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Note: This is post #17 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series).

Allah says, in Surah At-Takaathur:

أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ

حَتَّى زُرْتُمُ الْمَقَابِرَ

Translation: Competition in [worldly] increase diverts you, until you visit the graveyards. [Surah At-Takaathur, verses 1-2]

Subhanallah, even though these verses were revealed over 1400 years ago, we still see the exact same situation today. Al-Haakum means, it makes you compete with each other. At-Takaathur is rivalry, competition, in accumulating material things; thinking that life is about toys, and the one with the most (or most expensive) toys wins.

What is Takaathur?

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

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 …

Note: This is post #16 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

Allah says, in Surah Al-Kauthar:

إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ

فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ

إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ

Translation: Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], al-Kawthar. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice [to Him alone]. Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off. [Surah Kawthar, verse 1-3]

Many of you know the hadith where the Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) was napping under a tree, and he woke up, smiling; and he said, Allah revealed to me this surah.

Interestingly, the ‘ulama have discussed this–is it possible that Allah sends revelation in a dream? The answer is, surprisingly, no; of the 6-7 ways, the most common is through Jibreel (alayhi salaam). Even here, there’s no indication that the surah was revealed through a dream–perhaps Jibreel (alayhi salaam) came to the Prophet once he had woken, and revealed it to him. (For more information, check our posts on Route 114: Uloom Al-Qur’an)

In verse 1, Allah says: Inna ‘ataynaaka al-kawthar. These two words allude to an enormous giver, giving an enormous gift. Allah could’ve just said: ataytuka al-kawthar; but that would’ve been weak, human speech. Instead, he uses inna–emphasis, and refers to himself in the “royal we” (something we have in English, too).

Note: This is post #15 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

Allah begins Surah Aadiyaat by saying:

وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا

فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا

فَالْمُغِيرَاتِ صُبْحًا

فَأَثَرْنَ بِهِ نَقْعًا

فَوَسَطْنَ بِهِ جَمْعًا

Translation: By the ‘aadiyaat, when they pant, and the muwriyraat striking (when their hoves strike the ground and make sparks), and the mughiyraat, at dawn (when they raid), stirring up thereby [clouds of] dust, arriving thereby in the center collectively, …

This is a qasam (oath), a big oath that spans five ayaat. I’m going to dive into word-for-word translation, because no translation can do justice (without paragraphs of brackets).

‘Aadiyaat (عَادِيَات) are horses (plural: sound feminine plural, in fact). Not those horses you see Canadian Mounties riding; but real, true, WAR horses. If you’ve ever seen war-horses (send us a picture!), they have a special, particular intensity to them.

Dabhaa (ضَبْحًا) means to pant. Pant meaning, if you’ve ever run in a 100-meter race, or tried to run until you’re tired, and you start breathing heavily through your mouth–that’s panting. Why are the ‘aadiyaat panting? Because they are charging into battle.

You’ll see lots of war concepts here. The Arabs at the time of the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) knew these things very, very well; and when Allah testifies, these things he testifies by–nobody would deny them.

Muwriyaat (مُورِيَات) are also war-horses–the ones that strike. Strike meaning, when they run, their hooves strike up sparks on the ground. I definitely don’t encourage watching movies, so if you’ve ever read seerah stories, or perhaps Lord of the Rings, or similar books, you might find these kinds of concepts in their battles.

Mughiyraat (مُغِيرَات) are the raiding horses. In the time of the Prophet, they would have raids; you would see a whole army of horses and riders sweeping into a city, and they’d kill everybody and destroy it. Mughiyraat are those raiding horses that they rode.

Note: this is our 14th post in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

Allah says, in Surah ‘Asr:

وَالْعَصْرِ

إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ

إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ

“By Time. Indeed, mankind is at loss. Except for those who have believed, done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.” [Asr: 1-3]

Allah swears by time–which shows how enormous and noble this creation is. Time.

Imam Shafi said about this revelation that had it been the only revelation sent to mankind, it would have been enough.  What motivated him to say this?

