Surat al-lkhlaas
In the Name of Allah, Most Kind, Most Merciful.
(1 ) Say: He is Allah, who is One.
(2) Allah is the Eternal Refuge.
(3) He does not give birth; nor is He born.
(4) And there is nothing at all like Him.
The Lord of the universe is One. He has no wife. He has no children. Allah has no son. There is no other god besides Him. Tawheed, or Oneness of Allah, is the mainspring of Islam and the core of the Qur’an.
There is nothing at all like Him. It is ridiculous to suppose that the sun is a god, the earth is a goddess, or that animals or plants are gods. In fact, there is no god but Allah alone with no partners. Everything belongs to Him and He deserves all Praise. He has power over everything.
Surat al-lkhlaas is one of the most important surahs of the Qur’an. This short surah teaches us Tawheed or Oneness of Allah. Allah’s Messenger ( M ) described it as being equal to one-third of the Qur’an. It is one of the most beloved portions of the Qur’an. A Muslim should recite this surah as often as he can!
Answer the following questions.
1 . What does surat al-lkhlaas teach us?
- What is surat al-lkhlaas equal to?
- Write a paragraph on what you learned about Allah in this lesson.
Surat al-Falaq and Surat an-Naas
Al-Ma’udhatayn
Surat al-Falaq and Surat An-Naas are known as al-mu’awwidhatayn – the two surahs for seeking Allah’s refuge. These two surahs especially have been used to ward off evil. The Prophet () himself recommended that they are recited as protection against envy and the evil eye.
These two surahs together consist of eleven aayaat. They are prayers for protection against all forms of human or non-human evil.
Surat al-Falaq
In the Name of Allah, Most Kind, Most Merciful.
(1 ) Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of daybreak,
(2) From the evil of what He created,
(3) And from the evil of the darkness when it settles,
(4) And from the evil of those who practise witchcraft when they blow in the knots,
(5) And from the evil of the envious one when he envies.
Explanation
‘I seek refuge’
‘I seek refuge’ means ‘I seek Allah’s protection’. Allah answers anyone who asks Him. He gives shelter to anyone who seeks shelter with Him. Al-Mu’awwidhatayn – the last two surahs of the Qur’an were sent down to teach us how to seek Allah’s protection from all kinds of evil. Life has so many things which can be evil. But these two surahs provide strong protection for anyone who desires to seek the protection of Allah.
Daybreak is the morning or the light that expels darkness. The sources of evil are many – reptiles, insects, wild animals and evil men. When darkness thickens, it provides opportunities to evil people and creatures to do evil things.
‘Those who practise witchcraft’
They are magicians who blow in knots and do similar acts for evil purposes. Magic is a reality. The devils among men and jinn use it. But if we seek Allah’s protection, sorcery will lose its evil effect. The Qur’an forbids the leaning of magic and provides the means of protection against it.
‘The evil of the envious one when he envies.’
Envy is a sickness of the soul. It disturbs the life of an individual and society as a whole. Envy is the pain felt when you see that another person has something good or good moral qualities, and you do your utmost to destroy his qualities. Envy was the first sin committed when Iblees envied Adam ().
An envious person is a mean enemy who cannot fulfil his wicked desire except by wishing harm to others. Envy is one of the most widespread human vices.
This surah can protect us by Allah’s Will from the evil that comes from outside ourselves.
Surat an-Naas
In the Name of Allah, Most Kind, Most Merciful.
(1 ) Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind,
(2) The King of mankind,
(3) The God of mankind,
(4) From the evil of the whisperer who disappears [after whispering]
(5) Who whispers (evil thoughts) in the hearts of mankind.
(6) From among the jinn and humans.
There are 1 14 surahs in the Qur’an. Surat An-Naas is the last surah in the Qur’an. In this surah, we seek refuge with Allah from the evil of the whispering Satan who whispers evil thoughts in the hearts of people. Satan whispers pride, envy and other vices. Taking refuge is a form of continuous dhikr or remembrance. This dhikr allows us to resist the suggestions of the whisperings, whether they are from men or jinn.
Shaytan is our sworn enemy because he tries hard to lead us away from the Right Path by whispering evil thoughts to us.
We should always remember Allah and seek His protection from Shaytan.
Exercises
- Answer the following questions.
1 . Explain the term ‘al-mu’awwidhatayn’.
- What is envy? If we see someone who is better than us, must we envy him? If not, then what shall we do instead?
- Fill in the blanks.
1. Allah has connected darkness with evil and daybreak with is our sworn enemy.
- Activity
1. Besides pride and envy, what other faults does Satan whisper into our hearts?
- These two surahs give protection to us by Allah’s will. There are many evils. Some of them are mentioned in the lesson, like reptiles, insects, etc. Can you think of some more evils we need Allah to protect us from?
