Qur’aanic Verse 17.89:

Transliteration:

89. Walaqad sarrafna lilnnasi fee hatha alqur-ani min kulli mathalin faaba aktharu alnnasi illa kufooran

Translation:

89. And certainly, in this Quran, We have variously explained, for men, every aspect of life. But most men do not but reject it.²⁵

Study Note:

25. And in Verse 12.111, the Qur’aan tells us that it contains detailed explanation of everything. These two Verses, and many others in the Qur’aan, unmistakably tell mankind that it is a self-sufficient Book of Guidance on all aspects of Islamic way of life. Please refer article Qur’aan – the Self-sufficient Source for Islam, an in this context.

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The above is extracted from yet-to-be-published Qur’aanic Studies - Volume XXVIX. It will be published, in due course, inshaAllah on the website INVITATION TO SALVATION, in continuation of Volumes I to XXVIII already published and freely available thereon.

Mohammad Shafi
Author of ‘ISLAM & INTEREST‘

Qur’aanic Verse 17.85:

Transliteration:

85. Wayas-aloonaka AAani alrroohi quli alrroohu min amri rabbee wama ooteetum mina alAAilmi illa qaleelan

Translation:

85. And they ask you about the soul. Say, “The soul is one of the commands of my Lord. And you are not given knowledge but a little thereof.”²⁴

Study Note:

24. In this context I am reminded of what a famous scientist (I think, he was Faraday) once said that they (the scientists) were picking up just some pebbles on the vast sea-shore of knowledge.

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The above is extracted from yet-to-be-published Qur’aanic Studies - Volume XXVIX. It will be published, in due course, inshaAllah on the website INVITATION TO SALVATION, in continuation of Volumes I to XXVIII already published and freely available thereon.

Mohammad Shafi
Author of ‘ISLAM & INTEREST‘

Qur’aanic Verse 17.79:

Transliteration:

79. Wamina allayli fatahajjad bihi nafilatan laka AAasa an yabAAathaka rabbuka maqaman mahmoodan

Translation:

79. And keep awake part of the night reciting it (Qur’aan). This is an additional thing for you (the Messenger) to do. Maybe your Lord will raise you to a praiseworthy position.²³

Study Note:

23. It appears that this Verse is taken as the Qur’aanic basis for the tahajjud and nafl prayers observed by the Muslims today. However, this Verse asked only the Prophet (peace on him), personally, to recite and study the Qur’aan, in addition to the public dawn recitation prescribed in the preceding Verse. As the chosen man to lead the Muslim Ummah, the Prophet had to perform this additional duty of getting himself well-acquainted with the Qur’aanic portion he would be going to recite in public at dawn. It was like a college professor preparing for his lecture next day. And history is witness to the fact that the divine promise to the Prophet made in this Verse, has indeed been fulfilled even so far as this world is concerned.

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The above is extracted from yet-to-be-published Qur’aanic Studies - Volume XXVIX. It will be published, in due course, inshaAllah on the website INVITATION TO SALVATION, in continuation of Volumes I to XXVIII already published and freely available thereon.

Mohammad Shafi
Author of ‘ISLAM & INTEREST‘

Qur’aanic Verse 17.78:

Transliteration:

78. Aqimi alssalata lidulooki alshshamsi ila ghasaqi allayli waqur-ana alfajri inna qur-ana alfajri kana mashhoodan

Translation:

78. Establish ritual prayer during the interval from the time the sun sets till the darkness of the night spreads completely. And recite the Qur’aan at dawn. The recitation at dawn is indeed to be in the presence of a congregation.²²

Study Note:

22. This is the first Verse in the chronological order of revelation prescribing a fixed time for a ritual prayer (salah). The time fixed here is dusk. Along with the ritual prayer at dusk, the believers were asked to read the Qur’aan in a congregation at dawn. Refer study notes 451 to 455 on Verse 2.238 in this regard.

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The above is extracted from yet-to-be-published Qur’aanic Studies - Volume XXVIX. It will be published, in due course, inshaAllah on the website INVITATION TO SALVATION, in continuation of Volumes I to XXVIII already published and freely available thereon.

Mohammad Shafi
Author of ‘ISLAM & INTEREST‘

Qur’aanic Verses 17.63 & 17.64:

Transliterations:

 63. Qala ithhab faman tabiAAaka minhum fa-inna jahannama jazaokum jazaan mawfooran

64. Waistafziz mani istataAAta minhum bisawtika waajlib AAalayhim bikhaylika warajlika washarik-hum fee al-amwali waal-awladi waAAidhum wama yaAAiduhumu alshshaytanu illa ghurooran

Translations:

 63. Allah said, “Get out of here! And Hell is the due recompense to you and to all those who, among them, will follow you.”

