(1.
Read! In the Name of your Lord Who created. ) (2. He has created man f rom a
clot . ) (3.Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous. ) (4. Who has taught by
the pen. ) (5. He has taughtman that which he knew not . )
The
Beginning of the Prophethood of Muhammad and the First of
the
Qur'an revealed
Imam
Ahmad recorded that ` A'ishah said: The f irst thing that began happening with
the Messenger of Allah f rom the revelat ion was dreams that he would see in
his sleep that would come t rue. He would not see any
dream except that it
would come t rue j ust like the (clearness of ) the daybreak in the morning.
Then seclusion became beloved to him. So, he used to go to the cave of Hira'
and devote himself to worship there for a number of nights, and he would
bring
provisions for that . Then he would return to Khadij ah and replenish his
provisions for a similar number of nights. This cont inued unt il the revelat
ion suddenly came to him while he
was
in the cave of Hira'. The angel came to him while he was in the cave and said,
"Read! '' The Messen- ger of Allah said,
«»
(I
replied: "I am not one who reads. ) Then he said, "So he (the angel)
seized me and pressed me unt il I could no longer bear it . Then he released me
and said: ` Read! ' So I replied: ` I am not one who reads. ' So, he pressed me
a second t ime unt il I could no longer bear it . Then he released me and said:
(Read in the Name of your Lord who has created. ) unt il he reached the Ayah, (That which he knew not . )'' So he returned
with them (those Ayat ) and with his heart t rembling
unt
il he came (home) to Khadij ah, and he said,
«»
(Wrap
me up, wrap me up! ) So they wrapped him up unt il his fear went away. Af ter
that he told Khadijah everything that had happened (and said),
«»
(I
fear that something may happen to me. ) Khadij ah replied, "Never! By
Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep good relat ions with your relat
ives, you speak the t ruth, you help the poor and the dest itute, you serve
your guests generously, and you help the deserving, calamity af f licted
people. '' Khadijah then accompanied him to her cousin Waraqah bin Nawfal bin
Asad bin ` Abdul-` Uzza bin Qusay, who, during the period of ignorance became a
Christ ian and used to scribe the Scriptures in Arabic. He would write f rom
the Inj il in Hebrew as much as Allah willed for him to write. He was an old
man and had lost his eyesight . Khadij ah said to him, "O
my
cousin! Listen to the story of your nephew. '' Waraqah asked, "O my
nephew! What have you seen'' Allah's Messenger described what he saw. Waraqah
said, "This is An-Namus whom Allah
had
sent to Musa. I wish I was young and could live unt il the t ime when your
people would drive you out . '' Allah's Messenger asked,
«»
(Will
they drive me out ) Waraqah replied in the af f irmat ive and said,
"Anyone who came with something similar to what you have brought , was t
reated with host ility and enmity; and if I should remain alive t ill that day
then I would f irmly support you. '' But Waraqah did not remain.
He
died and the revelat ion paused unt il Allah's Messenger became sad according
to what we were told. Due to this grief he set out a number of t imes with the
intent of throwing himself f rom the mountain tops. However, every t ime he
would reach the peak of a mountain to throw
himself
f rom it , Jibril would appear to him and say, "O Muhammad! You are t ruly
the Messenger of Allah! '' Therefore, his worry would be eased, his soul would
be set t led and he would return
(down
f rom the mountain). Then, when the revelat ion did not come again for a long t
ime, he set out as he had done before. So when he reached the peak of the
mountain, Jibril appeared to him again and said to him the same as he had said
before. '' This Hadith has been recorded in the Two Sahihs by way of Az-Zuhri.
We have already discussed this Hadith's chain of narrat ion, its text and its meanings at length in the
beginning of our explanat ion of Sahih Al-Bukhari.
Therefore,
whoever would like to read it , it is researched there, and all praise and
blessings
are
due to Allah. So the f irst thing that was revealed of the Qur'an were these
noble and blessed Ayat . They are the f
irst mercy that Allah bestowed upon His servants and the first bounty that Allah
favored them with.
The
Honor and Nobility of Man is in His Knowledge
These
Ayat inform of the beginning of man's creat ion f rom a dangling clot , and that out of Allah's
generosity He taught man that which he did not know. Thus, Allah exalted him
and honored him by giving him knowledge, and it is the dignity that the Father
of Humanity, Adam, was dist inguished with over the angels. Knowledge somet
imes is in the mind, somet imes on the tongue, and somet imes in writ ing with
the f ingers. Thus, it may be intellectual, spoken and
writ
ten. And while the last (writ ten) necessitates the f irst two (intellectual
and spoken), the reverse is not t rue. For this reason Allah says,
-------
(Read!
And your Lord is the Most Generous. Who has taught by the pen. He has taught
man that which he knew not . ) There is a narrat ion that states, "Record
knowledge by writ ing. '' There is also a saying which states, "Whoever
acts according to what he knows, Allah will make him inherit knowledge that he
did not know. ''
-------
(6. Nay! Verily, man does t ransgress. ) (7.
Because he considers himself self -suf f icient . ) (8.Surely, unto your Lord
is the return. ) (9. Have you seen him who prevents) (10. A servant when
he prays) (11. Have you seen if he
is on the guidance) (12. Or enjoins Taqwa) (13. Have you seen if he denies and
turns away) (14. Knows he not that Allah sees) (15. Nay! If he ceases not , We
will scorch his forehead --) (16. A lying, sinful forehead! ) (17. Then let him
call upon his council. ) (18. We will call out the guards of Hell! ) (19. Nay!
