In Surat Tawbah, Allah summarised the story of the Battle of Tabouk, which took place in the ninth year after the migration. The Prophet (peace be upon him) mobilised an army of 30,000 soldiers which was the largest Muslim military campaign in his lifetime against the formidable Roman army, who were 100,000 troops. The believers…
Surat al-Qalam was one of the earliest revelations to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him). Of course, it wasn’t the whole surah: as with most revelation, the surah was revealed a few verses at a time, the Quran was not revealed surah by surah as we know it now. The Prophet (peace be on…
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) described divorce as ‘the most hated of permissible acts’ to Allah [Abu Dawood] It’s disliked, but it’s still permissible: if you hit a dead end, you have an exit, and this is out of Allah’s mercy. If two people came together with right intention, but then discover that they have personality clash, or cultural clash, or whatever it may be, talaq is the way to leave with ihsan. In Jahiliyya times, they used to divorce their wives and then take them back, and go through cycles over and over again. This just caused extra pain, so in Surat al-Baqarah Allah places a limit of three talaqs, and in this surah He explains the valid forms.
Be careful who you let in to your community Surat al-Mumtahinah is another Madani surah, all about who to take as your allies, and where to draw the line between the camp of the believers vs the disbelievers and their supporters. The context of surah is that it was revealed during the period when the…
Whatever is made haram in the authentic hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is haram. Some people might say we do not see this prohibition in the Quran. If it is in the authentic Sunnah, it applies. Not every ruling is mentioned in the Quran – the Sunnah is a complementary revelation, and also provides commentary on the Quran.
The story of Khawla bint Tha’laba Surat al-Mujadilah, which is a Madani surah with has an interesting story behind it. Khawla bint Tha’laba was a female Companion of the Prophet (peace be on him), who was married to a man named ‘Aws ibn as-Samit. They had had an argument, and he said to her ‘You…
Surat al-Hadid is another Madani surah with plenty of lessons. One of the most important verses is: ‘He is with you wherever you are, and sees whatever you do.’ [57:4] This is a very scary verse, but it’s also good news. If Allah is with us wherever we go, it means we need to be…
In Surat ar-Rahman, Allah describes Jannah more than Hellfire. Although description of Hellfire do come up in some verses, the majority of surah is addressing the description of Jannah, and the favours which Allah will offer the people of Jannah. Categories on the Day of Judgement The following surah is Surat al-Waqiah, where Allah gives…
The more you learn the Quran, the more Allah will open your heart and eyes to see the truth and implement it in your life. The barakah will envelop your family and your life. Every letter you recite will earn you ten rewards from Allah. (Every letter, not every word!)
Salah energises us, rejuvenates us, empowers us to face the tests we go through every day. This is why we have five prayers, not just one: because we face continuous tests all day, from waking up until we go to sleep, every day until we meet Allah. We need to strengthen our salah and make it in accordance with the Sunnah. And we have an opportunity in Ramadan. Some people might not be praying regularly, but in Ramadan they keep their salah. So don’t lose this after Ramadan. We ask Allah to strengthen imaan, and make salah our mi’raj to Him during every salah. Ameen.
The people of Jannah did sleep, but not that much. They would wake up and pray tahajjud, and do istighfar during suhoor time. They were concerned about the akhirah, over the enjoyment of the dunya – though that isn’t haram to enjoy yourself as long as it’s within the boundaries of what is permissible. However, the dunya wasn’t their main concern: Allah was their target.
Surat al-Hujarat is a Madani Surah full of rulings about the social code for a community, setting out boundaries and etiquettes for how to deal with other people in a way that pleases Allah. It has more rulings than it has ayahs – it has only 18 ayahs. Avoid much suspicion One of the most…
Surat al-Fath is one of the very special surahs. Allah starts this surah by saying: ‘Indeed, We have granted you a clear triumph.’ [48:1] The majority of scholars have said that this refers to the Treaty of Hudaybiyah. A minority of scholars of tafseer say it refers to the Conquest of Makkah, but we go…
Surah Muhammad is a Madani surah, so it has different characteristics compared to the previous Makki surahs. Madani surahs are full of rulings – prohibition of this, permissibility of that – and they also address the new phenomenon which cropped up in Madinah, that didn’t exist in Makkah, which was hypocrisy (nifaq). Makki surahs only…
As long as you are sincere with Allah, He will give you a way out of any difficult situation. The people of Makkah were not interested, so Allah sent the jinn to Rasul Allah (peace be on him) and they believed. Similarly, you might be doing something, and trying everything, but it’s not working; people are not responding. As long as you are sincere, be sure that Allah will open the way for you.