Day 14
+/- 5 Minutes read
FIFTHEENTH PÂRA
Sûrah Isrâ

This is a Makkî sûrah. It has 111 verses and 12 rukûs. Isrâ means to travel at night. This sûrah is called Sûrah Isrâ because mention of the incident of Mi’râj is made in this sûrah, wherein Nabî صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم was taken at night first from Masjidul-Harâm to Masjidul-Aqsâ and then from there to the heavens. This incident is a great miracle of Nabî صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم and a great honour for him. Besides Nabî صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم (no other human) was granted this honour. This incident occurred whilst Nabî صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم was awake. If it occurred (in a dream) whilst sleeping, then it would not have been mentioned with so much of importance in the Qur’ân-e-Karîm, nor would the mushrikîn have denied it, since in a dream man sees more stranger and amazing incidents and sights than this one, and no-one calls him a liar. In the first verse of this sûrah, there is reference to this incident. Besides mi’râj, other important points mentioned in this sûrah are :

(1) The Banî Isrâ’îl were warned from before that they will spread corruption in the land of Shâm twice, and both times Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى would place His servants over them as a punishment. Thus, the first time, when they opposed the Tawrât and killed Ambiyâ (unjustly) like Shuayb عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام, Bukhte-Nasr and his army were let loose over them. They spread from one corner of the land to the other killing their Ulamâ and the leaders. They burnt the Tawrât, made Baitul-Maqdis desolate and captured and took away many Isrâ’îlis. The second time the corruption and evil of the Jews had reached this height, was when they martyred Hadhrat Zakariyyâ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and Yahyâ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and exceeded the bounds in sinning.

This time, a king of Babûl, remembered by the name of Berdaus or Khardaus was placed over them. This evil and corruption has remained the history of the Jews. During the era of Nabî صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم, when they chose the path of sin and scheming, then as according to the narrations of their forefathers, they were overpowered by the Muslims, who Banîshed them from the Arabian Peninsula. In the near past, Hitler proved to be a divine whip for them when he killed and burnt countless Jews. Today also, their corruption and evil has reached great proportions. We will now wait and see when Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى will send down His punishment on them.

(2) After mentioning the greatness of the Qur’ân, the quality of haste being an integral part of human nature has been mentioned. Together with this, the actions of man and the inevitable results of his actions have also been mentioned. Thereafter, about 13 Islâmic etiquettes of social life have been mentioned. In reality, it is only due to character and etiquettes that an individual or group becomes worthy of respect and honour. Some have mentioned these etiquettes to be the message of mi’râj.

These etiquettes, which are mentioned from verse 23 to 39, are mentioned hereunder :
Do not worship anyone besides Allâh, show kindness to one’s parents, fulfill the rights of relatives, poor people and travellers, do not waste wealth in extravagance; do not be stingy nor so generous that you regret thereafter; do not kill your children out of fear of poverty; do not fornicate; do not kill any person unjustly; do not use the wealth of the orphans unlawfully; fulfill promises made; weigh and measure in full, do not become involved in those things which have not been investigated; do not walk on the earth proudly, (and finally for a second time we are commanded) do not make anyone besides Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى your object of worship.

(3) The following points have been mentioned regarding the mushrikîn. They attribute daughters to Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى (40), deny the hereafter and utter with great surprise, “When we die and our bones have decayed and we are in pieces, will we be created again?” (49-98) They demand physical miracles from Nabî صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم – sometimes they say, “We will only believe when you make streams flow from the earth;” sometimes they say, “Make gardens of dates and grapes bloom”, sometimes they say, “Make a piece of sky fall on us” or “Bring Allâh and the angels in front of us”, and sometimes they say, “Build a house of gold for yourself” or “Go to the sky in front of us and bring a book for us from there.” (90-93)

Besides this, other points mentioned in this sûrah are :
- The greatness and truthfulness of the Qur’ân, the purpose of its revelation and it being a miracle. (9,82,88)
- Man being honoured by Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى (61-65)
- Man being given bounties such as his life and a soul. (85)
- Nabî صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم being commanded to perform taHajjud namâz. (78-79)
- The incident of Hadhrat Mûsa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and Fir’awn . (101-104)
- The wisdom of the Qur’ân-e-Karîm being revealed bit by bit. (105-106)

At the end of the sûrah, mentioned is made that Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى is free from any partner and children, and He is described with beautiful names.

