Surah Fatihah Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014

there's A LOT of linguistics elements in Surah Al-Fatihah that show Al-Quran is indeed from ALLAH - The Owner, The Maintainer of all creations in the heaven and the earth (rabb al-'alamin).

Allah introduces Himself in the first part of Surah al-Fatihah (ayat 2 - 4) as the 'rabb al-'alamin' who is 'ar-rahman ar-rahim' (caring & loving).

While in the third part of Surah al-Fatihah, Allah teaches us i.e. the slaves of Allah, how to ask for His guidance 
(ayat 6 -7)

In the middle of the surah (ayat 5), Allah teaches us that after we accept that Allah is the 'rabb al-'alamin', we must seek help from Allah.

Allah teaches us to seek guidance & help from Him to make us the people with knowledge & act upon the knowledge!

In a nutshell, Surah al-Fatihah teaches us about 'what Allah wants us to know about Him' and 'what we need from Him'.

May Allah give us the understanding and accept our du'a while reciting Surah al-Fatihah in our everyday solat. 

Ameen


Kredit: Syafiqah Sulaiman 

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - Penangan Lalat

Ok, saya share satu lagi - one of my favourite examples in the Quran that I got from Divine Speech Seminar. 

Dalam Surah al-Hajj, ayat 73, Allah membuat satu poin penting bahawa, apa-apa yang disembah selain Allah adalah sia-sia. Allah telah membuat satu perbandingan menggunakan lalat dalam ayat tersebut.

Maksudnya:

"O people, an example is presented, so listen to it.

Indeed, those you call upon/supplicate to besides Allah

will never create (as much as) a fly, even if they gathered together for that purpose.

And if the fly should steal away from them a (tiny) thing, they could not recover it from him.

Weak are the pursuer and pursued."

*****

Dalam Divine Speech, Ustaz Nouman telah menjelaskan ayat ini dengan begitu menarik sekali. Berikut penjelasan beliau:

#1
[...those you call upon/supplicate to besides Allah...]

Manusia, jika tidak menyembah Allah, mereka sembah 2 benda:
- tuhan palsu (false god): macam berhala (idols), etc
- raja (pemerintah): macam Firaun, etc

Untuk memudahkan penceritaan, saya akan guna perkataan 'berhala' dan 'Firaun' sahaja sebagai contoh seterusnya.

#2
[...will never create (as much as) a fly, even if they gathered together for that purpose...]

Jadi, berhala ataupun Firaun; tidak mampu mencipta apa-apa pun walaupun seekor LALAT, sekalipun semua berhala dan sembahan lain bekerjasama dengan mereka, mereka semua tidak akan mampu mencipta seekor LALAT itu.

#3
[...And if the fly should steal away from them a (tiny) thing, they could not recover it from him...]

Bila baca ayat ini, mungkin kita tertanya-tanya, bagaimanalah lalat yang begitu kecil boleh mengambil sesuatu daripada berhala itu? Apa maksud ayat ini sebenarnya?

Bayangkan...

Di satu tempat yang penuh dengan berhala dan di antara berhala-berhala itu ada satu berhala yang paling besar.

Di hadapan berhala besar itu pula tersedia pelbagai jenis makanan. Ada buah epal, ada anggur, ada nanas, ada pisang, ada pizza peperoni, ada nasi putih, ada ikan goreng, dan macam-macam lagi.

Tiba-tiba, datang seorang insan yang kelaparan lalu di tempat itu. Apabila dia melihat makanan yang banyak di hadapan berhala besar itu, dia terus mencapai sebiji buah epal yang kelihatan sungguh sedap di matanya.

Baru sahaja dia hendak mencapai buah epal tersebut, tidak semena-mena tangannya ditepuk oleh salah seorang penyembah berhala yang sedang melakukan upacara penyembahan di situ.

"Hoi, siapa suruh kau ambil buah epal tu? Itu untuk tuhan akulah!" kata orang yang menepuk tangan insan kelaparan itu tadi. Insan kelaparan itu lalu berlalu dari situ dengan penuh kesedihan.

Tanpa disedari, kelihatan seekor lalat sedang berterbangan mengelilingi pizza peperoni di hadapan berhala besar itu.

*bzzz*bzzz*bzzz* - lalat itu berbunyi.

'Waah, peperoni tu nampak sedaplah. Aku nak makan peperoni tu. Aku nak makan peperoni tu,' kata lalat itu di dalam hati lalu mendarat di atas pizza peperoni tersebut. Dengan lahapnya, dia menggigit peperoni itu sepuas hatinya.

*burp* - lalat itu tersendawa kecil.

Setelah sendawa kekenyangan, lalat itu dengan selamba dan senang hati terbang meninggalkan tempat itu.

Itulah keadaannya, berhala yang berada di hadapan makanan itu tidak mampu mengambil balik makanannya yang diambil oleh seekor LALAT yang kecil itu.

Mar kita lihat kembali perumpamaan yang Allah berikan dalam Surah al-Hajj, ayat 73:

[...And if the fly should steal away from them a [tiny] thing, they could not recover it from him...]

Alangkah benarnya kata-kata ALLAH itu!

#4
[...Weak are the pursuer and pursued...]

Lalu Ustaz Nouman menjelaskan, apa yang Allah mahu kita belajar daripada perumpamaan itu ialah:

"When the thing/person that you are pursuing is weak, you'll become weak. If you want to be strong, SEEK ALLAH and only ALLAH"

*****

Begitulah Allah membuatkan perumpamaan di dalam al-Quran agar MANUSIA BERFIKIR dan FAHAM.

