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Showing posts with label Comparison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comparison. Show all posts

Thursday 13 January 2022

Striking Resemblance between Surah 113 Al Falaq and Surah 114 An Naas

The two concluding Sürahs, that is Sürah 113. Al Falaq and Sürah 114 An Naas have a striking resemblance between the two. Sürah Al Falaq and Sürah An Naas, though are two Sürahs of the Qur'an are separate entities and are written in the Mushaf also under separate names, yet they are so deeply related mutually and their contents so closely resemble each other's that they have been designated by a common name Mu'awwidhatayn (the two Sürahs in which refuge with Allah has been sought, or literally 'the two protectingones'). That is in both Sürahs refuge has been sought from evil: 
  • In Sürah Al Falaq from the outer evils,
  • While in Sürah An Naas protection from inner evil is prayed for. 
Imam Baihaqi in Dala'il an-Nubuwwat has written that these Surahs were revealed together, that is why the combined name of both is Mu'awwidhatayn.

These two consecutive surahs are recited in order to dispel any form of evil that may be the work of the devil, evil spirits like jinn, effect of black magic or the evil eye. It is generally believed that these two surahs were revealed on the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as an antidote for a spell laid on him.

Now as per the evasion of outer evil, as is sought in the Surah 113. Al Falaq, man has no control over them. That is to say from the evil of the darkness, the black magic or the evil eye by others targeting a person as is mentioned in the verse 4-6 of the surah:
(113:3) from the evil of night's darkness when it spreads around;
(113:4) from the evil of the women who blow on knots;
(113:5) and from the evil of the envier when he envies.

The details of these verses is given in the tafsir/exegesis of the Surah Al Falaq already published. It can be seen that the person being targeted may not even know that evil is being cast on him unless he starts to feel the ill effects of the evil. One should be careful if one buys a new car better than his relatives or colleagues, or gets a good job or buys new clothes, because he is likely to fall prey tom the evil eyes. Even women blow knots into handmade dolls or pierce pins into these to cast an evil spell on their adversaries due to jealousy or enmity. 

Those (feminine) who blow on knots', this having been a favourite form of witchcraft practiced by perverted women. Such secret arts cause psychological terror. They may be what is called magic, or secret plotting, or the display of false and seductive charms (iii. 14), or the spreading of false and secret rumours or slanders to frighten men or deter them from right action. There is fraud in such things, but men are swayed by it. They should cast off fear and do their duty. Such people existed a lot among the Jews and also among the soothsayers of the Arabs. But the irony is that such practices are still in vogue even in the Muslim communities even today.

These are cases of outer evil on which one has no control and can easily fall prey to these evil machinations.

On the contrary, Surah 114. An Naas warn against the satanic whispers within one's heart that mislead a person and compel him to do evil things and commit a sin. By  reciting this surah we seek refuge with Allah from the slinking whisperers, as forewarned in the following three verses of the surah:

(114:4) from the mischief of the whispering, elusive prompter who returns again and again,

(114:5) who whispers in the hearts of people; 

(114:6) whether he be from the jinn or humans.”

Here a believer has control to suppress or ignore the evil whispers and save him from wrong doings. Such whispers are often cast on a believer's heart specially when he stands up to offer Salat (prayer) and disturbs his thoughts and rather than offering prayer in humility and full concentration, his thoughts are disturbed. In so doing one usually forgets how many rakat one has offered and has to reread to undo his mistakes. This whispers also compel a believer against his fellow brother and sometimes these whispers so over power one's thinking abilities that one commits sins beyond any proportion.

Evil insinuates itself in all sorts of insidious ways from within so as to sap man's will, which was given to man by Allah. This power of evil may be Satan, or evil men or the evil inclinations within man's own will: for there are "evil ones among men and Jinns, inspiring each other with flowery discourses by way of deception" (vi. 112). They secretly whisper evil and then withdraw, to make their net the more subtle and alluring.

This last verse of Surah An Naas amplifies the description of the sources from which the whisper of evil may emanate: they may be men whom you may see or invisible spirits of evil working within. See last note. So long as we put ourselves in Allah's protection, and trust in Allah, evil cannot really touch us in our essential and inner life. 

