hay!!!! it lookz liek jonahz!!!111
June 22, 2007 by loljesus
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too darn funny!!
Name
It takes its name from v. 16.
Period of Revelation
It was revealed before the Migration to Habasha(Ethiopia). We learn from authentic Traditions that Ja’afar recited vv. 1-40 of this Surah in the court of Negus when he called the migrants to his court.
Historical Background
We have already briefly referred to the conditions of that period in the introduction to Surah Al-Kahf. Here we shall give rather fuller details of the same conditions which will be helpful in grasping the meaning of this Surah and the other Surahs of the period. When the chiefs of the Quraish felt that they had failed to suppress the Islamic movement by ridicule sarcasm and by holding out promises and threats and by making false accusations they resorted to persecution beating and economic pressure. They would catch hold of the new Muslims of their clans and persecute them starve them and would even inflict physical torture on them in order to coerce them to give up Islam. The most pitiful victims of their persecution were the poor people and the slaves and the protégés of the Quraish. They were beaten black and blue were imprisoned and kept thirsty and hungry and were dragged on the burning sands of Mecca. The people would get work from the professional labourers but would not pay them their wages. As an instance we give below the story of Khabbab ibn Arat which is given in Bukhari and Muslim: “I used to work as a blacksmith in Mecca. Once I did some work for ‘As ibn Wa’il. When I went to ask for my wages he said ‘I will not pay your wages unless you disown Muhammad’.
In the same connection Khabbab says One day the Holy Prophet was sitting in the shadow of the Ka’ba. I went to him and said ‘0 Messenger of Allah now persecution has gone to its extreme; why do you not pray to Allah (for relief)?’ At this the Holy Prophet was greatly moved. He said ‘The believers before you were persecuted much more than you. Their bones were scraped with combs of iron and their heads were cut with saws but still they did not give up their Faith. I assure you that Allah will fulfill this Mission and there will come a period of such peace that one would travel from Sanna to Hadramaut and he will have no fear from anyone save Allah. But you people have already become impatient’. (Bukhari)
When the conditions became unbearable the Holy Prophet in the month of Rajab of the fifth year of Prophethood gave advice to his Companions to this effect: “You may well migrate to Habasha for there is a king who does not allow any kind of injustice to anyone and there is good in his land. You should remain there till the time that Allah provides a remedy for your affliction”.
Accordingly at first eleven men and four women left for Habasha. The Quraish pursued them up to the coast but fortunately they got a timely boat for Habasha at the sea-port of Shu’aibah and they escaped attest. Then after a few months other people migrated to Habasha and their number rose to eighty-three men and eleven women of the Quraish and seven non-Quraish. After this only forty persons were left with the Holy Prophet at Mecca.
There was a great hue and cry in Mecca after this Migration for every family of the Quraish was adversely affected by this. There was hardly a family of the Quraish which did not lose a son a son-in-law a daughter a brother or a sister. For instance there were among the Migrants the near relatives of Abu Jahl, Abu Sufyan and other chief of the Quraish who were notorious for their persecution of the Muslims. As a result of this some of them became even more bitter in their enmity of Islam while there were others who were so moved by this that they embraced Islam.
After the migration, the Quraish held consultations, and decided to send Abdullah ibn Abi Rabi’a, half brother of Abu Jahl, and Amr ibn ‘As to Habasha with precious gifts so as to persuade Negus to send the migrants back to Mecca. Umm Salma (a wife of the Holy Prophet), who was among the migrants, has related this part of the story in detail. She says, “When these two clever statesmen of the Quraish reached Habasha, they distributed the gifts among the courtiers of the King and persuaded them to recommend strongly to him to send the migrants back. Then they saw Negus himself and, presenting rich gifts to him, said, ‘Some headstrong brats of our city have come to your land and our chiefs have sent us to you with the request that you may kindly send them back. These brats have forsaken our faith and have not embraced your faith either, but have invented a new faith’. As soon as they had finished their speech, all the courtiers recommended their case, saying, ‘We should send such people back to their city for their people know them better. It is not proper for us to keep them here’. At this the King was annoyed and said, ‘I am not going to give them back without proper inquiry. As these people have put their trust in my country rather than in any other country and have come here to take shelter, I will not betray them. At first I will send for them and investigate into the allegations these people have made against them. Then I will make my final decision’. Accordingly, the King sent for the Companions of the Holy Prophet and asked them to come to his court.
