Al-mu'min: Koran

6. The Qur’aan is the absolute Truth as the next Verse 51 reiterates. Every human being subconsciously knows it to be so. But his greed and prejudice and the temptations of this life come in the way of his recognizing this Truth. One who succumbs to these satanic influences will regret it when the Truth becomes crystal clear in the Hereafter.

An extract from yet-to-be-published Qur'aanic Studies Manzil VII.

Mohammad Shafi

Saturday, 21 September 2013

Prophet Punished!

Qur'aanic Verse 68:48:

Transliteration:

48. Faisbir lihukmi rabbika wala takun kasahibi alhooti ith nada wahuwa makthoomun

Translation:

48. So wait patiently for your Lord’s decree! And be not like the companion of the fish, calling out in distress.⁵

^{Study Note:}

5. This is a reference to Prophet Yunus [Jonas]. He was punished – yes, Allah punishes His Prophets too, if they go wrong – because he became impatient of the continued intransigence of his people and left them without divine sanction. After he suffered punishment, in this world itself, he was pardoned for being sincerely penitent. Allah Almighty has given the example of this Prophet for us Muslims to learn a lesson from it. The lesson is that we should never ever forsake our belief – belief in Allah and in His Book of Guidance, the Qur’aan – whatever the circumstances. Our belief is being continuously tested variously – whether through personal losses and calamities or through social setbacks for the community as a whole. We should never waver while on these tests. We should ever be firm and steady. Allah is our Maula. Our success then is assured!

An extract from yet-to-be-published Qur'aanic Studies Manzil VII.

Mohammad Shafi

Tuesday, 20 August 2013

Ritualistic Reading

Qur'aanic Verse 62:5:

Transliteration:

5. Mathalu allatheena hummiloo alttawrata thumma lam yahmilooha kamathali alhimari yahmilu asfaran bi/sa mathalu alqawmi allatheena kaththaboo bi-ayati Allahi waAllahu la yahdee alqawma alththalimeena

Translation:

5. Those who were given the responsibility of bearing [following the instructions in] the Torah, but did not do so are like an ass carrying a load of books.⁴ Terrible is the example of those who deny Allah’s signs/Verses! And Allah does not guide the wicked people.

Study Note:

4. The reference, of course, is to the Jews here. But the simile equally applies to most modern-day Muslims. Like how the Jews treat the Torah, the Muslims treat the Qur’aan! Both practise just ritualistic reading of their respective Scripture without bothering to follow its instructions.

An extract from yet-to-be-published Qur'aanic Studies Manzil VII.

Mohammad Shafi

Monday, 15 July 2013

The Great Retraction

Qur'aanic Verse 56:46:

Transliteration:

46. Wakanoo yusirroona AAala alhinthi alAAatheemi

Translation:

46. And they had persisted in the Great Retraction ¹

^{Study Note:}

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

The above extract is from yet-to-be-published Qur'aanic Studies Manzil VII.

Mohammad Shafi

Tuesday, 4 June 2013

Landing on Moon

Qur'aanic Verse 54:1:

:

Transliteration:

1. Iqtarabati alssaAAatu wainshaqqa alqamaru

Translation:

1. The Hour (the time when the present world will end and the Hereafter begin) has drawn near and the moon is visited.

Study Note:

