1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,759 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 2 00:00:30,300 --> 00:00:32,299 The Subtle Commentary 3 00:00:32,299 --> 00:00:35,299 upon the book *Identification Cards* 4 00:00:35,299 --> 00:00:38,299 *for the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an*, 5 00:00:38,299 --> 00:00:42,299 by Dr. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Umar Nassif, 6 00:00:42,299 --> 00:00:44,420 may Allah preserve him. 7 00:00:44,420 --> 00:00:46,920 Surah al-Munafiqun. 8 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:48,420 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 9 00:00:48,420 --> 00:00:49,920 Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all worlds, 10 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,920 and peace and blessings be upon the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers, 11 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:54,920 and upon his family and all his companions. 12 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,920 We continue with our subtle commentary on the *Identification Cards*, 13 00:00:57,920 --> 00:00:59,920 and we have arrived at Surah al-Munafiqun. 14 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:01,920 I have three points of reflection regarding it. 15 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:03,990 The first reflection: 16 00:01:03,990 --> 00:01:05,989 it opens with a conditional clause. 17 00:01:05,989 --> 00:01:09,280 There is an error in the book stating 18 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:11,280 that it opens with an informative declarative sentence, 19 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,400 whereas it is correctly stated in the diagrammatic chart 20 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:16,400 within the very same book. 21 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,400 It indeed opens with a condition, according to the classification 22 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,400 adopted by al-Suyuti, 23 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:25,400 which was mentioned at the beginning of the book, 24 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:26,500 may Allah have mercy on him. 25 00:01:26,500 --> 00:01:29,689 Six other surahs share this opening feature with it, 26 00:01:29,689 --> 00:01:31,689 and it is beneficial to add that note here, 27 00:01:31,689 --> 00:01:34,849 because the shared openings among surahs 28 00:01:34,849 --> 00:01:37,849 are significant when comparing them 29 00:01:37,849 --> 00:01:42,879 and observing their points of similarity and difference. 30 00:01:42,879 --> 00:01:45,879 Thus, one may add that it begins with a conditional structure, 31 00:01:45,879 --> 00:01:48,879 a feature shared by six other surahs, 32 00:01:48,879 --> 00:01:51,879 or alongside which six surahs share this opening: 33 00:01:51,879 --> 00:01:53,879 al-Takwir, al-Infitar, al-Inshiqaq, al-Zalzalah, 34 00:01:53,879 --> 00:01:54,879 and al-Nasr. 35 00:01:54,879 --> 00:01:57,879 This makes a total of seven surahs. 36 00:01:57,879 --> 00:02:00,879 We notice that five of these surahs 37 00:02:00,879 --> 00:02:02,879 are connected to the Day of Resurrection, 38 00:02:02,879 --> 00:02:05,879 whereas al-Nasr and al-Munafiqun, 39 00:02:05,879 --> 00:02:07,879 which precedes it in the codex order, 40 00:02:07,879 --> 00:02:11,879 neither of them is about the Day of Resurrection. 41 00:02:11,879 --> 00:02:15,139 The common denominator among all these surahs 42 00:02:15,139 --> 00:02:17,139 that begin with a conditional clause 43 00:02:17,139 --> 00:02:20,139 is that they are tied to a momentous event. 44 00:02:20,139 --> 00:02:23,240 The share related to the Day of Resurrection 45 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:25,240 consists of five surahs, 46 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,240 which is fitting given that it is 47 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,240 the greatest event that humanity will ever experience, 48 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,240 occurring after the test concludes and the results are presented. 49 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,240 I ask Allah to deliver us. 50 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,360 The second reflection: it is mentioned here 51 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:41,360 that it was revealed during the Expedition of Banu al-Mustaliq, 52 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:43,360 regarding the chronological order of the surah's revelation. 53 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:45,360 The author favored the view that it was revealed during the Expedition of Banu al-Mustaliq. 54 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,360 Preceding that, the phrasing stated: 55 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,430 "It is counted as the one hundred and fifth in the chronological order of revelation 56 00:02:51,430 --> 00:02:52,430 according to Jabir ibn Zayd; 57 00:02:52,430 --> 00:02:55,430 it was revealed after Surah al-Hajj and before Surah al-Mujadilah." 58 00:02:55,430 --> 00:02:58,430 Then he stated, "And it is also placed after al-Hajj in the other two transmissions." 59 00:02:58,430 --> 00:03:01,430 This part should be deleted, 60 00:03:01,430 --> 00:03:04,430 as it is not part of his original statement; 61 00:03:04,430 --> 00:03:08,430 rather, it was added through the editor's own exertion. 62 00:03:08,430 --> 00:03:10,430 Regarding the Expedition of Banu al-Mustaliq: 63 00:03:10,430 --> 00:03:12,430 why did they prefer the view that it was the Expedition of Banu al-Mustaliq? 64 00:03:12,430 --> 00:03:14,430 There is a scholarly difference of opinion on the matter, 65 00:03:14,430 --> 00:03:16,430 but several scholars favored this position. 