Zia Sheikh – Tafseer Of SURAH ALWAQI`AH Session 6
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The fire that Allah has blessed the human
being with, and after that Allah SWT then
goes into the lesson which we're starting today.
And that Allah says, he starts with, فَلَا
أُقْسِمُ بِمَوَاقِي النُّجُومِ He says that, I swear
by the descending places of the stars.
Okay, so this La here, depending on how
you take it, there are a couple of
different meanings given by the scholars.
Some scholars say that this La is actually
a La Zaidah.
Means, it's an extra La, and it's used
specifically for Taqid.
Meaning emphasis, and it's used before a Qasam.
Okay, for example, لَا أُقْسِمُ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ لَا
أُقْسِمُ بِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ And here again, فَلَا أُقْسِمُ
بِمَوَاقِي النُّجُومِ That La is not a La
Nafia, La generally in Arabic means no, and
before a verb it means, I don't do
such and such a thing.
And the literal meaning, if you take it
from a word, if you look at the
wording, it looks like, the wording is, I
don't take an oath.
But when it comes before لَا أُقْسِمُ this
La comes before أُقْسِمُ there's emphasis there.
It means that I swear most certainly, there's
a very strong Qasam here.
So that's one meaning.
The other meaning given by scholars is that
La will be in its original meaning.
And if you take it in its original
meaning, no, then all of the things that
Allah SWT has been telling, especially the disbelievers
in the ayat preceding this particular verse, Allah
tells them, then no.
You know, why is it that you are
thinking this way?
Don't think this way.
Don't.
And then, أُقْسِمُ بِمَوَاقِي النُّجُومِ I swear by
the descending places of the stars.
And the third meaning, again, if you take
it in its original meaning, La, no, it
means that the non-Muslims, the Kuffar of
Quraysh, they used to say about the Qur
'an that this Qur'an is Sihr, it
is, and the Prophet SAW is Majnoon, he's
a Sahir, and so on and so forth.
So, La, negating all of that, and then
Allah SWT taking a Qasam and swearing about
the Qur'an.
The Jawabul Qasam is about the Qur'an,
which I'm going to talk about in a
minute.
So, Allah SWT takes an oath by مَوَاقِي
النُّجُومِ He says, I swear by the descending
places of the stars.
So, and then the next ayah, وَإِنَّهُ لَقَسَمٌ
لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عَظِيمٌ And this is a Qasam,
this is an oath, if only you knew,
it's a huge oath.
And this is, again, when Allah SWT takes
an oath by something, it is for us
to pay attention to that particular thing.
It is for us to think about that
thing, ponder over that thing, and then understand
the greatness of Allah SWT through looking at
that thing.
So, that's why Allah SWT takes an oath
by the sun, by the moon, the stars,
and so on and so forth, throughout the
Qur'an.
Here, He is taking an oath by the
descending places of the stars, or the places
of the stars, you can say.
مَوَاقِي means a place.
So, in that time, when the science of
astronomy was not prevalent, and many people didn't
know anything or too much about the sun
and the stars, they could have thought, what
does Allah SWT mean?
بَوَإِنَّهُ لَقَسَمٌ لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عَظِيمٌ This Qasam, this
oath that I'm taking, it's a huge Qasam.
It's not something that you should take lightly.
That if you really ponder into the solar
system, if you ponder into the universe, and
think about what Allah SWT has created out
there, the earth is actually just like a
pinprick in an ocean of the universe.
It's really minuscule.
And the other planets and the stars and
the rest of the things that Allah SWT
has created, to make this huge universe, it's
really, the human mind cannot really comprehend how
huge it actually is.
And when we ponder into the hugeness of
that universe that Allah SWT created, from that
we should understand the greatness of Allah SWT.
So, quick pop quiz for you, how many
planets in the solar system, in our solar
system?
Nine?
Nine, right?
Traditionally, we were taught in school that there
were nine.
But recently, they actually took Pluto out of
the planets list, and now eight planets are
regarded as the solar system.
So if you said nine, that was probably
what you were taught in school, but it's
eight planets, and a dwarf planet, which is
Pluto, which has been taken out of the
list of the planets recently.
So there are eight planets in our solar
system, which basically circulate the solar system.
Earth is one of those planets.
The sun is actually a star too.
When we say, when Allah SWT is taking
an oath by the stars, so the sun
is a huge star.
And it is because of the sun, the
energy, the heat, it is because of that,
that we have life on the earth.
Without the sun, we cannot survive.
So the plants that grow, the fruit that
grows, the crop that grows, it relies in
a huge way upon the sunlight.
So without it, we cannot survive.
And we think that the sun is huge.
And in fact, if you compare the earth
to the sun, again, the earth is like
a pinprick on the surface of the sun,
if you compare the two.
That's how huge the sun is.
