Yasir Qadhi – Interesting Breakdown Of Surah Qaf
AI: Summary ©
The Surah Al Qaf marks the message of the Quran and is a marks of the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam regularly recites. The main themes of the Surah include proving resurrection, bath, and life after life. The title of the book of Allah's subhanahu wa dissabless is the title of the holy holy holy holy holy holy. The importance of the " risala of the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam" and the "weaker cultivations and plants" that bring life back is emphasized. The importance of the "by" and the "naught" moments in Arabic law are also discussed. The surah is a warning to the witness and is used to prove the day of judgment, and the importance of understanding the meaning of the surah is emphasized.
AI: Summary ©
Today, we'll just briefly go over some of
the benefits of Surah Al Qaf that, I
just recited in Salat Al Fajr.
It is a surah that the prophet salallahu
alaihi wa sallam would regularly recite.
In fact,
it is narrated that he would recite it
so frequently
in the khudbas that in fact some of
the sahaba memorized Surakaf
simply by the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam
reading it. So he would read Surakaf like
a khutbah. He would literally take Surakaf
and just use it as a khutbah. And
he would do it in a number of
times, so many times that some of the
sahaba memorized it by listening to the entire
surah in the khutbah. Also, he would frequently
use it sometimes for fajr, sometimes for i'id.
So Surah Qaf is one of the Surahs
that are constantly recited by the prophet salallahu
alaihi wa sallam. Also, Surah Qaf is one
of the markers of the Quran. Meaning, the
Quran have has been divided into 5 sections.
You have the long surahs, you have the
Mi'at Surahs, you have the, Mathani, you have
the different sections in a famous hadith. And
the final section, it is called the mufasal.
And the mufasal begins from Surakaf to Sura
Nas. And the mufasal Surahs are called Mufasal
because Mufasal means those with breaks. In other
words, the suras are so short that the
Quran is broken up into the small suras.
So we call them Qisara Sur in in
modern vernacular.
Small surahs. Right? The short surahs. And the
short surahs, the mufasal begins with Suraqaf.
So technically,
from Suraqaf to Suranas,
this is the mufasal. And our Prophet salallahu
alayhi wa sallam said that, I have been
blessed by the other prophets by being given
the mufasal.
None of the other prophets were given these
mufasal.
And also from the seerah we learned, generally
speaking, when the prophet as salawat,
he would recite from the mufasal, generally. And
when he was doing private, he would recite
from the longer suers. Right? General of course,
no no problem if we recite from any
section, but the default sunnah is that the
prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam would recite from
the Mufasal. Now Sura Qaf is an early
Maqan Surah.
And like early Maqan Surah, it demonstrates some
of the key characteristics of that surah. Of
them is short ayaat. This is a common
characteristic.
Of them is beginning by the haruf al
muqatta'at.
Anytime a surah begins with the muqatta'at, the
default is there's 1 or 2 exceptions. The
default is that it is a Maqan,
surah. Of them is that the qasam is
common in the Maqan surah. So the qasam,
when Allah gives an oath, it is from
the Maqan surah. Generally the Madani surahs do
not have the Qasam. And so of them,
the themes as well. The Maqan Surah concentrates
on the broad aspects of theology,
iman. Whereas the Madani Surahs is more into
the stories, and it is more into the
laws and akham. So when you look at
the this surah, Suraqaaf,
it exemplifies,
it embodies
all of the characteristics
of the early Maqan Surahs. And the theme
of Suraqaaf
is very simple. Throughout the entire surah, it
is one primary theme and then one secondary
theme. The primary theme, it is to prove
that there will be resurrection,
there will be bath, there will be coming
back, and another life after this life. And
of course, the secondary and the tertiary, there's
always these 3 almost all in all Makkah
and Surahs is the risala of the prophet
salallahu alaihi wa sallam proving it, and to,
mention the status of the Quran. And of
course, it is a package deal. Like risala
and Quran are the same thing because what
is Arasul? He has been one who has
been sent with wahi. So to
emphasize the status of the prophet salallahu alaihi
wa sallam and to emphasize
the reality and the blessings of wahi. These
are the secondary and tertiary concepts of the
Surah. And very quickly going over some of
the main,
concepts of it.
