grasp of God’s true measure: God is truly most strong and mighty. (surah 22:74)

Allah says that you should be seeking Allah because Allah is strong. In other words, when you seek Allah, you become strong. And because you are seeking everything else, you and everything else are weak. Amazing!!

Story 1

There is a muslim family in New orleans. They used to own a luxury car dealership, Upper class cars... All paid for in cash. Hurricane Katrina came and all of the cars were destroyed except for one lexus. That was all that was left, everything was gone.

The brother now works in a Pizza store, delivering pizza in that lexus. The shocking thing about this family is that they are all so happy. This is the kind of loss that makes people commit suicide.. These guys were making as much as $1 million a month. Everything was destroyed, wiped out. They had to start from scratch.

But these guys are happy, when asked. The brother said the most remarkable thing(paraphrasing): I have food on my plate what do i have to complain about? That was Allah's provision and He took it. We are all Allah's too. SubhanAllah.

The one who seeks Allah can have the entire world in their hand and if it goes. They say: that wasn't mine anyway. Because they also belong to Allah, they are not bothered by loss. They become strong. Other people can't gain that kind of strength, it is too difficult.

Story 2

A couple was struggling to have kids for a long time, eventually Allah blessed them with a son very late in life. When the son was 18, he had his graduation from high school. He went to his graduation ceremony and his parents were waiting for him to come home. They were too old to go for the ceremony. The boy died in a car accident on his way home.

The mother went into shock, They were both saddened. Eventually the husband goes to his wife and he says: Allah gave us a toy and he let us play with it for 18 years without charging us and He took what belonged to Him, back. And instead of being grateful, look at us sitting here, complaining and saddened.

This is easy to talk about but hard to internalise.

The seeker and the sought are weak.

May Allah grant us the strength that comes from us seeking Him.

^Post for today is above

If you benefit from any thing, i write. Please make dua for my teacher, Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan and his family that Allah keeps him sincere and his intentions pure. And that Allah keeps his family safe and make them righteous muslims.

Words can not quantify how much I owe him.
May Allah grant him the Jannah firdaus.

I also pray that we are all motivated to studythis book because if we do, we will truly understand why Allah says that if this book was revealed upon a mountain, it will crumble. I am almost in tears writing this and I have shed many in the course of learning this book.

Truly, if only the muslims knew their book, we will be a different nation. May Allah grant us knowledge of His book. May Allah make the ways of learning easy for us. May we be humbled as we grow in knowledge. May our knowledge not be used as a means to show superiority. May knowledge influence our behaviours, positively. May we all gain Allah's forgiveness this ramadan.

Ameen

tbaba1234: For everyone that is seeking

People, here is an illustration, so listen carefully: those you call on beside God could not, even if they combined all their forces, create a fly, and if a fly took something away from them, they would not be able to retrieve it. The seeker and the sought are both inherently weak! (Surah 22:73)


A fly, a disrespectful fly flies all the way to the food that is reserved for the god, eats to its fill (while even staring at the idol) and flies off.

The fly is caught, the microscope and petri dish are invented immediately to retrieve the piece of food stolen by this fly.
they would never be able to retrieve pharaoh food as there is nothing to recover, they can't get it back SubhanAllah!!

I have food on my plate what do i have to complain about? That was Allah's provision and He took it. We are all Allah's too. SubhanAllah.

Allah gave us a toy and he let us play with it for 18 years without charging us and He took what belonged to Him, back. And instead of being grateful, look at us sitting here, complaining and saddened.

May Allah grant us the strength that comes from us seeking Him.

May Allah grant NAK, his students and all of us this dua and more

tbaba1234: ^Post for today is above

If you benefit from any thing, i write. Please make dua for my teacher, Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan and his family that Allah keeps him sincere and his intentions pure. And that Allah keeps his family safe and make them righteous muslims.

Words can not quantify how much I owe him.
May Allah grant him the Jannah firdaus.

Amin o. I pray for you too.

