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Surah Al-Humazah
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
The definition of a true Muslim is that he chooses for others what he chooses for himself. Still we see that even belonging to this religion of peace and brotherhood, our standards for others are not the same as what we want for ourselves. No one would like to be mocked at, but we think it a great entertainment to make fun of other people’s shortcomings. Sometimes humiliating them face to face and other times criticizing them behind their back. Although it seems to be a minor sin yet it is not so in Allah’s eyes…
وَيْلٌ لِكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُمَزَةٍ {1}
Woe to every scorner and mocker
Why do we think and talk so negatively about others? The reason behind this is an overblown image about ourselves… in which we assume all the goodness to be in our own characters, and think of others as being full of flaws. In other words it is arrogance of being perfect and superior to other… in intelligence, knowledge, status, or authority or even wealth…
الَّذِي جَمَعَ مَالًا وَعَدَّدَهُ {2}
Who amasses wealth and keeps on counting it.
Being wealthy or saving some for the rainy day is not a sin but the thing which is being condemned is the attitude of superiority that wealthy people reflect in their dealings with other people who are not so well off. They think that their wealth is enough to give them a never ending success…
يَحْسَبُ أَنَّ مَالَهُ أَخْلَدَهُ {3}
He thinks that his wealth will insure his status forever!
We must realize that whatever talents or capabilities we might have are not going to make us superior in the eyes of Allah, rather it is our attitude and behaviour that makes us good or bad. All the blessings which we have been given; whether physical beauty, intelligence, knowledge, wealth or authority…are nothing to be proud of… because they are just temporary assets to be used for the pleasure of Allah. Therefore it is absolute foolishness to assume that our superior status will save us from Allah’s anger and punishment…
كَلَّا ۖ لَيُنْبَذَنَّ فِي الْحُطَمَةِ {4}
By no means! He shall surely be thrown into the “Crusher”.
I have often felt that whenever we come across such verses in the Quran which speak of the terrible punishment which Allah has prepared for the wrong doers; we tend to close our eyes to it as if it does not concern us… this is also because of our self conceived idea that surely we are too good to be punished. So we need to wake up from this complacency…
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْحُطَمَةُ {5}
What will make you understand what the “Crusher” is?
The purpose of a question is to arouse interest and curiosity. Here Allah seems to warn us… that we go around treating people with contempt and disrespect, not even giving it a second thought… so do we even know what is the punishment for such behaviour?
نَارُ اللَّهِ الْمُوقَدَةُ {6}
الَّتِي تَطَّلِعُ عَلَى الْأَفْئِدَةِ {7}
It is the fire kindled to a blaze by Allah Himself. The one which will rise right to the hearts.
Why will it burn the hearts? Because the real contempt and disrespect is in the heart. Even if outwardly we show very good manners and flawless social etiquettes… we can all see the state of our hearts… the real feelings which we have about others are often not good; except for some very few people whom we admire. So if we want to rid ourselves of this negative habit then we must focus on cleaning our hearts rather than just cutting the branches and leaving the roots intact. But if we don’t even accept that we are doing anything wrong then there is no remedy for arrogance and stubbornness except fire… tall columns of fire for tall egos…
إِنَّهَا عَلَيْهِمْ مُؤْصَدَةٌ {8}
فِي عَمَدٍ مُمَدَّدَةٍ {9}
Closing in upon them from every side in outstretched columns.
Human beings can never be perfect… we are all full of positive and negative characteristics. So remember to give others the same respect, the same acceptance, and forgiveness that you want for yourself… May Allah help us all… ameen
Surah Al-fil
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
The Quran is such a powerful miracle… a brilliant proof of Allah’s greatness and power and a clear guidance for whoever wants to walk on the way of success. Still there are people who don’t accept it as being the true guide… they are the ones who really don’t want to accept the fact that they are not as great as they think. And so instead of accepting Allah’s religion and humbling themselves before His greatness and Power; they start attacking the image of Islam and Quran. Often they are in the guise of being “Muslims”… but they will spare no effort to prove that the limits set by the Quran and Hadith are just the fanciful imagination of some misguided people… When I listen to such people I get so disturbed because it feels like they are going to destroy the very foundation of our faith… and I feel so small and helpless that I cannot defend my religion against their hateful and aggressive attacks. But today when I understood the meaning of Surah Al-fil, I felt so comforted and secure that Allah is enough as the defender of Islam… my job is to put in the best effort that I can, but the only one who can protect my Quran from these arrogant people is Allah.