Betapa lemahnya segala apa pun yang disembah selain Allah.

Dan 'tuhan palsu' itu bukan hanya terdiri daripada berhala semata-mata tetapi boleh jadi apa sahaja yang menjauhkan kita daripada mengakui Allah sebagai satu-satunya tuhan yang wajib dituruti perintah-Nya - termasuklah hiburan melampau, materialism, ideologi sekular, dan sebagainya.

Sesungguhnya, tiada tuhan yang layak disembah melainkan Allah!

Semoga kita menjadi manusia yang berfikir.

Allahu'alam.

Credit: Syafiqah Sulaiman

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - The Eloquent Speech of Allah

Alhamdulillah, semalam berakhir sudah seminar "Divine Speech" yang disampaikan oleh Ustaz Nouman Ali Khan.

One word for it - mind blowing!

Secara peribadi, saya rasa seminar ini mampu memberikan perspektif baru kepada para hadirin dalam melihat al-Quran.

Antara part yang menarik adalah apabila Ustaz Nouman membawa hadirin melihat peristiwa-peristiwa yang diceritakan dalam al-Quran seperti 'scene' yang bertukar-tukar 'angle' dalam filem.

Mari kita tengok ayat ni dan bayangkan situasi dalam ayat ini macam mana Ustaz Nouman bayangkan kepada kami:

(ayat ini mengisahkan tentang Perang al-Ahzab/Khandak atau 'The Battle of The Trench')

<< When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when the eyes grew wild and the hearts reached to the throats, and you were harbouring doubts about Allah >>

(Surah al-Ahzab, 33 : 10)

"Imagine, the camera from the aerial view which you can see the enemies are coming from one side and the other side..."

(sambil kedua-dua belah tangan Ustaz Nouman menggayakan situasi itu)

"Now, the camera moves right in front of the face of the muslim army...so close that you can see their face expression, their eyes grew bigger...terrified..."

(sambil tangan Ustaz Nouman menggayakan camera bergerak dari 'aerial view' dan berada di hadapan mukanya, dan dia membesarkan matanya dan mulut yang terlopong untuk membuat mimik muka yang penuh ketakutan)

"And then, the camera zooms to their chest. Their heart beating fast that you can hear it..."

(sambil buat gaya jantung berdegup dengan tangannya)

"The camera zooms in deep into their hearts and their minds that Allah can see the doubts that they have in their minds towards Allah..."

*****

Wow! Just wow! Honestly, have any of you read the Quran with such intensity?! Because I didn't! Huhu. (if you do, that's amazing masyaAllah!)

Kalau kita teliti ayat-ayat ini, kita akan mendapati betapa sifat Allah Yang Maha Melihat dan Maha Mendengar!

Pertama, Dia Melihat keadaan keseluruhan di pertempuran Ahzab itu bagaimana tentera musuh datang dari segenap arah;

Kemudian, Dia juga Maha Melihat sekecil-kecil perkara, dalam ribuan tentera itu, Dia menyebut dengan jelas 'ekspresi wajah' tentera yang ketakutan;

Bukan itu sahaja, Dia turut dapat mendengar debaran jantung dan apa yang bermain di fikiran mereka!

Subhanallah!

*****

Sukar untuk saya kongsikan dalam bentuk penulisan, tapi begitulah suasana yang kami alami di dalam dewan seminar; itu baru satu ayat!

Yang paling best, bila Ustaz Nouman ajak kami membayangkan peristiwa perdebatan Nabi Musa a.s. dengan Firaun (Surah as-Syua'ra, 26 : 10 - 50)

Jaw-droppingly awesome!!

(part ni kalau nak dengar, kena cerita one to one. tak dapat nak tulis. siapa nak dengar bole request, tapi tak dapat lah exactly the same macam mana Ustaz Nouman buat. heh) 

*****

Lagi poin menarik yang dikongsikan oleh Ustaz Nouman tentang al-Quran:

#1
Al-Quran bukan diturunkan sebagai sebuah buku yang sudah siap tetapi al-Quran adalah kata-kata Allah kepada Nabi Muhammad S.A.W. yang disampaikan kepadanya secara berperingkat dalam tempoh 23 tahun

#2
Pada tahun terakhir kehidupan Rasulullah s.a.w., Rasulullah telah memperdengarkan bacaan keseluruhan al-Quran sebanyak 2 KALI untuk diperiksa oleh Malaikat Jibril (peristiwa ini disaksikan oleh Zaid b. Thabit)

#3
Selepas Rasulullah s.a.w. wafat, di zaman Khalifah Abu Bakar r.a., usaha pengumpulan al-Quran dimulakan dan yang bertanggungjawab dalam misi tersebut ialah Zaid b. Thabit.

**Zaid b. Thabit adalah sahabat yang menyaksikan bacaan al-Quran oleh Rasulullah s.a.w. kepada Jibril

**Kata Ustaz Nouman, bacaan Rasulullah s.a.w. pada ketika itu adalah menurut susunan yang Allah kehendaki

**Kalau ada yang tanya bagaimana susunan surah dalam al-Quran terhasil, susunan itu adalah hasil perbincangan (consensus) para sahabat (termasuk Zaid b. Thabit) dan kita tidak mendengar ada susunan surah yang lain (selain yang ada pada hari ini) daripada mana-mana sahabat

**Ini membuktikan susunan surah dalam al-Quran bukanlah sesuatu yang direka oleh mana-mana manusia

#4
Ada RIBUAN sahabat Rasulullah s.a.w. yang menghafal al-Quran tapi semuanya menghafal SATU versi yang sama.