And all Nairaland Muslims. There is a popular saying that prayers are answered when people pray for each other.

The People of Sound Mind

Background

The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon: him) has passed away for a while now and his companions are missing him. Some people wanted to have things/stories to always remember him by so a companion Ata ibn Abi rajah(RA) went to the messenger's (peace and blessings be upon him) wife Aisha (RA) (behind the barrier) and asked: "Of the things about the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) tell me what you saw as the most unique of the many states of his life." Aisha replied: "Which state are you talking about? In reality, everything about him was unique."

She told him that she would tell him a very unique event. (It is important to note here that the messenger(peace and blessings be upon him) does not have a private life, everything thing is his life is a source of valuable life lessons. However, we are supposed to keep the private events in our houses guarded.)

One night the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was lying in bed with her and asked Aisha (RA): Allow me to worship my lord... This shows us the kind of courtesy a man should show his wife when they are in bed together, Qiyam layl was mandatory on the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), yet he seeks his wife permission before leaving her bed. This is her right.SubhanAllah. Anyway, revelation was coming to him and he wanted to receive it in Salat.

The messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) made wudu and stood up for salah, In his standing position , he wept so much that tears began to wet his beards and trickle down his blessed chest. He went into ruku and kept weeping. He went into sajdah and continued weeping. He continued to weep until fajr came. Bilal (RA) gave the adhan but did not see the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), He came upon the messenger and found him weeping. Bilal now asked: "My master, why do you weep like that? Isn't it that Allah has forgiven you all your past and future sins?" The Messenger replied .... why should i not shed tears, specially tonight when Allah has revealed these ayat to me. roughly translated:

There truly are signs in the creation of the heavens and earth, and in the alternation of night and day, for those with sound (pure) minds, who remember God standing, sitting, and lying down, who reflect on the creation of the heavens and earth: ‘Our Lord! You have not created all this without purpose– You are far above that!– so protect us from the torment of the Fire. Our Lord! You will truly humiliate those You commit to the Fire. The evildoers have no one to help them. Our Lord! We have heard someone calling us to faith–“ Believe in your Lord”– and we have believed. Our Lord! cover for us our mistakes, bury away from us our bad (ugly & nasty) deeds, and take us among the righteous. Our Lord! Bestow upon us all that You have promised us through Your messengers– do not humiliate us on the Day of Resurrection– You never break Your promise.’

Surah Imran (190-194)


After that the messenger said: "ruined is the person who recited these ayat but failed to deliberate" (Ibn Hibban (sahih), Ibn Asakir (history)

So In sha Allah we will reflect on the ayat.

See background above

The People of Sound Mind 2

Ayat 190

Inna fee khalqi alssamawati waal-ardi waikhtilafi allayli waalnnahari laayatin li-olee al-albabi

There truly are signs in the creation of the heavens and earth, and in the alternation of night and day, for those with sound (pure) minds



In Surah baqarah, there is a similar ayah but with more signs: In the creation of the heavens and earth; in the alternation of night and day; in the ships that sail the seas with goods for people; in the water which God sends down from the sky to give life to the earth when it has been barren, scattering all kinds of creatures over it; in the changing of the winds and clouds that run their appointed courses between the sky and earth: there are signs in all these for those are trying to understand. (Surah 2:164)

So this ayah has lesser signs and talks about those with sound (pure) minds. The ayah in baqarah has much more signs for a nation that is trying to understand. Why the difference?

A sound (pure) mind is one that is free from distractions and vanities. A mind that thinks about higher and bigger things. Bigger things regarding life and the whole of creation. Now, this person that has reached that purity of mind does not need a whole bunch of ayat (miraculous signs) to think about, the heavens and earth and night and day are enough for him to be lost in thought.

The person in surah baqarah was given a lot more signs and he is struggling to understand. This ayah talks about a person who has a pure mind.

We all have a lot of junk in our heads, whether it cam from tv shows, entertainment news, small talk, sports information.. We have a lot of useless information in our heads. When you are cluttered with a lot of useless information in your head, when you come across something beneficial, you can not appreciate it anymore. In the midst of all the clutter, when you add something good, it has no value anymore.

