Tafsir of Surah Al-Najm | Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Introduction: The Qur'an as a Guide for Life

In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most compassionate, we praise Him and we pray for His noble messenger. Afterwards, Allah has said in His holy book — I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most compassionate.

Say: By the grace of Allah and by His mercy, so let them rejoice. It is better than what they collect.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5027)

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "The best of you are those who learn the Qur'an and teach it." Or as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said.

Dear friends, brothers and sisters, inshallah we will be covering a very beautiful surah. One of my favorite surahs — it has become my favorite surah for many reasons. Hopefully, by the end of this session, it will also become somewhat enjoyable to all of you. InshaAllah ta'ala.

Imam Zahid, whenever he would begin a session of tafsir, whenever he would start a session of contemplating upon the Qur'an — since he comes from a place of reason and he shares, for many of his opinions, the reason behind that opinion — he doesn't limit himself to the text of Qur'an and hadith. And therefore many people resonate with him in our time, because he will constantly convince us that there is also reason found in every type of commandment of deen. And that's a reality. We all believe that, we all understand that. But to know what the reason is and to understand it, it requires some level of explanation.

And when he would start tafsir, one of the first things he would explain is that the Qur'an is not simply there for spiritual growth. The Qur'an is also there for intellectual growth. The Qur'an also allows us to grow intellectually. The Qur'an also allows our mind to grow.

The same way — or rather in a much more superior way — just like how a person knows and understands that when I sit in a class of physics or whatever it may be that we're learning, it allows us to grow, it allows our mind to blossom, it gives us more knowledge, it gives us the know-how of whatever that subject is — the reality is that the Qur'an does the same. Not for a specific niche subject of life that we rarely ever come across, but rather the Qur'an does that for life itself. It gives us the ability to understand how to live life. It allows our mind to connect with the realities of life. And of course, it allows the heart to be given light. But that light is not without reason. That light is not just for the heart to grow. That light is not only for the heart to feel comfortable. That light is also for us to grow within our minds and to know how to go about life.

The Prophet ﷺ never sat in a classroom. He never sat in a college campus. He never sat with a professor. He never sat with the monks and priests of the previous generations and the previous religions. And that was one of the attempts that the people of Mecca and the mushrikun of Mecca would claim — that you probably learned all of this from the priests and the monks. And whenever they would say that, Allah would defy that by explaining how their opinion was wrong — like in Ashab al-Kahf, like in Surah Yusuf. And then they would understand that this is not from those people.

So where was the Prophet ﷺ able to learn? Not how to pray. Not how to give charity. Not how to fast. But how to live life. How to deal with people. Even the non-believers would be envious of his kindness. They would never be able to deny his truthfulness, his honesty — as-Sadiq al-Amin. Every aspect of his life was such that we could look at it — not subjectively, but objectively — and say: there is no person who could have done this better. Where did he learn it from? This is not worship that we're referring to. We're referring to living life. Knowing how to do the things in life that we do.

At times we say: why am I not looking at the Qur'an? Because the Qur'an will tell me how to be a Muslim. The Qur'an will explain to me what I need to do in the masjid. The Qur'an will give me the know-how of worship. That's not true. We don't limit the Qur'an to those things, though it obviously does that as well. The Qur'an came to allow us to understand how to live life in the best way. To give us the details of how our mind should think. To teach us the mentality and the mindset of life.

The most bought and purchased books are books that talk about mentality — how to have the mindset of a millionaire. Everyone knows: everything starts from a mentality, starts from a mindset. So when he would start sessions of tafsir, it's very important for us. He would preface it by saying that we're not learning this to simply know how to do the things that we need to know how to do within our worship. But this is actually teaching us how to live life. This allows us to become better humans — not just better Muslims. And obviously being a good Muslim means we're good human beings. One does not defy the other.

