Faithful Reflections

Allah ta’ala poses a challenge to us all: We have certainly facilitated the Qur’an for remembrance. (54: 17) Allah ta’ala calls the Qur’an a rembrance many time: indeed it is only a Reminder.  (81:27) Indeed We have sent down this Reminder. (15:9) Race to the Remembrance of Allah. (62:9) The longest part of salaah is qiyaam, in which we read the Qur’an. Allah says about the salah: Establish the salaah to remember Me (20:14). The ultimate remembrance of Allah are His own Words, which is why He says: remember Allah how He taught you (2:239). So the ultimate reminder of Allah is the Book of Allah, which calls itself the ultimate means to reminder: Rather, it is only an admonition! (80:11) And remind by the Qur’an, him who fears My Threat. (50:45) What does ‘reminder’ mean? It is not necessarily new knowledge. When you remind someone of something, they already knew about it. So a reminder is sort of repetitive, as opposed to knowledge which can be something new. From that ...

In the Qur’an, the only place where the story of Aadam alayhis salaam occurs twice consecutively back-to-back is suratul Israa (17) and suratul Kahf (18). The story of Aadam alayhis salaam is mentioned in other surahs such as A’raaf and Baqarah, but here in these two surahs, his story is mentioned in the middle of the surahs right after one another. The story in both surahs begins similarly: “And when We said to the angels prostrate to Aadam, then they all did so with the exception of Iblees” (17:61, 18:50) What follows in the rest of the Ayaat differ. What we find in suratul Israa (which is also known as Surah Bani Isra’eel) are the words of Iblees. Iblees says: “Shall I prostrate to the one whom You created from clay?” This is what is recorded at the end of the Ayah, the complaint of Iblees. When we turn to suratul Kahf, there is something different. Instead of the statement of Iblees, there is his profile: “He was from the Jinn, thus he violated the commandment of his Rabb” Surat...

In Arabic, there are means in which you can empower a statement and also weaken it in degrees. Allah ta’ala says: “And if a breath of the Torment of your Rabb touches them, they will surely cry: “Woe unto us! Indeed we have been wrongdoers.” (21:46) The Ayah begins with: “if“, a sentence discussing reality is greater than one discussing a possibility–so this sentence starts of weak, because it is referring to if this would occur, it has not happened yet. “it touched them“, this is a verb. Grammatically when a statement begins with an noun it is more powerful than when it comes with a verb. This word is already past tense= something that has already occurred once. Present tense and future tense continues, but past tense is weaker, therefore less. Furthermore, there are many words to describe the act of touching/hitting someone in Arabic, such as “ daraba” (to strike) and “laqiya” (to meet/clash). This Ayah however uses the least degree of contact, something that barely touches you: ‘...

One of the powerful means that the Qur’an spreads its teachings is by dialogue. In many surahs in the Qur’an, Allah ta’ala displays to us the conversations between people: Allah ta’ala and the Angels, Ibrahim alayhis salaam and his father, Musa alayhis salaam and Khidr, the two men of the garden (surah Kahf), and Musa alayhis salaam and Fir’awn. The beauty of these dialogues is that Allah Azza wa Jall could have told us what happened, but rather He chose to convey to us in the form of dialogue. One subcategory of dialogues in the Qur’an is the idea of transitions. In the Qur’an, Allah ta’ala displays transitions that help us as the audience visualize the scene. An amazing example of both dialogues and transitions in the Qur’an is from Surah Shu’ara (26), the story of Musa alayhis salaam and Firawn. Allah Azza wa Jall says to Musa alayhis salaam, “go to the wrong doing people–the People of Firawn, will they not have taqwa?” (10-11) He responded to Allah ta’ala, “O my Rabb, I am sca...