EX: If you constantly watch horror movies, you gradually get desensitized to being afraid. If that same person hears of hell fire and punishment, it doesn't move them. you can't decipher.

EX: If you eat junk food all the time and someone throws in some vegetables in mix, it does not make the food healthy. In order for you to eat healthy food, you have to throw out the junk first.

Learning beneficial knowledge is good but when it is mixed with all the movies, tv show and sport addictions, then it becomes one of those things you have taken in but it is not really cleansing you. You need to create a healthier mind inside you, just like the diet.

This ayah speaks about those with pure mind. A mind engaged in higher thought, deeper thinking away from all the junk. These are the kinds of people that will actually look at the sky and think. How many people look at the sky and think? The minds that have become pure.

Now, these ayat are not even talking about muslims. we will see that in a bit.

Allah describes two things that are happening inside them in the next ayah and these are also very deep things

See part 2 above

The People of Sound Mind 3

Ayah 191

Allatheena yathkuroona Allaha qiyaman waquAAoodan waAAala junoobihim wayatafakkaroona fee khalqi alssamawati waal-ardi rabbana ma khalaqta hatha batilan subhanaka faqina AAathaba alnnari

who remember God standing, sitting, and lying down, who reflect on the creation of the heavens and earth: ‘Our Lord! You have not created all this without purpose– You are far above that!– so protect us from the torment of the Fire.

They remember Allah whether they are standing, sitting or lying down. For a person , with a pure mind, the recognition of Allah is already there. Whatever position they find themselves, they are engaged in the remembrance of Allah. Dhikr (remembrance) is described in the Quran as an activity of the heart, it is a spiritual exercise. The first activity of these people of sound minds is a spiritual activity, remembrance of Allah.

Like Allah says:

“Only in remembrance of Allah (swt) will your heart find peace.” (Qur’an 13:28)

For the muslims, two ways of remembering Allah all the time (Standing, sitting and lying down) include:

i. Memorize the duas from the sunnah of the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). There are duas for everything. Every single thing. It becomes a gauge because if you are doing something wrong, you can't make dua. You would only be engaged in things that will help your heart.

ii. Another is to connect the ayat of creation to the ayat of Allah's book. Everything around you becomes an ayah. You cut your finger and you are reminded:

Does man think We shall not put his bones back together? In fact, We can reshape his very fingertips. (surah 75 3-4)

you are raising your voice and you are reminded: On that Day, people will follow the summoner from whom there is no escape; every voice will be hushed for the Lord of Mercy; only whispers will be heard (Surah 20:108)

Kindly review this thread to see what i am talking about: https://www.nairaland.com/1203479/reflecting-miraculous-signs-allah

Back to the ayah: The second action of the people of sound mind is an intellectual one, they reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth.

Our religion on one hand calls for a spiritual awakening and on the other hand calls for an intellectual awakening. We are supposed to be people of deep thought, thinkers!. From previous nations (people of the book), we had a nation whose hearts became hard that they lost spirituality. We also had a nation that is so spiritual that they refuse to use their minds for even the most basic things.

We are supposed to be the middle nation, we can not sacrifice one at the expense of the other. Unfortunately, in the muslim ummah we have two extremes, people who are so spiritual but there is no intellectual discourse in their life and people who are so intellectual but there is no remembrance of Allah in their life.

The Quran does not let you break the two, The Quran is the thing that will make everyone cry in salat and it is the same thing that will make a scholar, write and write and write... It combines the spiritual and the intellectual like no other document does. It is a spiritual exercise and an intellectual one at the same time.

Now when we as a nation now becomes distant from the Quran, when the average muslim is not aware of the Quran and does not have a personal relationship with it. One of the consequences is a break between the spiritual and intellectual parts of the deen. If we were people of the Quran, we will have the right balance.

