The nice comment on the book of cards identifying the surahs of the Holy Qur’an | D. Muhammad Nassif

0:00 In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

0:30 "The Gentle Commentary

0:32 on the Book of Introductory Profiles

0:35 to the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an"

0:38 by Dr. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Umar Nasif,

0:42 may Allah preserve him.

0:44 Surah Maryam.

0:46 In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. All praise is due to Allah,

0:48 and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.

0:51 "My Lord, make things easy and help!"

0:52 We are still with "The Gentle Commentary

0:54 on the Introductory Profiles,"

0:56 and with Surah Maryam, concerning which I have three reflective pauses.

0:58 The first pause

1:00 concerns the placement of the surah,

1:02 which is one of the standard entry points

1:04 in the book, as you know.

1:06 It pertains to explaining the correlation

1:08 between this surah and the one preceding it,

1:10 and the primary reference for this

1:12 is *Tanaasuq ad-Durar* by as-Suyuti,

1:14 as I have mentioned before.

1:16 He stated that it is the nineteenth surah

1:18 in the sequence of the Mushaf.

1:20 Among the correlations with al-Kahf is that its stories

1:22 comprise wondrous events,

1:24 yet the stories of Maryam are even more wondrous.

1:26 Surah al-Kahf contains wondrous

1:28 things, but

1:30 the existence of a child without

1:32 a father is far more wondrous.

1:34 This more wondrous story

1:36 was preluded by a wondrous one as well,

1:38 namely the story of Zakariyya.

1:40 It is as though the story of Zakariyya

1:42 paved the way for the story of Maryam,

1:44 and the stories of al-Kahf

1:46 paved the way for the stories

1:48 of Maryam—meaning the narrative

1:50 at the beginning of Surah Maryam,

1:52 unlike the story of Ibrahim

1:54 and those after him.

1:56 Here, the question arises:

1:58 these surahs were not revealed in this sequential order

2:00 when they were revealed to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him;

2:02 so how can it be claimed that it began with the wondrous

2:04 and then moved to the more wondrous?

2:06 If we consider the chronological order of revelation according to the well-known view,

2:08 we would find that Maryam was revealed before

2:10 al-Kahf. To this I say:

2:12 First, scholars

2:14 have two approaches. Some scholars hold

2:16 that there is no need

2:18 for an exegete to occupy himself

2:20 with looking into

2:22 the rationales behind the arrangement of surahs

2:24 in the Mushaf,

2:26 among whom is at-Tahir ibn 'Ashur, may Allah have mercy on him.

2:28 Other scholars attempt

2:30 to discover these thematic connections,

2:32 fully aware that it is a matter of ijtihad,

2:34 such as as-Suyuti

2:36 and al-Biqa'i, among others.

2:38 Therefore, discussing

2:40 the sequence of the surahs in the Mushaf

2:42 is not a matter unanimously agreed upon

2:44 as being something one ought

2:46 to delve into.

2:48 That is the first point.

2:50 Second, when we look at

2:52 the chronological history of the revelation of the surahs,

2:54 the explanations focus

2:56 on how the discourse corresponds

2:58 to the immediate contextual requirements of the revelation of that surah.

3:00 But when we look at

3:02 their sequence in the Mushaf,

3:04 we examine the arrangement ordained and chosen

3:06 by Allah for this Qur'an,

3:08 so that it remains for the Ummah of the Prophet, peace be upon him,

3:10 perpetually preserved in this order.

3:12 These are two distinct matters.

3:14 For instance, we say that Surah al-'Alaq

3:16 was revealed

3:18 first,

3:20 or that the opening of Surah al-'Alaq was revealed first;

3:22 so we examine its suitability in being

3:24 the very first thing the Prophet, peace be upon him, heard.

3:26 This is a connection related

3:28 to the chronology of the surah's revelation.

3:30 Yet there is another connection: how Surah al-'Alaq elaborated

3:32 upon

3:34 certain matters mentioned in Surah at-Tin.

3:36 “Surely We created man of the best stature” (95:4)

3:38 And regarding "Recite!", he said...