Allah ta’ala mentions this  statement many times in the Qur’an: "Certainly that is from the noble tasks." When this statement occurs, it is always in reference to sabr (patience). However, when this statement appears in Surah Shoora (42), something different occurs that does not in all the other ayaat… Allah Azza wa Jall states: "Truly that is certainly from the noble tasks." (42:43) This ayah is a special case because  here is an extra letter, a "laam". This laam is for emphasis: certainly. But why does this ayah have more emphasis, but the rest of the similar Ayaat do not? It is because there are two different types of patience (sabr) being referenced for these two ayaat. There are many types of sabr in this deen, but they all fall into two basic categories: 1. When something happens to you and you have the power to respond and take action (ie, revenge/retaliate). 2. When something happens to you and you do not have the power to...

In surah Shu’ara (26), Allah ta’ala mentions the stories of many Prophets, and He says: "When their brother Nuh (alayhis salaam) said to them" and this format repeats for Saalih, Lut and Hud (alayhum assalaam). Whenever a nation is mentioned, Allah says "their brother" about the Prophet. However, when Allah ta’ala mentions Shu’ayb alayhis salaam, He says: "When Shu’ayb (alayhi salaam) said to them" . (26:177) Why do the other Prophets receive “their brother”, and Shu’ayb (alayhis salaam) does not? We even see in another surah, Allah says: "And to Madyan, their brother Shu’ayb" (7:85).  Allah mentions ‘their brother’ in this ayah. To understand this, we need to look at the city of Madyan itself. There are two names of Madyan in the Qur’an: the first one is Madyan and the second one is Ashaabul Aykah (companions of the tree). Aykah refers to a giant tree that they used to worship. So, when it comes to location, the city is refer...

The word “Ayah” is commonly translated as “verse” in English, yet this definition is not proper because it does not capture the true meaning of Ayah. When you mention “verse” to an English speaking person, it reminds them of three things: the Bible, poetry or a song. The problem is that the Qur’an denies being similar to any of these things, so “verse” does not give the correct connotation of “Ayah”. Another definition of Ayah is “sentence”, yet an Ayah is not a sentence. For example, the first three Ayaat (plural of Ayah) from Faatihah are a sentence, but three separate Ayaat. Also, Ayatad Dayn is one page long, yet it’s only one ayah. Multiple Ayaat can make one sentence, and one Ayah could be a paragraph. The best translation (according to brother Nouman) is: a miraculous sign. One example from the Qur’an how ayah cannot be translated in from Surah Fath (48). “He it is Who sent down As Sakinah (calmness and tranquility) into the hearts of the believers, that they may grow more ...

In Suratul Hajj (22) Allah ta’ala uses two distinct words to give the meaning of “selection”. "Ijtabaa" and "Istafaa") Allah ta’ala says in ayah 75: Allah selects messengers out of angels and man. Then He ta’ala says in ayah 77: He has selected you (muslims). Both of these words carry the same English meaning of ‘selection’ or ‘to choose’, yet there is a profound difference between the two which shows the precise choice of these words. Istafaa’ is from the root saad-fa-wow and  it means to be chosen based on purity. When Allah ta’ala selects Messengers, He selects the purest of mankind. We learn this from our creed (aqeedah) that the Messengers are all pure. The Jews and Christians on the other hand did not keep this standard and in their books that they claim to be divine, there are references to these Messengers that are lewd and horrifying. When we hear anything horrendous, we automatically know it is wrong based on this ayah. We know it cannot be from the...

The Qur’an doesn’t compromise style or content; it maintains both aspects flawlessly. Two simple examples from the Qur’an display this fact. Allah azza wa Jall says in Suratul Muddathir verse 3: "Wa Rabbaka fakabbir" “and declare the greatness only of your Rabb” the letter wow (َﻭ) is usually translated as “and”, but this translation is over simplification. In the Qur’an, there are 21 ways َﻭ ‘wa’ is used and one way is wow al musta’nifah, the wow that separates one sentence from another. In the English language, we would put a period and capitalize the next word in the sentence to show that a new one is beginning. So this َﻭ wa in the ayah is an indication of a new sentence, the sentence is: ْﺮِّﺒَﻜ َﻓ َﻚَّﺑَﺭ look at it more closely: ﺭ ﺏ ﺏ ﻙ ﻑ ﻙ ﺏ ﺏﺭ Rabbaka-fa-Kabbir…when you look at it both ways! SubhanAllah!!! In English, this is called a “palindrome”, when a word is looked at backwards and forwards and has the same spelling. (race car, radar, mom etc). In o...