**Setiap kali sesebuah ayat diturunkan, mereka akan menghafalnya (ingat, al-Quran bukan diturunkan dalam bentuk 'sebuah buku' in bulk, tetapi secara berperingkat)

Jikalau tiada 'konsensus' antara mereka, sudah tentu akan wujud beribu-ribu versi al-Quran dengan susunan surah yang berbeza-beza. Tapi wujudnya hanya SATU VERSI al-Quran membuktikan al-Quran tidak mengalami perubahan dari zaman ke zaman.

Para sahabat Rasullah s.a.w. mengajarkan al-Quran di luar Tanah Arab dan seterusnya dari satu generasi ke satu generasi hinggalah ke hari ini.

Kalaulah kita panggil seorang yang hafaz al-Quran dari Amerika, seorang dari Afrika, seorang dari China dan kita minta mereka baca mana-mana surah dalam al-Quran, mereka mula baca dan berakhir dengan susunan dan jumlah ayat yang sama!

Jikalau al-Quran pernah diubah manusia sepanjang lebih 1400 tahun semenjak ia diturunkan, pasti al-Quran di China berbeza daripada yang di Afrika, dan berbeza dari yang ada di Amerika, tapi semua itu tak berlaku.

Maha Suci Allah!

#5
Pilihan perkataan dalam al-Quran yang sangat teliti.

Dalam al-Quran, Surah al-Baqarah ayat 2:

ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ

<< ITULAH kitab... >>

Walaupun dalam banyak terjemahan menterjemahkan ayat tersebut sebagai:

"Inilah kitab..."

Ustaz Nouman menyatakan terjemahan yang tepat adalah perkataan "ITU" kerana dalam bahasa Arab,

'ini' = هَذَا
'itu' = ذَلِكَ

Maka,

ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ = 'kitab itu'

'Kitab itu' merujuk kepada al-Quran yang lengkap yang tersimpan di Lauh Mahfuz (sebelum ayat-ayat al-Quran diturunkan secara berperingkat ke bumi, al-Quran sudah wujud 'in bulk' di Lauh Mahfuz).

Biasanya, sesuatu yang dekat dengan kita akan dirujuk dengan menggunakan perkataan 'INI'.

Penggunaan 'itu' memberikan indikasi 'sesuatu yang berada jauh', maka Allah guna 'itu', sebab kitab yang telah tertulis berada jauh di Lauh Mahfuz.

Begitulah ketelitian Allah dalam memilih perkataan dalam al-Quran. Hanya Allah yang Maha Sempurna dapat melakukan sesuatu yang seteliti itu!

*****

Tulisan ini panjang TAPI ini bukan 'summary' hari kedua seminar Divine Speech! Ada banyak lagi yang menarik yang tak tertulis di sini.

Mungkin apa yang ditulis ini tak mampu menggambarkan keseluruhan keindahan bahasa al-Quran (dan itu adalah kelemahan saya).

Hence, once again I would like to invite all of you to visit Bayyinah.tv for awesome lessons from the Quran! 

Allahu'alam.

Credit: Syafiqah Sulaiman 

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - Verbal Idioms "to Venture Into Every Valley"

VERBAL IDIOMS PART 5 – To Venture Into Every Valley

Did you not see that they wander [yaheemun] in every valley? [Surah Al-Shu’araa’ 26:225]

This is actually an expression in the Qur’an describing poets and it is extremely relevant to our time. Some points to bear in mind:

1. The word [haamat] (to wander) is used to describe a camel when it is lost looking for water, wandering aimlessly in any direction, from one valley into another.
2. It also includes wandering while not knowing the kind of danger ahead.
3. Also before one ventures into a valley, he is on the higher ground - which is associated with honor & dignity. Its opposite is going down into the valley, and being low is normally associated with humiliation.

This isn’t a phrase about how the poets like hiking :) What does this expression really mean then?

The Thought Process of Entertainers

Back in the old times, the Arabs entertained themselves by listening to poets. These poets had 2 roles: They were the entertainers (they performed story-telling and singing) and also the philosophers at that time (which will be explained further).

Fast-forward to the present is the entertainment industry today. Now we have movies or songs that became extremely popular. As a result the artist received spotlights, won awards and got millions of downloads – but how long did the craze last? After some time of listening to the same thing repeatedly, people just got tired of it - they want something new.

So the artists had to work hard to come up with the next big hit. But when the sequel isn’t as popular as the first, people begin to lose interest in them. The problem is, the lives of these entertainers revolve around fame and recognition. They become desperate when people no longer pay attention to them. So we see how certain artists would re-invent themselves by making their songs more controversial and indecent. Some would even further lower their standards of decency for the sake of popularity – they got arrested, drug overdose, or did something utterly scandalous, they would try all sorts of style and methods - doesn’t matter to them as long as they get a little bit of the spotlight again. So they keepventuring into every, single, possible valley. That's the correlation with this Ayah. The entire thought process and career goal of entertainers is being described in this one Ayah.

If we compare today’s entertainment with 50 years ago, we will find how deteriorating they get in terms of language, decency, and shamelessness. Here’s the scary part: The entertainment industry has the opportunity to influence thousands of minds. What we listen WILL affect our thoughts, and in turn affect our behavior and speech. Every container only gives out what it contains.

The Philosophers

In the old times, the poets were also their philosophers. In our time, we have certain philosophy professors who try to instill one thing: That there is no such thing as absolute truth. They live in the world of What-If’s: What if there is no God? What if the Book has been tampered? What if all of these are just folktales? If someone tries to answer them, they would continue to ask the next What-If question - they keep wandering into every valley that has no end.