1. The Arabic word shaqqa has a number of meanings. Most translators have given it here the meaning of ‘split’ and thus attributed to Prophet Muhammad [peace on him] the performing of the miracle of splitting the moon in two and then rejoining the two parts. Such a miracle – if it did happen – would have indeed been a unique one! The Qur’aan does say that the earlier Prophets were endowed with the gifts of performing various miracles. But none of such miracles involved moon or any other heavenly body! All those miracles were restricted to things of this mundane world. This miracle attributed to Prophet Muhammad is preposterous on another count as well. Nowhere else in the Holy Book does Allah Almighty mention performance of any miracle – on mundane things or otherwise – as performed by earlier Prophets like Moses and Jesus. The Book, on the other hand, points out the fact that the earlier peoples had failed to follow their Prophets despite the latter showing them the miracles! The stress was therefore laid on Prophet Muhammad’s Ummah to look for miracles in the natural creation of their own selves and of all things around them, and thus attain to faith in Allah Ta’ala. That being the unmistakable tenor throughout in the Qur’aan, it was indeed preposterous for the Prophet to come up suudenly with such an unlikely miracle. Moreover, shaqqa alqamar is meant in this Verse to be the Sign for the approaching end of this world. There were definitely no signs of the approaching Doom over 1400 years ago when this Verse was revealed. But there definitely are such signs now when nation after nation is engaged in piling up weapons of mass destruction [WMD]. And this piling up was preceded by Man’s first visit to the moon in the late sixties [Watch the Video]. This Verse foretells that visit.

The above is extracted from yet-to-be-published Qur'aanic Studies Manzil VII.

Mohammad Shafi

Tuesday, 28 May 2013

Aayatul Kursi - Verse of Power

Qur'aanic Verse 2:255:

Transliteration:

255. 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

Translation:

255. Allah! None besides Him is worthy of worship. HE is for ever living, abiding. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him ever. To Him belongs whatever there is in the heavens and in/on the earth. Who could intercede with Him, except by His leave?^{482, 483} HE knows what is in their hands and what is behind them.⁴⁸⁴ And none can take anything of His knowledge except for what He wills. His seat of authority encompasses the heavens and the earth, and their upkeep tires Him not. And He is the One High above anything, the One Immensely Great.⁴⁸⁵

^{Study Notes:}

482. In the light of the very categorical statement in the preceding Verse that there shall be no intercession on the Day of Judgment, this statement here in the form of an interrogation could only mean emphatic reiteration of that earlier statement. In Allah's presence, no one – not even a Prophet – can dare intercede on one's own initiative, against His Judgment or Will. That is what the interrogative statement here signifies. And if Allah gives permission for any Prophet or Angel to intercede, it means that it is, first of all, Allah's Own Will to pardon the person concerned.

483. It is absolutely important to understand this matter of intercession correctly. In the absence of this understanding, we're likely to fall into a satanic trap, and commit the abominable sin of shirk. Most Christians have already fallen into this trap. They have come to believe, absolutely, that whatever sins they commit here in this world, their Jesus is sure to intercede with God on their behalf and give them an assured entry into Paradise. See now what has happened to the Christians. They have forgotten God almost entirely, and have taken to the worship of Jesus and his mother, Mary. This happening, in front of us all, has provided enough proof that if any group of persons considers any Prophet – or anyone else for that matter – as endowed with the power of intercession, that group is sure to raise that Prophet/person to divinity, and thus commit shirk. Most Muslims today are, I am afraid, dangerously close to following in the Christians' footsteps.

484. Verse 34.9 tells us, "Do they not then consider what is in their hands and what is behind them of the heaven and the earth? ..." This sentence in that Verse gives us a pretty good idea of the divine meaning of the Arabic term maa bayna aydihim wa maa khalfahum, translated literally here as 'what is in their hands and what is behind them'. The context there of the heaven and the earth indicates that 'what is in their hands' means 'what is in their knowledge' or 'what they are capable of knowing'. And 'what is behind them' means 'what is not in their knowledge' or 'what they are not capable of knowing'. The same divine meaning has to be made applicable here to the very same phrase used in Verse 2.255 that we are presently studying.

485. This beautiful Verse is generally known as 'aayatul kursi' because of the word kursi (seat of authority) occurring therein. Along with Chapter 112 of the Qur'aan, this Verse gives us a comprehensive divine description of Allah, our Creator, and our Lord.

The above is extracted from Qur'aanic Studies Manzil I.

