Allah Is My Guide

Qur’aanic Verse 21.67:

Transliteration:

67. Offin lakum walima taAAbudoona min dooni Allahi afala taAAqiloona

Translation:

67. “Fie on you and on that which you worship besides Allah! Why do you not use your intellect?” ¹⁶

Study Note:

16. Abraham demonstrated to his people – by breaking the idols – that their so-called gods were incapable of protecting themselves, let alone protecting their worshippers. Allah has given mankind a higher level of reasoning power, especially to enable them to recognize the existence of One Super Power controlling the entire universe and everything therein. And Abraham’s people did not even use their reasoning power to understand the utter futility of their worshipping the lifeless stone idols! Abraham used his intellect to know Allah Almighty. The Qur’aan tells its followers to follow Abraham’s creed. Muslims should then use their intellect to know the Almighty. Most of them are instead wasting their time in going after the shadow of imagined miraculous deeds of dead human khwajas, dast-geers, mushkil-kushas and what not! They are being as unintelligent as those ancient people of Abraham. Isn’t Allah virtually telling them, ‘Fie on you!’ when they have now become favourite whipping boys for any Tom, Dick or Harry in this modern world?

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

Mohammad Shafi
Author of Islamic Books

Qur’aanic Verse 16.98:

Transliteration:

98 Faitha qarata alqurana faistaAAith biAllahi mina alshshaytani alrrajeemi

Translation:

98. So when you recite the Qur’aan,  seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan.

Note:

One of my readers sent me a suggestion that the above Verse be pasted to every post that I publish. In this context, let us see what guidance do we get from the Qur’aan itself. This is a divine directive mandatory upon every believer. But unlike the ‘Bismillah’ at top of all but one Chapter of the Qur’aan, the ‘Aoozubillah’ is nowhere placed therein in writing. So we get the clear guidance from this that it is not necessary for us to mention the ‘Aoozu’ or the above Verse every time we quote any Verse from the Qur’aan. But the reader has to say the ‘Aoozu’ when he/she starts reading from the Qur’aan.

Mohammad Shafi
Author of Islamic Books 

Qur’aanic Verse 21.41:

Transliteration:

41. Walaqadi istuhzi-a birusulin min qablika fahaqa biallatheena sakhiroo minhum ma kanoo bihi yastahzi-oona

Translation:

41. And certainly Messengers before you were scoffed at. But then the thing they mocked about surrounded those of them who scoffed.¹²

Study Note:

12. The earlier peoples, like those of Noah and Lot, got destroyed. The kuffar of Mecca had scoffed at Islam when it was first propounded to them, but Islam overwhelmed them in the end.

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

Mohammad Shafi
Author of Islamic Books

Qur’aanic Verse 21.32:

Transliteration:

32. WajaAAalna alssamaa saqfan mahfoothan wahum AAan ayatiha muAAridoona

Translation:

32. And We have made the sky a protected roof and yet they are oblivious to its signs! ¹⁰

Study Note:

10. It is only now that science has discovered the protective role played by the atmosphere around the earth. The harmful radiations from the Sun and outer space are filtered out therein letting only beneficial sunlight pass through. The temperature on the surface of the earth is maintained within tolerable limits. Water vapour is not allowed to dissipate beyond and thus lost. The water cycle is maintained and sustained. In short, no life would be possible on earth without the protective shield of its atmosphere. [Source]. But the Qur’aan had revealed this role centuries before science could discover it. And yet people believe not in Allah and the Qur’aan, His own Book of guidance! 

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

Mohammad Shafi
Author of Islamic Books

Qur’aanic Verse 21.31:

Transliteration:

31. WajaAAalna fee al-ardi rawasiya an tameeda bihim wajaAAalna feeha fijajan subulan laAAallahum yahtadoona

Translation:

31. And We have placed mountains in the earth so that positions thereon do not move.⁹ And We have made therein passes to enable people to move about and find their way.

Study Note:

9. Imagine the earth without its mountains – without its ups and downs. What would happen to its reservoirs of water – the oceans, seas, lakes, ponds etc.? Wouldn’t they spread all over and leave no dry space for humans and animals living on dry land? The fact of the matter is that these mountains, hills and other ups and downs on the surface of the earth give the earth its stability and enability to sustain life as we know it. And the fact is: the Creator has created everything very meticulously. And, yet, most of mankind do not give Him due recognition – to their own detriment, of course.

