• Tafseer Surah Nazi’at, Part 1

    This is post #42 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series).

    In this post, insha’Allah we will take a whirlwind tour of the first third or so of Surah Naazi’aat, a great and powerful surah of the Qur’an. Then insha’Allah we will go back and dive into more details (particularly in the Arabic side of things).

    Allah says:

    وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا

    وَالنَّاشِطَاتِ نَشْطًا

    وَالسَّابِحَاتِ سَبْحًا

    فَالسَّابِقَاتِ سَبْقًا

    فَالْمُدَبِّرَاتِ أَمْرًا

    Translation: By those [angels] who extract with violence, and [by] those who remove with ease, and [by] those who glide [as if] swimming, and those who race each other in a race, and those who arrange [each] matter, … [Surah Nazi’at, verses 1-5]

    These ayaat describe attributes of angels:

    • Ripping Out: Gharq (غَرْق) means to rip out, to yank out, to extract harshly. If you had a tree and you uprooted it, roots and all, that would be gharq. This refers to the angels who remove the souls of the corrupt and the evil-doers.
    • Gently Pulling: Verse two contrasts verse one by mentioning nasht (نَشْط), which is like a gentle pulling. This refers to the angels that remove the souls of the righteous believers.
    • Swimming: Verse three refers to angels who swim through the air; they are described as swimming.
    • Racing: Verse four refers to angels who are racing; racing the souls of the righteous to Jannah.
    • Al-Mudabiraat: Al-Mudabiraat are those angelswho settle the affairs of deen and dunya, in the dunya. They take care of floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters, among other things. Their name, al-mudabiraat, also implies that they are thorough planners and executers of those plans.

    All of these are aqsaam (oaths), which is typical in Mecci surahs. What is Allah (‘azza wa jal) swearing to?

  • Arabic Analysis of Surah Balad

    This is post #35 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series). In this post, we will insha’Allah do a word-for-word breakdown of each surah, as space permits. In the first ayah, Allah (subhannahu wa ta’ala) says: لَا أُقْسِمُ بِهَٰذَا الْبَلَدِ The first two words, laa uqsimu (لَا أُقْسِمُ) literally means “I do not swear.” Uqsimu is mudaari’ mutakallim waahid, i.
  • Benefits of Tawbah

    Bismillah This is a translation from the original article in Arabic. 1- It is a cause to receive the Love of Allah azza wa jal. The Most High says: إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves. (2:222) 2- It is a cause of success. The Most High says: وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ And all of you beg Allah to forgive you, O believers, that you may be successful.
  • Arabic Analysis of Surah Qaari’ah

    A faraash–a moth. This is post #31 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series). As per the poll on our twitter account, there was consensus on their being a post on grammatical analysis of Surah Qaari’ah. So here you go insha’Allah. Standard Disclaimer: I am not an Arab (as in, fluent in Arabic) nor have I double-checked this in books of ‘ulama discussing grammar; there is sometimes difference of opinion in grammar, as well; so take it as such insha’Allah.
  • Tafseer Surah Qadar: What’s Better Than 1000 Months?

    This is post #25 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series).

    Reason of Revelation

    The Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) told the companions about a man of the previous nations; a man who lived and fought jihad for over 1000 months (roughly 83 years, 4 months). (In case you didn’t know, the previous nations lived longer than us–like Prophet Nuh (alayhi salaam), who did da’wah for nearly 1000 years.)

    The companions were amazed, and they said: how can we compete with him?

    And subhanallah, this is a gem. Look at the companions. They prioritized and competed for the akhirah. Subhanallah to the point that, they don’t just try to do “some good deeds before I die;” not enough. They competed with each other–but even that was not enough. Rather, they competed with all of the Muslims, ever, starting from the time of Prophet Adam, until the Day of Judgment.

    We need to really look at ourselves and see, how much are we like them? Or are we just vying for bigger houses, better cars–more dunya?

  • Tafseer of Surah Tawheed

    This is post #23 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series). Allah says, in Surah Tawheed, also known as Surah Ikhlas: قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ Translation: Say, “He is Allah , [who is] One, Allah , the Eternal Refuge [As-Samad], He neither begets (gives birth to) nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent.
  • Arabic Explanation of Surah Takweer

    Note: This is post #17 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

    When the sun is kuwwirat

    We’re going to digress a bit and jump back to Surah Takweer. This post is based on Shaykh Nouman Khan’s tafseer, which heavily emphasizes the Arabic language. I hope you will find, as I found it, as a glimpse of a previously-unseen world, a depth of knowledge that just drips from the Arabic language.

    Allah says, in surah Takweer:

    إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ

    Translation: When the sun is kuwwirat … [verse 1]

    There are a lot of gems that we learn even from this first ayah:

    • Idhaa + Past-Tense: Idhaa is an indicator of future-tense “when (something will happen).” Yet, kuwwirat is past-tense; why? This combination means something is so certain, it’s like past-tense. So Allah is saying “when this happens,” yet it’s certain that it WILL happen; as certain as the past is past.
    • Nominal Sentence: The default in Arabic is to put the verb first–“kuwwirat ash-shamsu.” To reverse this into “ash-shamsu kuwwirat,” shows emphasis, and makes it a tougher, stronger sentence. This hints at the audience–Mushrikeen in Mecca, the worst and most obstinate of them, who are listening to this revelation.
    • Passive Voice: Allah could have said, “When I wrap up the sun,” but He didn’t. Why? If you’re biased against someone (say a political party), no matter what they say, even before they open their mouth, you say, “psshh.” But here, passive-voice highlights the maf’ool, the recipient of the action–the sun, the stars–instead of the doer.

    As for the meaning of kuwwirat, kawwara means to wrap something around something; it’s used in the context of a turban, something long, that’s wrapped around your head.

    Allah is applying the same meaning here–that the light of the sun, something that’s long, will be kuwwirat, wrapped up. Wrapped up meaning, something will cover it, and it will no longer be visible; and it will be wrapped slowly, part by part disappearing–the same way that Allah described the day as wrapping around the night and the night wrapping around the day.

    This is something scary–that you see the sun wrapped up, and losing its light. But there’s more

  • Tafseer of Surah Lahab

    Note: This is post #7 in our series of Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma. Most of us know Surah Lahab. It’s one of the first one Muslim children learn these days. We’re going to breeze through the tafseer, then dive into one of the miracles, and finish up with some Arabic analysis. Allah says: تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ مَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُ مَالُهُ وَمَا كَسَبَ سَيَصْلَى نَاراً ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ
  • Arabic Analysis for First Revelation

    This is the second post in our series of Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma. The first five ayaat of Surah Iqraa are: اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ Word-for-word translations are pretty common these days (like this one, which has Surah Iqraa), so I’m going to touch lightly on that, and do a bit more grammar.
  • Qur’anic Oath: Tallahi!

    Bismillah Aqsaam (oaths) in the Qur’an are a very fascinating subject that we should study and focus on more. There are a few components needed for a qasm (oath) to occur. One of them is the harf qasm, a letter that shows there is an oath being taken. There are a few letters in the Qur’an that are used as harf qasm, for example, Allah ta’ala says “wal ‘aadiyaati dhabhaa”. The harf qasm in this oath is the letter wow (و).