Monday, September 18, 2017

Surah Az Zariyat Notes (12-25)


Source: Ibn Kathir

(12) They ask; "When will be the Day of Recompense?"

(They ask: "When will be the Day of Ad-Din'') They utter this statement in denial, stubbornness, doubt, and suspicion. 


(13) (It will be) a Day when they will be tried (i.e. burnt) over the Fire!

Allah the Exalted replied,

(It will be) a Day when they will be Yuftanun in the Fire!) Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Al-Hasan and several others said that Yuftanun means punished. Mujahid said: "Just as gold is forged in the fire.'' A group of others also including Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i, Zayd bin Aslam, and Sufyan Ath-Thawri said, "They will be burnt.''


(14) "Taste you your trial (burning)! This is what you used to ask to be hastened!"

(Taste you your trial!), Mujahid said, "Your burning'' while others said, "Your punishment.''


(This is what you used to ask to be hastened!) This will be said admonishing, chastising, humiliating and belittling them. Allah knows best.



Qualities of Those Who have Taqwa and Their Reward

(15) Verily, the Muttaqun will be in the midst of Gardens and Springs (in the Paradise),

Allah the Exalted informs about those who have Taqwa, that on the Day of their Return they will be amidst gardens and springs. To the contrary, the miserable ones will be amidst torment, punishment, fire, and chains.


(16) Taking joy in the things which their Lord has given them. Verily, they were before this Muhsinun

(Taking joy in the things which their Lord has given them.) His statement;

(Taking) describes the state of the people of Taqwa in the midst of gardens and springs. They will receive what their Lord gives them, meaning, delight, happiness, and favors. Allah the Exalted and Most Honored said,

(Verily, they were before that), in the life of the world,

(good-doers) As He said:


(Eat and drink at ease for that which you have sent on before you in days past!)(69:24) 

Allah the Exalted described the good acts that they performed,


The First Opinion

(17) They used to sleep but little by night [invoking their Lord (Allah) and praying, with fear and hope].

The first is that, they used to spend a little part of every night awake. 

Ibn `Abbas said, "Every night, they would worship Allah, even during a little part of the night.'' 

Qatadah narrated that Mutarrif bin `Abdullah said, "Hardly a night would pass by them that they did not pray to Allah the Exalted and Most Honored, either in the beginning, or the middle of it.'' 

Mujahid said, "Only a few nights, if any, would they sleep through the night until the morning without praying Tahajjud.'' 

Qatadah said similarly. Anas bin Malik and Abu Al-`Aliyah said, "They used to pray between Al-Maghrib and Al-`Isha'.'' 

The Second Opinion They used to spend a little part of the night in sleep. This was preferred by Ibn Jarir. 

Al-Hasan Al-Basri said:

(They used to sleep but little by night), "They performed voluntary night prayer and would not sleep during the night except a little. They were active and would continue until they were seeking forgiveness right before dawn.'' 

`Abdullah bin Salam said, "When the Messenger of Allah arrived at Al-Madinah, people quickly gathered around him and I was among them. When I saw his face, I knew that it was not the face of a liar. The first statement I heard from him was, (O people! Feed with food, keep relations to kith and kin, spread the Salam, pray at night while people are asleep, and you will enter Paradise in peace.)'' Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin `Umar said that the Messenger of Allah said, (Verily, there are lofty rooms in Paradise in which the outside can be seen from inside and their inside from the outside.) Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari said, "Who are they for, O Allah's Messenger'' He said, (For those who use soft speech, feed food and spend the night in voluntary prayer while people are asleep.) 


(18) And in the hours before dawn, they were (found) asking (Allah) for forgiveness,

(And in the hours before dawn, they were asking for forgiveness.) Mujahid and several others said: "They were performing Salah.'' 

Others said that they would stand in prayer during the night and delayed asking Allah for forgiveness until the latter hours before dawn. 

As Allah, the Exalted the Blessed, said;

(And those who seek forgiveness during the last hours of the night.)(3:17); This is because it is better if asking for forgiveness is done while praying. 

It is confirmed in the Sahih collections as well as others, from several Companions, that the Messenger of Allah said, (Allah, the Most High, descends each night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains. He says, "Is there anyone who is repenting so that I may accept his repentance Is there anyone seeking forgiveness, so that I may forgive him Is there anyone asking of Me, so that I may grant him his request'' until Fajr begins.)

