{Sabeel} Divine Science - Part One Retreat Notes

7/31/2019 {Sabeel} Divine Science - Part One Retreat Notes

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DivineScienceRetreatNotes 1

The Divine Science Part One:An Introduction into the Sciences of the

Quran

1433AH / 2012CE

starofknowledge.wordpress.com

Muslim Research & Develo ment Foundation

Divine Science Retreat Notes

Delivered by Dr. Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad


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2 DivineScienceRetreatNotes

ContentsChapters Pages

Transliterationtable 03

Preface 04

01.ChapterOneManhajal-Istidlal 05

02.ChapterTwoPreliminaryTopics 17

03.ChapterThreeRevelation&theQuran 21

04.ChapterFourCompilationoftheQuran 22

05.ChapterFive-Readings 28

06.ChapterSixDivisionoftheQuran 30

07.ChapterSeven:ArabicTheLanguageoftheQuran 36

08.ChapterEightInimitabilityoftheQuran 37

09.ChapterNineTheQuranicMessage 39

10.Conclusion 43


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In the name of Allh, All-Merciful, Most Merciful

TRANSLITERATION TABLE

Consonants

a/i/u/ d d k

b dh t l

t r z m

th z n

j s gh h

h sh f w

kh s q y

Vowels,diphthongs,etc.

Short: a i o/u

Long: /aa /ie/ee oo/

Diphthongs: ai/ay aw

Divine Science Part One Study Notes 1433AH / 2012CE

Muslim Research & Development Foundation


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PREFACE

In the Name of Allh (Subhanahu wa taala), Ar-Rahmn, Ar-Raheem. All Praise is

for Allh (Subhanahu wa taala). We Praise Him and Seek His Help and

Forgiveness. We turn to Him in repentance and seek refuge in Allh (Subhanahu wa taala) from the evil of our selves and the evil of our own deeds. Whomsoever Allh

(Subhanahu wa taala) guides, cannot be led astray and whomsoever Allh(Subhanahu wa taala) misguides, none can guide him.

I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allh (Subhanahu wa

taala) alone without any partner.

I bear witness that Muhammed (all Allhu alay-hi wa-sallam) is His Slave and

Messenger. Allh (Subhanahu wa taala) sent him with the Guidance and Religion of

Truth. He conveyed the Message, fulfilled the Trust placed upon him, SincerelyAdvised the Ummah, made Jihd in the Cause of Allh (Subhanahu wa taala) in its

truest sense and worshipped his Lord until he met the inevitable certainty. May theSalaah and Salaam of Allh (Subhanahu wa taala) be upon him, his Household, his

Companions and those who followed them exactly in Faith and Worship.

To proceed:

This document consists of personal notes taken from the Sabeel retreat; The Divine

Science Part one, delivered during weekend of 10h and 11th Shaban 1433 by Sheikh

Haitham al-Haddad.

I ask Allh (Subhanahu wa taala) to make this an accurate and successfulpresentation. And I take Allh (Subhanahu wa taala) as a Witness that whatever

Truth and Good is in it is from Him and by His Leave Alone and whatever opposes

that is from my own mistakes and ignorance and from the accursed (la), and Allh

(Subhanahu wa taala), His Messenger (all Allhu alay-hi wa-sallam), the Authors

(rh) and Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad (ha) are free from that and I free myself from that

and regret it and take it back.

I ask Allh (Subhanahu wa taala) to reward those who have assisted in this workand to make it a means of benefit for myself, those who have assisted in this work, the

Authors, and the Readers.

We ask Allh (Subhanahu wa taala) to make us from those who preserve the

Sunnah of His final Prophet and Messenger (all Allhu alay-hi wa-sallam) and from

those who adopt it.

Ab Hudhayfah10

thShaban 1433


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Saturday 30th

June 2012/ Sabt 10th

Shaban 1433

5:45am Session One

Mashallaah a fresh morning and normally the morning has barakah in it and the

prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam made dua for starting early; the dua of

barakah for starting early. The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam established

there is barakah in starting early in the morning.

Many people are not used to early starts, Sheikh asks who has not been to

sabeel before (large show of hands), sheikh mentions it is the first course for

most of the people, maybe 70%.

Chapter One Manhaj al-Istidlal

We need to look at the learning objectives of this chapter.

When many people study Islam, they dont know how to study or when to

study and thus they study Islam for a long time with no roadmap and remain

confused and feel they have not achieved much because this study in the

beginning did not follow a structured course, which is why it is essential for a

person beginning study to understand the overall picture of what they are

studying. After mastering the whole picture, a person can go slowly into the

details of the subject matter. If a person begins with the details, they will

become lost and lose direction after some time. We are trying to draw a

picture/map/roadmap of what Islamic knowledge is all about. We are trying to

draw a picture of all Islamic knowledge in our mind. Once we have that picture

clear in our mind are successful in reframing our mind according to that

picture, it will be very easy to progress and understand. In the beginning it will


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be a very slow process until we reframe and structure our mind, but once we do

so, we will be on the right path.

Page 9 the first page of chapter One. Contextualizing this course. There are a

series of question.

This course is an interactive course, so we must ensure that everyone exercises

their mental ability and thinks according to a structure and after some time they

will recognize they will think in a particular way. This is the aim of the course:

to think in a structured way. This process in the beginning is a mental torture

for those who are not used to it. However, after some time you will find it easy

and not feel any difficulty.

We tried in developing these courses to develop them in a way from the

classical way to engage the person to think in a particular way, in a very

academic, structured and Islamic way.

A map shows you different locations, depending on the context you are in.

When we talk about the knowledge map we are looking at different sciences.

Some people study tafseer, some people study Aqeedah, Usool ul Fiqh. What is

the link between all of these things? Should we study Tafseer and then

Aqeedah and then Quran? How can we find a way to study all of these

disciplines together?

Has this been a result of academic scholarship or a reaction to problems? The

sheikh answers that it is the result of all of these. Some books from 600 or 700

years ago may not be able to be used today.

The sheikh studied Shariah in different ways. The sheikh found that the earlier

books are more profound then later books.


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Allaah decreed Quran to be a book for the whole of community, irrespective of

place. Sometimes in the Quran you will find many things in one place e.g. in

Baqarah you will see politics, rulings regarding talaq, salah, riba and many

other different topics. This is amazing. We will find some classical books that

followed the methodology of the Quran and after some time we will see that

they are very profound.

The sheikh wanted to do a presentation on inheritance law and found the most

profound book and methodology is how the Quran presented inheritance law.

However, very few people presented it like this. We do not want people to be

over-confident with western academia and undermine Islamic style academia.

We try to benefit from different tools in presenting knowledge, but have to be

careful with how we merge the presentation of this knowledge with Western

ways.

The design we have here is a design deeply rooted in Islamic knowledge,

however, in terms of presentation it is in a way that appeals to the

Western/modern community, which preserves the essence of the knowledge. It

also takes into consideration our contemporary problems.

Page 10 All the courses we need to attend, fit into this map.

Here, Islamic knowledge in general can be classified into two parts, something

called rulings and the other main category is how did we get those rulings. A

product and how we got this product. Islamic knowledge can be classified like

this, and how we got this outcome. E.g. we must pray five times a day, this is

an product/outcome. How did we come about with this product/outcome? We

dont know.


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In medicine for example, you go to your GP, you have certain symptoms and

he will diagnose you with a flu. He has given you an outcome. You may not be

convinced, so you will ask him how/why? So, he will explain a little bit to you.

Once you have the conclusion, it does not explore how he reached this

conclusion.

Similarly, you take your car, which has a problem to the mechanic. He may tell

you that something needs to be changed. You may ask him how/why? You may

have knowledge about what he is saying or not, highlighting the difference

between the outcome and the way to the outcome.

When many people ask questions over the phone, they dont want to be told

about the evidences of the rulings etc. E.g. a person said their parents passed

away and asked how to divide the assets. The first question was, who died first,

they asked is it important? We said Yes, he said why? This person is

concerned with the outcome/ruling, so even when he asks, why, he has no

knowledge about it, due to his level.

Q. Is it permissible to be only interested in rulings and not the way to rulings

as a Muslim, not as a student of knowledge, but as a layman?

The first point: We need to understand some of the way to rulings to

distinguish between different rulings and analyze, which is better. E.g. a doctor

says you have flu, you may want to go one step further and explore it.

Can we just accept rulings or is this taqleed (blind following) and do we only

consider the understanding of the rulings important due to our experience of

Western education.


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Western people are surprised that Muslims dont doubt their religion. You have

no peace in your heart if you doubt your religion. Unfortunately, this quality is

starting to move to the Western world.

The Ashari aqeedah has developed this methodology, to doubt and question

the names and attributes of Allaah. Allaah created us to believe in certain

things. The idea of fitrah (natural inclination) is not present in Western

ideology.

Yesterday after jumuah khutbah in Woolwich, the imam; a sister (16 years) had

a friend who was 17, who accepted Islam and many of her friends came with

her and were interested in Islam. A brother who was from Saudi Arabia was

amazed that this was happening in the UK (strength of dawah). Islam is in the

fitrah.

The Sheikh went to a masjid in Brighton to pray and there was a person who

had many tattoos, and performed the prayer. The sheikh after salah spoke with

him and asked if he became Muslim, he said, No, I am just searching for the

truth. He found the truth, through sajdah.

Sheikh Yusuf Estes mentioned that he knew a person who would look to the

sky and say, I know you are there. There are some things which are a given.

We cannot question some things, but there are other things, which we can.

We have to have a deep understanding of what we are preaching; this cannot

simply be gained via knowing rulings only.

The bulk of knowledge is rulings. However, there are many other branches that

belong to the way to rulings.


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Those who want to compete and be as-siddique, they should understand the

way to rulings.

Hadith: Allaah put barakah in the early morning for my ummah. One of the

narrators of this hadith used to send his servants who worked for him in his

store and asked them to start work very early and became a big businessman,

implementing this hadith. Dont have this delusion that if you dont sleep 8

hours, you are going to die, were all going to die, so its better to die after

doing a lot rather than little.

They say the average person only utilizes 10% of their potential, so we must

extend ourselves. We should never say that we cannot do anything. In

Psychology they say your worst enemy is yourself, so always push yourself and

you can achieve a lot.

The sheikh received a whatsapp message:Hasbanallaah sa ytinallahu min

fadhihi wa rasooluhu, inaa ila rabbina la raaghiboon(Surah Taubah: 59)

Sheik Bin Baz says I have never used this dua in the tashahhud in a difficult

matter that I face, except Allaah makes it easy. Sheikh Magamsi says this is a

dua of miracles.

These whatsapp messages are useful. Sometimes you might forget a dhikr and

it enables people to remind you.

We said Islamic knowledge could be divided into two parts; the rulings and the

way to rulings.

The sheikh asks if people have attended any courses in the past week or so and

to decipher whether it falls into the category of rulings or way to rulings. E.g.

Fiqh of Ramadhan, fiqh of inheritance fell in both categories as the rulings and

the methodology of different madhabs were explained.


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The seerah itself is a very rich source for rulings, but it can also be used to

understand the way to rulings.

The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam in Makkah never waged war against

the kuffar, but when he established an Islamic state in Madinah he performed

Jihad - Ruling.

When Riba was prohibited, it was prohibited in stages; the last stage came just

before the death of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam - Ruling.