So therefore, as we begin this beautiful surah, we interact with it understanding that it's also helping us grow — not just helping us become more spiritual. The orientalists and others will study the Qur'an to simply grow their mind. The difference is that we study the Qur'an to grow our heart and grow our mind. We want our heart to be united with the light of Allah. And we also want to be able to grow in the way that we make decisions in life, within the paradigm of the Qur'an.

The Heart, the Mind, and the Whisperings of Shaytan

Decisions come from here. The thoughts come from the heart. But the mind — Imam Ghazali argues: what is the difference between the mind and the heart when it comes to decision-making? He says that initially, the thought of that deed, or the thought of that action, comes in the heart. That is al-hamm. And the heart flutters with the idea. It thinks of it. It contemplates it. And if the heart accepts it — and that's why Shaytan's goal is not to affect us intellectually.

So Shaytan's goal is:

He wants to get into our heart. Because if the heart accepts it, it will start trying to convince the mind. And therefore it is very difficult to convince someone whose heart has become attached to something, through reason, to become detached from it — if you understand, you understand. Even though there is a reason why you shouldn't marry this person, why you shouldn't purchase this car, why you shouldn't take this job — but when the heart becomes attached to it, it's very difficult to undo it. And we respond by saying: yes, I know it doesn't make sense, but what can I do? My heart is connected. It's attached to it. So Shaytan works on the heart.

So the primary beneficiary of the Qur'an is the heart. Allah refers to:

That it comes to your heart. But then it also grows the mind. There is no book you can read that will allow us to grow spiritually and intellectually — with reason and rationality — more so than the Qur'an.

Three Ways of Acquiring Knowledge

Why is that the case? Because learning normally happens through two ways. The first way that a person learns is the most basic way — the most basic way that a person is able to retrieve knowledge or information is your five senses. Al-mahsusaat — the things that you can see, touch, feel. This gives you knowledge. This gives you information. Children who have not grown intellectually — that is the only way they can learn. Because that's all they have. So you can tell a child that the cup is hot, but he will never understand until he touches the cup. You can tell a child that this is dangerous, but he'll never understand until he actually falls down.

But if an adult who is mature limits their movements to their senses, we call that person immature. That person lacks the second stage of learning — that person lacks common sense and intellect. And nowadays we say the same thing, and it's a sign of not just spiritual immaturity but general intellectual immaturity when we say: oh, well, you told me about it, but I had to experience it for myself. But you have intellect! Couldn't you see that there was something harmful there?

Intellect and reason are there. As a person becomes mature, their intellect becomes a superior way of retaining knowledge and information. They don't limit themselves to senses. Those senses will always be there — they will always be a source of knowledge — but intellect supplements that.

These are the only two ways that humanity has, except until the third process was given to us — and the third was revelation. Just like how a person would be seen to be immature or lacking genuine intelligence if, as an adult, they limit themselves to their senses — and we say, use your brain, where's your intellect? — Allah says:

At least use your intellect. Similarly, in the presence of divine revelation, a person who limits themselves to their senses and reason — that's also a sign of immaturity. Because now we have a supplementary source that is superior: that is wahi and revelation, which we will be covering in this surah, which is the Qur'an. It gives a third layer. Does reason defy senses? No, it doesn't — it supports it. Does revelation defy reason? Absolutely does not — it supports it. But sometimes reason is present and our senses cannot experience it. Similarly, sometimes revelation is present but our intellect and reason cannot truly comprehend it. And that's why we have revelation.

And I say all of this because this is the highlight of this surah. The focus of this surah is about revelation and where it comes from. And the impact that it has on humanity — believers and disbelievers. The impact that it has on anyone that listens to it, even if they don't wish to accept it. The impact that it has upon non-Muslims and Muslims. And this is where Surah al-Najm begins.

That was a preface that is absolutely necessary for us to understand why we're learning what we're learning. We're not learning what we're learning simply for the purpose of becoming better at praying our salah — that needs to happen. But we're also learning to be convinced that this is what allows me to grow in every aspect of my life, because it is the most superior, the most complete way of learning: the Qur'an.