Do not obey him. Fall prost rate anddraw near (to Allah)! )
The Threat against Man's
Transgression for the sake of Wealth
Allah informs that man is very
pleased, most evil, scornful and t ransgressive when he considers himself self
-suf f icient and having an abundance of wealth. Then Allah threatens, warns
and admonishes him in His saying,
--------
(Surely, unto your Lord is the
return. ) meaning, ` unto Allah is the
final dest inat ion and return and He will hold you accountable for your wealth, as to where you obtained it f rom and how
final dest inat ion and return and He will hold you accountable for your wealth, as to where you obtained it f rom and how
did you spend it . '
Scolding of Abu Jahl and the Threat
of seizing Him
Then Allah says,
--------
(Have you seen him who prevents. A
servant when he prays) This was revealed about Abu Jahl, may Allah curse him.
He threatened the Prophet for performing Salah at the Ka` bah. Thus, Allah f
irst ly admonished him with that which was bet ter by saying,
---------
(Have you seen if he is on the
guidance. ) meaning, ` do you think this man whom you are prevent ing is upon
the st raight path in his act ion, or
-----------
(Or enj oins Taqwa) in his
statements Yet , you rebuke him and threaten him due to his prayer. ' Thus,
Allah says,
---------
(Knows he not that Allah sees) meaning,
doesn't this person who is prevent ing this man who is following correct
guidance know that Allah sees him and hears his words, and He will compensate
him in full for what he has done Then Allah says by way of warning and
threatening,
----------
(Nay! If he ceases not , ) meaning,
if he does not recant f rom his discord and obst inacy,
----------
(We will scorch his forehead. )
meaning, ` indeed We will make it ext remely black on the Day of Judgement . '
Then He says,
--------
(A lying, sinful forehead! )
meaning, the forehead of Abu Jahl is lying in its statements and sinful in its
act ions.
--------
(Then let him call upon his council.
) meaning, his people and his t ribe. In other words, let him call them in
order to seek help f rom them.
-----------
(We will call out the guards of
Hell! ) ` And they are the angels of torment . This is so that he may know who
will win – Our group or his group' Al-Bukhari recorded that Ibn ` Abbas said,"Abu
Jahl said, ` If I see Muhammad praying at the Ka` bah, I will stomp on his
neck. ' So this reached the Prophet , who said,
«----------»
(If he does, he will be seized by
the angels.)'' This Hadith was also recorded by At -Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i in
their Books of Tafsir. Likewise, it has been recorded by Ibn Jarir. Ahmad, At -
Tirmidhi, An-Nasa'i and Ibn Jarir,
all recorded it f rom Ibn ` Abbas with the following wording:
"The Messenger of Allah was
praying at the Maqam (prayer stat ion of Ibrahim) when Abu Jahl bin Hisham
passed by him and said, `O Muhammad! Haven't I prevented you f rom this' He threatened
the Prophet and thus, the Messenger of Allah became angry with him and
reprimanded him. Then he said, `O
Muhammad! What can you threaten me with By Allah, I have the most kinsmen of this valley with me in
the large. ' Then Allah revealed,
------------
(Then let him call upon his council.
We will call out the guards of Hell! )'' Ibn ` Abbas then said "If he had called his people, the angels
of torment would have seized him at that very instant . ''
At -Tirmidhi said, "Hasan
Sahih. '' Ibn Jarir recorded f rom Abu Hurayrah that Abu Jahl said, "Does Muhammad
cover his face with dust (i.e. , f rom prost rat ion) while he is among you
all'' They
(the people) replied, "Yes. ''
Then he said, "By Al-Lat and Al-` Uzza, if I see him praying like this, I
will stomp on his neck, and I will certainly put his face in the dust . '' So
the Messenger of Allah
came and he began praying, which
made it possible for Abu Jahl to stomp on his neck. Then the people became
surprised at him (Abu Jahl) because he began ret reat ing on his heels and covering
himself with his hands. Then it was said to him, "What 's the mat ter with
you'' He replied, "Verily, between me and him is a ditch of f ire,
monsters and wings. '' Then the Messenger of Allah said,
«-------»
(If he had come near me, the angels
would have snatched him limb by limb. ) The narrator added; "Allah
revealed an Ayah, but I do not know whether it is concerning the Hadith of Abu Hurayrah
or not :
------
(Nay! Verily, man does t ransgress.
) to the end of the Surah. '' Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, Muslim, An-Nasa'i and Ibn
Abi Hat im all recorded this Hadith.
Amusement for the Prophet
Then Allah says,
-------
(Nay! Do not obey him. ) meaning, `O
Muhammad! Do not obey him in what he is forbidding f rom such as steadfastness
in worship and performing worship in abundance. Pray wherever you wish and do
not worry about him. For indeed Allah will protect you and help you, and He
will defend you against the people. '
--------
(Fall prost rate and draw near (to
Allah)! ) This is j ust like what has been conf irmed in the Sahih of Muslim on
the authority of Abu Salih who reported f rom Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger
of Allah said,
-------------
(The closest that a servant can be
to his Lord is when he is in prost rat ion. Therefore, make abundant supplicat
ions (i.e. , while prost rat ing). )'' It has also been ment ioned previously
that the Messenger of Allah used to prost rate when he recited
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