Tags

, ,

Part 1: http://podcast.bayyinah.com/2010/01/19/103-asr-part-1/

Part 2: http://podcast.bayyinah.com/2010/01/19/103-asr-part-2/

Part 3: http://podcast.bayyinah.com/2010/01/19/103-asr-part-3/

Part 4: http://podcast.bayyinah.com/2010/01/19/103-asr-part-4/

Part 5: http://podcast.bayyinah.com/2010/01/19/103-asr-part-5/

  • The surah before speaks about how Allah will ask about all the blessings we were given. This surah then takes of the blessing of time which we all have.
  • Previous surah takes about humans being distracted and this surah elaborates on what they are distracted from doing namely teaching and practicing patience and righteousness etc and this is the only thing that can save them from loss
  • No matter how much those who do not do these righteous acts think they have gained, they are actually in loss
  • This surah is the concluding address for the previous 4 surahs beginning with surat al zilzal all of which document the plight of the human being
  • ‘tawasu bil haqq wa tawassu bis sabr’ are mentioned as they are things ppl often overlook when they think of a  Muslim righteous person. There is an ‘and’ in between these conditions so all of them are necessary to avoid being in loss
  • The scholars give a lot of importance to this surah due to it being like a summary of the message of the Quran
  • ‘illa’ =except
  • Most people are doomed because most don’t meet the conditions
  • The subject is the bare minimum of what needs to be done to escape hellfire because before taking about how to get higher levels of jannah we first need to ensure we are meeting the minimum requirements for escaping the fire. Unless we meet these 4 conditions we wont survive
  • This surah is also proof that doing good is not just for our own benefit but also that of others by encouraging others to patience and faith ‘tawasa’ means people working together to do something, in this case to develop and encourage patience etc therefore there must be a concern for others in our quest for salvation
  • Tawasu bil haqq includes calling to the deen, giving nasiha to people, forbidding and standing against evil
  • The use of khusr implies that we weren’t in loss/trouble to begin with but we put ourselves in loss/trouble
  • When ‘an’ is at the end of a word in Arabic it means its meaning is made very extreme and powerful e.g. ar Rahman
  • Success is defined here and it has nothing to do with wealth etc as we view success in this dunya. According to our view, the Prophet saws would have been a failure as he was basically deported from Makkah and had to live in a cave and yet he was the greatest success of any person to have ever lived, Ibrahim as was also expelled from his home. The way we think about success and failure is not the way He wants us to think about it.
  • The wrong definition of success is bombarded at you over and over again by marketers etc even family until we start believing its true
  • Having wealth is not a bad thing but if you think that is success then you have failed
  • ‘al asr’ means time is running out, the last part of the day when time is running out. It comes from ‘al aseer’ which is juice that is squeezed out of ur hands
  • You work with each other because their survival depends on each other and waking them up to the truth and enjoining them to good
  • ‘salihat’ means doing something good which corrects the situation
  • The mention of haqq refers to giving dawah while mention of patience n consistency is reminding of the need for this in giving dawah because their survival relies on them persisting in it
  • This surah is about this dunyah
  • The 4 conditions are a summary of this deen
  • Allah begins it by taking an oath. The benefits of Allah swearing by something is to acknowledge the grandeur and profundity of something and to therefore reflect on it, in this case time. There is a hadith saying don’t curse time because Allah is time (therefore we shouldn’t say things like that was a bad day or that was a terrible year’) object of the oath, subject of the oath. The object of the oath is time while the subject is that mankind is in a state of loss. In the Qur’an and old Arabic rhetoric, the object is a proof of the subject. The proof is that we are always losing time, it leaves us and will always leave us. Allah associates human loss with the passage of time.
  • Al Asr can also refer to the lifespan of a nation therefore history itself, of the rise and fall of nations is proof that human beings are in loss
  • The object is a witness for the subject therefore Allah is bringing time as a witness that human beings are immersed in loss, humans throughout time have ran after things that are actually just distractions from our real purpose thinking that when they have them they will be successful but they failed. Time bears witness to this tragedy of human life over and over again.
  • To swear by the time of asr which is the last part of the day when merchants and travellers used to rush because with the night came danger. So this time is associated with a sense of urgency. It’s a message that we need to act now because the sunset of our life is just around the corner.
  • The 4 conditions are actually one, inseparable thing – iman and the rest are the fruits of iman. If those things don’t happen then they don’t truly have iman.