The Sequence of the Surahs: Three Beautiful Connections

So Allah begins this surah highlighting that — and He speaks about:

Before we start this — the focus of tafsir — whenever I try to cover the tafsir of any surah, is that we know these surahs are placed in the way they're placed not based upon the timing of revelation, but based upon the placement that was given by Allah to the Prophet ﷺ. It was not just a shuffle. Everything goes where it's supposed to go. It was designed to be where it is. And once we understand that, there is benefit and wisdom in trying to extract why they are sequenced in such a manner.

First Sequence: The Theme of the Qur'an

What is the surah before Surah al-Najm? Surah al-Tur. And of course, I feel like these surahs that come in the 27th Juz — the flow of them is one of the most beautiful flows. Surah al-Rahman is like the peak of it, but you have Surah al-Tur, then Surah al-Najm, then Surah al-Qamar, then Surah al-Rahman, then Surah al-Waqi'ah, then Surah al-Hadid — absolutely beautiful surahs based on their sequence.

Starting from Surah Qaf. Surah Qaf began with:

Allah swears by the Qur'an and its sacredness, its honor, and the power that it gives the ummah. Wal-Qur'an il-Majeed — Majeed refers to majd, which is honor. It gives you a sense of might. It gives you a sense of presence. This is what the Qur'an is supposed to do for us. It's supposed to give us presence in our life. And it can only give us a presence if it has a presence within our heart. Allah starts off just honoring the Qur'an. He didn't speak much about it in Surah Qaf — He's building it up.

In Surah al-Dhariyat, Allah says — well, I know you guys are questioning this book. But let me tell you:

Allah says: verily this is the truth, just like how your speaking can be heard by you and what you are saying is the truth — you consider it to be real words. The Qur'an is real. That's one understanding of that ayah. The second understanding — and this is the tafsir I prefer — is: it is true even by your words. You know this is the truth even by your words. You just don't want to accept it.

You know it's true, but you don't want to accept it. Then the next surah is Surah al-Tur, where Allah says: I know what you're saying, and now I'll go over all of those claims. There are about nine claims in Surah al-Tur that Allah shares with us that the non-believers, the atheists, the agnostics will make. And one of them is:

Allah shares with us their claim — that you are saying these are the words of a sorcerer, a magician, or a poet. And then in Surah al-Najm, Allah clarifies the response:

He is not a sorcerer getting this from a star. He is not a magician getting this from some magic or sorcery. Rather he is getting it directly from Allah. And then in Surah al-Qamar, Allah says: even though I've clarified it for you, you still think it's magic. And then in Surah al-Rahman, Allah says: guess what?

The most merciful — and the greatest sign of His mercy is that He has allowed you to accept the Qur'an. If you haven't accepted it, it's on you. Now I've already given you the proofs. Now I've already laid it out for you. In Surah Qaf I told you how powerful it is. In Surah al-Dhariyat I told you that you believe it through your own words. In Surah al-Tur I shared with you the responses and the questions you have against the Qur'an. In Surah al-Najm I clarify them — and I clarify in the most profound manner, speaking about the mi'raj of the Prophet ﷺ. And in Surah al-Qamar, though you've been convinced that this is the truth, you respond by saying it's a lie again — because you have a script in your head.

A lot of those naysayers already have pre-planned scripts in their head. Every time you give them a response about what deen is and the reality of deen, they'll just come back with the same response. It's like playing a broken tape recorder — it keeps saying the same thing: it's magic, it's sorcery, it's a poet. Then at the end of this, Allah says: well, the people who have earned my mercy are those who have accepted the Qur'an — عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ.

Surah al-Rahman is a surah filled with undeniable blessings — that's why it repeats:

Ala' are blessings that nobody can deny. Ni'ma are blessings that can be subjective — a ni'ma can be a ni'ma for you but not for him. Some may consider wealth to be a ni'ma, others may not. That's why Allah doesn't speak about wealth in Surah al-Rahman. Allah doesn't speak about children in Surah al-Rahman. Allah speaks about ala' — undeniable blessings that everyone will accept because everyone needs them: such as the sky, the earth, and water. But Allah begins the discussion of those blessings by saying عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ. Just like how the presence of the trees and the stars and the moon are undeniable in their blessings, and the way that the world is structured depends upon the movements of these things — it is an undeniable blessing that you have the Qur'an.

