Don’t follow the crowd One of the major themes of Makkan revelation is pushing back against cultural norms of the Quraysh that contradicted Islam, such as idol-worship. We are told repeatedly in the Quran of people who denied revelation by saying, ‘We have not heard of this religion among our forefathers,’ or similar. Allah reminds them…
In Surat Muminoon, Allah Almighty says: وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءًۢ بِقَدَرٍۢ فَأَسْكَنَّـٰهُ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ وَإِنَّا عَلَىٰ ذَهَابٍۭ بِهِۦ لَقَـٰدِرُونَ And We sent down water from the sky in due measure, then We lodged it in the earth, and of course, We are able to take it away. [23:18] We don’t notice our blessings This…
Last night we talked about the mukhbiteen, the people of humility who are given good news of Paradise from Allah. Later in Surat al-Hajj Allah goes on to talk about the people who are the opposite. وَإِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتُنَا بَيِّنَـٰتٍۢ تَعْرِفُ فِى وُجُوهِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ٱلْمُنكَرَ ۖ يَكَادُونَ يَسْطُونَ بِٱلَّذِينَ يَتْلُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتِنَا ۗ…
It is permissible to put Islamic calligraphy on walls as decoration, as long as it is treated with respect. Many scholars have said that there is nothing wrong with hanging Qur’anic verses, hadiths, or Islamic reminders in the home, office, or other suitable places if the aim is to remember Allah and benefit from the…
One of the miracles of the Quran is that every surah has at least one unique word which is not found in any other surah. This applies even to the shortest surahs – for example the word kawthar, abundance, only appears in Surat al-Kawthar, and the word kufu’an, equal, only appears in Surat al-Ikhlas. In…
At the end of Surat al-Anbiya, Allah talks about the people of Jannah. إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ سَبَقَتۡ لَهُم مِّنَّا ٱلۡحُسۡنَىٰٓ أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ عَنۡہَا مُبۡعَدُونَ (١٠١) لَا يَسۡمَعُونَ حَسِيسَهَاۖ وَهُمۡ فِى مَا ٱشۡتَهَتۡ أَنفُسُهُمۡ خَـٰلِدُونَ (١٠٢) لَا يَحۡزُنُهُمُ ٱلۡفَزَعُ ٱلۡأَڪۡبَرُ وَتَتَلَقَّٮٰهُمُ ٱلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕڪَةُ هَـٰذَا يَوۡمُكُمُ ٱلَّذِى ڪُنتُمۡ تُوعَدُونَ (١٠٣) But those for whom We have decreed Paradise will be…
In Surat Anbiya, most prophets are only mentioned briefly, but the theme common to all of them is how Allah heard their duas and answered them, or saved them from whatever difficulty they were going through. Stories of the prophets For example, we have the story of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and how he…
خُلِقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ مِنْ عَجَلٍۢ ۚ سَأُو۟رِيكُمْ ءَايَـٰتِى فَلَا تَسْتَعْجِلُونِ Man was created hasty: I will show you My signs soon, so do not ask Me to hasten them. [21:37] This ayah from Surat al-Anbiya is one of several verses in the Quran which talk about hastiness and human beings’ desire to rush things, almost wanting…
قَالَ ٱهۡبِطَا مِنۡهَا جَمِيعَۢاۖ بَعۡضُكُمۡ لِبَعۡضٍ عَدُوٌّ۬ۖ فَإِمَّا يَأۡتِيَنَّڪُم مِّنِّى هُدً۬ى فَمَنِ ٱتَّبَعَ هُدَاىَ فَلَا يَضِلُّ وَلَا يَشۡقَىٰ (١٢٣) وَمَنۡ أَعۡرَضَ عَن ذِڪۡرِى فَإِنَّ لَهُ ۥ مَعِيشَةً۬ ضَنكً۬ا وَنَحۡشُرُهُ ۥ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَـٰمَةِ أَعۡمَىٰ (١٢٤) God said, “Descend, both of you, from here together ˹with Satan˺ as enemies to each other. Then when guidance comes…
Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) appears many times in the Quran, but the longest continuous part of his story is in Surah Taha. One of the episodes described in this set of ayahs is the incident of the golden calf, when Musa (peace be upon him) left his people for a short while to…
Definition of sujud ash-shukr – the prostration of gratitude The definition of sujud ash-shukr is a single prostration performed out of gratitude to Allah for a favour received or for the removal of harm. It is connected to shukr, thankfulness to Allah, either because He granted you something pleasing or because He protected you from…
Surah Ta Ha opens with the individual letters Ta Ha, and it is a Makkan surah. All except two of the surahs which start with individually pronouned letters are Makkan (Surat al-Baqarah and Surah Ale ‘Imran). Surah Taha talks a lot about Prophet Musa (peace be upon him), especially the part of his story when…
The story of Maryam Allah rarely uses people’s names in the Quran, and Maryam is the only woman to be mentioned explicitly by name. Her story is mentioned in detail in both Surah Maryam and Surah Ale ‘Imran, and is well-known. She was from a very pious and educated family, and her father was the…
How do we prepare for the last ten nights of Ramadan, and what is unique about these nights? Our guidance, of course, is the Prophet ﷺ. To understand how he approached these nights, we turn to our mother Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), who had access to him in a private capacity and…
Background to Surat al-Kahf Surat al-Kahf was revealed in the fifth year of revelation. The Quraysh wanted to discredit Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, so they went to the Jews in Yathrib to ask them for some difficult questions they could use to challenge him. They were told to ask three questions: about the youngsters who left…