!"# $% "(Say): I demand not of you any recompense for it (the toils of prophethood) except the love of (my) relatives"

Transcription

1 Mawaddah fil Qurba In Surah asy Syuraa 42:23, Allah swt says: Introduction!"# $% "(Say): I demand not of you any recompense for it (the toils of prophethood) except the love of (my) relatives" Here Allah swt has asked Prophet Mohammad (saww) to state that in return for his guidance, he does not expect anything, except love for his family. In this verse, the Arabic word Qurba has been used for family. The correct meaning of this word is "nearness" rather than arham, which means blood relations. Thus the Quran says that we should love and respect all those who are near to the Prophet. (This includes Ahlul Bayt and excludes all hypocrites.) Further, in Surah Sheba 34:47, Allah swt says: &'() *+),$-./ 0 1! ( *,2!3"# 2 $% "Say: Whatever reward I have asked of you, that is only for yourselves; my reward is only with Allah, and He is a witness of all things" Here Allah swt has asked Mohammad (saww) to state again that he does not demand a wage, as Allah swt will reward him for his efforts. The Holy Prophet (saww) had no other motive except to guide mankind on the right path. In Surah asy Syuraa 43:23 Allah swt commanded the Holy Prophet (saww) to say: "I demand not of you any recompense for it (the toils of prophethood) except the love of (my) relatives." This verse makes it clear that the purpose and meaning of the Prophet's demand, as a return for the completion of the duties of prophethood, was for the people's own benefit. If they love his nearest of kin, who are the ones thoroughly purified by Allah swt (Ahzab 33:33), they would always be on the right path to salvation by following the example of the Ahlul Bayt. Jaafari Muslim Association (Singapore), Classical Tafseer Class Committee Page 1 of 6

2 Further comments on verses 4th and 5th of Surat Al Faathihah Maaliki Yaumid Diin Allamah Thabathaba'i quoted that whenever a servant of Allah swt says, "maaliki yaumid diin". Allah, the High says, "I make you My witness that, as he has acknowledged that I am the Master of the Day of Judgment I will most certainly make his reckoning easier (for him) on the Day of Reckoning, and I will most certainly accept his good deed and look over his sins." In Surah al Isra' 17:71, Allah swt has said: 5/ (3-1/64 789/" : 3- ;/ (22< *=> $- '>? 1A4 "(Remember) the day when We will call every people with their Imam; then whoever is given his book in his right hand, these shall read their book; and they shall not be dealt with unjustly" On the Day of Judgement, every nation will be called with their Imam. The Imam can be our hujjah in our defence or can be a hujjah against us, depending on the records of our deeds. Iyyaaka Na budu wa Iyyaaka Nasta iin This verse can be translated as follows: "Thee only we serve; to Thee alone we beseech for help" Thus, when we recite this verse we are saying that we worship Allah swt alone and only Him we ask for assistance. In fact, the way we ask for assistance is through worshipping or ibadah. And even to worship Allah swt, we need his assistance. Thus, worshipping Allah swt and asking for His assistance are not mutually exclusive activities (as is claimed by some), but go hand in hand. The word Abdun, according to Allamah Tabarsi in Majma'ul Bayaan, literally means zillah, which means humbleness. The antonym of Zillah is izzah. Imam Ali (as) has said that it is an honour for him to be Abdun, and that honour is sufficient for him. According to Imam Jaffar Sadiq (as) in Tafseer al Mizan, there are three types of ibadah. One type of ibadah is where the servant worships Allah swt since he fears hellfire. This is the ibadah of a slave. The second type of ibadah is where the servant worships Allah swt in expectation of sawaab, or gains. This is the ibadah of a businessman. The third type of ibadah is where the servant worships Allah swt because of his love for the Almighty. This is the ibadah of a free man. This third form of worship is the most noble and best form of ibadah. Jaafari Muslim Association (Singapore), Classical Tafseer Class Committee Page 2 of 6