When the migrants received the message of the King, they assembled and held consultations as to what they should say to the King. At last they came to this unanimous decision: ‘”We will present before the King the teachings of the Holy Prophet without adding anything to or withholding anything from them and leave it to him whether he lets us remain here or turns us out of his country’. When they came to the court, the King put this problem abruptly before them: ‘I understand that you have given up the faith of your own people and have neither embraced my faith nor any other existing faith. I would like to know what your new faith is.’ At this, Jafar ibn Abi Talib, on behalf of the migrants, made an extempore speech to this effect:’O King! We were sunk deep in ignorance and had become very corrupt; then Muhammad (Allah’s peace be upon him) came to us as a Messenger of God, and did his best to reform us. But the Quraish began to persecute his followers, so we have come to your country in the hope that here we will be free from persecution’. After his speech, the King said, ‘Please recite a piece of the Revelation which has been sent down by God to your Prophet’. In response, Jafar recited that portion of Surah Maryam which relates the story of Prophets John and Jesus (Allah’s peace be upon them). The King listened to it and wept, so much so that his beard became wet with tears. When Jafar finished the recital, he said: ‘Most surely this Revelation and the Message of Jesus have come from the same source. By God I will not give you up into the hands of these people’.
Next day ‘Amr ibn ‘As went to Negus and said, ‘Please send for them again and ask them concerning the creed they hold about Jesus, the son of Mary, for they say a horrible thing about him’. The King again sent for the migrants, who had already learnt about the scheme of ‘Amr. They again sat together and held consultations in regard to the answer they should give to the King, if he asked about the belief they held about Prophet Jesus. Though this was a very critical situation and all of them were uneasy about it, they decided that they would say the same thing that Allah and His Messenger had taught them. Accordingly, when they went to the court, the King put them the question that had been suggested by ‘Amr ibn ‘As. So Jafar ibn Abi Talib stood up and answered without the least hesitation: ‘He was a Servant of Allah and His Messenger. He was a Spirit and a Word of Allah which had been sent to Virgin Mary.’ At this the King returned the gifts sent by the Quraish, saying, ‘I do not take any bribe’. Then he said to the migrants, ‘You are allowed to stay here in perfect peace’.”
Theme and Subject
Keeping in view this historical background it becomes quite obvious that this Surah was sent down to serve the migrants as a provision” for their journey to Habasha as if to say Though you are leaving your country as persecuted emigrants to a Christian country you should not in the least hide anything from the teachings you have received. There- fore you should plainly say to the Christians that Prophet Jesus was not the son of God.”
After relating the story of Prophets John and Jesus in vv. 1-40 the story of Prophet Abraham has been related (vv. 41-50) also for the benefit of the Migrants for he also had been forced like them to leave his country by the persecution of his father his family and his country men. On the one hand this meant to console the Emigrants that they were following the footsteps of Prophet Abraham and would attain the same good end as that Prophet did. On the other hand it meant to warn the disbeliever of Mecca that they should note it well that they were in the position of the cruel people who had persecuted their forefather and leader Abraham while the Muslim Emigrants were in the position of Prophet Abraham himself.
Then the mention of the other Prophets has been made in vv. 51-65 with a view to impress that Muhammad (Allah’s peace be upon him) had brought the same way of Life that had been brought by the former Prophets but their followers had become corrupt and adopted wrong ways.
In the concluding passage (vv. 66-98) a strong criticism has been made of the evil ways of the disbelievers of Mecca while the Believers have been given the good news that they would come out successful and become the beloved of the people in spite of the worst efforts of the enemies of the Truth.
Name
This Surah is named Al-Fatiha because of its subject-matter. Fatihah is that which opens a subject or a book or any other thing. In other words, Al-Fatihah is a sort of preface.
Verses
This Surah has a total of 7 verses.
Period of Revelation
It is one of the very earliest Revelations to the Holy Prophet. As a matter of fact, we learn from authentic Traditions that it was the first complete Surah which was revealed to Muhammed (PBUH). Before this, only a few miscellaneous verses were revealed which form parts of Surah Alaq, Muzzammil, Muddathir, etc.
Theme
This Surah is in fact a prayer which Allah has taught to all those who want to make a study of his book. It has been placed at the very beginning of the book to teach this lesson to the reader: if you sincerely want to benefit from the Quran, you should offer this prayer to the Lord of the Universe. This preface is meant to create a strong desire in the heart of the reader to seek guidance from the Lord of the Universe, who alone can grant it. Thus Al-Fatiha indirectly teaches that the best thing for a man is to pray for guidance to the straight path, to study the Quran with the mental attitude of a seeker-after-truth and to recognize the fact that the Lord of the Universe is the source of all knowledge. He should, therefore, begin the study of the Quran with a prayer to him for guidance. From this theme, it becomes clear that the real relation between Al-Fatiha and the Quran is not that of an introduction to a book but that of a prayer and its answer. Al-Fatiha is the prayer from the servant and the Quran is the answer from the the Master to his prayer. The servant prays to Allah to show him guidance and the Master places the whole of the Quran before him in answer to his prayer, as if to say, “This is the Guidance you begged from Me.”
By: Syed Abu-Ala`Maududi
Name
The Surah takes its name” Al-Rum” from the second verse in which the words ghulib-at-ir-Rum (The Byzantines have been defeated) have occurred.
Period of Revelation
The period of the revelation of this Surah is determined absolutely by the historical event that has been mentioned at the outset. It says: “The Romans have been vanquished in the neighbouring land.” In those days the Byzantine occupied territories adjacent toArabia were Jordan, Syria and Palestine, and in these territories the Romans were completely overpowered by the Iranians in 615 A.D. Therefore, it can be said with absolute certainty that this Surah was sent down in the same year, and this was the year in which the migration to Habash took place.
Historical Background
The prediction made in the initial verses of this Surah is one of the most outstanding evidences of the Qur’an’s being the Word of Allah and the Holy Prophet Muhammad’s being a true Messenger of Allah. Let us have a look at the historical background relevant to the verses.
Eight years before the Holy Prophet’s advent as a Prophet the Byzantine Emperor Maurice was overthrown by Phocus, who captured the throne and became king. Phocus first got the Emperor’s five sons executed in front of him, and then got the Emperor also killed and hung their heads in a thoroughfare in Constantinople. A few days after this he had the empress and her three daughters also put to death. The event provided Khusraw Parviz, the Sassanid king ofIran; a good moral excuse to attackByzantium. For Emperor Maurice had been his benefactor; with his help he had got the throne of Iran. Therefore, he declared that he would avenge his godfather’s and his children’s murder upon Phocus, the usurper. So, he started war against Byzantium in 603 A. D. and within a few years, putting the Phocus armies to rout in succession, he reachedEdessa (modern,Urfa) in Asia Minor, on the one hand, andAleppo andAntioch in Syria, on the other. When the Byzantine ministers saw that Phocus could not save the country, they sought the African governor’s help, who sent his son, Heraclius, to Constantinople with a strong fleet. Phocus was immediately deposed and Heraclius made emperor. He treated Phocus as he had treated Maurice. This happened in 610 A.D., the year the Holy Prophet was appointed to Prophethood.
The moral excuse for which Khusraw Parviz had started the war was no more valid after the deposition and death of Phocus. Had the object of his war really been to avenge the murder of his ally on Phocus for his cruelty, he would have come to terms with the new Emperor after the death of Phocus. But he continued the war, and gave it the color of a crusade between Zoroastrianism and Christianity. The sympathies of the Christian sects which had been excommunicated by the Roman ecclesiastical authority and tyrannized for years also went with the Magian (Zoroastrian) invaders, and the Jews also joined hands with them; so much so that the number of the Jews who enlisted in Khusraw’s army rose up to 26,000.
Heraclius could not stop this storm. The very first news that he received from the East after ascending the throne was that of the Iranian occupation of Antioch. After that, Damascus fell in 613 A.D. Then in 614 A.D. the Iranians occupying Jerusalem played havoc with the Christian world. Ninety thousand Christians were massacred and the Holy Sepulcher was desecrated.
The Original Cross on which, according to the Christian belief, Jesus had died was seized and carried to Mada’in. The chief priest Zacharia was taken prisoner and all the important churches of the city were destroyed. How puffed up was Khusraw Parviz at this victory can be judged from the letter that he wrote to Heraclius from Jerusalem. He wrote: “From Khusraw, the greatest of all gods, the master of the whole world: To Heraclius, his most wretched and most stupid servant: ‘You say that you have trust in your Lord. Why didn’t then your Lord save Jerusalem from me?'”
