1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,700 In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. 2 00:00:03,399 --> 00:00:08,099 "The Gentle Commentary on the Profile Cards 3 00:00:08,099 --> 00:00:11,099 of the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an," 4 00:00:11,300 --> 00:00:15,099 by Dr. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Umar Nassif, 5 00:00:15,099 --> 00:00:16,399 may Allah preserve him. 6 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,769 Surah at-Takathur. 7 00:00:19,769 --> 00:00:22,019 In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. 8 00:00:22,019 --> 00:00:23,519 All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation, 9 00:00:23,519 --> 00:00:25,519 and peace and blessings be upon the seal of His prophets 10 00:00:25,519 --> 00:00:27,179 and messengers, 11 00:00:27,179 --> 00:00:30,480 and upon all his family and Companions. 12 00:00:30,899 --> 00:00:33,899 We continue with our gentle commentary on the profile cards, 13 00:00:33,899 --> 00:00:35,899 and we arrive at Surah at-Takathur. 14 00:00:35,899 --> 00:00:38,119 I have three reflections regarding it. 15 00:00:38,119 --> 00:00:41,340 The first reflection concerns whether it is Madinan 16 00:00:41,340 --> 00:00:43,570 or Meccan. 17 00:00:43,570 --> 00:00:46,210 The book states 18 00:00:46,210 --> 00:00:48,210 that it is Madinan according to the preferred view. 19 00:00:48,210 --> 00:00:50,340 The "preferred view" here refers to 20 00:00:50,340 --> 00:00:53,460 the book relied upon for this section of the work, 21 00:00:53,460 --> 00:00:56,460 or rather for this section of the Qur'an. 22 00:00:56,460 --> 00:00:58,460 For the first part of the Qur'an, 23 00:00:58,460 --> 00:01:00,460 up to Surah al-Isra', 24 00:01:00,460 --> 00:01:03,460 he relied on an academic thesis from the Islamic University, 25 00:01:03,460 --> 00:01:06,099 and for the second part, I relied on the thesis that completed 26 00:01:06,099 --> 00:01:09,099 the project of verifying the Meccan and Madinan surahs 27 00:01:09,099 --> 00:01:11,099 at the Islamic University. 28 00:01:11,099 --> 00:01:12,099 In the second section— 29 00:01:12,099 --> 00:01:13,099 and this surah falls in the second section— 30 00:01:13,099 --> 00:01:15,099 it is deemed Madinan according to what was preferred. 31 00:01:15,099 --> 00:01:18,709 Meanwhile, regarding the chronological order of its revelation, you will find 32 00:01:18,709 --> 00:01:21,260 that it was revealed after Surah al-Kawthar 33 00:01:21,260 --> 00:01:23,260 and before Surah al-Ma'un. 34 00:01:23,260 --> 00:01:25,260 Scholars note that this ordering is based on it being Meccan, 35 00:01:25,260 --> 00:01:27,260 as it is considered the fifteenth surah revealed. 36 00:01:27,260 --> 00:01:28,260 This is the well-known view: 37 00:01:28,260 --> 00:01:31,439 being fifteenth in revelation 38 00:01:31,439 --> 00:01:34,140 means it could not have been in Madinah. 39 00:01:34,140 --> 00:01:36,140 In truth, this issue 40 00:01:36,140 --> 00:01:38,140 requires further research 41 00:01:38,140 --> 00:01:39,140 to reach a definitive conclusion. 42 00:01:39,140 --> 00:01:41,140 That is because the researcher 43 00:01:41,140 --> 00:01:43,140 whose thesis I relied upon, 44 00:01:43,140 --> 00:01:44,299 may Allah preserve him, 45 00:01:44,299 --> 00:01:45,299 examined this issue 46 00:01:45,299 --> 00:01:47,299 and favored the view that it is Madinan 47 00:01:47,299 --> 00:01:49,299 based on the words of Imam as-Suyuti, 48 00:01:49,299 --> 00:01:51,299 which themselves require scrutiny, 49 00:01:51,299 --> 00:01:54,939 especially since he might be 50 00:01:54,939 --> 00:01:56,939 bound by a prior consensus. 51 00:01:56,939 --> 00:01:59,099 Thus, Imam as-Suyuti's 52 00:01:59,099 --> 00:02:02,099 evidence may not be sufficient. 53 00:02:02,099 --> 00:02:04,099 In any case, it requires 54 00:02:04,099 --> 00:02:05,099 an independent study; 55 00:02:05,099 --> 00:02:07,099 perhaps someone will undertake it— 56 00:02:07,099 --> 00:02:08,099 a specialist in Tafsir 57 00:02:08,099 --> 00:02:10,229 or Qur'anic sciences— 58 00:02:10,229 --> 00:02:13,229 who can investigate the Meccan or Madinan status 59 00:02:13,229 --> 00:02:16,520 of Surah at-Takathur 60 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:18,520 with an exhaustive study 61 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:20,550 on this nuanced issue. 62 00:02:20,550 --> 00:02:22,969 As for the second reflection, 63 00:02:22,969 --> 00:02:25,219 it pertains to the condition 64 00:02:25,219 --> 00:02:27,219 described in this surah 65 00:02:27,219 --> 00:02:29,449 in a severe manner, 66 00:02:29,449 --> 00:02:31,860 which is *at-takathur* (rivalry in worldly increase). 67 00:02:31,860 --> 00:02:33,860 We also notice that it is a surah 68 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:37,400 with a single unifying theme, 69 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,780 and this theme is an incurable 70 00:02:40,780 --> 00:02:42,780 disease that afflicts humanity. 