Second Sequence: How the Surahs Begin

Another sequence taking place within these surahs: in Surah al-Tur, Allah starts off by speaking about a mountain. In Surah al-Najm, Allah begins speaking about a star. In Surah al-Qamar, Allah speaks about the moon. And then in Surah al-Rahman, Allah speaks about the Qur'an — and then it speaks about all of these together. It's just like a build-up. And this is how a great essay or a great lecture is — your thesis shares your main points and each paragraph refers back to the thesis. There is no one that can write a script better than Allah.

And just like how a good story takes you a minute to connect the dots and it takes a level of pure reflection — when you do, it leaves you astonished:

You're just left speechless. Abdullah ibn Abbas would say that he has not recited an ayah with reflection except that every single time he recites that ayah — even if it's the same ayah — he is still left speechless because he finds something new from it. Because reflection is taddabur. A person can only do that if they don't act like they already know it.

This is why Musa alayhi salam was told:

Just listen. In Surah Taha, Allah tells the Prophet: this is hadith Musa — this is a new story of Musa, but it was not new. The idea is: receive it as if it's your first time. And a lot of times you hear people in Jumu'ah or in different halaqahs say: why aren't you listening? I already heard this before. The Qur'an has a story of Musa repeated about 17 times. If repetition was something to be frowned upon, the Qur'an would not have done it. One of the main purposes is to give us different lessons from it. It's the same story, but different lessons. If you listen to it as if it's your first time, every single time we'll take a new lesson from it.

That's what Abdullah ibn Abbas would do. His student Mujahid says: sometimes he would recite an ayah while teaching us and he would just read the ayah — like وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ — and he would stay quiet for a long period of time. Then he would read it again, and stay quiet for a long period of time, and read it again. Sometimes an entire lesson of an hour would go by just doing that. And he would say: yesterday I read the verse, and Allah opened these things to me. And he would share them. So there is so much to take from these verses, and hence we connect with them as if it's our first time listening.

Third Sequence: The Ending of Surah al-Tur and the Beginning of Surah al-Najm

The last sequence is the ending of these surahs. How does Surah al-Tur end?

Allah says: praise Allah — fasabbihhu — praise Allah when the stars come out. In the evening time you should praise Allah. Then Allah begins the next surah: وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ — speaking about the same star again. And He does this quite often: when He ends a surah and begins a surah with the same flow. It is a continuation because the Qur'an is one book.

So here Allah is referring to the stars at night — you should praise Allah. But you praise Allah, not the star. وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ — the stars are nothing. You're just using them as a point of reference. Sometimes we acknowledge or praise a system so much it almost seems as if we find our own system to be inferior. Allah said: no, no, no. We identify the stars as My creation. They're beautiful. And when you see them, you praise Allah because it was Me that gave them to you. But وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ — you don't use them as a form of worship. Because even the stars:

Even the stars lose their light when the morning time comes. And Allah is not of that nature. So Allah is connecting: praise Allah through these blessings, but don't identify them to be the goal or to be God. These are the three general sequences I wish to share with all of us.

Background: A Makki Surah of the Fifth Year

Surah al-Najm is a Makki surah. The most accurate opinion we find in our books of tafsir is that it was revealed in the fifth year of Nabuwwah. The first two to three years of the Prophet ﷺ's prophethood was the Prophet giving da'wah to his own family members — one-on-one da'wah — giving da'wah to people privately. There was no open da'wah given. But in year three, Allah commanded the Prophet ﷺ:

Go ahead and give da'wah to everyone. So when open da'wah began, open persecution began. Till that point it was hidden persecution — now open persecution began. And then in year five, the impact of that open da'wah was felt by the conversion of Umar رضي الله عنه and Hamza رضي الله عنه. What happened to Islam when Umar became Muslim? The Prophet ﷺ said: may Allah honor you the same way you have honored this religion.