3:40 “Createth man from a clot.” (96:2)

3:42 Thus, there are two distinct perspectives,

3:45 as was clearly pointed out

3:47 by al-Biqa'i in his Tafsir.

3:49 There is no contradiction between the two matters:

3:51 each verse was suited to the time

3:53 in which it was revealed, and then the surah

3:55 is suited to its canonical placement

3:57 in the Mushaf—which is,

3:59 as I said, a matter of scholarly deduction.

4:01 The second pause

4:03 concerns

4:05 the only woman who

4:07 was explicitly mentioned by name in the Qur'an,

4:09 and after whom this surah was named:

4:11 Surah Maryam.

4:13 The most remarkable thing is that she is not from the Household of the Prophet, peace be upon him;

4:15 she is not of the family of the Prophet, peace be upon him,

4:17 nor from the Muhammadan prophetic household,

4:19 nor is she an Arab,

4:21 nor is she from the female Companions, for example.

4:23 Rather, she is a Muslim woman

4:25 who guarded her chastity.

4:27 Truth be told, I have not come across—

4:29 and this may be due to my own shortcoming

4:31 or something slipping my mind—

4:33 I have not seen an in-depth study

4:35 devoted to this woman whom

4:37 Allah honored

4:39 in a manner He did not honor any other woman in all creation.

4:41 For no woman was named, not even the wife of Pharaoh,

4:43 despite her immense virtue, as He said:

4:45 "And Allah presents an example of those who believed: the wife of Pharaoh."

4:47 Yet He did not explicitly state her name,

4:49 nor did He explicitly name any

4:51 of the Mothers of the Believers.

4:53 The virtue of all

4:55 of them is established;

4:57 the virtue of all those noble women

4:59 is undeniable, yet

5:01 this woman was singled out

5:03 with this unique distinction.

5:05 It is therefore incumbent that one seeks to comprehend

5:07 the true station of this woman,

5:09 her worth, and her attributes.

5:11 Remarkably, some people

5:13 have come to imagine

5:15 that Christians have a greater claim to Maryam than we do.

5:17 This is completely false, for Christians hold

5:19 an improper belief concerning her,

5:21 attributing to her that which you well know,

5:23 things that should not even be mentioned.

5:25 As for us, we believe that she is

5:27 a created servant having no share

5:29 in divinity whatsoever,

5:31 and that Allah has taken neither a companion nor a son.

5:33 Furthermore, naming

5:35 this surah Maryam

5:37 serves as a form of invitation

5:39 to Christians, for Christians

5:41 love Maryam

5:43 even prior to their Islam. Thus, when

5:45 one embraces Islam and learns that Maryam

5:47 is in the Qur'an, or when called to Islam

5:49 and sees how revered Maryam is in the Qur'an,

5:51 this profoundly draws him

5:53 to Islam. I recall that one Christian,

5:55 upon embracing Islam, remarked:

5:57 "I gained Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

5:59 without losing the Messiah."

6:01 He may have authored a book on that,

6:03 and he posted a lengthy video on YouTube.

6:05 Thus, when Christians

6:07 realize that we deeply honor

6:09 Maryam and 'Isa, this leaves an impact

6:11 on them, just as it was among the things

6:13 that moved the Negus, may Allah have mercy on him.

6:15 So, this is the second pause,

6:17 and I urge researchers

6:19 to produce studies on

6:21 Maryam, peace be upon her.

6:23 Such study should not merely consist of compiling

6:25 the verses, but of deeply contemplating them

6:27 and extracting their subtleties,

6:30 for they are numerous verses across

6:32 various surahs, as you know.

6:34 The third and final pause

6:36 concerns

6:38 what has been transmitted regarding the occasion of revelation.

6:40 He mentioned that an occasion of revelation was recorded for it,

6:42 one of which is that the Prophet,

6:44 peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said

6:46 to Jibril: "What prevents you from visiting us

6:48 more often than you do?"

