Today in our series of posts on Selected Verses from Qur'an, we have selected a part of the 35th and complete 36th verse / ayat of Surah 24. An Nur. As the name of the surah suggests, it carries mention of Noor of Allah. Now Noor of Allah is often translated into Light of Allah. But in fact there is no befitting word in English that can translate the word Noor for it is a form of light much superior to ordinary light and cannot be comprehended. Remember when part of Noor of Allah was shown to Prophet Musa (Moses, peace be upon him), he almost went blind and fainted for his eyes and body could not sustain the intensity and warmth of Noor of Allah.
The mention of Noor of Allah has been mentioned as a parable in the 35th ayat / verse of Surah 24. An Nur, shared as under. But we would not explain the parable for it is far beyond us to under stand:
اَللّٰهُ نُوۡرُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ ؕ مَثَلُ نُوۡرِهٖ كَمِشۡكٰوةٍ فِيۡهَا مِصۡبَاحٌ ؕ الۡمِصۡبَاحُ فِىۡ زُجَاجَةٍ ؕ اَلزُّجَاجَةُ كَاَنَّهَا كَوۡكَبٌ دُرِّىٌّ يُّوۡقَدُ مِنۡ شَجَرَةٍ مُّبٰـرَكَةٍ زَيۡتُوۡنَةٍ لَّا شَرۡقِيَّةٍ وَّلَا غَرۡبِيَّةٍ ۙ يَّـكَادُ زَيۡتُهَا يُضِىۡٓءُ وَلَوۡ لَمۡ تَمۡسَسۡهُ نَارٌ ؕ نُوۡرٌ عَلٰى نُوۡرٍ ؕ يَهۡدِى اللّٰهُ لِنُوۡرِهٖ مَنۡ يَّشَآءُ ؕ وَ يَضۡرِبُ اللّٰهُ الۡاَمۡثَالَ لِلنَّاسِؕ وَاللّٰهُ بِكُلِّ شَىۡءٍ عَلِيۡمٌ ۙ
(24:35) Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.62 His Light (in the Universe) may be likened to a niche wherein is a lamp, and the lamp is in the crystal which shines in star-like brilliance. It is lit from (the oil) of a blessed olive tree that is neither eastern nor western. Its oil well nigh glows forth (of itself) though no fire touched it: Light upon Light. Allah guides to His Light whom He wills. Allah sets forth parables to make people understand. Allah knows everything.
We take the highlighted portion of the 35th verse " Allah guides to His Light whom He wills " and connect it with the 36th verse as under. But before that a little explanation of the selected part of the whole verse as highlighted.
The verse " Allah guides to His Light whom He wills " and many such verses in Qur'an do not mean that Allah chooses men at random to show them guidance and His Light. In fact this verse, and many other such verses, mean that to be near Allah and be blessed with His guidance, a man has to have certain qualities before which he qualifies to receive special attention of Allah and be chosen to be blessed and guided. And Allah knows who is entitled to receive this bounty and who is not. Allah has no need to show His Light to the one who has do desire or longing for it and who is utterly lost in worldly pursuits and in seeking material pleasures and gains. This bounty can be bestowed only on the one who in the knowledge of Allah has a sincere desire for it.
Now coming to the 36th verse where it is told Where does Noor (light) of Allah Descend:
فِىۡ بُيُوۡتٍ اَذِنَ اللّٰهُ اَنۡ تُرۡفَعَ وَيُذۡكَرَ فِيۡهَا اسۡمُهٗۙ يُسَبِّحُ لَهٗ فِيۡهَا بِالۡغُدُوِّ وَالۡاٰصَالِۙ
(24:36) (Those who are directed to this Light are found) in houses which Allah has allowed to be raised and wherein His name is to be remembered: in them people glorify Him in the morning and in the evening,
Some commentators have interpreted these "houses" to mean the mosques, and 'raising them' to mean constructing and reverencing them. Some others, however, take them to mean the houses of the believers and 'raising them' to mean raising their moral status. The words "to mention His name therein" seem to refer to the mosques and support the first interpretation, but if we look deeper, we see that they support the second interpretation equally well. This is because Divine Law does not confine worship to mosques alone as is the case with the priest-ridden religions where the rituals can only be performed under the leadership of a clergy. In Islam a house is also a place of worship like the mosque and every man is his own priest. As this Surah mostly contains instructions for ennobling domestic life, we feel that the second interpretation is more in keeping with the context though there is no reason for rejecting the first interpretation. There will be no harm if both the mosques and the houses of the believers are implied here.
