Surah Al Hijr , 15...Prologue

Recitation by Shaykh Abdul Rahman al-Sudais:-

"ALIF, LAM, RA. These are the verses of the Book and a perspicuous Qur'an "[1]. God's revelation to humankind, referred to here as the Book, is written and communicated by words of mouth. The Arabic word, al-Kitab and al-Qur'an, are both used to identify God's revelation to Muhammad.

"It may be that those who disbelieve wish ardently that they were Muslims" (2). As the truth becomes clearer and God's words are fulfilled, the cynical and the negligent amongst humankind wish they had taken heed. But the Qur'an directs the Prophet to: "Let them eat and enjoy life, and let (false) hope beguile them. They will come to know!"(3). Pursuit of worldly pleasures has been a constant feature of human history. In today's civilization, however, it seems to have been elevated to the status of religion, and people have all forgotten about accountability  in the hereafter. But the Qur'an emphatically instructs the Prophet not to: "Strain not thine eyes toward that which We cause some wedded pairs among them to enjoy, and be not grieved on their account, and lower thy wing (in tenderness) for the believers "(88).

The interesting point to note here is that the surah opens with statements which are endorsed and echoed by similar ones towards the end of it. When talking about people who challenged earlier prophets and hampered their work, we read at the beginning of the surah: "And We destroyed no township but there was a known decree for it. (4) No nation can outstrip its term nor can they lag behind "(5). Further elaboration is given towards the end of the surah, with the citing of case histories such a sthose of the people of prophets Lot, Shu'ayb and Salih. Failures and mistakes of transgressor  nations grow and accumulate up to the point when divine punishment becomes inevitable and unavoidable. On the the instance of Lot's people, God says:

By thy life (O Muhammad) they moved blindly in the frenzy of approaching death. (72) Then the (Awful) Cry overtook them at the sunrise. (73) And We turned it upside down and We rained upon them stones of heated clay. (74) Lo! therein verily are portents for those who read the signs. (75) And lo! it is upon a road still uneffaced. (76)

Concerning prophet Shu'ayb's people, God says: "And the dwellers in the wood indeed were evil-doers. (78) So we took vengeance on them; and lo! they both are on a high-road plain to see" (79). then the surah talks of Salih's people, identified here as people of al-Hijr, a valley in south-west Arabia known today as the cities of Salih, which gives the surah its title. Salih's people:

..the dwellers in Al-Hijr indeed denied (Our) messengers. (80) And we gave them Our revelations, but they were averse to them. (81) And they used to hew out dwellings from the hills, (wherein they dwelt) secure. (82) But the (Awful) Cry overtook them at the morning hour, (83) And that which they were wont to count as gain availed them not. (84) 

These verses which appear at the end of the surah explain and complement the ones appearing at the beginning, starting with verse 10, which says: "We verily sent (messengers) before thee among the factions of the men of old. (10) And never came there unto them a messenger but they did mock him "(11).  The Arabs also scoffed  at the Qur'an and at Muhammad. They said: "O thou unto whom the Reminder is revealed, lo! thou art indeed a madman! (6) Why bringest thou not angels unto us, if thou art of the truthful?" (7). The Arabs were not alone in making this demand, for other nations before them had also asked for the same, but God had ignored such trivial and frivolous demands. These societies seemed to consider revelation as some kind of game in which the winner would be the crudest and the most vulgar. But God replies: "We send not down the angels save with the Fact, and in that case (the disbelievers) would not be tolerated. "(8)

At this stage God mentions that the Qur'an, as the final divine revelation, will be preserved for eternity and no matter what its detractors may do, they shall not succeed in destroying or obliterating its message. "Lo! We, even We, reveal the Reminder, and lo! We verily are its Guardian "(9), and: " We have given thee seven of the oft-repeated verses [ al-Fatihah] and the great Qur'an " (87). Some people reject the Qur'an out of prejudice and sheer pig-headedness. The more, and the stringer, the evidence they are presented with the more adamant they grow in their effrontery and opposition: "And even if We opened unto them a Gate of heaven and they kept mounting through it, (14) They would say: Our sight is wrong - nay, but we are folk bewitched." (15)

The surah also contains a fascinating account relating to the universe, its secrets and forces, which point to the power of its Maker. As one looks up up into the infinity of the heavens, one cannot help but be captivated by the multitude, distribution, and movement of the planets and stars in the vast universe which knows no boundaries. LIkewise, as one gaze at the wonders scattered all across the earth, both on land and sea, one is immediately amazed by how God sustains and provide for all the millions upon millions of creatures and living organisms that exist upon it. God says:

And verily in the heaven we have set mansions of the stars, and We have beautified it for beholders. (16) And We have guarded it from every outcast devil, (17) Save him who stealeth the hearing, and them doth a clear flame pursue. (18) And the earth have We spread out, and placed therein firm hills, and caused each seemly thing to grow therein. (19) And we have given unto you livelihoods therein, and unto those for whom ye provide not. (20)

While the surah goes no into some detail in the opening part relating to the wonders and marvels of the universe, it gives a statement of a more general nature towards the end:

We created not the heavens and the earth and all that is between them save with truth, and lo! the Hour is surely coming. So forgive, (O Muhammad), with a gracious forgiveness. (85) Lo! Thy Lord! He is the All-Wise Creator. (86) 

Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali
[ 1917 - 1996 ]
"A Thematic Commentary On The Qur'an "





Reflection and commentary by Imam Dr Yusuf Kavakci:-
part 1....

[ tafseer surah al hijr starts at 48: 00 ]

Biodata

Born on June 22, 1938, in Hendak, Sekerya, Turkey. memorisedthe Quran at an early age of  8 and graduated from Hasircilar School with training in Tajwid, Qiraah, Arabic, Tafsir and Fiqh. When on to higher exams and susequently ordained and authorized to give fatwa  and eligious verdict in the Islamic field.

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 a prominent member of ISNA [ Islamic Society of North America ]

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From " Pearls & Gem ":-
While on the question of 'Bala' let us see what 4 Kelantanese chaps had it going in their  rather irreversible, varying levels of 'PhD's.... [ 'permanent head damage' ]
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2011/03/of-libya-tsunamis-and-wrath-of-god.html