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Thursday 29 December 2022

Overview: Sūrah Fāṭir (The Originator) - 35th Chapter of Qur'an

Sūrah Fāṭir (The Originator) is the thirty fifth Sürah with 45 āyāt and five rukus, is part of the 22nd Juzʼ  of the Qur'ān. The Sūrah derives its title from the word Fāṭir which is mentioned in the very first verse, in which God’s power of creation is affirmed. It is also known as Sūrat al-Malāʼikah (سورة ﺍﻟملائكة - The Angels). for the word al-Malāʼikah (سورة ﺍﻟملائكة - The Angels) which also occurs in the first verse, where God mentions the wings of the angels.  God’s power is confirmed and contrasted with the powerlessness of idols.  The idolaters receive a warning and the Prophet is comforted.

The internal evidence of the style shows that the period of the revelation of this Sarah is probably the middle Makkan period, and especially that part of it, when antagonism had grown quite strong and every sort of mischief was being adopted to frustrate the mission of the Holy Prophet.

The Sūrah has been divided into five Ruku as under:
  • Ruku One: Verses 1- 7: None can withhold or award blessings besides Allah and Shaitan is your enemy, so take him as your enemy. 
  • Ruku Two: Verses 8-14: (8-9) That person who considers his evil deeds to be good cannot be guided to the Right Path.  (10-11) Let all those who are seeking honor know that real honor is in the obedience of Allah. (12-14 Allah) has created water, day, night, sun and moon for man's benefit and Deities besides Allah can neither hear, nor response nor yet own even a thread of a date-stone
  • Ruku Three: Verses 15-26: (15-18) Mankind is in need of Allah, while He is not in need of anyone. (19-26) Living and dead are not alike You cannot make those who are buried in the grave hear you
  • Ruku Four: Verses 27-37: Those who recite Al Qur'an, establish Salah and give charity may hope for Allah's blessings and rewards and Those who disbelieve shall have a painful punishment in the Hell-Fire forever.
  • Ruku One: Verses 38-45: (38-41) Allah has not sent any Book which has a provision of Shirk (worshipping anyone else besides Allah). (42-45) Plotting evil recoil none but the author of it and If Allah was to punish people for their wrong doings, He would have not left even and animal around.
Herein we present an overview of the Sūrah. This will be followed by a detailed post on the meaning and explanation/tafsir/exegesis of the entire Sūrah verse by verse in one of our following posts, In Sha Allah. You may also listen to the recitation of the Sūrah in Arabic with English sub titles at the end of this post.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ 
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"

اَ لۡحَمۡدُ لِلّٰهِ فَاطِرِ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ جَاعِلِ الۡمَلٰٓـئِكَةِ رُسُلًا اُولِىۡۤ اَجۡنِحَةٍ مَّثۡنٰى وَثُلٰثَ وَرُبٰعَ ؕ يَزِيۡدُ فِى الۡخَـلۡقِ مَا يَشَآءُ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عَلٰى كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ قَدِيۡرٌ‏ 
(35:1) All praise be to Allah, the Fashioner of the heavens and earth, Who appointed angels as His message bearers, having two, three, four wings. He adds to His creation whatever He pleases. Verily, Allah has power over everything.

The discourse is meant to warn and reprove the people of Makkah and their chiefs for their antagonistic attitude that they had then adopted towards the Holy Prophet's message of Tauhid, like a well-wisher, and also to admonish them like a teacher, as if to say: "O foolish people, the way to which this Prophet is calling you is to your own advantage. Your anger, your tricks and machinations against it and your conspiracies and designs to frustrate it are not directed against him but against your own selves. If you do not listen to him, you will be harming your own selves, not him. Just consider and ponder over what he says : there is nothing wrong in it. He repudiates shirk. If you look around carefully, you will realize that there is no basis for shirk in the world. He presents the doctrine of Tauhid. If you use your common sense, you will come to the conclusion that there is no being, beside Allah, Creator of the Universe, which might possess divine attributes and powers and authority. He tells you that you have not been created to be irresponsible in this world, but you have to render an account of your deeds before your God, and that there is life after the life of this world when everyone will meet the consequences of what he has done here. If you think a little you will see that your doubts and your astonishment about it are absolutely baseless. Don't you see the phenomenon of the reproduction of creation day and night? How can then your own recreation be impossible for that God Who created you from an insignificant sperm drop? Doesn't your own intellect testify that the good and the evil cannot be alike? Then think and judge for yourselves as to what is reasonable, should the good and the evil meet with the same fate and end up in the dust, or should the good be requited with good and the evil with evil? Now, if you do not admit and acknowledge these rational and reasonable things and do not abandon your false gods, and wish to continue living only as irresponsible people in the world, the Prophet will not lose anything. It is you yourselves who will suffer the consequences. The Prophet's only responsibility was to make the truth plain to you, which he has done."

In this connection, the Holy Prophet has been consoled again and again, as if to say: "When you are doing full justice to the preaching of your mission, you do not incur any responsibility for those who persist in their error and do not accept and follow the right way." Furthermore, he has also been consoled to the effect "You should neither grieve on account of those who do not want to believe, nor consume yourself with the thought of how to bring them to the rights path. Instead of this, you should pay your full attention to those who are inclined to listen to you."

The believers also, in this connection, have been given the good news so that they may feel strengthened and encouraged and remain steadfast on the path of the truth with full faith in the promises made by Allah.

You may now like to listen to recitation of the Sūrah:

وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ‏ 
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى‎) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door. 
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.

May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.

Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.

Please refer to our Reference Page "114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, explanation and exegesis of all other chapters of the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.

The overview is based on the source "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.  Links to additional references are given below:

Photo | References: | 1 | 2 |

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