As a result of these two activities, spiritual and intellectual, the heart and the mind come to the same conclusion: ‘Our Lord! You have not created all this without purpose, You are far above that!...

Remember this person is not a muslim, his fitrah, which is a balance between a sound heart and sound mind was able to come to the conclusion that this was not created without purpose. They reached this conclusion themselves.

They say: You are way too perfect for all of these to be without purpose.

This person reaches another conclusion: so protect us from the torment of the Fire.

This person realizes that this can't be the only world, and that Allah is way too perfect to leave an unjust world unpaid. There must be some kind of consequence for the injustices in this world. Just by reflecting on the heavens and the earth, and the night and day. .. SubhanAllah!

Ayah 192

Rabbana innaka man tudkhili alnnara faqad akhzaytahu wama lilththalimeena min ansarin

Our Lord! You will truly humiliate those You commit to the Fire. The evildoers have no one to help them.

This person who comes to tawhid from the depth of their fitrah, realises that all the intermediaries people put before themselves and God to intercede on their behalf while they commit evil, is garbage. This is a refutation of intercession.

The person has arrived at certain conclusions from the depth of his fitrah, a messenger from Allah comes and reaffirms his beliefs. The next ayah says:

Ayah 193

Rabbana innana samiAAna munadiyan yunadee lil-eemani an aminoo birabbikum faamanna rabbana faighfir lana thunoobana wakaffir AAanna sayyi-atina watawaffana maAAa al-abrari

Our Lord! We have heard someone calling (from afar) us to faith–“ Believe in your Lord”– and we have believed. Our Lord! cover for us our mistakes, bury away from us our bad (ugly & nasty) deeds, and take us among the righteous.

The word used for 'call' (Nida) here indicates a call from a long distance which also makes the ayah applicable to us today. As time goes, the farther we are away from the call of the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) but we still get the message. A call to faith. A migration from a world of ideas to a world of submission.

This caller helped them take that next step after they had reached certain conclusions. Now that they have believed. They now ask Allah to cover their smaller errors and to bury away their really nasty and evil deeds. This is beautiful because when something is covered, you might suspect something is there, but when it is buried , no one even asks the question because it does not exist in their eyes saving them from humiliation. It is wiped out.

and take us among the righteous

Two meanings:

i. You are taken into the company of the righteous when you die

ii It also means give us death when we are around the righteous.

A person reached the conclusion of iman on their own, meaning everybody else didn't reach it. This person hears the call of a lone caller and accepts the call, they were cut off from their own people as a result. They are asking that in the dunya before they die, they are in the company of people that reinforce their faith. And that they meet the righteous in the Akhira too. I.e be with righteous here and in the hereafter.


Ayah 194

Rabbana waatina ma waAAadtana AAala rusulika wala tukhzina yawma alqiyamati innaka la tukhlifu almeeAAada

Our Lord! Bestow upon us all that You have promised us through Your messengers– do not humiliate us on the Day of Resurrection– You never break Your promise.’

This prayer is basically saying: Oh Allah, now that we have believed, help us become beneficiaries of this promise.

SubhanAllah

Salam Alaikun. Ramadan kareem. May ALLAH accept our fasts and prayers. Lovely tafseer. Sure you all will like it. http://islamic-creed.com/Mufti%20Ismail%20Menk%201.html

Ma salam

The Perfect Choice of Words

There are two words used for heart in the Quran: Qalb and Fuad..

Example 1:

Allah uses the two words in the Quran for heart but in one very interesting case Allah uses both Qalb and Fuad in the same ayah.

Allah says:

Waasbaha fuad u ommi moosa farighan in kadat latubdee bihi lawla an rabatna AAala qalb iha litakoona mina almumineena (Al-Qasas (The Narration) [28:10])

In the beginning of the ayah, Allah uses fuad but He uses Qalb at the end. Both of those words were talking about the heart of Musa's mother.

Now let's see the english translation :

The next day, Moses’ mother felt her heart fluttering away––if We had not strengthened her heart to make her one of those who believe, she would have revealed everything about him (Al-Qasas (The Narration) [28:10])

In the beginning of the ayah her heart was fluttering away.. At the end, Allah gave firmness to her heart.