If we look at tajweed as a separate discipline, it mainly consists of rulings.

However, tajweed as a discipline can be connected to Quran, which is a source

of knowledge, so tajweed can be categories in way to rulings too.

We should always consider whether we are studying rulings or way to rulings.

Rulings; Can be classified into two main categories: They either govern the

relationship between human beings and the creator or they govern the

relationship between creation.

Believing in the unseen falls under believing in Allaah, because information

about the unseen is from Allaah, so a prerequisite is to believe in Allaah.

If you look at it from a rational perspective: Only Allaah and the creation exist.

Thus, only two categories of rulings exist.

The rights of the creation are not divorced from Allaah. Every right of the

creation was made, because Allaah made it such. Any right of the creation

exists only because Allaah gave us such a right. Therefore, we can transfer


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everything we do to ibaadah, however, if we do not do this, we will become

humanists. Allaah created us, and decrees punishments, which should be

applied to us. We transfer all of our actions because of Allaah. This is a deep

point and there is a lot of confusion about it. Muslims, do not have a prevalent

discourse, which causes them to feel inferior and to accept the Western

discourse.

The sheikh attended an Islamic conference by Muslims and there was a debate

on the issue, as to whether we treat human beings based on them being human

or whether we treat them in a certain way based on the rulings of Allaah.

Allaah sent the Quran, to follow the Quran and the Prophet salallaahu alayhee

wa salam to follow the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam. Therefore, we do

everything around us, based on the rights of Allaah. In the discussion

concerning human rights, people neglect the importance of Allaahs rights. In

essence, secularism is kufr because it neglects the rights of Allaah.

Some people claim that this is a selfish approach, but in reality they are the

people who are selfish, because they do actions for self-satisfaction.

Moreover, if you want to give a radical answer, say, So what if it is selfish?

at the end of the day we want to go to paradise, we want to be martyrs and to

get 72 hoor al ayn. It has been proven, all values except Islamic values will

collapse, because they cannot stand e.g. London riots normal people

committed crimes too (where are the values?). The main point is that we do

everything, because of Allaah.

In fiqhi issues, it is important to examine the rulings and to understand who the

rights of these rulings, belong to.


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So far we have been discussing the map of the Islamic knowledge and we said

we can divide Islamic knowledge into two main categories 1) way to rulings 2)

rulings themselves. We said that the rulings are nothing but the rights of Allaah

and the rights of the creation, however, this does not mean the rights of the

creation are separate to the rights of Allaah.

There are many other impacts of this important principle that everything

belongs to Allaah. Allaah says I have not created jinn and angels except to

worship me. Allaah also says in surah Bayyinah They were not commanded

except to worship Allaah alone. If we want to divide the rights of Allaah and

the rights of creation in more details we can easily say the rights of the

creation, includes the rights we have on ourself. This also includes the rights of

the family and the guests. There are rights of Allaah, rights of his prophets,

rights for the leaders and the rights for the rest of the people.

We can elaborate more and say the other creation have rights over us for

example in the hadith when the prostitute gave water to the dog and Allaah had

mercy over her for that and the man who was forgiven for the rahma he showed

to the dog, showing animals have rights have over us. In every moist river

(meaning any being) has reward. If we want to go further we say that the

environment has rights over us, we are not allowed to spoil it for nothing, either

for the environment for itself or because people enjoy it. Without going much

further because of time, we can see on page 10 in front of us. This is useful

because we may focus on only one right and neglect others. In the way to

rulings, there is a very important part that has been neglected by people in

Islam, as there has been very little emphasis on the way to rulings and to deeply

and truly understands Islam we need to know where these rulings came from

and how they came about.


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Also, if we want to have a better ability to explain certain Islamic rulings we

need to have this background or we might be involved in debates and

discussions, so we need to know where these ruling came from. If we want to

be attached to the Quran and Sunnah and want to be attached to it, we must go

back and see where these rulings came from.

Way to rulings means where the rulings come from and the way those rulings

were extracted (Sheikh emphasizes this point). This means these rulings were

extracted from certain sources as they cannot simply be extracted from

nowhere.

Sheikh asks if anybody disagrees... nobody disagrees.

They said one of the problems of technology is that they dismiss the age factor

between people, especially young people, because there is no differentiation

between ages on social networking sites, as a result young people lost they way

they looked at older people, including respect. By time, the youth have lost

their sense of age. A long time ago, a father or an older person would mean

something, but now this sense of respect has been lost.

We said way to rulings is extracted from certain sources, which means we have

sources. When we talk about way to rulings, we should ask where these rulings

were taken from. There is a source and a way to extract the ruling from the

source the understanding.

Q. Why was the way to rulings neglected? Because sometimes they thought it

was difficult, because there was a required level of understanding of how

rulings are extracted from the source and a lazy culture developed, where

people just wanted to learn rulings. It can be considered to be the fault of the

teachers, because people look for an easy route and thus they do not provide

the full picture. Thus, due to this being neglected, Sabeel focuses on way to


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rulings, because it helps us to have a structured way of understanding. We

(Sabeel) want to develop leaders who can deliver Orthodox Islam to the people,

which can only be achieved by understanding where rulings come from.

Therefore, Sabeel compliments other classes and courses. The three-year

Sabeel course provides you with the main bulk of what an Islamic university is

providing, the skeleton structure of such a course.

Moreover, what we found is that people are studying interconnected courses

and there must be a way to bring them all together, so Sabeel enables us to

create a bigger picture and have a holistic overview.

Brothers, if you study a topic and there are many topics including general ones.

