2007‐2008
Explanation of Surah Maryam
(Tafseer) 6 November 2007 to 4th December 2007 (Every Tuesday) Taught by Shaykh Haytham Tamim
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The Attendees of Explanation of Surah Maryam Course
Testimonials: • “I found the course very beneficial.” (Rukeya Khatun) • “This was my first course – Insha’Allah I would recommend Utrujj courses because the teaching was not only of a high standard but also relevant to my every day life and I found I could apply the lessons I learnt immediately…” (Tina Mahiudin)
Review: Course Reviews 07-08
By Abu Shama
Explanation of Surah Maryam
Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem Surah Maryam is one of the most beautiful Surahs in the Qurʹan although all the Surahs are beautiful. The Surah has multiple dimensions and countless lessons to be learned that I feel at a complete loss to summarise a few verses let alone the whole Surah. Shaykh Haytham (May Allah bless him and increase his ranks) highlighted and expanded on a number of keynote themes of the Surah, let us recall some of them in this summary, Insha Allah: MAKKAN SURAH This Surah was revealed in Makkah, and typically the essence of the Surah is monotheism, Imaan, the depiction of the Hereafter, reward, punishment and contemplation upon the creation of Allah. The crux of the Surah is the Oneness of Allah; that He is the Perfect Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and He is in no need of begetting a child. Isa nor his mother were divine; they were simply servants of Allah. THE NAMING OF THE SURAH The Surah highlights various events from the lives of the Prophets of Allah. Mentioned in this Surah are Prophet Adam, Idris, Nuh, Ibrahim, Issac, Yaqub, Ismael, Musa, Haroon, Zachariah, Yahya, Isa and his mother Maryam (may Allah be pleased with them all). Here is a showcase of great personalities and the best of people to have walked on the face of this Earth. There are only five Surahs in the Qurʹan named after Prophets: Nuh, Hud, Ibrahim, Yusuf, Yunus and Muhammad. Allah has honoured Maryam by naming this Surah after her, thereby immortalising her till the end of time. Generations after generations will come to know of her, read about her, re‐live her pain, her anxiety and learn about her great status; she was the ‘Lady’ amongst the women, she was chosen from the whole of mankind to be a symbol of purity, chastity, nobleness and elevated to the highest of ranks. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LETTERS The Surah opens with the letters Kaf Ha Ya Ayn Swaad. Allah chose 29 out 29/114 Surahs of the Qurʹan to begin with letters. The total number of the letters is fourteen: Alif, Lam, Mim, Swaad, Ra, Kaf, Ha, Ya, `Ayn, Ta, Sin, Ha, Qaf and Nun. What a way to begin a Surah? Qurʹan is using the letters to draw attention, it is challenging the Arabs (the ‘pioneers’ of the Arabic language) to comprehend what these letters mean. The Qurʹan is almost treating the Arabs as children; challenging their intellect to deduce its meaning, which they failed. Allah alone knows the true meaning and significance of these letters. The companions understood and recognised that they were simply some letters of the alphabet and they left it to that. MENTIONED HERE IS THE STORY OF PROPHET ZACHARIAH The Surah begins by depicting the scene from the life of Prophet Zachariah , he has just returned from the chambers of Maryam “he found her supplied with sustenance. He said: ʺO Maryam! From where have you gotten thisʹʹ She said, ʺThis is from Allah. Verily, Allah provides sustenance to whom He wills, without limit.””[Al‐Imran:3:37] Zachariah is in his quarters alone; in his privacy, he intimately converses with His Lord, the Creator and the Sustainer of the universe. Zachariah desires a son; the desire is not simply born
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out of the yearning to experience fatherhood but to have a successor to carry on the torch of Prophet Yaqub and call people to the way of Allah. Zachariah presents his case to Allah Zachariah presents his request to Allah, he acknowledges his weakness and limitation due to old age but at the same time being fully expectant of Allah’s grace descending upon him. Zachariah never lost hope, he has never called upon Allah in vain, and every time he calls upon Allah, Allah responds to his call. Zachariah’s prayer was accepted immediately, he received the glad news of a gift, a successor to his Prophethood. Despite his wife being baron and old; despite his wife being physically and medically incapable to bear children, nonetheless, Allah granted them with a righteous son with a unique name, a name which has not been known before. He was to be the very first ‘Yahya’. It is imperative to have good opinion of Allah. Allah says: ‘I am as my servant thinks of Me.ʹ[Ahmed] ‘When my servants ask you about Me, I am always near. I answer their prayers when they call upon me.’ [Bakarah:2:186]. So ask Allah and He will respond to your call with more than your expectation but learn the etiquettes in how to ask. YAYHA – HOLD FIRM THE BOOK OF ALLAH Yahya was a Prophet in his young age. Allah blessed him with mercy, tenderness and wisdom. Wisdom often comes with age but Yahya was give wisdom at an early age. The callers to the way of Allah are required to be: Merciful – Make things easy for the people and overlook their mistakes Tender ‐ Warm and approachable for people, and show compassion towards them Wisdom ‐ Have knowledge and understanding in how best to apply knowledge. ‐ How to deliver the message, what to say, whom to say and when to say. Yahya held the book of Allah with power; he had firm conviction in the message which empowered him to lead himself and then others through dialogue and intellectual arguments. He acquired the power to exercise self‐control, the power to influence and win the hearts and mind of people through good character. MENTIONED HERE IS THE STORY OF MARYAM Maryam was selected by Allah from amongst mankind, she received revelation and according to some scholars these are strong arguments that she may have been the only female Prophet. Allah knows best. Maryam is depicted here when she withdrew herself from her family. In her isolation, she has fully immersed herself in the worship of Allah and her heart was always connected to Him. The Angel Jibril appeared in the form of a Perfected Man. Her immediate reaction was to seek help from her beloved Lord, Allah. She reminds the young man that she takes refuge in Allah the Merciful. Her purity is instinctively evident as she was not tempted in the slightest at seeing this very handsome man in a perfect human form. Jibril comforts her and gives her the glad tiding of a pure son. Wisdom and awareness of Maryam Maryam seclusion did not render her to become a recluse nor naïve or disconnected from reality of her community. She knew the science of creation well; she was well aware that children come about through the conjugal relationships between men and women. So, how could she have a child when she is untouched by any man? She also knew the reality of her community; prostitution was ripe and she was not amongst the unchaste women. Course Reviews 07-08
Maryam’s moment of weakness Allah willed and Maryam conceived Isa , she kept her pregnancy a secret from all other living souls. Day after day and month after month, she was nearing to the time giving birth. She withdrew herself into the desert. In the hour of labour, Maryam clutched on to a tree trunk, she became overwhelmed by her circumstances; here she was in the wilderness, alone, destitute, with no helpers, with no water, with no provision and with the dread looming of facing her community and society. How will she explain Isa and who will believe her? In this intense moment of anxiety adding to the pains of childbirth, she cried out ‘I wish I had been dead and forgotten long before all this!’ Maryam was confirming her weakness; mankind was indeed created weak. She cried for death when Allah planned for her greatness. How often do we curtail ourselves by playing small and insignificant? Allah had willed for her a great future even though she was unaware of her own strength, resolve and trust in Allah. It is often through struggles and strife of life one discovers their true potential to become great. Dealing with the means After her ordeal of labour, Maryam was now exhausted, tired and having no strength. Allah provided her with a stream and dates; however the dates were in the palm tree. She shakes the tree to obtain the dates. Fruits of reliance on Allah and working with the means Maryam was required to go through the ’means’ to obtain her provision (dates in this case). One must always go through the means to get one’s provision, however one must not rely on the means but rely upon Allah. How is it that Maryam shakes the tree trunk and she obtains dates if it were not by the help of Allah? We saw earlier, Maryam in her lodgings, she used to get provision from Allah without any effort of her own. What has changed since then that she must go through the means? In her quarters, she devoted herself totally to Allah and so Allah took total care in providing her provision, and now she can no longer dedicate all her time to Allah, she has other responsibilities (looking after baby Isa ) she must tend to him and thus she has to go through the means just like everyone else. Allah defends the faithful We see the extent of Maryam’s trust in Allah, she returns to her community on the command of Allah, she submits herself to Allah and vows to abstain from conversation. Allah defends her honour and chastity through the miraculous speech of baby Isa . Isa ‐ I am a servant of Allah It is not necessary that Allah All‐Mighty, should take for Himself a son to help Him in running the affairs of the universe. He is far above such a requirement. Such is His Might and His Powers, that whenever He decrees a matter, He only has to order it to ʹbeʹ, and it ʹbecomesʹ. Isa is not the son of God but he is of miraculous birth. He is nothing more than a servant of Allah and amongst the Great Messengers. MENTIONED HERE IS THE STORY OF IBRAHIM Allah describes through the example of Ibrahim the etiquettes of how to have a dialogue and how to invite people of seniority to Islam. The Qurʹan depicts the dialogue between Ibrahim and his father. Ibrahim uses a number of techniques to convey his message:
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Appealing emotionally: Ibrahim draws his father into the conversation by appealing to his father’s humanity and fatherly love. Ibrahim calls him ‘O my Father’ on four separate occasions. Appealing logically: Ibrahim discussion was plain, simple and based on common sense. He simply pointed to the flaws of worshipping idols which can neither hear, see nor benefit anyone in anyway. It cannot protect itself from a fly and so how can it help anyone else? I have certain knowledge: I have received some knowledge from Allah which has not reached you. A simple fact and not a boisterous claim. Follow me and do not follow Shay’tan who rebelled against Allah. The consequence of disobedience: If you follow Shay’tan, then he will lead you astray and Allah may punish you by making you his companion in Hell.
