Clueless Mankind

Qur'aanic Verse 89:5:

Transliteration:

5. Hal fee thalika qasamun lithee hijrin

Translation:

5. Is there in this an oath for one with understanding?¹

^{Study Note:}

1. For quite some time in the past, I have been thinking about the divine oaths mentioned in the first four Verses of this Surah – particularly about the ten nights. What particular ten nights could those be? I have not been able to get a definite, satisfactory, answer. I looked for the answers in various published commentaries, and I found them varied and based purely on conjecture. And, in this fifth Verse, Allah Almighty is posing a question to the clueless mankind. Can anyone understand the significance of the objects on which the oath is taken? It appears rather to be a divine challenge to those who claim to be endowed with deep understanding. It is as if Allah Ta’ala is telling us that our intelligence would be of no avail at all without divine Guidance!

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

Mohammad Shafi

Unseen Security

Qur'aanic Verse 86:4:

Transliteration:

4. In kullu nafsin lamma AAalayha hafithun

Translation:

4. Not a soul but has a protector over it.¹

^{Study Note:}

1. Were it not for the divine protection over him every second of his life, man would be dead in no time! Allah Almighty has granted him a fixed tenure of life on this earth, and He provides him unseen security to make him live the complete term. Without that security – and left to fend for himself – he would foolishly entangle himself in situations that could prevent him from proceeding an inch in his span of life.

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

Mohammad Shafi

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!

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

Mohammad Shafi

Straight Road

Qur'aanic Verse 67:22:

Transliteration:

22. Afaman yamshee mukibban AAala wajhihi ahda amman yamshee sawiyyan AAala siratin mustaqeemin

Translation:

22. Is he who walks falling on his face [stumbling] better guided, or he who walks upright on a straight road?²

^{Study Note:}

2. People, unsure of the purpose of human life, stumble on uncertainly in their lives. They do not often know what to do. They are like a kite with its string cut. But people who honestly and truly follow Islam are sure of the purpose of human life. They walk upright on a straight road.

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

Mohammad Shafi

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.

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

Mohammad Shafi

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.

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

Mohammad Shafi

Houris

Qur'aanic Verse 52:20:

Transliteration:

20. Muttaki-eena AAala sururin masfoofatin wazawwajnahum bihoorin AAeenin

Translation:

20. “Reclining on couches ranged in rows!” And We shall give them Houris⁵ with lovely eyes as companions.

Study Note:

5. Believers may well remember that this Arabic word hoorin is mutashaabih in terms of Verse 3:7. Its exact meaning is beyond understanding of us humans in this world. In terms of the said Verse therefore we should not indulge in our error-prone human opinions about it. Indulging in such an exercise on this word has already created a fitnah [mischief] among the people, Muslim as well as non-Muslim. Muslims particularly should remember that those eligible to go to Paradise would be incapable of doing anything wrong or indecent there.

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

Mohammad Shafi

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!

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

Mohammad Shafi

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!

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

Mohammad Shafi

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.

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

Mohammad Shafi

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].<sup>1


Study Note:</sup>

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!

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

Mohammad Shafi

Proscribed!

Qur'aanic Verses 50:39 & 50:40:

Transliterations:

39. Faisbir AAala ma yaqooloona wasabbih bihamdi rabbika qabla tulooAAi alshshamsi waqabla alghuroobi

40. Wamina allayli fasabbihhu waadbara alssujoodi

Translations:

39. Have patience, then, over what they say, and glorify your Lord with praise, before the rising of the sun and before its setting.⁶

40. And glorify Him during parts of the night, and post prostrations!⁶

^{Study Note:}

6. These two Verses tell us that we should keep remembering Allah, with all His Glory, constantly throughout the time we are awake while doing our mundane work. That is, besides our Salah timings as prescribed in Verses 17:78, 11:114 & 2:238. During Salah, of course, all mundane work – and even thought – are proscribed!

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

Mohammad Shafi

Conflicting Voices Within

Qur'aanic Verse 50:17:

Transliteration:

17. Ith yatalaqqa almutalaqqiyani AAani alyameeni waAAani alshshimali qaAAeedun


Translation:

17. When the two frequently confronting voices, one located on the right and one on the left, confront each other⁵

^{Study Note:}

5. Man has frequently to make a choice between two conflicting urges arising in his mind. To give an example from real life published in newspapers a few years ago, a woman found out that her young son had committed a crime. Her natural instinct was to hide this fact and save her son from punishment he was liable to under the law. But she was an Allah-fearing woman. And her conscience told her that this world’s punishment is better than the punishment in the Hereafter. So she herself took her son to the authorities that day! It is such conflicting views arising in a human mind that this Verse is alluding to here.

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

Mohammad Shafi

Mountains

Qur'aanic Verse 15:19:

Transliteration:

19. Waal-arda madadnaha waalqayna feeha rawasiya waanbatna feeha min kulli shay-in mawzoonin

Translation:

19. And We have spread out the earth and cast⁴ mountains into it. And We have caused every appropriate thing to grow in it.

Study Note:

4. Science does not yet seem to have come to definite conclusions about the formation of mountains. And this word used here appears to suggest that mountains were thrown or bombarded on to the surface of the earth from outer space. Maybe, eons ago, during the formation of the earth, parts from an exploding star impounded the earth and the mountains were formed. Remember that mountains have deep roots inside the earth. Otherwise they should be flattened out because of the tremendous speed at which the earth rotates.

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Above is an extract from Qur'aanic Studies Manzil III

Mohammad Shafi