Tafseer Surah Ad-Duhaa - Dr Ahsan Hanif

The Beginning of Revelation and the Pause

When the Prophet of Allah ﷺ first began to receive revelation, it was something which was difficult upon him, difficult for him to bear. It was something which was a difficult experience for him. And that's why when the Prophet ﷺ had that first encounter with Jibreel عليه السلام, he went back to Khadija رضي الله عنها, worried about what that encounter meant.

But the Prophet ﷺ soon after that first encounter, he began to enjoy and taste the sweetness of receiving the revelation of Allah. He would enjoy receiving the speech of Allah and he would look forward to the coming of Jibreel عليه السلام. But from the wisdom of Allah, was that there were certain times during that early period of revelation, during those early Meccan years, where the Prophet ﷺ sometimes for days at a time would not receive any revelation. Jibreel عليه السلام would not come to the Prophet ﷺ. Not a single verse of the Qur'an would be revealed. And so the Prophet ﷺ during those days when revelation would cease and it would stop, the Prophet ﷺ would become upset, and he would become worried, and he would become saddened.

And when the people would find out — the non-Muslims, the Meccan pagans of Quraysh — they would make fun of him ﷺ. As Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim both narrate and report, on the authority of Jundub رضي الله عنه, that there was a time during those early years when the Prophet ﷺ became ill, and he was feeling a lot of pain. So he didn't stand up during the night to pray as was his normal ritual and custom. The Prophet ﷺ every night would stand up and pray Qiyam al-Layl.

But because of that illness and that pain that he felt, he stopped for two or three nights. Didn't stand up and didn't pray. And no revelation during those days came from Allah. Not a single verse of the Qur'an was revealed.

And so one of the women of the Mushrikeen, of the pagan Arabs, when she heard this, she said to him:

"I don't think except that this devil who comes to you — meaning Jibreel عليه السلام — this devil that comes to you, it has forsaken you." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1124; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1797)

You don't get any more of your inspiration. This thing that you call revelation. And so the Prophet ﷺ would become upset and saddened during those times.

The Sweetness of Worship Despite Its Difficulty

It was surely after this that Allah revealed a whole chapter of the Qur'an, a whole surah of the Qur'an to the Prophet ﷺ. But before we go into that incident, I want to stop and reflect and ponder at this point. How the Prophet ﷺ, when he was cut off from Allah, when he didn't receive revelation for those number of days, how the Prophet ﷺ would become sad. It would upset him. The fact that he could no longer enjoy receiving that revelation.

And we know from the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ that the experience of receiving revelation wasn't always easy on the Prophet ﷺ. Wasn't a simple, light process. But sometimes even on a very cold day, the Prophet ﷺ would be sweating profusely because of the revelation that he was receiving. It wasn't something easy for him to bear. But the sweetness that he found within that, the enjoyment that he took from that revelation of Allah, far outweighed and outnumbered all of that difficulty of receiving that revelation of Allah.

Just as for me and you, when you pray, and you fast, and you perform Hajj and Umrah, and you give sadaqah — all of those acts of worship have a certain amount of difficulty attached to them. Not easy to wake up in the morning to go and pray Fajr, especially when Fajr gets very early. It's not easy to go to Saudi Arabia and perform Hajj when there are millions of people around you. It's not easy in the long hot summer months to fast 16, 17, 18 hours a day. Yet the enjoyment that you should feel, the sweetness of iman that you should get from that worship of Allah, should far outweigh any of those difficulties. And that's how the Prophet ﷺ found it.

Our Burdens and Allah's Knowledge of Them

The Prophet ﷺ would have times when he was sad and when he was upset. And the Prophet ﷺ had worries that would weigh heavily upon his shoulders. Just as me and you have our problems in our lives. We have issues that we face and deal with. Some of us are at school or college or university, and we have problems, and we have studies, and we have issues. No one else knows the extent — even your family members, even your friends, even your parents, even if you try to explain it to them. It is only you that truly understands the nature of those problems, and Allah.

There are other people sitting here today who have financial worries. People who have debts, they have taken out loans, and they can't repay those loans. We don't have enough money to pay the bills, to look after our families, to buy what we need for our children. Our businesses aren't doing as well as they should be, or as well as we want them to be. We don't have a steady job, we don't have a steady stream of income. Problems that we face. And even though many of us may be going through that same trial, it affects each and every single person differently. The pressures — psychologically, emotionally — that you feel is different to the person next to you, even if they're going through that same problem. Who knows the true extent of that worry? Only Allah.

Even if you try to explain it to the people closest, most beloved to you, there is only a certain amount that they will comprehend and understand. Only Allah knows what you're going through. Other people have problems with their families. Husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters — families have problems amongst themselves. Individuals fighting with one another, even though they're related by blood. Who knows the true extent of the effect that has on each and every single member of that family? Only Allah.

And so everyone has problems and everyone has issues. The Prophet ﷺ had the added pressure, the added element of those non-Muslims coming and teasing him, ridiculing and mocking him. They would call Jibreel عليه السلام a devil. And they would say that we think this devil that you claim comes to you with revelation from Allah has left you. So therefore your God no longer loves you. Allah no longer wants good for you. He no longer loves you.

Surah Ad-Duhaa: An Entire Surah Dedicated to the Prophet ﷺ

So Allah revealed a surah of the Qur'an. A surah that we all know, that we've all memorized, that we're teaching to our children. And Allah revealed this surah in its entirety in one go, according to many of the scholars of tafsir. And He revealed this surah because in it Allah dedicated it to the love of the Prophet ﷺ, how He cared for the Prophet ﷺ. But even though this surah is dedicated to our Prophet ﷺ, those same lessons can be derived, deduced, and applied for me and you in our lives, when we're going through similar struggles and emotions, when we're facing similar problems.

What is this surah of the Qur'an? It is Surah Ad-Duhaa. Surah Ad-Duhaa, one of the smallest surahs of the Qur'an, found in the 30th juz. You will often come to the masjid and you will hear the imam reciting this surah in the prayer. You yourselves probably often recite this surah in your prayer. It's a surah that all of us more or less have memorized. And our children are starting to memorize or have memorized.

A common surah of the Qur'an. But as is often the case, unfortunately, even though these surahs are common to us, known to us, we hear and listen to them over and over again — very few of us understand what they mean. And yet even fewer from amongst us actually comprehend the true meanings of what Allah is trying to relate to us and the message that Allah is trying to give to us through this surah.

The Two Oaths: Ad-Duhaa and Al-Layl

So what does Allah say in this surah? Allah begins by taking two oaths. Allah swears by two things. And we know as Muslims from our aqidah that it is not allowed for me or you to swear by anyone other than Allah. You can't swear by the Prophet ﷺ or another Prophet of Allah. You can't swear by an angel of Allah or Jibreel عليه السلام. You can't swear by Imam Abu Hanifa or Imam al-Shafi'i or a great scholar of Islam or any other noble person. You can't swear by any of the creation of Allah. We are only allowed to take an oath by Allah. And that is a form and act of worship for us. But for Allah, because He is the Creator, Allah swears and takes oaths by that which He wills. And He often takes oaths by the natural creation so that we can appreciate the power and the ability of Allah.

So Allah takes two such oaths at the beginning of this surah:

Allah swears by the morning when the sun has risen high in the sky, when the morning is bright. And this is a time which is blessed for us as Muslims. And that's why on the day of the big Eid — Eid al-Adha — that day is named from the same word as Duhaa. Why? Because on that day we come to the masjid and pray the Eid prayer. And by the time we leave, the sun has risen high in the sky. And that is when we then go and offer our sacrifices. So it is a blessed time of Adha. And the Eid is named after that time of the day.

Salat al-Duhaa

There is a prayer that the Prophet ﷺ would recommend to his companions and to then us, his ummah: Salat al-Duhaa. Once the sun has risen high in the sky — the morning — then you go and you pray two rak'ahs or four rak'ahs. You pray this to Allah. An optional prayer.

Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه said that my close friend, the Prophet ﷺ, advised me with three things, and one of those three things was that I should never leave Salat al-Duhaa.

Abu Dharr رضي الله عنه narrated in a hadith in Sahih Muslim that the Prophet ﷺ said that every single morning you wake up, on every single limb of your body there is a sadaqah, a charity that Allah has placed on that limb. So how do you give this charity? The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 5, Hadith 2199)

To say سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ is charity. To say الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ is charity. To say اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ is charity. To say لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ is charity. To order some good is charity. To forbid some evil is charity. But what will suffice you from all of that is that you pray the two rak'ahs of al-Duhaa. So this is how great this single prayer is. And that prayer is linked to this time because it is a blessed time — a time when people wake up and they see the morning sun, a time when they go out and they work and they seek from the provision of Allah.

So Allah takes an oath by this time of the morning. And then He takes a second oath and He says, وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَىٰ — "And by the night when it is completely dark and tranquil." At the end of the night — and look at the contrast between the two. The early morning when you wake up and there's hustle and bustle, people are leaving their homes, going to work, everyone's on the move. But then contrasting that you have the middle of the night when it's completely pitch black and everything is tranquil and calm and still because people are at home in bed asleep.

Allah swears by both of these times. And Allah swears by them for a number of reasons. From them is to show the power of Allah. Allah is the one who gives us the day and the night. And nothing takes place except within those two time frames, either the day or the night. And who controls them? Allah.

From the benefits of mentioning and taking an oath by these two things is that Allah wants to show the Prophet ﷺ — and by extension his ummah, the believing slaves from his ummah — that Allah cares for the Prophet ﷺ by day and by night. No matter how close your family may be to you, there will be times when they will be absent. Your husband, your father, your children — there are times when they're out of the house, away from you, or absent. Or maybe they're even at home, but they're asleep and they can do nothing to benefit you. But Allah is there 24-7, by day and by night. And Allah's protection and His care is 24-7. Allah doesn't sleep, doesn't become tired, doesn't become bored, doesn't go and take a break. Allah is there and He is always caring and protecting His believing slaves.

And likewise, from the benefits of mentioning the day and the night is because this is when people worry. You wake up early in the morning and if you have those worries on your shoulders — financial problems, family problems, wherever they may be — you dread the day that's going to come. How will you get through that day? How will you go and face the people? How will you deal with these issues that are so heavy on your shoulders? And then when it comes to the night, a time when you should normally be resting and sleeping, those same worries will keep you awake. They won't let you sleep. You'll have a fitful sleep. It will take you time to relax because those worries are incessantly upon you. And that cycle continues: day after night, day after night.

The Answer to the Oaths: Allah Has Not Forsaken You

And so Allah then mentions why He takes an oath by these two things. And this is the jawab al-qasam — the reason for which Allah has taken an oath. And it is to show first and primarily the Prophet ﷺ, but then by extension me and you, the ummah of our Prophet ﷺ:

Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor does He hate you. Allah is responding to those claims that your Lord has forsaken you, that your Lord no longer loves you, that your Lord is no longer with you. Allah is saying: Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor has your Lord stopped loving you. Allah is there for His believing slaves. Allah is always there for those people who have forsaken everything else.

When you expect no help to come from the creation — your parents can't help you, your spouse can't help you, your children can't help you, your teachers and friends can't help you, the strongest, richest, most prosperous person in the dunya can do nothing to help you — who do you turn to? You turn to Allah. And that's why we see in the stories of the Prophets of Allah and in the story of our Prophet ﷺ, during those times, who would they turn to? They wouldn't turn to the people of their ummah. They wouldn't turn to people who they thought could probably help them. They would first and foremost turn to Allah. They would raise their hands to Allah. They would cry in front of Allah. They would humble and humiliate themselves in front of Allah. And then Allah would come and He would respond to them.

Doesn't matter how difficult things are in your life. Allah never forsakes you. Allah is always with His believing servants:

Indeed, the Awliya of Allah — those people that Allah befriends — they will have neither any fear nor will they despair. Why? Because it doesn't matter what goes on around them. Doesn't matter the problems that they are facing. Their iman is within their heart. Their attachment to Allah is as strong as ever. They know that it is a test. So they are patient with Allah's decree. And they show their gratitude to Allah. And instead of those problems weighing them down, they return to Allah with even more passion, even more enthusiasm, even more vigor.

And that's why when the Prophet ﷺ was facing difficulties, when something would stress him, when something would weigh heavily upon his shoulders, he would go and he would rush to the prayer. Rush to Allah. Wouldn't go and speak to his friends first. Wouldn't go and confide in his family members first. He would go and he would rush to the prayer. Why? Because in the prayer there is recitation of the Qur'an. Within the prayer, there is sajdah — the closest position that you are to Allah. Within the prayer, there is dhikr. And within the prayer, there is du'a. And so the Prophet ﷺ would rush to the prayer.

Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor has He stopped loving you, nor has Allah stopped loving us. Allah, irrespective of the sins that we've committed, irrespective of the disobedience that we do on a daily basis — perhaps an hourly basis — Allah does not forsake us. But rather Allah is Al-Ghafoor, Al-Raheem, At-Tawwab. He is the most gracious, the most merciful, the one who accepts repentance over and over again.

And as the Prophet ﷺ mentioned in many ahadith — from them is that a man who killed a hundred people, murdered them in cold blood, Allah forgave him for his sins. From them is that a woman who was a prostitute, Allah forgave her by giving water to a thirsty dog. That is the extent of the mercy of Allah. So Allah does not forsake you. Allah does not stop loving His believing slaves. But it is a trap and a trick of Shaytan that he makes you want to think so.

The Hereafter Is Better Than This Life

So then Allah continues — what is it that we need to know? If Allah hasn't forsaken us, Allah says:

Know that the life of the hereafter is far better than this life. And Allah often mentions this throughout the Qur'an. He says in Surah Al-A'la:

You give preference to this life. The life of the hereafter is far better and everlasting. And Allah says:

Rather you hasten and you love the life of this world, and you forget and neglect the life of the hereafter. Allah is teaching the Prophet ﷺ and us that Allah gives no stock, no value, no quality to the life of this dunya. When Allah gives someone money, or fame, or power, that does not necessitate that Allah loves them. And when Allah makes someone poor, or that person is afflicted with disease or illness, or they have problems, that is not a sign that Allah hates them. That is not how the universal laws, the sunnahs of Allah, work in this dunya.

And that's why many of the Prophets of Allah and many of the companions رضي الله عنهم were poor. People of no power, slaves, the elderly, the weak, women, children — those were the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said that this dunya and everything within it is only equal to the wing of a mosquito in the sight of Allah. The wing of a mosquito. What does the wing of a mosquito weigh? That is the value of this dunya in the sight of Allah.

And the Prophet ﷺ understood this. And that's why the dunya meant nothing to him. And that's why when a person would come asking for money, he would say to them, "Go between the two mountains — the valley that you see — all of the sheep, all of the horses, all of the goats, the camels, everything you find, take it for yourself." A single person. And so that person would go back to his tribe and he would say, "By Allah, that man Muhammad ﷺ is a man who gives without fearing poverty." Why? Because it wasn't important to him. Didn't matter to him. Wasn't something significant. That wasn't the measure of quality that the Prophet ﷺ used. It wasn't his yardstick for looking at the pious people and the people that Allah loves.

And that's what the companions رضي الله عنهم learned from the Prophet ﷺ. And that's why when problems would take place in their lives and they would have all of these issues, they would return to Allah. They would know that it is a test from Allah. They would know that even though the life of this world may be difficult, what awaits them in the hereafter is far better and far greater.

And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said, as narrated by Abdullah ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما, that the Prophet ﷺ said: "I saw the situation of my ummah after me and it pleased me." Why? Because the Prophet ﷺ saw the way that his ummah will be on Yawm al-Qiyamah. This is the ummah that, inshallah, on Yawm al-Qiyamah will be the first ummah to enter into Jannah. And it is our Prophet ﷺ who will have an intercession that he will use for his ummah. And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said:

"Every single Prophet had a du'a that Allah would accept, and all of those Prophets used their du'as in this life. But I have saved my du'a for Yawm al-Qiyamah for my ummah." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6304; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 198)

That is how the Prophet ﷺ understood the importance of the Hereafter.

Your Lord Will Give to You Until You Are Pleased

Your Lord will give to you and He will make you pleased — pleased in this life and pleased on Yawm al-Qiyamah in the next life. Allah will please you. And that's why when you look at the life of the Prophet ﷺ — and this surah was revealed at the earliest period of his Prophethood — every single situation that came, the situation of the Muslims became better. As time progressed, the Muslims became stronger. And then they had their own city of Madinah. And the Muslims became more powerful. And Islam spread. And many people accepted Islam. And so Allah pleased the Prophet ﷺ. And just as He pleased him in this life, Allah will please him in the next life.

As the Prophet ﷺ was crying profusely after he heard about the punishment that Allah will exact upon people on Yawm al-Qiyamah, Jibreel عليه السلام came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "Your Lord, Allah, says to you: Why are you crying?" And so the Prophet ﷺ said, "I fear for my ummah, my ummah." And so Jibreel عليه السلام said, "Allah says to you that We will make you pleased concerning your ummah."

The Three Blessings Allah Enumerates for the Prophet ﷺ

And then Allah continues and He shows the Prophet ﷺ the proofs of everything that He has said — that Allah looks after him, that He hasn't forsaken him, that He still cares and protects him, and that He hasn't stopped loving him. Allah gives him the proofs so that he can appreciate this. These are the blessings that Allah enumerates for our Prophet ﷺ:

Did Allah not find you an orphan and give you shelter? And we know that before the birth of our Prophet ﷺ, his father died. And then shortly after, his mother died. And then shortly after, his grandfather died. Until he went into the care of his uncle Abu Talib. And Abu Talib, even though he died as a non-Muslim, he spent his life protecting his nephew, our Prophet ﷺ.

Did Allah find you an orphan and shelter you? And He found that you were without guidance, so He guided you to iman. And He found you to be poor and needy, and He made you rich.

Look at the way that Allah enumerates those blessings. Now ask that same question to yourself. Irrespective of the difficulties that you face, the problems that you have in your life — when Shaytan comes to you and he whispers to you that Allah no longer loves you, that Allah no longer wants good for you — ask yourself about the many blessings that Allah has bestowed upon you. In terms of your health, in terms of your family, in terms of where you live, the peace and security that you enjoy, in terms of all of the blessings that you have.

And if you were to sit down and start writing each one, beginning with your own body — your eyesight, each digit of your finger, your hearing, every single part of your body — that list would go on and on and on. And that's just the stuff that we know about outwardly. Then what about the inward limbs — the heart and the lungs and the kidneys — and all the functions that they do, most of which we can't even comprehend or understand. We don't even notice; we are negligent of them.

So then how can you turn around and say that Allah doesn't love you? Hasn't Allah given you so many blessings? And if Allah was to look at your sins and your disobedience and the many things that you have done wrong, and Allah was to compare that with the blessings that He gave you, then surely those two are not equal. They don't match. If Allah was to hold us to account for our sins, then we would already be destroyed. Allah would already have destroyed us. But it is from the mercy of Allah, from His great forgiveness, that He gives us time. And He gives us a chance to make tawbah, to return to Him.

And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said that on Yawm al-Qiyamah, a man will come who during this life all he did was worship. His whole life was worship of Allah. And he will come on Yawm al-Qiyamah and he will say, "O Allah, I want to be rewarded not according to Your mercy, but according to my actions." And so Allah will weigh his actions, and He will weigh them with the blessings that He bestowed upon him. And you will find that all of his actions, that lifetime of worship, is only equal to half the blessing of eyesight. That's all it's equal to. Half the blessing of eyesight — let alone everything else. So the man will then say, "O Allah, rather give me Your mercy, Your mercy." And then Allah will enter him into Jannah.

