Gems from the Quran

[birkah]

Bismillah. Insh'Allah in this thread I will post gems from the Qur'an. A lot of the posts will highlight an aspect of the linguistical miracle of the Qur'an -- the often neglected miracle.

أَوْ كَظُلُمَاتٍ فِي بَحْرٍ لُّجِّيٍّ يَغْشَاهُ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِ سَحَابٌ ۚ ظُلُمَاتٌ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ إِذَا أَخْرَجَ يَدَهُ لَمْ يَكَدْ يَرَاهَا ۗ وَمَن لَّمْ يَجْعَلِ اللَّهُ لَهُ نُورًا فَمَا لَهُ مِن نُّورٍ
Or [they are] like darknesses within an unfathomable sea which is covered by waves, upon which are waves, over which are clouds - darknesses, some of them upon others. When one puts out his hand [therein], he can hardly see it. And he to whom Allah has not granted light - for him there is no light.[24:40].

Allah wants us to imagine a pitch dark scene, with multiple layers of darkness, and absolutley no light. This scene is so dark that nothing can be seen, to such a degree that if a person wanted to see their own hand, they would be on the brink of not being able to see it.

Why does Allah mention the hands, and not feet or another part? Why would mentioning any other part take away from the literary perfection?

Firstly, the hands are the part of the body, which one can view from all angels (360 deg). Hence they are the easiest to view and require the least amount of effort. For all other parts of the body, one cannot gain this holistic view without a lot of effort and energy; the parts that can be observed in totality are quite limited. The person in the ayah should have no problem seeing his hands, yet due to the intense darkness of the scene, this person barley reaches the threshold required to view his own hands.

This is what kufur and shirk do to one's deeds.

[birkah]

فَمَا لَنَا مِن شَافِعِينَ وَلَا صَدِيقٍ حَمِيمٍ

So now we have no intercessors. And not a devoted friend. [26:100-101]

• · استحم/استحماما originally meant to have a hot bath (colloquial usage is for a bathroom).
• · الحميم is boiling water, which will be given to the people of the fire.
• · Why is a friend called حميم? This is due to the warm feeling that one gets when they are with an intimate friend.
• · 70:10 we further learn that no friend will ask anything from a friend. In the Dunay, when you need advice, help. .etc. you approach your closest friend. On that day on one will do this. The actuality of the Day of Judgement is the opposite of the reality of this world (husband and the wife are the most intimate being, yet they are enemies; a young child with nothing to worry will become grey haired; sun and the moon will collide; animals who live in isolation with be herded...)

[naumankhalid]

SubhanAllah, being a Muslim every body is responsible to learn Islam and share this with other people,, we know better that there alot of people who really really need to learn, but they cant have easy acces to the Quran and Islam, because they are leaving in Muslim minority countries... the cyberspace a unique and great place where every body can easily access any where,, so it would be more attractive to have great sharing on cyberspace FOR Islam and Quran...JAZAKALLAH..

[birkah]

وَلَئِن مَّسَّتْهُمْ نَفْحَةٌ مِّنْ عَذَابِ رَبِّكَ لَيَقُولُنَّ يَا وَيْلَنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا ظَالِمِينَ
And if [as much as] a whiff of the punishment of your Lord should touch them, they would surely say, "O woe to us! Indeed, we have been wrongdoers."

• The word that Allah said was نفحة which means a gentle cold breeze. A similar word is لفحة which means a warm breeze.
• مسة simply touch something. For example, when you do wudu and you are wearing socks, you do masaa over them.
• If a gentle cold breeze touched us, we will shout and cry and exclaim that we have been destroyed. What about a warm breeze, and what then about the fire of hell?

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[alhamdulilaah]

JazakAllah khair very useful thread.

[birkah]

حَتَّىٰ إِذَا جَاءَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ رَبِّ ارْجِعُونِ

[For such is the state of the disbelievers], until, when death comes to one of them, he says, "My Lord, send me back. [23:99]

This person is only speakign to Allah, yet he uses a plural and not a singular. For example, instead of sayign JazaKaAllahu (may you get the reward), someone says JazakumuAllahu (May you all get the reward). So why is he using a plural, even though he is only speaking to one being.

• Firstly, the plural is used for magnification because of the one spoken to i.e. God. If you are speaking to somone who is very honorable, majestic, holy, then its more appropriate to use the plular.
• For repetition: send me back, send me back, send me back, send me back, send me back... It is far more eloquent to combine this into a plural.

[ayesha.ansari]

JAZAKALLAH. When ever i read translation of Quran. Most of the time i start feeling a rope tight around my neck as some thing is killing me , i know tha is devil who never want us to be on right path.