If you do not understand the whole picture generally speaking e.g. a snapshot,

all at once, you will never have an understanding of the topic or a very

superficial understanding. For example, with Zakat, if a person does not have a

snapshot of Zakah, they wouldnt be able to master the Zakat topic fully and

whenever they face any question, they will be confused.

If you study transactions or Islamic finance, which is unfamiliar to most, you

will become confused without a holistic picture. Many people study Usul ul

Fiqh in a way that is not relevant in the minds of people. If you study Usul ul

Fiqh in a structured way you will find it very easy and relevant.

Example given by student: When you look at a map and get directions, if you

zoom in, you have limited scope of the route, but if you zoom out, you can see

the whole route in one snapshot.

The sheikh mentions that this is a very profound example. Leaders have a

vision because they have a bigger picture, and managers look at the detail.

Understanding the structure is very vital, as we have mentioned.


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Way to rulings constitutes three steps 1) what are the sources of Islam 2)

Understanding the sources 3) How to put this understanding into practice.

You must implement your understanding, otherwise it means nothing e.g.

learning the theory of driving and never driving is pointless.

You need correct implementation, for correct understanding, for the correct

sources.

The sources of Islam are Quran and Sunnah mainly, but we can add to them

Ijma and Qiyas. These sources require tools to be understood and to extract

rulings from the sources. The scholars concluded that Ijma and Qiyas can be

seen as main sources.

Quran and Sunnah were revealed in Arabic; therefore if we want to understand

them properly, we must know the Arabic language. Therefore, the Arabic

language is the first/main tool to understand the Quran and Sunnah. If

someone asks why is it a tool to understand the Quran and Sunnah? Because

these texts are in the Arabic language, therefore it is needed to understand

Quran and Sunnah. If a person does not understand the Arabic language, they

have understood the Quran and Sunnah through a third party and do not have

direct access to the Quran and Sunnah. To understand Quran and Sunnah, you

have to be strong in the Arabic language.

In conclusion, there is the source(s) and there are some tools we need apply in

those sources to come up with the rulings. Those who know Quran and

Sunnah and are stronger than us in Arabic language, they are more qualified

than us to understand the Quran and Sunnah. If we take this further, we could

say the scholars are the best to understand the Islamic sources.


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We can say, Quran nd Sunnah was revealed in a particular time, therefore

those who were present at that time, are the most qualified to understand the

text e.g. the companions, who witnessed the text in it entirety.

This matrix will help us to identify our weakness in Islamic knowledge. It will

help us to identify what courses to study. The matrix (page 9) highlights what

we need to study and what we should prioritize.

The sheikh apologizes for repeating the foundations of Mihaj al Istidlal, but

stresses the importance of the topic, and due to the number of new students this

needed explanation.

Chapter Two pg.14

The methodology of understanding Islam is based on three steps 1) getting the

correct sources 2) the correct understanding of the sources 3) to implement the

sources correctly.

In education, if you create an environment where you emphasise certain things,

they remain in your mind and serve as pillars and then you can connect

between them and enable you to recall them.

The correct sources are mainly Quran and Sunnah. In this course, we are

studying the Quran as a source.

Are we expecting to know the meanings of the Quran by the end of the

course? No, this course does not explain the meanings of the Quran.


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This course is focusing on Quran as a source and how Quran came about e.g.

the authenticity of the Quran. This is the meaning of studying the Quran as a

source.

We said that the sources of Islam are mainly the Quran and Sunnah. They are

both sources, so we will study Quran as a source and Sunnah as a source

aswell. When we study Quran as a source, we will study the authenticity of the

Quran and how the Quran was compiled. When we study the Sunnah as a

source for Islam, we study the authenticity of the sunnah and how the sunnah

came about and was compiled. We have now drawn a parallel between

studying the Quran as a source and the Sunnah as a source. We are not

studying the tools or implementation of the tools. However, studying Islam as a

source will help us to understand some aspects, principles or rules to

understand the meanings of the Quran.

We said that this course is studying Quran as a source, it means we are going

to study the Quran from an authenticity point of view and how it came about.

Chapter Two basically explains what we are going to study. These topics are

normally covered in courses like this, called Ulum al Quran Science of

Quran. Ulum al Quran talks about the Quran as a source e.g. the order of the

Quran, the collection of the Quran etc. These are the main topics of Ulum al

Quran.

Some scholars in the category Ulum al Quran have included the method of

explaining Quran,, whereas others have included them in other categories due

to linguistic differences.

The classification of Makkan and Madinan surahs will help us to understand

the text itself.


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The word Quran means recitation.

The first element of the definition of the Quran says that it is the speech of

Allaah. This means that Allaah did not create the Quran but Allaah spoke the

Quran. It means the Quran that we read, are the words Allaah spoke a long

time ago, no less, no more.

The Quran that we read; when we read Surah Ikhlas, Allaah said this a long

time ago, we are repeating exactly what Allaah spoke, no more, no less.

There are two different styles of reciting maliki yawmideen. Allaah spoke

both.

Some people said that Allaah commanded the pen to write the Quran, so the

pen wrote what Allaah had in himself to say, so the pen suppressed what

Allaah wanted to say. THIS IS WRONG!

Allaah spoke the Quran. Others have said that Jibreel took the pen and knew

what Allaah wanted to say and wrote the Quran. THIS IS WRONG.

We must believe that Allaah spoke the Quran and there was a sound when

Allaah spoke the Quran, because speech has sound.

Allaah did not want to leave any doubts regarding the Quran, which is why he

spoke the Quran.

A mute does not speak and wanted a glass of water, and a person knows his

body language.


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Allaah does not speak and let others express what he wants to say this is not

befitting of his majesty.

Allaah has honoured us by allowing us to repeat what Allaah has said.

The Quran is the speech that was revealed to Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam, this differentiates it from all other books that were revealed.