Within a year after this victory the Iranian armies over-ran Jordan, Palestine and the whole of theSinai Peninsula, and reached the frontiers of Egypt. In those very days another conflict of a far greater historical consequence was going on in Mecca. The believers in One God, under the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace be upon him), were fighting for their existence against the followers of shirk under the command of the chiefs of the Quraish, and the conflict had reached such a stage that in 615 A.D., a substantial number of the Muslims had to leave their homes and take refuge with the Christian kingdom of Habash, which was an ally of the Byzantine Empire. In those days the Sassanid victories against Byzantium were the talk of the town, and the pagans ofMecca were delighted and were taunting the Muslims to the effect: “Look the fire worshippers ofIran are winning victories and the Christian believers in Revelation and Prophethood are being routed everywhere. Likewise, we, the idol worshippers of Arabia, will exterminate you and your religion.”
These were the conditions when this Surah of the Qur’an was sent down, and in it a prediction was made, saying:” The Romans have been vanquished in the neighbouring land and within a few years after their defeat, they shall be victorious. And it will be the day when the believers will rejoice in the victory granted by Allah.” It contained not one but two predictions: First, the Romans shall be Victorious; and second, the Muslims also shall win a victory at the same time. Apparently, there was not a remote chance of the fulfillment of the either prediction in the next few years. On the one hand, there were a handful of the Muslims, who were being beaten and tortured in Mecca, and even till eight years after this prediction there appeared no chance of their victory and domination. On the other, the Romans were losing more and more ground every next day. By 619 A.D. the whole ofEgypt had passed into Sassanid hands and the Magian armies had reached as far as Tripoli. In Asia Minor they beat and pushed back the Romans toBosporus, and in 617 A.D. they capturedChalcedon (modern, Kadikoy) just oppositeConstantinople. The Emperor sent an envoy to Khusraw, praying that he was ready to have peace on any terms, but he replied, “I shall not give protection to the emperor until he is brought in chains before me and gives up obedience to his crucified god and adopts submission to the fire god.” At last, the Emperor became so depressed by defeat that he decided to leaveConstantinople and shift to Carthage (modern, Tunis). In short, as the British historian Gibbon says, even seven to eight years after this prediction of the Qur’an, the conditions were such that no one could even imagine that theByzantine Empire would ever gain an upper hand over Iran. Not to speak of gaining domination, no one could hope that the Empire, under the circumstances, would even survive.
When these verses of the Qur’an were sent down, the disbelievers of Mecca made great fun of them, and Ubayy ibn Khalaf bet Abu Bakr ten camels if the Romans became victorious within three years. When the Holy Prophet came to know of the bet, he said, “The Qur’an has used the words bid i sinin, and the word bid in Arabic applies to a number up to ten. Therefore, make the bet for ten years and increase the number of camels to a hundred.” So, Abu Bakr spoke to Ubayy again and bet a hundred camels for ten years.
In 622 A.D. as the Holy Prophet migrated to Madinah, the Emperor Heraclius set off quietly forTrabzon from Constantinople via the Black Sea and started preparations to attack Iran from rear. For this he asked the Church for money and Pope Sergius lent him the Church collections on interest, in a bid to save Christianity from Zoroastrianism. Heraclius started his counter attack in 623 A.D. from Armenia. Next year, in 624 A.D., he entered Azerbaijan and destroyed Clorumia, the birthplace of Zoroaster, and ravaged the principal fire temple of Iran. Great are the powers of Allah, this was the very year when the Muslims achieved a decisive victory at Badr for the first time against the mushriks. Thus both the predictions made in Surah Rum were fulfilled simultaneously within the stipulated period of ten years.
The Byzantine forces continued to press the Iranians hard and in the decisive battle atNineveh (627 A.D.) they dealt them the hardest blow. They captured the royal residence of Dastagerd, and then pressing forward reached right opposite to Ctesiphon, capital of Iran in those days. In 628 A. D. in an internal revolt, Khusraw Parviz was imprisoned and 18 of his sons were executed in front of him and a few days later he himself died in the prison. This was the year when the peace treaty of Hudaibiya was concluded, which the Qur’an has termed as “the supreme victory”, and in this very year Khusraw’s son, Qubad II, gave up all the occupied Roman territories, restored the True Cross and made peace with Byzantium. In 628 A.D., the Emperor himself went toJerusalem to install the “Holy Cross” in its place, and in the same year the Holy Prophet enteredMecca for the first time after the Hijrah to perform the Umra-tul-Qada.