  • The last 2 conditions are actually righteous deeds themselves thus they are being highlighted specifically because they tend to be overlooked when people think of good deeds
  • Scenario: if someone brings a dispute to you, the first thing you do is make inquiries to establish the facts and the truth. Once you have discovered the truth you must stand by it however you may not like what you find so your actions may not represent your findings. This is hypocrisy. If you find something to be true, it is part of human decency to stick to it, live by it, execute it and implement it.
  • In our society we have the ‘mind your own business’ policy but this is not the way of the Prophets as. If you see a wrong being done it is human decency to speak out against it. But when you try to stand up for what is right we become scared that they will attack us so we don’t have the guts. But a courageous person will do it if they know it is wrong because it is not enough that they don’t do it.
  • Even kuffar go out to protest things when they feel strongly enough about it and even when they endured tough times because of it they were willing to persevere. When one is convinced about something first they change themselves then they stood up for it and spoke out about it and when persecution came they were patient in persevering. The people who follow this are considered heroes in history because they stood up for justice no matter what the cause. This is a universal process of decency which is respected.
  • Those people were fighting for things which was an incomplete truth and they endured so much for its sake so as people who have the complete truth we should be willing to do this and more, how much more convinced should a believer be than those people.
  • ‘Wal asr’ all of human history as proof that humans are at loss, also the opinion that Allah is swearing by the fact that Prophet saws appearance signifies the end of time and if people do not follow him they are truly in loss, some mufassiroon say that when Allah swears by something it should be assumed that ‘Rabb’ comes before it so I swear by the master of time
  • It is saying that human beings are in loss and the change the way that they are doing things is immediately
  • How much of our 24hrs is spent in paying our bills for the dunya and how many our spent paying our bills for the akhira?
  • If you bring a change to one part of your day then you’ve transformed one part of your life, and the time to make that change is now
  • You don’t get lazy and turn up really late to work because you feel the sense of urgency – you know you will get fired if you do that so we feel we have no choice but to be there on time every day so it automatically made consistency easy for us, it becomes second nature. But in terms of deen we do that because we don’t feel the sense of urgency. If we really believed that we will be in loss if we didn’t meet the 4 conditions provided by Allah then we would do it no matter what.
  • When Allah says ‘those who believe’ he means real, true, deep conviction where one is convinced that acting according to Allah’s orders is directly connected to his success and that it is urgent to fix himself
  • Al Asr is the sort of urgency you see in a student with an assignment due very soon, time is running out and you are convinced you will be in trouble if you don’t do it
  • If a boss comes into the office and says ‘every one of you is in trouble and you’re all going to find out very soon how much trouble you are in’ not one person will say ‘oh no, not me I’m fine’. When we hear that in dunyah there is a sense of urgency and we would start saying omg why is he angry, is there something we’re not doing? Allah also says all mankind is in loss, is in trouble yet we don’t feel we are included.
  • Your boss says to you – ‘you’ve got 4 tasks’ you may not enjoy all of them but you still have to do it. If you say you’re only good at the first 2 and you only do those, you can’t say to your boss that you’re just not going to do the other 2 even if the first 2 are done super well. He would be fired.
  • It’s all or nothing – that’s what we have to develop with regards to the 4 conditions
  • ‘Inna’ is used when you’re speaking to a group who are in doubt about what you are saying. It also means certainly. Which means most human beings don’t believe it when they hear it they say ‘oh it can’t be that bad’
  • ‘Insaan’ also has the meaning of forgetfulness connected to the fact that mankind are forgetful thus even when they are warned, they forget soon after, includes all human beings.
  • The psychological concept of defusion of responsibility, if you speak generally people just assume you’re not talking about them but if you speak directly and specifically then they listen. When you specify, there’s no more defusion of responsbility. When you mete out a responsibility people always say yes it’s important but there’s always someone else who can do it.
  • ‘Innal insaana’ means that each and every single human being is in loss so everyone who hears this verse should be thinking about themselves and how they are in trouble.
  • On the day of judgment the one who is about to be thrown into the hellfire will beg Allah to throw all his loved ones including his baby, and all of humanity into the hellfire instead of him
  • Time for us to change our behaviour is running out
