Islam My Ultimate Decision

Thursday 21 June 2018

114 Chapters (Surahs) of the Holy Qur'an: Translation, Exegesis / Tafsir

June 21, 2018 Jalal HB 1 comment

Al Qur'an is last of the four Divine Scriptures sent by Allah through His revered prophets. The Qur'an is divided into 30 parts and contains 114 chapters, called Sūrah in Arabic. Each part has varying number of chapters depending upon their length. For example, the second surah Al Baqarah (The Cow) is spread over two and half parts.

The revelation of surahs can be divided into those revealed before the Hijra in Makka, called Meccan surahs, and those which revealed in Medina after the Hijrah, are called Median surahs. Meccan surahs are typically shorter than Medinan surahs, with relatively short verses (āyāt), and mostly come near the end of the Qur'an.

The chapter revealed during stay of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in Makkah is about 13 years (610-622 AD) up to the time of his Hijrah to Madina. The second phase of revelation phase lasted about 10 years, from Hijrah Madina and to the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him). It is generally agreed that out of the 114 chapters, 28 were revealed in Medinah.

Although placed at number 96, the opening verses of The Surah Al Alaq (Clot) became the first verses of the Holy Qur'an revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him):

“Read in the name of thy Lord Who created: Created man from a clot of blood. Recite! Thy Lord is the Most Beneficent, who taught man by the pen, taught him what he knew not”

And the last surah to be revealed on Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was Sürah Al Nasr (Succour), revealed shortly after the magnificent cashless capture of city of Makkah, which gave an indication to the prophet that now his mission had come to an end for he had for the last 23 years successfully not only conveyed the words and commandants of Allah to mankind but also lived a life exactly as spelt out in the Holy Qur'an:

When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest,
And you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes,
Then exalt [Him] with praise of your Lord and ask forgiveness of Him. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance.

It may be asked as to why the exegesis of Sūrahs is repeated in our blog as these are available on internet and anyone can consult the related sites. The difference between the exegesis / tafsir in our blog is that while other sites present only one explanation from one scholar, we have combined explanations / exegesis of each verse by more than one scholar. In some cases, the verses carry explanation by no less than three-four scholars. This gives a reader a chance to read the viewpoint of different scholars and how they interpret each verse as per their perception and experience.

The details of 114 chapters along with their subject translated in English is shown as against each Arabic name herein under. The Surahs in BLUE colour are those which were revealed in Makkah, while those in GREEN colour were revealed in Medinah.

Note: The explanation and exegesis / tafsir of the Qur'an should be read in conjunction with our post: Introduction to Qur'an and Explanation of Surah Al Fatihah (The first Surah / Chapter) of Qur'an by eminent Muslim scholar Dr Israr Ahmed.

Juz 1
Sürah 1 Al Fatiha (The Opener)

| Summary / Overview | Tafsir / Exegesis | Incredible explanation of 5th verse of Surah 1. Al Fatiha |

Juz 1-3

Sürah 2 Al Baqarah (The Cow)

Juz 3-4

Reading the Al Qur'an 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. May Allah (سبحانه و تعالى‎) help us understand Qur'ān and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. 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.

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

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 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:

Towards Understanding the Quran
Tafsir Ibn Khatir
Muhammad Asad Translation
Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
Tafsir Nouman Ali Khan

In addition, 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.

You may also refer to our Reference Pages and Reference Page on Understanding Al Qur'an for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.

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Resource References: Revelation order of Surahs | Meccan Surahs | Medinan Surahs | Makkan and Medinan Revelations |

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Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) - The Dawn of Prophethood

June 20, 2018 Jalal HB No comments

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) before the first revelation unto him, beside being a thriving businessman, was a restless man too. The injustices around him, the treatment of the poor at the hands of the wealthy merchants of Makkah, the never ending tribal feuds and moral degeneration of the society concerned him the most. Finding no solution to the misgivings around him, he started to spend his extra time in seclusion and praying endlessly. He would often go out of Makkah and take solace in a cave, called Hira in Mount Jabal e Noor some three miles out of the city.