3 Imam Ali (as) in Nahjul Balagah has also said that there are people who worship Allah swt for the sake of return. This is the worship of a businessman. And there are people who worship Allah swt in fear of hellfire. That is the worship of a slave. It is often said that we should worship Allah swt because of taqwa and because of fear from him. However, the word taqwa has always been misinterpreted as "fear". This is not true. How can we be close to someone who we fear? Our objective is to get close to Allah swt and we can achieve this objective by loving Allah swt. We can get close to someone we love. The word taqwa has been derived from al Wiqayah which means preventing and safeguarding yourself, not fearing Allah swt. There are people who worship Allah swt as they are grateful to him. As said by Imam Jaffar Sadiq (as), this is the ibadah of a free man and is the best form of ibadah. The Prophet (saww) always used to do ibadah. His ibadah was that of a grateful and humble servant. Ayesha once said to the Prophet (saww) that, "Your past and future sins have been forgiven by Allah". This implies that she believed that the Prophet (saww) had sinned in the past and will continue to do so in the future. (Unfortunately a group of Muslims still hold this belief but Alhamdullilah we believe in the infallibility of our Prophet (saww) ) Imam Ali Zain al Abidin (as) said that he does not like worshipping Allah swt only for the sake of sawaab as he does not want to worship out of greed. This is because if greed of sawaab is the only motive, then a person who does not have this greed will not engage in worship. Then Imam further said that he does not like worshipping Allah swt for the sake of avoiding punishment as that would make him His worst subject and he will not be able to worship Him if not for fear. Then someone asked Imam, Why do you worship Allah if it is not for greed of sawaab, or fear of punishment?" Imam replied, "I worship Him because he has the right to be worshipped and because He is fit to be worshipped. I worship Him to thank him for his endless bounties." [Mizanul Hikmah] We ask Allah swt for help in confronting forces. We have to confront different forces in this world, both the forces in nature and our innate, or inborn natural forces. To be able to challenge with these destructive, misleading factors, we need to be helped. Hence, we shelter under the protective umbrella of Allah swt. We get up every morning and repeat the verse iyyaka na`budu wa iyyaka nasta`in (thee (alone) do we worship and of thee (only) we seek help) to confess our servitude to Allah swt and to ask his pure essence help to make us successful in this great challenge. We do the same in the evening before we go to bed. We get up in the morning with his remembrance, and we go to bed in the evening with his remembrance, and each time we ask help from his pure essence. What an excellent state this is for the person who is in this stage of faith! Jaafari Muslim Association (Singapore), Classical Tafseer Class Committee Page 3 of 6

4 Interpretation of the 6th Verse of Surat Al Faathihah Ihdina Sirat al Mustaqeen There are different translations for this verse. Some authors have translated this as: show us the right path. However we believe that the correct translation is: keep us on the right path. First we discuss the word sirat which means path. Imam Jaffar Sadiq (as) said: "(The Straight path) is the path to the makrifat of Allah swt. And there are two paths, one in this world and the other in the next. As for the path in this world, it is the Imam whose obedience is obligatory; whosoever knows him in this world and follows his guidance, he shall proceed on the path which is the bridge over the hell in the next world; and whosoever does not know him in this world, his foot shall slip (over that bridge) in the next world, and he shall fall down into the fire of the hell." [Ma'ani 'l-akhbar]. This verse of Surat Al Faathihah is related to Surah al Imran 3:8 which says: B. C> 7> DE 7>' 2 : F./ :34'. G 'H :% IJ; 5 :E "Make not my heart to swerve. After Thou hast guided me, and give me mercy from Thee, surely Thou are the Giver" We should not forget that all our bounties originate from Allah swt. An analogy is that of the light of a lamp. The light appears to be constant and monotonous. The reason is that electrical current is flowing monotonously from the generator and subsequently producing new electrical power constantly. Our being is similar to the lamp. We exist because the creator is constantly giving us bounties and guidance. If we engage in vices then in a sense we are disengaging our connection with our Lord. It is at that point that we are straying from the right path. Hence it is essential that we keep praying for guidance constantly. Imam Ali (as) has said about this verse: Continue for us Thy help with which we obeyed Thee in our past days, so that we continue to obey Thee in our coming days also. [Ma'ani 'l-akhbar] This is what is meant by ihdina sirat al mustaqeen. Everyday we pray this to Allah swt, so that Allah swt may keep us on the right path. According to Imam Jaffer Sadiq (as) the verse means, " Guide us to adhere to the path that leads to Thy love, and conveys to Thy Garden, (the path that) prevents us from following our desires (lest we be ruined) and from adhering to our opinions (lest we be destroyed)." [Ma'ani 'l-akhbar] Jaafari Muslim Association (Singapore), Classical Tafseer Class Committee Page 4 of 6

5 Something for You to Ponder About 3 K,L, this Arabic phrase has 14 letters altogether., there are 14 letters here again. In the Holy Qur'án, 30 Súrahs start with letters and not words. These are called the Hurúf al- Muqatta-át. List of Abbreviations: Alphabets Súrah Numbers in which they appear From these letters you can form the following sentence: This translates into: "The path of Ali is truth. We hold fast to it "! > OP N KM Is this coincidental or yet another miracle of the Quran? We know that the Quran is not a coincidental book. So it has to be the latter. This again is something worth pondering over. Jaafari Muslim Association (Singapore), Classical Tafseer Class Committee Page 5 of 6

6 Bahlool and the Businessman Mind Blowing Story One day a businessman met Bahlool, and after politely referring to him as Sheikh Bahlool asked to give him advice regarding what he should buy so that it would benefit him the most. Bahlool advised him to buy iron and cotton. After a few months he sold that, and made a handsome profit. Later he again met Bahlool, and this time referring to him as Crazy Bahlool, asked him the same question. Bahlool said Buy onions and watermelons. The businessman then spent his entire savings on onions and watermelons in the hope that again he would make a massive profit as before. However, this time the businessman suffered a huge loss. The businessman got very angry and upset. He then went to Bahlool and said, What kind of advice did you give me. I am destroyed! Bahlool said, The first time you addressed me as Sheikh Bahlool and then I advised you according to the wisdom of my title. The second time you addressed me as Crazy Bahlool and then I advised you in the capacity of a crazy person. The moral of the story is that we should respect people and not address them by insulting names. This is for our own benefit. Jaafari Muslim Association (Singapore), Classical Tafseer Class Committee Page 6 of 6