In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
"The Gentle Commentary on the Profile Cards
of the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an,"
by Dr. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Umar Nassif,
may Allah preserve him.
Surah at-Takathur.
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation,
and peace and blessings be upon the seal of His prophets
and messengers,
and upon all his family and Companions.
We continue with our gentle commentary on the profile cards,
and we arrive at Surah at-Takathur.
I have three reflections regarding it.
The first reflection concerns whether it is Madinan
or Meccan.
The book states
that it is Madinan according to the preferred view.
The "preferred view" here refers to
the book relied upon for this section of the work,
or rather for this section of the Qur'an.
For the first part of the Qur'an,
up to Surah al-Isra',
he relied on an academic thesis from the Islamic University,
and for the second part, I relied on the thesis that completed
the project of verifying the Meccan and Madinan surahs
at the Islamic University.
In the second section—
and this surah falls in the second section—
it is deemed Madinan according to what was preferred.
Meanwhile, regarding the chronological order of its revelation, you will find
that it was revealed after Surah al-Kawthar
and before Surah al-Ma'un.
Scholars note that this ordering is based on it being Meccan,
as it is considered the fifteenth surah revealed.
This is the well-known view:
being fifteenth in revelation
means it could not have been in Madinah.
In truth, this issue
requires further research
to reach a definitive conclusion.
That is because the researcher
whose thesis I relied upon,
may Allah preserve him,
examined this issue
and favored the view that it is Madinan
based on the words of Imam as-Suyuti,
which themselves require scrutiny,
especially since he might be
bound by a prior consensus.
Thus, Imam as-Suyuti's
evidence may not be sufficient.
In any case, it requires
an independent study;
perhaps someone will undertake it—
a specialist in Tafsir
or Qur'anic sciences—
who can investigate the Meccan or Madinan status
of Surah at-Takathur
with an exhaustive study
on this nuanced issue.
As for the second reflection,
it pertains to the condition
described in this surah
in a severe manner,
which is *at-takathur* (rivalry in worldly increase).
We also notice that it is a surah
with a single unifying theme,
and this theme is an incurable
disease that afflicts humanity.
This ailment has been described
in a truly alarming way,
as He says: "Competition for worldly increase diverts you,
until you visit the graveyards."
Visiting the graveyards has not yet occurred;
people have not yet died.
The standard expression would ordinarily be:
"Competition will divert you,
until you visit the graveyards."
Yet He used the past tense
to signal that once a person
is afflicted by this disease,
they rarely break free from it;
rather, it persists
with them until they visit the graves.
This visit to the graves,
while the sickness still grips the person,
is an almost inevitable outcome,
except for those whom Allah protects.
As for the third reflection,
it concerns the cure.
I emphasize that the Qur'an is a healing:
it does not merely identify the disease,
but also provides you with the cure.
So what is the cure?
The cure lies in His saying:
"If only you knew with the knowledge of certainty..."
This conditional particle "if only" (*law*)
requires an apodosis (a conclusion),
which the scholars have inferred, saying:
“Nay, would that ye knew (now) with a sure knowledge!” (102:5)
"Competition in worldly increase would not have diverted you."
Thus,
desisting from this distraction
comes through the knowledge of certainty.
And the knowledge of certainty
was interpreted by some of the Tabi'un
to mean
that one knows that Allah
will resurrect him after death.
A person's knowledge
that Allah will resurrect him after death
is an indispensable knowledge for every Muslim.
Yet we find many
Muslims who are diverted by rivalry in worldly increase.
So what is the core issue?
The issue is that this knowledge
must become a deeply rooted certainty
within the soul,
firm and established,
actively impacting one's behavior.
This cannot happen merely by knowing of
the Resurrection,
rather than deeply internalizing it.
You know it conceptually, but you must truly understand it;
there is a vast difference between simply hearing information
and studying it,
pondering it,
and delving deeply into it
until it begins to govern
your actions—only then
will rivalry in worldly increase cease to divert you.
I ask Allah to enlighten our insight
and grant us success in doing
what He loves and is pleased with.
And Allah knows best. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad
and upon all his family and Companions.
And all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation.