Part of The Gentle Commentary (series completed)
· Lesson 9 of 117
The nice comment on the book of cards identifying the surahs of the Holy Qur’an | D. Muhammad Nassif | Surah Quraish
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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The gentle commentary on the book "Identification Cards
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of the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an"
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by Dr. Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Aziz Ibn Umar Nasif,
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may Allah preserve him.
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Surah Quraysh.
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds,
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and peace and blessings be upon the Seal of the Prophets and the Messengers,
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and upon all his family and Companions.
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We are still with the gentle commentary on the identification cards,
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and we have arrived at Surah Quraysh.
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Regarding it, we have three reflections.
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The first reflection
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concerns the subtle grace of Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He,
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toward the tribe of His Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him:
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Quraysh.
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Note that the majority of Quraysh were upon disbelief;
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yet Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, in this Surah,
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commanded them to worship,
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without explicitly stating their disbelief
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and misguidance,
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even though He mentioned that in many other Surahs,
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but without citing the name of the tribe.
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When He mentioned this tribe,
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He did not explicitly state its misguidance;
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rather, He called them to worship by reminding them of His favor.
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He is the Creator, Glorified and Exalted be He,
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and He is the Owner of all things,
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and He is not questioned about what He does.
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Thus, we,
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the community of Muslims across every time and place,
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ought to be extremely careful when we speak
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about the tribe of the Messenger of Allah,
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or about the household of the Messenger of Allah,
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and even more so
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when we speak about the Messenger of Allah himself.
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We might sometimes fail to watch our tongues
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as we speak,
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or we might describe events in the Seerah or various matters
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without observing proper decorum,
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whereas the Qur'an teaches us decorum.
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This tribe
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was mentioned by its explicit name in this Surah only,
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and the Surah was named after it.
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The discourse about them was framed with such gentleness, directing them toward what is required,
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without detracting in any way from the honor of this tribe,
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which is the noblest of all tribes unconditionally.
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And the Prophet, peace be upon him,
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was the elite of the elite of the elite.
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The second matter,
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or the second reflection,
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concerns the causative particle with which the Surah opens.
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It begins with causation: "For the accustomed security..."
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This is the only Surah
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that begins with a causative clause;
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no other Surah begins in this manner.
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For this reason, it is said that
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it opened with causation,
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which is the tenth type of opening,
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and no other Surah shares this opening with it.
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Thus, it is the only Surah that begins with such an opening.
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That is to say, for every Surah
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you find a counterpart;
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those that open with disjointed letters
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have counterparts, and so forth.
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But this Surah has no counterpart,
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which makes its opening striking.
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This is termed
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excellence of opening (husn al-ibtida').
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That is, part of an excellent opening
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is to begin the speech in a way that makes you eager to hear what follows.
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"For the accustomed security of Quraysh..."
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is a causative phrase with a preposition
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that requires an attachment
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and a connection,
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so the listener waits eagerly
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to know the completion of the sentence.
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This is among the fine rhetorical styles
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evident in the Qur'an.
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As for the third reflection,
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it concerns universalizing the meaning of the Surah.
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Undoubtedly, the theme of the Surah
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is the command to worship
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out of gratitude to Allah for familiar blessings.
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This is within the Surah:
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when we look at it,
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it mentions a specific blessing
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that was bestowed upon Quraysh.
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However, we wish to universalize this matter,
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so that everyone remembers
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the familiar blessings,
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and the bounties that
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one is accustomed to and takes for granted,
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and makes them a reason
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to worship Allah out of love
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and humility.
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In this way, the Qur'an becomes
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a clarification of all things.
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This contrasts with restricting it
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to the specific blessing
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upon Quraysh,
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or to these two blessings alone,
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for doing so narrows
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the meaning
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and leaves us without a practical lesson from it.
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Reflect upon the blessings you possess
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to which you have grown accustomed:
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"For the accustomed security of Quraysh" —
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for being accustomed to familiar blessings,
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the blessings you have grown used to,
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and see whether you show
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gratitude for them. Make them a reason
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for the heart to be filled with love and humility before Allah,
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and worship Him alone,
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without associating any partner with Allah.
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And Allah knows best.
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May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon all his family and Companions.