الآية رقم (19) - كَلَّا لَا تُطِعْهُ وَاسْجُدْ وَاقْتَرِبْ

(19) - (No! Do not obey him. But prostrate and draw near (to Allah).(19))

Here is a command to the Prophet (saws) to pray.

Abu Jahl wanted the Prophet (saw) to be far, but Allah (swt) wants him to come close.

Prayer means the presence between the hands of Allah (swt) and the prostration gives you a position of closeness, hence, it is sufficient of honor that for its sake everything expensive would be sheep.

As the prayer is in this status and this honor, Allah (swt) enjoyed it to his Prophet (saws), at the noblest places in the seventh heaven during the journey of Israa and Mi’raj.

 

الآية رقم (18) - سَنَدْعُ الزَّبَانِيَةَ

(18) - (We will call the angels of Hell. (18))

الزَّبَانِيَةَ (angels of Hell): the Arabic word is derived from the verb (to push), hence, the angels of Hell are called so because they push the disbelievers strongly to Hell fire.

الآية رقم (17) - فَلْيَدْعُ نَادِيَه

(17) - (Then let him call his associates; (17))

Let him call his family, his tribe and his children, whom he used to be proud of their abundance, during his argument with the Prophet (saws).

الآية رقم (16) - نَاصِيَةٍ كَاذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ

(16) - (A lying, sinning forelock (16))

Here we have to refer to scientific facts, what is the forelock? Why is it described as lying and sinning?

Many scholars kept thinking about it, and returned to the books of interpretation, then concluded that: The forelock is the front of the head, called lying, while what is meant is that its owner is a liar, so that, it is allegorical meaning, not real.

But at a scientific medical conference in the current era, about fifty years ago, it was confirmed that the part of the brain just below the front (the forelock) is responsible for lying and wrongdoings, and it is the source of making decisions. If this area of the brain that is located just below the bone is cut, then its owner will not have an independent will, and he cannot choose, because it is the place of choice. Glory be to Allah (swt) Who says: “We will surely drag him by the forelock”.

However, after the science developed a lot, it has been found that this part in the animal’s forelock is weak and small. It does not have the ability to lead and direct. Allah (swt) says:

{ مَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ إِلا هُوَ آخِذٌ بِنَاصِيَتِهَا }
(There is no creature but that He holds its forelock.) (Hud: 56)

It is narrated in the Noble Hadith:

“O Allah, I am Your slave, son of Your slave, son of Your female slave, my forelock is in Your hand,”[1]

There is a divine wisdom that Allah (swt) has ordained this forelock to prostrate, by this, negative charges come out from the head to the earth and the blood reaches the parts of the brain. This is not done except by prostration:

{ وَمَا أُوتِيتُمْ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلاً }

(And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little.)

(Al-Israa: 85)

A lot of prostration leads to right decisions of which the rightest one is to worship Allah (swt). The Prophet (saw) requested that we make Istikharah prayer in which we prostrate with our forelock to Allah (swt) to lead us to sound opinion.

[1] Musnad al-Imam Ahmad, Hadith No. 4318.

الآية رقم (14) - أَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَرَى

(14) - (Does he not know that Allah sees? (14))

Since Allah (swt) sees so, the issue does not need evidence. If the evidence is to come, then it will come on the Day of Resurrection voluntarily, as Allah (swt) says:

{ وَقَالُوا لِجُلُودِهِمْ لِمَ شَهِدْتُمْ عَلَيْنَا }

)And they will say to their skins, “Why have you testified against us?”) (Fussilat:21)

 {كَلَّا لَئِنْ لَمْ يَنْتَهِ لَنَسْفَعًا بِالنَّاصِيَةِ} 

 

)No! If he does not desist, We will surely drag him by the forelock – (15) (

كَلَّا (No!): Rebuke and scolding of what happened from Abu-Jahl who forbade and denied the Messenger (saws).

لنسفعًا بالناصية )We will surely drag him by the forelock): Meaning, we will grab him from the front of his head, this expresses insulting and humiliation to Abu-Jahl.

 

الآية رقم (11-12) - أَرَأَيْتَ إِن كَانَ عَلَى الْهُدَى - أَوْ أَمَرَ بِالتَّقْوَى

(11-12) - (Have you seen if he is upon guidance (11) Or enjoins righteousness? (12))

Meaning, how do you forbids this slave of Allah (swt) while he prays and enjoins righteousness!