 Many of the scholars of Tafsir said that when the Prophet Ya`qub said to his sons:


(I will ask my Lord for forgiveness for you)(12:98), he delayed doing so until the hours before dawn. 


(19) And in their properties, there was the right of the beggar, and the Mahrum (the poor who does not ask the others).

Allah the Exalted and Most Honored said,

(And in their wealth there was the right of the Sa'il and the Mahrum.) After Allah mentioned their quality of performing prayer, He then mentioned their quality of spending in charity and acts of compassion and kindness,

(And in their wealth there was the right), a designated part which they dedicated to the Sa'il and Mahrum. 

The Sa'il is the poor who begs others, and he has a due right. 

As for the Mahrum, Ibn `Abbas and Mujahid said, "He is the poor person who does not receive a stipend.'' Meaning he does not receive a stipend from the Muslim treasury, nor does he have a means of income, nor a profession. 

The Mother of the faithful, `A'ishah may Allah be pleased with her, said about the Mahrum, "He is the displaced, the one who does not have a profession to easily earn an income from.'' 

Qatadah and Az-Zuhri: "The Mahrum is the one who does not ask the people for anything.'' 

Az-Zuhri added that the Messenger of Allah said, (The poor (Miskin) is not the one who goes round to the people and asks them for a mouthful or two or a date or two. But the poor is the one who does not have enough to satisfy his needs and whose condition is not known to others, so that others may give him something in charity.) This Hadith is recorded in the Two Sahihs using another chain of narration.



Allah's Signs on the Earth and in Mankind

(20) And on the earth are signs for those who have Faith with certainty,

Allah the Exalted and the Blessed said next,


(And on the earth are signs for those who have faith with certainty.) Allah says that there are signs on earth that testify to the might of the Creator and His boundless ability. These signs include what Allah placed on the earth, the various plants, animals, valleys, mountains, deserts, rivers, and oceans. He also created mankind with different languages, colors, intentions and abilities, and a variety among them, differences in the power of understanding and comprehension, their deeds, and ultimately earning happiness or misery. Allah put every organ in their bodies in its rightful place where they most need it to be.


(21) And also in your own selves. Will you not then see?

(And also in yourselves. Will you not then see) Qatadah commented, "He who thinks about his own creation will realize that he was created with flexible joints so that it is easy for him to perform acts of worship.'' 


(22) And in the heaven is your provision and that which you are promised.

Allah the Exalted said next,

(And in the heaven is your provision,) meaning, rain,


(and that which you are promised.) meaning Paradise. This was said by Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, and several others.


(23) Then, by the Lord of the heaven and the earth, it is the truth (i.e. what has been promised to you), just as it is the truth that you can speak.

(Then by the Lord of the heaven and the earth, it is the truth, just as you can speak.) Allah is swearing by His honorable Self, all of the matters of the Judgement, Resurrection, and Recompense that they have been promised shall certainly occur. Therefore, it is the truth, there being no doubt about it, so do not doubt its coming, just as you do not doubt that you can speak When he would talk to one of his friends, Mu`adh used to say: "What I am saying is as true as your being here.'' 


The Guests of the Prophet Ibrahim

(24) Has the story reached you, of the honoured guests [three angels; Jibrael (Gabriel) along with another two] of Ibrahim (Abraham)?



(25) When they came in to him, and said, "Salam, (peace be upon you)!" He answered; "Salam, (peace be upon you )," and said: "You are a people unknown to me,"

We mentioned this story before in Surah Hud and Al-Hijr. Allah said,

(Has the story reached you, of the honored guests of Ibrahim), whom Ibrahim honored and who,

(they said: "Salaman!'' He answered: "Salamun.'')



(When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or return it equally.)(4:86)

So the Friend of Allah chose a better reply in return for their greeting, implementing Allah's command: Reciprocating the greeting with the term Salamun is stronger than the greeting using the term Salaman. The three angels; Jibril, Mika'il, and Israfil came to Ibrahim in the image of handsome young wonderfully graceful men. 

This is why Ibrahim said,

(You are a people unknown to me.)

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