So Umar رضي الله عنه becoming Muslim not only allowed the Muslims to preach openly — that was already happening — but to preach in the most central place of the community: the Ka'bah. Till then there was open da'wah in markets and other public places, but not from the Ka'bah itself. When he became Muslim, open da'wah was happening from city center. One is to have a rally in some corner alleyway, and the other is to have a rally in Hart Plaza — the coverage is different, the impact is much larger and heavier.

Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه says that the first time the Qur'an was recited in the open, from the Ka'bah, was Surah al-Najm. Till this moment, the people of Mecca had heard the Qur'an — they'd heard Surah al-Haqqah, they'd heard Iqra, they'd heard Surah al-Mudathir and Surah al-Muzzammil — but not together at one time. And the Quraysh, whenever they would hear the Qur'an being recited, they would do interesting things. Like Allah speaks about Nuh alayhi salam's nation doing the same — they would close their ears, or they would start yelling. Because they knew: if they hear it, what's going to happen? It's going to affect them.

They would also go ahead — the moment the Prophet ﷺ would start reading in a smaller area — and recite their poetry to entice people. If the Prophet was giving da'wah in a market, they would gather young people and have a concert across the way to divert the audience. This is the reality whenever we make an effort of deen. Whenever anyone starts doing something good, there will always be a deterrence, always an interruption taking place by batil as well. Something good starts — something bad will start too. Shaytan will always try to repel that good with something else.

Now when everyone is gathered in front of the Ka'bah — city center, the entire group — the Prophet ﷺ stands up and begins reciting. Nobody feels comfortable to speak up. The Prophet commands respect — you can't disrespect him because of his presence. None of the leaders of Quraysh felt comfortable to speak up because the entire community was there. And the civilians would not speak up against the Prophet because the Prophet demands respect. So they just stand there listening. And the Prophet ﷺ recites the entire Surah al-Najm.

This is one of the 14 to 15 sajdahs of the Qur'an — one of the ayahs when recited requires a prostration of recitation. When the Prophet ﷺ recited this surah and he finished, Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما says that every single person present in that gathering — be it a believer or a disbeliever — fell into sajdah. Everyone. Believers and disbelievers — they couldn't control themselves.

It's like in sports when the opposing team does something so astonishing and you stand up and start clapping — you cheer for the player because what he did was so beautiful. You had no choice. You applaud the enemy because of what they did. So when these disbelievers heard the Qur'an being recited for the first time at one place and one time, the impact was such that the believers fell into sajdah — but even the disbelievers couldn't control themselves because their minds and hearts were impacted by these verses. And they also fell into sajdah. Everyone at one time.

And they got up and now had to give an excuse. Now in this surah there is a story called al-Gharaniq — and I'll talk about it when the ayah comes. But the story relates to a claim that while the Prophet ﷺ was reciting the surah, Shaytan threw in certain words — praising the idols Laat, Uzza, and Manat. This is obviously false, and I'll go into the details when the ayah comes. What I really prefer, and what we should leave with, is this: when you mess up and everyone is watching, you have to come up with a quick response. So the moment they got up, they said: the reason why we did sajdah is because you praised our idols — not because of the surah. What an absurd claim. But you have to justify it somehow.

And hence, Surah al-Najm is a surah that even till today — disbeliever or believer — when you recite it, your heart and your mind both will be touched. That's why I started with that combination of what Imam Ghazali says. This is why one of the opinions of Imam Suleiman rahimullah is: whenever you're in a public gathering with Muslims and non-Muslims, it is good to recite Surah al-Najm — because of the impact it has on everyone. Not in a demeaning way, or in a way of creating conflict, but just because of the impact it has.