After this no one could have any doubt about the truth of the prophecy of the Qur’an, with the result that most of the Arab polytheists accepted Islam. The heirs of Ubayy ibn Khalaf lost their bet and had to give a hundred camels to Abu Bakr Siddiq. He took them before the Holy Prophet, who ordered that they be given away in charity, because the bet had been made at a time when gambling had not yet been forbidden by the Shari’a; now it was forbidden. Therefore, the bet was allowed to be accepted from the belligerent disbelievers, but instruction given that it should be given away in charity and should not be brought in personal use.
Theme and Subject matter
The discourse begins with the theme that the Romans have been overcome and the people the world over think that the empire is about to collapse, but the fact is that within a few years the tables will be turned and the vanquished will again become victorious.
This introductory theme contains the great truth that man is accustomed to seeing only what is apparent and superficial. That which is behind the apparent and superficial he does not know. When in the petty matters of life, this habit to see only the apparent and superficial can lead man to misunderstandings and miscalculations, and when he is liable to make wrong estimates only due to lack of knowledge about “what will happen tomorrow”, how stupendous will be his error if he risks his whole life-activity by placing reliance only upon what is visible and apparent with respect to his worldly life as a whole. Then, from the question of the conflict between Byzantium and Iran the direction of the discourse turns to the theme of the Hereafter, and as far as verse 27, man has been made to understand in different ways that the Hereafter is possible as well as rational and necessary; then for the sake of keeping the system of his life also stable and balanced it is absolutely necessary that he should plan and order his present life on the faith in the Hereafter; otherwise he will commit the same error as has always been the result of placing one’s reliance only upon the apparent and the visible.
In this connection, the Signs of the universe which have been presented as evidence to prove the doctrine of the Hereafter are precisely the same which support the doctrine of Tawhid. Therefore from verse 28 onward, the discourse turns to the affirmation of Tawhid and the refutation of shirk, and it is stressed that the natural way of life for man is none else but to serve One God exclusively. Shirk is opposed to the nature of the universe as to the nature of man. Therefore, whenever man has adopted this deviation, chaos has resulted. Again here, an allusion has been made to the great chaos that had gripped the world on account of the war between the two major powers of the time, and it has been indicated that this chaos too, is the result of shirk, and all the nations who were ever involved in mischief and chaos in the history of mankind were also mushriks.
In conclusion, a parable has been presented to make the people understand that just as dead earth comes to life, all of a sudden, by a shower of rain sent by God and swells with vegetation and plant life, so is the case with the dead humanity. When God sends a shower of His mercy in the form of Revelation and Prophethood, it also gives a new life to mankind and causes it to grow and develop and flourish. Therefore: “If you take full advantage of this opportunity, the barrenland of Arabia will bloom by Allah’s mercy and the whole advantage will be you’re. But if you do not take advantage of it, you will harm only your selves. Then no regret will avail and no opportunity will be provided to make amends.”
Name
The Surah takes its name from the wordal-waqi`ah of the very first verse.
Period of Revelation
According to the chronological order that Hadrat Abdullah bin Abbas has given of the Surahs, first Surah Ta Ha was sent down, then Al-Waqi’ah and then Ash-Shu`ara'(Suyuti:Al-Itqan). The same sequence has been reported from Ikrimah (Baihaqi:Dala’il an Nubuwwat).
This is supported also by the story that Ibn Hisham has related from Ibn Ishaq about the affirmation of the Faith by Hadrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). It says that when Hadarat Umar entered his sister’s house, Surah Ta Ha was being recited. Hearing his voice the people of the house hid the pages of the Qur’an. Hadrat Umar first seized his brother-in-law and then his sister rose in defense of her husband, he hit her also and wounded her on the head. When Umar saw blood on his sister, he was sorry for what he had done, and said to her: “Show me the manuscript that you have concealed so that I may see what it contains.” The sister said: “You are unclean because of your polytheism:wa anna-hu la yamassu-ha ill-at-tahir: “Only a clean person can touch it.” So, Hadrat Umar rose and washed himself, and then took up the manuscript to read it. This shows that Sarah Al-Waqi’ah had been sent down by that time for it contains the verse:La yamassu hu ill al mutahharun; and it had been established historically that Hadrat Umar embraced Islam after the first migration to Habash, in the fifth year of the Prophethood.
