Part 9

KOI 4 ids oa S258

If they turn away, say: have warned you of a destructive awful cry.’ [Fassilat (41): 13]

You who have been given the Book! Believe in what We have revealed confirming what is already with you, before We obliterate faces, turning them inside out, or We curse them...

He is only a warner to you ahead of a terrible punishment.

Bukhari records in the chapter pertaining to the commentary of Sarah at-Tur, on the authority of Jubayr ibn Mut'im (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) who said, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah

70 Characteristics Of The Hypocrites

(38) reciting af-7zr in Maghrib prayer, and when he reached this verse, ‘Were they created out of nothing, or were they themselves the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? No, in truth, they have no certainty. Or do they possess the treasures of your Lord or do they have control of them?’ my heart felt like it was flying!”

And other such rebukes and cataclysmic announcements from which the hypocrites were in continuous fear of, to the point that Allah said of them,

ocknstee ae zi eaedea

.. They imagine every cry to be against them, they are the enemy, so beware of them. [al-Munafigan (63): 4]

The verse that we are in the process of explaining, even if it is with regards to the hypocrites, consideration is given to the generality of the wording and not to the specific reason for its revelation.

‘and lightning,’ Allah has set forth a similitude to lightning due to what the Qur’n contains of the light of decisive evidences and radiant proofs. It has been made clear that the Quran is a light by which Allah uncovers the darknesses of ignorance, doubt, and shirk; in the same way that the natural light uncovers dark recesses. He says,

ash-Shanqiti on al-Bagarab (2): 19-20 71

O mankind! Indeed, there has come to you a clear proof from your Lord. We have sent down a clear light to you.

i > get ied Betee Ceci ta scaeh phe S Nonetheless We have made it a light hereby We guide whoever We will of Our servants. [ash-Shiira (42): 52)

Anadis rem BPAlrOm Follow the light that has been sent down with him. ‘Allah encompasses the disbelievers,’ some of the scholars said,

‘encompasses the disbelievers’ means ‘destroys them,’ and this opinion is testified to by the saying of Allah,

He said, T will not send him with you until you swear a solemn oath to me in Allah’s Name that you will bring him back to me unless you are yourselves surrounded.’

72 Characteristics Of The Hypocrites

Meaning: unless an enemy destroys you to your last man. It is said that it means ‘overcome’ and both opinions are close in meaning because the one who is destroyed is not destroyed until he is surrounded on all sides and their remains no way for him to escape to safety and the same applies to the one who is overcome, Also in this respect, understanding ‘surrounded’ to mean ‘destroyed’ is His sayings,

So his fruits were encircled with ruin.

.-Then comes a stormy wind and the waves come to them from all sides and they think they are encircled therein; they invoke Allah, making their faith pure for Him.

‘The lightning all but snatches away their sight,’ meaning that the light of the Qur’an blinds their eyes due to its extreme brilliance, in the same way that a flash of lightning almost snatches way the sight of the onlooker due to its extreme light. This is mote so the case if the sight is weak because as the sight gets weaker, flashes of light affect it more severely. The poet said,

ash-Shangiti on a/-Bagarah (2): 19-20. 73

Like the day increases the sight of mortals Due to its light and blinds the eyes of the bats

‘The bats are blinded by the light of day And the covering of the dark night agrees with them

The eyes of the disbelievers and the hypocrites are completely weak, and the severity of the dazzling lights of the Quran increases them in blindness. Allah has clarified this blindness with His sayings,

ns ee Ap SMG SES So is the one who knows that what has been sent to you from your Lord is the truth like the one who is blind?

OD pctly AV of;

The blind and the seeing are not the same.

Some of the scholar said that the verse ‘The lightning all but snatches away their sight,’ means that the clear and unequivocal verses of the Qur’én reveal the weaknesses and defects of the hypocrites.

‘Whenever they have light, they walk therein but whenever darkness covers them, they halt,’ Allah sets forth a similitude for the hypocrites in this verse that when the Qur’an agrees with their

74 Characteristics Of The Hypocrites

desires and expectations they act according to it, like the favours they scrounge off the believers such as their inheriting from them, their receiving a share of the war booty, and their being secure from being killed despite the disbelief that is in their hearts. Whenever it does not agree with their desires such as their being commanded to expend their selves and wealth in Jihad they falter and procrastinate. Allah has pointed this out in His saying,

When they are summoned to Allah and his Messenger to judge between them, a party of them immediately turn away. But if the right is on their side, they come to him in willing submission!