And of course, you know that these
letters, arufalmuqatta'at,
you know that there's so many opinions about
them. Allahu a'lam, which one is the correct
one? But one thing we notice about all
of these letters, aliflamim,
hamim, noon, yaseen.
One thing we notice is that every single
time Allah mentions these letters, the very next
verse mentions the Quran. This is a constant
theme throughout the whole Quran. Right? Hamim walkitablimbuin
yaseen walqur'* hakeem Noonwalqalamiumasrun,
again this is about writing the book of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So aliflamim
dariqalkitaboo
laribafiqafwalqur'anil
majeel. So always Allah mentions the Quran
about the wahi, whenever he mentions these hooruf
or these letters. Walquranilmajeed,
the glorious Quran. It is a Quran of
grandeur, a Quran of majesty. Allah gives a
qasam by the Quran. Balajeebu anjaahumunzirumminhum
waqalal kafirunahada
shayun ajeeb They were amazed. How can a
messenger come? And the kuffar said, This is
something that is preposterous, something weird. What is
what what is so weird about this? Aida
mitzna waqunnaturaban
Are you saying when we die, and when
we become dust, we're gonna be resurrected?
This is a preposterous
return. Thadiqarajuumbareed.
You really think we're gonna come back once
our bones have decayed, once our
flesh has become dust. You you want us
to believe this? So this sets up the
whole surah. Right from the beginning, we get
the main theme, that the Quraysh and the
people upon whom the Quran has been revealed,
have rejected
the concept of bath, the concept of the
day of judgment. So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
says, kadaalimna
matankusoolarduminhum
waindana kitabun hathyud. We know what the earth
will take from their bodies. You're not telling
us we know what's gonna happen to your
bodies. You're not gonna teach us the reality
of death. Qadaalimna
matankusul arduminhum.
We know all that the earth will take
from the flesh and blood that you have,
and wa'indilakitabur
hafil, and all of this is written in
a book that is protected. In other words,
we are the ones who decided this, and
we are the ones who know, and all
of this is predetermined.
And we are the ones who have sent
down these laws and these rules, and we
know down to the molecule
how much is gonna be decayed and what
will happen. And not only do we know
it, we have written it down. All of
this is in a kitab hafil. Then Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala begins to refute. And Suraqaaf
uses some of the primary mechanisms the Quran
uses to prove the day of judgment, to
prove the ba'th and qiyama. So, balkadhabubilhaqilamaja'awnfiamri
marij
they are not just denying the day of
judgment, they're denying the ultimate truth. And this
shows us, when you deny
one aspect of Islam, you deny all of
Islam. When you deny one reality, you deny
all of realities. So Allah says, they're not
just rejecting qiyama, they are rejecting the entirety
of the truth. Balqaddabubilhaqilamajaahum
fahumfi amrimmarij
And when you reject the truth, you are
left, amlim marij is a matter of doubt.
You are in a state of doubt.
Anybody who rejects religion shall be in a
state of shak, in a state of doubt.
Only the person of religion is in yaqeen.
Those who don't have iman, agnostic, atheist, kafir,
they're always wondering, am I right? Am I
wrong? None of them have yaqeen, even if
their tongue says they have yaqeen. Their hearts
are gonna be balhumfi shakin. They're always gonna
be in a vacillation
because they don't have the truth. Only the
person of iman has yaqeen in the heart.
The person of iman has a sense of
sakinah. I know the meaning of life. I
know life and death. I know what's gonna
happen after death. I know who created me.
That sense of peace only comes from iman.
When you don't have iman, then the net
result is fahomfi amriim marij. They're always gonna
be in doubt. And alhamdulillah, most of us
here are born Muslim. We don't understand this
reality. Talk to any convert. Talk to anybody
who has from Kufr accepted Islam. Wallahi, we
do not appreciate one of the simplest blessings
of Islam, and that is to know why
we are here, and to know who created
us, and to know the purpose of life.