Sûrah Kahf

This is a Makkî sûrah. It has 110 verses and 12 rukûs. Kahf means cave. Since the incident of the people of the cave is mentioned here, it is called Sûrah Kahf. Many ahâdîth have been narrated regarding the virtue of this sûrah. Imâm Ahmed, Nasaî and Muslim have mentioned the narration of Hadhrat Abû Dardâ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ, “The person who recites the last ten verses of Sûrah Kahf will be protected from the evils of Dajjâl.” The scholars have mentioned that it is sunnah to recite Sûrah Kahf either on Thursday night or Friday because Nabî صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم has said, “That person who reads Sûrah Kahf on Friday, will be illuminated with light till the next Friday.”

Sûrah Kahf is one of those 5 sûrahs which commences with ألحمد لله. The other four are : Fâtihah, An’âm, Sabâ and Fâtir. Hadhrat Maulâna Alî Mia (نور الله مرقده) has written a separate book on the explanation of this sûrah in which he states, “I have reached this conclusion after much thought and pondering, that the theme of this sûrah is ‘the battle between îmân and materialism’.” This sûrah has great connection with the evils of the last era, its greatest standard-bearer being Dajjâl. This sûrah prepares the Muslims to confront the trials of Dajjâl. All the incidents, examples and indications in this sûrah explain the conflict between îmân and materialism. In Sûrah Kahf, three incidents and three parables are mentioned.

As’hâbe-Kahf (The People of the Cave)

The first incident is of As’hâbe-Kahf. They were a few young men who had îmân. A king by the name of Duqyânûs tried to force them to worship idols. He would kill all those people who would not accept his polytheistic call. On one side, these youngsters were promised huge sums of wealth, high posts and a high standard of living and on the other side were threatened with their lives. These youngsters understood the protection of îmân to be the most important thing. Thus, they fled until they reached a cave in a mountain far from the city. They intended to seek refuge there. When they entered it, Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى placed them into a deep slumber. They slept there for 309 years. When they awoke from their sleep, they wanted food. One of them came to the city to buy food. There he came to know the reality of the situation. Conditions had changed in 3 centuries. The rule of the people of shirk had come to an end a long time ago and now a muwahhid (monotheist) had taken leadership. These youngsters, who had left their homes due to fear for their îmân were given the status of heroes by these people. From this incident, we learn that a believer should have great feeling for his îmân. If (Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى protect us) a stage comes where one has to choose between îmân and materialism, then he should definitely give preference to the protection of îmân over every material thing.

Hadhrat Mûsa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and Hadhrat Khidr عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام
The second incident is of Hadhrat Mûsa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and Hadhrat Khidr عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام. When Sayyidinâ Mûsa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام was informed by Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى that there is such a person who stays close to the shore of the ocean, who has such knowledge which he did not possess, then he set out in search of him. Journeying by foot, he finally reached the shore of the ocean. Here, he met Hadhrat Khidr عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام. He sought permission to stay with him. Hadhrat Khidr عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام gave permission on condition that Mûsa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام does not ask any questions.

Then three amazing incidents occurred. In the first incident, Hadhrat Khidr عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام caused damage to a ship which the owners had allowed him to travel in free of charge.
In the second incident, he killed an innocent child. In the third incident, he built up an old wall which was on the verge of collapsing, in a village whose inhabitants refused to give them food. Hadhrat Mûsa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام could not keep quiet at these three times and asked, “Why did you do this?” After the third time, Hadhrat Khidr عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام announced their separation, “From now you cannot travel with me.”

However, he also explained the reality behind those three incidents. He said, “I broke a plank of the ship because the employees of one oppressive king were waiting ahead. They would confiscate every new and perfect ship. When I damaged it, it was saved from falling into the hands of this oppressor. Thus, the means of sustenance of these poor people was protected. The child was killed because if he grew up, he would have been a great trial for his parents, due to which it is possible that they would have fallen into the filth of kufr.

Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى did not wish that these very pious parents should be deprived of îmân due to love for their son. Therefore, Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى has passed this decision that he should be killed, and in place of him, these parents will get pious, loving and obedient children. The reason why I repaired the falling wall is because it was the property of two orphans. Their parents were pious people. Under the wall a treasure was hidden. If the wall fell, then the people would have stolen the wealth and these two orphans of pious parents would have been deprived. We repaired the wall so that they could remove their wealth from under, after reaching age, so that it could benefit them.”

From the incident of Hadhrat Mûsa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and Hadhrat Khidr عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام we learn that whatever occurrences are happening in front of us daily - death comes to someone in youth or childhood; someone is involved in an accident and becomes injured; someone’s building falls down; someone’s business becomes bankrupt, behind all these occurrences very wonderful and amazing wisdoms and realities are hidden. There is a great difference between the apparent and hidden things in the world. Man’s gaze is only focused on outward things. His intelligence is unable to fathom internal and hidden secrets.

These incidents refute the flag-bearers of materialism who regard the outward as everything and deny the presence of the great wisdom of that Being who is All-Wise and All-Knowing, working behind the scenes.

The third incident is of Zhul-Qarnayn, which we will mention about in the 16th pâra.

Three Parables
Besides these three incidents, three parables are also mentioned in Sûrah Kahf. The first has been presented in the form of an incident. This incident is of a man who was the owner of two very valuable and fruit-bearing gardens. Besides this, he had many other forms of wealth and possessions. The abundance of wealth had made him proud and arrogant. He began making huge claims. He was caught up in this wrong notion that this wealth and riches will remain with him forever and would never come to an end. He also thought that Qiyâmah would never take place and even if it did, then he would also live in great ease in the hereafter. His friend who possessed îmân made an effort to explain to him that he should not regard asbâb (means and causes) as Allâh. He should not consider means to be everything and forget Allâh. Whatever happens in this world, happens by His wish.

However, wealth had blinded him to such an extent that he could not see the reality of the situation, which was in fact clearer than the sun. Thereafter Allâh’s punishment came, and his gardens were burnt to ashes. After everything had been destroyed, he began regretting saying, “O how I wish I did not make shirk and I did not give means (asbâb) the rank of Allâh.” However, his sorrow did not benefit him in the least bit. It is clear that this man believed in Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى and he had a vague picture of Qiyâmah in his heart. This which he mentioned, “O how I wish I did not make shirk”, refers to “shirk fil asbâb” i.e., to understand the means to be everything and to forget Musabbibul-asbâb (The Creator of causes and means). If an impartial analysis is made, then we will be forced to admit that never mind those non-muslims who are involved in this shirk, many Muslims are also involved in this form of shirk. There is no doubt that to use means is not against îmân and tawakkul (trust in Allâh), but to take the means to be the actual cause of conditions will negate îmân.

The second example which Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى mentions, “And mention to them the example of this worldly life which is like water which we have sent down from the skies, then the vegetation of the earth mixes with it (making lush vegetation), thereafter it becomes bits and pieces, and the wind scatters it. And Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى has full power over everything.” (45) i.e., in destruction and mortality, this worldly life is like that rain which comes down from the skies due to which the whole land becomes lush, the crops and fruits grow and the flowers bloom. From all sides beautiful scenery is witnessed.

Thereafter, deterioration in this perfection begins to set in. The flowers begin drooping, leaves begin falling off the trees, fruit are cut off. Thereafter, everything is trampled upon, shredding it to bits and pieces which the winds blow away. This is the condition of the bounties of this world which eventually comes to an end. Health, youth, life, happiness, ease and comfort are all temporary conditions. Only ignorant and foolish fall prey to the deception caused by these bounties. An intelligent person knows that all of these are only material possessions and beauties of this worldly life. Those things which will remain forever, and which will assist one in the everlasting life are good actions like charity, zikr and tilâwat, good character and having true compassion for other humans.

The third example is of pride and arrogance, which is mentioned in the incident of Hadhrat Âdam عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and Iblîs when he refused to prostrate before Âdam عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام due to his pride and arrogance, even though it was Allâh’s command. He thought that he was more virtuous, “How can one more virtuous bow down to one less in rank?” In this incident, man is made to understand that he should never become involved in pride and arrogance and that he should never go against the command of Allâh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى using his logic because servitude demands obedience and surrender and not refusal and objection.