Some of the scholars said that ‘Whenever they have light, they walk, therein,’ means that whenever Allah favours them with wealth and well-being they say, ‘This religion is the truth, ever since we have held onto to it we have only acquired good.’ ‘but whenever darkness covers them, they halt’ means that when they come across poverty or illness, or they have daughters born to them rather than sons they say, ‘This has not happened to us except due to the evil of this religion,’ and they apostate from it. This explanation is proven by the saying of Allah,

ash-Shanqjti on a/Bagarab (2): 19-20 75

wily Aapgotnts Ages Gatien

aoe Chae 2 ee ects

Ba MSs SGCMZ. Agora dhe lal ats Ohara

Among mankind is he who worships Allah right on the edge. If good befalls him, he is content therewith; but if trial befalls him, he reverts to his former ways. He loses both in this world and the Hereafter. That is indeed sheer loss.

Some of the scholars said, ‘Its flashing for them means their cognition of some of the truth and its darkness means the doubt that presents itself to them concerning Islam.’

And Allah knows best.'

' ash-Shanqiti, Adu’ al-Bayan fi idah al-Qur’an bi-l-Quréan.

Index of Proper Names

‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas: bin ‘Abdul-Muttalib bin Hashim bin ‘Abd Munif al-Qurashi al-Hashimi, the cousin of the Prophet (8) and the interpreter of the Quran. He was born three years before the Hijrab and was cailed the ‘ocean of knowledge’ due to his vast knowledge. He took part in the /ihadin North Africa in the year 27H and died in the year 68H.

Abt Mtsé al-Ash ‘ari: ‘Abdullah bin Qays bin Salim. He had a beautiful recitation and was one of the scholars amongst the Companions. He died in the year 42H or 44H.

Jabir bin ‘Abdullah: bin ‘Amr bin Harram al-Ansari as-Sulami, he witnessed the second pledge at Ugbab while he was still a child. It is said that he witnessed Badr and Ubud and he reported many abddith from the Messenger (38). He died in the year 74H.

‘Umar bin al-Khattab: Abi Hafs ‘Umar bin al-Khattab bin Nufayl al-Qurashee al-Adawi, the second Rightly Guided Khalifah and one of the ten promised Paradise. He accepted Islam five years before the Hijrah and his acceptance was a great victory for the Muslims. He witnessed every battle that the Prophet (3) witnessed. He was martyred in the year 23H.

Index of Proper Names 77

Al-Hasan al-Basri: A\-Hasan bin Abii al-Hasan al-Ansari. He was trustworthy and precise, noble and famous. He was a great scholar and narrated many abddith. He died in the year 110H close to the age of ninety.

Ibn Abi Malaykah: bin ‘Abdullah bin Jud‘%n al-Madani. He met thirty Companions and was trustworthy and precise, a Legal Jurist.

Bukhdri: Muhammad bin Isma‘ll bin Ibrahim bin al-Mughirah, Aba ‘Abdullah. He was born in the year 194H and became one of the Jmams of hadith and was nicknamed ‘the Leader of the Believers in Hadith.’ He died in the year 256H.

Muslim: bin al-Hajjaj bin Muslim al-Qushayri, Abi al-Husain an-Naisabiri, the /dfiz and one of the great Jmams of this nation. He is the author of the Sahih which is the most authentic book of hadith after Al-Bukhari. He died in the year 261H.

Shaytan: Also called /b/is. He is a Jinn and the enemy of mankind, devoted to leading them astray in any way that he can. The word Shaytan is derived from the verb shafana which means to be distant, and indeed Shaytan is distant from all good.

Glossary of Arabic Terms

Ayah: pl. ayat. Sign, miracle, example, lesson, verse.

‘Abad: pl. ‘ebad. slave, servant, worshipper.

Adhdn; figh: the call to prayer.

Bargakh: barrier, obstruction, an isthmus. figh: a barrier placed between a person who has deceased and this worldly life.

Bid‘ah: innovation, figh: that which is newly introduced into the religion of Allah.

Daf: weak. A hadith that has failed to meet the criteria of authenticity.

Din: religion, way of life.

Dhikr. remembrance, figh: making mention of Allah.

Fasdad: corruption, decay, and invalidity.

Fatwa: figh: legal ruling,

Figh: understanding and comprehension. figh: of the rulings and legislation of Islam.

Fisg. pi. fusug. Immorality, transgression, wickedness.

Fitnah: pl. fitan. Trial, tribulation, civil strife.

Fitrah: primordial nature, the harmony between man, creation and Creator.

Ghayb: the Unseen, those matters beyond our senses.

Ghubta: envy, referring to the permissible form of envy where the envier wishes to have the same blessings as the envied but without desiring to see them removed from the envied. This is opposed to Aasad, the blameworthy form of envy where the envier wishes to see the blessings removed from the envied.

Hadith: pl. abadith, speech, report, account. figh: a narration describ-

Glossary of Arabic Terms 79

ing the sayings, actions, character, physical description and tacit approval of the Prophet (3g).

Hanif: pl. Hunafa. Upright and Devout. One who leaves the false religions and beliefs for the truth and does not swerve from it. His outward rectitude reflects what is inside him.

Haram: forbidden, sacred, restricted. figh: unlawful, that which the legally responsible person is rewarded for leaving and sinful for doing.