It may be noted that whether it is the jinn or men who induce these latent suggestions in people, their general psyche is that once a person is caught in their web of deception, they totally absolve themselves of the consequences and leave people to themselves. Such devils can always be seen among human beings. It is evident from the Qur’ān that the devils from among the jinn too are no different. The word خَنَّاس depicts this very character so that people always keep the insincerity and treachery of Satan in mind. Thus, at another instances, the Qur’ān states that he is an eternal deceiver (khadhūl), all his promises are mere deception and in the Hereafter too he will absolve himself of all consequences and abandon his followers.

You may also like to know who is a Qareen and what is his association with man and how he is part of the Satan to whisper evil in your heart. Read our post on Qareen

Thus these two surahs which closely resemble in substance, warn the believers to be watchful of outer and inner evil so as not to fall into their trap and get astray. Whenever one feels any sort of spell over him or whisper in his heart that are misleading, one should recite these two surahs regularly and seek refuge with the Lord of mankind, Allah the Almighty, the oft forgiving and protector.

If a person is superstitious and credulous and instead of relying on sense and reason relies on speculation and conjecture and if instead of deeply trusting God clings to doubts and skepticism, then such a person is often lured by devils among the jinn and men, who then escort him to all sorts of evil. The only way to protect oneself from this evil, according to this sūrah, is to remain in the asylum of the Almighty. Whenever a person feels that his heart is getting inclined to evil, he should immediately seek refuge with Him. The best way to do this is to recite these two last sūrahs of the Qur’ān. (Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥī, Tadabbur-i Qur’ān, vol. 9, 663)

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.
Reading the Holy Quran 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. An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
  • The plain translation and explanation has been taken from the Holy Quran officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 
  • The exegesis of the chapters of the Holy 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 by [2], additional input has been interjected from following sources (links to Reference Pages given below):  
  • Tafsir Ibn Khatir
  • Muhammad Asad Translation
  • Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
  • Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
  • Qur'an Wiki
  • Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
  • Tafsir Nouman Ali Khan
  • Towards Understanding the Quran
In addition the references of  other sources which have been explored have also been given below. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites:

Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |

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Monday 30 April 2018

Bible and Quran


All Muslims around the world testify that there is no gods but Allah and Muhammad (peace be upon him) is his messenger. Beside this basic testimony of faith, the Muslims also believe in all the prophets and messengers sent by Allah Almighty before Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the holy books Zaboor, Psalms and Bible and Quran, and the day of Judgment:


Thus as a Muslim I too believe in all the prophets and messengers and the holy books reveled on the prophets Dawood (David), Musa (Moses) and Isa (Isac) (peace be upon them all), besides the Holy Quran, the last holy book revealed by Allah on Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

And the Holy Quran makes many references to events and incidents that have been mentioned in the earlier three books, though with some variations. But it is amazing for me to note that the people of Holy Books cross question Quran and its injections based on the knowledge they have from the their books and finally conclude that their books contain truth and that Quran, Allah forbids, is incomplete and in fact an effort by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to mislead the people of earlier faith.

I will quote many such examples in the following lines. But let just say one thing that there have been many theories presented by scientists and scholars which have either been validated by their successors or totally disregarded based on new knowledge available. Likewise, the Holy Quran which is the last Holy Book by Allah Almighty, is the final word on the commandments sent by Allah earlier for there has to be no prophet or messenger after Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and that Holy Quran is to be the last revealed holy book from Allah Almighty.

Before we discuss some contradictions and similarities of Bible and Quran, I would like to clarify one thing. While reading about Bible and many comments by the followers of the third holy book, I found that many of them consider Allah to be something different from their God. This is simply amazing. We have names of the same objects and people and even prophets spelt differently in different languages. For example, Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) is spelt as Moses in English, while Prophet Eesa (peace be upon him) is known as Jesus by Christians. Likewise in Arabic Mariam is what is Mary in Bible and Hawwa is Eve and so on.

Likewise the word God in Arabic is spelt as Allah, the omnipotent and the one who is the creator of the entire universe, even other than our planet earth. Thus considering Allah to be something different from God, the same God mentioned in the three earlier holy books is nothing but lack of knowledge of Arabic language. 

We will continue the topic in the coming posts to talk specifically on some of the major contradictions between Bible and Quran.

Photos: Bible | Quran
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