66 00:03:16,430 --> 00:03:19,430 You can find this issue thoroughly discussed in the introduction 67 00:03:19,430 --> 00:03:22,560 to the Tafsir of Surah al-Munafiqun 68 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:24,560 by al-Tahir Ibn 'Ashur. 69 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,560 Among the points they examined regarding this issue is that 70 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,560 the hypocrites said, "The more honorable will surely expel the more humiliated therefrom." 71 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:36,560 This statement is consistent with an earlier period of revelation, 72 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:40,680 at a time when the hypocrites still held influence and strength, 73 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:43,680 whereas the alternative opinion—that it occurred during the Battle of Tabuk— 74 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,680 was after the power of the hypocrites had already waned. 75 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:48,680 What al-Tahir Ibn 'Ashur mentioned here 76 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,680 demonstrates that the scholars did not merely pass 77 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,680 over historical reports passively; rather, they scrutinized, 78 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,680 compared, reflected, and engaged their analytical faculties. 79 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,680 These are self-evident matters obvious to anyone who has studied the sacred sciences, 80 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,680 yet I mention them because some contemporary critics who cast doubts 81 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:07,680 upon the Sunnah and the hadith scholars 82 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,680 create the illusion that they accepted any report or hadith indiscriminately 83 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,680 without reflection. But look at their deep reflection here regarding the verse 84 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:21,680 and the condition of the hypocrites at the time of revelation: 85 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:23,680 does it fit the Battle of Tabuk, 86 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:26,680 or does it align with the Expedition of Banu al-Mustaliq? 87 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:29,680 This, along with much else, confirms their meticulous care 88 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,680 regarding both chains of transmission and textual contents, may Allah have mercy on them, 89 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,910 and may Allah reward them with good on behalf of the Ummah. 90 00:04:35,910 --> 00:04:40,040 The third reflection is truly a reflection 91 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,040 on the structural harmony between the first and second sections. 92 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,040 We notice that the first section clarifies the reality of the hypocrites, 93 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:48,040 but the second section 94 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:50,040 shifts to address the believers: 95 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,040 "O you who have believed, let not your wealth distract you..." 96 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:54,040 “O ye who believe! Let not your wealth nor your children distract you from remembrance of Allah. Those who do so, they are the losers.” (63:9) 97 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:58,040 "And whoever does that, then those are the losers." 98 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:03,040 It is as though the believers, having learned the characteristics of the hypocrites, 99 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,040 were commanded to focus on themselves 100 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:07,040 and occupy themselves with their own spiritual rectification, 101 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:11,040 out of caution lest they resemble the hypocrites 102 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:16,040 or slip into hypocrisy through neglecting the remembrance of Allah, the Glorified and Exalted, 103 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:19,040 and becoming engrossed in wealth and children. 104 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:23,040 What I wish to draw from this insight 105 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,040 is that we should not become preoccupied with the affairs of the hypocrites— 106 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,040 even though we ought to recognize their states— 107 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,040 or with understanding the strategies and plots of the disbelievers, 108 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,040 to the point where that distracts us from ourselves, our own rectification, 109 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:35,040 and taking proper care of our souls. 110 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,040 I will suffice with this much. 111 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:38,040 May Allah send blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, 112 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:40,040 and upon all his family and companions, 113 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:41,040 and all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all worlds.