THIS SURAH WAS CLEARLY REVEALED DURING the latter part of the Makkan period, 610 to 622 AC, when the confrontation between the Muslims and the pagan Arabs of Makkah had reached such a fever pitch that despair had begun to creep into the hearts of the Muslims as they could see no sign of the victory promised by Allah for their new religion. In contrast to this desperation, the non-Muslims were beginning to gloat and feel self -confident in their position as none of the threats made against them in the Qur'an and the Muslims had seemingly materialized. It is within this context and historical setting that the surah opens with the promise: "The commandment of Allah will come to pass, so seek not ye to hasten it. Glorified and Exalted be He above all that they associate (with Him). (1)
Islam eventually triumphed over those it who persisted in opposing it causing them to suffer in defeat. Although the non- Muslims may have perceived the time-scale involved for this to have been achieved to be a lengthy and protracted one, on the divine scale of things, however, it could not occurred any sooner. The Muslims were required to show patience and not lose heart and, indeed, the surah ends with these sober instruction to the Prophet:
Endure thou patiently (O Muhammad). Thine endurance is only by (the help of) Allah. Grieve not for them, and be not in distress because of that which they devise. (127) Lo! Allah is with those who keep their duty unto Him and those who are doers of good. (128)
The Muslims had already suffered and persevered a great deal. At the height of their distress the following two verses were revealed to console and comfort them, giving them the moral support they so desperately needed:
And those who became fugitives for the cause of Allah after they had been oppressed, We verily shall give them goodly lodging in the world, and surely the reward of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew; (41)
Then lo! thy Lord - for those who became fugitives after they had been persecuted, and then fought and were steadfast - lo! thy Lord afterward is (for them) indeed Forgiving, Merciful. (110)
The 'migration' [hijrah] referred to here is one which was undertaken by some scores of Muslims, travelling in small groups, during the first seven years of Muhammad's call to prophethood. No longer able to withstand the persecution and victimization of the Makkans they emigrated to Abbyssinia, hoping to find safety and shelter there. Al-Bhukari reports that Asma', daughter of 'Umar, who was among the party of Muslims who first emigrated to Abyssinia then to Madinah, was once visiting Hafsa [ her sister, also Umar's daughter ]when 'Umar ibn al-Khattab entered the room. He turned to Asma' and said: " We have a greater right to God's messenger because we migrated before you did." Asma' became angry and retorted: "Never, By God. Whilst you were with the Prophet and he was feeding you, your hunger, and teaching your ignorant, we were in that appaling and strange land during which time we came under persecution and threat; and all for the cause of God and His messenger. By God, I will not rest until I have informed him of what you have said to me." True to her word, when the Prophet next visited Hafsa's house, Asma' related the incidence to him and upon hearing 'Umar's comment and Asma's reply, he remarked: "They have no more right to me than you. 'Umar and his companions have the honor of a single migration [hijrah], while you, the 'people of the boat' [ having return from Abyssinia by boat ], have the credit of two."
Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali
[ 1917 - 1996 ]
" A Thematic Commentary On The Qur'an "
Reflection and commentary by Imam Dr Yusuf Kavakci:-
part1..
[.... ayat 87 to ayat 94 from surah al-Hijr, and ayat 1 to ayat 9, surah al-Nahl]
[..surah al-Nahl starts from 1.01.00 ]
[ 0.57.25 ]....worship your lord until you die...{'ainal yakin'...100 % knowledge... }
[ 1.34.34 ]....we are slaves living in our individual 'pigeon-holes and boxes'..
[ 1.39.00 ] ...beauty in camels, horses and animals that graze......
part 2..
[ ayat 10 - ayat 29 ]
[ 0.41.00 ]...we lack in the Muslim world,physicists, zoologists, botanists etc etc who look at his profesion from the Quranic perspective. As a result, our ulama, teachers, leaders and followers continue to sleep...we Muslims continue to sleep....
[ 1.13.00 ]...Parents who lag behind in their parenting; women who go around 'naked'; leaders and parlimentarian who 'passed' out non Islamic laws all around the world; muftis and ulama' and scholars who sit by and allow these nonsense to go by... all will be burdened with these 'collective' baggage beyond their personal baggage.....
[ 1.27.00 ]....who wants to be Tariq Ramadan ? etc etc and etc...
Biodata : Imam Dr Yusuf Ziya Kavakci
Dr. Yusuf Ziya Kavakci was born on June 22, 1938 in Hendek, Sakarya, Turkey. At an early age (8-9 years) he accomplished memorizing whole Qur'an (Hifz al-Qur'an), graduated from Hasircilar Qur'anic School (Adapazari) with a training in Tajwid, Qira'ah, Arabic (Sarf and Nahw), Tafsir, Hadih, Fiqh, and allied Islamic Sciences. He passed national Exams for Waiz (Preacher and lecturer in Islamic Sciences) and Mufti (ordained and authorized to give Fatwa and religious verdict in Islamic field) and qualified for those jobs.
He worked as Muadhdhin (Professional caller to prayer, Hirka-i Sharif Mosque), Imam (Kara Ahmed Pasha Mosque in Topkapi), and Waiz in the governorships Fatih and Beyoglu in Istanbul.
Dr. Kavakci received a bachelor's degrees in Law from The College of Law of Istanbul University and also in Islamic Studies from the Institute of Higher Islamic Studies, got his Ph.D. in Islamic History and Culture from Faculty of Arts, Istanbul University. After working as Assistant Professor and as Associate Professor in the Institute of Islamic Research, Istanbul University, he helped to establish the first college of Islamic Studies in modern Turkey. The College of Islamic Studies is now a part of Ataturk University, Erzurum where Dr. Kavakci worked as senior faculty. He chaired Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh and other departments and got full professorship in Islamic Law and worked as Dean of the College. His professorship in Islamic Law was the first such position in Turkey after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. He was educated in the traditional Ottoman way of Islamic Studies as well as in modern methods of teaching in today's universities.
Currently Dallas-based, Muslim scholar and a prominent member of ISNA [ Islamic Society of North America ]
Currently Dallas-based, Muslim scholar and a prominent member of ISNA [ Islamic Society of North America ]
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