64. “And beguile whom you can of them with your voice, and cover them with your thinking and your behaviour,¹⁸ and be their partner in wealth and children,¹⁹ and feed them with promises.” And the Satan promises them not but to deceive.

Study Notes:

18. The Satan, in the voices of his pals among mankind, has indeed succeeded in weaning most other human beings away from the Qur’aanic Straight Path. He has done so in various subtle ways. He has incited some of his human pals to tell others of their kind that Islam is an ‘evil’ religion. They cite terrorist activities that take place in different parts of the world and say that most of these are perpetrated by Muslims. They conveniently slide over many atrocities done by non-Muslims. Satan’s human pals have infiltrated the Muslim ranks too! These pals tell other Muslims that reading the Qur’aan in Arabic, even without understanding it at all, gives the reader ample rewards. So the reader does not bother to take the trouble of understanding what he reads. He is content with the false Satan-inspired thought that the mere parrot-like reading of the Qur’aan can take him to Jannah and save him from Hell-fire, whatever bad deeds he might have done in this worldly life. And that is enough for him. He does not aspire for higher ranks in Jannah, which he could attain to, as per his thinking, only after understanding what he reads in the Qur’aan. Other ‘Muslim’ pals of the Satan seduce other Muslims by telling them that they could get salvation and/or worldly benefits only through the intervention of AwliyaAllah and the Prophet (peace on him). So they visit their graves to plead for their intervention, thus leading them to the unpardonable sin of shirk. There could be hundreds of such ways in which the Satan seduces man. I doubt whether even one voluminous book could be enough to contain all his ways and means. 

19. Satan partners man in accumulating ill-begotten wealth and convinces him that such wealth is necessary for the well-being of his children.

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The above is extracted from yet-to-be-published Qur’aanic Studies - Volume XXVIX. It will be published, in due course, inshaAllah on the website INVITATION TO SALVATION, in continuation of Volumes I to XXVIII already published and freely available thereon.

Mohammad Shafi
Author of ‘ISLAM & INTEREST‘

Qur’aanic Verse 17.60:

Transliteration:

 60. Wa-ith qulna laka inna rabbaka ahata bialnnasi wama jaAAalna alrru/ya allatee araynaka illa fitnatan lilnnasi waalshshajarata almalAAoonata fee alqur-ani wanukhawwifuhum fama yazeeduhum illa tughyanan kabeeran

Translation:

60. And We did say to you, “Your Lord has indeed kept mankind under His control.¹⁴ And We did not make the vision¹⁵ which We showed you – as also the tree¹⁶ cursed in the Qur’aan - but a trial for mankind.¹⁷ And We warn them. But it only adds to their utter transgression.”

Study Notes:

14. Mankind should not misconstrue the apparent latitude given to wicked persons in this worldly life. Allah has full control over them. HE will deal with them as and when He deems it appropriate. Remember what happened to Hitler. The latitude given is one of several ways in which Allah tests the believers’ belief in Him. 

15. See Verse 17.1 above and study notes thereunder. 

16. See Verses 37.62 to 37.66.

17. Verses 17.1 and 37.62 to 37.66 are mutashabihaat in terms of Verse 3.7. Allah has warned us in that Verse (3.7) that we should not interpret such Verses with our own error-prone opinions and that we should unquestioningly accept whatever Allah has told us in such Verses. It is indeed sad that we nevertheless persist in our own interpretations thereof. The mutashabihaat are yet another divine way to test the believers’ belief in Allah

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The above is extracted from yet-to-be-published Qur’aanic Studies - Volume XXVIX. It will be published, in due course, inshaAllah on the website INVITATION TO SALVATION, in continuation of Volumes I to XXVIII already published and freely available thereon.

Mohammad Shafi
Author of ‘ISLAM & INTEREST‘

Qur’aanic Verse 17.59:

Transliteration:

 59. Wama manaAAana an nursila bial-ayati illa an kaththaba biha al-awwaloona waatayna thamooda alnnaqata mubsiratan fathalamoo biha wama nursilu bial-ayati illa takhweefan

Translation:

 59. And nothing prevented Us from sending miracles except that the ancients rejected them. And We gave Samood the she-camel - a manifest miracle - but they wronged her.¹² And We do not send miracles but to warn.¹³

Study Notes:

12. See Verse  7.73. 

13. Earlier peoples like those to whom Prophets Salih (Samood/Thamood), Moses (Pharaoh’s) and Jesus (Jews) were given some extraordinary signs (miracles). The miracles were not sent, but as warnings. Upon their disregarding the warnings, the Thamood and Pharaoh’s people were destroyed. The Jews too were substantially destroyed in A.D. 70, and the remnants were banished from their homeland to live as insignificant minorities in different parts of the world. The remnants were given another chance to redeem themselves. Would they?