Note: this is our 13th post in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma. Stand up and do more. Muslims don’t retire or quit from working for the deen. Persist. Be like the flower that springs through concrete. Allah says, in verse 3: وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ Translation: And raised high for you your repute. If you see those polls on CNN and BBC and all those places, “Who is the most famous person in the world?

Note: this is our 12th post in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

Insha’Allah in this post, we’re going to discuss three points:

1. The close relationship between Allah and His prophet
2. A glimpse of Paradise
3. A core theme of social services in Islam

The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) received revelation prior to Surah Duhaa. Then for a while, nothing. Umm Jameelah, the wife of Abu Lahab, came to him and said: “I hope your shaytaan has finally left you.” Because the Arabs used to say, if someone was really good at something, that they had a shaytaan helping them. (No doubt like some of the musicians today.)

Still nothing came. The people began to talk … and they said, maybe his Lord has left him. Maybe He has abandoned him.

And so Allah revealed:

In Surah Duhaa, Allah says:

وَالضُّحَى

وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى

مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى

Translation: By duhaa (the morning brightness after Fajr), and [by] the night when it covers with darkness, your Lord has not taken leave of you, [O Muúammad], nor has He detested [you].

[This hadith is found in Bukhari and Muslim, and is quoted in Tafseer ibn Katheer]

This shows us two things: first, that the people knew when revelation came; that it was a big deal, and everybody knew about it. And second, the immense love of Allah for His prophet. How close their relationship–that even something as small as this stress, Allah revealed verses on behalf of the prophet, to reassure him. Subhanallah!

What’s more, Allah swears by duhaa–by the brightness of the day right after the sun has come up–and by the night, as it covers up the day with darkness. (This shows the greatness of these creations–that Allah swears by them. Who would deny these things? Nobody!)

Note: this is our 11th post in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

Allah says, in Surah Fajr:

فَأَمَّا الْإِنسَانُ إِذَا مَا ابْتَلَاهُ رَبُّهُ فَأَكْرَمَهُ وَنَعَّمَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَكْرَمَنِ

وَأَمَّا إِذَا مَا ابْتَلَاهُ فَقَدَرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَهَانَنِ

Translation: And as for man, when his Lord tries him and [thus] is generous to him and favors him, he says, “My Lord has honored me.” But when He tries him and restricts his provision, he says, “My Lord has humiliated me.” [Surah Fajr, verses 15-16]

You’ll notice here, Allah is commenting on the mentality of the human race. When Allah gives … the human being says: “My Lord has honoured me.”

Because it’s all about wealth … money … dunya. This is the metric we use. You see the president of a country? You’re very respectful. If the same president was a homeless bum asking you for change? You wouldn’t even look at him. We equate money with respect and honour … as Allah points out.

And the flip side? When Allah constrains the rizq, the human being says: “My lord has humiliated me.”

Bismillah. We’ve been posting about tafseer of Juz ‘Amma for over a month now; and we’ve gone through about 10 surahs, walhamdulillah, and it seems like people are benefitting. But … there are still 27 (!) surahs remaining. And as much as I would like to finish the series … it’s too long, by far, to have 37 posts on one series. Not to mention that it would take around 2 months.

Note: This is post #10 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

In Surah Layl, Allah says:

وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَى

وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا تَجَلَّى

وَمَا خَلَقَ الذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنثَى

إِنَّ سَعْيَكُمْ لَشَتَّى

Translation: By the night when it covers, and [by] the day when it appears, and [by] He who created the male and female: Indeed, your paths are diverse. [Surah Layl, verses 1-4]

In Arabic (and in English), people talk. And when you want to really draw attention to something, you make an oath. Compare:

Child 1: I didn’t break the cookie jar.

Child 2: I swear by my mother’s grave, that I didn’t break the cookie jar.

Which would you pay more attention to? Obviously, the second child (by the way, don’t swear by other than Allah, it’s shirk).

Now imagine two people talking–your brother or sister, who you’ve known forever, and the President of America. Who would you pay more attention to?

Lillahi mathalu al-‘alaa. This is Allah talking to you. And He’s making an oath–not just one, but three things! We should really pay attention here!

And what does He testify to?

Verse 4–that your paths are different.