I just listened to His words and felt how clear is His assurance as He reminds me of an incident which happened in the same year in which our Prophet (s.a.w) was born:
أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِ {1}
Have you not considered how your Rabb dealt with the Army of the Elephant?
It is a famous story in the history of Makkah that in the year 571 A.D. the Governor of Yemen, by the name of Abraha, advanced to destroy the Ka’ba with his 60,000 troops and some 13 elephants… The protectors of Ka’ba could do nothing against this mighty advance, except to take refuge in the nearby mountains… and prayed to Allah to save His house. What followed was an amazing miracle…
أَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ كَيْدَهُمْ فِي تَضْلِيلٍ {2}
Did He not make their treacherous plan a flop?
Allah could have destroyed them with anything that He wanted but He chose a flock of small birds to do this job… to show the arrogant people that whatever power they have is from Allah and if they go against Him then He can make them weaker and smaller than the birds…
وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَ {3}
And He sent against them flocks of birds
No missiles were needed to finish these people… just tiny little stones made of clay, held in the small little beaks of the birds, were enough for their destruction:
تَرْمِيهِمْ بِحِجَارَةٍ مِنْ سِجِّيلٍ {4}
Striking them with stones of hard clay
And look at what became of their pomp and splendour… they thought of themselves as unbeatable but they were beaten beyond recognition:
فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَأْكُولٍ {5}
Thus he made them like chewed-up straw
Like other stories of the Quran, this is not just a recording of history nor is it a tale of amusement… rather it has a lesson for all of us. For me it is a great reminder that human beings are nothing more than Allah’s creation. So we should not fear them no matter how powerful they seem. Allah gave them power and strength and He can take it back whenever He wants…
The Quran is Allah’s book and Islam is the religion chosen by Him… therefore no one can defeat it… Arrogance is nothing but a deception and leads towards utter destruction… so may Allah save us from it always… Ameen
Surah Quraish
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In this world people strive to earn a good livelihood and a good reputation… so much that it has become their no-1 goal in life. But worldly prosperity and prestige often leads people away from Allah because they think that they have “earned” it by their own intelligence or hard work. Thus instead of praising Allah and becoming more obedient to Him, they admire their own status and become slaves of their desires which never end…
The tribe of Quraish in Makkah were also a people whom Allah had greatly honoured by making them the caretakers of the Holy Ka’ba… thus they were respected all over Arab, travelling without any fear, secure in the assurance that no one will dare to harm them…
لِإِيلَافِ قُرَيْشٍ {1}
إِيلَافِهِمْ رِحْلَةَ الشِّتَاءِ وَالصَّيْفِ {2}
The privilege of protection enjoyed by the Quraish… safe passage of their trading caravans in the winter and the summer
Allah is reminding them of His favours so that they might realize their responsibility. Although this surah was basically addressed to the Quraish, yet it is a lesson for all of us. And the thing to learn here is that we should all take a good look at the favours which Allah has bestowed on us and stop being proud of them… instead we should remember our first and foremost duty… which is to worship Allah…
فَلْيَعْبُدُوا رَبَّ هَٰذَا الْبَيْتِ {3}
الَّذِي أَطْعَمَهُمْ مِنْ جُوعٍ وَآمَنَهُمْ مِنْ خَوْفٍ {4}
So they should worship the Rabb of this House, Who has provided them food (saving them) from hunger and made them secure (saving them) from fear.
What is worship? Just a set of rituals? Or recitation of some words? Or just going through some mechanical routine? Because when we do any of these things we start thinking of ourselves as very religious or true worshippers of Allah. While the fact is that very few people have recognized the true meaning of worship…
Worship means to be humble and submissive towards Allah with love and reverence. All acts of obedience are physical, but they become “worship” only when the heart is full of these feelings… otherwise we keep praying with the tongue, prostrate with the body while the heart is engrossed in other things. Can such feeling-less actions make us better people? Can such thoughtless prayers connect us to Allah?
So while we enjoy the blessings of life let us not forget that our real purpose of life is to worship the one who gave us these blessings… because the day is coming nearer and nearer when we will be asked about our actions. Better to wake up before it is too late…