[birkah]

نَبِّئْ عِبَادِي أَنِّي أَنَا الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ وَأَنَّ عَذَابِي هُوَ الْعَذَابُ الْأَلِيمُ
[O Muhammad], inform My servants that it is I who am the Forgiving, the Merciful. And that it is My punishment which is the painful punishment. [15:49-50]

• In the first Ayah Allah Mentions His Forgiveness, and along with it, He mentions His two names: Al-Ghafoor (the One who will forgive the biggest sin, regardless of magnitude) and Al-Raheem (the permanently merciful).
• The Beautiful and Perfect Majestic Names of Allah SWT are uncreated and eternal (if you don't understand this point, then I woudl recommend studying Aqeedah).
• Jannah is a manifestation of Allah's eternal Name of Mercy and Forgivness. Hence, all scholars agree that Jannah is eternal.
• When it came to the punishment, Allah did not mention any of His names, in the above ayah.
• Jahanam comes from the punishment of Allah, which is a creation and not necessarily eternal.
• From this, some scholars concluded that Jahanam, will cease to exist after a very very very very very very very.......... long-time (this view is also supported by some narration of Umar RA and Ali RA)
• SubhanAllah! How Merciful is Allah SWT!

Narrated Hadrat Abu Huraira RA: Allah's Messenger SAW said: "When Allah SWT completed the creation, He wrote in His Book which is with Him on His Throne, 'My mercy overpowers My anger.' [Bukhari]

[birkah]

Q: Why was Yunus AS saved from the belly of the whale? One reason we find in Surah Anbiya is that he made Duaa. In Surah Safaat Allah SWT gives us another reason why He saved Him.

فَلَوْلَا أَنَّهُ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُسَبِّحِينَ لَلَبِثَ فِي بَطْنِهِ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ

And had he not been of those who exalt Allah ,He would have remained inside its belly until the Day they are resurrected. [37:143-144]

Imam Sutiy commenting on this ayah says that Allah saved him because he constantly said لا إله إلا أنت سبحانك إني كنت من الظالمين

There is absolutley no Ilaah (any diety, object worshipped...), except for you. You are Perfect...

If you want the help of Allah in the future, and in times of difficult, do lots of tasbeeh.

[ayesha.ansari]

JAZAKALLAH khair birkha you shared very informative things with us.

[birkah]

يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا

Multiplied for him is the punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein humiliated - [25:69]

• In the previous verse, Allah SWT tells us who will be the recipeints of the punishment: a person who does shirk, a person who kills, and a person who commits fornication.
• In this ayah on the fihi, there is a mad -- a stretching.
• The scholars of Tajweed -- science of the pronounication and articulation of Arabic sound AKA phonetics -- say that this stretnching is not expected.
• Allah SWT said the madd -- the stretch -- to show that the person who does not repent will have their punishment stretched, just as this word has been stretched.

SubhnAllah.

[birkah]

Regarding the preservation of the Quran, Allah SWT says:

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ

And indeed, it is We who give life and cause death, and We are the Inheritor.[15:23]

• Verily -- no doubt about it. x 2
• We x2
  
• We
• We sent it down.
• Lam of Emphasis
• All of it -- not a single sentence, word, letter, dot... can be moved from its place.

One benefit of the usage of the We is that Allah SWT assigns all credit to Himself for the preservation. The benefit of the repetition is that we marvel at its preservation, and Allah SWT is reminding us that it only happened due to His power, majesty... __________________

Watch this clip on youtube:
youtube.com/watch?v=cPEyiXEDTiY&feature=player_embedded

One point that he mentions about memorization of the Quran and how we can bring it back, because of the millions of hufadh... When I heard this argument sometime ago, I had a slight doubt -- not that th quran isn't preserved or won't be preserved -- regarding whether the hufadh of North American can bring back the Quran (most of us be hurrrrting!).

Alhumdullilah, I was listening to a lecture by Sheikh Suhaib Webb and he explained how in places like North Africa, Murtania, and others, in order for you to get an ijazah in Quran, you must write the entire Quran in two weeks, without a single mistake and iyou do make a mistake you are not awarded ijazaaah (and in places like Murtania, it must be in the Uthmanic script, plus they don't have Mushafs in their Masajids since it all memorized as Sheikh Abu Eesa mentioned, when he went to a masaajid and he couldn't find a mushaaf and when he asked a child, who was completley dumbfounded by the question, since the concept of having a mushaf to them is completley foreign to them).