  • ‘la fee khusr’ ‘la’ is another way of saying definitely, khusr means ‘incredible loss’
  • An oath is also a manifestation of anger
  • He exhausts all of his efforts in dunya and in distraction and only wake up when death arrives
  • Ibn Taimiyya said that humanity is kept from accepting the truth of this deen by way of 2 obstacles; doubts and temptations. He argued that truth is the removal of doubt so tawasu bil haqq and tawasu bis sabr as sabr is needed to overcome temptations
  • Human beings are so preoccupied with their personal problems and blow them out of proportion, when people immerse themselves in these problems they fail to see they are just part of a larger picture and their problems are nothing compared to that of others lying ahead. They think they are in loss now but they don’t know what is lying ahead.
  • When people are immersed in their own problems they fail to see 3 things; the lessons in the creation of Allah they fail to see the creation of Allah as signs so they are not reminded of your true purpose and what is most important. Also they fail to see the lessons of history (this is what this surah is highlighting). The ultimate loss of people of the past was not using their time in doing good while they still had a chance. They also fail to look at the signs in revelation, in the Qur’an and the sunnah for guidance.
  • Asr -If we only considered days such as that of badr, of Nuh etc then it would be enough to  stop us falling into loss
  • Time is an enemy you cannot fight – ruins are the graveyards of nations and we should think of how all their wealth and might didn’t change the fact that they didn’t use their time properly and they were destroyed. All these great powers who used to say ‘who will come against us’ (and Allah will say to them ‘arent you the ones who used to swear much and say you weren’t ever going to have any downfall and nobodys going to take us down – well time took you down too’)
  • Visiting ancient sites should be a reminder of surat al asr
  • The suffering of man in this dunyah – we have psychological and physical suffering therefore our suffering is more than animals. Everyone has some type of problem, the rich and the poor. Allah freed us from loss in this world with the 4 conditions as they ease the suffering of humans in this world
  • The exception is always the minority. The people in loss are the majority. In society, the majority sets the trends and decides what’s right and what’s wrong, they set the standards. Normal behaviour is defined in psychology as doing the same thing as everyone else, if you don’t do this, you are abnormal.
  • All the fish are going up the stream but one or two are trying to go the other way so anyone who sees them will think they are crazy. This is how it is for those trying to live the haqq in a society where everyone is headed for loss.
  • The singular is used in ‘insaan’ you will be by yourself when you answer for your actions
  • It is important to maintain unity among those fish trying to swim against the majority, you can’t sustain iman on your own, iman boosters in good company with salat al jama’a and nasiha, learning with others
  • Fruits of iman – tranquillity is at the heart of the fruits of iman (because you know this world is temporary so loss in dunyah doesn’t affect you as much) you realise all is given to you by Allah so all must be returned and this changes your attitude. You are at peace with your life no matter your circumstances. This is why people run after entertainment and enjoyment and other things because we are not at rest however it is only the remembrance of Allah in which hearts find rest. If you don’t have iman that is a loss. If you long for something other than Allah it will never give you tranquillity.
  • We are answerable for all actions we do consciously
  • Salihaati is an adjective, minimum righteous deeds Allah is saying you just need to do a few good deeds but most people fail to do them, the deen is not so difficult that its just a list of countless deeds. The obligatory things are few and then there are those things which embellish the believers life. Everybody knows the basics.
  • Do good things and you will become better, good deeds are being described like medicine with the use of the word ‘salihat’. The deeds are correcting you and fixing you and when you stop the sickness comes back.
  • ‘tawasu’ to counsel someone to do something in a way which makes the person believe you really want good for them, it contains a sense of emergency, it is valued advice which will be of real benefit to them. If you tell someone to do a good thing and that person attacks you by saying that you need to do that yourself you should just say yes you’re right, I do need to work on that. If there is even an element of truth in it, you take it. This is included in tawasu. Narration of Umar seeing a guy drinking through the window of a house so he bursts into his house and grabs him saying haram but the guy says to him that he committed one sin while Umar committed 3 being looking into the house, entering without permission and assuming he was drinking alcohol then Umar said ‘you’re right’ and left. When someone gives you true counsel it is a gift so you need to take it and that shows sincerity. However most of us see it as an attack on our ego. Their intention of giving nasiha is with Allah but you take it as good.
