Matter of hearts!

[In] al-Hakeem al-Tirmidhi’s example, the sadr is where one’s Islam rests, a general term. The qalb is the place where certainty and faith (al-eemaan) rests, and it is like the eye, which is a term applied to all of its component parts that see. The fuaad is the place of witnessing and seeing, like the pupil to the eye, and finally, the lubb is the innermost place where tawheed rests, the light in the vision of the eye. The Ulul-albaab, those people of true hearts, peel away the skin of a metaphorical existence, and subsist in the core (lubb) of the true existence, which is only through the belief in the Oneness of Allah Ta’ala.

Read "Difference Between the “Heart” (Qalb), “Kindling Heart” (fuaad), and the “Pure Intellect” (lubb)" @ SeekersGuidance

Literary styles used in the Quran

Number of times in the Quran, Allah uses literally styles to bring home the point. I've listed four of the many.

1. Rebuking Interrogative: This linguistic tool to bring realization to the listener of the reality. It rebukes him for doing a certain action, or believing a particular matter. It makes the listener realize his fallacy, and that error is too obvious to be explained.

For instance, surah adiyaat.

أَفَلَا يَعْلَمُ إِذَا بُعْثِرَ مَا فِي الْقُبُورِ (100:9)

But does he not know that when the contents of the graves are scattered

2. "What can explain to you..?": This is used in the Quran in several places. It shows the listener that he cannot comprehend the matter. Such words fill the listeners' heart with fear and awe.

For instance, Surah Qari'ah, this question tells the listener (after much anticipation) that words cannot explain what it means, and that it’s out of our imagination and comprehension.

---

وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْقَارِعَةُ (101:3)

And what can make you know what is the Striking Calamity

---

Also,

(82:18)ثُمَّ مَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا يَوْمُ الدِّينِ

Then, what can make you know what is the Day of Recompense?

3. Listing the reasons for an action, before mentioning the action itself: For instance, Surah Quraysh,

لِإِيلَافِ قُرَيْشٍ (106:1)

---

إِيلَافِهِمْ رِحْلَةَ الشِّتَاء وَالصَّيْفِ (106:2)

---

فَلْيَعْبُدُوا رَبَّ هَذَا الْبَيْتِ (106:3)

---

الَّذِي أَطْعَمَهُم مِّن جُوعٍ وَآمَنَهُم مِّنْ خَوْفٍ (106:4)

Sh Sohail Hanif of SunniPath explains, the verses should have read, “Quraysh must worship their Lord due to the trade routes made easy for them.”

But, Allah mentions His favours on the Quraysh, and then later in the Surah, you'll read as a result of the favours, the Quraysh should worship Allah.

The listener will be in suspense, trying to figure out, what it is the reason for. Finally, when the command is mentioned, it leaves an impression on the listener.

The verse then read, “Due to the ease and comfort given to Quraysh in their trade caravans, then they must worship their Lord.”

4. Omitting the object of a verb: The threat has a greater impact on the listener, if what he is being threatened with is not explicitly mentioned. It increases fright and leaves the listener imagining every possibility with apprehension.

For instance, Surah At Takathur, the listener doesn't know what is man distracted from. Some scholars have suggested, it is being omitted because there are so many things, it is felt to the listeners to think.

أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ (102:1
Competition in [worldly] increase diverts you

Nouman Ali Khan, Bayinnah Institute explains the use of this literary style is to make the listener think and reflect. There are number of places in the Quran where there are blanks - it is up to us to fill those up. Quran is very interactive.

Another example, surah as shams,

وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَاهَا (91:4)
By the Night as it conceals it;

The object of the verb, conceal, is not apparent. It is left up to the listener to deduce. Quran teaches us to think and think hard.

Source: SunniPath - Tafsir of Short Surahs and Bayyinah - Dream

This post was submitted for ProductiveMuslim.com's Mission:Ramadan project

“Alhamdulillah”

Nouman Ali Khan of Al Bayyinah Institute write:

A Variety of Ways to Make Hamd of Allah

Arabic offers great flexibility in communication. There are varying degrees of emphasis with which a statement can be made. There are multiple options that can be manipulated in sentence structure. Similar statements can be made such as :

أحمدُ اللهَ

“I praise Allah.”
نَحْمَدُ اللهَ

“We praise Allah.”

اِحْمَدُوْا اللهَ

“Praise Allah!”.