That is how Allah enumerates His blessings upon you. So don't let Shaytan come and fool you. Don't let Shaytan come and whisper to you. Don't let Shaytan come and tell you otherwise. But rather Allah has given you living proof in your own selves of how He has enumerated His blessings upon you.

Three Concluding Pieces of Advice from Surah Ad-Duhaa

الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وصحبه ومن والاه، أما بعد.

Allah concludes this surah, Surah Ad-Duhaa, with three important pieces of advice. After Allah enumerates the three blessings that He has bestowed upon the Prophet ﷺ, He then gives him three important pieces of advice:

Then as for the orphan, don't treat them unkindly. And as for the one who asks from you, then don't repel them unkindly. And then speak about the blessings that Allah has given to you.

Allah is teaching the Prophet ﷺ and us as well an important lesson. And that is that irrespective of what you think you may be going through and the difficulties that you are facing, there are always people in this dunya who are worse off than you, who are lower than you in the social ladder, who are poorer than you, more in need than you. And this is a reality that we all know. And you only have to look around the world to understand the reality of that situation. Doesn't matter what you're going through, there are always people that are less than you in stature, less than you in money and wealth, less than you in peace and security. And so Allah is teaching us humbleness and humility. We should return to Allah.

A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and he said, "O Messenger of Allah, I find that my heart is hard. How do I soften my heart?" So the Prophet ﷺ said, "Go and wipe over the head of the orphan and go and feed the poor. That is how you soften your heart."

When you go to the graveyard and you see those people who are now in their graves — no longer having the opportunity to worship Allah or to perform a single act of obedience. You go to the hospital and you see the people who are ill, bedridden with diseases — may Allah save us from them — and they have no hope for any normal life again. So you see them and it humbles you. You go and you see the poor, the homeless, the way that they're living, the way that they eat, the way that they have to live on a daily basis. And they too have wives and parents and children, but they're all living that same way. And so that humbles you and it makes you appreciate the many blessings that Allah has bestowed upon you.

Speaking About the Blessings of Allah

So what do you do with those blessings of Allah?

From the way that you show gratitude to Allah is that you speak about the blessings of Allah. You say, "Alhamdulillah that Allah has given me good health, and that Allah has guided me to Islam, and that Allah has given me a family, and He has given me money, and He has given me a house, and He has given me peace and security." And you mention those blessings of Allah. For the Prophet ﷺ said, to speak about the blessings of Allah is from gratitude. And to neglect them and reject them is from being ungrateful. And so we are grateful for the blessings of Allah.

Conclusion: Two Key Lessons

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, I don't have the time to go into so much detail concerning this surah. But there are two points that I want to mention in conclusion.

Number one, the importance of returning to Allah. Attaching ourselves to Allah. The importance of the book of Allah as the best form of dhikr and remembrance. Whenever you have problems, whatever problems you may face, your first port of call — before anything and everything else — should always be to return back to Allah:

Indeed, it is with the remembrance of Allah that your hearts will find tranquility and peace.

Number two, I have only skimmed over the surface of this surah. Now this is a surah that we all know, have memorized, our children have memorized. How often do we spend time contemplating upon these surahs of the Qur'an that we are so familiar with? How much time would it take from your schedule to dedicate just maybe half an hour, an hour, in a week, in a month — just to go back to the tafsir of these surahs, to understand them, to teach them to your families, to your children? And how much of a positive impact would that have on your children, on your families — that they know that such a surah exists? These are problems that we all face, but Allah has already addressed them.

I ask Allah that He makes us from amongst those people who return to the book of Allah and the authentic sunnah of our Prophet ﷺ, and those people who are constantly strong in iman and who return to Allah in times of ease and in times of hardship. And He makes us from amongst the patient and those people who are grateful. I ask Allah that He makes our affairs easy for us in this life and in the next life and that Allah enters us into His mercy and into Jannah.