Sifaat-e-Muttaqin, Surah An-Nisaa Ayah 1 Sunday, February 10 2013 5:00 AM Today with the grace of Allah SWT we will start Surah An Nisa with the first Ayah. Such is the significance of this Ayah that Prophet Muhammad SAW used to recite this ayah before starting any talks or before any ceremony. Ayah 1 ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer. O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you The Ayah start with O mankind whereas we have seen that almost always whenever Allah SWT talks about taqwa He addresses the believers but here Allah SWT is addressing all the people so the message is different ( Now we see the commands which Allah SWT is giving while addressing all the people: There are two places mentioned in the ayah where we are commanded to have taqwa: The first place where Allah SWT is commanding us to have taqwa is: 1. : fear your Lord here is mentioned as a verb an action telling us what we are supposed to do and to abstain from the sins on the Nur (light) of Allah SWT and guarding ourselves from the anger of Allah SWT ( From whom do we need to have taqwa ( )? your Lord so we need to have taqwa from our Lord when we know that who is our Creator, our Nurturer and our Reformer ( ) only then we can make taqwa from Page 1
Him. Allah SWT is the One who reforms us to have taqwa from Him and then He is explaining who our Lord is ( Who created you from one soul refers to - your Rabb created you; Shaikh Sa adi has given the tafseer for as the Rabb who created the insaan, initiated his creation, provides him, nurtures him with the great bounties. So we see that is not only creation but when Allah SWT has created us then He has taken the charge of providing us ( ) and nurturing us and bounties. This is the Rabb with whom we need to make taqwa. with His great blessings from one soul: Allah SWT created us from one soul ( Adam AS. Allah SWT created Adam AS from the crust of the earth ( ) which was is the crust that is why his name was - he was created from the sand from the surface of the earth. Here we see the concept of taqwa is somewhat different from the previous discussions. Here we are commanded to do taqwa from Allah SWT because He is our Rabb and He created us from one soul. Why is this detail given in the first ayah of Surah An Nisa? The surah largely covers the details on rules and regulations, addressing the problems of the society at large especially covering the less privileged groups of the society, who need our support. So this ayah is aiming at softening our heart and starting with telling us that our origin is one. and created from it its mate is from the single soul ( ) who was. his mate Hawwa ( ) All of these are actions of Allah SWT. Page 2
was created from the dust and then his soul mate was created from his ribs, which covers and surrounds the heart. It is in Hadith that deal women carefully and gently because if dealt harshly then they break 1. Allah SWT created her from his ribs in order they are similar and familiar with each other, suiting each other and are compatible with each other ( ) and get comfort for each other and establish a strong relationship with each other ( ) and so that men are responsible for taking care of women in a gentle manner and so that Allah SWT bestows His mercy in the form of a mate. So the beginning of the Surah is telling us about the creation of human from one soul and then how from this soul his mate was created. and women. and dispersed from both of them many men After Adam AS and Amma Hawwa generations and generations of people came out from them. means dispersed, scattered or spread ( ) from both of them Adam AS and Amma Hawwa All the humanity though different races, colours and appearances but their origin is one and they will all return to their origin ( ) in order they care and have compassion and mercy towards each other, so that nobody deals with others unjustly ( The discussion will be continued in the next class on Tuesday, February 12 Insha Allah Tuesday, February 12, 2013 Continued Discussion from Sunday, February 10 Class 1 Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah 's Apostle said, "Treat women nicely, for a women is created from a rib, and the most curved portion of the rib is its upper portion, so, if you should try to straighten it, it will break, but if you leave it as it is, it will remain crooked. So treat women nicely." Page 3
