Allah Knows What Is Best

One of the names of Allah s.w.t is al-Hakeem - the Most Wise - and part of His wisdom is manifested in the Divine Laws that He imparts to us through the Quran. In fact in surah YaaSiin (among other places), He even says that the Quran itself is wisdom.

As Muslims, we must believe that there is wisdom in each and every command that Allah gave us in the Quran, from issues like, say, the prohibition of riba (usury), the need to cover one's 'aurah, fasting, the five daily prayers and the list goes on. Basically, everything that Allah commands us to do has wisdom in it and is for our own good.

However, there are people in the post-modern society that we live in today who start to second guess the Laws of Allah, claiming it no longer relevant and is inappropriate for the 'modern' society. Some even say it's barbaric! Astaghfirullah, may Allah have mercy on them. This is because in these people's minds, they fail to see the logic - and by extension, the wisdom - behind these Laws.

What does Allah s.w.t has to say about this? In the Quran, He says:

وَلَوْ أَنَّا كَتَبْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَنِ اقْتُلُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ أَوِ اخْرُجُوا مِن دِيَارِكُم مَّا فَعَلُوهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ مِّنْهُمْ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ فَعَلُوا مَا يُوعَظُونَ بِهِ لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَّهُمْ وَأَشَدَّ تَثْبِيتًا

If We had prescribed upon them to kill themselves or to leave their homes, very few would have done it: But if they had done what they were advised to do, it would have certainly been best for them, and would have gone farthest to strengthen (their faith) [Surah an-Nisa', 4:66]

Think about the above aya for a bit. It says "to kill themselves or to leave their houses". What logic is there in such commands? If anything, the logical mind would say that it is madness. Of course, Allah didn't command any of these to us, He was just proving a point, that is; "if We had prescribed upon them... it would have certainly been best for them". 

In this aya, we learn that there are times when our limited intellect are just unable to grasp the logic behind certain things that Allah reveals to us. We may not understand it or even see the wisdom behind it, but know for sure that it is definitely, definitely better for us. Why? Because Allah is al-Hakeem, He is the Most Wise and He knows what is best. And that answer should be enough for us if we truly believe in Him.

May Allah give us the correct understanding of His Deen and the Quran, and may Allah guide us to and along the straight path.

Wallahua'lam

Allah, Our Rabb

In this post, I'd like to share a reflection on the following two ayaat from the Quran which sums up the reality of our current ummah very well:

وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُم مَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّهُ 

If indeed thou ask them who has created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon (to his Law), they will certainly reply, "Allah". (Surah al-Ankaboot, 29: 61)

قُلْ مَن رَّبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ قُلِ اللَّهُ 

Say: "Who is the Rabb of the heavens and the earth?" Say: "(It is) Allah." (Surah ar-Ra'ad, 13: 61)

In the aya from surah al-Ankaboot, the question asked was 'who is the Creator' and the people have no problems in declaring that Allah is the Creator of everything. In the aya from Surah ar-Ra'ad however, the question asked was 'who is the Rabb' and interestingly, to this question we don't find the people declaring an answer. Instead we find Allah s.w.t commanding his Messenger s.a.w to tell the people that Allah is indeed the Rabb of the heavens and the earth.

To fully appreciate this aya, we must first understand what Rabb means. Rabb essentially means 'One who has absolute ownership, right and authority'. Actually, this is the concept that is at heart of our relationship with Allah and we can see this in surah TaHa, when Allah first introduced Himself to Musa a.s and said:

إِنِّي أَنَا رَبُّكَ فَاخْلَعْ نَعْلَيْكَ إِنَّكَ بِالْوَادِ الْمُقَدَّسِ طُوًى

Veryl it is I, I am your Rabb therefore take off your shoes; you are in the sanctified valley of Tuwa (Surah TaHa, 20: 12)

Meanwhile in surah al-Alaq which is the first revelation to Prophet Muhammad s.a.w, he was told: 

اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ

Read! In the name of your Rabb who created. (Surah al-Alaq, 96: 1)

In both instances, Allah is being introduced to a Prophet and the very first thing that these Prophets were told about Allah is that He is the Rabb - He has complete authority. He even goes further to display His authority to the Prophets by giving them each a command in the very same aya in which He is introduced. To Musa a.s He says, "take off your shoes" and Muhammad s.a.w was told, "read!". 