I personally know quraas that I have never heard making mistakes. Have you ever heard Sudais ever make a mistake? I have heard Shuraim and majority of the other reciters of the Makkah and Madinah, but I have never heard Sheikh Sudais make a mistake.

[birkah]

الم

• The meaning of these letters is only known to Allah. There are no authentic traditions going back to Prophet SAW, and all the opinions are mere conjecture, and hence the benefit is very limited in discussing them.
• However, these letters do and must have a particular function, as the opposite of it would be contrary to perfection (every ayah is a point of reflection for us).

1. Mutawalii As-Sharii — Proof that Prophet SAW was chosen by Allah. He was illiterate as was most of the Arab society, save a handful of individuals. How then does an illiterate man knows the letter of the alphabets?
2. A challenge to the Jewish population of Madinah. They were the learned people. Hence, they need to explain how this man knows the building blocks of the language.
3. Baqilani — Only half of the alphabet is used in the Quran, implying that if you don’t believe the Quran is from Allah, then produce something like it, since it is in your language and made up of the same building block.

[birkah]

ذلك الكتاب لا ريبَ فيه هدى للمتقين

That is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah.

• Allah SWT begins the Quran by describing it with four attributes.
• Did not say this but that. That is used for objects that are far and high. For example, you would use that — and not this — to refer to stars, as they are above us. Effect: shows the gradenur, nobility, loftiness, and status of the Quran.
• Allah SWT said the book and not a book. The Quran contains the summaries of all the previous scriptures.

[birkah]

الذين يؤمنون بالغيب ويقيمون الصلاة ومما رزقناهم ينفقون

Who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them,

• Style of the Quran. Allah mentions a group in one ayah. Then in the subsequent ayah describes them.
• 1. Believe in the unseen. Ghaiib in that which is covered.
• 2. Establish Salaah. Not a one time or a Friday occurrence. They are consistently doing it — Fard, Sunnah.. etc.
• We have provided them. Did not specify what we are provided. Effect: Expansion of meaning. Everything we have is provided by Allah.
• The past-tense is used. Implication: Since He has given it, He can also take it.
• 3. Spending is not specified. Effect: Expansion of meaning. Spend from whatever they can: time, wealth, health, knowledge.

[birkah]

الذين يؤمنون بالغيب ويقيمون الصلاة ومما رزقناهم ينفقون

Who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them,

• Said and; not or. We need to be doing all of these things in order to be successful.
• The most important action we need is imaan in Allah. Thegreatest
• manifestation of that is Salaah. Spending is a sign if the Salaah is having an impact.

[birkah]

وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ وَبِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ

And who believe in what has been revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what was revealed before you, and of the Hereafter they are certain [in faith].[2:4]

• What is sent to Prophet SAW. The Quran we have.
• And all that…
• Was sent before. This is past revelation.
• No future revelation is mentioned. Proof against Qadiyaanies.

[birkah]

أولئك على هدى من ربهم وأولئك هم المفلحون

Those are upon [right] guidance from their Lord, and it is those who are the successful.[2:5]

• Allah SWT did not say هؤلاء– these. Why those? When something is far, and has a high status, you say that (for example, used for stars). The usage of those shows the high level and rank that they will reach — or have reached — provided they follow the previous ayats.
• Allah SWT is above the Heavens in a manner that befits Him SWT. Implication: Those are close to Allah, and distant from this transient Earth.

[birkah]

أولئك على هدى من ربهم وأولئك هم المفلحون

Those are upon [right] guidance from their Lord, and it is those who are the successful.[2:5]

• Word construction of Faalllah is a noun and not verb, implying that they will always be successful, as verbs are temporary and noun are permanent.
• Ibn Kathir: Allah did not mention what they will be successful in. Effect: Expansion of Meaning. [They are the ones who will attain success in everything they do in the dunya, and they will attain success in the akhira as well.]
• This concludes the description of the first group of people.

Insh'Allah I will posting new points here. I will also be posting brief points of balagha about Surah Fatiha on Birkah and a lot of points about Surah Baqarah on Kalamullah, daily.

Links:
http://kalamuallah.wordpress.com/
http://birkah.wordpress.com/

[birkah]

Nevermind. Got the full-member status... JKhair.

[birkah]

الحمد لله رب العالمين

[All] praise is [due] to Allah , Lord of the worlds -

Why is it called Fatiha? Fatiha means the opening (root is ف ت ح فتح). It is the opening to the Qur’an; the opening to our Salaah; when it was revealed a gate in the heavens was opened; Adam AS ‘opened’ his life with it, since the first thing he did was sneeze.