In the english translation you heard the word 'heart' twice but in the Arabic of the Quran , you heard two words: Fuad and Qalb.

Let's understand the difference:

The normal word for heart is Qalb, the unusual word for heart in arabic is fuad. Fuad is not used in normal circumstances, you talk usually about a person's Qalb.

So what is fuad?

Fuad relates to when you are emotionally overwhelmed. The imagery is that of a heart engulfed in flames. Imagine putting a piece of flesh into a fire such that the fire surrounds it. That piece of flesh would be a fuad.

It is used to describe a situation when a heart is on fire, maybe because of anger,love, fear , grief,stress, excitement, anticipation, or worry...etc. When something overwhelms your heart, it becomes fuad.

When your heart calms down, it becomes Qalb.

Back to the story:

Musa's mother just saw her baby again, she is so excited that her heart became fuad- engulfed with the flame of excitement, Imagine the excitement when you see your child again after dropping him in the water. Only a mother can understand this, her heart became engulfed with flame such that she would have revealed everything about the baby.

At that point when a mother sees her baby in the arms of another, she could jump for joy or scream : 'my baby!!!'. But if she does it, her and the baby are dead. It must have been difficult to control herself.

Allah said her heart was leaving her chest, she almost exposed her secret, the only thing stopping her was the intervention of Allah. So Allah gave firmness to her 'Qalb'. Only Allah could have done that to a mother.

The entire psychological transformation and Allah's intervention in her emotional state is captured between the words 'fuad' and 'qalb'.

What a tragedy we don't know this when we read in translation.

SubhanAllah.

Please read the post above first:

Example 2

Another ayah where the word 'fuad' is used:

Allah says:

Wala taqfu ma laysa laka bihi AAilmun inna alssamAAa waalbasara waal fuad a kullu olaika kana AAanhu masoolan
(Al-Isra (The Journey by Night)[17:36])

Do not follow blindly what you do not know to be true: ears, eyes, and heart, you will be questioned about all these. (Al-Isra (The Journey by Night)[17:36])

Allah says that He will ask questions about our seeing, hearing and our Fuad.

Imagine a man who had a tough day at work, his boss queried him, he lost a contract. He is really angry on his way home and then he gets into a traffic jam. Someone then hits his car.

He is so angry on his way home that when he gets home, he picks a fight with his wife. He goes to the mosque to cool off.

When he gets back, He apologises to his wife: "my anger got the better of me, that is not me, It is my Fuad."

Many times we commit sins when we are overwhelmed by emotions, love, anger, grief etc.. We also make excuses using those emotions.

Allah says that before Him, we will be questioned about the times when our hearts were overwhelmed by emotions and we committed sins. The excuses we use to justify our actions will no longer be there.

The actions we do in our overwhelmed emotional states will be questioned. A reason to control one's self.

SubhanAllah.


Example 3:

Sometimes, we get really passionate about an Islamic cause but that passion does not last. The messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not have the luxury of losing passion, Allah tells us how the passion in his heart was sustained using the word fuad.

Allah says:

Waqala allatheena kafaroo lawla nuzzila AAalayhi alquranu jumlatan wahidatan kathalika linuthabbita bihi fuad aka warattalnahu tarteelan (Al-Furqan (The Criterion)[25:32])

The disbelievers also say, ‘Why was the Qur
an not sent down to him all at once?’ We sent it in this way to strengthen your heart [Prophet]; We gave it to you in gradual revelation.



By using Fuad, Allah is telling us that the passion in the heart of the messenger is strengthened by the Quran. You can't get this from translations.

For us, a way to strengthen our Fuad when engaged in Islamic work is to reconnect with the Quran.

SubhanAllah.

Jazakumullah Khairan Brother,enjoyed reading this.

lanrexlan: Jazakumullah Khairan Brother,enjoyed reading this.

Wa iyyakum