now as we have finished our revisit of surah al fatiha and the scintillating small surah friom juz 30, or what is popularly known in this nusantara as surah muqaddam, we revisit surah al baqarah, which we have done way back in october 2012.
it is sheer hard work, going thu 286 ayat of surah al baqarah , which we did painstakingly before.
thankfully we have the late dr israr of pakistan, the young ustad nouman ali khan [ may allah give him prolong life and good health in his indefatiguable mission to bring tafseer to young minds across the globe ], and lastly yang berbahagia dato dr fatma zahra,our very own home bred ustazah who is still to this day doing her wonderful job opening hearts and minds of ladies in KL and PJ with her tafseer class!
i listen to all of them three times over, and i love them all!
dr nik howk
subang jaya
8th may, 2019
ps: 1st read the excellent preview of the surah by the late prof muhammad ghazali al ghazali, former chairman of the world ulama council and also chairman of istac based in morocco.
suarh al baqarah is a very very heavy surah in terms of weightage and meanings!
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Following the Muslims' emigration from Makkah and their settlement in Madinah around 622 AC, all attention was focussed on building the first Muslim autonomous community there. By embracing the new religion, members of that community had, each in his/her own right, succeeded in breaking away from idolatry, polytheism, and other forms of pagan traditions and practices of Arabia. They had now found security and safety in their new sanctuary where they could group together and set up a state of their own.
Nevertheless they were to face fresh hostilities from a rather unexpected source. The Jewish rabbis had always believed religion was the preorgative of their own people and a monopoly of their ' Chosen Race '. Predictably, they were somewhat ruffled and unhappy at the arrival in Madinah of Prophet Muhammad and his followers preaching Islam. They quickly embarked on preparations for how to react to that threat and for the best way to deal with it. Scheming, overt as well as covert, began.
The Jewish tribes who had settled in Madinah, or Yathrib as it was known then, in the fertile northwestern part of the Hijaz, had gome there as refugees to escape the oppression and persecution of Byzantine, the Eastern Roman Empire , whose capital was Constantinople. Although welcomed to live among the illiterate Arab tribes, they rather looked down upon them. The Jews made no effort to combat idol worship, which was widespread in the area; nor did they feel the need to pass on the teachings of their religion to their native hosts. They recognize no obligation to propagate God's message or establish His order to replace the existing man-made one. Their view of the Arabs was wholly sanctimonious, adopting the proverbial condescending 'holier-than thou' attitude, holding jealously onto their religious heritage, and totally beholders to the erroneous belief that religion was their privilege and theirs alone.
In contrast, Prophet Muhammad, the last of God's prophets and the benefactor of the new religion, spared no effort in appealing to them and soliciting their understanding and cooperation. However, their malaise deep and irrepressible, and increasingly their hostile intentions began to be reflected in their behavior. In view of this , the Muslims found themselves, in their new sanctuary, building their community on the one hand and defending it on the other. They were laying the foundation of their nascent state, under the guidance and direction of divine Revelation being received by Muhammad, while at the same time having to ward off the impending threat posed by enemies living in their midst, who were intent on undermining their existence and everything they were building.
It was in this atmosphere that al-Baqarah, the longest and most wide-ranging chapter in the Qur'an, was received. The surah obliquely cited the fallacy of Jewish claims of exclusivity by describing the Qur'an as " This is the Scripture whereof there is no doubt, a guidance unto those who ward off (evil)." (2), thereby highlighting the view that other 'Books' or scriptures were less viable as sources of guidance and law, and less authoritative as references for or expressions of the divine will.
In over thirty different places, the surah elaborates extensively on the features and merits of the God-fearing category of human beings. This aspect is unique to the surah. Fear [ alternatively , awareness ] of God is a quality required of human beings by all religions. God says in the Quran " To God belongs all that is in the earth and the heavens; and We have recommended to those who had received the Book before you, as We recommended to you, that you should all fear God " [ an- Nisa : 131 ]
The surah is also remarkable for referring to all the five principles of the religion of Islam in the following verses :
Tauhid : " People; worship your Lord who had created you and those before you
" [21]
Salah : " Observe salah, especially the middleone, and submit to God "[238]
Zakah : " Believers; spend of what We have given you before a day comes when
there will be no trade and no friendship and intercession " [254]
Sawm : " Believers, sawm has been prescribed for you as it had been for your
predecessors " [183]
Hajj : " Complete the Hajj and the the 'umrah' for God's sake ' [196]
Reading through the early part of the surah, we find that it describes God-fearing people in three verses, the unbelievers in two, and the hypocrites in thirteen., an indication of the last's wickedness and the threat they posed to the whole Muslim community. Following a general call for belief in God and the Day of Judgment, and a brief account of the miraculous aspects of the Qur'an itself, the veracity of Muhammad, its proponent, and the ill-fate awaiting his opponents, the surah returns to the description of the various human groups: the believers, the rejectionists, and the renegades, and how each reacted to God's message. The surah then inquires whether God deserves to be understood by the unbelievers and the skeptics who fail to acknowledge His grace and benevolence. It asks them pointedly:
How can you deny God when He gave you life, after you were dead, and He will cause you again to die and then restore you to life so that you eventually return unto Him? [28]
Muhammad al-Ghazali ,[ 1917-1996 ]
excerpt from " A Thematic Commentary On The Qur'an "
Recitation by Shaykh Saad al Qureshi
[ ayat1 to ayat 7 ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj9fFoC3A0Y
Reflection and commentary by the late Dr Israr Ahmed ,
Biodata :-
Dr Israr Ahmed (April 26, 1932 – April 14, 2010) was a Pakistani Islamic theologian followed particularly in South Asia and also among the South Asian diaspora in the Middle East, Western Europe, and North America. He is the founder of the Tanzeem-e-islami, an off-shoot of the Jamaat-e-Islami. He spent more than 50 years teaching Quraan and preaching Islam.
Dr Israr Ahmed,
Part 5 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=i01qZwRkcls
Reflection and Commentary by
Shaykh Nouman Ali Khan :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeMI4O-qqW4
Reflection and commentary by Dato' Dr Fatma al Zahraa [ Malay ]
intro : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz9q4zYpfrk
[ ayat 1 - ayat 8 ] : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W11oLGPvrHM
[ ayat 9 - ayat 25 ] : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEHGHY4s_d8
[ Egyptian by birth, dentist by profession,and Kelantanese by choice... wide of Timbalan Mentri Besar of Kelantan during Dato' Asri's tenure ]]
Reflection and Commentary by
Shaykh Nouman Ali Khan :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeMI4O-qqW4
Reflection and commentary by Dato' Dr Fatma al Zahraa [ Malay ]
intro : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz9q4zYpfrk
[ ayat 1 - ayat 8 ] : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W11oLGPvrHM
[ ayat 9 - ayat 25 ] : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEHGHY4s_d8
[ Egyptian by birth, dentist by profession,and Kelantanese by choice... wide of Timbalan Mentri Besar of Kelantan during Dato' Asri's tenure ]]
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