يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَابْتَغُوا إِلَيْهِ الْوَسِيلَةَ وَجَاهِدُوا فِي سَبِيلِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ O you who have faith! Be wary of Allah, and seek the wasīlah to Him, and wage jihad in His way, so that you may be felicitous. (Sūrah al-Mā’idah, No 5, Āyat 35) Allah the Almighty has created man with a unique ability to move towards … Read more
فَإِذَا دَخَلْتُم بُيُوتًا فَسَلِّمُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِكُمْ تَحِيَّةً مِّنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ مُبَارَكَةً طَيِّبَةً So, when you enter houses, greet yourselves with a salutation from Allah, blessed and good. (Sūrat al-Nūr, No 24, Āyat 61) A beautiful aspect of Islam’s social etiquette, emphasized in the above verse, is that believers should greet one another with the words, “salāmun … Read more
لَقَدْ جَآءَكُمْ رَسُولٌۭ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ There has certainly come to you an apostle from among yourselves. Grievous to him is your distress; he has deep concern for you and is most kind and merciful to the faithful. (Sūrat Al-Tawbah, No. 9, Āyat 128) Amongst the greatest blessings of … Read more
وَجَاءَكَ فِي هَٰذِهِ الْحَقُّ وَمَوْعِظَةٌ وَذِكْرَىٰ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ And there has come to you, in this, the truth and an instruction and a reminder for the believers. (Sūrat Hūd, No.11, Āyat 120) Continuing the verse from the previous week’s reflection, the second part of the verse talks about other benefits of historical narrations. Tafsīr Majma‘ al-Bayān says the words ‘in this’ … Read more
وَكُلًّا نَّقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ أَنبَاءِ الرُّسُلِ مَا نُثَبِّتُ بِهِ فُؤَادَكَ And each [story] We relate to you from the news of the messengers is that by which We make firm your heart. (Sūrat Hūd, No.11, Āyat 120) The stories of many Prophets ‘alayhimus-salām and past peoples have been told in Sūrat Hūd. Towards the end of the … Read more
وَمَا تَوْفِيقِي إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ And my tawfīq is not but through Allah. (Sūrat Hūd, No.11, Āyat 88) The word tawfīq comes from the root ‘wa-fa-qa’ which means to agree or reconcile. In Islamic terminology it refers to a special grace from the Almighty which makes various means and causes come together to allow a person to do … Read more
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ لَا يَرْجُونَ لِقَاءَنَا وَرَضُوا بِالْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَاطْمَأَنُّوا بِهَا وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِنَا غَافِلُونَ Indeed, those who do not expect the meeting with Us and are satisfied with the life of this world and feel secure therein and those who are heedless of Our signs. (Surat Yūnus, No.10, Āyat 7) This verse talks about a group … Read more
أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَا أَوْ آذَانٌ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا Have they not travelled in the land so that they should have hearts with which to understand, or ears with which to hear? (Surat al-Hajj, No.22, Āyat 46) Verses 42-44 of Surat al-Hajj discuss the people of the past who rejected God and His … Read more
وَسَخَّرْنَا مَعَ دَاوُودَ الْجِبَالَ يُسَبِّحْنَ وَالطَّيْرَ We made the mountains and the birds to glorify with Dāwūd. (Surat al-Anbiyā, No.21, Āyat 79) All creation glorifies Allah ‘azza wajall. Glorification or ‘tasbīh’ is an innate admission of submission and insignificance, of accepting the Lordship and Magnificence of the creator, and acknowledging that He is far above anything the … Read more
وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ Wattuqallāha la‘allakum tuflihūn And have piety of Allah so that you may be victorious. (Sūrat Āl ‘Imrān, No 3, Āyat 200) In various verses of the Noble Quran, the above sentence is repeated (for example, see 2:189 and 3:130 for the exact same wording). In these blessed verses, taqwā (piety) is categorically mentioned as … Read more