The Qur’an teaches us to live in the world of WHAT IS. Overwhelmingly in the Qur'an, Allah s.w.t. asks us to look WHAT IS around us, at ourselves, at the ruins of nations that were destroyed. We are supposed to have clarity of thoughts, we don’t venture into any valley. Instead, our job is to pull people out of them!

- Notes extracted from the Divine Speech Seminar by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan. Please let me know of any mistake, jazakumullahu khairan. (PS: If you like writing poetries - don't fret, read the next Ayat :)

Credit: Aida Msr

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - Verbal Idioms :to Untie the Knot in One's Tongue"

VERBAL IDIOMS PART 3 – TO UNTIE THE KNOT IN ONE’S TONGUE

Musa a.s. made the following du’a before he confronted Fir’aun:

"O my Lord! Open for me my chest (grant me self-confidence, contentment, and boldness). And ease my task for me. And loose [untie] the knot from my tongue. That they understand my speech.” [Surah Ta-Ha 20:25-28]

Imagine a string that is all jumbled up; we don’t know where it begins or where it ends. There might even be more than one string that got mixed-up together so they become confusing. The only way to make things clear is by untangling them. So “untie the knot from my tongue” in this Ayah mean:

1. To ask for clarity in speech

When we speak, sometimes we get our words mixed up. This is especially true when it comes to public speaking. We get really nervous, trip all over our words, and as a result our audience gets confused. So this du’a teaches us to ask from Allah s.w.t. for clarity in speech, one that has a clear beginning, middle and end like a clear straight line, just like how a string would look like when it’s not tangled. Furthermore, Musa a.s. had a stutter. When someone with a stutter gets nervous or angry, the stutter gets worse. So this beautiful du’a covers in both figuratively and literally sense.

2. To stay on focus

We see numerous times how smart politicians or TV hosts throw their opponents off in debates. Their opponent would be bombarded with questions after questions and attacked from all angles just so that he is thrown off and look really bad in front all of the audience. Similarly, Fir’aun was a very savvy politician and Musa a.s. was commanded to speak to such a tyrant. If we read surah Ash-Shu’ara, we’ll learn that Fir’aun tried to do the same but he was defeated in his own court in front of his generals whereas Musa a.s. remain undeterred and stayed focus on his mission, as a result of this du’a.

This is one of Ustadh Nouman’s favourite du’a – it’s a du'a for confidence! :)

VERBAL IDIOMS PART 4 – TO DOUBLE UP A CHORD & TWIST IT

A building is hold up by its beams or pillars. Back in old times, the beams were held together by a really strong type of rope, where one beam would be literally tied to the other. The people would use this strong rope, then double it and twist it many times so that the bond becomes super strong. In comparison to shoelaces which are only temporary knots, the tied-up ropes in construction must not come undone under any circumstances. They are permanent and the word “Abrama” (أبرم) in the Arabic language literally means to tie something with a knot permanently. We find this word in the following Ayah:

Is it that they have firmly resolved (أَبْرَمُوا) to do something? Then, We have firmlyresolved (مُبۡرِمُونَ). [Surah Az-Zukhruf 43:79]

1. Firm & final decision

Allah s.w.t. asked a rhetorical question to the Quraish who did shirk:

أَمْ أَبْرَمُوا أَمْرًا

Have they tied the knot / made their final decision / completely set with regard to their decision?

The Ayah is not talking about tying knots in a construction, but it’s about tying knots in theirdecision. Allah s.w.t. asked if they’ve made up their mind in rejecting the truth. If they’ve tied up their rope then…

فَإِنَّا مُبْرِ مُو ن 

Then We (Allah s.w.t.) have tied the rope too.

The Mushrikin have tied their knot because they refused to accept the Oneness of Allah and His Messenger s.a.w. Because of their refusal, He s.w.t. made them permanent that way. In other words, Allah s.w.t. will never seal anybody’s heart until they have completely made up their mind on their decision to reject the truth, and who knows better the inner depths of our hearts than Allah s.w.t. This Ayah is beautiful because this figure of speech shows the comparison between the Mushrikin’s decision and Allah’s decision. If we refuse to accept the truth, then Allah will let us stay that way. I thought this was scary enough! But there is something MORE SCARY that is being implied in this Ayah.

2. Temporary (Verb) VS Permanent (Noun)

When the Mushrikin tied their rope, the word أَبْرَمُوا is used. This is actually a verb.

But when Allah s.w.t. tied His rope, the word مُبْرِ مُو ن is used. This is a noun.

We learnt in the previous Ustadh Nouman's lecture that verbs are temporary by nature, whereas nouns are PERMANENT.

What does this mean?

Sometimes when we make a decision, we’re not quite sure on what we have decided, so we go back and change it. Then there are times when we think we’ve really made up our mind, that there is no way that we would ever change it. The Mushrikin said that they have completely made up their mind, but rhetorically Allah s.w.t. shows that their decision was still something temporary. When Judgment Day comes and the Mushrikin finally see the reality of what they were denying… Do you think they would want to go back on their decision?

It may be that those who disbelieve wish ardently that they were Muslims.[Surah Al-Hijr 15:2]

Oh how they would wish that they could untie their rope! But when Allah s.w.t. has made up His decision, it is PERMANENT.

May Allah s.w.t. protect and guide us!

- Notes extracted from the Divine Speech Seminar by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan. Please let me know of any mistake, jazakumullahu khairan.