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The above is extracted from yet-to-be-published Qur’aanic Studies - Volume XXVIX. It will be published, in due course, inshaAllah on the website INVITATION TO SALVATION, in continuation of Volumes I to XXVIII already published and freely available thereon.

Mohammad Shafi
Author of ‘ISLAM & INTEREST‘

Qur’aanic Verse 17.49:

Transliteration:

 49. Waqaloo a-itha kunna AAithaman warufatan a-inna lamabAAoothoona khalqan jadeedan

Translation:

 49. And they ask, “When we shall have become bones and dust (after death), shall we even then be raised up as a new creation!?¹⁰”

Study Note:

10. This concept of being raised to life again after being dead and turned to dust might have been a little more difficult to digest for people at the time of revelation of the Qur’aan. But, now, when man is endowed with advanced knowledge in genetics and has even been able to get a clone of an animal from a tiny cell of the original, he should be in a better position to understand that the Creator ahould be able to resurrect him after death. Man now knows that even the tiniest particle of his dead body would contain his DNA mapping his entire history.

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The above is extracted from yet-to-be-published Qur’aanic Studies - Volume XXVIX. It will be published, in due course, inshaAllah on the website INVITATION TO SALVATION, in continuation of Volumes I to XXVIII already published and freely available thereon.

Mohammad Shafi
Author of ‘ISLAM & INTEREST‘

Qur’aanic Verse 17.44:

Transliteration:

 44. Tusabbihu lahu alssamawatu alssabAAu waal-ardu waman feehinna wa-in min shay-in illa yusabbihu bihamdihi walakin la tafqahoona tasbeehahum innahu kana haleeman ghafooran

Translation:

 44. The seven heavens, the earth and whoever or whatever is in them declare His glory. And there is not a thing but glorifies Him with His praise, but their glorification you understand not.⁹ He is indeed Considerate, Forgiving.

Study Note:

9. Take a particle of sand on a seashore, for example. Along with millions like it, it helps mankind in the constructions of their buildings. There are many other uses - like making glass – that it can be put to. Every other thing, likewise, has its own uses and/or purposes, known or unknown to man. By being mutely so helpful and faithfully doing its given part in the divine scheme of things, every thing is, so to say, singing the Creator’s praise for His meticulouis attention to details in the creation and sustenance of the entire universe. But man, alas, for whom apparently all things are made subservient, understands this not and arrogantly assumes that he is the lord of what he surveys around him. He fails to recognize his own Creator!

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The above is extracted from yet-to-be-published Qur’aanic Studies - Volume XXVIX. It will be published, in due course, inshaAllah on the website INVITATION TO SALVATION, in continuation of Volumes I to XXVIII already published and freely available thereon.

Mohammad Shafi
Author of ‘ISLAM & INTEREST‘

Qur’aanic Verse 17.42:

Transliteration:

 42. Qul law kana maAAahu alihatun kama yaqooloona ithan laibtaghaw ila thee alAAarshi sabeelan

Translation:

 42. Say, “If, as they say, there were other gods along with Him, then certainly they would have sought a way to the Lord of the Throne.”⁸

Study Note:

8. The concept of divinity, in Islam, is absolutely unitary. Not a leaf falls, but He knows it. The absolute divine Power (Allah) knows, hears, sees and controls everything in the entire universe He has created. HE is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Everything in the universe is His creation, and no creature of His can have the same powers as He has. So there can be none worthy of worship but He. 

Even so, most of mankind indulges in the belief that there are entities, other than Allah, that enjoy divine powers. The Verse here dispels this erroneous belief in no uncertain terms. Had there been such entities with divine powers, every one of them would have tried to usurp the supreme power for himself. And there would be nothing but chaos in the universe.

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The above is extracted from yet-to-be-published Qur’aanic Studies - Volume XXVIX. It will be published, in due course, inshaAllah on the website INVITATION TO SALVATION, in continuation of Volumes I to XXVIII already published and freely available thereon.

Mohammad Shafi
Author of ‘ISLAM & INTEREST‘