أَفَلا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَى قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا

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Will they not contemplate on the Qur’an? Nay, there are locks upon their hearts.

(Muhammad: 24)

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خَالِد بْن مَعْدَان قَالَ : مَا مِنْ آدَمِيّ إِلَّا وَلَهُ أَرْبَع أَعْيُن : عَيْنَانِ فِي رَأْسه لِدُنْيَاهُ , وَمَا يُصْلِحهُ مِنْ مَعِيشَته , وَعَيْنَانِ فِي قَلْبه لِدِينِهِ , وَمَا وَعَدَ اللَّه مِنْ الْغَيْب , فَإِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّه بِعَبْدٍ خَيْرًا أَبْصَرَتْ عَيْنَاهُ اللَّتَانِ فِي قَلْبه , وَإِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّه بِهِ غَيْر ذَلِكَ طُمِسَ عَلَيْهِمَا , فَذَلِكَ قَوْله :  أَمْ عَلَى قُلُوب أَقْفَالهَا

Khaalid bin Ma’daan said, “There is no human, except that he has four eyes: two eyes in his head – for his dunya, and for the improvement of his life; and two eyes in his heart – for his deen, and for what Allah has promised of the Unseen. So if Allah intends good for a slave, the two eyes in his heart have vision; and if Allah intends for him other than that, they  are destroyed. So that is His Saying, ‘Nay, there are locks upon their hearts.’”

(Tafsir al-Tabari)

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ‏ ‏صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

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‏ ‏ إِنَّ مِنْ أَحْسَنِ النَّاسِ صَوْتًا بِالْقُرْآنِ الَّذِي إِذَا سَمِعْتُمُوهُ يَقْرَأُ حَسِبْتُمُوهُ ‏ ‏يَخْشَى اللَّهَ

The Prophet said: “The person with the best voice regarding the recitation of the Quran is he who, when you hear him recite, you perceive that he fears Allah.”

(Sunan ibn Majah)

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يَعْلَمُ خَائِنَةَ الأعْيُنِ وَمَا تُخْفِي الصُّدُورُ

He knows the eyes’ deceit and what the chests conceal.

(al-Mu’min: 19)

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ibn ‘Abbas said: “He is a man sitting with a group of people. A woman then passes by and he steals a glance at her.”

It is also related from him: “He is man who looks at a woman. When his companions look at him, he lowers his gaze; and when he sees that they are unmindful, he secretly engages in looking [at her]. Then when his companions look at him, he lowers his gaze. And Allah, azza wa jall, certainly knows that he wishes that he could look at her private parts.”

ibn ‘Abbas said: “‘And what the chests conceal,’ means: Would he fornicate with her if he was to be secluded with her, or not?”

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(al-Jami’ li Ahkam al-Qur’an)

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حدثنا أبو أحمد محمد بن أحمد الغطريفي، حدثنا عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن المغيرة، حدثنا أبي، حدثنا بشر بن الحارث، حدثنا يحيى بن اليمان، عن سفيان، عن حبيب بن أبي جمرة قال: إذا ختم الرجل القرآن قبله الملك بين عينيه

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Habib ibn Abu Jumrah said, “When a man completes the recitation of the Qur’an, an angel kisses him between his eyes.”
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(Hilyah al-Awliya, pg 1524)

لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ

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There has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves: your suffering is distressing to him…

(al-Tawbah: 128)

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Sometimes people do things which hurt or offend us. And we – because of our black, hardened hearts – can’t find it within ourselves to forgive them. We want them to suffer, just like they made us suffer. But your Prophet, your Messenger – Rasulullah – he wants to see that they should not suffer. On the Day of Qiyamah, his concern for his Ummah will be immense. The thought that any of his followers should be cast into the Fire causes him great anguish and distresses him greatly. His cry on that Day will be “My Ummah, my Ummah!” It was because this, because of his supreme concern for his Ummatis, that he would stand in prayer at night for so long that his feet would swell and bleed. So if you find yourself bearing a grudge against someone because of the sins they’ve committed against you, and cannot manage to forgive them out of your own, then at least do so for the sake of Rasulullah . Forgive them, so that he will be happy and smiling on that Day. Forgive them, so that he will not be grieved and sorrowful at their being punished. Think about it: if we truly are of those who claim to love him, then do we really want to be the cause of any grief befalling our beloved, Sayyiduna Rasulullah ?