• Hamd is mentioning a good attribute, which is at the level of perfection. It is based on love and honor (i.e. it is not a fake praise; not done to please someone). Therefore, it is always true.
• The Al can have 3 main possible meanings, the common one being the. This Al is called لإستغراق الجنس, which yields the following meaning: all types of praises.
• Sentence is noun based (N) and not verb (V) based. Some benefits of it (remember verbs are temporary and nouns are permanent). N removes element of time (all types of praises are only for Allah, whether a creation exists or not).

[ayesha.ansari]

Birkha why dont you make one post and then add different Surah translation and all information by a little bit big heading so that reader Got the idea where you take this and open his/her heart for new learning. :shade:

[birkah]

In Surah Faith we ask Allah for guidance. Allah answers that in our Salah everytime, since we recite Qur'an right away (the choice is ours whether we want to listen or think about other things). The theme of the entire Quran is guidance. The summary of it is found in Surah Baqarah. Everytime, you read Surah Baqarah, ask yourself, what does each of these verses have to do with guidance.

Here is the general layout of Surah Baqarah (you will only understand this, if you memorized and understand the Surah, or if you read it a lot, hence even reading/memorization can be a motivation to come closer to the book of Allah)

Layout
- Begin with mentioning three types of people: Mutaqieen (those who will be guided), Kafirr (guidance is blocked, since Allah has sealed their hearts), and Munafiqoon, pretend to be on the guidance but are far away from it, and are the worst group, who are in between the Mutaqieen and Kafiroon)
- All of humanity mentioned. Now Allah address them Allah and invites them to voluntarily accept guidance (2:21), challenge to produce a guidance like this, and consequences good and evil for not accepting guidance.
- Methodology of this guidance (2:26). Allah will use parables to make crystal the guidance. If you come with an open heart you will be guided, otherwise you will find nothing but criticism.
- How can you disblieve in Allah? (2:28). Not take the guidance. Where did you come from?
- Story of Adam -- first man to be guided/iblees misguided (2:30).
- Address to the scholars of Jews-- they should be the first to accept guidance. (2:40)
- Address to the laymen of Jews (2:47)-- follow the guidance, remember all of the favours of Allah, and how you didn't follow the guidance and He SWT still forgave.
- Discussion ends with the Jews 2:123 (Implied is that you are no longer the chosen community of Allah. 2:41 vs. 2:123 has the exact same wrods but the sequence is changed to show that a shift is about to occur and a new community is being chosen by Allah.)
- Allah mentions Ibrahim AS and his progency as they are the link between the Muslim Ummah and the Jewish Ummah. (2:124).
- Introduction fo the new Ummah (2:142). Allah SWT warns us about avoiding extremisim as we are teh middle nation. SubahanAllah! Imagine if Muslims only pondered over the Quran, and this ayah.
- Specific rules and laws related to guidance are revealed (2:158). The purpose of all of these is to attain taqwa as the second ayah of the Surah mentions.
- Conclued with 2:284-- Doesn't matter if you are upon guidance; the choice is yours and you will bare the consequences. Excluisvely to Allah belongs everything that is in the heavens and the earth.
- Sumary of guidance and all that has been mentioned (2:285)
- Concludes with a prayer for guidance, just as surah fatiha centered aroudn a prayer for gudiance (2:286)

SubhanaAllah, how amazing is the interconnection of these ayats. One criticism of the Quran is that it lacks conherence, as the subjects shift abruptly. But after a deep study, one sees how crystal clear the connections are, and how amazing the logic, progression, etc. are.

PS. JKHair to the OP for suggesting to make one post. Insh'Allah will do that. However, sometimes I can't control myself. Secondly, I had not posted for a few days, so made those posts as a bonus. I understand the effectiveness decreases with multiple posts, so Insh'Allah I will exercise patience and make only one post here.

[birkah]

الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

• The root of these names is from the same letters — رحم.
• رحم is used for the womb of the mother. The womb envelops and covers the child. It protects the child from the outside environment (for example, bacteria, pollutants, etc.). It provides nutrients for the child and allows it to grow and develop.
• Allah SWT is far, far, far… more merciful than the mother. He does all that the mother does for the child, plus much, much, much…more…
• It is from the mercy of Allah SWT that He has chosen certain months over others, and preferred Ramadan above all. Hence, in this month, as a show of gratitude, we should worship Allah more than any other time.
• It is because of the mercy of Allah SWT that He has sent us the Qur’an (refer to the second ayah in Surah Raman). We should try our hardest to learn and reflect over the Qur’an, and not simply prioritize memorization with no understanding.

More on my blog!

[birkah]

مالك يوم الدين


The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense.