6:50 Whereupon there was revealed:

6:52 “We (angels) come not down save by commandment of thy Lord. Unto Him belongeth all that is before us and all that is behind us and all that is between those two, and thy Lord was never forgetful -” (19:64)

6:54 "To Him belongs whatever is before

6:56 us and whatever is behind us."

6:58 I wanted to dwell upon this occasion because you will notice

7:00 that the verses preceding it

7:02 and following it

7:04 do not relate to it

7:06 directly. The opening of the surah

7:08 up to the prostration describes the righteous servants of Allah,

7:10 while what follows the prostration refutes

7:12 the disbelievers and clarifies

7:14 their deviation from the straight path.

7:16 And these verses were revealed

7:18 for this specific reason; therefore,

7:20 keeping this context in mind

7:22 helps one

7:24 avoid forced interpretations.

7:26 Some scholars attempt

7:28 to find an intricate textual link between this verse

7:30 and the verse directly

7:32 preceding it,

7:34 whereas, in reality, it is distinct from it

7:36 and was placed here by divine command.

7:38 Among those who take a balanced approach regarding

7:40 textual correlations and take such aspects into account

7:42 is Sidi al-Tahir Ibn Ashur.

7:44 Hence, he remarked here

7:46 regarding "And we descend not except by the command of your Lord,"

7:48 saying that it is the conjunction of one passage to another,

7:50 despite the change in addressee.

7:52 In the preceding verse, "Then there succeeded after them

7:54 an evil generation who neglected prayer..."

7:56 he stated: it is the coupling of one narrative to another,

7:58 despite the shift in addressee.

8:00 By "story" he does not mean a literal tale; rather,

8:02 it signifies connecting one theme to another theme

8:04 alongside a shift in the addressee.

8:06 And Allah commanded His Messenger

8:08 to recite it here

8:11 because it was revealed to form part of the Qur'an,

8:13 just as he, may Allah have mercy on him, stated.

8:15 This is an essential point, and alongside it lies an insight

8:17 which I will dwell upon briefly,

8:19 apologizing for taking too much of your time.

8:21 These verses that appear

8:23 as parenthetical insertions,

8:25 as in this verse—and an even more prominent example—

8:27 “Stir not thy tongue herewith to hasten it.” (75:16)

8:29 are like "Do not hasten with it..."; the verses before and after it

8:31 in Surah al-Qiyamah discuss

8:33 other matters, and then the address shifts to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

8:35 And in other surahs,

8:37 there are indeed similar parallels,

8:39 where the Prophet, peace be upon him, is addressed amidst the verses.

8:41 This reminds us

8:43 of the lofty status of the Prophet, peace be upon him,

8:45 and that he was the very first person addressed by the Qur'an.

8:47 It was descending directly upon his heart,

8:49 conveying a general address to mankind,

8:51 and then suddenly directing a particular instruction specifically to him.

8:53 We should never lose sight of this reality,

8:55 for it is among the things that illustrate

8:57 the supreme stature of the Prophet, peace be upon him,

8:59 and keeps his presence vivid

9:01 in our minds.

9:03 When we say in the prayer, "Peace be upon you,

9:05 O Prophet,"

9:07 and as we recite the Qur'an,

9:09 suddenly, amidst the deep absorption

9:11 in the descriptions of the Resurrection, we find

9:13 that we hear Allah saying to His Prophet:

9:15 "Do not move your tongue with it." We immediately recall

9:17 this noble Prophet, to whom Allah

9:19 said: "So how will it be when We bring

9:21 from every nation a witness,

9:23 and We bring you as a witness against these people?"

9:25 He will come as a witness over us,

9:27 having conveyed the message and delivered this Book

9:29 to his Ummah.

9:32 We must therefore hold

9:34 ourselves accountable regarding how we engage

9:36 with this Book,

9:38 and remember that he, peace and blessings be upon him,

9:40 is a witness over us.

9:42 I ask Allah to grant us all success in doing what He loves and is pleased with.

9:44 May Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad

9:46 and upon all his family and Companions,

9:48 and all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.

The nice comment on the book of cards identifying the surahs of the Holy Qur’an | D. Muhammad Nassif | Surah Maryam

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