The Three Main Themes of Surah al-Najm

This is a Makki surah revealed in the fifth year of Nabuwwah. Makki surahs have certain themes. Amongst them: the description and discussion of the Akhirah, the stories of the previous prophets, and the discussion of faith — because in Makkah, faith is being cultivated. Faith becomes cultivated through multiple ways: discussing how others cultivated it — the nations before you — and discussing what will happen to you if you don't bring it — the Akhirah.

Surah al-Najm is no different. It has three main themes:

The first theme is the discussion of the final revelation — and this is what the first roughly 11 verses speak about. The entire opening passage speaks about the final revelation.

The second theme is distinguishing truth versus falsehood — revelation versus the kahin, sorcery, magicians, or any other form of acquiring knowledge outside of what comes from our intellect and from Allah.

The third theme is the outcome — the Final Day. And it ends with the discussion of the Day of Judgment. What does the next surah begin with? The discussion of the Day of Judgment. What does the surah after that begin with? Jannah and Jahannam. What does the surah after that begin with? A continuation of the blessings of Jannah and Jahannam. It flows in perfect order.

We also find in many places in the Qur'an that Allah uses things like Najm and Tur — tangible, sensory objects. Al-mahsusaat — you can touch them, feel them, see them.

The reason why Allah uses these tangible things is to explain to us: each of these things that you can sense and feel — the same way you believe in these things, what I'm about to tell you, you should also believe in. Just like how you believe the Tur is a mountain and al-Najm is a star, you must believe in the other aspects that you can't sense and feel, if they are found in divine revelation.

Tafsir of the Opening Verses

Translation: I swear by the star when it descends. Your companion, Muhammad ﷺ, has not been misguided, neither has he erred. And he does not speak from his own inclinations and desires (hawa). Rather, it is nothing but revelation that he has been endowed with.

What is "al-Najm"?

What is Najm? What is Allah referring to by saying Najm? He didn't say al-nujum — the prior surah used al-nujum (plural). Over here it is just al-Najm, so Allah is referring to a specific star.

The first opinion is that He is referring to the star cluster al-Thurayya (the Pleiades) — a cluster of six stars that was normally used by the sorcerers and fortune tellers of Mecca to seek information. Allah is denying the claim made in the previous surah that the Prophet ﷺ is getting this information as a sorcerer or fortune teller. No — وَالنَّجْمِ — this najm that you're referring to — let Me tell you about it. And Allah will continue: this is wahy.

The second opinion is وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ — by the star as it falls, as it descends — referring to the shooting stars. We are told in hadith that these shooting stars are shayateen, and the devils attempt to listen into the conversations that Allah is having with the angels. As they aim to listen in, the angels throw a flame at them:

The angels throw a flame at them and this repels them. The idea of "make a wish when you see a shooting star" comes from there — that perhaps this star coming carries information that can benefit me. Fortune tellers would get their information from these devils, who would catch certain pieces of conversations. This is why the Prophet ﷺ when asked about fortune tellers said: sometimes they are right but most of the time they are wrong.

So the meaning of the oath is threefold. First: the Prophet ﷺ does not gain his information by looking at stars and calculating their movements. Second: he doesn't gain his information from shayateen as they are flung across the skies while aiming to take information from the angels. Third: no star at all can give you information. Nature does not define the purpose of creation — nature is a creation. What an audacious claim to identify the beauty of the sky but not the deity who created the sky. How can one identify the beauty of nature without identifying the beauty of the Creator?

The Profound Meaning of "Hawa"

Hawa — what does hawa mean in وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ? It means falling or descending. The star as it falls. But hawa also means desire and inclination — and this is where the layered beauty of the Qur'an appears.

Imam Ghazali rahimullah says: the same way that a star is falling — hawa — Allah uses the word hawa for it. Any person who falls for their desires has misguided themselves. Just like how you would identify a person to be incorrect if he takes from a falling star. We use the same verbiage in English: "this person fell for his desires, he fell for his whims." Just like how you would identify a person to be incorrect if he looks at a star and gives you information — similarly, a person who just looks at their nafs and their desires and listens to it is also falling. This is also a form of degrading yourself.

