Surah al Hujurat [ The Apartments ], chapter 49th......Prologue

your excellency,


surah al hujurat [ the apartments or inner private chambers ] was revealed in the 9th year post hijrah. a late medinan surah, it consisted of only 18 ayat.

the most often quoted, the 13th ayat,

O mankind, surely We have created you from a male and a female, and made you tribes and families that you may know each other. Surely the noblest of you with Allah is the most dutiful of you. Surely Allah is Knowing, Aware....

the 13th ayat has been described by many mufassirun, of the past, and contemporary, as an important definitive indicator that in islam , lineage, geneology , race and social status do not 'maketh a man'.

'in the eye' of allah, the billions and trillion of mankind that sieve  though HIS sand of time are only judged by one criteria, and on just one criteria only, and that is taqwa

and how does one aptly describe taqwa.

.
'the most dutiful' as applied by pickthal here does not do justice,it is not 'fear of allah'.
nor is it ' fear of allah  combined with piety' exactly.

'a high state of the heart, which keeps one conscious of Allah's presence and His Knowledge." which motivates the person who possesses it "to perform righteous deeds" and avoid forbidden activities.
you are almost there already, but not quite exactly there yet!

a close sahabat , ubay bin ka'ab, when asked by another sahabat, the illustrious umar al khattab, striked gold when he opined:

"Have you ever walked on a path that has thorns on it?" Umar said, "Yes." Ubay asked, "What did you do then?" to which Umar replied, "I rolled up my sleeves and struggled." Ubay said, "That is taqwa, to protect oneself from sin through this life’s dangerous journey so that one can successfully complete the journey unscathed by sin."

patik, your goodself tuanku, the late ts ibrahim promet, a good friend of mine  and philantropist of his time, and perhaps, the now world famous proverbial pa' mat nyadap of padang pa' amat; all of us, in the 'eye' of allah, are only judged by taqwa.

whether we are the lowly bangla working the midnight shift for the mppj waste collection or we are king of kings, at the end of our time, taqwa is what it is all about.

yours humbly,

dr nik howk





recitation by qari hazza al balushi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esnv9DyC8lo




recitation by qari sameer al bashiri, with english translation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vjB6qJFCQ8




preview of the surah by ustad nouman ali khan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vjB6qJFCQ8