a - Understand the Main Meaning of the the Ayah.
b - Look for the main
Direct Targetted Object [maf'ool bihi - the one to who something is being 'done' to] in the Ayah's discussion and
look at the Location of the words surrounding it to
see their relationship with that Main Object.
[Part of
Balaaghah - Rhetoric - finding out the reasons why words are sequenced in a certain order.*]
I.e. Surah
Ahzaab 33:24 -
لِّيَجْزِيَ اللَّهُ الصَّادِقِينَ بِصِدْقِهِمْ وَيُعَذِّبَ الْمُنَافِقِينَ إِن شَاءَ أَوْ يَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚإِنَّ اللَّهَكَانَ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا
(Ahzaab 33:24)
That Allah may reward the truthful for their truth and punish the hypocrites if He wills or accept their repentance. Indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful.
Point #1: See how; Allah mentions His Name near the Saadiqeen [truthful], yet He does not mention His Name near the hypocrites.
This is done because Allah is close to the Saadiqeen [truthful to themselves and truthful to Allah] – so He mentions His closeness to them by mentioning His Name next to them, and is angry with the hypocrites, so He does not mention His Name near the hypocrites [i.e. He is distant from them].
Point #2:
But to give hope to those who have hypocrisy in their hearts, He mentions that the hypocrite can still reach that closeness toAllah, and that can only be reached by approaching His Forgiveness and Mercy.
He pictures this by placing His Names of Mercy (Ghafoor & Raheem) next to the Name; Allah, so the hypocrite will only get closer to Allah by approaching His Forgiveness & Mercy.
Point #1 is used many times in the Qur’an, sometimes in selected aayaat/verses [like above], sometimes in whole Surahs i.e. in Surah Tariq, Allah does not even mention His Name once in the whole Surah, due to His Anger and distance against the rejectors/disbelievers.
Sentence Tajweed Sound Gems:
Look for;
- Sound (Onamatopeia) effects,
- Visual effects (i.e. Low note letters like Daad = a heavy/sluggish meaning), or even
- Flow of the ayah's recital
- and other sounds produced through Tajweed sounds, including; how they impact the;
Tajweed Sounds
If we study the arts of Tajweed, we see that there are some rules you have to learn to recite the Qur’an well.
Ikhfaa:
The
Ikhfaa rule is commonly called ‘the Nasal sound’ rule – wherein you don’t recite the letter ‘Nun’ (you don’t touch your tongue on the top roof of your inner mouth) before certain letters, but instead you
almost touch it and the sound that comes out of your nose and mouth makes a nasal sound - causing the sound of the recitation to ‘flow’ instead of abrupt pauses (which would happen if you fully pronounced the letter ‘Nun’.) This flow in recitation will give a ‘smooth’ feeling to the listener, as if you’re flying on air or floating over water. So that when the following ayah is recited, it is recited smoothly, as if you are gliding;
أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ ضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا كَلِمَةً طَيِّبَةً كَشَجَرَةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ أَصْلُهَا ثَابِتٌ وَفَرْعُهَا فِي السَّمَاءِ
Have you not considered how Allah presents an example, [making] a good word like a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed and its branches [high] in the sky? [
Quran 14:24]
Comparison: On the other hand, when we see the description being mentioned of a tree representing disbelief, we see there is
no Ikhfaa rule applied, and we also hear difficult to pronounce letters (like Daad) being used. This means the letter
‘Nun’ and other difficult to pronounce letters will be pronounced alot in this ayah, which causes
abrupt STOPS in the flow of the Ayah. This continuous abrupt stopping in the recitation makes you feel ‘
sluggish‘, as if you are
continuously falling on your face – making you feel -through hearing the recitation- that disbelief is continuously heavy and hard upon you.
وَمَثَلُ كَلِمَةٍ خَبِيثَةٍ كَشَجَرَةٍ خَبِيثَةٍ اجْتُثَّتْ مِن فَوْقِ الْأَرْضِ مَا لَهَا مِن قَرَارٍ
And the example of a bad word is like a bad tree, uprooted from the surface of the earth, not having any stability. [
Quran 14:26]
In Step 3 - The Location of an Ayah within a Passage of Discussion
Rukoo': Abdul Nasir Jangda says that the Rukoo'aat (sub sections within a surah) you find in copies of the Qur'an are divided by scholars based on the different subjects within a surah. So take advantage of these when studying different passages within surahs' of the Qur'an.
a - Step no.2 is often related to Step no.3:
The location of an Ayah may be based on;
i - the context of the whole passage (Rukoo').
ii - Or even based on the Theme of the entire surah.
Example:
وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُم مِّنْ إِمْلَاقٍ ۖ نَّحْنُنَرْزُقُكُمْوَإِيَّاهُمْ
And kill not your children out of poverty, We provide you and them.
(Israa’ 17:31)
It seems like it’s the same thing. But it’s not;
In
surah al An’am: it is describing when
Poverty already exists - Who are you worried about feeding in that moment the most? = Yourself. So Allah tells us that He will provide for YOU and them.
In
surah al Isra’: - there is a
Future-Fear of Poverty being depicted. People may be able to feed themselves, but they fear for the providing of their children.
