Tazkiyyah

This is post #36 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series).

In Surah Humazah, Allah (‘azza wa jal) says:

وَيْلٌ لِّكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُّمَزَةٍ

Translation: Woe to every scorner (humazah) and mocker (lumazah). [Surah Al-Humaza, verse 1].

As we mentioned many, many times before in this series, wayl is a curse. And when Allah says wayl about someone, it’s not a curse, but a statement of reality–because He, ‘azza wa jal, is not in need of cursing anyone. Ibn Abbaas (radiallahu ‘anhu) says, wayl is a valley in Hellfire; in this sense, it’s almost as if the person is saying, for what I did, this is what I deserve–come to me, o wayl.

Umar (RA) passed by a garbage dump and stopped there, and it was as if his companions were bothered by it (the smell). He said [… full story at the end…]

What would you think of someone who goes for umra on a 1 week trip. He goes there, buys a car, clothes, house, grocery, …..  He even takes dollars with him and doesn’t exchange them into local currency!  We would think that something is wrong with that person. Right?

Imagine this. You are speeding on the road. The police officer catches you, pulls you over and gives you a speeding ticket.  What would your reaction be, next time you are driving especially driving through the same road. You would naturally slow down! Or you are stealing from your prayer (i.e. racing through it), you glance over and it seems like your friends might be looking at you. Your reaction…. In these and in countless other situations, we refrain from doing bad because we fear that we might be caught or someone might be looking at us. Most of the times, we are not even full 100% sure and yet we change our behavior.  But how about Allah, the ever watchful, who we know with certainty is always watching us. How much are we aware of Him? Lets look at some examples:

Why not despair?

The Islamic meaning of sabr is to stop ourselves from despairing and panicking, to stop our tongues from complaining, and to stop our hands from striking our faces and tearing our clothes at times of grief and stress.

To have sabr is to first realize within your own heart that a) there is a god that exists b) that this god is worthy of all my worship c) that this god is indeed characterized by attributes of perfectness and majesty, which can only be ascribed to god and no other.

So who’s down for a party this Saturday? Let’s do it! Meet at the closest masjid near your house at 7:45pm. Forget about these kiddish Halloween parties, be a person of dignity and honour, be amongst the party of Allah.

And We will admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally. Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him – those are the party of Allah . Unquestionably, the party of Allah – they are the successful.

This is post #34 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series).

Continuing our discussion of Surah Balad, Allah (‘azza wa jal) says:

أَلَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُ عَيْنَيْنِ

This is post #33 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series). This is the first of two posts on the tafseer of Surah Balad.

Allah says:

لَا أُقْسِمُ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ

Translation: I swear by this city (Makkah) … [Surah Balad, verse 1]

“Laa uqsim” literally means, “I will not swear by.” in Arabic language, it means “this thing is so truthful, I almost don’t even have to swear by it.” It’s translated as “I swear by.”

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:

Eid Mubarak! As the sahaba would tell each other: May Allah accept our good deeds and your good deeds (from Ramadan). Ameen!

Ramadan is still fresh in your mind; the long days of fasting, the pain in your legs and back from taraweeh, and most of all, that biting regret that you didn’t do enough.

Would you like to make the next Ramadan even better? With only five minutes worth of effort?! Try this out: create a new document (by hand or computer, whatever you like) called “Ramadan Retrospective.” List out the following:

Ramadan is coming to a close. Like the last half-kilometer of a 10km race, the finish-line is in sight. This is the time to pull out all the stops and to sprint, flat-out. This is the time when Laylatul-Qadar, the night where deeds are multiplied by more than one thousand, hides.