  • If you do good deeds your iman will increase and if you have iman you will definitely have good deeds. Mutual relationship.
  • Tawasu bil haqq includes tawheed, obedience to Allah and His Messenger, distancing from worldly ambition and nearness to aspiring for akhira. Also they advise each other with the truth that should be implemented. They remind each other by giving each other ayat of Qur’an full of love, concern and affection for each other. They remind each other with tawheed, any truth, any good that deserves to be lived by. And you do so no matter what the circumstances or consequences are.
  • If you command the good and forbid the evil there will be consequences, you may even be tortured in that case you exhort each other to patience
  • The 4 conditions provided by Allah for success are not what people in the dunya would say lead to success so it demands us to think of success and failure in a different way to most people therefore things that previously seemed miniscule and unimportant before will now seem important and vice versa
  • Surat al hujjarat Allah says about the Bedouins that they don’t have iman they only have Islam as they said shahadah but iman hasn’t entered their hearts yet. People assume having Islam means having iman but this proves otherwise. Iman doesn’t rest on the tongue, it rests in the heart. Then Allah says if you want to have iman follow Allah and His Messenger saws
  • According to Qur’an 3 things rest in the heart;
  1. Iman
  2. Revelation/ayat (revelation came down onto the heart of the Messenger saws) when we memorise and internalise Qur’an that knowledge is in our hearts
  3. Dhikr – remembrance and reminder
  • When your heart is completely full of iman, sakeena is the tranquillity which results from it
  • A sign of iman is salah because it comprises of all 3 things in the heart
  • ‘Ya ayuhhal latheena amanou’ meaning those who believe (verb) and ‘al mumineen/al muminoon’ – believers (noun). A verb is temporary, unstable while a noun is permanent and fixed. Those who believe may be those whose iman goes up and down, maybe they are weak believers, maybe they only have Islam. But al muminoon is people of mature iman and Allah never criticises those ppl when He mentions them instead he praises and elevates them whereas when you see Allah addressing those who believe it may or may not be nice things
  • The 3 core pillars of iman, must accept all. Makki suwar all concentrate on these topics in order to create iman;
  1. Iman in Allah
  2. Iman in a message (includes the book and the Messenger)
  3. Iman in an afterlife.
  • Having iman in the Messenger saws, if you speak about him as if he is a regular historical figure then it affects your iman and negates your good deeds
  • The greatest fruit of iman is tranquillity – peace of mind. No one will enjoy peace of mind like the one who has real iman. This means coming to terms with the fact that no injustice goes unanswered,  no suffering goes unnoticed, no deed goes unrewarded, no affliction comes except as a test and it becomes a means of forgiveness.
  • When you have iman, you know ease is coming so you can have patience and that these are temporary struggles leading to eternal bliss inshaAllah and you didn’t lose anything whether it be job, spouse etc because you don’t believe it was yours to begin with.
  • ‘tawasu bil haqq’ ‘tawasu’ comes from the word to mean living a will or a legacy and whatever you leave is of great value to them. Can be translated as counselling one another truthfully and they don’t shy away from telling the truth and they are sincere and honest about it. Or ‘with truth’ or truth could refer to the Qur’an so you counsel each other by reminding them of Qur’an and the sunnah etc. Counsel with the truth by means of the truth, to the truth.
  • 2 types of deeds – those that only affect us and those that affect others. If you see people being hurt by the wrong actions of others you have an obligation to stand up and speak the truth. Part of ‘tawasu bil haqq’ is speaking against something/give genuine counsel if you feel someone will be harmed if you do not
  • When you go to do tawasu bil haqq you start being scared of the consequences but Allah take this away when he starts the ayah off by saying ‘those who believe’ because those who have iman should fear only Allah, and when you do good deeds your iman is strengthened and when your iman is strengthened it’s only then that its easy for you to do tawasu bil haqq
  • If you find it difficult to do tawasu bil haqq it means your iman is not strong enough
  • When you do this work it necessitates patience hence why ‘watawasu bis sabr’ follows
  • Sabr includes perseverance, commitment, constancy (Ibn Taimiyya said sabr is having the same level of obedience to Allah in ease and in difficulty)
  • They also encouraged each other in being patient and perseverant etc which means you need people to encourage you to sabr, you will lose heart on your own – the reminder benefits the believer
  • All mentioned in past tense to represent those who did these acts until death took them so you must be constant
  • If you don’t feel the need to give tawasu bil haqq it means you’re not committed to good deeds and if you’re not committed to good deeds then you don’t have iman. All 4 conditions are a litmus test of each other.