As-salaam wa-alaikum, brothers and sisters.
Summary
Today’s selection consists of three short Surahs. The first is Surah 109, Al-Kãfirün or Those Who Reject Faith. This Surah defines the right attitude towards those who reject faith; in matters of Truth, we make no compromise but there is no need to persecute or abuse anyone for his faith or belief. Tafseer for this selection concerns the matter of personal conviction in Faith.
The second is Surah 110, Al-Nasr or the Help. This Surah defines victory as an occasion to celebrate Allah’s praises, not as a reason for exultation.
The third is Surah 111, which goes by two names; either Al-Masad which means The Plaited Rope or Al-Lahab which the Flame. While directed at a particular person named Abu Lahab, the Surah illustrates that he who rages against holy things is burnt up in his own rage and that women, who are made for nobler emotions, may, if they go wrong, feed unholy rage with fiercer fuel, to their own loss. Tafseer for this Surah contains some historical background on Abu Lahab and his wife.
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Verses
Surah 102 (Al-Kãfirün)
Bis-millahi ar-rahman, ar-raheem.
In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful.Say: O you who reject Faith![1] I worship not that which you worship,[2] Nor will you worship that which I worship.[3] And I will not worship that which you have been wont to worship,[4] Nor will you worship that which I worship.[5] To you be your Way and to me mine.[6] 109:[1-6]
Ameen.
Tafseer for Surah 102
On personal conviction in Faith:
Faith is a matter of personal conviction, and does not depend on worldly motives. Worship should depend on pure and sincere Faith, but often does not: for motives of worldly gain, ancestral custom, social conventions or imitative instincts, or a lethargic instinct to shrink from inquiring into the real significance of solemn acts and the motives behind them, reduce a great deal of the world’s worship to sin, selfishness, or futility. Symbolic idols may themselves be merely instruments for safeguarding the privileges of a selfish priestly class, or the ambitions, greed, or lust of private individuals. Hence, the insistence of Islam and its Teach on the pure worship of the One True God. The Prophet [pbuh] resisted all appeals to worldly motives and stood firm in his Message of eternal Unity.
Surah 103 (Al-Nasr)
Bis-millahi ar-rahman, ar-raheem.
In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful.When there comes the help of Allah and the victory,[1] you see the people entering Allah’s religion (Islam) in multitudes.[2] Celebrate the Praises of your Lord, and pray for His Forgiveness: For he is Oft-Returning (in Grace and Mercy).[3] 110:[1-3]
Ameen.
Surah 104 (Al-Lahab)
Bis-millahi ar-rahman, ar-raheem.
In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful.Perish the hands of the Father of Flame! Perish he![1] No profit to him from all his wealth and all his gains.[2] Burnt soon will he be in a fire of blazing flame,[3] His wife shall carry the (crackling) wood – as fuel!-[4] A twisted rope of palm leaf fibre round her (own) neck.[5] 111:[1-5]
Ameen.
Tafseer for Surah 104
On Abu Lahab and his wife:
Abu Lahab: “Father of Flame” was the nickname of an uncle of the Holy Prophet, known for his fiery hot temper and his ruddy complexion. He was one of the most inveterate enemies of early Islam. His words [and actions] were futile but his power and strength were equally futile. Many of the leaders of persecution perished at Badr, and Abu Lahab himself perished a week after Badr, consumed with grief and his own fiery passions. Verse 3 was prophetic of his end in this very life, though it also refers to the Hereafter.
Abu Lahab’s wife was a woman of equally passionate spite and cruelty against the sacred person of the Holy Prophet. Sue used to tied bundles of thorns with ropes of twisted palm leaf fibre and carry them and strew them about on dark nights in the paths which the Prophet was expected to take, in order to cause him bodily injury. “To carry firewood” may also be symbolic for carrying tales between people to embroil them. This was also one of her vices. Thus does Evil prepare for its own fate.
This concludes today’s episode of the 17 Verses Podcast. I hope that this selection has helped increase your understanding of the holy Qur’an just a little bit.
Thank you and be well.