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.

0:03 "The Gentle Commentary on the Profile Cards

0:08 of the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an,"

0:11 by Dr. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Umar Nassif,

0:15 may Allah preserve him.

0:17 Surah at-Takathur.

0:19 In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

0:22 All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation,

0:23 and peace and blessings be upon the seal of His prophets

0:25 and messengers,

0:27 and upon all his family and Companions.

0:30 We continue with our gentle commentary on the profile cards,

0:33 and we arrive at Surah at-Takathur.

0:35 I have three reflections regarding it.

0:38 The first reflection concerns whether it is Madinan

0:41 or Meccan.

0:43 The book states

0:46 that it is Madinan according to the preferred view.

0:48 The "preferred view" here refers to

0:50 the book relied upon for this section of the work,

0:53 or rather for this section of the Qur'an.

0:56 For the first part of the Qur'an,

0:58 up to Surah al-Isra',

1:00 he relied on an academic thesis from the Islamic University,

1:03 and for the second part, I relied on the thesis that completed

1:06 the project of verifying the Meccan and Madinan surahs

1:09 at the Islamic University.

1:11 In the second section—

1:12 and this surah falls in the second section—

1:13 it is deemed Madinan according to what was preferred.

1:15 Meanwhile, regarding the chronological order of its revelation, you will find

1:18 that it was revealed after Surah al-Kawthar

1:21 and before Surah al-Ma'un.

1:23 Scholars note that this ordering is based on it being Meccan,

1:25 as it is considered the fifteenth surah revealed.

1:27 This is the well-known view:

1:28 being fifteenth in revelation

1:31 means it could not have been in Madinah.

1:34 In truth, this issue

1:36 requires further research

1:38 to reach a definitive conclusion.

1:39 That is because the researcher

1:41 whose thesis I relied upon,

1:43 may Allah preserve him,

1:44 examined this issue

1:45 and favored the view that it is Madinan

1:47 based on the words of Imam as-Suyuti,

1:49 which themselves require scrutiny,

1:51 especially since he might be

1:54 bound by a prior consensus.

1:56 Thus, Imam as-Suyuti's

1:59 evidence may not be sufficient.

2:02 In any case, it requires

2:04 an independent study;

2:05 perhaps someone will undertake it—

2:07 a specialist in Tafsir

2:08 or Qur'anic sciences—

2:10 who can investigate the Meccan or Madinan status

2:13 of Surah at-Takathur

2:16 with an exhaustive study

2:18 on this nuanced issue.

2:20 As for the second reflection,

2:22 it pertains to the condition

2:25 described in this surah

2:27 in a severe manner,

2:29 which is *at-takathur* (rivalry in worldly increase).

2:31 We also notice that it is a surah

2:35 with a single unifying theme,

2:37 and this theme is an incurable

2:40 disease that afflicts humanity.

2:42 This ailment has been described

2:45 in a truly alarming way,

2:47 as He says: "Competition for worldly increase diverts you,

2:49 until you visit the graveyards."

2:51 Visiting the graveyards has not yet occurred;

2:53 people have not yet died.

2:55 The standard expression would ordinarily be:

2:58 "Competition will divert you,

2:59 until you visit the graveyards."

3:01 Yet He used the past tense

3:03 to signal that once a person

3:06 is afflicted by this disease,

3:08 they rarely break free from it;

3:10 rather, it persists

3:12 with them until they visit the graves.

3:14 This visit to the graves,

3:16 while the sickness still grips the person,

3:18 is an almost inevitable outcome,

3:20 except for those whom Allah protects.

3:22 As for the third reflection,

3:23 it concerns the cure.

3:26 I emphasize that the Qur'an is a healing:

3:28 it does not merely identify the disease,

3:30 but also provides you with the cure.

3:32 So what is the cure?

3:34 The cure lies in His saying:

3:35 "If only you knew with the knowledge of certainty..."

3:37 This conditional particle "if only" (*law*)

3:39 requires an apodosis (a conclusion),

3:42 which the scholars have inferred, saying:

3:44 “Nay, would that ye knew (now) with a sure knowledge!” (102:5)

3:46 "Competition in worldly increase would not have diverted you."

3:48 Thus,

3:51 desisting from this distraction

3:53 comes through the knowledge of certainty.

3:55 And the knowledge of certainty

3:57 was interpreted by some of the Tabi'un

3:59 to mean

4:01 that one knows that Allah

4:03 will resurrect him after death.

4:05 A person's knowledge

4:09 that Allah will resurrect him after death

4:11 is an indispensable knowledge for every Muslim.

4:13 Yet we find many

4:16 Muslims who are diverted by rivalry in worldly increase.

4:18 So what is the core issue?

4:20 The issue is that this knowledge

4:22 must become a deeply rooted certainty

4:24 within the soul,

4:26 firm and established,

4:28 actively impacting one's behavior.

4:30 This cannot happen merely by knowing of

4:32 the Resurrection,

4:34 rather than deeply internalizing it.

4:36 You know it conceptually, but you must truly understand it;

4:38 there is a vast difference between simply hearing information

4:40 and studying it,

4:42 pondering it,

4:44 and delving deeply into it

4:46 until it begins to govern

4:48 your actions—only then

4:50 will rivalry in worldly increase cease to divert you.

4:52 I ask Allah to enlighten our insight

4:54 and grant us success in doing

4:56 what He loves and is pleased with.

4:58 And Allah knows best. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad

5:00 and upon all his family and Companions.

5:02 And all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation.

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

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