Surah al-Ankabut [ The Spider ] , 29......The World Is Going Back Full Circle..

For most, 'JIHAD', is a faraway, nebulous and ancient concept. Buried in the sand of time some 1450 years ago. In this 21st century, the 'crusade' has ended centuries ago. Islam is not under seige. 

But for a group of young, angry men though, the spirit of 'jihad' is very much alive, even today, and especially today. 

USA, a country that has more than one hundred and twenty bases, at the last count,all overseas, mostly in or near so-called 'Muslim' countries, to this small group of men, is at war with Islam. Full-stop and no pretenses. Moussa al-Zemmouri , ex-Guantanamo, is one of those young men, who thought so, other wise he would not have risked his life going to Afghanistan.


Moussa al-Zemmouri's recitation of ayat 1 to ayat 15 of surah al Ankabut is halting and not smooth, but in his imperfection one can  discern his inner anger and sadness, perhaps. Let us listen to him.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk1CW2njTsA

THIS SURAH CAME to put all these matters in a proper perspective. It opens by saying:

Do men imagine that they will be left (at ease) because they say, We believe, and will not be tested with affliction? (2) Lo! We tested those who were before them. Thus Allah knoweth those who are sincere, and knoweth those who feign. (3)

The world today seems to have come full circle. There is no place or role for God in contemporary civilization. Muslims today find themselves on the verge of undergoing the same test that Muhammad and the early Muslims
had undergone, and it is expected of them to repeat their successes.

In the opening passage God says: " And whosoever striveth, striveth only for himself, for lo! Allah is altogether Independent of (His) creatures " (6) . Towards the end God gives this profound pledge: "As for those who strive in Us, We surely guide them to Our paths, and lo! Allah is with the good " (69 . For any nation to assume the leadership of mankind legitimately, hope and trust in God's support and guidance are vital requirements. The surah says:

Of mankind is he who saith: We believe in Allah, but, if he be made to suffer for the sake of Allah, he mistaketh the persecution of mankind for Allah's punishment; and then, if victory cometh from thy Lord, will say: Lo! we were with you (all the while). Is not Allah best aware of what is in the bosoms of (His) creatures? (10)

Some believers grow impatient and demand God's support and victory prematurely. Others give up and lose heart. But the surah reminds them of the stoicism of Noah who spent nine hundred and fifty years striving to teach and discipline his people. 
[ ..at the end he had only around 80 followers on the Ark after 950 years of solid daawah! prophet  Noah unfortunately did not have the priveledge of Steve Job, Bill Gates and the utube to help him at that time, but neither did he have CNN, CNBC,BBC or Aljazira working against him as well...Editor's footnote ]. Some of them lose sight of reality and grow impetuous and irrational in their representation and defense of Islam. Such people should reflect on the approach of prophet Abraham, as given in this surah. He relied on persuasion and rational argument, saying to his people: "...Ye serve instead of Allah only idols, and ye only invent a lie. Lo! those whom ye serve instead of Allah own no provision for you. So seek your provision from Allah, and serve Him, and give thanks unto Him, (for) unto Him ye will be brought back " (17). The surah adds:

See they not how Allah produceth creation, then reproduceth it? Lo! for Allah that is easy. (19) Say (O Muhammad): Travel in the land and see how He originated creation, then Allah bringeth forth the later growth. Lo! Allah is Able to do all things. (20) 

In some societies, people allowed their animal instincts to rule over them and became obsessed with sexual and sensual gratification to the point of perversion. The people of Lot, for instance, for sodomy was a common public practice, are a case in point. The surah tells us that Lot tried very hard to dissuade his people from pursuing these vile practices:

And Lot! (Remember) when he said unto his folk: Lo! ye commit lewdness such as no creature did before you. (28) For come ye not in unto males, and cut ye not the road (for travellers), and commit ye not abomination in your meetings? But the answer of his folk was only that they said: Bring Allah's doom upon us if thou art a truthteller! (29)

It is interesting to note how fast contemporary civilization is going down the same road. Sexual morality in the West is in complete chaos. Permissiveness have become the norm. The status and role of the family and the institution of marriage are being seriously eroded and the repercussions of this state of affairs for Western civilization as a whole are ominous.

The surah goes on to talk of the fate of other nations who had rebelled against God and rejected His guidance saying: " So We took each one in his sin; of them was he on whom We sent a hurricane, and of them was he who was overtaken by the (Awful) Cry, and of them was he whom We caused the earth to swallow, and of them was he whom We drowned. It was not for Allah to wrong them, but they wronged themselves  "(40). Human power cannot stand up to the might of God; just as a spider's web has no chance of resisting a strong wind. " As for these similitudes, We coin them for mankind, but none will grasp their meaning save the wise  "(43) 

The dedicated believers must show tenacity and trust in the future, whether it is this life or the life to come.




" A Thematic Commentary On The Qur'an "
Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali
[ 1917 - 1998 ]









Mufti Ismail Menk's tafseer of ayat 41 onwards,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mY1YVotbW0