Credit: Aida Msr 

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - Verbal Idioms "to Lower Wings"

VERBAL IDIOMS PART 2 – TO LOWER WINGS

When someone said that person is “raising his wings” or “lowering his wings”, an imagery of a bird comes to mind. When a bird raises its wings, it means it’s about to go up and fly off. And when it lowers its wings, then it’s about to go down and land. Obviously when the bird has wings, it has the ability to raise them anytime it wants. Yet this bird still chooses to lower them.

And lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy [rahmah], and say: "My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was young." [Surah Al-Israa’17:24]

This Ayah is about our relationship with our parents – that we should lower our wing of humility out of love and mercy towards them. What does this actually mean?

1. The bird can fly, but it chooses to stay down

As time goes by, as we get older, our parents get older too. But they don’t just get weaker, they sometimes become more sensitive and emotional. Perhaps some parents become more difficult to speak with; they become angrier or easily agitated. By now, we would have our own job, money, and family. We have a pair of strong wings which we can raise anytime we want.

But the lesson from this Ayah is this: Even though you have powerful wings, you need to learn to lower them when it comes to your parents. To act like the wings don’t work. To refrain from saying hurtful things like, “You know dad, I’m a grown up now. You can’t talk like that to me anymore!” We have to be humble with our parents. Remember: The bird can fly, but it CHOOSES to stay down.

If we think our parents are unusually exasperating – then realize that these are all testsfrom Allah s.w.t. There might also be rare occassions where our parents just want to test us - like how Ustadh Nouman went through when he was younger :)

2. Lowering the wing out of rahmah (love and mercy)

The word “rahmah” in this Ayah has 3 implications:

i. When the bird was young, its parents would gather food and bring it to the chicks because they couldn’t survive on their own. Similarly, we were completely dependable on our parents too. They showed us love and care, they did everything for us. Now is time we do the same for them. Some of us may complain that our parents don’t understand us, ask too many questions, get agitated towards us, to the point that we became so weary. But you know what, when we were little, WE made them weary didn’t we? They put up with us. Why is it that we can’t put up with them?

ii. Secondly, we ourselves should genuinely have love and care for our parents. A sign of humbleness in a person is in the way how he treats his parents. We can’t raise our voice to our parents, yet say we love them.

iii. Thirdly, and the most powerful of them all is: If we want Allah’s Rahmah, we’d better show rahmah to our parents!

3. Sacrifice

Do you see how birds would lower their wings over their nest to defend it from being attacked by predators? Their wings will be attacked, but the chicks are protected. Thus, this phrase also refers to the sacrifice of a parent for the children. But this Ayah is about the children sacrificing THEMSELVES for their parents. Our parents protected us – it’s time for us to protect them.

As we grow older, Allah s.w.t. reverses our roles and we find this reversal in the du’a in the last part of the Ayah:

"My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was young." [Surah Al-Israa’17:24]

Ya Allah, show our parents love and care like how they showed us love and care when we were small.

Ameen.

- Notes extracted from the Divine Speech Seminar by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan. Please let me know of any mistake, jazakumullahu khairan.

Credit: Aida Msr

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - Verbal Idioms "Coolness of the Eyes"

VERBAL IDIOMS PT 1 - COOLNESS OF THE EYES

Language is dynamic – sometimes it is impossible to do word-by-word translation of certain phrases without losing their actual meaning. This is particularly true for figures of speech. Someone who asks me, “What’s up?” isn’t asking me in a literally sense – the person is asking how I am, not what’s up there over your head? Similarly, Ancient Arabic has figures of speech and the Qur’an uses them too. So in order for us to understand the actual meaning of the Ayat, we have to know how these idioms were used in ancient times.

Coolness of the Eyes

Literally, coolness of the eyes would probably mean placing banana peels over our eyes :) What does it actually mean in Ancient Arabic?

1. Tears of immense joy - There are 2 expressions in the Arab idioms: The eyes becoming cool, and the eyes becoming warm. “May Allah warm his eyes” is actually a curse which means may that person suffer so much sadness the he shed tears out of sorrow. Whereas “Cooling the eyes” is the opposite, to mean shedding tears out of happiness and joy.
2. Finding refuge & relief - The Arabs when travelling in the desert would wrap their face as a protection from sandstorms. But they couldn’t afford to cover their eyes without losing their vision, so they would say “My eyes are becoming warm.” And when they finally found a cave, they would say "My eyes are becoming cool.”
3. The word also means when something stays in one place.

We find this figure of speech several times in the Qur’an:

1. [Surah Al-Furqan 25:74] "Our Lord! Bestow on us from our spouses and our offspring the coolness of the eyes…”

What this du’a means is that we ask from Allah for our spouses and children to be the coolness of our eyes from the outside storm. The outside world is full of stress, problems and difficulties, and our refuge and relief from that storm is our home. But sadly, how opposite is the state of our homes today? The storm isn’t happening outside of our homes, rather it’s happening inside. This du’a teaches us to ask from Allah for peace, tranquility and not just a happy home, but a home that makes us so happy that it makes us cry. What a beautiful du’a.

2. [Surah Ta-ha 20:40] “...So We restored you to your mother, that she might cool her eyes and she should not grieve...”

When Fir’aun’s soldiers were approaching, the mother of Musa a.s. put her baby (i.e. Musa) in the river to save him. She saw her baby floating away from her, and her heart became so deeply distraught and distressed, not knowing what would happen to him. So when she was finally reunited with her baby, by the will of Allah, she began to cry... And that cry was not a cry of sadness, it was out of immense happiness. This reunion between a mother and child is captured beautifully by this phrase in the Qur’an.

3. [Surah Al-Qasas 28:9] “And the wife of Fir'aun said: "A comfort [coolness] of the eye for me and for you. Kill him not, perhaps he may be of benefit to us, or we may adopt him as a son..."