In these ayaat is a summary of our relationship with Allah, our Rabb. He has absolute ownership, right and authority over us. Therefore He has all the rights in the world to tell us what He wants us to do or not do and our responsibility to Him in turn is to obey His commands.

Now that we have established how heavy and important this word is, we should be able to understand the ayaat from surah al-Ankaboot and ar-Ra'ad in a different light. 

وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُم مَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّهُ 

If indeed thou ask them who has created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon (to his Law), they will certainly reply, "Allah". (Surah al-Ankaboot, 29: 61)

قُلْ مَن رَّبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ قُلِ اللَّهُ 

Say: "Who is the Rabb of the heavens and the earth?" Say: "(It is) Allah." (Surah ar-Ra'ad, 13: 61)

These  ayaat exposes what is going on in the minds of people who readily admits that Allah is their Creator but are unable to accept that Allah is their Rabb. These are people who have problems accepting Allah as having absolute authority over their life. These are people who claim to be Islam but still refuse to obey certain commands of Allah - be it to pray or fast or pay the zakat or concerning their 'aurah.

Unfortunately, this is the state of a large majority of the Muslims among us today are in. People who know very well that Allah is their creator but are utterly heedless in the fact that above and beyond simply being our Creator, He is also our Rabb. And this is a sad reality that we can clearly see going on around us.

And you know what the really scary thing is? It is that the the first question that one is asked in the grave according to the narration of the Prophet s.a.w is "who is you Rabb". Know that simply acknowledging Allah as the God who created us isn't enough to save us on that day. If we do not accept Allah as our Rabb today, how can we expect ourselves to be able to answer that question when on that day?

Wallahua'lam.

Playing our part - A lesson from the story of Maryam r.a.

The surah that I particularly enjoy reading in the Quran lately is surah Maryam, in which the story of the most pure woman who had walked the face of the earth is told. That woman is none other than Maryam (Mary), mother of Isa (Jesus) - peace be upon them both -. There are so much valuable lessons to be had in this short yet beautiful surah and I only wish to share one of them today which comes from the following ayaat:

23 And [when] the throes of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree, she exclaimed: "Oh, would that I had died ere this, and had become a thing forgotten, utterly forgotten!"24 Thereupon [a voice] called out to her from beneath that [palm-tree]: "Grieve not! Thy Sustainer has provided a rivulet [running] beneath thee; 25 and shake the trunk of the palm-tree towards thee: it will drop fresh, ripe dates upon thee. 26 Eat, then, and drink, and let shine eye be gladdened! And if thou shouldst see any human being, convey this unto him: 'Behold, abstinence from speech have I vowed unto the Most Gracious; hence, I may not speak today to any mortal.'"

(Translation of surah Maryam by Muhammad Asad, 19: 23.26)

You will find this story that Maryam r.a. heard a voice telling her to shake the trunk of a palm-tree so that dates will drop from it. On the surface, there seems to be nothing unusual about that command. However, think more deeply about it and you'll find something unusual.

The command was to shake the trunk of a palm tree. If you think about it, it's hard enough to do so by a person who is in the fittest of health, let alone a woman who is undergoing labour. So if you think carefully, this isn't something that Maryam r.a. was able to do at that time. So why ask a person to do something that she isn't capable of doing? I mean, If Allah had wanted, He could have just made the dates fall of the tree for her just like that.

What we learn from this is that Allah will help us but only after we have made an effort, even as little as an effort that may seem to be.

We can also see this point made from the stories of Musa (Moses), - peace be upon him - when he was inspired to strike his staff in the water and the sea parted. The sea was parted by the will of Allah, not because of the staff. Musa a.s learnt this when he got to the other side and he struck the water once again, this time hoping to close the sea, but it didn't. Allah could have parted the sea without having Musa a.s to do anything, but by Him inspiring Musa a.s. to do so, He is telling us that as long as we put some effort, He will, inshaAllah, take care of the rest.

Wallahua'lam.