{أَرَأَيْتَ إِنْ كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّى} 

(Have you seen if he denies and turns away -(13))

Allah (swt) is addressing the Messenger (saws). Some scholars said that all what mentioned before refer to Abu-Jahl! How to explain this?

They said, because Abu-Jahl had two conditions, the first of claiming that he was right and the second -which is his fact- that he denied the message of our Messenger Muhammad (saws) and went away and refused the guidance.

However, the question now is: ‘Is this verse relevant to only the incident of Abu-Jahl with the Messenger (saws), or is it general regarding everyone who forbids praying?

The role is: The moral lies in the general meaning, not in the specific reason. Accordingly, these verses refer to every forbiddance of pray and to everyone who impedes people from establishing prayer.

الآية رقم (9-10) - أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يَنْهَى - عَبْدًا إِذَا صَلَّى

(9-10) - (Have you seen the one who forbids (9) A servant when he prays? (10))

أَرَأَيْتَ  (Have you seen): Meaning that there is a strange matter after it which seems to be certain result of oppression.

This verse was descended because of Abu-Jahl, who forbad the Messenger of Allah (saws), from prayer and threatened him that he would do so and so if he (saws) went and prayed in the Al-Ka’ba. He did not forbid an ordinary person, but he forbad a Messenger of Allah (saws). It is narrated by Abu Horayra (may Allah be pleased with him) that Abo Jahl said: Does Muhammad put his face on the ground among you? They said: Yes, he said: By Al-Lat and Al-Ozza if I see him I will stomp on his head of I will dump his face in soil.

Abu-Jahl went to execute his threat but he fled back to where he came. He was asked: What happened to you? He said: I found a trench of fire things that have wings between him and me. The messenger Muhammad (saws) said:

” If he had come near me, the angels would have snatched him.”[1]

So the verses (6-10) of this Surah was revealed accordingly.

This incident has really taken place and the Holy Qur’an narrated it after it happened. Yet Allah (swt) did not say, “the one who has forbidden,” but said: “the one who forbids.”, using the present tense makes the image as if it is in front of you.

After that, Allah (swt) tells us about the forbidden and says:

[1] Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2797.

الآية رقم (8) - إِنَّ إِلَى رَبِّكَ الرُّجْعَى

(8) - (Indeed, to your Lord is the return. (8))

Do not think that you can flee from Allah (swt) by your self – sufficient. For as long as your aggression lasts, you must return to Him (swt).

In this verse Allah (swt) brings the preposition and its related noun (to your Lord) at first to restrict the statement. Meaning that the return is exclusively to Him (swt) and not to any other than Him. The beginning is from Him (swt) and the return is to Him (swt), no escape.

الرُّجْعَى  (Return): it requires leaving either to Paradise or to Hell. Note, there is no good in goodness after it would be a fire, and there is no evil in evil after it would be heaven.

الآية رقم (7) - أَن رَّآهُ اسْتَغْنَى

(7) - (Because he sees himself self-sufficient. (7))

When man feels self – sufficient with money, knowledge, or other things he would transgress others.

For example, if a person becomes self – sufficient with his knowledge, he separates from Allah’s commands and thinks that he owns the universe. The more advanced the human science is the more people be arrogant with their mental and self-abilities, and the more they move away from the method of Allah (swt). This is what we observe in the scientifically advanced nations, which become the owners of science and inventions keys. They consider only the power of mind and do not take into account the ability and the power of the Creator of this universe.

الآية رقم (6) - كَلَّا إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَيَطْغَى

(6) - (No! (But) indeed, man transgresses (6))

كَلَّا (NO!) is mentioned thirty-three times in the Holy Qur’an. It is used for prevention and prohibition. Hence, when we read (No) we understand that there is a rebuke before it and a confirmed statement after. But here, we do not find before (No!) a forbidden matter. Accordingly, scholars said that (No) here means “Really”.

As if this verse confirms a fact that: “Man transgresses because he sees himself self-sufficient”.

Transgression means exceeding the limits.

الآية رقم (5) - عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ

(5) - Taught man that which he knew not (5)

الْإِنسَانَ (Man): Refers to the human being in general and it also means the first person; Adam (pbuh).

