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Bismillah, alhamdulillah

An interesting insight into the abyss that modern man has fallen is given by a piece of graffiti attributed to Banksy. His graffiti shows a black fox dragging the head of a man . The man is instantly recognisable as that of a Colonel Sanders of KFC. Banksy writes:

 

Filed under: Quran, advertising, Banksy, Islam, Quranic imagery, The Advertisers

Quran PowerPoints

Bismillah, alhamdulillah.

Here are some baseline presentations that can be used as material to present or produce your own presentations for the commentary of the smaller surahs in the Quran. Download from here.

Filed under: Quran, Quran commentaries via PowerPoint, Quran PowerPoints, Quran PowerPoints Surah 97-114

Why is الرحمن الرحيم repeated in Surah Al Fatihah?

Wisdom of repetition

• Assuming the basamalah is the 1st verse why repeat the الرحمن الرحيم?
• The previous verse ends with رب العالمين ‘Lord of the Worlds’
• This gives a sense of awe and fear.
• The repetition is to reassure man that the Lord is Merciful.

Source: https://sites.google.com/site/islam2unotes/quran-tafseer-english/surahalfatihah-verse2

Filed under: Quran, mercy from the beginning, Quran - a message of mercy, Surah Al fatihah repetition

Surah Al Fatihah – Names

The Opening – الفاتحة

• Lit. ‘opening’ bec it is the opening. [1]

The Seven Often Repeated Verses – السبع المثاني

• The seven often repeated verses. [1]
• مثاني is the plural of مثنى mathnaa ‘pairs’ [1]
• Named bec. often recited in prayers. [1]
• May be derived from الثناء ‘praise’ (Kashaf) [2]
• Found in Surah Al Hijr (15:87) :

Filed under: Quran, Brief notes on the names of Surah Al Fatihah, Opening surah of the Quran

The Basmala – بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

اسم Derivation of the word

• That which points out to the meaning or points to the essence.
• Basri Grammarians
  • From سمو loftines.
  • اسم : that which is lofty
• Kufi Grammarians:
  • From سمة or sign.
  • Root وسم
• Basri more correct bec dimunitives سُمَيْ and not وُسيم and pl. match show the weak letter occurs at the 3rd radical and not at the beginning.

الله  – The word Allah

• Not given to others.
• May be the great name.
• No dual or plural.

الرحمن الرحيم

• Derived from رحمة
• Lit. Softness of the heart that gives rise to a kind act
• Self existent attribute. We see its effects.
• Meanings
  • Kind to all v the believers only
  • Mercy on the grand v minute level
  • Both patterns point to a continuous attribute.
  • Source of mercy v arrival of the mercy at the recipient
• الرحمن only occurs where Allah’s names as related to His essence are mentioned: الرحمن عَلَّمَ القرآن
• الرحيم used where there Allah’s names are mentioned that indicate His actions: إِنَّ الله بالناس لَرَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ } { وَكَانَ بالمؤمنين رَحِيماً } { إِنَّهُ كَانَ بِكُمْ رَحِيماً }
• Hence given the above points strongest opinion out of meanings is last.
• Note: Common transaltions that take this into account are: Merciful and Bountiful.

An incomplete sentence

• Incomplete deliberately as a stylistic tool.
• The verb is missing.
• The implied verb is ‘I start’ with the name of God

Is it a verse in the Quran?

• Agreed that: a part of an ayah in Suah Al Naml: { إِنَّهُ مِن سُلَيْمَانَ وَإِنَّهُ بِسْمِ الله الرحمن الرحيم }
• Disgareement
  • Opinion 1
    • Part of Surah al Fatihah and other Surahs
    • Revealed once to separate surahs
    • Bec. written in mushaf unlike آمين when non Quranic words were not allowed.
    • Ibn Abbas, Umar, Abu Hurayrah, Shafi, Ahmad.
  • Opinion 2
    • Single ayah
    • Unique ayah.
    • Not part of any surah.
    • Evidence: Presence of disagreement is evidence of it not being part of a surah.

Should it be recited?

• Disputed see books of Fiqh.

Filed under: Quran, a unique verse in the Quran, Bismillah Arrahmaan Arraheem, first verse of Surah Al Fatihah, The Basmalah, the opening chapter of the Quran

Quranic Pearls : Praise v thanks

Bismillah, alhamdulillah.

Read something very interesting. Why did Allah begin the first Surah in the Quran with the opening verse: الحمد لله which is usually translated as praise. There are three words that have a close realtionship to each other. Two of these words have a natural translation in english – they are: مدح praise and شكر thanks. The word حمد lies somewhere in between the two.

