Arrogance and rebellion In Surat al-Muminoun, Allah Almighty tells us He punished the disbelievers, but despite this they did not turn back to Him, nor did they supplicate to Him. وَلَقَدْ أَخَذْنَـٰهُم بِٱلْعَذَابِ فَمَا ٱسْتَكَانُوا۟ لِرَبِّهِمْ وَمَا يَتَضَرَّعُونَ And We have already seized them with torment, but they never humbled themselves to their Lord, nor…
Among the verses of Surat al-Muminoun, Allah Almighty talks about the creation of mankind and the states from the womb, to childhood, adulthood and eventually death. Then Allah Almighty says that we will be resurrected: And indeed, We created humankind from an extract of clay, then placed each ˹human˺ as a sperm-drop in a secure place, then…
Might is not everything needed in a fight In Surat al-Hajj there are many verses to reflect on, including the verse in which the oppressed are given permission by Allah to fight back: أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَـٰتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا۟ ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ Permission ˹to fight back˺ is ˹hereby˺ granted to those being fought,…
Towards the end of Surat al-Anbiya, Allah Almighty mentions a group of people who believe in Allah, and what is waiting for them in akhirah – they are far from hellfire, so far from it, that they will not hear the sound of its blazing fire. إِنَّ الَّذِينَ سَبَقَتْ لَهُمْ مِنَّا الْحُسْنَىٰ أُولَٰئِكَ عَنْهَا مُبْعَدُونَ…
The scales On the Day of Judgement, when the scales are erected then our Books of Deeds will be weighed, even the smallest deeds will be weighed. If they are good, then our end will be good, but if they are bad, our destination will be bad. وَنَضَعُ ٱلْمَوَٰزِينَ ٱلْقِسْطَ لِيَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ فَلَا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ…
In the first couple of pages of Surat Al Anbiya, we see the complaint in the community against the prophets and messengers Allah sent them. They keep demanding that their prophets produce miracles on demand and at their command. This pattern of behaviour was not exceptional; we see it repeated with Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, Eesa…
The story of Musa (peace be on him) and Firaun has been mentioned many times in the Quran. Indeed Musa (peace be on him), the most mentioned messenger in the Quran, appears 136 times. The rest of the prophets are mentioned much less. In the exchange between Musa and Firaun, we see a very common…
Two ayahs capture my imagination: وَنَرِثُهُۥ مَا يَقُولُ وَيَأْتِينَا فَرْدًۭا And We will inherit what he boasts of, and he will come before Us all by himself. (19:80) وَكُلُّهُمْ ءَاتِيهِ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَمَةِ فَرْدًا And every one of them will come to Him on the day of resurrection alone. (19:95) Allah is saying in the…
In Surat Maryam, one of the beautiful lessons is the story of Prophet Zakariyya (peace be on him) and the story of Maryam. They are connected, as Zakariyya was Maryam’s guardian, and his wife was the sister of Maryam’s mother. Zakariyya was over 80 but had no children. When he noticed that Maryam had unseasonal…
It has been noted that for the last 50 years, campaigns and debates have been centred on rights – but not on responsibilities. Yet one of the reasons we have rights, perhaps the very reason our rights exist, is for us to fulfil our responsibilities. When we look at the Quran, it sets out everyone’s…
قال الله تعالى: (وَلَا تَرْكَنُوا إِلَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا فَتَمَسَّكُمُ النَّارُ وَمَا لَكُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاءَ ثُمَّ لَا تُنْصَرُونَ). سورة هود:١١٣. And do not incline towards those who do wrong, or the Fire should touch you; and you will have no protectors besides God, and you will not be helped. (Holy Quran, Surat Hud,…
During his life in Makkah, in the early years after the revelation, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) began spreading the basic concepts of Islam, but as he (peace be on him) and his followers were met with hostility, discrimination and persecution, those 13 years were characterised by survival – at a personal level…
Divine revelation – means for change The revelation is a vehicle of change – inward and outward transformation. We are shown the blueprint for the five dimensions of change in the first five Quranic revelations. 1. Acquiring knowledge is the first step towards change The first verse of Surat al Alaq is Iqra (read). Since the…
Ghazali lived in 5th century Hijri and his book, Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, ‘The Forty Principles of the Religion,’ which he wrote before his death, is a summary of Ihya Ulumuddin, and his life’s works and thoughts. In purification of the heart, Ghazali mentions 10 principles. Ostentation (riya) or doing things to show off…
The Prophet ﷺ warned us that the Ummah would be hit by fitan (trials) which would affect everyone just as the waves of the sea continually crash on the shore, and this fitan would drive people out of their minds and they would become like animals. أخرج ابن أبي شيبة من طريق عاصم بن ضمرة…