Have you seen those people who have made their desires their god? Allah uses a similar concept. Just like how these people used stars as a frame of reference, you have used your thoughts and desires as a frame of reference. Both are incorrect.

Back in the day, ideologies were built on idols and sorcerers and fortune tellers — these different forms of shirk. Now we have a different form. It doesn't come from a star — it comes from hawa. Why does a person choose not to believe in certain things? Not because it doesn't make sense to their mind — it doesn't make sense to their heart. Hawa. The same way they used to use stars to create outcomes and conclusions, now we use our desires to create outcomes and conclusions and we claim that they are solutions. Where did you get it from? I thought of it. When thinking of something makes it a fact, it is hardly even an opinion.

Allah says: your thoughts will never give you the outcome that is true. They will give you what you want to hear.

This connects to what Ibn Abbas rahimullah used to say: al-'abdu thalatha — a slave is of three types. Number one, the slave who is owned. Number two, al-'abdu tama' — the slave of greed, whose greed controls them. Number three, al-'abdu muttabi' al-shahwa — the slave of desires. Why do we call a slave a slave? Because they do what the master says without asking why, when, and how. The job is simply to listen, without caring about the outcome. A slave to their desires does exactly the same — they do what their desire tells them to do without thinking about the outcome, without thinking about the consequence.

Ma Dalla Sahibukum: Your Companion Has Not Been Misguided

Allah refers to the Prophet ﷺ as a companion of the Quraysh: sahibukum — because he is amongst you. We must be amongst the people to impact the people. Your companion has not been misguided and neither has he erred.

What is the difference between dalla and ghawa? They seem similar, but they mean different things. Imam Sayyid Qutb rahimullah explains: dalala is the opposite of huda. Dalala is having a destination but not getting there — taking the wrong turn. You had the destination, but you missed it. You took the wrong step.

Ghawa is the opposite of rushd. It is not even having a destination in life. How many people today — where do you want to be? What are your goals? What is your akhirah? I don't really have one. That is ghawa. Not knowing where you want to be. Not knowing what your outcome is.

The Prophet ﷺ did not take a wrong step away from hidayah (dalla). Neither is he calling you to something that has no clear destination (ghawa). The second opinion is: dalla is making a mistake in one's actions — dalalat al-'amal. And ghawa is making a mistake in one's words. مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَىٰ — your companion has not made any incorrect move, neither has he said anything wrong.

You know, when a person wants to claim that what you're saying is not true, they only have two ways to do it: number one, discredit the information. Number two, discredit the speaker. Allah has already highlighted the Qur'an. This is why never in the Qur'an do you see people saying the Qur'an is false — because they can't. Even today, the naysayers of Islam don't try to claim the Qur'an is inaccurate. They attempt to take a jab at the Prophet ﷺ. So if you can't discredit the information, you discredit the person relaying it. And Allah responds to that here — as He responded in Surah Ya-Sin:

Wa Ma Yantiqu 'an il-Hawa: He Does Not Speak from Desire

He does not speak from hawa — desire. That's how the majority of the tafsirs translate it: he does not speak from his whims and desires. This is why deen never changes. Because once it came, it was set. Yes, the Prophet ﷺ through Allah could abrogate certain aspects of our shari'ah based upon the context and the need of its time. But when the Prophet ﷺ left this world, there was no evolution or revolution of deen — like what happened in Christianity and other religions — because he never spoke for himself.

وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ — our thoughts don't define how to respond. Shari'ah does. The content of the box must remain the same — but the packaging can change. The appropriate packaging can be placed upon how we say it, what we say, where we say it, with what tone. We cannot be completely naive of the realities around us — so we package it better, based upon the people we're speaking to. But the content in the box cannot change. If the content has changed and the packaging is the same, it's wrong. A munafiq — the packaging is the same as a believer, but the content is of a hypocrite. It doesn't make a difference how you look and how you portray yourself. The content needs to remain the same.