He would many days in the cave praying to some divine power he had no idea of. Then as the time went by, he started seeing bright light in his dreams and he often wondered what that light could be. He did not know that it was the divine light perhaps testing him for the last time for award of the prophet hood.

And then night it finally happened. While he was engrossed in his prayers, Angel Gabriel came, a sight which terribly frightened him. The Angel asked him to READ. To which he replied that he could not read. The angel came forward and embraced him so tightly that could feel his bones cracking. The Angel released him and then asked him again to READ. He again said that he could not and the Angel again embraced him tightly and asked him to READ for the third time. When he still gave the same reply, the Angel embraced him for the third time and then said:

“Read in the name of thy Lord Who created: Created man from a clot of blood. Recite! Thy Lord is the Most Beneficent, Who taught man by the pen, taught him what he knew not”

(Later these verses became the opening verses of Surah Alaq (Clot) 96:2-6)

When he repeated the words as commanded, he started to swat profusely as these heavenly commands were to heavy to bear. He therefore rushed home and asked his wife Khadija to cover him. After a while when he gained control over him, he narrated the entire episode to his wife.

Next morning his wife Khadija took him to one of his cousins Waraqa ibn Nawafal, who was a devout Christian and had was a wise man. Though very old and blind, he was able to listen to what had happened to Muhammad (peace be upon him) and said: You must have been visited by Namoos (that was how Angel Gabriel called in old scriptures) who also visited Prophet Musa (Moses, peace be upon him), but feared that one day his own people will drive him out. This really surprised Muhammad (peace be upon him) and asked why would his people drive him out? Nawafal said that in the past whenever such tidings were brought from heaven to a person, people never believed him and was treated unjustly. Nawafal wished he were alive to that day and would have supported him and his truth.

Although Waraqa ibn Nawafal passed away shortly thereafter, his prediction were to come true in letter and spirit as Muhammad (peace be upon him) from then was to live a difficult life and the non believers of Makkah made his life miserable and difficult. But for prophets such are the hostilities they had to face as did Moses and Jesus and many others.

Among the first few people who embraced Islam at the hand of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the very first instant they heard of his heavenly revelation included his wife Khadija, his cousin Ali, then aged 10 years), Zaid bin Haritha (Prophet's adopted son) and Abu Baker (Prophet's best friend and companion). Khadijah was thus the first woman to embrace Islam and the first woman to pray with him.

The life of Muhammad (peace be upon him) as last of the prophets will be discussed in the next post.

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Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.

Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him): Early Life

June 18, 2018 Jalal HB No comments

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), is the last of the prophets of Allah in the long lineage of prophets that Allah sent to the mankind to show them the righteous path chosen by Allah for the guidance of mankind and save them from the fire of hell. Those who believe in words of Allah have been following Allah's divine message and commandments and carrying on to obey Allah's continued guidance for they may be forgiven.

Allah revealed His commandments in four holy scriptures to prophets Dawood (David), Musa (Moses), Eesa (Jesus) and last of all to Muhammad (may peace be upon them all) and accordingly followers of Allah's divine messages, the believers continued to follow each new message for all messengers and prophets carried the same message, improving upon the previous revelations. Thus we as Muslims not only believe in all the prophets before Muhammad (peace be upon him), but also the previous scriptures too.

However, people of scriptures before the holy Qur'an, the fourth and the last holy scriptures more often than not tend to believe in the finality of their scriptures and refuse to accept the scripture that followed theirs, even when there are clear indications that the final word from Allah is still to come. And Alhamdo Lillah more and more people are embracing Islam for it shows the ultimate truth and guides the mankind to the final word of Allah.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was chosen from the land of barren and rugged mountains and deserts of Arabia to be the last of the prophets to receive the last of the holy scriptures, the Holy Qur'an, for the ultimate guidance of mankind till the day of judgment. Now in a series of posts, I will deliberate on the life of Prophet (peace be upon him) in the various phases of his life till the revelation of Qur'an finally completed. In this post, I will concentrate on the early life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) till the dawn of prophet hood when he turned forty.

