Aslaamu Alikum
Another reminder to read surat ul Kahf this yawm al jumuah (from maghreb Thursday until Maghreb Friday).
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Sixty-One Lessons From the Story of the Owner of the Two Gardens
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Adapted and summarized from different sources by islaam.com
http://islaam.com//Article.aspx?id=637
The aim of this article is two-fold:
1. To provide an example of how research and contemplation (in this case, by our scholars) can lead to obtaining a lot of knowledge and guidance from just a small number of Qur'anic verses.
2. To display tafsir in a format, suitable for possibly easier reading and understanding.
Main Sources:
1. Dr. Mohammad al-Khodary: Callers to Allah in the Light of the Cave
2. Harun Yahya: Signs of the End Times in Surat al Kahf
3. Ibn Kathir: Tafsir Ibn Kathir
4. Ibn Kathir: Stories of the Qur'an
Link with Quranic Ayat in Arabic (opens in a new window)To use this please go to above link.
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
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Make an example for them of two men. To one of them We gave two gardens of grapevines and surrounded them with date-palms, putting between them some cultivated land. [Al-Kahf (s.18 ayah :32)]
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1. Though this example was put forward to the proud Quraish who were arrogant towards the weak and the poor, believers should put it forward in similar situations and utilize the story’s lessons in their call to Allah.
2. This is a story of a caller to Allah in a disbelieving society that enjoys wealth and authority, and allows freedom of creed and opinion as well as freedom to call to Allah. Muslims living in such societies can make the best use of the story’s lessons when calling to Allah.
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Both gardens yielded their crops and did not suffer any loss, and We made a river flow right through the middle of them.
And he had fruit, so he said to his companion, debating with him: "I have more wealth than you and more people under me." [18:33-34]
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3. Here we see what matters to the disbeliever. Qatadah said, “This, by Allah, is the wish of the immoral: to have a lot of wealth and a large entourage.”
4. Disbelieving society evaluates matters in terms of wealth and power.
5. Disbelievers fail to apply materialistic norms to the issue of faith so they reject both the faith and its caller.
6. Disbelievers’ religious choices are affected by the material wealth and power of those who call them to a particular faith.
7. The "superiority" of wealth caused the disbeliever to become not only arrogant towards the believer but also proud and heedless towards Allah.
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He entered his garden and wronged himself by saying: "I do not think that this will ever perish." [18:35]
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8. One who sins is wronging and abusing himself first and foremost.
9. Thinking that the garden will never perish shows the disbeliever’s lack of understanding. On the Day of Judgment their lack of intelligence will become apparent to them. The Qur’an says, “And they will say: ‘Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we would not have been among the dwellers of the blazing Fire!’" [67:10]
10. Some believe that their property is the fruit of their own effort and intellect. They resemble Qarun, the arrogant tyrant whom Allah destroyed and who said, “This has been given to me only because of knowledge I possess.” [28:78] How many are those who are heedless of Allah’s Lordship and who believe that their possessions and successes in matters of life are due to their own efforts and abilities.
11. One should trust what is in Allah’s Hand more than what is in one’s own. One should not more place trust on one’s wealth, knowledge and “connections” than on Allah `azza wa jall.
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To be cont'd