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حدثنا منصور بن أحمد، حدثنا عثمان بن أحمد، حدثنا الحسن بن عمرو، قال: سمعت بشر بن الحارث يقول: قال سفيان بن عيينة: ليس العاقل الذي يعرف الخير والشر، إنما العاقل الذي إذا رأى الخير اتبعه، وإذا رأى الشر اجتنبه

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Sufyan bin ‘Uyaynah said, “The intelligent person is not the one who recognises good and evil – the intelligent person is only the one who, when he sees good, he follows it; and when he sees evil, he abstains from it.”

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(Hilyah al-Awliyah: Vol. 6, pg. 1516)

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حَدَّثَنَا ‏ ‏أَبُو كُرَيْبٍ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْعَلَاءِ بْنِ كُرَيْبٍ ‏ ‏حَدَّثَنَا ‏ ‏أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ عَيَّاشٍ ‏ ‏عَنْ ‏ ‏الْأَعْمَشِ ‏ ‏عَنْ ‏ ‏أَبِي صَالِحٍ ‏ ‏عَنْ ‏ ‏أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ‏ ‏قَالَ ‏
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ‏ ‏صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ‏ ‏إِذَا كَانَ أَوَّلُ لَيْلَةٍ مِنْ شَهْرِ رَمَضَانَ ‏ ‏صُفِّدَتْ ‏ ‏الشَّيَاطِينُ ‏ ‏وَمَرَدَةُ ‏ ‏الْجِنِّ وَغُلِّقَتْ أَبْوَابُ النَّارِ فَلَمْ يُفْتَحْ مِنْهَا بَابٌ وَفُتِّحَتْ أَبْوَابُ الْجَنَّةِ فَلَمْ يُغْلَقْ مِنْهَا بَابٌ ‏ ‏وَيُنَادِي مُنَادٍ يَا ‏ ‏بَاغِيَ ‏ ‏الْخَيْرِ أَقْبِلْ وَيَا ‏ ‏بَاغِيَ ‏ ‏الشَّرِّ ‏ ‏أَقْصِرْ ‏ ‏وَلِلَّهِ عُتَقَاءُ مِنْ النَّارِ وَذَلكَ كُلُّ لَيْلَةٍ

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Abu-Hurayrah said, “The Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said, ‘When it is the first night of the month of Ramadān, the devils and those jinn who are devoted exclusively to evil are chained. The gates of the Fire are firmly locked, such that none remains open; and the gates of Paradise are flung open, such that none remains closed. A caller proclaims, “Seeker of good, advance! Seeker of evil, desist!” Allah has people whom He frees from the Fire; and that happens every night [of the month] (1).’”

(1): Alternatively, the phrase “and that happens every night [of the month]” could also be inclusive of the proclamation of the caller.

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(Sunan al-Tirmidhi)

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In the societies we find ourselves living in, people seem to think that they have liberated women. That by entering women into the workplace they have given them freedom and liberty which they did not previously enjoy. Yet all they have succeeded in doing is to burden them, to give them a load to carry which they should not have to. In Islam, Allah ta’ala has prescribed that men are to be the maintainers and protectors of the women (Surah al-Nisa, Ayah 34) and that they should provide for and look after the women under their care. The onus is on the man to go out and work; but sadly many nowadays are failing the women in this regard. So the women end up working as well and have to now carry a double load – they have to work and they still have to look after the home. Despite the revolution of women entering the workplace, in most cases men haven’t taken any more responsibility in the homes, to do things like cleaning, washing, helping with the kids etc. It still falls to the lot of the woman. And this unfair… requiring women to do both these things, go work and also look after the home, is to unjustly burden her. People might say that there is no obligation on them to go out and study or work, that they’re free to stay at home. But usually if a woman does decide to do that, then she is looked down upon and regarded as something of a failure. No one would ever say that directly to her face but it seems to me that this is the attitude that many people have. Perhaps I’m wrong in this but it’s the way I see it, and this is for me the sad reality.