These big questions,
can you imagine if you didn't have answers
to them? Can you imagine if you didn't
know for sure, is there a God, is
there not a God? What would be the
impact on your life? This is what Allah
is saying. Allah is mentioning the reality. When
you reject Allah, and you reject religion, and
you reject the akhira, your hearts are always
gonna be in
doubt and shock. You're never gonna find peace.
Wamfi amri marij Then Allah says
that, Afalamiyondoorillassamaifaqum.
Now, Allah brings a number of techniques. I'm
gonna go over these quickly. The first technique
in this surah is how can you doubt
day of judgment? And qiyama, how can you
doubt resurrection
when the world around you demonstrates my power?
What is so miraculous about bringing life back
when I have created life in the beginning?
So the Quran says,
Can't they see the heavens above them? Kaifa
banaynaha,
how we have perfected and and and constructed
it. Wazayyanaha,
we have beautified it. Right? Wamaalahamun furooz. They're
not a single flaw. Open your eyes. Look
at the constellations. Look at the stars. Look
at the majesty of creation. And how can
you doubt that we have then the power
to bring you back? And then from the
heavens, bring your eyes down, walardahmadadanaha.
From the heavens, bring your eyes down and
look at the world around you. The earth,
we have spread it out flat. Look at
how large and vast the earth it
is. We have put these mountains and valleys,
and we have made all of these green
lush
cultivations
and plants. Tabasiratanwadikraalukuliabdimuneeb.
This is because it's a call for you
to think about. It is a tabseera for
you to ponder. And it is a zikra,
something that's gonna recall your intellectual,
capabilities. Liquliabdimunib.
1azalnamina
samaimaan.
Another constant theme of the Quran,
rain. Rain. Allah is saying, the cycle of
rain, where is it coming from? From Allah.
The one who can do that can also
bring about life again. And especially, again, we
live in Mashallah and a lush land, but
anybody who lives in a dry area,
you will see for yourself when rain falls,
a completely
dry piece of land becomes vibrant again. When
rain falls, you would think this is a
lost plot. It's not gonna work. Nothing's gonna
happen. But after rain falls, it becomes lush
and green. And I've seen this multiple times
when I was in Madinah, that this ayah
really you understand it when you see it.
We are in a very green area on
earth, so we're not accustomed to this. But
the reality is wallahi, it is a miracle
to see when rain comes down to a
dry land. You thought it's a dead desert,
and that dead desert, it comes back blooming.
It comes back with vegetation for weeks months
because of one downpaul, one torrent that comes.
So Allah is saying, You know that I
can do this to dead land. You've seen
it with your eyes. Don't you understand? I
can do this to dead bodies as well.
The one who can do this to a
land that you thought was completely barren, is
the one that can bring back life as
well. And then, so this is another technique,
and that is the rain. Then Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala
mentions the reality of past nations. Kazabatqablahum
qawmunuhin
washaverasi
with a moon, wa'adun wafirawnu wa ikhwanulool
was hawal aikati waqawmutuba.
Allah mentions 8 civilizations.
This is another technique of the Quran, and
that's history.
Who are you, O Quraysh, to think that
you are special? You think you're the first
that denied?
You know for a fact previous civilizations,
and they are no longer here. You pass
by their dwellings.
Do you not learn from history? Do you
not see they were a mighty civilization,
and they are no longer here? Do you
think you will be any different? And Allah
mentions a number of them that are unique
to the Arabs. So for example, umutubah
is a,
obscure reference because it's a rare reference, only
twice in the Quran. Who is qaumutubah?
Tubah was a king of Yemen.
Tubah. Some of them you know, kamulut, ashabulut,
you know, firaoun, you know. But a number
of them are a bit obscure. In other
words, there's ikhilaq over who they are. Ashaburras
for example. Some some people say this is
the people of, Shu'aib. And then Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala says that,
ashabul aikati wakamutubah.
Omutubah as we said, Tubba is a king
of Yemen.