Amazing facts about the Quran - Surah Yusuf

Surah Yusuf is actually one of the most unique surah in the entire Quran. First of all, it is the only surah in which the story of prophet Yusuf a.s is mentioned. However, the stand out feature of this surah is that it is the only surah among the longer surah that conveys a single unified story - the story of Prophet Yusuf a.s. - from the beginning till the end of the surah. Interestingly, Allah s.w.t already hints this nature of the surah by mentioning in the third ayat of the surah, "We are narrating to you the best of stories"

The following are the plot in the narrative of this surah, told in over 100 ayaat:

1. Yusuf (alayhis-Salam) has a dream.
2. His brothers plot against him
3. His owner’s wife attempts to seduce him
4. Her friends attempt to seduce him
5. He (as) is imprisoned
6.The king has a dream
7.The king’s dream is interpreted
8. Yusuf (as) is released from prison
9.The ladies confess
10. His former owner’s wife confesses
11. His brothers learn their lesson
12. Yusuf (as)’s dream is interpreted and realized.

Now, if you noticed (and have studied a little bit of literature), you'll find the first six plot points were the conflicts while the latter six are the resolutions. So that's 6 conflicts and 6 resolutions - again highlighting the theme of balance in the Quran.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Let's take a look at the plot point again with a different perspective. Pay attention to the numbers and the words in bold.

1. Yusuf (alayhis-Salam) has a dream.
2. His brothers plot against him
3. His owner’s wife attempts to seduce him
4. Her friends attempt to seduce him
5. He (as) is imprisoned
6.The king has a dream
6.The king’s dream is interpreted
5. Yusuf (as) is released from prison
4.The ladies confess
3. His former owner’s wife confesses
2. His brothers learn their lesson
1. Yusuf (as)’s dream is interpreted and realized.

The amazing fact about this narrative isn't just that its balanced, but it's also symmetrical. Just like the way a paper is folded in half, conflicts are introduced and solved in a reverse symmetrical order.

It may not be impossible for an author to write a narrative in a similar style, provided he/she be given enough time to properly draft it beforehand. BUT, the Quran wasn't revealed as a book, it was first heard in the form of the speech of the Messenger s.a.w. and this feat is nothing short of a miracle.

SubhanAllah.

Wallahua'lam.

I learnt this from:

Linguistic Miracle.com

Tafseer of Surah Yusuf by Sh. Yasir Qadhi

Amazing facts about the Quran - the book of balance

One of the the themes of the Quran is balance. Allah balances our motivation by telling us to aspire for Jannah, informing us a lot of its great features while at the same time warns us of Hellfire and what a terrible return it is.

This theme can be seen very well in the very first surah in the Quran, the Fatihah. In the Fatihah, we declare Allah as our Lord and we His slaves. We declare his Mercy but also acknowledge his authority. Finally, we ask Him for guidance, the path of which whom He had favoured and ask him to make us not among those who earn His wrath and those who are lost.

On this theme, there are some claims that through a corpus study, some related words are mentioned in the Quran in an equal amount. For instance, the word dunya (this world) and akhirah (the hereafter) is mentioned the exact same number of time throughout the Quran, and so does life and death, day and night, angels and devil, and so on.

Unfortunately, I don't have the resources nor the capacity to confirm any of these claims, so even I would say take the info with a grain of salt. Wallahua'lam - Allah knows best.

I can however, show something that is way more amazing. This occurs in the second surah of the Quran, surah Al-Baqarah, the longest surah in the entire Quran. In this surah, Allah honours us by inaugurating the Muslims as an ummah - a nation - in the beginning portion of ayat 143 of the surah :

وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا لِتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ وَيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ شَهِيدًا

Thus have We made of you an Ummah justly balanced that ye might be witnesses over the nations and the Messenger a witness over yourselves (2: 143)

The word that Allah describes the Muslim ummah in this ayat is وَسَطًا which can be translated as middle, balanced, or just - a concept that is at the heart of the teaching of Islam. As I've mentioned earlier, Allah describes our ummah with this word in ayat number 143. Now check out how many ayaat there are in total in surah Al-Baqarah. 286 ayaat. Have you noticed it? Even the position where Allah describes our ummah as a justly balanced nation is perfect - right in the middle of the surah!

SubhanAllah.

Amazing facts about the Quran - the precision in arrangements

The Quran is a Book full of wisdom. And said wisdom doesn't only show in the contents but also through the way the speech is presented. This is one of the most amazing features of the Quran that is easily overlooked by simply reading it casually - the eloquence of the arrangements of words.