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The saddest, most heartbreaking thing about all of this is that women have been stolen from their babies; and babies have been deprived of their mothers. Previously the mother used to be in the home and was there to look after the child, to love him, to cuddle him, to care for him. But this has become an increasingly rare phenomenon. Instead we see that this responsibility has been handed over to others: either to complete strangers in nurseries or playschools, or to other family members. This is a calamity! The bond between a mother and child is unique – no other person can give a child the same type of love and affection that his mother can. And this deprivation of children from their mothers is happening at increasingly earliers stages. A few years back it used to be that kids would only go to schools at about seven or eight years of age but this has rapidly changed to the extent where only a few short months after giving birth, the mother is back working and the care of the baby is entrusted to others. What makes all this all the more saddening is that most people don’t even look at it in this way and see anything wrong with it! It has become the norm and the accepted thing to do – so we just blindly accept and follow it without thinking.

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Wallahul musta’aan. Insha Allah, there will be a part two some time.

Eg. معلمة

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The previous posts on this topic (Part 1 Part 2) focused mostly on verbs. Here some basic guidelines on what to do when trying to figure out the root letters of nouns will be given.

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1) In Arabic, words could be masculine or feminine.  Usually a singular feminine word has a ‘taa marbutah‘ (ة) to indicate that it is feminine. So when determining the root letters, it is dropped.

2) Words could also be dual or plural. If it is dual, then ‘aani’ (آن) [or 'aini' (ين)]  would be added to the word; and if plural then ‘oona’ (ون) [or 'eena' (ين)] would be added. That is for masculine words. If feminine plural then ‘aat’ (آت) would be added. So those letters have to be dropped to arrive at the root letters. This is disregarding broken plurals which do not follow any set pattern – they just have to be learned.

Eg. مسلمان | مسلمون | مسلمات

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3)  A lot of nouns start with the letter meem, and when this is so, then that ought to be dropped. (Note: this isn’t always true!)

Eg. مكتب | مفتاح | محدث | محسن | ملعب

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4) Usually you would drop the following letters in nouns: alif, waw and yaa i.e. the madds or elongated vowels. The key word here is usually.

Eg.  كاتب | عليم | شكور |  مشاركة | لباس

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وَالسَّمَاءِ وَالطَّارِقِ

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By the heavens and al-Taariq!
(al-Tariq: 1)
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There are different interpretations as to the meaning of al-Taariq:

1. Muhammad bin al-Hasan mentioned in his tafsir that it is Zuhal, which is a star in the seventh heaven.
2. ibn Zaid said that it is al-Thurayyaa i.e. Pleiades.
3. ibn ‘Abbas said that is al-Jady i.e. the North Star.

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It is related from ibn ‘Abbas and ‘Ali radiyallahu ‘anhumaa, as well as al-Farra’, that it is a star in the seventh heaven. No other stars inhabit that heaven. Then when the other stars take their places in the heavens, it descends to be with them. Thereafter it returns to its place in the seventh heaven. It is Zuhal. So it is a taariq (traveler by night) when it descends, and a taariq when it ascends.
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Abu Salih relates from ibn ‘Abbas who said, “The Messenger of Allah  was sitting with Abu Talib when a star died. The earth was filled with light and Abu Talib became afraid, saying, ‘What is this?’ He replied, ‘This is star by which things are pelted. And it is a sign [ayah] from the signs of Allah.’ Abu Talib was amazed at this. Then ‘Wassamaa’i wat taariq‘ was revealed.”

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It is also related from ibn ‘Abbas that ‘Wassamaa’i wat taariq‘ means ‘By the heavens and those things which travel [yatruqu] in them.’

It is related from ibn ‘Abbas and ‘Ata that ‘al-Najm al-thaaqib‘ means that by which the shayateen are pelted.

Qatadah said that it is general, referring to all stars, because they rise at night. And everything which arrives at night is a taariq.

And in the authentic (narrations) it is said that al-Taariq is the star which is named the morning star [kawkab al-subh].
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(al-Jami’ li Ahkam al-Qur’an by Imam al-Qurtubi)