Theme and Subject Matter
Its theme is the Hereafter, Tauhid and refutation of the Makkan disbelievers’ suspicions about the Qur’an. What they regarded as utterly incredible was that Resurrection would ever take place, then the entire system of the earth and heavens would be upset, and when all the dead would be resurrected and called to account, after which the righteous would be admitted toParadise and the wicked cast into Hell. They regarded all this as imaginary, which could not possibly happen in actual fact. In answer to this, it was said: “When the inevitable event will take place, there will be none to belie its happening, nor will anyone have the Power to avert it, nor prove it to, be an unreal happening. At that time all peoples will be divided into three classes: (1) The foremost in rank and position; (2) the common righteous people and (3) those who denied the Hereafter and persisted in disbelief and polytheism and major sins till the last.” How these three classes of the people will be rewarded and punished has been described in detail in vv. 7-56.
Then, in vv. 57-74 arguments have been given, one after the other, to prove the truth of the two basic doctrines of Islam, which the disbelievers were refusing to accept, viz. the doctrines ofTauhid and the Hereafter. In these arguments, apart from every thing else that exists in the earth and heavens, man’s attention has been drawn to his own body and to the food that he eats and to the water that he drinks and to the fire on which he cooks his food, and he has been invited to ponder the question : What right do you have to behave independently of, or serve any other than, the God Whose creative power has brought you into being, and Whose provisions sustain you And how can you entertain the idea that after having once brought you into existence He has become so helpless and powerless that He cannot recreate you once again even if he wills to?
Then, in vv. 75-82 their suspicions in respect of the Qur’an have been refuted and they have been made to realize how fortunate they are that instead of deriving any benefit from the great blessing that the Qur’an is, they are treating it with scant attention and have set only this share of theirs in it that they deny it. If one seriously considers this matchless argument that has been presented in two brief sentences about the truth of the Qur’an, one will find in it the same kind of firm and stable system as exists among the stars and planets of the Universe, and the same is the proof of the fact that its Author is the same Being Who has created the Universe. Then the disbelievers have been told that this Book is inscribed in that Writ of Destiny which is beyond the reach of the creatures, as if to say “You think it is brought down by the devils to Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), whereas none but the pure angels has any access to the means by which it reaches Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) from the well guarded Tablet.”
In conclusion, man has been warned, as if to say: “You may brad and boast as you like and may shut your eyes to the truths in your arrogance of independence, but death is enough to open your eyes. At death you become helpless: you cannot save your own parents; you cannot save your children; you cannot save your religious guided and beloved leaders. They all die in front of your vary eyes while you look on helplessly. If there is no supreme power ruling over you, and your this assumption is correct that you are all in all in the world, and there is no God, then why don’t you restore to the dying person his soul?Just as you are helpless in this, so it is also beyond your power to stop Allah from calling the people to account and mete out rewards and punishments to them. You may or may not believe it, but every dying person will surely see his own end after death. If he belongs to those nearest to God, he will see the good end meant for them if he be from among the righteous, he will see the end prepared for the righteous; and if he be from among the deniers of the truth, he will see the end destined for the criminals.
Al-ZILZAL (The Earthquake)
Name
It is derived from the wordzilzal in the first verse.
Period of Revelation
Whether or not it was revealed atMecca or Medina, is disputed. Ibn Masud, ‘Ata, Jabir, and Mjahid say that it is a Makki Surah and a statement of Ibn Abbas also supports this view. On the contrary, Qatadah and Muqatil say that it is Madani and another statement of Ibn Abbas also has been cited in support of this view. That it is a Madani Surah is reasoned from a tradition from Abu Said Khudri, which Ibn Abi Hatim has related from him. He says: “When the verseFa-man ya mal mithqala dharratin khairan yarah, wa man ya mal mithqala dharratin sharran yarah, was revealed, I said: “O Messenger of Allah, shall I really see my deeds? The Holy Messenger replied in the affirmative. I submitted: And every major sin? He replied yes. I said: And the minor sins too? He replied yes. Thereupon I exclaimed that I would then be ruined. The Holy Prophet said: Rejoice, O Abu Sa’id, for each good act will be equal to ten good acts like it.” The basis of the argument for this Surah’s being Madani is that Abu Sa’id Khudri was an inhabitant of Medina and reached maturity after the Battle of Uhud. Therefore, if this Surah was revealed in his presence, as is apparent from his statement, it must be a Madani Surah. However, the practice that the Companions and their immediate successors followed in respect of the occasion of the revelation of the verses and Surahs has already been explained in the Introduction to Surah Ad-Dahr above. Therefore, a Companion’s saying that a verse was sent down on this or that particular occasion is no proof that it was sent down on that very occasion. It may well be that after coming of age when Abu Sa’id heard this Surah for the first time from the Holy Prophet, terrified by its last portion he might have asked the Holy Prophet the questions which we have cited above, and he might have narrated the incident saying that when this verse was revealed he put this and this question to the Holy Prophet. In the absence of this tradition every reader who reads the Qur’an with understandings will feel that it is a Makki Surah. More than that: from its theme and style he would feel that it must have been sent down in the earliest stage atMecca when the fundamental principles and beliefs of Islam were being presented before the people in a concise but highly effective way.