Mohammad Shafi

Tuesday, 14 May 2013

A Star does Perish

Qur'aanic Verse 53:1:

Transliteration:

1. Waalnnajmi itha hawa

Translation:

1. By the star when it perishes!¹

^{Study Note:}

1. The Arabic word hawa has been used in Verse 20:81in the sense of something getting perished. But, here, the people living at the time the Qur’aan was revealed – and for centuries thereafter – had difficulty in understanding a star getting perished or destroyed. So those people rendered the said Arabic word as ‘sets’ or ‘disappears’. And they understood the Verse as alluding to a star that disappears from the sky as day breaks. But this obviously is a contrived rendering. At day-break, not one, but all stars [other than the Sun of course] disappear to the naked human eye. It is but an illusion. Now, when human knowledge has taken a quantum jump, we know for a fact that stars do get destroyed! Take a look at this video. Qur’aan is a living Book valid for all times till the Last Day. We cannot hold it hostage to the limited understanding of any people in the past.

The above is extracted from yet-to-be-published Qur;aanic Studies Manzil VII.

Mohammad Shafi

Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Fascinating!

Qur'aanic Verses 52:2 & 52:3:

Transliterations:

2. Wakitabin mastoorin

3. Fee raqqin manshoorin

Translations:

2. And by Record inscribed

3. On a writing material widely published.³

^{Study Note:}

3. And Verses 2 & 3 above together may as well refer to the Qur’aan! The modern publishing industry had got a boost with the invention of paper. Although paper had been invented in China around the time Prophet Jesus was born, it got world-wide attention during the time the Qur’aan was being revealed. So, along with revelation of His last Book of Guidance for mankind, Allah Almighty was preparing the ground, in another part of the world, for its wide publicity. Readers may like to go through the fascinating History of Paper. In the middle of the eighth century A.D., the Muslims defeated the Chinese and learnt the art of paper-making from the prisoners of war. The Muslims in turn taught the art to the then Wild West. And then we have this amazing facility of internet now! The Qur’aan can be accessed easily and cheaply in any nook and corner of the world!! It’s indeed now ‘on a writing material widely published.’ This could not have been known to the Arabs when the Qur’aan was revealed to them. But this was known even then to Allah Almighty, its Author. Here is yet another proof that the Qur’aan is divine. The prophecy indicated in these two Verses has been fulfilled!

The above is an extract from yet-to-be-published Qur'aanic Studies Manzil VII.

Mohammad Shafi

Sunday, 5 May 2013

Earth Surface

Qur'aanic Verse 51:48:

Transliteration:

48. Waal-arda farashnaha faniAAma almahidoona

Translation:

48. And the earth - We prepared its crust, and how well have We prepared it!⁸

^{Study Note:}

8. Imagine what would happen if the earth surface had not its ups and downs: we would not have any land; water would envelope it entirely!

The above is an extract from yet-to-be-published Qur'aanic Studies Manzil VII.

Mohammad Shafi

Thursday, 25 April 2013

Mind-boggling

Qur'aanic Verse 51:7:

Transliteration:

7. Waalssama-i thati alhubuki

Translation:

7. By the heaven full of perfectly defined pathways²

^{Study Note:}

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

_____________________________________________

The above is an extract from yet-to-be-published Qur'aanic Studies Manzil VII.

Mohammad Shafi

Monday, 15 April 2013

Role of Dust Particles in Cloud Formation

Qur'aanic Verses 51:1 to 51:4:

Transliterations:

1. Waalththariyati tharwan

2. Faalhamilati wiqran

3. Faaljariyati yusran

4. Faalmuqassimati amran

Transations:

1. By the scattering [winds] that scatter [dust particles]

2. Then bear a load [of tiny water globues condensing around the dust particles]

3. Then sail smoothly along

4. And then execute given task of apportioning [rainfall].¹
^{Study Note:}

1. You may like to see blogpost Cloud Formation & Rainfall in this context. The role of dust particles in this natural process has been discovered very recently, as late as in 2011 [source], while it was hinted at in the Qur’aan over 1400 years ago!

The above is an extract from yet-to-be-published Qur'aanic Studies Manzil VII.

Mohammad Shafi