The landscape of Arabia around 570 AD was quite hostile, both weather and tribal enmity wise. The scorching heat of deserts of Arabia restricted the population near oases or mountain folds. Makkah and Yathrib were the two thriving cities; the former being a trade hub and the latter being a farming paradise. Those were the times when tribal rivalries were at their peak and Makkah was the certain of idol worshipers. Around 360 idols were placed inside and outside of the Ka'ba, a holy place built by prophet Ibraheem (Abraham) ad his son Ismail (Ishmael), peace be upon them, as a home of Allah. But by and by it became a hose of world gods as Allah's messages and guidance faded from the bitter and stubborn hearts of the nomad Arabs. Those were the times when infant girls were buried alive as the families felt ashamed of having girls born to them.

With Allah's divine messages almost lost and the people of Arabia had digressed from what Allah had revealed for their guidance through His early prophets and Messengers, a boy was born around 570 AD in Makkah to the house of Abd Allah bin Al Muttalib of the noble clan of Banu Hashim. The father had died six months before the birth of his son and his grandfather Muttalib named his grandson as Muhammad, meaning "to praise, to glorify," and took over his responsibility. Muhammad's mother Amna sent her son to a wet nurse Halima to outskirts of Makkah, as the norm was, to be raised in the openness of nomad areas. This allowed young Muhammad to the rigours of nomad life right from his early days.

Muhammad was six when his mother died and he was then placed in the custody of his grandfather. His grandfather was then the custodian of Ka'ba and was held in high esteem. From here on in the patronage of his grandfather, he met signatories and merchants who to Ka'aba and was educated in the company of the elite and those who mattered in business. But his grandfather was not to live long and passed away in 578. His further upbringing thus fell on his uncle Abu Talib, a merchant by trade. While he accompanied his uncle on trade tours, he also reared herds of sheep, something which all prophets did before him. His tours with trade caravans made him interested in trade and soon became part of this profession. Right from the outset, his integrity and character and fair dealing earned him a respectable position was started to be called Al Ameen, a person that can be trusted.

As his repetition spread, a wealthy widow Khadija of Makkah, a distant cousins of his, asked him to carry her good for trade. His fair dealings brought profits to Khadija beyond her expectations and impressed by his honesty, she sent a proposal of marriage to him through his uncle. Thus they both were married when he was 25 and Khadija was 40. They both had six off springs, two male and four female. However both sons died in their very early age.

The place Muhammad enjoyed as just and an honest man was amply demonstrated when the Black Stone of Ka'aba was to be placed back after it was removed for the renovation of the Ka'aba structure, this was somewhere in 605 CE. Since it was a sacred stone, a clash arose between the chieftains of Makkah as to who would place the stone back to its place. When they could not come to a solution, they decided that first person that enters Ka'aba the next morning would be entrusted with the task. It so happened that young Muhammad, aged 35, walked in and was asked for the solution agreed by all. Muhammad (peace be upon him) asked them to place the stone on a piece of cloth and lifted by all chieftains till the stone is brought to its place. When it was done so, he picked the black stone and placed it at its exact position.

Although Muhammad was a thriving businessman, he had some emptiness deep inside him and thus would take time out and go out on the mountains overlooking Makkah and prayed, sometimes for days altogether. The cave of Hira in the mountain of Jabal-e-Noor was his favourite place to find solace and mediation. And it was here at the age of forty that he received the first revelation from Allah through Angel Gabriel and his journey of prophet hood began.

To be continued in separate posts on his life from hereafter as Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

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Thursday 21 June 2018

114 Chapters (Surahs) of the Holy Qur'an: Translation, Exegesis / Tafsir

Wednesday 20 June 2018

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) - The Dawn of Prophethood

Monday 18 June 2018

Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him): Early Life

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