Surat al-Masad
This surah is about Abu Lahab. The real name of this uncle of the Prophet () was Abd al-Uzzaa. He was popularly nicknamed Abu Lahab because of the brightness of his face. He was very rich. He was the Prophet’s next-door neighbour.
Abu Lahab and his wife Umm Jameel did many terrible things to the Prophet () and his companions throughout their lives. Abu Lahab tried very hard to make the Prophet’s life miserable. His wife used to get up early in the morning to collect thorns to scatter them on paths she expected the Prophet () would take.
Allah’s Messenger () once climbed the hillock of As-Safa in Makkah. He called all those who could hear him from among his tribe, Quraysh. After they had gathered, he asked them, ‘If I were to tell you that the enemy was about to attack you from behind this hill, would you believe me?’ They answered, ‘Yes, we would.’ He then said, ‘I am here to warn you of a severe punishment that is about to happen.’ Abu Lahab said, ‘Was it for this purpose that you have summoned us? May you perish!’
Abu Lahab had two sons, Utbah and Utaybah. They were married to the Prophet’s two daughters, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum. He ordered his sons to divorce the Prophet’s daughters and they obeyed.
Allah revealed this powerful short surah of the Qur’an mentioning Abu Lahab by name and warning him and his wife of their approaching doom.
In the name of Allah, Most Kind, Most Merciful.
1. May the two hands of Abu Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he.
- His wealth and what he has gained will not benefit him.
- And his wife (as well), the carrier of firewood;
- Around her neck is a twisted rope of palm fibre.
What Abu Lahab gained were his children and his wealth. Abu Lahab was a leader of the Quraysh. His power, wealth and his children could not save him against Allah’s punishment in this life and the hereafter.
‘The carrier of firewood’ is Abu Lahab’s wife, Umm Jameel. Her name was Arwah bint Harb ibn Umayyah. Her hatred of Allah’s Messenger [M) and his followers were so intense that she would often, under the cover of darkness, scatter thorns on the Prophet’s paths to cause him harm. She used to slander him and his message. ‘Carrier of firewood’, also denotes someone who carries backbiting and gossip from one person to another so as to light the flames of hatred between them.
Al-masad: The palm fibre rope. The wife of Abu Lahab used to tie the thorny wood with twisted rope to carry it to the Prophet’s door. On the Day of Judgement, her neck will be tied by a twisted rope made of fibre. She, like her husband, will be thrown in the blazing Fire.
Al-masad also means collar of iron.
Exercises
- Name the following:
1. The real name of Abu Lahab:
- The meaning of Abu Lahab:
- Abu Lahab’s wife:
- Her kunyah:
- Answer the following questions.
1. Why was Abu Lahab so called?
- How did Abu Lahab’s wife mistreat the Prophet ()?
- How did Abu Lahab behave when the Prophet () invited him to Islam?
- Think-up
Where was this Surah revealed?
Surat al-Feel (The Elephant)
In the name of Allah, Most Kind, Most Merciful.
1. Did you not see how your Lord dealt with the People of the elephant?
- Did He not make their plan astray?
- And He sent against them birds in great flocks.
- Which hurled at them stones of baked clay.
- And He made them like eaten straw.
This surah was revealed in Makkah. It takes its title from the reference to the army accompanied by a huge elephant. It is the main subject of this brief surah.
The surah has five aayaat. It describes the plight of this army which Allah utterly destroyed. Abraha was an Ethiopian ruler. He ruled Yemen. He erected a great church in San’a. He hoped to divert the annual pilgrimage from the Ka’bah to the new church.
When this did not happen, he was determined to destroy the Ka’bah. He set out for Makkah at the head of a large army which included a huge war elephant. This was unknown and very surprising to the Arabs; they, therefore, called this year in which this incident happened ‘The Year of the Elephant’.
Abraha’s army was totally destroyed on its march. Abraha himself died on his return to San’a. The nature of the doom that overtook the invading army was certainly miraculous. It brought a sudden, totally unexpected rescue to the distressed people of Makkah. As the army encamped outside the sacred area around the Ka’bah, Allah destroyed them with a flock of birds, which pelted them with stones of clay. These made them bleed heavily. Their wounds became infected with pus and they died in a short time. Allah the Almighty saved His House.
The purpose of this surah is to show Allah’s favour on the tribe of Quraysh of Makkah and His protection of His Sacred House.
This incident took place in the year 571 , the year in which the Prophet Muhammad () was born.
Exercises
Think-up
What new mode of warfare did Abraha use to attack the Ka’bah?
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Activity
Describe how Allah protected His House.
