By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi When someone behaves in a way that shows that they are not in control of their will, that they cannot sense what is harmful or dangerous to themselves, the Arabic word used will probably be majnun. Literally, the word means jinn-possessed. In ordinary usage it means mad. It is only if this condition persists, if the person never comes out of it, that one would say majnun with the meaning jinn-possessed. This condition in human beings, of not knowing or not caring who they are, not knowing or not caring what is hurting them, can…
View More Surat al-JinnAuthor: admin
Surat al-Nazi`at
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi In the opening line, the words are related to the verb naza`a, meaning to drag away or strip out forcibly. Other common words in Arabic derived from the same root include meanings like struggle, death struggle, the agony of death. Connected here with garqa, destruction and drowning, wa-n-nazi`ati garqa brings to mind an irresistible power carrying life to its end. But that is not explicit. The next line wa-n-nashitati nashta brings to mind a rushing release of energy, of unstoppable momentum. The third verse wa-s-sabihati sabha evokes the ordered serenity of the heavens – the…
View More Surat al-Nazi`atSurat al-Kahf
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi This surah was revealed in Makkah at a time when the hostility of the Quraysh, and their fear and hatred of Islam and of the Prophet, were at their height. They adopted every measure to stop the Prophet from preaching and the people from listening to him; soon they would plot to kill him: there are hints in the surah that the command to emigrate to Madinah is imminent. At the root of the Quraysh’s fear was that they would lose their prestige as the guardians of the Ka`bah. They depended heavily on the pilgrimage…
View More Surat al-KahfHow to benefit from the Qur’an
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi Today I will be talking about different aspects of how we, as believers, can get from the Qur’an the benefit that, by the grace of God, it offers to us. That benefit is guidance. The guidance of the Qur’an is, for Muslims, not just a matter of knowing the list of concrete, particular things we are supposed to and doing them, and avoiding those that are on a list of things to avoid. Rather, this is a guidance that can permeate our whole being, our whole life, give the whole of it direction and meaning…
View More How to benefit from the Qur’anInformal notes for a tafsir class on Surat al-Qiyamah
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi The theme of this surah is the raising of the deadfor the Judgement. Its two opening verses forcefully negate the unbelievers’ denial that there is an afterlife. In these notesI reflect ontwo matters: (1) the needand benefit of belief in the hereafter; and (2) the meaning and consequences of the unbelievers’ denial of the afterlife. Thereafter, against the background of these reflections, I set out a summary of the argument of Surat al-Qiyamah. (1) The need and benefit of belief in the Last Day In several places in the Qur’an, God says that those who…
View More Informal notes for a tafsir class on Surat al-QiyamahSurat al-Insan/al-Dahr
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi This surah can be paired with the one before it. Al-Qiyamah ended with a brief account of the lowly first stages of a human life, from which one can hardly imagine that there could emerge so complex a creature as a human being capable of knowing right from wrong and therefore self-accusing. Surat al-Insan begins with mention of those first stages of a human life and the forceful affirmation that in the whole of time (al-dahr) there is not any period (however small) in which a human being is to be considered unworthy of mention,…
View More Surat al-Insan/al-DahrAuthenticating the Ascription of Ṣaḥiḥ al-Bukhārī to its Author
By this link: Someone is raising questions that cast doubt on the ascription of the Ṣaḥiḥ to its author. He has based his doubt on the following: the lack of existence of Imam al-Bukhārī’s (d. 256 AH) copy of his own book and the fact that it is not known where it disappeared to. the fact that the narrators from al-Bukhārī differed on some additions and subtractions to the book and on some word order. the claim that al-Firabrī was accused of manipulating his copy. the claim that no one verified al-Firabrī’s trustworthiness until Abu Saʿd al-Samʿānī (d. 562 AH),…
View More Authenticating the Ascription of Ṣaḥiḥ al-Bukhārī to its AuthorIbrahim’s Supplication(s) in the Qur’an
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi The first element is an appeal to Allah for provision and security. In the fuller version, this appeal is combined with an appeal to be protected from worshipping false gods. The reason is in condition of extreme insecurity human beings resort to any means that will help them. So if they think that some lesser gods/powers or some saints can provide their needs, and their need is desperate, they will pray both to this god and to this saint as well as praying to Allah. In Surat al-Baqarah God makes it explicit that those who…
View More Ibrahim’s Supplication(s) in the Qur’anHajj
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi The hajj represents for Muslims all the hopes and aspirations, all the testing and hardships, and all the consolations, of worship. It combines all the major pillars of worship: affirmation of trust in God and His Messenger; detachment, for God’s sake, from one’s wealth and possessions; disciplining of the body’s appetites, weakening their hold on the mind and heart; dedication of mind and heart to God in salah, which carries formal, scripted prayer into spontaneous, inward supplication. In Islam, the prayer is not simply the words that one utters. Rather, the words are closely related…
View More HajjIbrahim, `alayhi al-salam:
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi This man, whom God Himself has praised in the Qur’an as His ¬khalil, is the exemplar of perfected determination to know God, to be fully in His presence. This determination is expressed in what we may call, figuratively, the opening of various curtains: The cultural curtain Seeing through the world of his father and his people generally, who are worshipers of natural phenomena (his challenging and breaking of the idols, and demonstration of their falsity); The natural curtain Seeing through the scale and majesty of natural phenomena, which are impressive yet bounded within large conditions,…
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