We can swear by the attributes of Allaah, so we can swear by the Quran

because it is an attribute of Allaah. We can swear by the Taurah and Injeel, as

long as it is the old injeel and Taurah.

This is the speech of Allaah that has been sent to the Prophet salallaahu alayhee

wa salam, the recitation of which is considered to be an act of worship, in order

to distinguish between the Quran and hadith Qudsi.

Even if you do not understand the Quran it is an act of worship if you recite it.

The biggest nima we can get is reciting the Quran. There are more than 150

letters in Surah Fatiha, so through every recitation and teaching Fatiha, much

hasanat can be gained.

Some Shuyookh said that every man should compete with his wives as to who

will teach the children surah Fatiha.

Every person should set a target, that in five years they have the Quran

memorized.

The biggest nima we can get is to memorize the Quran, so we must strive to

do so within five years.


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Chapter Three Revelation and the Quran Ustadh Asif

Uddin

Wahy can occur in two types:

1) Without an intermediary e.g. speaking directly to Allaah and also being

inspired by Allaah via dreams. The Isra and Miraj is also considered to have

occurred without an intermediary. However, a narration that mentions the

Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam received the last ayats of Baqarah during

the Isra and Miraj this narration that Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salamreceived revelation directly from Allaah and not Jibreel alayhis-salam.

However, this narration is not explicit and considered weak.

2) with an intermediary Jibreel alayhis-salam came to the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam in the form of an angel, in his natural form. This happended

three times, first time at jabal noor in Hira, the second time during the

revelation of Al-Alaq and during the Isra and Miraj. Jibreel alayhis-salam

would also come in the form of a man and the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam said this was the easiest form for him.

Theres three parts of revelation. The first part is that Allaah told the pen to

write in the Lawhul Mahfuz (Tablet). The second part is that it was revealed to

the lowest heaven baitul izzah and finally the third part, is the conveying of

revelation from Jibreel alayhis-salam to the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam. Some say Jibreel alayhis-salam took the Quran from the lowest heaven

(baitul izzah) and not from Allaah directly to the Prophet salallaahu alayhee

wa salam. They are implying that the Quran is created and that Quran is not

the words of Allaah, but rather it is Jibreels and the Prophet salallaahu alayhee

wa salam, however, they believe the meaning of the words lies with Allaah.

The Quran came down from the Lawhul Mahfuz to the Baitul Izzah on


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laylatul Qadr in one go. The purpose of sending it to the Baitul izzah is to

highlight the nobility of the Quran.

Surah Ale Imran: 3 Two meanings of nazla 1) happens regularly and 2)

intensive. However anzala means it goes down in one go.

We know the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam was a prophet for 23 years.

When he first received revelation, it would be infrequent. The surahs are

divided into Makkan and Madinan periods. The Makkan period was 13 years

and the Madinan period was 10 years. The Makkan period had a total of 85

surahs(11 Juz) and 29 surahs (19 Juz est.) in the Madinan period

Imam Zartashi Burhan on ulum al Quran. Imam Suyuti based his book on

this work.

- Abu Sharma (5th

century)

Chapter Four Compilation of the Quran

As we said that Allaah spoke the Quran a long time ago, we dont know when

Allaah spoke the entire Quran. Allaah, then commanded the pen to write what

he spoke; the entire Quran in the preserved tablet. Then, Allaah sent the entire

Quran that he spoke and wrote to the lower heaven in Ramadhan in the night

of al Qadr. Then, Allaah created Muhammad salallaahu alayhee wa salam and

sent Muhammad salallaahu alayhee wa salam. We can say Allaah sent the

Quran to the lower heaven during the life of prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam. Thus, the quran was in the lahw al mahfooz written and in the lower

heaven.

Allaah created prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam and sent him to be the

messenger, so Allaah revealed to the prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam the

first verse Iqra... When Allaah wanted to send this to Muhammad salallaahu


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alayhee wa salam, Allaah spoke Iqra and jibreel heard it directly from

Allaah, Jibreel alayhis-salam then came to Muhammad salallaahu alayhee wa

salam and read before Muhammmad salallaahu alayhee wa salam Iqra

bismirabikallazi khalaq and Muhammad salallaahu alayhee wa salam heard

Jibreel alayhis-salam. say Iqra bismirabikallazi khalaq in the same way

Jibreel heard it from Allaah, so the chain is like this. Muhammad salallaahu

alayhee wa salam heard it from jibreel alayhis-salam, who heard it directly

from Allaah.

Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama say that Jibreel alayhis-salam heard the verses

directly from Allaah, however the Asharis say that Jibreel took it from al-Lahw

al Mahfooz or the lowest heaven and not directly from the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam, but this opinion is incorrect as Ibn Abbas radiallaahu anhu

says in one narration that Jibreel alayhis-salam took it directly from Allaah.

The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam, then taught it to the companions, so

they heard the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam tell them the Quran

directly; a similar process continued over 23 years. Whenever something

happened, Allaah revealed certain ayats and surah. Allaah speaks the ayats he

wants to send to the prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam, although they were

written in the lahw al mahfooz and sent to the lower heaven, Allaah says it

again, Jibreel hears it and sends it to the prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam

and the prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam teaches it to the companions.

Allaah knew that the arabs around the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam

belonged to different tribes and nations and spoke different Arabic dialects, and

at that time due to poor communication between people, whatever dialect a

tribe used, other tribes may not understand. In order to make the Quran easy

for different tribes from the Arab community, who used to surround the


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prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam, Allaah spoke the Quran in different ways

that are suitable for Arabs or different Arab tribes to pronounce. For example,

Allaah spoke once Alhamdhulillahir rabil aalameen ar-rahmanir-raheem

malikiyawmideen and another time maalikiyawmideen, because Allaah

knows Maakliki is a word that is used by one tribe and Maliki by another.