But the sun, our sun, that we rely
on, is not the hugest sun.
There are suns that are bigger than that,
stars which are bigger than that, and which
are more powerful than our sun by hundreds
of times.
There's one particular one, which is called, ironically,
it's called Beetlejuice, okay?
And you probably, back in a couple of,
you know, a few years ago, there was
a movie, a ghost movie or something called
Beetlejuice 2, right?
So Beetlejuice is spelled a little bit different.
So Beetlejuice is like a hundreds, hundreds of
times bigger than our sun.
And then there's another sun called Rigel.
And this one is also huger than our
sun too.
So this is the hugeness of the actual
sun.
Then we have the issue of the stars
that we were talking about, okay?
So there are, in our, in the whole
universe, there are approximately 170 billion galaxies.
170 billion galaxies in the whole universe.
170 billion, okay?
It's just mind-boggling, if you think about
that.
And in each galaxy, there are approximately 10
trillion stars, 100 trillion stars.
Each galaxy has 100 trillion stars.
Each galaxy.
So 170 billion galaxies, and then in each
galaxy, 170 trillion.
Now how big is the universe?
It would take 13.8 billion light years
to get to the edge of the universe.
What does 13.8 billion light years mean?
Okay, so you have a billion normal years,
right?
Or 13 billion normal years, okay?
13 billion normal years.
But 13.8 billion light years means that
it would take you 13.8 billion years
if you travelled at the speed of light,
which is impossible to do, to get from
here to the edge of the universe.
13.8 billion years.
If you travel at the speed of light,
which is impossible.
That's how huge this universe is that we
are living in.
And then on top of that, so the
scientists have actually calculated the stars actually in
the universe are 10 to the power 24,
which is 1 followed by 24 zeros.
1 followed by 24 zeros, and that equals
to the number that is given is one
septillion stars.
So now, Allah SWT, He's taking an oath
by the descending places of these stars, or
the places of these stars.
Just imagine how many stars Allah has created,
and how great must be the creator who
created those stars.
And then He's taking an oath by these
stars.
So He takes the oath, and as you
have a Qasam, and then you have a
Jawabul Qasam, right?
I swear by Allah, this is a Qasam,
and then what follows is Jawabul Qasam, or
Muqsam Ali.
So Allah SWT takes the oath, and then
He says, Innahu la quranun kareemun fee kitaabin
maknoon.
Indeed, this thing that you are accusing the
Prophet A.S. of manufacturing, and basically bringing
and inventing, this is the Quran of Allah
SWT.
This is the true word of Allah SWT.
And it is, Fee kitaabin maknoon.
In Al-Lawhul Mahfuz, it was protected by
Allah SWT, and even now it's still protected.
It is a protected book, La yamasuhu illa
al-mubahharoon.
And only the purified can touch it.
What does it mean by the purified?
It means either the angels can touch it,
or it means, and this is a difference
of opinion amongst the Fuqaha, that do you
actually have to have Wudu when you touch
the Mus'haf or not?
The Quran or not?
So the scholars that interpret this Ayah as
meaning the angels, they say this Ayah is
talking about the angels, and there's no condition
for a person to actually be in the
state of Wudu when he touches the Quran.
The other scholars, the other opinion, the Hanafi
viewpoint is that you have to be in
the state of Wudu when you touch the
Quran, because it's talking about humans.
So only purified humans can touch the Quran.
Difference of opinion amongst the Fuqaha.
Also, another meaning of this has been described,
that only those people will benefit the Quran
when they are purified of Kufr and Shirk,
and they have complete conviction and belief in
the book, then they will benefit from it.
لا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَرُونَ That's what it means,
that those people that are purified from Kufr
and Shirk, they will benefit from this book,
and they will touch it, and they will
get the true knowledge from the Quran, the
true understanding of the Quran, when they're pure
from Kufr and Shirk.
So, going back to that issue, what Allah
SWT said, He took an oath by these
billions and trillions of stars, that this book
is a true book from the creator of
those stars.
This is from Allah SWT, whether you believe
it or not, this is Allah SWT took
an oath, and He says that this book
is from Me, and from nobody else.
It is not being fabricated or manufactured.
Then after that Allah SWT goes on to
say, تَنْزِينٌ مِنْ رَبِّ
الْعَالَمِينِ The Prophet SAW didn't produce it by
himself, it is from Allah SWT, تَنْزِينٌ مِنْ
رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينِ And then after that, Allah then
addresses the disbelievers again, and He asks them
a question, and He poses a challenge to
them.
أَفَبِهَذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَنْذُمْ مُضْهِنُونَ So, are you denying
this statement of ours?
We are telling you that you have a
very short life, and then there is a
life after death, there is going to be
Jannah, there is Jahannam, your Creator is watching
over you, and He will take you to
account.
So are you rejecting this?