The first ayah of every surah is very important because it can tell about the whole surah. Sometimes the beginning of the surah can give a general idea about the surah as in this surah the first ayah mentions taqwa twice so it gives an idea that the surah generally talks about legislations and commands to have taqwa from Allah SWT. Now we move to the second place in the Ayah where we are commanded to have taqwa and we will see that the first part is important for the second part: 2. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. and fear Allah In the first part Allah SWT is commanding us to have taqwa from Him because He is the Rabb, the Creator, the Nurturer and the Provider. The second part is more intense and here again the command is to have taqwa ( ) from Allah SWT but here Allah SWT has used His most beautiful Name and when we ask Him with this Name then He responds for sure and this is the main name of Allah SWT and talks about His perfection ( Allah SWT tells us after commanding to fear from Him that who is Allah? through whom you ask one another Allah SWT is the One with whose Name you ask mean to ask and mean to ask one another by His Name. If we want something to get done or need something from others then we use Allah s Name that do this or give this in the Name of Allah or for the sake of Allah which indicates respect and majesty of Allah SWT ( Even if we want to prove our truthfulness then we always say By Allah. This is really magnifying and exalting the Name of Allah SWT ( ) that nothing is more than His Name and we don t use any other name for magnifying or exalting like Allah s Name SubhanAllah. Page 4
means attached to it means When Allah SWT is commanding us to have taqwa from Him and then He is indicating that the Name of Allah is such with whom you ask one another out of magnifying and exalting so have taqwa from that Allah SWT who is the Most magnified and Exalted. We need to magnify His Name with our hearts and guard our hearts and have His fear and protect our hearts and limbs and tongue from any actions or utterances which can make Allah SWT angry. The way we are magnifying Him by asking, more we need to magnify Him by His taqwa, not just by asking ( ) to do the obligations and abstain from the sins on the light of Allah SWT and this is the right of Allah SWT ( and the wombs and is the plural of - the womb; does it really mean the wombs here? Here the means the relatives; the one who you to need to join your close relatives, your family because they all are related to you because of the womb the kinship. When we look at this part of the Ayah - - then we see that the command to have taqwa is for two things: (1) when asking each other with Allah s name so the name only should not be used but should have taqwa in magnifying Allah SWT name; and (2) is to have taqwaa in matters related to our close relatives ( ) who are related to us by the wombs common relationships. We need to be extra careful in dealing with those relationships really to make taqwa. Don t cut those close womb relationships ( So in this part of the ayah we see that the rights of Allah Taa ala ( ) and the rights of the close relatives ( ) are mentioned. We need to fulfill their duties towards us and be careful about their rights, be nice to them and take care of them. The beginning of Surah An Nisa is telling us about the rights of Allah SWT ( ), the partners ( ) and the relatives ( ), and to have taqwa in fulfilling their rights. The whole of surah talks about the rights of the people orphans, inheritance rights after their deaths and while they are alive, rights of the ladies. That is why in the very beginning Allah SWT is commanding to have taqwa in all these matters because we need to Page 5
have the fear of Allah SWT in fulfilling His commandments. So the main thing in all these is the Allah that is why it is mentioned twice - and and only if we have taqwa from Allah SWT then we will guard our hearts and the actions and only then we will fulfill the rights of the people and take care of each other. Surah An Nisa especially talks about the unity of the muslim society and the whole humanity at large so look at the beauty of the Deen of Allah SWT. They will care for each other ( and have mercy for others and only then they will fulfill their duties towards other people, relatives and the ) partners ( And the end of this ayah is: Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer. What makes the people to fulfill the rights of others, not to exploit the weaker and the poorer groups of the society, be dutiful towards the spouses, relatives and other people in the society? is from the Names of Allah SWT ( ) and means that Allah SWT is watchful over all in all the situations whether they are quiet or talking, doing openly or hiding He is observing them all the time ( ) so we need to fulfill the rights of others and not oppress others. Why do the people violate the rights of others? Because they don t know that Allah SWT is - an Observer. When they know that Allah SWT is watching them then they become watchful ( ) over themselves and it makes them to feel shy ( ) from Allah SWT and these two characteristics will make a person muttaqi and he will have taqwa from Allah SWT. We ask Allah for His forgiveness and Mercy. Anything that is good from these notes is from Allah. Any mistakes & misrepresentations are my own. I ask Allah for His acceptance of all our good deeds and forgiveness of our sins Ameen. Page 6