All human sciences are subject to introductions that end with the self-evident fact embedded in the universe. We demonstrated this previously through the sequence of geometric theories. So, we find that their proofs are intuitive agreed by all people without any disagreement about them. When Allah (swt) taught man what he did not know, He (swt) left the facts about the originals of the universe as axioms, which requires the human mind only to pay attention to them. Therefore, we are commanded to reflect on the phenomena of the universe, forbidden to ignore the aspects:

 {وَكَأَيِّن مِّنْ آيَةٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ يَمُرُّونَ عَلَيْهَا وَهُمْ عَنْهَا مُعْرِضُونَ  }

(And how many a sign within the heavens and earth do they pass over while they, therefrom, are turning away) (Yusuf: 105)

If we contemplate each of the signs of Allah’s creation in the universe, we will conclude an idea and come to a theory.

This is very clear from the history of the inventions that humankind went through, such as, the theory of gravity, and its consequents that served humanity. This theory was the result of a simple observation from Newton, when he witnessed the fruit of an apple falling from its tree on the ground, Newton looked into this case, and tried to reach its causes, wondering, why it did not fall to the right or to the north or even  it did not go up? Then he discovered the law of gravity, which became one of the most important scientific discoveries.

Therefore, the result of theories can be reached by simple observations which leads to the scientific truth at last. Allah (swt) says:

 عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ

(Taught man that which he knew not (5))

Allah (swt) placed the embedded scientific facts in the universe and in the talents of the thinking mind.

The effector is the intellect and the affected is the substance, then the cosmic phenomenon through the creation of Allah (swt). If we think about the educated person, we find that his means of knowledge are those of perception that Allah (swt) has equipped him with. The first one is hearing because it is the most important means of perception in the matter of learning. Allah (swt) says:

 {وَاللَّهُ أَخْرَجَكُم مِّن بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ شَيْئًا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ ۙ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ}

(And Allah has extracted you from the wombs of your mothers not knowing a thing, and He made for you hearing and vision and intellect that perhaps you would be grateful.) (An-Nahl: 78)

Allah (swt) put the hearing first.

So, Allah (swt) told us that a human being comes out of his mother’s womb know nothing but equipped with these senses which are the means of learning. Reflecting upon these three senses, we find that the Truth Allah (swt) mentioned them in the natural order according to their work in the body and their importance in perception. Hearing and sight to perceive objects and they are the first ones that a person uses in learning. Then moral and mental issues are the works of heart and mind, by them people reach the principles and beliefs that settle in themselves and do not accept discussion after that.

In other Surahs, we explained that the sense of hearing is the first active sense in the newborn since it works immediately after his birth, whereas, sight ability begins after three to ten days later.

Moreover, the sense of hearing is the sense that accompanies a person all the time; it is not subject to inactivity during sleep as the case with the sight sense. Additionally, it is the means of receiving the calls and it determines our manner of speech since our words are reflection to what we hear, therefore, whoever does not hear does not speak. So, Allah (swt) describes the disbelievers by:

 { صُمٌّ بُكْم}

(deaf, dumb) (Al-Baqara-171)

Considering the first human being; Adam (PBUH) received knowledge from Allah (swt) by hearing first. Allah (swt) says:

{ وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا }

(And He taught Adam the names- all of them.) (Al-Baqara: 31)

When we serialize and follow the source of knowledge, we say: I knew that from my father, and my father knew it from his father and so on until we refer to Adam (PBUH), so who taught him? His Lord (swt) taught him. This meaning is reflected in our verse:

{عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ }

(Taught man that which he knew not (5))

The linguists classified the word into: a noun, a verb, and a letter. They defined them as follows:

The noun: a word has an independent meaning and time is not a part of it.

The verb: a word refers to an independent meaning, but time is part of it.

The letter: refers to a non-independent meaning.

Looking into these three classifications we find that the noun is the essence and it is the origin of indicating, whereas, the letter is a part of it. The verb in its origin is a noun for that we verify any verb by its noun. However, names are the first which we teach the child, we do not teach him verbs. Then comes the verbs and letters. So, learning is based on learning names, for example, a table, a tree….. because they include the idiomatic names in their meanings. So, Allah (swt) says:

{ وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا }

(And He taught Adam the names- all of them.) (Al-Baqara: 31)

Taught him what he can say and understand. Therefore, when Allah (swt) says:

 { الرَّحْمَنُ % عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ % خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ % عَلَّمَهُ الْبَيَانَ }

(The Most Merciful % Taght the Qur’an % Created man, % (And) taught him eloquence.) (Al-Rahmaan: 1-4)

Eloquence is that lets man shows what is in himself and it is the linguistic expressions understandable by the speaker and the listener. Hence, the two persons must be aware of the meanings of the words to understand each other. For example, an Arabian does not know the English language, nor does he understand it. As well as the English does not know the Arabic language, so he does not understand what we say. Even with the same language itself we bring words that many Arab people do not understand.

