Sunday, March 14, 2010

2:243

Bismillah
As salaamu alaikum,

[2:243]
Bethink thee (O Muhammad) of those of old, who went forth from their habitations in their thousands, fearing death, and Allah said unto them: Die; and then He brought them back to life. Lo! Allah is a Lord of Kindness to mankind, but most of mankind give not thanks.

Challenge Update

Bismillah
As salaamu alaikum,

Yes I have been slacking- I mean serious slackeration- in these post. Pardon me and may Allah pardon us all. No time to dwell on the past however, only time to seek forgiveness and run forward.

This is sooo exciting. I hardly know which words to type first, the excitement of memorization is jumbling my thoughts. I am on aya 20. InshaAllah Sunday morning I will memorize up to line 25, then I'll have to write some more to make sure I get ya'll caught up. Life is good when I do Qur'an. Life stands still when I don't.

If you're taking the challenge good news... Your time has been extended!!! YAAAAYY!!! WOoooHooooo. Yes I'm lame on occasion, but I don't mind. You now have until May 14 to finish 61 ayaat. That is 1 aya a day. I however must be finished on May 1 or sooner. So challengers to your corners. Put on your memorization gloves and give it a go. You definitely won't be losing out.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

This Sura is the Bomb!

Bismillah
As salaamu alaikum,

[3:2]
GOD – there is no deity save Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent Fount of All Being!


This second aya begins just as Ayatul-Kursi began. Remember we spoke about that sisterhood between Suratul-Baqara and this one. Here we see that theme clearly.

Oh yes it's about to get good! So the Christian delegation from Nejran came and questioned the messenger, as you read below. If you didn't read it you might want to take a look. No sooner does this sura begin than Allah affirms the truth about Himself and debunks all falsehood. Who is He? Allah. What are His attributes? He is living; He needs nothing, and He produces and maintains all.

[3:3]
Step by step has He bestowed upon thee from on high this divine writ, setting forth the truth which confirms whatever there still remains [of earlier revelations]: for it is He who has bestowed from on high the Torah and the Gospel.


Then Allah affirms the Qur'an as His book. نزّل ا nazzala is the word Allah uses to tell us how He revealed it. Nazzala means to come down in stages. We know that the Qur'an was revealed slowly over a span of 23 years. And أنزل anzala is the word Allah uses to tell us how He revealed the previous scriptures. Anzala means to come at one time, because the previous scriptures came as a whole. They weren't revealed in portions. Not only did Allah reveal the Qur'an, but He also revealed the books of Moses and Jesus. So why would anyone believe in only some of what has come from Him although He has claimed them all?

[3:4]
aforetime, as a guidance unto mankind, and it is He who has bestowed [upon man] the standard by which to discern the true from the false. Behold, as for those who are bent on denying God’s messages – grievous suffering awaits them: for God is almighty, an avenger of evil.


In the past the Injeel (book revealed to Jesus pbuh) and the Torah (book revealed to Moses pbuh) were a means of guidance for their people. And with those books Allah sent clear proofs in the form of miracles. Remember the Prophet S is speaking to the delegation of Christians who have come and Allah is responding to them through the Qur'an. So it is Allah who told them then, and is telling us now: "whoever disbelieves in My signs will have a severe punishment." Allah is powerful and the owner of retribution. So those who say that God will not punish them for their deeds or their disbelief should perhaps rethink their position.

[3:5]
Verily, nothing on earth or in the heavens is hidden from God.

[3:6]
He it is who shapes you in the wombs as He wills. There is no deity save Him, the Almighty, the Truly Wise
.

What's left to say? Allah is clear. He makes us, shapes us, fashions us, feeds us, clothes us, cures our illnesses, and still gives us the choice to believe in Him or to disbelieve, 2:256. And this is why it is so important to memorize Qur'an instead of just reading it through. Memorizing Qur'an gives us a holistic view of the ayaat and chapters. Only when we have it memorized can we contemplate the verses that have a particular phrase in them all at the same time. Or jump between meanings and ayaat and suras as we seek a better grip on Allah's words.

It is getting deep. I can just see it in my mind. I can just see the look of buhita (utter speechlessness) on their faces. Is it so hard to move from Christianity to Islam? My mother did, and my father. My in-laws did. Perhaps the struggle can be equated somewhat to the embarrassment a child feels when they do something wrong and everyone knows about it. The child, to hide his shame, might deny the misdeed or try to change the facts so that he doesn't feel so badly about it. But regardless of his attempts at concealment his actions were already made plain and clear to all who have eyes. He is the only one deceived by his cover-up, 2:9.