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

Mohammad Shafi
Author of Islamic Books

Qur’aanic Verse 21.30:

Transliteration:

30. Awa lam yara allatheena kafaroo anna alssamawati waal-arda kanata ratqan fafataqnahuma wajaAAalna mina alma-i kulla shay-in hayyin afala yu/minoona

Translation:

30. Do those who suppress the Truth not see that the heavens and the earth were both one in kind, and then We did distinguish the two. And We have made of water everything living, will they not then believe? ⁸

Study Note:

8. Here is yet another sign, for the modern man, to come to the belief that the Qur’aan is from none other than the Creator of this universe and of everything therein. In this Verse, revealed over 1400 years ago, it is abundantly made clear that water is the distinguishing feature between the earth and all other heavenly bodies! The earth was as dead as all the other bodies in the beginning, but the Creater first created water therein for His subsequent creation of a myriad of living creatures therefrom. HE thus distinguished the earth from the other heavenly bodies. The facts mentioned in this Verse stand verified by modern science. It is only recently that some traces of water have been discovered in the moon, but it is far from sufficient for sustaining life. 1400 years ago people were unaware of these facts, which could only have been inserted in the Qur’aan then by none other than the Creator Himself.

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

Mohammad Shafi
Author of Islamic Books

Qur’aanic Verses 21.16 & 21.17:

Transliterations:

16. Wama khalaqna alssamaa waal-arda wama baynahuma laAAibeena

17. Law aradna an nattakhitha lahwan laittakhathnahu min ladunna in kunna faAAileena

Translations:

16. And We did not create the heavens and the earth, and what is between them, for fun.

17. Had We wished to have some amusement, We would have derived it from within Ourselves, if at all.⁵

Study Note:

5. The mind of a living creature does need some amusement after performance of the duty allotted to it by its Creator. It is preposterous to think that the Creator Himself would need any amusement! The use of the pronoun in plural, We, in the Verse indicates a divine establishment, with angels working therein carrying out the Creator’s orders. And the angels being themselves creatures may need some amusement. But the Creator need not have made the elaborate creation of the huge universe just for the amusement of the angels; He could have very well arranged for the angels’ amusement within the divine establishment itself.

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

Mohammad Shafi
Author of Islamic Books

Qur’aanic Verse 21.1:

Transliteration:

1. Iqtaraba lilnnasi hisabuhum wahum fee ghaflatin muAAridoona

Translation:

1. For the human beings, their time of reckoning is near, and yet they pass their time in utter heedlessness.¹

Study Note:

1. The time of reckoning is the Judgment Day in the Hereafter. And man is wont to think that Day is far off. Already over 1400 years have elapsed since this Verse was revealed, and Allah knows how many more centuries hereafter will this event occur. Man is thus deluded into doubts whether that event will ever occur. And he relapses to his worldliness. He starts thinking that this world is the be-all and end-all of all things. So why not grab whatever you get in this life, by fair means or foul, and make merry? Who has seen the morrow, so why worry about it? This attitude is the root cause of all trouble and has the potential to convert this very world into Hell. Allah Ta’ala therefore warns mankind against this attitude and delusion by telling them that they should not be deceived by mere appearances. No person is secure from death, which may come the very next moment. And when that person rises from the dead, it will appear to him/her as if he/she had been dead for hardly some hours! So, in that sense, the time of reckoning for any person should be near. It is to that person’s benefit then that he should not while away his/her precious time in this world in its frivolous and temporary pleasures.

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

Mohammad Shafi
Author of Islamic Books

Qur’aanic Verse 20.130:

Transliteration:

130. Faisbir AAala ma yaqooloona wasabbih bihamdi rabbika qabla tulooAAi alshshamsi waqabla ghuroobiha wamin ana-i allayli fasabbih waatrafa alnnahari laAAallaka tarda

Translation:

130. Exercise patience then over what they say. And glorify your Lord with His praise before sunrise and before sunset. And glorify Him, during the night and during parts of the day, so that you get peace of mind.^{29, 30}

Study Notes:

29. From the context, the backdrop for this Verse is apparent. The polytheists in Mecca would not embrace Islam despite the Prophet’s best efforts. And, in the divine scheme of things, those polytheists were not scheduled to be punished as yet. So they continued belittling the Prophet’s Mission. It was in these circumstances that Allah advises him to have patience and to seek his inner peace of mind by glorifying Allah continually, day and night. 

30. But it would not be proper to interpret this Verse – as many commentators do – as prescribing the times for the ritual prayers. The Qur’aan, the Creator’s Own Manual for guidance of mankind, could not have been so vague in the timings. The timings are exactly prescribed in Verses 17.78, 11.114 and 2.238.

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

Mohammad Shafi
Author of ‘ISLAM & INTEREST‘

From Translation of Qur’aanic Verses 20.123 & 20.124:

“… Now, whenever Guidance comes to you from Me, then all those who follow My Guidance shall not go astray or be miserable. And he who turns away from My Reminder shall lead a hard life.²⁸ …”

Study Note:

28. The life of a person who fails to abide by the divine instructions given in the Qur’aan would be straitened, miserable, ignominious, humiliating, or otherwise unsatisfactory. He/she is bound to have a distressing feeling of unfulfilment, guilt and failure at the end of it. And it is a sad reflection on Muslims – on an overwhelming majority of them at the least – that they have woefully taken no heed of this divine mantra, enunciated in these two Verses 123 and 124, for leading a good, satisfactory life in this world.

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

Mohammad Shafi
Author of ‘ISLAM & INTEREST‘