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The common reaction of the defeated Ibrahim’s approach to his father was one of kindness and mercy. His father’s reaction was one of complete rejection. He was not willing to listen to what Ibrahim was trying to convey, rather he wanted to kill his son. He wanted to sacrifice Ibrahim for the sake of pleasing and conforming to the cultural standings within the community. There was no room to negotiate, a simple ‘get out or I will kill you’. Ibrahim used simple common sense and logic; his father retaliated with threat of violence. How often do we see those in power resort to violence when they are defeated intellectually? ISLAM ‐ A RELIGION OF PEACE Ibrahim was a man of peace, he started his dialogue with compassion and he ended it with compassion, by saying ‘I will leave you in peace and pray to My Lord to forgive you.’ This was not a personal agenda but a matter of belief. Ibrahim presented his case; his father didn’t want to listen. So he left and secluded himself with his wife away from the community to avoid further confrontation. Allah is the source of all Peace (As‐Salam) and the Messenger of Allah are callers to peace, they have peace in their hearts and this is reflected in their actions and speech. The one who has no peace in their heart cannot call others to peace, how could they? ALSO MENTIONED ARE THE STORIES OF ISMAEL AND MUSA Musa fled the persecution of Pharaoh; he secluded himself for 10years in Madian (an oasis in the desert). He returns back to ‘civilisation’ as a Prophet. Haroon his brother was living amongst the people; he was connected with the reality of community so Musa asks Allah to make his brother a Prophet. Again we see the importance of having awareness of society and peoples’ condition. Qurʹan then depicts a moment from the life of Ismael . He was a Prophet whom Allah was pleased. He earnestly submitted to Allah from a tender age (willing to die on his father’s request), he obeyed Allah and commanded his family to obedience, to pray and give charity. GOOD PARENTING AND BEING GOOD TO PARENTS Throughout the Surah, we have seen examples of how the Prophets’ interacted with their family, and how dutiful they were to their parents. Yahya is said to be a ‘kind to his parents, he was not rebellious or domineering’. Isa was grateful and cherished his mother. And in the case of Ibrahim , we saw an example of how to be gentle to parents even with issues of utmost concern and we also witnessed an example of bad parenting. The callers to Allah are kind to all people and Course Reviews 07-08
especially to one’s own family. Family is the bedrock of society, tenderness in the family spills out to the wider community at large. The Prophet said, “The best in character is the one who is best to his family and I am the best towards my family”. FRUITS OF SECLUSION Seclusion and Solitude was the tradition of all those who seek guidance of Allah through the remembrance of Allah and worship. It was used to illuminate the heart and remove the shadows by disconnecting it from its heedlessness and desires and connecting it to Allah and the Hereafter. It seems that there is a direct link between seclusion and obtaining special gifts from Allah. Zachariah and Maryam secluded themselves and received the news of pure sons being born miraculously. Ibrahim and his wife Sarah secluded themselves from the people and they were granted with Issac and Yaqub , again at old age. Musa’s seclusion resulted in him speaking to Allah, and the Prophet Muhammad’s seclusion in the cave of Hira was the beginning of his Messenger hood. Imam Ghazali became al‐Ghazali when he roamed the earth alone in his travels. The list goes on… CHARACTER OF THE PROPHETS – A ROLE MODEL TO FOLLOW Role models are a crucial aspect of building the character of any individual. We came into this Earth with no perception of this world; we were nothing but a blank canvas where our role models have left their impression. Everyone needs role models; how much we eventually achieve in life and the Hereafter may boil down to one simple ingredient, the quality of the role models we choose to emulate. Allah related to Muhammad the stories of Prophets of the past to give him solace and motivate him in the struggle of delivering the message. All the Prophets of Allah are great role models as they are the ones whom Allah chose from all His creation to send upon them the revelations. It is a bounty of Allah that He did not send angels rather inspired human beings from amongst the people, communicating in a language they understand. The Prophets were humans, they had human needs; they ate, they slept and had emotions and feelings. They felt pain, suffered anguish and heartache when their people rejected and abused them. Allah guided them to the truth; they lived by the truth, they died defending the truth. Many attained the title of As‐Saadiq (truthful person). These Prophets since the dawn of man (Adam) brought a similar message and conveyed it to the people. Their struggle, their strategies, their miracles, their patience, their reliance on Allah, their speech and behaviours become blueprints for people who want to achieve a similar goal. The Qurʹan mentions these Greats as models to follow as they were people of inspiration and exemplary conduct. We have to take on their wholesome characteristics and act upon it, and when we do, we too will gain the pleasure of Allah. We should never dismiss ourselves by allowing to entertain the idea that ‘they were Prophets and we can never be like them’, to say this is to avoid taking responsibilities and it is indirectly doubting Allah ‐ that He will no longer give as He gave people in the past. A TELLING REMINDER TO END THE SURAH As for those who remember Allah, Allah will remember them and cause others to supplicate and remember them even long after their demise. As for those who rebel and insist upon sinning, Allah may destroy them like He has destroyed many generations before. Such would be their fate, that, not even a word would be mentioned of them, traces of them erased, forgotten in the midst of time as if they never existed, as if they never walked on the face of this Earth.
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