The difference, however, is that children grow up and can laugh at all the silly things they did as children. As adults we can either change and move on to something better, or die and return to God in whatever condition and state we die upon. I pray Allah give us all good deaths and grants us ease in death, and to die while He loves us. I pray He gives us ease in changing our character as we learn what He loves.

Ameen

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The Back Story

Bismillah
As salaamu alaikum,

The Delegation of Nejran refers to the Christian delegation that came to the messenger to question him about his religion. This is what happened.

There were 60 people in the group. Fourteen from among them were dignitaries with three of those being the highest ranking. Of the three there was their leader named, Abdul-Maseeh (servant/worshipper of the Messiah). The second was the advisor whom they called Sayyid. His name was Ayhem. The third was their scholar the most knowledgeable among them and the head of all their schools his name was Abu Haaritha, Habr.

The Byzantines used to honor Abu Haaritha and give him money. When the group left from Nejran to meet the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, Abu Haaritha was riding his mule and his brother, Karz, was next to him. As they were underway Abu Haaritha’s mule stumbled and his brother said, “May he perish.” Meaning the messenger. (And we seek refuge with Allah from that.) But Abu Haaritha responded, “No. Your mother will perish.”

“Why brother?” Karz said. (I assume he was shocked at his brother's reply talking about his own mama, but let's get back to the story.)

“He is the prophet we’ve been waiting for.” Abu Haritha said.
“So what’s stopping you from believing in him while you know this?” His brother questioned.
“The kings give us much wealth and they honor us. If I believe in Muhammad they will take all of these things away from us.”

This conversation had a serious affect on the Karz, and after he accepted Islam he used to tell this story.

So they arrived and met with the prophet (S) and began speaking to him about the differences of their religions. Sometimes they would say Jesus was God, the son, or one of three. They argued that Jesus was God based on his bringing life to the dead and that his curing the leper, the blind, and sicknesses; and he would talk abou the unseen, and he would blow into clay shaped as a bird and it would fly away. They would try to prove he was the son of God by saying that he had no father and that no one knew his father so God must be his father. They would say he was one of the trinity based on God’s using the royal "we" in the scripture “We did,” or, "We created."

So the Prophet said to them. “Aslimu (submit).”
They responded, "We have already submitted."

So the Prophet (S) said to them “You are lying. How can your submission be sound when your fixed on God having a son, and you worship the cross, and you eat pig.”

So they said, “Then who is his Father?” And the Prophet was silent. Then Allah revealed the first 80-some ayaat of sura Ali Imran. And the Prophet S began to debate with them.

He said, "Don’t you know that Allah is living and does not die, and that death comes to Jesus?"
They said “Yes.”

Then he said, “Don’t you know there is no son except that he is like his father?”
They said, “Yes.”

He said, “Don’t you know that Our Lord sustains everything: preserving it. protecting it, and providing for it. Does Jesus possess this Quality?"
They said, “No.”

So he said, "Don’t you know that nothing is hidden from Allah not in the earth nor in the heavens? Does Isa (Jesus) know any of those things except that which he was taught?”
They said “No.” [He doesn’t know except what he was taught.]

The Prophet said, “Our Lord has fashioned Isa in the womb however he willed. Do you know that our Lord doesn’t eat food, doesn’t drink, and doesn’t use the bathroom. And you know that a woman was pregnant with Isa like any woman is pregnant, and she gave birth to him like any woman gives birth. Then he ate food and drank and used the bathroom?”
They said, “Yes.”

He said, “ So how could the matter be as you've claimed?” And they knew he was truthful but they stubbornly denied it insisting on disbelief.

They said, "Don’t you claim that he is the word of God and a spirit from Him?’
He said, “Yes.”
To which they responded, “That’s enough for us.” And Allah revealed aya 7.

[3:7]
He it is who has bestowed upon thee from on high this divine writ, containing messages that are clear in and by themselves – and these are the essence of the divine writ – as well as others that are allegorical. Now those whose hearts are given to swerving from the truth go after that part of the divine writ which has been expressed in allegory, seeking out [what is bound to create] confusion, and seeking [to arrive at] its final meaning [in an arbitrary manner]; but none save God knows its final meaning. Hence, those who are deeply rooted in knowledge say:
"We believe in it; the whole [of the divine writ] is from our Sustainer – albeit none takes this to heart save those who are endowed with insight.