71 00:02:42,780 --> 00:02:45,349 This ailment has been described 72 00:02:45,349 --> 00:02:47,379 in a truly alarming way, 73 00:02:47,379 --> 00:02:49,379 as He says: "Competition for worldly increase diverts you, 74 00:02:49,379 --> 00:02:51,610 until you visit the graveyards." 75 00:02:51,610 --> 00:02:53,610 Visiting the graveyards has not yet occurred; 76 00:02:53,610 --> 00:02:55,610 people have not yet died. 77 00:02:55,610 --> 00:02:58,150 The standard expression would ordinarily be: 78 00:02:58,150 --> 00:02:59,150 "Competition will divert you, 79 00:02:59,150 --> 00:03:01,150 until you visit the graveyards." 80 00:03:01,150 --> 00:03:03,180 Yet He used the past tense 81 00:03:03,180 --> 00:03:05,180 to signal that once a person 82 00:03:06,379 --> 00:03:08,379 is afflicted by this disease, 83 00:03:08,379 --> 00:03:10,569 they rarely break free from it; 84 00:03:10,569 --> 00:03:12,569 rather, it persists 85 00:03:12,569 --> 00:03:14,569 with them until they visit the graves. 86 00:03:14,569 --> 00:03:16,569 This visit to the graves, 87 00:03:16,569 --> 00:03:18,569 while the sickness still grips the person, 88 00:03:18,569 --> 00:03:20,569 is an almost inevitable outcome, 89 00:03:20,569 --> 00:03:22,719 except for those whom Allah protects. 90 00:03:22,719 --> 00:03:23,719 As for the third reflection, 91 00:03:23,719 --> 00:03:26,139 it concerns the cure. 92 00:03:26,139 --> 00:03:28,139 I emphasize that the Qur'an is a healing: 93 00:03:28,139 --> 00:03:30,139 it does not merely identify the disease, 94 00:03:30,139 --> 00:03:32,300 but also provides you with the cure. 95 00:03:32,300 --> 00:03:34,300 So what is the cure? 96 00:03:34,300 --> 00:03:35,300 The cure lies in His saying: 97 00:03:35,300 --> 00:03:37,300 "If only you knew with the knowledge of certainty..." 98 00:03:37,300 --> 00:03:39,740 This conditional particle "if only" (*law*) 99 00:03:39,740 --> 00:03:42,060 requires an apodosis (a conclusion), 100 00:03:42,060 --> 00:03:44,060 which the scholars have inferred, saying: 101 00:03:44,060 --> 00:03:46,060 “Nay, would that ye knew (now) with a sure knowledge!” (102:5) 102 00:03:46,060 --> 00:03:48,060 "Competition in worldly increase would not have diverted you." 103 00:03:48,060 --> 00:03:51,180 Thus, 104 00:03:51,180 --> 00:03:53,180 desisting from this distraction 105 00:03:53,180 --> 00:03:55,310 comes through the knowledge of certainty. 106 00:03:55,310 --> 00:03:57,310 And the knowledge of certainty 107 00:03:57,310 --> 00:03:59,539 was interpreted by some of the Tabi'un 108 00:03:59,539 --> 00:04:01,539 to mean 109 00:04:01,539 --> 00:04:03,539 that one knows that Allah 110 00:04:03,539 --> 00:04:05,539 will resurrect him after death. 111 00:04:05,539 --> 00:04:09,360 A person's knowledge 112 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:11,780 that Allah will resurrect him after death 113 00:04:11,780 --> 00:04:13,780 is an indispensable knowledge for every Muslim. 114 00:04:13,780 --> 00:04:16,000 Yet we find many 115 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,000 Muslims who are diverted by rivalry in worldly increase. 116 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,000 So what is the core issue? 117 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,000 The issue is that this knowledge 118 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,350 must become a deeply rooted certainty 119 00:04:24,350 --> 00:04:26,350 within the soul, 120 00:04:26,350 --> 00:04:28,540 firm and established, 121 00:04:28,540 --> 00:04:30,540 actively impacting one's behavior. 122 00:04:30,540 --> 00:04:32,540 This cannot happen merely by knowing of 123 00:04:32,540 --> 00:04:34,769 the Resurrection, 124 00:04:34,769 --> 00:04:36,769 rather than deeply internalizing it. 125 00:04:36,769 --> 00:04:38,930 You know it conceptually, but you must truly understand it; 126 00:04:38,930 --> 00:04:40,930 there is a vast difference between simply hearing information 127 00:04:40,930 --> 00:04:42,930 and studying it, 128 00:04:42,930 --> 00:04:44,930 pondering it, 129 00:04:44,930 --> 00:04:46,930 and delving deeply into it 130 00:04:46,930 --> 00:04:48,930 until it begins to govern 131 00:04:48,930 --> 00:04:50,930 your actions—only then 132 00:04:50,930 --> 00:04:52,930 will rivalry in worldly increase cease to divert you. 133 00:04:52,930 --> 00:04:54,930 I ask Allah to enlighten our insight 134 00:04:54,930 --> 00:04:56,930 and grant us success in doing 135 00:04:56,930 --> 00:04:58,930 what He loves and is pleased with. 136 00:04:58,930 --> 00:05:00,930 And Allah knows best. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad 137 00:05:00,930 --> 00:05:02,930 and upon all his family and Companions. 138 00:05:02,930 --> 00:05:04,930 And all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation.