The Final Surahs Beyond Recitation | Ep 01 | Tafsir from Duhā to An-Nās | Imam Nadim Bashir

The Final Surahs Beyond Recitation

A new series, I'm sure you saw that there was a series that was sent out today. And this was based on a request that was given to me before Ramadan. As I was about to finish up Surah Yaseen, some brothers came to me and they said that there's a lot of surahs towards the end of the Quran. We read about them, we heard them so many times we have even memorized them. And many of us, we have memorized these surahs, but we don't know what they mean. Can you please do a series on them? And initially, I was thinking of just doing the last 10 surahs, because that was the request. And then another request came that, no, just don't do the last 10 surahs, expand that. So I've expanded it even more. And we are covering from Surah Wa'd-Duha. These are surahs that you and I, we hear all the time. These are surahs that we hear. So inshallah, we'll be going through all of them.

Now, one thing I do want to do in this series is that I don't want to go so deep into the tafsir that we lose the objective of the tafsir. So inshallah, do understand that my goal and my objective is not to do a deep Arabic grammar analysis. That's not my intent here. My intent is to give you a good understanding of the surah, so that next time when you hear the surah, or you are reciting the surah, you are reciting with meaning inshallah.

The Context of Early Revelation

Now, in the time of Rasulullah ﷺ, after the very first revelation, which was اقرأ باسم ربك الذي خلق, Allah revealed Surat al-Mudathir, and some say Surat al-Qalam, and Surat al-Muzzammil in a very short period of time. Now, there is no book of tafsir or book of history or seerah that will give you exactly, pinpoint exactly which surahs were revealed in chronological order. There are some speculations, but overall, you will find that there is no doubt in the fact that Surat al-Alaq was revealed first, the first verses of Surat al-Alaq, and then after that, Surat al-Qalam, Surat al-Muzzammil, they all were revealed.

However, after that, there was a brief period in which there was no revelation that came to Rasulullah ﷺ. Now, at that time, Rasulullah ﷺ is really thinking to himself that is Allah upset with me? Has Allah abandoned me? In fact, there was a woman who even came in to the Prophet ﷺ to sort of criticize and to mock the Prophet ﷺ. Some say that this was the wife of Abu Lahab, but she came to the Prophet ﷺ and she said that perhaps the devil has left you, perhaps the devil has left you. And to which when the Prophet ﷺ, of course, these words can hurt anyone, especially in the case of the Prophet ﷺ. But when he heard these kinds of words, of course, he was in deep pain. And as a result, Allah revealed Surah Wa'd-Duha.

The Opening of Surah Wa'd-Duha

So Allah begins the surah by saying وَالضُّحَىٰ. And Wa'd-Duha is Allah swearing upon the morning brightness. This is Allah talking about as soon as the sun appears from behind the horizon, that's called Tulu' ash-shams. Okay, it's called Tulu' ash-shams. But at the same time, as soon as it has risen, that time is called Wa'd-Duha. That's why even I know in the subcontinent, the two rak'ah that we pray after right after sunrise, we refer to as Ishraq in the subcontinent. In the Middle Eastern countries, they refer to that as Duha. Okay, they refer to it as Duha. And by the way, just as a side note here, in the subcontinent, the Duha, which they refer to as Chashki namaz, you understand, that's something that comes later on. But nonetheless, that's another day, another time.

But the point is that Allah is swearing by the morning brightness. Now, what did the ulema say about this? First of all is that the fact that Allah is swearing upon something that He has created in lifting up the darkness. As it is, when you say the word night, when you say the word darkness, in some cultures, it is very symbolic for bad news, a difficulty that you're going through. When you talk about the sun rising, light coming into the situation, in many cultures, it is very symbolic for help and assistance and happiness and peace. So the Prophet ﷺ, in essence, is going through a very difficult time, and Allah mentioned this in the next ayah also, but in this one, Allah is saying that there was nothing for you to worry about. Just like Allah brings about this light, likewise, Allah, He's going to bring about this revelation. The revelation has not stopped.

But the reason why Allah, He did this was because that Allah wants the Prophet ﷺ to go through a certain level of tarbiyah, that there will not be a situation where every time there will be a revelation. There's going to be times where revelation may pause, but it is not due to Allah being upset with you or Allah being angry with you. There are going to be times when revelation will come. There are times when revelation may not come. Some ulama, they say that perhaps this was Allah's way of teaching Rasulullah ﷺ that from the beginning of revelation till now, we have revealed much to you. Why don't you take a moment to digest all that? You understand? Digest all of it, see what you can take from it, understand it, read it, and then inshallah, you'll get the next dose or the next set of verses. So this is Allah's way of trying to help and console Rasulullah ﷺ.

And as it is, many ulama, they say that one of the things that we learn from this, because everything that we do, we learn from the Prophet ﷺ. When Allah is saying to the Prophet ﷺ, وَالضُّحَىٰ, meaning that we were able to remove your sadness and we brought light into your life. Likewise, you need to be a source of light for others also. There are going to be a lot of people that you will come across in your life who are going through moments of darkness in their life and sit down with them and talk to them, but you also be a source of light for them. And that is why Allah says also in Surah Al-Ahzab, what's the word? سِرَاجًا مُّنِيرًا, right? The Prophet ﷺ is referred to as a سِرَاجًا مُّنِيرًا, a light, a guiding force. So this is Allah telling the Prophet ﷺ about this.

The Night of Tranquility

Now, the next ayah Allah says, وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَىٰ, and by the night when it is still and calm. You see, again, as I said earlier, some people may refer to this pause of revelation as perhaps Allah being upset. Allah is saying, no, that's not the case. In fact, just like we are saying the night is calm. Likewise, even the time that there was no revelation that came from Allah, that was a time for you to be calm. There was no need to have this thought that perhaps Allah is upset. In fact, whenever these kinds of situations do come around, this is a time where you are calm and there is, you know, you are reading the translation, you're reading the revelation of Allah, but this will be a divine pattern. There are times when Allah will send you a revelation to help you and there are times when something may not come in your direction.

Signs in Creation

Then Allah, He goes on to say that He says three things, because again, we have to address the mocking of the Quraish, right? The Quraish were mocking the Prophet ﷺ. So Allah brings about, first of all, two things that are created by Him, وَالضُّحَىٰ and the night, وَاللَّيْلِ. And there's one thing that's very important for us to understand. When it comes to the creation of Allah, one of the most important things that we find in the Quran as to why does Allah mention again and again different creations of Allah is so that we can reflect on those things. Why does Allah mention at the end of Surah Ghashiyah,

Every single creation has been created because Allah is trying to draw our attention to the oneness of Allah. When you look at everything, when you look at the night, when you look at the day, Allah challenges mankind. If there is anyone, if you think anyone can bring night and keep night perpetual, is there any creation that can do that? Any power that can do that? Absolutely not. On the flip side, is there anyone who can bring day and then after that, day stays perpetual? There is no power that can keep day perpetual. Likewise, Allah brings about all these signs so that we reflect on them. And as a Tabi'i said very beautifully, فَفِي كُلِّ شَيْءٍ لَهُ آيَةً In every single thing there is an ayah. Why does Allah mention ayah, ayah, ayah? Even in Surah ar-Rum, وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ From His signs, فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ Why does He mention all this? Because Allah wants to look at, He wants us to look at all these things and again bring our conclusion to the fact that there is only one Allah behind all this. Allah, this is why He has given all these things.

Allah's Promise to His Prophet

So now, we have to address the mocking of the Quraish. So Allah says, مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَىٰ Allah has neither forsaken you nor is He displeased. Now this is something very beautifully I want you to pay attention to. The word وَدَّعَ comes from the word الوِدَاع when a person is about to leave, right? When a person is about to leave, they're giving their last and farewell advice. That is what الوِدَاع means. Allah is saying to the Prophet ﷺ, we never said الوِدَاع to you. We're never going to leave you hanging. مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ Why did Allah say رَبُّكَ? Because the word رَب implies that someone who's looking after someone. The word رَب means that the one who does the تَرْبِيَة of someone. So Allah is saying, the fact that He said رَبُّكَ is implying to the Prophet ﷺ that your رَب is going to be there for the rest of your life looking after you. And there is no way, there's a situation where He says farewell to you.

But then He says وَمَا قَلَىٰ وَمَا قَلَىٰ means He's not upset. But there's something beautiful about this that the ulema they say. You see if you look at and just pay attention to the wording over here and I want you to pay attention here. مَا وَدَّعَ وَدَّعَ is the verb. وَدَّعَ is the verb. The word كَ at the end is you, meaning you Rasulullah ﷺ. It is a pronoun. It is considered in Arabic as an attached pronoun. So logically speaking, Allah should have said Allah did not say farewell to you O Muhammad and neither is He upset with you. That would have made sense, right? وَمَا قَلَاكَ مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَاكَ He's not upset with you. Why didn't Allah say, why didn't Allah bring that ك in there? Some ulema they say that the concept of Allah being upset and the Prophet ﷺ cannot coexist in the same word. It is beyond anyone's, it's beyond our imagination. It is absolutely impossible that Allah being upset with the Prophet ﷺ. It cannot happen. That is why you will not see قَلَاكَ مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَاكَ He's not upset. Not upset at you. No, that's not what Allah said. He's not upset. This is Allah assuring Rasulullah ﷺ.

A Promise of Better Times

And then he says, وَلَلْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَّكَ مِنَ الْأُولَىٰ Meaning that not dunya in terms of dunya and akhira, no. وَلَلْآخِرَةُ could mean the hereafter but it could also mean what comes after this also. وَلَلْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَّكَ مِنَ الْأُولَىٰ What you have gone through, what you have gone through is tough. But after this what comes later and some people they say, some ulema they say that later does not mean necessarily in Mecca. It means later on in the life of Rasulullah ﷺ when he was in Medina. When you know people began to come in many folds and multi-folds. Tribes were coming into the fold of Islam. This is what Allah is referring to.

Allah's Consolation to the Prophet

But nonetheless وَلَا الْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَكَ مِنَ الْأُولَى - This is Allah consoling Rasulullah ﷺ that don't worry about it. Things are going to get only easy for you going forward. Now of course we do find that the Prophet ﷺ he went through Shu'ab ibn Abi Talib. He went through the three years of the boycott in Mecca. There were some difficult times but if you study the history of Medina and how Muslims were able to establish themselves clearly this ayah now makes sense.

Then Allah says وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ رَبُّكَ فَتَرْضَى - And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the future He will give you and He will be pleased with you.

The Beautiful Nuance of Arabic: Two Types of Giving

Now what does that mean? This could mean a lot of things. What does it mean to give? And I want you to pay attention to this because this is a very beautiful nuance from an Arabic perspective. In the Arabic language giving is two words. There are two different words used for giving. One is إعطاء. One is إيتاء.

Let me give you an example. تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَاءُ وَتَنزِعُ الْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَاءُ - Allah gives power. Right? Allah gives kingdom to whoever He wants. When you say تُؤْتِي it means that it comes with a lot of conditions. It comes with a lot of conditions. Allah gives any person power and authority like He gave Dhul Qarnayn. Why did Allah mention the story of Dhul Qarnayn in the Qur'an? Because Allah wants to show us that there were people in the past He gave them resources and power but they used it to benefit other people. So there are a lot of people who have power but they misuse and they abuse their power. Allah is saying تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَاءُ - It comes with a lot of conditions.

The word أَعْطَى in the Arabic language means that you give an abundance of something and it is for you. It is a gift for you completely. There is nothing that you are asking in return. إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ - Allah mentioned We gave you al-kawthar. Such an amazing reward in the Akhirah.

Likewise here when He says وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ رَبُّكَ - Your Lord will give you. Now what is also interesting about this word is there is nothing that comes after this as to what Allah is going to give you. Which means what? Allah will give you an abundance. Allah did not say وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ الْمَالَ or وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ الْعِزَّةَ - He never said anything like that. وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ - Whatever may come after that. No. وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ رَبُّكَ - Your Lord will give you. He will grant you. Grant you what? When there is nothing there that means that Allah will give an abundance.

And then He says فَتَرْضَى - Which means that Allah will give you so much and this is something that has not been given to any other human being. Only to Rasulullah ﷺ. Allah will give not in a fixed amount. Allah will give so much to the Prophet ﷺ to the extent where he is now pleased. Where he is now pleased. Even that is why when we talk about the death of Rasulullah ﷺ. When it came when the time came he says I am pleased. I am now ready to leave from this dunya. So this is Allah giving Rasulullah ﷺ something that he has never given anyone.

Allah's Reminder: Three Favors, Three Responsibilities

Now if Allah is giving the Prophet ﷺ so much honor. Allah is going to be there with you. Allah is going to stand by with you. And Allah is going to give you so much. What do I want in return from you? Three things. Allah is reminding the Prophet ﷺ.

Did we not find you as a yateem, an orphan and we sheltered you? And you look at all these three verses:

We found you unaware. What does that mean? ضَالًّا usually means misguidance. But here it does not mean misguidance. It means there was a situation where you were looking for an answer and you did not have the answer until Allah showed you the answer. There were times when the Prophet ﷺ was looking at all the idolatry taking place. He's in a state where he's asking himself that how can people do something like this? How can they have this idea that these idols created these things around you? Likewise and during that time Rasulullah ﷺ that is why he went to Cave Hira. That is why he went to Jabal Nur and he stayed there for so many for so much time at a time. There are so many trips he made there and he stayed there alone. The Prophet ﷺ was looking for answers in his life. Allah says فَهَدَى - We guided you to those answers.

We found you in need and He enriched you. The Prophet ﷺ grew up without a mother, grew up without a father and by the way when Allah says أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَى - What does فَآوَى mean? آوَى in the Arabic language means to give refuge to someone or to be with someone who's not going to just look after you but they will emotionally connect with you. They emotionally will love you and that is why we find that why did Rasulullah ﷺ stay with Abu Talib? Why did he not stay with any other uncle? Because Abu Talib and Abdullah the father of Rasulullah ﷺ they came from the same mother. That is why the Prophet ﷺ stayed with Abu Talib. His other brothers they came from other mothers but because of that connection Abdullah his father and Abu Talib coming from the same mother they said that perhaps him staying with Abu Talib is more fitting for him and that is why it is mentioned in the books of Sira how much Abu Talib loved Rasulullah ﷺ. How much he recognized his character. His character was different than all the other children. He was different in terms of his nature, in terms of his demeanor, in terms of his akhlaq, in terms of his adab.

The Immediate Assistance of Allah

So Allah is saying that we found you in all these situations and then he says, Why fa in all of them? Because fa here implies immediate assistance. Not that Allah found you as a yateem and you were a yateem for one, two, four years and then someone began to look after you. No that is not the case. As soon as you became a yateem your grandfather began to look after you. As soon as your grandfather passed away your uncle began to look after you. When you became, when you start thinking about the society and you start thinking about the chaotic situation in the society and how people they do shirk with Allah then immediately Allah set in motion the wheels to get you the guidance that you need. Not only that but when you got to a point where you were a young man Allah made sure that you were taken care of. The Prophet ﷺ became a shepherd. After as soon as he became a shepherd then he began, he was, he became instantaneously, overnight he became an international businessman for Khadija and then after that he got married to Khadija.

So this is Allah reminding Rasulullah ﷺ that there is a social perspective of life. We took care of that. There is an intellectual and spiritual perspective of life. We took care of that for you and there's a financial component of your life. We took care of that all also for you.

The Response: What Allah Asks in Return

Then Allah says what are we looking in return from you? So what did he say? أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَى - Right? What is the response?

Therefore as for the orphan do not oppress the orphan. فَلَا تَقْهَرْ - You know subhanAllah one of the things that you learn about the Prophet ﷺ's life is and this is something that I've asked a lot of young brothers you know sometimes when you sit in Islamic school I've asked young brothers and young sisters some of these kind of questions well how do you think how do you think Rasulullah ﷺ has so much love for the orphan because he grew up as an orphan.

There's a reason you know someone asked me that why is it that Allah put Rasulullah ﷺ through so many challenges as a child and he exposed him to so many different circumstances in his life why did Allah do that to him and I had to answer them that because Allah was preparing Rasulullah ﷺ for a greater mission.

Understanding Through Personal Experience

Think about it - if a person is raised in a lavish life, if they have all the resources, if they have all the money, do you think they will have mercy? Do you think they will have that love for those people who don't have? No. Do you think Rasulullah ﷺ, if he was not an orphan, do you think he may have the same level of love for an orphan? No.

Why do you think Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5659)

Because he understands what it means to be a يتيم (yateem). He understands what it means to be an orphan, to be without a mother, to be without a father. When Rasulullah ﷺ - think about what went through the heart of Amina, the mother of the Prophet ﷺ, when women were coming from outside: "Oh no, father, overlook him. No, father, overlook him." Every person overlooked Rasulullah ﷺ.

