Sunday, October 30, 2016

Surah An Nur Notes (51-57)

Source: Ibn Kathir



The Treachery of the Hypocrites and the Attitude of the Believers

 (51) The only saying of the faithful believers, when they are called to Allah (His Words, the Quran) and His Messenger (SAW), to judge between them, is that they say: "We hear and we obey." And such are the prosperous ones (who will live forever in Paradise).

(The only saying of the faithful believers, when they are called to Allah and His Messenger, to judge between them, is that they say: "We hear and we obey''.) meaning, to hear to obey. Allah describes them as having attained success, which is achieving what one wants and being saved from what one fears.

(they say: "We hear and we obey''.)

Qatadah said: "We were told that when `Ubadah bin As-Samit, who had been present at Al-`Aqabah and at Badr, and was one of the leaders of the Ansar, was dying, he said to his nephew Junadah bin Abi Umayyah: `Shall I not tell you what you must do and what is your due' He said, `Yes.' He said: `You have to listen and obey when times are easy and when they are hard, when you feel energetic and when you do not want to, and when you feel selfish. You have to train your tongue to speak the truth. Do not go against those who are in authority, unless they openly command you to commit acts of disobedience to Allah. Whenever you are commanded to do something that goes against the Book of Allah, then follow the Book of Allah.'' 

Qatadah said: We were told that Abu Ad-Darda' said, "There is no Islam except through obedience to Allah, and no goodness except in Jama`ah. Sincerity is to Allah and His Messenger , and to the Khalifah and all the believers.'' He said: "And we were told that `Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say; `The bonds of Islam are La ilaha illallah, establishing prayer, paying Zakah and obeying those whom Allah has given authority over the affairs of the Muslims.''' This was recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim. There are very many Hadiths and reports which state that it is obligatory to obey the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger, the Rightly-Guided Khalifahs and the Imams when they command us to obey Allah; there are too many of these reports to quote them all here.




(52) And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger (SAW), fears Allah, and keeps his duty (to Him), such are the successful ones.

(And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger,) in what he is commanded with, and avoid what he is forbidden,

(fears Allah, ) means, for his past sins,

(and has Taqwa of Him,) regarding sins he may commit in the future.


(such are the successful.) means, those who will attain all goodness and be saved from all evil in this world and the Hereafter.




(53) They swear by Allah their strongest oaths, that if only you would order them, they would leave (their homes for fighting in Allah's Cause). Say: "Swear you not; (this) obedience (of yours) is known (to be false). Verily, Allah knows well what you do."

(Say: "Swear you not...'') meaning, do not swear this oath.


(obedience is known.) It was said that the meaning is, your obedience is known, i.e., it is known that your obedience is merely verbal and is not accompanied by action. Every time you swear an oath you lie. 





(54) Say: "Obey Allah and obey the Messenger, but if you turn away, he (Messenger Muhammad SAW) is only responsible for the duty placed on him (i.e. to convey Allah's Message) and you for that placed on you. If you obey him, you shall be on the right guidance. The Messenger's duty is only to convey (the message) in a clear way."

(Say: "Obey Allah and obey the Messenger...) meaning, follow the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger.

(but if you turn away,) if you ignore what he has brought to you,

(he is only responsible for the duty placed on him), conveying the Message and fulfilling the trust.

(and you for that placed on you.) accepting that, and venerating it and doing as it commanded.


(If you obey him, you shall be on the right guidance.) because he calls to the straight path,




Allah's Promise to the Believers that He would grant them Succession

(55) Allah has promised those among you who believe, and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to (the present rulers) in the earth, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practise their religion, that which He has chosen for them (i.e. Islam). And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear (provided) they (believers) worship Me and do not associate anything (in worship) with Me. But whoever disbelieved after this, they are the Fasiqun.

This is a promise from Allah to His Messenger that He would cause his Ummah to become successors on earth, i.e., they would become the leaders and rulers of mankind, through whom He would reform the world and to whom people would submit, so that they would have in exchange a safe security after their fear. This is what Allah did indeed do, may He be glorified and exalted, and to Him be praise and blessings. 