• مَالِكْThe Owner. We will all return to Malik as His property. But even then, He is extremely merciful, in that He will be just and merciful.
• You probably heard مَلِكْ - king. The King of Qiyammah. The one who has absolute kingship on that day, is the true king.
• Is there a contradiction? Never, ever, in the Quran! A person can be a king and an owner simultaneously.
• Literally means a loan. What does the Day of Loans mean? When you give a loan, you expect payback. We were loaned our bodies by Allah, and we will be paid with either Jannah-- Eternal Blisss or Jahanam -- Eternal Torture.

PS. I love this forum. JKhair to all the people that make it happen. Hence Im posting it before I publish it tomorrow on my blog.

[birkah]

Theme: Guidance.
The Quran is paired. Baqarh with Imran, Nisaa with Maidah, Anaam with Aaraf (in Anaam its only Tawheed, no stories. i.e. 'theory'. in Aarf only stories; consequences of not following the theory).

Layout:

• Begins with a call to guidance (just like Baqrah). Islam is the only guidance accepted by Allah.
• A discussion with the Christian (previous surah had a discussion with Children of Israel). Three miraculous births mentioned: Mary, Wife of Zakirya (despit her old age), and Adam (no father/mother). Implied: Is it hard for Allah to create Jesus without a father?
• A call to Jews. Why again? Allahu A3lam, but they are more stubborn, more determined not to accept guidance.. thus the repetitoin. This is why you will find a lot of Christian converts but very few Jewish converts. Allah Knows Best.
• This is the chosen community of Allah. What do you need to do as a community and not do? Lists of mistakes that should not be made. Learn from the lessons of the past - especially children of Israel, hence mentioned again!
• Summary of the Surah beginning with Verily in the creation of the Heavens and the Earth...
• Surah concludes with Taqwa just as Baqarah began with it.

SubahnAllah. Marvel at the intertextuality and interconnectedness.

I wont be posting additional summaries (majority of the people don't know past Surah Al-Imran). However, I am typing them out for myself. If you are interested, please PM me. JazakAllahu Khairan.

[birkah]

إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين

You alone we worship, and you alone we ask for help for each and everything.

• What is the most important thing for قيامة Qiyammah- Day of Judgement (previous ayah)? It is the exclusive worship of Allah. You can come with every single deed, but if you do not have one deed — لا اله الا الله — all deeds are multiplied by zero.

• عبد is used for a slave. We willingly declare that we are slaves of Allah. How does a slave think of the master? Are we acting like slaves of Allah outside of prayer?
• العبادة is اسم جامع . It combines every single thing that is loved by Allah, pleasing to Him, whether it be from actions or speech.

[birkah]

اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ

Guide us to the Straight Way

• The most important thing that we can ask Allah is for guidance. If someone was misguided, then they are doomed in this world and the next.
• هدى comes from هداية, which means to guide someone with care and affection. Hidayah includes the following: to show the path, to help ‘walk’ on the path, and to guide until the final destination (show, walk, reach).
• Reflect over the mercy of Allah: He shows us the path, then helps us remain firm on the path, and further assists us in ultimately reaching Jannah.

[Khalil_Allah]

Surah Ar-Rahman 55:33

"O company of Jinn and Mankind, if you are able to pierce beyond the bounds of the skies and earth, then pierce. You will not pierce except by force."

I was told that this ayah is a testament to the divine message of the Qur'an. Someone said that by using the conditional set up of "inni... fa-...," as opposed to "lauw... iTha" or something, the ayah indicates that it is not only possible, but likely that mankind will "pierce" beyond regions of the skies and the earth. For the guy who talked to me, this meant that the Qur'an foresaw space travel or space exploration.

SubhanaAllah.

[Innocent Soul]

"O mankind! Verily, the Promise of Allah is true. So let not this present life deceive you, and let not the chief deceiver (Satan) deceive you about Allah"
[Surah Fatir: 5]

[birkah]

اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ

Guide us to the Straight Way

• Why mention the صراط ? In this are two duaas: to guide us to the صراط in the dunya and to guide us on the صراط over the Hellfire (thus, safely entering Jannah).
• Why add المستقيم? This shows that the صراط path has absolute no flaws and is absolutely clear.

[birkah]

• What does صلاة-Salaah mean? Salaah comes from Sila, which means a connection. In Salaah we are suppose to be speaking with Allah, and hence having a connection.
• What does صلاة-Salaah have to do with burning? Sila also means to roast something. Salaah burns your sins (to purify gold, it is burnt).

You want to feel like you are talking with Allah? Learn Surah Fatiha!