Then Allah commanded the Messenger S to curse them if they would curse him. So the Prophet S summoned them and asked if they we ready to call the curse of Allah on whoever was lying.
They said, “Let us consult with ourselves then we will be ready to do what you want.”

They left and the 3 leaders said to each other, “What do you think?” One of them said, ”By God! Oh Christians you know that Muhammad is a prophet sent and he has come with definitive proof about your companion (Jesus). And you know that a prophet never curses a people except that their young and their old partake of it. And that it will annihilate you utterly if you do it. And you have refused to believe in anything except your religion and to remain on what you already believe. So bid farewell to the man and go back to your country.

So they went to the prophet and said, “We have come to the conclusion that we will not curse you and we will leave you on your religion, and we will return upon our religion. So send a man from among your companions with us so he can judge between us in financial matters that we differ upon. For you are a people we are pleased with."

The Prophet said, “Come to me this evening and I will send with you a strong trustworthy judge.”

Umar used to say “I never wanted authority or power except on that day out of hope I would be the person [the prophet called strong and trustworthy].” So when we prayed thuhr with the prophet, and he salaamed out, he looked right and left and I was trying to extend myself so that he could see me. But he kept looking until he saw Abu Ubaida ibn Jarah. He called him and said, “Go with them and judge between them with truth in what they differ in.”

Umar said, “And Abu Ubaida left with the prize.” Meaning he got to be the one the Prophet S had called strong and trustworthy.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Ali 'Imran Ayas 1-5

I hope this helps out my sisters and brothers who are on this journey with me.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Day 1

Bismillah
As salaamu alaikum,

Here we go. The Challenge has begun. It is March 1st 2010. InshaAllah on May 1st it will officially end. I'm kinda starting to get nervous. The excitement is too much, but o the joy of knowing the Qur'an. I really have been waiting to do this my whole life. Every time Master Yoda gives me a new page it feels like my birthday. I am however still trying to figure out the exact format I'll use to discuss these ayaat. All suggestions are welcome.

Ali 'Imran is the third Sura (chapter) in the Qur'an. It has 200 ayaat and is 6 pages (i think) passed a juz long. The first 80 ayaat were revealed in response to the Christian delegation form Najran that came to question the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. So this sura is where the concerns of the Christian and Jews, but Christians in particular are addresses.

[3:1]
Alif. Lām. Mīm.


Just as chapter Al-Baqara, Ali 'Imran begins with the letters whose meaning only Allah knows. These two are the only suras reavealed in Madina that begin with letters, which further emphasizes their sisterhood and reciprocal partnership. All the other suras that begin with letters are Makki, revealed in Makka.

When suras begin with letters, they seems to me to speak to a higher inquisitiveness of the human mind. Throughout our history and experience we have been searching for the answers to untold questions. Spurred on by the echos of past hardship and pain, we launch forward in the hopes that our children won't suffer, however long or short, the ails which pained us. Much is learned and much is forgotten as each generation lives in it's own time and experiences the repercussions of failed and achieved successes.

As we move forward it is the lessons of the past that hold the most value for our faith. The knowledge that lives beyond the confines of minutes and hours, and reaches generations and centuries ahead to show us how to live. Sometimes the knowledge warns us of the inevitable consequences of our actions, and sometimes it gives us the fortitude and strength to build upon the qualities and behaviors that Allah loves. And despite all else it gives us an awareness of the constant truth, "There is nothing to worship except Allah." Only with that knowledge can we make our time on this earth splendidly magnificent.

These letters also strike another parable in that we don't know what they mean and we will never know, difinitively, what they mean. Unless Allah teaches us we do not know. We cannot understand or preserve a Qur'an that is not in our hearts, written upon our souls and our minds, such that our tongues can recite it, our faith can be fortified, our thoughts can be enlightened, our hearts can be soothed and our feet can walk towards Allah.

There are some things that we will never know because that knowledge is not for us. But just because we have limitations doesn't mean that we can't reach the highest levels of human endeavor if we choose to act, and trust in Allah. I have a dream that I want to see before I die. Maybe it's not a dream but an actionable hope. I want my children, and my family, and my people to know the Qur'an. I want us to express it from that same place we emit love, happiness and fear. I want us to rely on it more than a child upon her mother. And I want us live it everyday, freeing our spirits from the taints and confined of corruption.