Monday 29 October 2012

The Best Hadeeth

Qur'aanic Verse 39:23:












Transliteration:

23. Allahu nazzala ahsana alhadeethi kitaban mutashabihan mathaniya taqshaAAirru minhu juloodu allatheena yakhshawna rabbahum thumma taleenu julooduhum waquloobuhum ila thikri Allahithalika huda Allahi yahdee bihi man yashao waman yudlili Allahu fama lahu min hadin


Translation:

23. Allah has sent down the best hadeeth [Qur’aan]6, a Book with oft-repeated passages resembling one another. Thereat shiver the skins of those that fear their Lord! And then their skins and their minds become receptive to Allah´s remembrance. That is Allah´s Guidance! He guides therewith whosoever He wills. And one whom Allah lets go astray has none to guide him.



Study Note:

6. Qur’aan describes itself as the best hadeeth. It does not mention, sanctify or authorize any other hadeeth book as a parallel – or even supportive – source for the Allah-approved Deen [way of life] of Islam for mankind.


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

Tuesday 23 October 2012

God has no Son

Qur'aanic Verse 39:4:









Transliteration:

4. Law arada Allahu an yattakhitha waladan laistafa mimma yakhluqu ma yashao subhanahu huwa Allahu alwahidu alqahharu


Translation:

4. Had Allah wanted to have a son, He could have chosen anyone He willed out of those whom He created.3 Glorified is He! He is Allah: the One and Only, the Almighty.


Study Note:

3. In Verse 19:92, the Qur’aan has already pointed out to us that it is simply inconceivable that the Gracious One should beget a son. Begetting is an activity characteristic of and a need of created beings like man and animals that are mortal. They need someone to take their places after their deaths. But Allah is immortal. He is Omniscient and Omnipotent. He is far above all creature needs. He needs no son, and He has no son!



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

Sunday 21 October 2012

Crux and Motto of a Believer's Life

Qur'aanic Verse 39:2:










Transliteration:

2. Inna anzalna ilayka alkitaba bialhaqqi faoAAbudi Allaha mukhlisan lahu alddeena


Translation:

2. We have revealed the Book to you [Prophet Muhammad] in Truth, indeed! Worship Allah, then, consecrating your lifestyle exclusively for Him.1


Study Note:

1. Consecrating his/her lifestyle exclusively for Allah is the crux and motto of a believer’s life. When one so consecrates one’s lifestyle, one does not suppress the truth as one knows it even when the truth is against one’s own interests. If I suppress the truth in such a circumstance, I grievously fail the test divinely laid for me to check my belief!



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

Wednesday 17 October 2012

In Deep Slumber

Qur'aanic Verse 38:88:







Transliteration:

88. WalataAAlamunna nabaahu baAAda heenin
et-to-be-published

Translation:

88. “And you will certainly come to know its [Qur’aan’s] Message [of the greatest importance] after some time! 14


Study Note:

14. Within a decade of the complete revelation of the Qur’aan, the Islamic State under Khalif Omar had already become the greatest power on earth. And during the next few centuries, Muslims had become the torch-bearers in almost all fields of human activity like science, medicine, technology etc. Muslims could have this achievement because they had then, by and large, grasped the importance of the Qur’aan and followed its tenets in their lives. The Muslims’ suzerainty however vanished after the majority of them started treating the Qur’aan as a thing of no importance! History has thus registered the importance of the Qur’aan in no uncertain terms. But man, alas, continues to be in deep slumber.



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

Tuesday 9 October 2012

King Solomon

Qur'aanic Verse 38:34:











Transliteration:

34. Walaqad fatanna sulaymana waalqayna AAala kursiyyihi jasadan thumma anaba


Translation:

34. And We did certainly put Solomon on trial by placing upon his throne a [lifeless] body; and thereupon he turned in repentance to Us.6


Study Note:

6. Like King David, King Solomon too, it seems, had committed some unnamed impropriety. Books of Ahaadeeth do allude to some highly impossible and improbable acts attributed to the great King. But the Ahaadeeth are man-influenced and error-prone. And why should we go to those books when the Qur’aan gives us everything needed for our guidance? Allah Almighty has thought it fit not to specifically mention the impropriety done, so why should mankind be eager to find it out? This Qur’aanic Verse itself indicates that the impropriety was related to the succession to Solomon’s throne. We learn from Israelite history that the successor to Solomon was incompetent and that lead to the disintegration of the great Solomon Empire. What we should learn from these episodes concerning the two Prophet-kings is that (i) Prophets are after all human and (ii) hereditary succession to ruler-ship is not divinely sanctioned.




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

Wednesday 3 October 2012

King David

Translations of Qur'aanic Verses 38:21 to 39:24:

21. And has the information of the litigants come to your knowledge when they climbed over the walls of (King David’s) private chamber?
22. When they confronted David, he shrank back in fear of them. They said, “Fear not! We are two litigants. One of us has wronged the other. So judge between us with justice, and deviate not from what is right, and show both of us the right path.
23. “This man here is my brother. He has ninety-nine ewes, whereas I have one ewe. And he asks me to hand over to him even the one I have. And he prevailed over me in the discourse we had.”
24. David said (to the complainant), “He has certainly wronged you by demanding that your ewe be added to his ewes! And indeed do many associates – except those who believe in Allah and do righteous deeds – wrong one another; but how few are those exceptions!” And David at once realized that We had tested him (by presenting to him the case of the ewes)! And so he asked his Lord to forgive him, and bowed down, and turned to Him in repentance.5

Study Note:

5. In all probability the two litigants were angels sent by Allah Ta’ala to teach King David a lesson. Undoubtedly, the King had committed some unnamed impropriety, unbecoming of a Prophet King of his high stature. A safe bet is to assume that the King’s impropriety was of the nature of the impropriety involved in the litigants’ case. But since Allah almighty has thought it fit not to specifically name the King’s impropriety, we should better avoid echoing what Chritian scriptures (Old Testament) unabashedly accuse the King of committing an undoubtedly sinful act. The accusation has to be patently false since Allah Almighty could not have chosen a man committing such a heinous crime as His Prophet. The Christian scripture containing this accusation is not purely divine as the Qur’aan is. It is of the nature of the man-influenced and error-prone Ahaadeeth which too contain some unpalatable and unsavoury things about our own Prophet Muhammad (peace on him). What King David might have done could only be described as an impropriety not amounting to sin. And as the next Verse below informs us Allah forgave King David.



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