Allaah also said ihdinas siratal mustaqeem.

It was authentically reported that it was revealed as arshidna siratal

mustaqeem, because some are familiar with ihdinas and some are familiar

with arshidna. Allaah spoke both and revealed both to the prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam. The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam taught one tribe

ihdinas and another tribe arshidna.

The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam was teaching the Arabs and knew that

certain words were difficult for certain Arabs, so he asked Jibreel alayhis-salam

to provide him with more recitations or more words, which the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam knew were difficult for some tribes.

Allaah inspired Muhammad salallaahu alayhee wa salam to ask for this and

Allaah knew this would happen, so Allaah spoke certain words in different

ways to appeal to different Arab tribes and different Arabs took different ways

of reading those verses. Jibreel alayhis-salam used to come to the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam every Ramadhan to revise what has been sent

already, so jibreel alayhis-salam, would read and the prophet salallaahu alayhee

wa salam would listen to jibreel alayhis-salam and sometimes the prophet

would read and jibreel listens in order to make sure the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam memorized exactly what jibreel taught him.

Sometimes the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam would read quickly so that

jibreel would catch him. Allaah said dont worry o Muhammad, it is upon us

to collect it in your chest and to teach you how to recite it, Allaah took it upon


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himself to do this. This process where jibreel alayhis-salam came to the prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam to revise with him, happened every year,

meanwhile the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam taugh the Sahaba teaching

them different versions. In the year the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam

died, Jibreel alayhis-salam came and revised the Quran with the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam twice.

According to some scholars, jibreel would read the Prophet salallaahu alayhee

wa salam would listen and Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam reads and

Jibreel listens and so on, twice from both sides, which means in total it was

recited four times. In this year, Jibreel alayhis-salam read to Muhammd

salallaahu alayhee wa salam the Quran that Allaah chose to remain and jibreel

told Muhammad salallaahu alayhee wa salam that certain words we have taught

you before are abbroagted now, so they are not anymore in the Quran, so

jibreel read both maaliki and maliki, so prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam knew both were accepted and approved. However, ihdinas siratal

mustaqeem was taught and ashidna siratal mustaqeem was not taught, so

either the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam knew this was no longer part of

the Quran or Jibreel told him explicitly. The prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam taught the companions this last revision. One of the companions that

heard this revision was Zayd ibn Thabit al Ansari radiallaahu anhu (one of the

main scribes of the wahy). The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam then died

and some of the companions were already in different places and having learnt

and memorized different ways of reciting the Quran including the abrogated

words that the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam taught them, for example,

when we said the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam taught some

companions ashidnas-siratal mustaqeem and they travelled to other places

Due to poor communication, they were not aware that this way of reciting the

Quran was abrogated.


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The alternatives the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam requested have been

mentioned in one hadith stating that he salallaahu alayhee wa salam asked for

seven alternatives. In some cases, there are three, four or five alternatives;

some alternatives use the subject before the object and visa versa. The

maximum number of alternatives in one verse is seven.

The companions that learnt these alternatives and travelled to other places,

were unaware that some of the abrogations were omitted and some were

approved. Afterwards, some of the Arabs began to apostate from Islam. When

the Arabs apostated, Abu Bakr radiallaahu anhu fought them and some of the

companions who had memorized the Quran were killed. Umar radiallaahu

anhu, was concerned and went with Hudaifah to Abu Bakr radiallaahu anhu,

recommending that the Quran is gathered together into one copy. Abu Bakr

radiallaahu anhu. was reluctant but then accepted it as a good idea to gather it

in one place. During the revelation, the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam

was teaching the companions orally and sometimes when he salallaahu alayhee

wa salam taught them, like Zayd ibn Thabit, they would write it down.

They appointed Zayd ibn thabit to collect the written Quran. He memorized

the Quran and knew the last version of the Quran. They collected the written

pieces of the Quran from animal skins and put it all on one string. When they

compiled it, they asked the companions to bring all the pieces of the Quran

and required them to bring two witnesses to provide evidence that this was

written in the time of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam in the presence

of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam. They gathered the whole Quran

on one string. Then came the reign of Umar and this copy was kept with him

after the death of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam. Umar was killed

and Uthmans reign began. The copy of the Quran was left with Hafsa, the

daughter of Umar radiallaahu anhu. Some companions studied the Quran with

the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam but were not aware of the abrogation


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of the verses, so they taught the un-abrogated verses and words of the Quran

to their students.

The scholars agree that the orders of the verses are in the same order that

Allaah spoke them, but there is a difference of opinion concerning the order of

the surahs.

The majority opinion regarding the names of the surahs is that the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam allocated some of them and the companions

allocated names for others.

The copy of the Quran that was compiled by Abu Bakr radiallaahu anhu, was

left with Hafsa radiallaahu anhu. During that time, Muslims spread all over the

world and there was news that in some battles in Turkey and Iran, the children

who learnt from their teachers different versions were fighting each other,

claiming that their version of the Quran was better than the others. Hudhaifa

was worried this would cause dispute, so he went Uthman ibn Affan consulted

some sahaba and took the decision as the khalifah to standardize a reference

copy of the Quran. He requested Zayd ibn Thabit to get the copy of the Quran

from Hafsa, and formed a team for him to write it and he said if you differ,

write it like the Quraysh. They began to write the Quran and some riwayat

say that Zayd ibn Thabit did the writing and the sahaba came and checked.

They wrote Maliki and Maaliki in a way that can cater for both recitations.