وَتَجْعَلُونَ رِزْقَكُمْ أَنَّكُمْ تُكَذِّبُونَ And you are making
it your prerogative, you are making it, رِزْق
means sustenance, and sustenance basically, you benefit from
sustenance all the time, right?
So, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala basically used
that word to kind of tell the disbelievers
that you are making it part of your
daily bread, okay?
We use that statement in our regular talk,
that this is just, it's just, I can't
remember the statement now, it's something to do
with eating, okay?
So, it's just food and drink to me,
okay?
It's a very normal thing for me.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling
the people that you are making it such
a normal thing for yourselves that you are
denying the existence of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
تَجْعَلُونَ رِزْقَكُمْ أَنَّكُمْ تُكَذِّبُونَ And then he goes
on to say, فَلَوْلَا إِذَا بَلَغَتِ الْحُلْقُونَ وَأَنْتُمْ
حِينَ إِذٍ تَنظُرُونَ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْكُمْ وَلَكِلَّا
تُبْصِرُونَ فَلَوْلَا إِن كُنتُمْ غَيْرُ مَدِينِينَ تَرَجِعُونَهَا إِن
كُنتُمْ صَدِقِينَ So all of these ayat are
all connected.
And basically the gist of the ayat is
this, that, okay, if you don't believe in
hisab of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, if
you don't believe there's a resurrection, you don't
believe that you're going to be held to
account, you don't believe there's a life after
death, so there's a person in front of
you whose ruh has come up to his
halaq, his soul is about to leave his
body.
So if you think that there's no hereafter,
and if you think that you're going to
live forever, then return this ruh back into
the body if you can.
Can you do that?
That's the question.
Obviously not.
So if you cannot do that, then obviously
you have to believe.
So I'm going to go through the translation.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, فَلَوْ
لَا أَفَبِهَذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَنْتُمْ مُضِهِنُونَ وَتَجَعَلُونَ رِزْقَكُمْ
أَنَّكُمْ تُكَذِّبُونَ فَلَوْ لَا إِذَا بَلَغَتِ الْحُقُومِ Why
is it not then that when the ruh
reaches the halaq, the throat, وَأَنْتُمْ حِينَئِذٍ تَنظُرُونَ
and you are at that time watching what's
going on.
وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنكُمْ وَلَكِ لَا تُوصِرُونَ And
we are even closer than you, but you
cannot see.
Meaning at the time when the ruh is
leaving, the angels are surrounding that person who's
dying, whether it's a good person or a
bad person, that detail is following in the
following ayat, that what is going to happen
to each person that is leaving and in
what state he's leaving.
So, وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنكُمْ وَلَكِ لَا تُوصِرُونَ
We are closer to you than you think,
but you cannot see.
فَلَوْ لَا إِن كُنْتُمْ غَيْرَ مَدِينِينَ تَرُجِعُونَهَا إِن
كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ Why is it then, why do
you not then, if you think that you're
not مَدِينِين.
مَدِين is from the word دَيْن.
دَيْن means debt.
And مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّين We say, the master
of the day of recompense.
That on the day of judgment, there's going
to be recompense, there's going to be punishment,
there's going to be reward, there's going to
be a recompense for what we've done in
our life.
So this is دِين.
And مَدِين means a person who's going to
be paid back that recompense.
So a person who is indebted is called
مَدِين in Arabic.
So, if you think that you're not going
to be paid back, meaning you deny the
validity of the hereafter, you deny that there's
going to be life after death, you deny
there's going to be a day of judgment,
then, تَرَجِعُونَهَا إِن كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ Return this رُوح
back, if you are truthful.
Return this رُوح back into the body, if
you are truthful.
So this is a challenge.
So once a person is about to die,
nobody can bring that person back.
The ayat then go into describing the different
types of people that are going to leave
this world.
And remember, we started off the surah with
three types of people.
The مُقَرَّبِين, which were السابقون السابقون, which were
the مُقَرَّبِين, the closest to Allah SWT.
And then the second category was أَصْحَابُ الْيَمِين,
which were the people who were on the
right-hand side of Allah SWT.
And again, those were the second category of
the people of Jannah.
And then the third category that was mentioned,
which was the people of the شِمَال, the
people of the left.
So again, Allah SWT reminds us of those
three different categories, that what's going to happen
to them when they are about to pass
away.
So Allah SWT says, فَأَمَّا إِن كَانَ مِنَ
الْمُقَرَّبِينِ فَرَوْحٌ وَرَيْحَانٌ وَجَنَّةٌ نَعِيمٌ As for the
people who are مُقَرَّبِين, who are closest to
Allah SWT, they're going to get رَوْح.
رَوْح, this has different meanings.
There are six different meanings given by scholars
about this.
رَوْح, some scholars say it means relaxation.
Some people say the freedom from all kinds
of worries.