So Allah mentions that He will Provide for THEM [the children], since that is the persons main worry.
b -
the Location of an Ayah and its content is important. The following examples will explain how;
i - Surah al Baqarah has 286 aayaat within it, and tells us how to be the best nation. If we divide that (286) by two, we get the number 143.
The exact MIDDLE ayah of
Surah al Baqarah is 2:143. And in that ayah, Allah tells us;
وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً
وَسَطًا لِّتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ وَيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ شَهِيدًا
And like that, We have made you a
MIDDLE (wasaTan) nation...
ii - Surah al Haqqah -
Order of words gradually going Upwards in location:
i.e.
(1) Earth > (2) mountains > (3) sky > (4) > angels, (5) > Throne ('Arsh), (6) - Our Lord Allah (see Haqqah 69: 13-16)
فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِي الصُّورِ نَفْخَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ
وَحُمِلَتِ الْأَرْضُ وَالْجِبَالُ فَدُكَّتَا دَكَّةً وَاحِدَةً
فَيَوْمَئِذٍ وَقَعَتِ الْوَاقِعَةُ.
Then when the Horn is blown with one blast. And the (1)
earth and the (2)
mountains are lifted and leveled with one blow - Then on that Day, the Resurrection will occur,
وَانشَقَّتِ السَّمَاءُ فَهِيَ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَاهِيَةٌ.
وَالْمَلَكُ عَلَىٰ أَرْجَائِهَا ۚ وَيَحْمِلُ عَرْشَ رَبِّكَ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ ثَمَانِيَةٌ
And the (3)
heaven/sky will split [open], for that Day it is infirm.
And the (4)
angels are at its edges. And there will bear the (5)
Throne of your (6)
Lord above them, that Day, eight [of them (i.e. angels)].
In Step 4 - See how all the Passages are Different yet how they all Connect to work Together to produce 'Themes':
This can be done through;
- Finding out when a Passage of Discussion has finished.
Which can be figured through seeing; a change of Theme in i.e.
- Rhyme,
- Word Patterns or
- changes in Sentence structure,
- Change in topic of Discussion, or Change in Rukoo' etc.
Example:
In
surah al Haqqah (69: 1-32) - all of the words end in with a letter
'ha' [ ه ]
This Repeated pattern is sustained from Aayaat 1-32 in surah al Haqqah. And when the Rhyme pattern changes, it's because the topic of discussion has changed.
In
Surah al Haqqah - from ayah 1 - 32 - Judgment Day and the Next Life is being discussed in great detail.
The last letter and tune of the surah changes from
ayah 33 onwards. So we know that a new topic is being discussed in the surah now - which depicts what actions one should have done to be saved from the Punishment of the Hellfire.
The letter 'ha' has stopped being used (because that made you feel hopeless), yet gentle letters are still not being used, rather 'extended' sounds like ('ADheeem, Miskeeen, Hameeem, etc. are being used to show that you are still blameworthy and not saved from the punishment, until you remove this blame off yourself by doing the good actions mentioned.)
Once you have differentiated between the Different Passages in the surah, you have to work out and see
how all these Passages are Related to each other = Theme of the surah.
Step 5 - Produce a Conclusion, which is derived by finding out; the Theme, Message, & Placement of the Surah in the Qur'an.
By;
- studying points 1-4 in depth,
- studying the Cause for Revelation of a Surah and it's Aayaat [aSbaab al Nuzool]
- and by studying the Classical Linguistic tafaseer,
You will be able to find out the Main Message of a surah and its
Main Theme which connects all its; words, aayaat, passages [Rukoo'aat], and overall structure together. This
Theme is usually one main lesson or Word you can use to define the entire message of the Surah.
Examples:
If you read Surah al
Mutaffifeen (83) - you will see from the beginning till end that Allah
criticizes those who are 'Greedy and Sly characters'.
"Who, when they take a measure from people, take in full.
But if they give by measure or by weight to them, they cause loss.
...
And when they (the disbelievers) passed by them (the believers), they would exchange sarcastic eye movements."
These aayaat show that this surah strongly focuses on the evil of those who are of a Greedy and Sly nature.
Surah
InShiqaaq (84) - has a Theme of
Inevitability;
Shaq – is irreversible. Once the sky is torn/ripped – it cannot be back to normal again like before its tearing.
The inevitable – the point of no return – the conclusion of the sky we have above us is that it will be torn and will never return to its normal state after that.
Other forms of 'the point of no return' are implied in the surah, i.e. the Earth being spread out completely, the Earth spitting out all that it contains within it, etc.
Surah
Burooj (85) - has a Theme of '
Possession';
The Sky – possessing – the burooj (stellar stars).
The Fire – possessing – the fuel (which burns the believers in this life, and the disbelievers in the next life.)
The Rabb/Lord – possessing the ‘Arsh – Mighty throne.
Etc.
Find more themes of Suwar (surahs) on
LinguisticMiracle.com/tafsir
Then judge why the surah would be placed in that part (Juzz) of the Qur'an (especially in relation to the Suwar [Surahs] surrounding it.)