In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The gentle commentary on the book "Identification Cards
of the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an"
by Dr. Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Aziz Ibn Umar Nasif,
may Allah preserve him.
Surah Quraysh.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds,
and peace and blessings be upon the Seal of the Prophets and the Messengers,
and upon all his family and Companions.
We are still with the gentle commentary on the identification cards,
and we have arrived at Surah Quraysh.
Regarding it, we have three reflections.
The first reflection
concerns the subtle grace of Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He,
toward the tribe of His Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him:
Quraysh.
Note that the majority of Quraysh were upon disbelief;
yet Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, in this Surah,
commanded them to worship,
without explicitly stating their disbelief
and misguidance,
even though He mentioned that in many other Surahs,
but without citing the name of the tribe.
When He mentioned this tribe,
He did not explicitly state its misguidance;
rather, He called them to worship by reminding them of His favor.
He is the Creator, Glorified and Exalted be He,
and He is the Owner of all things,
and He is not questioned about what He does.
Thus, we,
the community of Muslims across every time and place,
ought to be extremely careful when we speak
about the tribe of the Messenger of Allah,
or about the household of the Messenger of Allah,
and even more so
when we speak about the Messenger of Allah himself.
We might sometimes fail to watch our tongues
as we speak,
or we might describe events in the Seerah or various matters
without observing proper decorum,
whereas the Qur'an teaches us decorum.
This tribe
was mentioned by its explicit name in this Surah only,
and the Surah was named after it.
The discourse about them was framed with such gentleness, directing them toward what is required,
without detracting in any way from the honor of this tribe,
which is the noblest of all tribes unconditionally.
And the Prophet, peace be upon him,
was the elite of the elite of the elite.
The second matter,
or the second reflection,
concerns the causative particle with which the Surah opens.
It begins with causation: "For the accustomed security..."
This is the only Surah
that begins with a causative clause;
no other Surah begins in this manner.
For this reason, it is said that
it opened with causation,
which is the tenth type of opening,
and no other Surah shares this opening with it.
Thus, it is the only Surah that begins with such an opening.
That is to say, for every Surah
you find a counterpart;
those that open with disjointed letters
have counterparts, and so forth.
But this Surah has no counterpart,
which makes its opening striking.
This is termed
excellence of opening (husn al-ibtida').
That is, part of an excellent opening
is to begin the speech in a way that makes you eager to hear what follows.
"For the accustomed security of Quraysh..."
is a causative phrase with a preposition
that requires an attachment
and a connection,
so the listener waits eagerly
to know the completion of the sentence.
This is among the fine rhetorical styles
evident in the Qur'an.
As for the third reflection,
it concerns universalizing the meaning of the Surah.
Undoubtedly, the theme of the Surah
is the command to worship
out of gratitude to Allah for familiar blessings.
This is within the Surah:
when we look at it,
it mentions a specific blessing
that was bestowed upon Quraysh.
However, we wish to universalize this matter,
so that everyone remembers
the familiar blessings,
and the bounties that
one is accustomed to and takes for granted,
and makes them a reason
to worship Allah out of love
and humility.
In this way, the Qur'an becomes
a clarification of all things.
This contrasts with restricting it
to the specific blessing
upon Quraysh,
or to these two blessings alone,
for doing so narrows
the meaning
and leaves us without a practical lesson from it.
Reflect upon the blessings you possess
to which you have grown accustomed:
"For the accustomed security of Quraysh" —
for being accustomed to familiar blessings,
the blessings you have grown used to,
and see whether you show
gratitude for them. Make them a reason
for the heart to be filled with love and humility before Allah,
and worship Him alone,
without associating any partner with Allah.
And Allah knows best.
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon all his family and Companions.