25 th November 2012. Tafseer Surah Ash-Shams Lecture by Sister Eman al Obaid www.alhudasisters.wordpress.com 91:1 By the sun and its brightness 91:2 And [by] the moon when it follows it 91:3 And [by] the day when it displays it 91:4 And [by] the night when it covers it 91:5 And [by] the sky and He who constructed it The Qur an will reform your life and your hereafter. The best book, the Qur an is your guidance, it will save you in your life and on the Day of Judgement. The Qur an is Kalamullah. Everything to do with the Qur an is barakah. It is a blessing when you hear the Qur an, when you read the Qur an, and when you ponder upon the Qur an. Surat al Shams has eleven oaths. - the sun, the moon, the day and the night. - The sky - The Earth. Ayah 6 The wow is the oath = by. The Earth is the only place Allah subhana wa ta'ala made for human beings to dwell, live and settle. harmful rays we have the protected ceilings etc. These sign s, the Heavens and the Earth, Allah subhana wa ta'ala made them subjected to the human beings so that we know why Allah subhana wa ta'ala created us. Allah subhana wa ta'ala made the human being to worship Him. Everything is for you protection from the 1
spread it. From the root ta ha a. Allah subhana wa ta'ala created the Earth as a semi sphere. Allah subhana wa ta'ala made the Earth spread so that you can live on it, walk on it. How? - the Earth is so vast - the gravity The Earth can bear the weight of the human beings dead or alive. Qudrat Allah Chapter (77) sūrat l-mur'salāt (Those sent forth) 77:25 Have We not made the earth a container These verses are not just science, facts and information. We want the Qur an to be our life this should make me to believe more in Allah subhana wa ta'ala. This is all for you, you are so special to Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Everything should make you to know Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Allah subhana wa ta'ala made the elements of the Earth not too soft and not too hard, Allah subhana wa ta'ala made it suitable for the people of the Earth to dwell on it. It is not all hard like diamonds. Some components of the Earth are hard and some are soft so that we can utilise it. Ayah 7 An oath refers to something very important. What is the nafs? And the soul. Human beings consist of two things: - body & - soul One is tangible and one is not tangible. The soul gives the body value. Your soul makes you to move, act & think etc. 2
Which is the king? The soul, the nafs. Where is your ruh? No one understands what is the soul. Allah subhana wa ta'ala mentioned in the Quran: Chapter (17) sūrat l-isrā (The Night Journey) 17:85 And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about the soul. Say, "The soul is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little." You don t know about the soul. No matter how advanced mankind becomes, still their knowledge is very limited. Don t give too much power to the human beings your power is when you are nearer to Allah subhana wa ta'ala, not by your intelligence. Still your knowledge is very little. Allah subhana wa ta'ala swears by the soul the self will make you to do good or bad. The nafs, yourself is more powerful than the shaytan. Shaytan is one of our greatest enemies. But yourself which is between your hands is more dangerous than the shaytan. Not all nafs are bad. You need to subject your nafs, you need to make your nafs surrender to Allah subhana wa ta'ala. If you leave your nafs as it is, your nafs Allah subhana wa ta'ala mentioned in the Qur an, if it is not guarded and if you didn t submit to Allah subhana wa ta'ala and surrender to Allah subhana wa ta'ala, your nafs will follow the desires. You will do the things suiting you. This is why Allah subhana wa ta'ala swears by the nafsin, because it is so powerful. Your nafs can make you to go to Paradise Your nafs can make you to go to Hell. Chapter (12) sūrat yūsuf (Joseph) إ نH اMHNA س BHI ر ة J AB C @?وء 12:53 Indeed, the soul is a persistent enjoiner of evil If your nafs does not know what it is supposed to do, you did not submit and surrender to Allah subhana wa ta'ala, the nafs will make the person Ammaratan bis Su' ; - The nafs will command you - The nafs will ordain you - The nafs will order you to do evil. 3
In the morning and evening supplications you are praising Allah subhana wa ta'ala; Allahumma inni a udhu bika wa min sharri nafsi wa min sharri shaytan. (85) "ال له م ع ال م ا لغ ي ب و الش ه اد ة فاط ر الس ماو ات و ا ل ا ر ض ر ب ك ل ش ي ء و م ل ي كه ا ش ه د ا ن لا ا له ا لا ا ن ت ا ع و ذ بك م ن ش ر ن فس ي و م ن ش ر الش ي طان و ش ر ك ه و ا ن ا قت رف ع لى ن فس ي س وء ا ا و ا ج ر ه ا لى م س ل م". Firstly I seek refuge from the evil of myself and then I seek refuge from shaytan. Allah subhana wa ta'ala said in the Qur an the shaytan is so weak. Don t say everything is from shaytan, shaytan will just give you a hint, an idea. In yourself you either like this idea or you don t like this idea. After the great creations of Allah subhana wa ta'ala, the Sun, the Moon, the day, the night, the Earth and the sky Allah subhana wa ta'ala swears by yourself, the nafsin. The nafs is one of the greatest signs of Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Look at how Allah subhana wa ta'ala made the nafs? So powerful, so valuable and: and He Who proportioned it. Sawwah = to make. The soul, no one can understand how it is created. The soul is very light, lighter than the body. How do we understand that the soul is light? Hadith: the journey of the soul after death. When the soul leaves the body it travels very fast. When you are sleeping it is a minor death, the soul will partially leave the body. When you dream, the dreams are as if you are flying, going to places, to the past, to people etc. Allah subhana wa ta'ala made the soul very light so that it can travel. Also your moods change very quickly sad, joking, serious etc. Your emotions themselves are a miracle wama sawwaha. Intention al irrada, determination, love, hope and fear, the place of all these is your soul. We want to do things but our body cannot move, because our nafs moves faster. You have a strong will but you need to direct your will to something good. That is why your intention is very valuable, if you have the intention to do good but your body can t do it, Allah subhana wa ta'ala will give you the reward. I have the good intention, my soul wants to go 4
everywhere, to Hajj, to Umra, to do this or that etc. but your body can t do it. You will get the reward for your intention, Allah subhana wa ta'ala will give to you according to your will. Your nafs is very important. - fast and quick - emotionally it changes - has a determination and will Were it not the soul the body would be like a statue, no value, no emotions. You want interaction, emotion, will. This is a transcript of a lecture given by Sister Eman al Obaid. We ask Allah subhana wa ta ala for His forgiveness and His Mercy. Anything that is good from these notes is from Allah subhana wa ta ala. Any mistakes & misrepresentations are my own. I ask Allah subhana wa ta ala for His forgiveness and to put forgiveness in the hearts of those who read them. JazakAllah Khairan. 5