Do Not Oppress the Orphan

This is Allah telling the Prophet ﷺ: do not oppress the orphan. Even for when it comes to us - you know, when you go overseas, something that you will see often is that you'll find a lot of beggars who will come. You'll see a lot of beggars who will come, and Allah sends the next ayah:

Do Not Repel Those Who Ask

And as for the one who will ask you, do not repel them. Do not repel them. Do not say something that is offensive to them. This is Allah telling the Prophet ﷺ: people are going to come and ask you questions about Islam - whether they make sense, it may seem like a silly question, non-silly question, makes sense, doesn't make sense - answer the question properly.

Someone's going to come and ask you a question. But what if someone comes and even begs you? Even overseas, you see a lot of people - they will start pushing people away. Even when I go overseas and I see these kinds of people, people will come and start asking. You shouldn't - if you don't want to give, don't rebuke them. Don't rebuke them. Don't push them away.

This is what Allah says about the Quraish: they used to push the يتيم (yateem) far and they would fall down. Allah is saying: do not become like them. If you don't want to give, just say "I'm sorry, I cannot give," or just simply politely excuse yourself from the situation.

But you don't know that child who's coming to you and asking you. I know many times you go for umrah, you see these children coming. You might go to your countries and you will find children coming and asking. You don't know if he's a يتيم (yateem) or not. What if you say something to him and he turns out to be a يتيم (yateem)? What if he turns out to be a يتيم (yateem)?

Allah is saying: when someone comes and asks you, do not repel them.

Lessons from the Prophet's Journey

This person is coming asking - he's also looking for something. You were in that position. When someone comes and asks you, you don't repel them. Allah gave you when you were a يتيم (yateem) - Allah took care of you. Now you take care of the يتيم (yateem).

When someone - you were looking for something, Allah gave you what you were looking for. Now when someone is looking for something, you give them what they are looking for.

You were in need. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made you غني (ghani) - Allah made you - Allah put you in a position where you are financially taken care of. And here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says: as for the favors Allah has given you, always proclaim those favors.

Allah gave you when you were in need. Likewise for all of us, we are in need. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us. What Allah is telling us - even later on, keep on talking about these blessings of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Cycle of Day and Night, Joy and Hardship

Now here I'll finish on this. One of the most important lessons that we take from this is: Rasulullah ﷺ went through a difficult phase in his life. Allah brought day and night at the beginning of the surah to tell us: just like day and night do shift, likewise there's going to be good times, there's going to be bad times in your life. They're going to shift. But at that time, you have to remember the blessings of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Remember what Allah has given you.

Every single time someone comes to me and tells me "I'm in this situation, I'm in that situation," I remind them: every single time, you have a house where you can go and stay at night, or there's some other place where you can go and stay at night. When you're sleeping, you're not worried about a bomb falling on your house. Think about these children of Gaza. Think about what's happening in Iran right now and everywhere. There are so many blessings that we have to count that we should not be complaining.

Yes, there are going to be difficulties. Just like I said, day and night - there's going to be a shift in them continuously. Likewise, there will be a shift in our life. There's going to be good times, there'll be bad times. There will be times of happiness, there'll be times of sadness. There'll be times where we are financially affluent, there are times when we are financially struggling. This is part of life.

Reflecting on Our Journey

But Allah is reminding the Prophet ﷺ who you were and what Allah made you. How many people over here sitting - when you first came here to this country, what did you have? What did you have? And now think about where you are sitting right now. How much Allah has given you.

I'm not saying - you see, we define success based on how much money we have sitting in the bank. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about that Allah gave you. Many of you here - okay, I know you have those stories: "When I came to America with one penny." Okay, those stories, they are very famous, right? But the reality is that you came, you worked hard. Now look at where you are today. Look at where you are today.

Don't you have to say الحمد لله (alhamdulillah) for that? الحمد لله (Alhamdulillah). Yes, we're struggling. We're all struggling in a certain capacity. But there's so much to be thankful for.

The Promise of Relief

And this surah reminds us that always the relief of Allah will come. Just like night comes and difficulty may come, but then the next morning, the sun will rise again. The sun will rise again, and relief will come inshallah from the help of Allah, through the mercy of Allah.

But you have to always remain resilient. If we have the same level of faith and iman and توكل (tawakkul), Allah will not let us - He will not leave us hanging. Allah will not leave us in a situation where we are completely abandoned. Allah will never do that, as long as we have that faith and that iman in Allah.

Closing Du'a

May Allah grant all of us توفيق (tawfiq), inshallah. May Allah relieve us from our difficulties. May Allah bring relief in our life, and may Allah protect our entire Muslim community.