After Adam (PBUH) has gotten the knowledge from his Lord (swt) and learned the names of all things by Allah’s will, then he taught them to his children.

{ قَالَ يَا آدَمُ أَنْبِئْهُمْ بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ }

( He said, “O Adam, inform them of their names.“) (Al-Baqara: 33)

That is the names of things. In the verse we find that “يَا” (O), is a letter used for calling. Adam (PBUH) is the called and (inform) is a command verb. As if, He (swt) has put for them the roles to be followed. This issue brought us out of a linguistic problem. That is some people claimed that since Allah (swt) had taught Adam (PBUH) all the names and Adam (PBUH) in return taught them to his children by conveying them with words, so, they heard him and pronounced them. Therefore, it was supposed to be one language, and that the words of the language should not increase of what Adam (pbuh) has learned, whereas, we find linguistic councils adopting new words and adding them to the language collection, as those related to recent discoveries and inventions.

We say, the presence of new words that were not present in the language is an evidence that the language is not Tawqifiyah (Allah (swt) put it), rather it is positioned by humans. which means people agree on it. For example, everyone agrees that this is a land and this is a sky, but this agreement needs an understanding of each other. However, this understanding needs a common language between us. Hence, this matter must end up to another power that taught us. So, we refer to:

{ وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا }

(And He taught Adam the names- all of them.) (Al-Baqara: 31)

Allah (swt) created the man and provided him with senses and their belongings. That is, He (swt) provided the eye with the visuals, the ear with the audibles, the nose with the smells, the touch with the touchable, the taste with the flavors and the tongue with the verbal words. After that the human used these words that Allah (swt) has provided him in forming an understandable language and linguistic structures according to his renewed life.

So, we can say, that the language started first as Tawqifiyah and then ended to be Wad’yah (positioned by humans).

الآية رقم (4) - الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ

(4) - Who taught by the pen

الآية رقم (3) - اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ

(3) - (Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous (3))

الْأَكْرَمُ (most generous): a superlative form. The Generous is the one who inspires you the reasons by which you learn. However, the most Generous is He who teaches you to read without reasons.

الآية رقم (2) - خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ

(2) - (Created man from a clinging substance (2))

عَلَقٍ: (Clinging substance): It is the first stage of human creation through reproduction. The origin of man’s creation is: water, soil, clod and clay which indicates the perfection of power. But Allah (swt) addresses people with what they understand and what they see of the creation process. People in general did not witness the creation of the first person – from clay, rather, they know the process of reproduction, mating, and the transfer of sperm from male loin to woman’s womb. This is a known issue that has been proven by experimental science in contrast to the first creation process that cannot be subject to scientific experiment.

Had not Allah (swt) being the one who told us about, we would not have known it.

{ مَّا أَشْهَدتُّهُمْ خَلْقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَلَا خَلْقَ أَنفُسِهِمْ }

(I did not make them witness to the creation of the heavens and the earth or to the creation of themselves, (Al-Kahf: 15)

Of course, what is meant is the first creation.

الآية رقم (1) - اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ

(1) - (Recite in the name of your Lord who created (2))

This is the first Surah of the Noble Qur’an revealed to the Messenger of Allah (swt). He is an illiterate prophet who does not read or write. Therefore, when Jibril (puh) addressed him to read, he (saws) said to him: “I am not the one who reads.” Jibril, then repeated it three times and in every time the Prophet (saws) answered “I am not the one who reads.”. The prophet responded with his humanity because for him reading requires something written in front of him but when Allah (swt) says, (Read), then this reading is not like the normal reading of human beings, nor has the same reasons of learning. Rather it means: O Muhammad you will not read by the reasons of reading that people know but by the will of the founder of causes, because He (swt) is the creator of things.

بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ (in the name of your Lord)

That is, you read in the name of Allah (swt). From here we find that all the Surahs of the Holy Qur’an begin with “in the name of Allah the Compassionate the Merciful”, therefore, you read the words of Allah (swt) by His secret and by His will.