However, they came across some words, which could not cater for different

recitations, simply using one word. In some riwayat it mentions they would

leave this section blank until they consulted Uthman radiallaahu anhu, who told

them to write two copies. According to some scholars it mentions they made 4

copies, other said 5 copies and some said 7 copies were made. These copies are

known as the Uthmaani mushafs. They presented an official copy. The


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different copies were given to the people who heard that form of recitation and

they were sent to different places and he kept one copy himself. He ordered all

other Qurans to be burnt and said that the recitation should be according to

Qiraat of their teacher in a particular place.

There was now different qiraat in different places. After some time, the

ummah identified different qiraat, which have led t the 7 qiraat that we have

today.

At-Tabari said, Allaah guided the companions to write the Quran in a way

which similar to what Allaah wrote in al-Lahw al Mahfooz. This is how

Allaah preserved the Quran.

Quran by exhibition Islam buy a copy.

Chapter Five: Readings

The general meaning of this chapter has been explained.

There are ten readers and each reader has two main students. Some said each

student has a number of other students but the main readers have the standard

official accepted qira.

The key thing is when do we consider a way of reciting the Quran as an

accepted qira. The key question is, are these ten qirat the only accepted

qiraat? The answer is yes but why? Because all the ummah agreed and

accepted them, so there is an element of ijma. Their Qiraat are accommodated

in one of the approved standard mushafs, written by Uthman. Any mushaf

today can be traced back to the mushaf of Uthman because he destroyed the

others.


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The accepted qira should have three conditions.

1) This qirat should be accommodated by Arabic grammar.2) There must be an agreement with the written text of Uthman.3) Must be Muatawatir traced back reliably to Prophet salallaahu alayhee

wa salam

The three criteria for preference are:

1) Arabic grammar2) Agreement with text of Uthman3) Reported/preferred by many.

Abrogation of the ruling, but it is approved as part of the mushaf. Dont pray

whilst intoxicated. It does not mean, if you are not praying you can drink

alcohol, but rather this was abrogated as it refers to a stage in the prohibition of

alcohol.

An abrogated text, but where the ruling in the text is applied. Deleting the

meaning or text, yet the text is approved, or deleting it from the text but still

apply the meaning.

The stages of writing the text

During the time of the prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam the text used to

look like the script on page 59. After some time, they started to write the

mushaf and placed lines in between the script (look at the book: the

magnificent Quran). Adnan Ibrahim, who lives in Sweden, always criticizes

Muawiyyah radiallaahu anhu. They asked Sufyan al Thawri, who is more

loved, umar abdul azeez or Muawiyyah. He said, a thread of hair in the nose

of Muawiyyah is better than umar ibn abdil azeez This is because he saw the

prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam


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Abul Aswad Ad- Duali had an idea to put signs on the letters to distinguish

which can be read as ba, ta etc. He went to ziyad in order to convince him to do

this. Ziyad said no, he will not add anything. Some accounts said he inspired

the son of Ziyad to read one ayat of Baqarah, so he called Abul Aswad Ad-

Duali to invent the idea of fatha, dhamma and kasra. He mentioned to one of

his scribes to take a red pen and told them that if he reads a dhamma, to put to

circles above the letter, kasra, circle below and fatha, with a circle above and

he check over it. This was around the year of 50A.H

Around 70A.H, Islam began to spread around the world and many non-arabs

became Muslim, and there were no dots in the text, which made it confusing

for the non arab people to read the Quran. Abdul Malik ibn Marwan command

Yahya ibn Marmar to invent a tariqah to put dots. Many people were writing

Quran and used dots to distinguish the vowel sounds, which led to confusion

due to lack of monitoring and oversight. Some scholars changed the vowel

sounds to dashes in order to not confuse them with letters, which have dots.

They then began to put vowel sounds in the script.

Ali ibn Hilal Ibn Abdul Aziz ibn al Bawwab, made a complete copy of the

oldest Quran in a modern naskh font in 413AH/1022CE.

Calligrapher

Chapter Six Sheikh Abu Rumaisa

Verses and chapters

We find the Quran is divided into ayats and verses. We do not abrogate a

verse except that we bring something better than it.


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Prior to the revelation of the Quran, there had never been a literature that was

divided into ayats and verses before or after the Quran. Only the Quran has

been divdied in this way and reflects a unique feature of the Quran and

highlights that this was something new that was revealed to the prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam. thus, highlighting what the Arabs heard from the

Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam was something that was completely

unfamiliar to them. We say the Quran is unique and miraculous without truly

understanding how, and how it differs from other pieces of literature. It is very

important to convey this to people to truly appreciate the Quran

In the Arabic language we have different type of literature and spoken word

e.g. prose, poetry. They would hang poems on the door of the kabah. Another

type of literature is rhymed prose, which was commonly used by the

soothsayers and oration, public speaking.

When the Quran was revealed the Arabs realized straight away it did not fit

into these four categories of literature. In Arabic, poetry needs to have certain

qualities to be classified as such.

Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound (8 syllables)

That saved a wretch like me (6 syllables)

This contains a soft syllable, followed by a hard syllable. This is known as a

common meter. Arabic is similar, you have different types of meters. Arabic

has 16 types of meters.

There are three factors that constitute a poem; the rhyme, the rhythm, the

meter. In Arabic it is frowned upon to have a continuation of a situation in a

following stanza. Sometimes, the Quran has a rhyme in the end, and

sometimes it doesnt. At times, it follows a rhythm and other times it doesnt.

The Quran does not have a meter, which matches the sixteen categories. The


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Quran does not meet the criteria of poetry, so why is it that the Quran clears

the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam of being a poet and refuting the idea

that the Quran is not poetry? Because poetry was the closest similitude they

had to the Quran. They believed that the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam

was not a poet but accuesed him as such because this was the closest thing they

could associate him with. Similarly poets made people believe different things,

which was another reason why they believed it was poetry.