1. All of the above are Jumal Fi’liyyah. This sentence structure necessarily implies the occurrence of an act bound by time. Alhamdu Lillah is Jumlah Ismiyyah which, for one, is a far more emphatic form of declaration in Classical Arabic by comparison. Secondly, it implies continuity, stability and permanence. Another unique feature of the Ismiyyah structure is that it communicates a decisive statement.

2. Jumlah Fi’liyyah exclusively attributes an act to a specific subject. In the suggested alternatives above, ‘I’, ‘we’ and ‘you all’ are the specific subjects respectively. الحمد لله , being a Jumlah Ismiyyah, doesn’t identify the subject which makes it a universal declaration. I, we, you, they, people, animals, rocks, trees, rather all of creation can be understood as the subject! There is another beautiful subtlety here. Whether anyone or anything makes حمد of Allah or not, الحمد is still for Allah!

3. The Jumlah Fi’liyyah renditions above are limited by time and applicability. The original statement is timeless and has universal applicability. Through الحمد للهِ the way in which the praise is made is kept unspecified while in the Fi’liyyah format the praise would be by the tongue.

وَإنْ مِنْ شَيْئٍ إلا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ ولكِنْ لا تَفْقَهُوْنَ تَسْبِيْحَهُمْ

4. In Jumlah Fi’liyyah there is the possibility of doing an act for an object that isn’t worthy of it. For instance, ‘I paid him’. It may be that ‘he’ didn’t deserve to get paid. In Jumlah Ismiyyah the necessary implication that this praise is actually rightfully placed is naturally implied, ALHAMDULILLAH!

5. In saying الحمد لله , we are also acknowledging that حمد is the property of Allah while this is not implied in alternative fi’liyyah renditions. When using the command form, ’Praise Allah’ instead of Alhamdulillah, there are a number of shortcomings. Firstly, there is the sense that this praise is being asked of the audience. By comparison الحمد لله declares the existence of حمد without dependence on an audience responding to an imperative. The imperative may also imply a response that may or may not be voluntary while Alhamdulillah is an observation of the voluntary praise done by all forms of creation.

Quoted from “Alhamdulillah” - A Linguistic Miracle of the Quran

Word form

Last week in my Quran Study Circle, we discussed a few verses from Surah Waqi’ah. The topic at hand was our dependence on Allah- and Allah alone. Quite often we forget that reality. Quran, over and over again, reminds us of our creation, and that we should give Shukr for His blessings. Starting from verse 57 to 74:

نَحْنُ خَلَقْنَاكُمْ فَلَوْلَا تُصَدِّقُونَ
أَفَرَأَيْتُم مَّا تُمْنُونَ
أَأَنتُمْ تَخْلُقُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْخَالِقُونَ
نَحْنُ قَدَّرْنَا بَيْنَكُمُ الْمَوْتَ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ
عَلَى أَن نُّبَدِّلَ أَمْثَالَكُمْ وَنُنشِئَكُمْ فِي مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ النَّشْأَةَ الْأُولَى فَلَوْلَا تَذكَّرُونَ
أَفَرَأَيْتُم مَّا تَحْرُثُونَ
أَأَنتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الزَّارِعُونَ
لَوْ نَشَاء لَجَعَلْنَاهُ حُطَامًا فَظَلَلْتُمْ تَفَكَّهُونَ
إِنَّا لَمُغْرَمُونَ
بَلْ نَحْنُ مَحْرُومُونَ
أَفَرَأَيْتُمُ الْمَاء الَّذِي تَشْرَبُونَ
أَأَنتُمْ أَنزَلْتُمُوهُ مِنَ الْمُزْنِ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْمُنزِلُونَ
لَوْ نَشَاء جَعَلْنَاهُ أُجَاجًا فَلَوْلَا تَشْكُرُونَ
أَفَرَأَيْتُمُ النَّارَ الَّتِي تُورُونَ
أَأَنتُمْ أَنشَأْتُمْ شَجَرَتَهَا أَمْ نَحْنُ الْمُنشِؤُونَ
نَحْنُ جَعَلْنَاهَا تَذْكِرَةً وَمَتَاعًا لِّلْمُقْوِينَ
فَسَبِّحْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الْعَظِيمِ
________________________________________

The verses reminded me of something I studied with Shaykh Sohail Hanif of Sunni Path. In the Quranic Sciences course, he had explained the difference between a verb usage and a noun usage of the same word.