To give a basic example of this, let's look at this ayat from surah An-Nur

يَوْمَ تَشْهَدُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَلْسِنَتُهُمْ وَأَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَرْجُلُهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

On the day when their tongues and their hands and their feet testify against them as to what they used to do (24: 24)

This ayat is referring to a scene of the Day of Judgement. Notice how these words are sequenced here, "their tongue and their hands and their feet". This sequence tells us something. It tells us the order in which our own body parts will testify against us on that Day.

Why is the tongue the first to give the testimony? It's because it's the organ that whether we realise is or not, will commit the most crime. So the tongue will have to give the most testimony. The next one to commit the most crime will be the hands and finally, the feet which only lead the hands and tongue to where they are used.

Just in this sequence is a profound lesson for us to be aware of out tongue the most. SubhanAllah.

Here's something a bit more complex. We find in two surah where Allah Azza wa Jall says something very similar :

وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُمْ مِنْ إِمْلَاقٍ ۖ نَحْنُ نَرْزُقُكُمْ وَإِيَّاهُمْ

and do not kill your children because of poverty, We provide for you and them (6:151)

وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُمْ خَشْيَةَ إِمْلَاقٍ ۖ نَحْنُ نَرْزُقُهُمْ وَإِيَّاكُمْ

and do not kill your children due to fear of poverty, We provide for them and for you” (17:31)

It's easy to dismiss the small difference between "We provide for you and them" and "We provide them and you" and say they're the same thing said differently, but as I've mentioned in another post, the Quran is hyper sensitive even in its sentence structure.

In the first ayat, Allah Azza wa Jall says "do not kill you children BECAUSE OF poverty", indicating the family is already poor so the first thing they worry about is themselves. So He says "We provide for you" first and "them" i.e the children later.

In the second ayat, Allah Azza wa Jall says "do not kill your children DUE TO FEAR of poverty", indicating a family who fears of poverty after having children for fear of not having enough to provide for the children. This family is thinking about the children first, so He says "We provide for them (the children)" first and "you" later.

SubhanAllah! See how perfect the words are arranged? Again, I would like to say here as I've said in a previous post; It is impossible for such perfection in speech to be uttered verbally without some kind of draft. But that is exactly how this Quran was revealed. An evidence that this Quran is no speech of a man but the speech of the Lord Himself, revealed through the mouth the Messenger, Muhammad s.a.w.

The Quran is like a gold mine that is full of hidden gems of wisdom. There is just no end to how much wealth we can gain out of it. We only need to start putting effort into it.

Wallahua'lam.

Amazing facts about the Quran - Lost in Translation

In every surah that begins with the disjointed letter, the very next thing that will be mentioned is the Quran itself along with a certain feature of the Quran.

الم . ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِلْمُتَّقِينَ

Alif Laam Miim. That is the book, there is no doubt in it. Guidance for the muttaqeen (2: 1-2)

يس . وَالْقُرْآنِ الْحَكِيمِ

Yaa Siin. By the Quran, full of wisdom (36: 1-2)

In surah Yuusuf, we find

الر ۚ تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ . إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ

Alif Laam Raa. These are the ayaat of the book that make things clear. For sure, we have sent it down, an Arabic Quran so that you may understand. (12: 1-2)

In these ayaat, it is clear that the Arabic Language is an inseparable feature of the Quran. While it is possible to recapture some of the messages of the Quran in another language, the beauty of the Arabic Quran would be lost in translation.

There are many things that showcases the beauty of the Quran in Arabic, but here I would like to show one specific example that even a person who doesn't know much Arabic like me can appreciate. Allah Azza wa Jall says in surah Al-Muddathir :

وَرَبَّكَ فَكَبِّرْ

Declare the greatness only of your Lord (74: 3)

In the Quran, the letter وَ has as many as 21 functions. One of them, such as the one used in the ayaat above is to separate one sentence from another. Think of it as the full stop and capital letter in English.

So, the sentence which really carries meaning in this ayaat is رَبَّكَ فَكَبِّرْ

This is truly amazing, but you might not immediately notice anything. Now, let's try to spell out the sentence letter by letter.