مدح is more general than حمد and in turn حمد is more general than شكر. The word مدح can be used for an action or a property whereas حمد is only used for actions. This allows مدح to be used to describe the intelligence of someone but can also be used to describe a beautiful pearl. Whereas the word حمد because it is only used for actions would not be used to describe a property.

In a similar fashion the word شكر can be used to thank someone for what they have done for you. Whereas the word حمد is used to thank/praise someone for anything they have done whether to yourself or others. In this sense the word حمد is wider than the word شكر. If a person were to give شكر to Allah it would very belittling for Allah only gives a person very little compared to what he has given in total. Whereas if the word مدح were used it does not uniquely praise Allah for His actions. So the most appropriate word is حمد hence every حمد truly belongs to Allah alone.

الحمد لله Every praiseworthy thanks belongs to God!

Filed under: Quran, difference between hamd and shukr, hamd versus madh or praise, Quran praise v thanks, the meaning of hamd, مدح أعم من حمد, حمد أعم من شكر

Quran

Bsmillah alhamdulillah,

If you want read the Qur’an online, here is a scanned in version which is very easy to use and mirrors the Saudi printed mushaf (Quran) which is widely available in many places in the world and ubiquitous here in masjids and prayer areas. The site is called QuranFlash.com

Filed under: Quran, Quran Flash, quranflash.com, Scanned Quran

Hijrah – yes or no?

Bismillah, alhamdulillah

A verse in the Quran talks about emigrating or hijrah. Hijrah or emigration from non-Muslim lands to Muslim lands. This had been a topic of much conversation in Muslim circles around a decade ago especially in the West. The enthusiasm and zeal for this idea seems to have died down over the last few years as the reality of emigrating and its hardships has set in bolstered by counter arguments over the overall benefit of hijrah.

Hijrah is not as easy, palatable and in some circles not strictly relevant or a priority in the current climate. At times like this when the pendulum of discussion swings between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ the casual observer is lost in the complex mesh of argument and counter-argument. Is hijrah or emigrating an obligation, an obligation that cannot be met hence hence excused, or the opposite as hijrah can lead to worse consequences. The debate naturally occurs at a variety of levels from the scholastic to the common. At times like this contemplation of God’s book is a vital source of strength:

Filed under: Quran, hijrah, Hijrah yes or no, Muslims in the West, Quran 4:100 commentary

Quranic Pearls: Intercession & even – connection?

Bismillah, alhamdulillah

Reading verse 85 from the fourth surah (Al-Nisaa’ – Women.) I was puzzled by the words in red:

مَّن يَشْفَع شَفَاعَةً حَسَنَةً يَكُن لَّهُ نَصِيبٌ مِّنْهَا وَمَن يَشْفَعْ شَفَاعَةً سَيِّئَةً يَكُن لَّهُ كِفْلٌ مِّنْهَا وَكَانَ اللّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُّقِيتًا (4:85 )

85. Whoever recommends and helps a good cause becomes a partner therein: And whoever recommends and helps an evil cause, shares in its burden: And Allah hath power over all things. [Yusuf Ali]

The above is Yusuf Ali’s rendition of this verse. A literal translation will probably show what I found puzzling:

Whoever intercedes (yashfa’) an intercession (shafaa’ah) of good there is for him a portion from it, and whoever intercedes (yashfa’) an intercession (shafaa’ah) of evil there is for him a portion from it. And Allah is over everything capable.

What I found puzzling was the use of the verb يشفع yashfa’ (to intercede) and its related noun شفاعة shafaa’ah (intercession). My brain paused at this point and tried to work out what was meant by intercession here. The commentaries of Sayyid Tantawi and Fath al-Qadeer combined to offer a very nice linguistic explanation of this word. The verb yashfa’ is derived from the noun شفع shaf’ or even, as opposed to odd. It may leave you wondering what the connection between even and intercession is?

Every even number can be thought of as a paired number. This is the key to the link, the pairing number can be thought of as aiding or helping the odd number to become even. Hence the meaning of intercession: ‘the act of mediation through speech to help someone achieve something beneficial or save him from something harmful, whether in this world or the next’.

It brings to my mind the picture of someone pairing with someone to help them carry out their deed – good or bad to greater effect. The imagery of the Quran never ceases to amaze me:

ربنا زدنا علما O our Lord increase us in knowledge.

Filed under: Quran, even and pairs, intercession and pairs, odd and even, Quran 004:085 commentary, Quran imagery, Surah Al-Nisaa'