Theme and Subject Matter
Its theme is the second life after death and presentation in it before man of the full record of the deeds done by him in the world. In the first three sentences it has been told briefly how the second life after death will take place and how confounding it will be for man. In the next two sentences it has been said that this very earth on which man has lived and performed all kinds of deeds thoughtlessly, and about which he never could fancy that this lifeless thing would at some time in the future bear witness to his deeds, will speak out on that Day by Allah’s command and will state in respect of each individual person what act he had committed at a particular time and place. Then, it has been said that men on that Day, rising from their graves, will come out in their varied groups from all corners of the earth, to be shown their deeds and works, and their presentation of the deeds will be so complete and detailed that not an atom’s weight of any good or evil act will be left unnoticed or hidden from his eyes
Name
The Surah takes its name from the wordal-A’la in the very first verse.
Period of Revelation
The subject matter shows that this too is one of the earliest Surahs to be revealed, and the words: “We shall enable you to recite, then you shall never forget” of verse 6 also indicate that it was sent down in the period when the Holy Messenger (upon whom he Allah’s peace) was not yet fully accustomed to receive Revelation and at the time Revelation came down he feared lest he should forget its words. If this verse is read along with verse 114 of Surah Ta Ha and verses 16-19 of Al-Qiyamah and the three verses are also considered with regard to their styles and contexts, the sequence of events seems to be that first in this Surah the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) was reassured to the effect: “Do not at all worry: We shall enable you to recite this Word, then you shall not forget it.” Then after a lapse of time, on another occasion, when the Surah Al-Qiyamah was being revealed, the Holy Prophet involuntarily began to rehearse the words of the Revelation. Thereupon it was said: “O Prophet do not move your tongue to remember this Revelation hastily. It is for Us to have it remembered and read. Therefore when We are reciting it, listen to its recital carefully. Again, it is for Us to explain its meaning.” Last of all, on the occasion of the revelation of Surah Ta Ha, the Holy Prophet on account of human weakness, again became afraid lest his memory should fail to preserve some portion of the 113 verses which were continuously revealed at that time, and therefore, he began to memorize them. Thereupon, it was said: “And see that you do not hasten to recite the Qur’an before its revelation is completed to you.” After this, it never so happened that he felt any such danger, for apart form these three places, there is no other place in the Qur’an where there might be a reference to this matter.
Theme and Subject Matter
This short surah contains three themes:Tawhid, instructions to the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) and the Hereafter.
In the first verse, the doctrine ofTawhid has been compressed into a single sentence, saying that Allah’s name should be glorified and exalted, i. e. He should not be remembered by any name which mighty reflect a deficiency, fault, weakness, or an aspect of likeness, with created beings, for the root of all false creeds in the world are wrong concepts about Allah, which assumed the form of an erroneous name for His glorious and exalted Being. Therefore, for the correction of the creed, the primary thing is that Allah Almighty should be remembered only by the beautiful names which suit and befit Him.
In the next three verses, it has been said: “Your Lord, glorification of Whose name is being enjoined, is He Who created everything in the Universe, proportioned it, set it a destiny, taught it to perform the function for which it is created, and you witness this manifestation of His power day and night that He creates vegetation on the earth as well as reduces it to mere rubbish. No other being has the power to bring about spring nor the power to prevent autumn.”
Then, in the following two verses, the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) his been consoled, as if to say: “Do not worry as to how you will remember word for word the Qur’an that is being revealed to you. It is for Us to preserve it in your memory, and its preservation is not in any way the result of any excellence in you but the result of Our bounty and favor, otherwise if We so will, We can cause you to forget it.”