This is why the first person challenged with a new false ideology in humanity was who? In humanity — Nuh alayhi salam. The first prophet sent to a disbelieving nation — shirk — the first time shirk grew was in the nation of Nuh. 950 years. And Allah always connects the Prophet ﷺ's nabuwwah with that of Nuh alayhi salam because they both came to mushrik nations. Nuh alayhi salam responded for 950 years — not once did he pivot away from his response:

I worship Allah. Worship Allah. Refer back to Allah. Packaging can change. Ibrahim alayhi salam — again, ideological warfare. His response was the same:

Don't worship these things. Worship Allah. Similarly, we are not the first people who had to deal with new ideologies — it's always been there. We have tried to respond in different ways and we have failed very apparently. The response must still be the same: ani a'budullah. Then we look back at what the Qur'an says and respond from there. And if we don't know what the Qur'an says, we'll ask someone who does.

The second meaning of وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ — and I find this to be quite beautiful — is: hawa also carried the meaning we established earlier from وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ — the falling star. So وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ also means: he does not speak from that star you think he speaks from. وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ — three meanings, none of them conflict, they all support one another. مَا ضَلَّ وَمَا غَوَىٰ — two meanings that support each other. وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ — two meanings that support each other. This is eloquent speech: multiple meanings from the same words that do not conflict but supplement one another.

Why "Nataqa" and Not "Takallama"?

Why did Allah not use takallama but rather used nataqa? Because kalam is defined in any language as speech that can be understood. But nutq is defined as any utterance — even when a child speaks, we say he spoke. Do you understand it? No. That's nutq. That's not kalam. Kalam is where you can take meaning from it. Nutq is something you hear but can't necessarily understand.

وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ — forget giving you a detailed conclusion. He doesn't even utter a single word from his desires. He doesn't even claim any form of utterance from the stars. Forget giving you a conclusion — he doesn't even give you an introduction from these stars. In other words, we don't need to supplement what the Qur'an says from anywhere else. If science is there to supplement the Qur'an, great — that's awesome. But we don't need it.

Imam Nawawi rahimullah would say: al-imanu imanun bila 'ilmin — iman is iman without any external proof. All we need is the Qur'an. That's all a person needs. Because it has everything.

Everything the Prophet Uttered Was Revelation

This proves to us that everything the Prophet ﷺ said is also part of shari'ah. There are those who say: the Qur'an is the Qur'an — that's all we need. No. وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ — the Qur'an is the ultimate form of guidance. But the manifestation in the most complete manner is the seerah and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. We cannot fully understand what the Qur'an is telling us without it. The seerah gives us a relatable manifestation.

Allah says: speak softly. How do we understand how to speak softly? How did the Prophet ﷺ speak? The Qur'an says: be good to your neighbors. How do we understand how to be a good neighbor? How was the Prophet ﷺ with his neighbor? The Qur'an says: be good to your spouse. How do we understand that? How was the Prophet ﷺ with his spouse? Without the seerah we cannot understand the Qur'an. And to those who claim that hadith and sunnah are not needed — when you give them these examples, they say: those are character things, we understand that. But we're speaking about aspects of worship. If character concepts can be concluded and built up from seerah, how can you differentiate and say that aspects of worship cannot be built from the sunnah and hadith of the Prophet ﷺ? Everything the Prophet ﷺ uttered came from where? It was revelation that he was given.

And the definition of revelation is: you could not have gotten it from anywhere else. Where could you get it from? A star? It's not from a star. Your desires? It's not from your desires. Shayateen? It's not from Shayateen. And Allah responds to the claims made in Surah al-Tur — where they claimed this Qur'an came from these different places — in these four verses. Then He speaks about the ultimate prize of revelation: the Mi'raj.

May Allah give us the ability to enjoy these verses, to learn from them, and to implement them in our lives. InshaAllah, we'll see you all next week.