So رَوْح, they will get this relaxation.
وَرَيْحَانٌ, رَيْحان, basically it refers to a flower.
And the scholars say that when this مُقَرَّب
person is going to pass away, a branch
from paradise, from this flower is brought to
him.
And he's made to smell this branch.
And when he smells the branch from this
flower from paradise, his رُوح is going to
become excited and want to leave and go
to this paradise where this flower is from.
So رَيْحان, this sample of Jannah will be
brought to him so that he can just
get a smell of it and he will
become excited.
So فَرَوْحٌ وَرَيْحَانٌ وَجَنَّةٌ نَعِيمٌ And he will
get the gardens of blessings in the hereafter.
And then the second stage of people, وَأَمَّا
إِن كَانَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْيَمِينِ فَسَلَامٌ لَكَ مِنْ
أَصْحَابِ الْيَمِينِ As for the people on the
right, then there is سَلَامٌ upon you, O
Prophet of Allah, from the people of the
right.
And سَلَامٌ, this also has different meanings according
to the مُفَسِّرِين.
They're going to be free from all kinds
of difficulties.
That's one meaning.
Another meaning is that the angels are going
to come and say سَلَامٌ to them all
the time.
We heard that before in the beginning of
the surah.
إِلَّا قِيلَنْ سَلَامًا سَلَامًا There's not going to
be any kind of لَغْو in Jannah.
No kind of fighting or cursing or arguing.
Everybody is just going to say سَلَامٌ to
each other.
So سَلَامٌ لَكَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْيَمِينِ This سَلَامٌ,
this peace, is going to be amongst the
people of the أَصْحَابُ الْيَمِينِ And then finally
وَأَمَّا إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ الضَّالِّينَ فَنُزُلٌ مِنْ
حَمِيمٍ وَتَصْرِيَةُ جَحِيمٍ إِنَّ هَذَا لَهُ حَقُّ الْيَقِيلُ
فَسَبِّحْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ رَضِيمٌ The third category of
people.
As for the people who are the ones
who deny and they are the ones who
are misguided then فَنُزُلٌ مِنْ حَمِيمٍ They're going
to get نُزُل Actually the real meaning of
نُزُل It has actually come before.
It means the first thing that is placed
in front of a guest.
When a guest comes to you the first
thing that you put in front of him
is called نُزُل So the first نُزُل that
they're going to get is boiling water.
This is the first thing that the people
are going to be punished with.
فَنُزُلٌ مِنْ حَمِيمٍ حميم means this boiling water.
And then فَنُزُلٌ مِنْ حَمِيمٍ وَتَصْرِيَةُ جَحِيمٍ And
finally they're going to be entered into the
hellfire.
Allah SWT says إِنَّ هَذَا لَهُ حَقُّ الْيَقِيلُ
Indeed this is the most this is the
true thing that is most certain.
The true thing that is most certain.
Meaning what is going to happen in the
hereafter and everything that is being described this
is true and there is nothing there is
no ambiguity about it.
It's clear and it's going to happen and
nobody should have any doubt about it.
إِنَّ هَذَا لَهُ حَقُّ الْيَقِيلُ If you know
the Arabic language you'll know there's so much
stress in this sentence.
إِنَّ it is for stress.
And then هَذَا you don't have to put
هَذَا after إِنَّ but it adds more stress.
And then لَا لَا it adds more stress.
لَا لِلتَّاكِيد And then the word حق itself
it has stress in it.
الْيَقِيلُ also has stress in it.
The whole sentence إِنَّ هَذَا لَهُ حَقُّ الْيَقِيلُ
Indeed what Allah SWT has described it is
absolutely absolutely absolutely true.
There is no doubt about it.
So this is how much stress is in
this verse.
And then finally Allah SWT says فَسَبِّحْ بِاسْمِ
رَبِّكَ الْعَظِيمِ Glorify Allah SWT.
Glorify your Lord who is the grandest.
So after this ayah was revealed Prophet Ali
SWT used to tell the people that say
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّي الْعَظِيمِ in your ruku.
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّي الْعَظِيمِ in your ruku.
And this is how it became ordained.
And when سَبِّحْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الْعَظِيمِ was revealed
Prophet Ali SWT taught the people that say
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّي الْعَظِيمِ while you are in the
state of prostration.
With this the surah finishes.
I pray that Allah SWT gives us sufiq
to understand and practice what has been said
and heard.
And gives us sufiq to prepare ourselves for
these stages of the hereafter that we are
all certainly going to face.
And we pray that Allah SWT makes us
from the sabiqoon with the anbiya and the
shuhada and the salihin.
وَحَسُنَ أُولَئِكَ رَفِيقًا This is the best position
to be in.
We pray that we are amongst those people.
Jazakum Allah khayran.
Inshallah we will start a new surah next
week.