Tafsir Ibn-Kathir:
Having likened the heart of the believer and what it contains of guidance and knowledge to a lamp lit with good oil shining in a clear glass, Allah then states where it belongs, which is in the Masjids, the places on earth that are most beloved to Allah. The Masjids are His houses where He Alone is worshipped.
So Allah says: (In houses which Allah has ordered to be raised,) meaning, Allah has commanded that they be established and that they be kept clean of any filth, idle talk or words or deeds that are inappropriate.
`Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn `Abbas concerning this Ayah: (In houses which Allah has ordered to be raised,) he said; "Allah forbade idle talk in them.'' This was also the view of `Ikrimah, Abu Salih, Ad-Dahhak, Nafi` bin Jubayr, Abu Bakr bin Sulayman bin Abi Hathamah, Sufyan bin Husayn and others among the scholars of Tafsir. Many Hadiths have been narrated concerning the construction of Masjids, honoring them, respecting them, and perfuming them with incense etc. This has been discussed in more detail elsewhere, and I have written a book dealing with this topic on its own, praise and blessings be to Allah. With Allah's help we will mention here a few of these Hadiths, if Allah wills. In Allah we put our trust and reliance.
`Uthman bin `Affan, the Commander of the faithful, may Allah be pleased with him, said; "I heard the Messenger of Allah say: (Whoever builds a Masjid in which the Name of Allah is remembered, Allah will build for him a house in Paradise.) An-Nasa'i mentioned something similar. There are very many Hadiths which say this. `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: "The Messenger of Allah commanded us to build Masjids among the houses, and to clean them and perfume them.'' This was recorded by Ahmad and the Sunan compilers with the exception of An-Nasa'i. Ahmad and Abu Dawud recorded a similar report from Samurah bin Jundub.Al-Bukhari said: "`Umar said: `Build for the people a place to worship Allah, and beware of using red or yellow for adornment and decoration and distracting the people thereby.'''
Muhammad Asad Explanation:
Lit., "and [ordained] that His name ...", etc.: implying, as the sequence shows, that the spiritual purpose of those houses of worship is fulfilled only by some, and not all, of the people who are wont to congregate in them out of habit.
Yusuf Ali Explanation:
That is, in all places of pure worship; but some Commentators understand special Mosques, such as the Ka'ba in Makkah or Mosques in Madinah or Jerusalem; for these are specially held in honour.
(in them is He glorified in the mornings and in the evenings (again and again) In the evenings: the Arabic word is Asal, a plural of a plural, to imply emphasis: I have rendered that shade of meaning by adding the words "again and again".
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
This is a reference to the places of worship which were built at the direct command of God ie. the Baytullāh and the Bayt al-Maqdis. For them, the word رَفْع is used in the same meaning as it is used in the following verse of Sūrah al-Baqarah: اِذْ يَرْفَعُ اِبْرٰهٖمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ (bear in mind when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House).
The word ذِكْر here embraces all forms of remembrance to reminding others of it.
Qur'an Wiki:
This light which spreads in abundance in the heavens and earth is best seen in perfect clarity in the houses of God where people’s hearts look up to Him, remember Him, stand in awe of Him and dedicate themselves to Him in preference to all else.
When God sanctions something, it takes place just as He has approved. Since He has sanctioned the raising of these houses, they are there, functioning, purified and respected. The view showing them standing tall is in harmony with God’s light that radiates throughout the heavens and the earth. These houses are naturally noble which again fits perfectly with the brilliant light described earlier. Their special, venerated position makes them fit for the remembrance of God’s name: “In houses which God has sanctioned to be raised so that His name be remembered in them.”
Please listen to explanation of the ayat by eminent Muslim scholar Nouman Ali Khan:
May Allah help us understand Qur'ān and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. Aameen.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that the exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided, additional input has been interjected from following sources:
- Towards Understanding the Quran
- Tafsir Ibn Khatir
- Muhammad Asad Translation
- Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
- Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
- Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
In addition the references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
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