And there is a hadith that's disputed if
if it's authentic or not. The prophet shalallahu
alaihi wa sallam allegedly said, it's a Muslimi
Muhammad, so it's a Isna had some controversy.
The prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam said it
is reported that he said, I don't know
whether Tughba was a prophet or a king.
I don't know which of the 2. Was
he a prophet or only a king? Because
Tughba' was a king. Was he also a
prophet king or not? So there is a
hadith like this, Wallahu 'alam is authentic or
not. There's a controversy over it, and we
do not know actually to this day. Was
Tuba one of the prophets or is he
just mentioned by name in the Quran like
this? But Tubba was a king of Yemen,
one of the ancient kings of Yemen. And
he was one of those who established a
mighty civilization, and the Arabs were well aware
of this. So Allah is saying, O people
of Quraysh, learn from history. You are not
the only one that has denied the day
of judgment. And
then Allah says,
Do you think the first creation made us
tired?
All of this I've shown you. All I've
shown you the heavens, the earth. I've shown
you the vegetation. I've talked to you about
previous generations. Do you think
once we've done all of this, we're not
able to do it again? Afaayeena
bilkhalqalawal.
Did the first creation make us tired, so
that now we cannot do it all over
again? No. Rather the arrogance is on you,
and you are rejecting the reality.
Then another technique of the Quran, to prove
the day of judgment, to describe the day
of judgment in vivid detail,
to describe
it scene by scene, play by play. So
Allah then begins to talk about the actual
day of judgment. Walakadakhalaklal
insana walaalamumatwas
subihinafsu
walahnuaqarabuaidayhimin
habililwareed.
Of course, Allah begins in this world, and
He's gonna make His way to the day
of judgment. Allah begins where we are right
now. We created
man, and we know exactly the thoughts that
you have. Oh, Quraysh, we know your thoughts
inside out, and we are closer to you
than your jugular vein, the famous verse over
here. Idiyatalaqalmutalaqayani
anil yameeni wa anishimaniqa'id.
Know, O Quraysh,
that you have 2 angels. Anil yameen, anil
shimal.
Right and left, they are sitting always over
there. Yatalakkalmutalaqqayani.
They are
writing down
all that needs to be written down. Mayal
Not a single qawl, not a single phrase
comes from them.
Illa ladayhi raqeebun a'adeed. Now here some people
misunderstand raqeeb and a'tid are the names of
the angels. No. Raqeeb is ever present. A'tid
is writing meticulously.
These are adjectives, not nouns. Right? So this
is not the name, raqib an ateed. These
are adjectives. Mayarfaqoolin
illa ladahi raqib an ateed. Not a single
qaul that he says, except that somebody that
is meticulous
and somebody that is ever present, these are
the angels, are going to write it down.
Now from this, by the way, we learn
an important fact and that is the angels
do not write your thoughts.
The angels write your actions.
And this is something Allah has blessed us
with that Allah says, tajawastu.
I have overlooked
what you think about. This is in the
hadith.
Allah
the prophet said that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says, I have overlooked the sins that you
think about, the evil that you have in
your own minds. But overlooking
doesn't mean Allah does not know. Wanaalamumatu
waswisu
But what is kitaba done? This is you
see the contrast here. In the beginning of
this verse, Allah says, We know your thoughts.
Then Allah says, But I'm not gonna write
them down. We're gonna write down What are
we gonna write down? Mayalfuddumil
qawlin.
Any and qawl is of course the least
of actions. So if a qawl is written,
then obviously an amal will also be written,
because qawl is the lowest category of amal.
So we from this we learn,
Allah is aware of our thoughts, but Allah
is not gonna call us to task for
them. Allah will cause us to task for
our actions.
Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala begins the journey
in our lives from this world to the
next.
So, no, sorry. Jazakabatul haqq that the, the
pangs of death are going to come, and
so the beginning of the journey is there
to the end, to the, to the day
of judgment. And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala mentions
this in order to cause us to think
and reflect the purpose of life. The sakratulmaut
will happen to all of us. And Allah
constantly mentions this reality of death. Kalaqalmautawalhayyah.