Then, the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) has been told: “You have not been made responsible to bring everyone on to the right path; your only duty is to convey the truth, and the simplest way of conveying the truth is that admonition be given to him who is inclined to listen to the admonition and accept it, and the one who is not inclined to it, should not be pursued. The one who fears the evil consequences of deviation and falsehood, will listen to the truth and accept it, and the wretched one who avoids listening to and accepting it, will himself see his evil end.”‘
The discourse has been summed up, saying: “Success is only for those who adopt purity of belief, morals and deed, and remember the name of their Lord and perform the Prayer. But, on the contrary, the people are wholly lost in seeking the ease, benefits and pleasures of the world, whereas they should actually endeavor for their well being in the Hereafter, for the world is transitory and the Hereafter everlasting and the blessings of the Hereafter are far better than the blessings of the world. This truth has not been expressed only in the Qur’an but in the books of the Prophets Abraham and Moses too, it had been brought to the notice of man.
BIRTH OF JESUS A WILL OF GOD
Regarding the birth of Jesus, in chapter 19 known as Maryam Quran (verses 15-21) states that:
And mention in the book Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a house eastward.
Thus she secluded herself from them, whereupon We sent Our spirit to her, and he appeared to her exactly like a sound human being.
She said, I seek protection from the All beneficent from you, should you be God wary .
He said, I am only a messenger of your Lord that I may give you a pure son .
She said, How shall I have a child seeing that no human being has ever touched me nor have I been unchaste?
He said, so it shall be. Your Lord says: It is simple for Me; and so that We make him a sign for mankind and a mercy from Us; and that is a matter already decreed.
According to these verses, the birth of Jesus to a virgin mother, without a male partner, was an immediate effect of God’s will, manifested to the world as a miracle. When the Almighty God wills a thing “to be” , it becomes.
In the last two verses of chapter 36 known as Yasin Quran clearly states the power of the Almighty God in His creation. It states:
Verily His command, when He intends a thing, is only to say: “Be” and so it becomes. Therefore, glory be to Him in whose hand is the kingdom of all things. Unto Him, you will all return.
In chapter 3, known as Aali Imraan (the family of Imraan), verse 59, Quran says:
Verily, the likeness of Jesus with God is as the likeness of Adam; He created him out of dust, then He said to him: “Be” and he was.
According to this verse, just as the birth of Adam took place without the agency of a father and a mother, so did the birth of Jesus without a father. The likeness of Jesus therefore is as the likeness of Adam; and this is the manifestation of the Almighty God’s will and power.
JESUS REVERED IN THE QURAN
To Muslims, Jesus is one of the greatest prophets of the Almighty God. His miraculous birth serves as the greatest sign of God and His mercy over mankind. In the following verses we see how Jesus has been revered:
In chapter 2 verse 87 God says:
We gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear evidences, and aided him with the Holy Spirit.
“Holy Spirit” in Islam, has a special significance. According to the Scholars of Islam, it is in reference to a very highly refined spiritual entity, whose function is to guide, inspire and infuse the prophetic spirit. It also equips the divinely selected individual to exercise miraculous powers. The repeated mention of “Holy Spirit” with the name of Jesus in the Holy Quran clearly establishes the fact that he was particularly chosen for this distinction.
chapter 5 verse 46 God, the Almighty says:
And We followed them with Jesus son of Mary, to confirm that which was brought before him of the Torah, and We gave him the Evangel containing guidance and light, confirming what was before it of the Torah, and as guidance and advice for the Godwary.
This verse explains that Jesus came to confirm and verify the basic doctrines of the universal religion of One God unity and justice of the Almighty God, and truthfulness of all the prophets who preceded him. Jesus himself came with Evangel containing guidance and light. Herein therefore, there is a precise mention that the original Torah has been confirmed by the original Evangel; and in every book of God there was guidance to people who are Godwary.
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umm this is so mean! >:|
jesus didnt step on poo hypocrites how can you tease god i hope you burn in hell bitches you are not gods children so pisss of and get out of christianity
LOL, STUPID CHRISTAIN PUTTIN ON A DAMN VERSE FROM THAT “HOLY” BIBLE THING. YOU FUNNY.
i luv poo and you whoevers reading this
Niceeee love, such a thing you should post on a social networking website hahah!