رب ب ك ف ك ب ب ر

Notice something? The whole sentence is spelled the same even if spelled backwards. In English, this is called a pallindrome. Try writing 'Declare the greatness only of your Lord' that reads the same backwards and forwards in any other language. It's not possible.

Another such example can be found in surah Yaasiin, ayat no 40 in which Allah Azza wa Jall tells us : "It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. They each float in an orbit"

The fact that this is mentioned some 1400 years ago when men hadn't a clue about the sciences of the universe is amazing enough, but this isn't the topic of this article. Instead, let's examine the last sentence in the ayat

وَكُلٌّ فِي فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ

They each float in an orbit (34: 40)

يَسْبَحُونَ means 'float' and this sentence explains the fact that the sun and the moon both float in their own set orbit. Let's separate the letters of the phrase that comes before 'float'.

ك ل ف ي ف ل ك

See how the letters 'orbit' around the letter ي - in a sentence that gives the imagery of objects floating in an orbit. How amazing is that!

SubhanAllah.

These are but small examples of what is missing from a translation of the Quran. As was mentioned earlier in the ayaat from surah Yusuf, Allah Himself says that He sent down an Arabic Quran so that WE may understand. So to get the full breadth of understanding and appreciation of this book, we really owe it to ourselves to learn the language of the Quran.

Wallahua'lam.

Amazing facts about the Quran - the usage of 'those who believe' & 'believers'

Alhamdulillah, after studying the Quran for some time, I've picked up a few amazing facts about the Quran that I was never even aware of before. I'd like to share a few of them which are easy enough to understand that even a dummy like me could feel relatively confident to write about.

InshaAllah, this will be the first of a series of posts on this topic. I pray that Allah give me the ability to express my thoughts clearly and give us the proper understanding of His book. And with that, allow me to begin my post properly.

* * * * * *

In the Quran, you will find Muslims being addressed in two ways

الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا (those who believe)

and الْمُؤْمِنُونَ (believers)

If one were to read it casually, it is entirely possible to think that the two are merely two different ways to say the exact same thing. After all, it is common knowledge for an author to use this technique to avoid the text from sounding repetitive. Even we do this all the time just in our assignments.

However, this isn't the case for the Quran. The Quran is hyper sensitive about it's choice of words, sentence structure, and in some cases, even how the words are spelled in each ayaat. With this rule in mind, you'll need to realise that where the Quran is concerned, even though you'd think they mean they same but 'those who believe' and 'believers' aren't interchangeable terms.

So what is the difference between الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا and الْمُؤْمِنُونَ

With 'those who believe', imaan (belief), is used as a verb while with 'believers', imaan is used as a noun. In the Arabic language, a verb is associated with time - a similar concept to the English tenses - whereas a noun is timeless. In other words, you can say that a verb isn't stable in that it changes with time while a noun is something that is concrete and unchanging.

This means that 'those who believe' are people like you and me whose imaan fluctuates all the time Therefore, you will sometimes find some negative commentaries directed towards 'those who believe' in some ayaat. For example :

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ

O you who believe! Why do you say what you do not do (61:2)

The 'believers' on the other hand are the hire echelons of Muslims such as the sahabah whose imaan has matured and became firm. Read through the entire Quran and you will never find anything bad said towards this group. You will find only good things mentioned about the believers. For example in the following ayaat:

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ.الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ

Most certainly the believers have already attained success. Those whom in their prayer khushuu' (23: 1-2)

These are only two of the many ayaat where these terms are used. Interestingly, you will find a remarkable consistency throughout the entire Quran with how the two terms are used. Such a consistent style of speech would be an amazing feat even in this day and age where an author can use the computer to make drafts to check and recheck the text for consistency and even the best authors today have editors to help them in this process.

But the Quran wasn't originally revealed as a book. It was revealed in the form of speech without any drafts or editors and was only much later compiled verbatim as a written text. Not to mention that the Quran took almost 23 year to be fully completed. Think about it, most of us can't even be consistent in our speech with what we said in a period of a week, much less in 23 years.

This perfection of the Quran, it's attention to the minutest of details and to remain ever consistent is one example of an evidence to solidify the fact that the Quran can't be the word of a man.

SubhanAllah.