In the Qur’an, there is a relationship between oaths and what follows the oaths. When Allah ta’ala swears by something, it shows the importance of the object He is swearing by and that object will be elevated. Furthermore, whatever comes after the oath is very important as well. There are many examples in the Qur’an, here are two of them: Allah ta’ala says in Suratul ‘Aadiyaat, By the (steeds) that run, with panting (breath), Striking sparks of fire (by their hooves), And scouring to the raid at dawn And raise the dust in clouds the while, Penetrating forthwith as one into the midst (of the enemy) . (100:1-5) Makkee surahs have amazing imagery, and these first five verses are dedicated to horses in battle. Back in the day when there was no TV, movies, picture books, all that was available was one’s imagination, especially when the audience of the Qur’an were people from a desert with nothing to look at. Allah azza wa Jall is painting a magnificient scene in the mind of the Quraysh: ...

Allah ta’ala says in surat al-Baqarah ayah 257: ‘Allah is the Wali of those who believe, He brings take them from the darknesses into the light.' ‘and those who disblieve their Awliyaa’ are taghoot, they bring them out of the light to darknesses.’ Wali is a special type of friend, who expresses the will to help to you and support you. A wali is a friend that you turn to for help, protection and support. The wali is the primary in the relationship, they are the dominant party. Take for example, if a father is the wali to his son, then the father is the primary in the relationship. Allah ta’ala says in the beginning of the ayah that He is the Wali for the believers. Those who disbelieve have Taghoot (anything and everything that is worshipped besides Allah) as their Awliyaa (plural of wali). There are two comparisons taking place in this verse: firstly, the believers and those who disbelieve, and secondly, Allah azza wa jall and taghoot. Looking at the verse again, we see that ...

By: Nouman Ali Khan In Surah Saba, ayah two, Allah azza wa jall says: He knows that which goes into the earth and that which comes forth from it, and that which descend from the heaven and that which ascends to it. And He is Ar-Raheem, Al-Ghafoor. In the Qur’an, Allah ta’ala mentions more than 70 times that He is Al-Ghafoor Ar-Raheem. This ayah above is the only instance in the whole Qur’an that the order is reversed: Ar-Raheem Al-Ghafoor. Why? Imam ibnul Qayyim states that if you study ‘ilm (knowledge) in the Qur’an, you’ll find that Allah ta’ala mentions rahmah (mercy) with it. Here are some examples: “Our Lord! You comprehend all things in mercy and knowledge“ (40:7) The duaa of those well-grounded in knowledge (ar-raasikhoon) is: (They say): “Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower.” Allah ta’ala begins this ayah from surah Saba with "He knows", which as we’ll see belo...

By: Nouman Ali Khan Ayah 1 of Surah al Fatihah •hamd = praise and gratitude gratitude (shukr) •The Qur’an recounts that when Prophet •Musa (alayhis salaam) spoke to Pharaoh, •Pharaoh reminded him of his favours on •Musa, and Prophet Musa (alayhis salaam) acknowledged his favours. But didn’t praise him. •Praise and thanks are very different •Alhamidullah means praise and thanks belong to Allah (are for Allah) Best of speech is speech that is concise and gets point across •If say praise and gratitude separately, saying praise and gratitude are separate. •Alhamidullah is better because puts praise and gratitude together  •Praise can be genuine  or not. Can be done for anything but hamd is only for living •Hamd is more appropriate for Allah and necessarily sincere. •We say thank you in response to favour, which means that first have to recognise something done to you. And then ball is in your court to thank or not. •Gratitude is a reaction, hamd is not a reaction •Hamd is indep...