Fir’aun’s wife was in an abusive relationship, perhaps both psychologically & physically. She didn’t have any place to turn to, except Allah s.w.t., because the police, government – in general everyone - was owned by Fir’aun. When she discovered Musa a.s. in the river, she picked him up, brought him to Fir’aun and said [paraphrasing]: “When I look at the baby, my eyes stay on him.” She couldn’t take her eyes away from Musa a.s.; she found her relief. Even Fir’aun, the same tyrant who ordered for a military campaign to kill thousands of babies, experienced the same and they ended up adopting Musa a.s.

4. This figure of speech is also found in hadith. Remember when Musa a.s. spoke directly to Allah s.w.t.? There can never, ever be anyone else more important and more beloved than our Rabb. So we know for sure that this is a memory that Musa a.s. will never, everforget! But what did Allah s.w.t. command? Allah s.w.t. said to Musa a.s.:

Verily! I am Allah! None has the right to be worshipped but I, so worship Me, and perform As-Salat for My Remembrance.” [Surah Ta-ha 20:14]

The REAL way to remember Allah s.w.t. is through prayer. And our beloved Rasulallah s.a.w. said “The coolness of my eyes is in Salah.” *1

Those who have a clean heart are more sensitive than others; it really hurts when someone speaks to them in a foul language. Our beloved Rasulallah s.a.w., the best of mankind, heard foul language, curses, allegations, being mocked at, being made fun of by the Quraish Every-Single-Day. But he s.a.w. never stopped, he still made da’wah to the same people continuously, and their hatred and aggressiveness only got worse each day. He s.a.w. was in this storm all the time, but when he enters Salah... that is when he found his relief. The coolness of his s.a.w. eyes is placed in the Salah. It completely changes our perspective what Salah should really mean to us.

The idea about crying in our prayers is true. Usually we cry when we listen to Ayat about the Hellfire or Judgment Day. But the Qur’an should also make us cry that cools our eyes… When we listen to Ayat about Allah’s gifts and rizq, His Mercy and forgiveness, how Allah s.w.t. protects us… they should move us to tears of joy.

*1 : Sunan an-Nasa'i | http://sunnah.com/nasai/36/2

 

Notes extracted from the Divine Speech Seminar by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan. Please let me know of any mistakes. Also subscribe to Bayyinah TV!

Credit: Aida Msr

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - Introduction

INTRODUCTION - The Noble Qur’an : Surah and Ayah

Surah VS Chapter

The Qur’an is made up of 114 Surah. Some people call Surah as Chapters, but Surah and Chapters are distinctively different from one another. Here’s why:

1. Chapters have a chronology order; the earliest writing is placed at the beginning and continued on with the later piece. But is the earliest Surah placed in the beginning of the Qur’an then followed with later revelations? If the Qur’an is in a historic chronology order, it would have “Iqra bismi Rabbi kal-ladhi khalaqa.” in the beginning, and some of the ayat of Surah Al-Baqarah at the very end. So the Qur’an is not in a Chapter-order, nor by size, nor by subject [if one asks what is the subject of Surah Al-Baqarah, it’s going to be a very difficult question to answer :)]. However, Ustadh Nouman is convinced that the Surah of the Qur'an ARE organized by what has been decreed by Allah s.w.t., which will be covered in the later notes, insya Allah.
2. Chapters will not repeat the same concepts that have been mentioned previously. At most, if the previous concept is required to be mentioned again, a footnote will simply be placed: “Refer back to Chapter so-and-so”. The idea of Chapters is to build an argument in a chronology order. But the Qur’an repeats many principals and reminders again, and again, and again.
3. Thirdly, a book will not make sense if the sequence of the chapter is altered eg. Chapter 10 is placed as Chapter 1, and vice versa. So if a person studies Chapter 10 first, then goes to Chapter 1, he will get very confused. But is it possible for a person to only study Surah Al-Kauthar, yet still makes sense? Yes – again, because it’s not a Chapter.
4. Chapters also have a title, which summarizes everything about the content of the Chapter. The Qur’an doesn’t do that.

Therefore, from the literature perspective, it is incorrect to call a Surah as Chapter. It is unique on its own identity. The Qur’an has its own standard, thus we cannot compare the Qur’an to any other literature.

Ayah VS Verse

Inside the Surah, we have Ayah which we sometimes translate as Verse. Here are some implications to consider why Ayah should not be translated as such:

1. Verse is used for poetries / songs. This is a major problem because we are putting the Ayah of the Qur’an on the same platform as poetry. The Qur’an emphatically stated that it is NOT a poetry:

And We have not taught him (Muhammad SAW) poetry, nor is it suitable for him. This is only a Reminder and a plain Qur'an. [Surah Yaseen 36:69]

It is surely the speech of a noble Messenger (that he conveys from Allah). And it is not the speech of a poet, (but) little you believe. [Surah Al-Haaqqah 69:40-41]

2. Verse is usually associated with the Bible. When we talk about the Qur’an, we don’t want people to start thinking about the Bible; we don’t want to even give a hint that the Qur’an is associated with it.

Therefore, just like the definition of Surah, the definition of Ayah remains as Ayah due to its uniqueness.

What about Ayah VS Sentence?

Some may have wondered: Can Ayah be translated as the Sentence of the Qur’an? Here are some reasons why that is also impossible:

1. Is Aliff Lam Meem a sentence? We don’t know if it is, or if it’s not. Only Allah knows what it means.

2. A sentence is made up of several words. Look at the first Ayah of Surah Ar-Rahman:

Ar-Rahman. [Surah Ar-Rahman 55:1]

Is 1 word a sentence? No. Sometimes there are Ayat in the Quran that is less than a sentence.