For He did not cause His Messenger to die until He had given him victory over Makkah, Khaybar, Bahrayn, all of the Arabian Peninsula and Yemen; and he took Jizyah from the Zoroastrians of Hajar and from some of the border lands of Syria; and he exchanged gifts with Heraclius the ruler of Byzantium, the ruler of Egypt and Alexandria, the Muqawqis, the kings of Oman and An-Najashi of Abyssinia, who had become king after Ashamah, may Allah have mercy on him and grant him honor. 

Then when the Messenger died, his successor (Khalifah) Abu Bakr As-Siddiq took over the reins of power and united the Ummah, preventing its disintegration. He took control of the entire Arabian Peninsula, and he sent the Islamic armies to the land of Persia, under the leadership of Khalid bin Al-Walid, may Allah be pleased with him, who conquered a part of it and killed some of its people. He sent another army under the leadership of Abu `Ubaydah, may Allah be pleased with him, and the other commanders who came after him in the lands of Syria. He sent a third army under the leadership of `Amr bin Al-`As, may Allah be pleased with him, to Egypt. Allah enabled the army sent to Syria to conquer Busra and Damascus and their provinces the land of Hawran and its environs. 

Then Allah chose for Abu Bakr to honor him with Him and he died. The people of Islam were blessed that As-Siddiq was inspired to appoint `Umar Al-Faruq as his successor, so he took the reins of power after him and did a perfect job. After the Prophets, the world never saw anyone like `Umar in excellence of conduct and perfect justice. During his time, the rest of Syria and Egypt, and most of Persia, was conquered. Kisra was defeated and utterly humiliated, and he retreated to the furthest point of his kingdom. Mighty Caesar was brought low, his rule over Syria was overthrown, and he retreated to Constantinople. Their wealth was spent for the sake of Allah, as the Messenger of Allah had foretold and promised. May Allah's perfect peace and purest blessing be upon him. 

During the rule of `Uthman, the Islamic domains spread to the furthest points of the earth, east and west. The lands of the west were conquered as far as Cyprus and Andalusia, Kairouan and Sebta which adjoins the Atlantic Ocean. Towards the east, the conquests extended as far as China. Kisra was killed, his kingdom was utterly destroyed and the cities of Iraq, Khurasan and Al-Ahwaz were conquered. The Muslims killed a great number of Turks and Allah humiliated their great king Khaqan. Taxes were collected from the east and the west, and brought to the Commander of the faithful `Uthman bin `Affan, may Allah be pleased with him. This was a blessing brought by his recitation and study of the Qur'an, and his bringing the Ummah together to preserve and protect it. 


(But whoever disbelieved after this, they are the rebellious.) means, `whoever then stops obeying Me after that, has stopped obeying the command of his Lord, and that is a great sin.' The Companions -- may Allah be pleased with them -- were the most committed of people after the Prophet to the commands of Allah and the most obedient to Allah. Their victories were in accordance with their level of commitment. They caused the Word of Allah to prevail in the east and the west, and Allah supported them so much that they governed all the people and all the lands. When the people subsequently fell short in their commitment to some of the commandments, their strength and victory fell short accordingly, 

but it is confirmed through more than one route in the Two Sahihs that the Messenger of Allah said: (There will remain a group of my Ummah adhering to the truth, and those who forsake them or oppose them will not harm them until the Day of Resurrection. )



The Command to pray, give the Zakah and obey the Messenger

(56) And perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and give Zakat and obey the Messenger (Muhammad SAW) that you may receive mercy (from Allah).

Allah commands His believing servants to establish prayer, which means worshipping Allah Alone with no partner or associate; to pay the Zakah, which is an act of kindness towards His poor and weak creatures; and by doing so to obey the Messenger of Allah , i.e., to do as he commands them and to avoid what he forbids them, so that Allah will have mercy on them for that. No doubt, whoever does that, Allah will have mercy on him,



(57) Consider not that the disbelievers can escape in the land. Their abode shall be the Fire, and worst indeed is that destination.

(Consider not) means, `do not think, O Muhammad,' that:

(the disbelievers) meaning, those who opposed and denied you,

(can escape in the land.) means, that they can flee from Allah. No, Allah is able to deal with them and He will punish them most severely for that. Allah says:

(Their abode) meaning, in the Hereafter,


(shall be the Fire -- and worst indeed is that destination.) means, how terrible the consequences will be for the disbelievers, how evil a place to stay in and how awful a place to rest!




No comments:

Post a Comment

Surah Al Baqarah Notes (8-16)

Source: Ibn Kathir

Popular Posts