You can deny judgment, you cannot deny death.
You can deny kayama, you cannot deny your
temporary life in this world. So Allah brings
this up. Before that time comes, make sure
you know your journey. Wajaatsakratulmautibilhaq
dalikama kuntaminhutahil.
You are trying to run away from death,
but death will not run away from you.
You were trying to avoid death. Tahid, you
wanted to avoid it, swerve away from it.
And Allah says, no.
The sakratulmawt,
the pangs of death are going to come.
And then, wanoofiqafisoori,
dadiqayawumul
wa'id. Then the trumpet is gonna be blown,
and this is promised day. Wajaatkullunafsimaahaasa
ikunwashaheed
Every soul will come with at least 2
angels. One of them will be guiding where
you need to go, and one of them
will be a witness. Now pause here.
In the Arabic language, the singular
does not negate duality and plurality. In other
words, you can mention 1, and you mean
multiple. And the opposite is also true. You
can mention 2, and you mean multiple or
1. You can mention multiple, and you mean
or 2. In other words, the
concept of plurality and singularity,
there's sometimes an element of balaga. So when
Allah says shahid, it doesn't necessarily mean only
1. It could be both of the angels
are gonna come, and they're both shahid. The
meaning is that you are going to be
escorted in front of Allah.
And there will be a guard,
and there will be witnesses.
There is no escape.
And so, you're going to come on that
day, and you're going to have this angel
that is in front of you, saikh, and
you will have angels that are shahid, gonna
bear witness. Laqadukuntafi
ghaflatim minhaza
This is what you were heedless about. You
didn't think about this. You didn't contemplate
a day would come when you're gonna be
brought forth in front of your Lord. You
were not cognizant now. No doubt, this verse
primarily applies to those who deny and reject.
But every Muslim should be constantly
aware of this verse as well. No doubt,
the primary
addressee are the Quraysh. But me and you
are also gonna be
brought forth in front of Allah. This is
the reality of life and death. And we
should also be reflecting what is gonna happen
when we are escorted, what is gonna happen
when we have to answer for our lives.
And so Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
fakashafnaankaritaqaqa
fa fabasaluka yoma hadid.
You were in doubt and rafla.
Today,
your vision is clearer than it has ever
been.
And you can see with crystal clarity. Fakashafnaanqarrita'aka
This here, it's not a physical
veil, it is the veil of the heart.
Your heart was clouded, you weren't thinking. Now,
everything is crystal clear. How can it not
be when you see with your own eyes?
Fabasaruqal
yawma hadid, your vision is 2020.
Your vision is crystal clear. The vision is
not the eyes, it's the heart. Meaning, once
you see everything, your heart will know with
certainty
that this is all true. And every one
of us will come to this level as
well.
Then His kareen. Who is the kareen here?
Again some Ikhtilaaf but it seems obvious and
this is the majority opinion. The kareen here
is the same angel that's writing down.
The kareen is the angel. In this verse,
kareen doesn't mean the the devil,
Because we know there's a kareen that's the
devil.
In this verse, the kareen is the angel.
And the angel will come,
This hisab is what I have prepared for
you, O Allah. The accountant, the tax accountant,
this is the angel. So the angel is
presenting your deeds.
And the angel is saying,
This is the whole hisaab prepared and it
is meticulously done. And the verdict will come
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Al qayafi jahannamakullakafarin
aaneer. So this is the verdict, throw into
jahannam
every arrogant kafir. Mannaaalil
khairi mu'atadimmurib.
Three characteristics.
Mannaaalil khair, he's not giving zakah.
Mana'alul khair, he's stingy.
Mu'tad, he's harming other people. Mureeb, he is
in doubt about the day of judgment. So
your rituals, and your akhlaq, and your iman
are all referenced over here. And Allah says,
the one who's gonna be thrown into jahinnam
has no rituals,
he has no akhlaq, he has no iman.
And that's our whole religion is about these
three things. Your Ibadat,
your Muamalat,
and your iman. Hadith of Jibreel as well.