Sometimes there are 3 Ayat that goes together, making up 1 sentence. [Surah Al-Fatihah 1:1-3]

Sometimes there is 1 Ayah but has 9 sentences inside! [Surah Al-Baqarah 2:255 i.e. Ayatul Kursi]

Therefore, it is also impossible to call an Ayah as a Sentence.

What is an Ayah?

From the Qur’an perspective:

1. The unit of the Qur’an is Ayah. Allah s.w.t. says: "It is He Who has sent down to you (Muhammad SAW) the Book (this Qur’an). In it are Ayat that are entirely clear…”[Surah Ali-Imran 3:7]
2. But then Allah s.w.t. also says “Verily, in Yusuf (a.s.) and his brothers, there were Ayat.” [Surah Yusuf 12:7]. So Ayat are not only parts of the Qur’an, but also people, history, human experiences, the trees, mountains, the future, what is inside our body, our feelings, our hearts, our sleep, marriage – EVERYTHING in the universe & in existence is accurately define as an Ayah.

The question we should ask is not what is an Ayah, but what is NOT an Ayah? :)

From the language perspective: The root word for Ayah is hamza, ya, ya which gives many meanings. Some of them are:

1. Something valuable – which means EVERYTHING we experience is valuable, every problem, every gift of Allah, every challenge in life, every day & night, every ANT is valuable.
2. Something that inspires curiosity.
3. Something that points to a direction. Every Ayah points to a direction – and that is Allah s.w.t. Himself.
4. Something amazing – it is supposed to make you wonder. When the believers look at the creations of Allah, they become amazed with it.
5. Something to get our attention – Every Ayah is calling us; we have to pay attention to the reality around us as there are lessons to take heed.
6. A means of bringing us certainty, a source of conviction.
7. It means meaning itself – everything is meaningful, nothing is pointless.
8. To have a strong purpose, intention.
9. A sign.

All of the above is what an Ayah is. So it is impossible to limit Ayah by calling it a Verse or Sentence.

INTRODUCTION – A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ARABIC

We know that the Qur’an is revealed in Arabic, but there are many types of Arabic today. Thus it is critical for us to understand which Arabic is used for the Qur’an before we can analyze it.

3 kinds of Arabic:

1. Spoken Arabic – Street Arabic, it’s an informal Arabic one uses in speech, has different dialects.
2. Formal Arabic – The Arabic used in the newspapers, lectures, textbooks.
3. Old / Classical / Ancient Arabic – Just like there is a big difference between Formal Arabic with Spoken Arabic, there is a BIG difference between Formal Arabic with Ancient Arabic. A lot of students make mistakes because they thought there is no difference.

The Arabs, even before the coming of Rasulallah s.a.w., lived in an isolated desert. Their neighbors were the Romans, Abyssinians, and Persians but these empires left the Arabs alone. One may wonder: How come these superpower didn’t want to take over the Arab lands to expand their own? The Arabs would have no chance against their massive army if they decided to attack.

The simple answer is: There was no oil yet :) There was nothing in the desert, so there was no point of exhausting their manpower for this. Furthermore, if one of them decided to take over the land, then the other neighboring kingdoms would get agitated and start a war. So the Arabs were left alone.

Thus the only people the Arabs spoke to was with each other, with their own people. Some Arabs did some trade, but for the most part, not a lot of people from the outside came. Since there was less outside influence, it became an isolated culture and Arabic became more, and more, and more refined to the point that it became so advanced [just like how we would have some secret codes between close friends that we understand but others don’t :)]. So the Arabs became very proud of their language and really, really took care of it.

Fast-forward: When Allah s.w.t. gave Islam victory, many non-Arabs from different parts of the world entered into the Deen. So there was a huge population of new Muslims who began studying Arabic. But as students of any language, one can guess how bad the spoken language is... And furthermore, because they are Muslims, they wanted to make Umrah and Hajj, visit Madinah and other Arab lands to learn.

And thus millions of foreigners came and the local Arabic language gets worse and worse. This happens even in our own times in all countries and we know the decline in language due to outside influence happens in a very short time. Even the Sahabah noticed this problem. So there were 3 movements that were put into motion: Movement to protect the Quran, movement to protect the Hadith, and movement to protect the Arabic language.

But how did they protect the language? The language in all of the big cities were getting contaminated. The uncontaminated Arabic remains and lies in the villages in secluded parts of the deserts. Thus we learn that previous scholars would leave the city, journeyed into the desert, in order to capture the original, ancient Arabic language.

Why the fuss? Because the Qur’an was revealed in this language.

A Similitude

We have a pair of glasses and there is some dirt on the lens. When we put them on, everything we see looks dirty. When we look at a pristine diamond with these dirty glasses, yes we do see something shiny, but it still seems dirty so we become less impressed with it. But if we look at the same diamond with clear, clean glasses – we will see its true beauty. The problem is not with the diamond, the problem lies with our glasses.

The Ancient Arabic is the clean, pure glasses. We cannot look at the Qur’an from the Formal Arabic’s perspective. Just look at the word Ayah, how many meanings were we able to derive? We will not get these meanings from Formal Arabic. Ancient Arabic has died in the desert, and thus it becomes a research and study now. We have to learn this language so that we can analyze the Qur’an with the proper, unstained lens.