Verbs are connected to time, and the action occurs during the stated time, while nouns indicate a permanent state. An example of this can be: a person who is riding versus a rider. “A person riding” might mean that he is riding for the first time, or possibly the last, while “rider” may indicate his profession.

Keeping the word usage in mind, let’s look at a verse from Surah Waqi’ah:

أَأَنتُمْ تَخْلُقُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْخَالِقُونَ
56:59 Is it you who create it - or are We the source of its creation?

“Is it you who create it” [تَخْلُقُونَهُ] is the verb usage of “create”, while the last word, [الْخَالِقُونَ] translated as “We the source of its creation” is a noun. When Allah (swt) refers to us – the human being – He uses a verb – (that too, with a particle of interrogation). To imply: If you say you have the power to create, you have you ever created, even once?
But Allah’s attribute is a noun. It’s a state – a permanent one.

Similarly:
أَأَنتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الزَّارِعُونَ
56:64 Is it you who cause it to grow - or are We the cause of its growth?
Referring to human beings, the verb used for “causing to grow” is تَزْرَعُونَهُ. And the noun used as Allah’s attribute is “الزَّارِعُونَ”

Once again in:
أَأَنتُمْ أَنزَلْتُمُوهُ مِنَ الْمُزْنِ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْمُنزِلُونَ
56:69 Is it you who cause it to come down from the clouds - or are We the cause of its coming down?

And
أَأَنتُمْ أَنشَأْتُمْ شَجَرَتَهَا أَمْ نَحْنُ الْمُنشِؤُونَ
56:72 Is it you who have brought into being the tree that serves as its fuel - or are We the cause of its coming into being?

In the interrogation clause, a verb is used. Allah’s attribute is a noun.

Allah (SWT) refers to the Quran as best of content and best of form (Quran 39:23). Shaykh Sohail in the Sunnipath course explains how every word is fit perfectly in the verse, how every word so measured and carefully selected to match the situation. Ibn ‘Atiyya, a great Spanish mufassir, said: if a words was to be removed from it, and one would go through the entire of Arabic language to find a word other than this word to replace it, you couldn’t be able to find it, I couldn’t find another word for it.
________________________________________

Translation
56:57 WE who have created you, [O men:] why, then, do you not accept the truth?
56:58 Have you ever considered that [seed] which you emit?
56:59 Is it you who create it - or are We the source of its creation?
56:60 We have [indeed] decreed that death shall be [ever-present] among you: but there is nothing to prevent Us
56:61 from changing the nature of your existence and bringing you into being [anew] in a manner [as yet] unknown to you.
56:62 And [since] you are indeed aware of the [miracle of your] coming into being in the first instance - why, then, do you not bethink yourselves [of Us]?
56:63 Have you ever considered the seed which you cast upon the soil?
56:64 Is it you who cause it to grow - or are We the cause of its growth?
56:65 [For,] were it Our will, We could indeed turn it into chaff, and you would be left to wonder [and to lament],
56:66 “Verily, we are ruined!
56:67 Nay, but we have been deprived [of our livelihood]!”
56:68 Have you ever considered the water which you drink?
56:69 Is it you who cause it to come down from the clouds - or are We the cause of its coming down?
56:70 [It comes down sweet - but] were it Our will, We could make it burningly salty and bitter: why, then, do you not give thanks [unto Us]?
56:71 Have you ever considered the fire which you kindle?
56:72 Is it you who have brought into being the tree that serves as its fuel - or are We the cause of its coming into being?
56:73 It is We who have made it a means to remind [you of Us], and a comfort for all who are lost and hungry in the wilderness [of their lives].
56:74 Extol, then, the limitless glory of thy Sustainer’s mighty name!

Cross posted on SunniPath Blog

Expressions in the Qur'an II

A simile is described as a comparison of two unlike things, typically marked by use of "like", "as", "than", or "resembles" ¹


The Qur’an employs similes (amthal, singular mathal (مَثَلُ)) to explain certain truths or to drive home important points of the message. Similes are used by likening it to something well known or describing it in a pictorial, vivid manner. They are referred to the natural phenomena and existential situation the Arab was most familiar with, but one does not have to be an Arab to feel their force.