So here, manna'al khairimu'attadimurib,
alllalijaalamallahiillahan
This is the one who worship besides me.
Another and so he's gonna be thrown into
the fire. Then final we'll finish up, we're
not gonna go to the end of the
ada. Surah.
The same Angel is gonna say, You Rabb,
I did not do any dhulm to him.
Why is the Angel saying this? Because we
learned from the Quran
that the kafir will blame who is he
gonna blame?
Multiple people. He's gonna blame sadaatina waqubra'ana,
the leaders.
He's gonna blame his
ashab, his friends.
And he's going to blame the tax accountant.
He's gonna blame the angel. He's gonna say,
this is all a kedib, this is a
lie, that all of this is not true.
The witness he's gonna discredit the witness. So
the angel is gonna say back,
You Rabbi, I didn't do any zurm to
him. He this is nothing. This is exactly
Rather this man was far astray. It's not
me, it's on him. Right? And Allah will
say, La takhtasimuladayyah. Oh, you don't argue in
front of me. Don't bring these I know
the truth. La takhtasimuladayyah. And Allah Subhanahu wa
ta'ala says,
I am not gonna do dhruum to my
servants. All of these other evidences is for
you. As for me, I don't need any
of them because Allah is saying, I will
never do dhulm. Wamanabugallamalil
abeeeet. Then Allah says,
I will On that day, Jahannam will be
asked, Are you full? And Jahannam will say,
Are there yet more to come? There's 2
opinions about this. Is Jahannam
shocked or is Jahannam threatening?
Both are valid. Jahannam is shocked.
Jahannam is shocked at the quantity.
Allah is saying, do you have room for
more? And Jahannam is saying, there's still more
people coming? In other words, I'm so full
and still there's more. Or it is a
threat that jahannam is saying, don't worry, I
have space. Either one of them, it is
terrifying whichever one you, position you hold and
both of them,
are are are permissible. And then it goes
on. I don't wanna go to the end
of it, so, about Jannah and how close
it is.
And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala uses the
tactic of description to prove the day of
judgment. One final point, Ibn Qayyim mentions in
his famous book, Badah'ul Fawal. He says,
Contemplate over Surat Qaf.
Contemplate over Surat Qaf.
And how you find this letter Qaf
constantly
recurring in this surah. And the surah is
built around the letter qaf. All of the
kalimaht in it are from qaf, from the
dhikr of the Quran, and the khalq, and
the constant al kawl and kala. Kalah and
kalu is there. And kareeb,
and talakaa al malikain,
and raqeb,
and asa'ikh,
and al kareem, and alkiyahfijahannam,
and takdeem and waid,
and, al Kalb, and al Quran, and naqabu
filbilal, and kabl is mentioned twice in the
Quran. Yawumatashhaqqqaq
is mentioned with the kaf as well. Walqayinarawasiya
is kaf as well. And wabasiqaatinaakhl
with kaaf as well, rizq as well, al
qaum as well, hukook as well, and on
and on. And he says, and if it
were the only benefit of this surah that
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala constantly is using this
letter, and then he says And this is
of course By the way, this is called
tafsir I sharih, which is permissible with some
conditions. Ibn Qayyim says, and this letter,
it is
munasib for this surah because the letter of
qaf is a harsh letter. It is a
letter that is distinct and clear. It is
a letter that has to be said out
loud. So there are characteristics of Arabic letters.
Right? Qa,
that's
harsh,
guttural. It comes from here. It is shiddah.
There's a harshness in it. It is jahr.
It is loud over here. There's an element
of ulu. It is
above the other letters. And he goes, all
of this is a reality of the ba'ath
the people need to realize. And it is
also an indication of the ulu of the
Quran. And hence, Surah Qaf begins with the
Quran, qafwalquranilmajeed
again qaf and it ends with the Quran.
Wadakirbilqurani
manyaqafuwa'il
Remind them through the Quran if they have
any sense of iman and reminding of the
day of judgment. So this is the summary
of Surah Qaf. We ask Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala to make us of those who benefit
from this surah.