Credit: Aida Msr

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - Istifa and Ijtiba

The perfection of Kalamullah & choice of words 
In the Qur'an, there are several words for "choice", 2 of them are:

1. Istifa = Choice that is made on a personal basis with no outside influence. It is purely one's own
choice. We find this word in Surah Al-Hajj 22:75: "Allah CHOOSES [yastafee] Messengers from angels
& from men. Verily, Allah is All-Hearer, All-Seer."

Explanation: Allah s.w.t. selected His Messengers purely from His Own choice - we don't get to ask why, we have zero say in this matter. Full stop.

2. Ijtiba = Choice that is based upon QUALIFICATIONS. We find this word in the same surah 22:78: "And
strive hard in Allah's Cause as you ought to strive. He has CHOSEN [ijtibaa] you, and has not laid upon
you in religion any hardship, it is the religion of your father Ibrahim..."

This just reduced me to tears. Does anyone thank, pray, remember Allah as He deserves to be thank,
prayed to or remembered? The job description in this ayat is: Struggle in the path of Allah, like He
DESERVES to be struggled for. It is an impossible job description, which by definition, makes me
unqualified. But Allah s.w.t. says that He CHOSE US! We are Muslims, not because we're born in a
Muslim family or living in a Muslim country. We are Muslims because Allah knows and sees something in
us that makes us qualified! To be a Muslim is an honor from Allah!

So we have to ask ourselves: What is it that Allah has blessed me with? We have to use them for the
sake of Allah.

Credit: Aida Msr

Blessed Guest: Ramadhan and the Quran

Speaker: Nouman Ali Khan 

Venue: Karangkraf

Date: 26 June 2014

• When we think of Ramadhan, we often think it's the month of fasting. But Allah talks about Ramadan in the Quran only once.
• Ramadhan should be the month of the Quran, we get closer to Allah, make dua a lot, give up sins etc. 
• It is proposed that IF WE WANT TO CHANGE in terms of attitude etc, THIS IS THE MONTH to do it.
• It is the time where we start all over again, like it is the first time we begin to understand the Quran.
• We need to set our intention that in this month of Ramadhan, I want to learn something about this Quran. Try to find the love and spread the love. 

Surah Jumuah

• There are 3 sections of ayah in this surah
• 1st section talks about the believers
• 2nd section talks about Bani Israel
• 3rd section talks about Friday prayer
• (but this talk will only cover the 1st part of the surah)

(62:1) 

Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth is exalting Allah , the Sovereign, the Pure, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

• Allah starts with the word 'yusabbihu' = everything is doing tasbih to Allah
• Why it is important? Because nobody should be reminded to do their tasbih. Just look around, EVERYTHING is doing tasbih, wiithout you realising it. 
• Allah mentions 4 of His names in this Ayah 
• Al-Malik (King)
• Al-Quddus (The ultimate pure, the purifier)
• Al-Aziz (The one who gets respect, authority)
• Al-Hakim (The wise, has wisdom)

(62:2)

It is He who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from themselves reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom - although they were before in clear error.

• This ayah is said to be the heart of the surah
• The messenger was picked within his society (ummiyin, those who cannot read and write). Allah can pick any most knowledgeable person in the society to be the messenger but He picked the one who cannot read and write. Importance: everybody deserves respect
• usually: messenger, someone who has message. To get message, one needs to be from the outside, but Allah picks His messenger within the society. 
• There are 4 formula for the messenger to accomplish his mission
• Mission: to take people out of corruption, and bring them into the light (the deen). 
• How? Through the processs of the 4 formulas

There are 4 Formulas for us when we feel so distant from Allah

1. Engage with the words of Allah

• Recite His words, think about  His words. 
• Recite it constantly as He is talking to you. You have direct access to Him
• Yatlu alaihim ayati. He give you the Quran so you could understand
• Story: when wine was not yet prohibited, the drunken sahabah was not allowed to pray until they know what they are saying. Importance of knowing what you recite in your prayer

2. Purification

• Has 2 meanings: purify mind. purify heart
• Mind: Allah teaches us how to think properly. We will be more intelligent when we know how to ask the right question. When we can think, then we can purify our mind
• Heart: place where all the diseases are. Jealousy, hatred, laziness, lust etc. If we properly understand the Quran, we will be better. Anger will not go away, but somehow we will get to control it. 
• There is no book that cleanse mind and heart at the same time. Only Quran can
• The Quran will change the way you think, spend your time, manage your life etc

3. Book/law

• This is where the education starts
• The need to have teacher-student relationship
• Teacher will make the students understand, give them tests, students ask questions. Teaching is not easy. So it requires determination and be serious with it.
• We go through process. We were not serious - we heard the ayah - we want to become serious. 
• We cannot expect everybody will be at the same stages. So don't get angry to those who are not yet at the same stage with us.

4. Wisdom

• To deal with people properly, we need wisdom, common sense and not only through knowledge. 
• Just because we are muslim, doesn't mean that all have high level of iman
• There is hope for everyone, so do not underestimate people. 

p/s:look all the 4 names of Allah which are mentioned in the first ayah are superimposed with Rasulullah's activity in second ayah.

(62:3)

And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

• Imagine how Islam has travelled from the Arab land to Malaysia. If it's not because of people before us, we may not get to say La Ilaha Ilallah. 
• Islam is a gift from Allah, but this gift is not free, it comes with responsibility. So it is our turn to spread the dakwah to those who didn't yet say La Ilaha Ilallah. 

(62:4)

That is the bounty of Allah , which He gives to whom He wills, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty.

• That is the favour of Allah. He gave it to you and me
• We need to take it, and give it to others to feel it too. 

disclaimer: notes are exstracted from the lecture. Any mistakes found may come from my own weaknesses. 

click here for the video recording