The particle كَ is used in the meaning of "like", "as", "than", or "resembles". It is also interesting to note that the كَ is a harfe Jar, therefore the word following it will be Majroor (in the state of Jar)


1. Jews who have the Torah but do not profit by it are compared to an ass loaded with books:

مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ حُمِّلُوا التَّوْرَاةَ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَحْمِلُوهَا كَمَثَلِ الْحِمَارِ يَحْمِلُ أَسْفَارًا
THE PARABLE of those who were graced with the burden of the Torah, and thereafter failed to bear this burden, is that of an ass that carries a load of books [but cannot benefit from them] [62.5].

2. The works of unbelievers, from which they hope to benefit at the Judgement, are like ashes blown away by the wind [14.18], or like a mirage which appears to be water, but, when one comes to it, turns out to be nothing [24.39].

مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِرَبِّهِمْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ كَرَمَادٍ اشْتَدَّتْ بِهِ الرِّيحُ فِي يَوْمٍ عَاصِفٍ
the parable of those who are bent on denying their Sustainer: all their works are as ashes which the wind blows about fiercely on a stormy day [14.18]

وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَعْمَالُهُمْ كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَةٍ يَحْسَبُهُ الظَّمْآنُ مَاء حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءهُ لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئًا
But as for those who are bent on denying the truth, their [good] deeds are like a mirage in the desert, which the thirsty supposes to be water - until, when he approaches it, he finds that it was nothing [24.39].

----------------------
References:
1. Wikipedia

Surah Kahf: An Explanation of the Dua of the Young Men

Surah Kahf starts off with the story of the men who fled from the torture of their disbeliever king, and took refuge in a cave. The first ayah we read on these young believing men is their dua. Sheikh Sohail Hanif¹, explains how beautiful this dua is.

When the young men fled for refuge to the Cave and said: Our Lord! Give us
mercy from Thy presence and shape for us right conduct in our plight.

إِذْ أَوَى الْفِتْيَةُ إِلَى الْكَهْفِ فَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا آتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّئْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا

Let's do a breakdown of the words used in this ayah:

• الْفِتْيَةُ fitya - young men. Another usage of this term- chivalrous (indicate strength of character)
• لَّدُن ladun - indicates a place near or next to something. They put the term “from you” in front of their dua. They're asking for a direct mercy, not from any intermediary distance.
  The prayer they made- O Our Lord, O you who cares about us, grant us, from you, a special mercy, not the general mercy of life and gifts in life.
  What they are asking for is all good- the good of this world and the hereafter, a mercy which will save them from all humiliation, a mercy which will free them from all hardships completely
  Their circumstance at the time of supplication was that they were in dire need, in a time when every opposite thing was expected, starvation, their fate threatened to be taken away from them, and to be exiled forever from their loved ones.
• َهَيِّئْ hayyi' - The idea here is “to prepare something” [translated here as shape for us]
• أَمْر amr - Meaning their circumstances [Translated here as right conduct]
  Make easy for us, our circumstance
• رَشَدًا rashad - The meaning encompasses (1) goodness or khair, (2) an-nafu: everything most beneficial to one, and (3) salaah: everything perfect and upright
  Oh Allah make our circumstances, and grant us in it complete rashad

Subhanallah, this dua was answered by Allah subhana wa ta'ala.

How did Allah give the men rashad?

• By warding off the enemies from the cave.
• Also Allah showed them to the cave, the cave was in a perfect location
• He put them to sleep and they woke up in times of belief
• And finally, the most beautiful part to me is that, He made them a sign for all of mankind

What an immense reward Subhanallah!

Benefit of reciting this prayer :

• Gathers together all good of this world.
• It's a sign of Allah (swt) accepting the duas soon after they are made.

----------------------
References:
1. Commentary on Key Chapters of the Qur'an

Expressions in the Qur'an

There are a number of expressions used in the Quran. Some are used to clarify, others used to draw an imagery.

In Surah Al bayyinah (96) verse 16, Allah SWT uses a hyperbole. A hyperbole is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, and is not meant to be taken literally¹

نَاصِيَةٍ۬ كَـٰذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ۬ - translated as "The lying, sinful forelock"

If you look back at verse 13, there's a mention of a "kadhib" - a liar, someone who denies. From there on the verses describe the punishment of such a person. And verse under question declares the forelock as lying and sinful, as if to say, the person is so sinful, that every part of him is sinful.

This is an instance of a part of the body being attributed with the attribute of the whole. He is such a big liar that, it is as if every part of his body lies seperately. That's the stage of his sins - gives us an idea of the extreme²

----------------------
References:
1. Defination of Hyperbole, Wikipedia
2. Tafseer Ruhul Ma 'aani