There are individual ayats in the Quran that match poetry. The scholars

discussed these verses and said the nature of the Arabic language is such that a

person will inevitably speak with a meter. However, just because it is

incidental, you cant claim a person is a poet. Similarly, those parts of the

Quran that have a meter are coincidental and not intended as poetry.

We know the Quran is not prose, because it has rhythm in places, so this is

easily refuted.

Rhymed prose contains short compositions with vivid phrases and imagery,

commonly talking about oaths and supernatural things. It has a constant rhyme,

is short and includes obscure passages.

The Quran differs from this, as it doesnt have constant rhyme and most

importantly never sacrifices meaning for obscure passages, a key difference

between an orator and the composition of the Quran.

When the Quran was revealed it was something new and completely

unfamiliar to the Arabs. They could not point to any mistakes in the Quran, it

was something new to them but still fell within the parameters of the Arabic

language.


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The whole structure of the Quran, the way the verses begin and end and their

composition are completely different to anything seen in the Arabic language

highlighted by Jahiz.

The Orientalists criticized Surah Yusuf: the problem with the orientalists is that

they read Surah Yusuf and are not listening to it. If they listened to it, it is

exactly as it should be (Alan Jones orientalist).

Ayah means a sign, miracle or something wonderful. The term verse is not

strictly appropriate because the Quran is not poetry. It is therefore; better to

say ayah and not verse.

Ayah as a miracle

Ask the children of Israel, how many clear miracles we have given them.

Ayah as a lesson

The prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam said indeed a sign/lesson will come

to your chest.

Ayah as something extraordinary

You made the son of mary and his mother an extraordinary sign

Ayah as a group

The people went out altogether as one group

All of these meanings are relevant and convey aspects of what an ayat is.


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Suwar means an elevated thing or a fence. Scholars differ why it is called a

suwar. Some schoalrs say it is called as such due to its elevated status, while

other say it is called a suwar because it fences one surah from another.

The Quran has 114 chapters of unequal length and the shortest is four ayats

long and the longest is 286 ayats.

You find that the surah is named from a theme established in the surah. The

names of suwar are not considered revelation.

The naming of the surah can be classified into three categories:

1) By the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam e.g. Hadith of Prophetsalallaahu alayhee wa salam mentions Baqarah, Ale- Imran and also

Surah Kahf.

2)Name established by the companions. Ibn Abbas and Surah Hasr(Bukhari)

3)Naming by others after the companions. Eg. Surah Raayta and SurahLam yakun.

There is no dispute that there are 114 chapters in the Quran.

Ibn Masud didnt have the muwadatayn. He never denied that they were part of

the Quran, but did not initially consider them to be written. However, he later

changed his opinion. (A case study will be explored concerning this in more

detail below).

Numbering of Ayats

Sahih Muslim: Whoever memorizes the first ten verses of Surah Kahf will be

saved from the fitnah of the dajjal clear numbering


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Seven of the oft repeated verses (Al Hijr 15:87) alluding to numbering of

Surah Fatiha.

Determining Verses

1) Kufi school says that verses are divided entirely based on revelation andthere is no room for ijtihad or qiyas.

2) Qiyas weaker view. Verses judged by similar sounds and symmetrybetween ayats.

Different numbering in a range of mushafs e.g. Madinah mushaf has 6217,

Makkah has 6210, Palestine 6232, Damascus 6227. The scholars of Kufa

determine 6326 ayats (most common and found in hafs and asim mushafs).

Scholars of Basrah 6204 ayats. However, it is important to note that the

content in all of these mushafs is the same; simply the numbering of ayats is

different.

The order of the Surahs

1) The first and stronger view is that the arrangement is solely based on

revelation as seen in a narration in Abu Dawud of Hudhayfah al Thaqafi.

2) The second view is that the companions did it

3) The third view is that the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam did some and

others were done by other than the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam

The Classification of Surahs according to length

1) Al-Tiwal (long ones): surahs 2-10


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2) Al Miun (apprx 100 ayats): surahs 10-353) Al Mathani (less than 100 ayats): surahs 36-49 oft repeated, since they

are recited more often in prayers than longer ones.

1) Al Mufassal: The last section of the Quran, beginning with Surah Qaf50 114. There is some difference about this.

The Quran is also sub-divided into Juz (Chapters). Each Juz is divided into

two, with each part called a hizb. Each hizb is subdivided further into quarters

which is called rub.

The Quranic text is also divided into seven parts of approximately sequal

length, called manzil, for recitation over seven days, indicated in some mushafs

by the word manzil and the respective number in the margins.

20:30pm 22:45pm IQ Test/Maghrib/Dinner

Chapter Seven Arabic: The Language of the Quran

The Quran was revealed in Arabic and thus the term Quran can only refer to

the Arabic transmission of the Quran and the scripture of the words revealed

to the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam. There are many evidences

throughout Quran, which highlight that it was revealed in the Arabic language

as seen in Surah Fussilat and Surah Shura.

The Quran was revealed in Arabic and not in many languages so that there

would not be any dispute about which one is the correct one, thus, preserving

unity amongst all.

The Quran was revealed in Arabic and thus Arabic became a preserved

language due to the Quran being revealed in it.


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Translations of the Quran cannot be considered as the actual Quran, therefore,

it does not take the rulings of the Quran nor a mushaf and can be touched

when one is in a state of ritual impurity.

Chapter Eight The Inimitability (Ijaz) of the Quran

Sheikh Abu Rumaisa

The scholars of Ahlus sunnah say there are a number of factors that lead to theinimitability of the Quran. You will not be able to find a better way to phrase a

verse in the Quran than that which Allaah has chosen. There is a combination

of factors, which makes the Quran unique, not one specific element.

The greatest miracle of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam is the Quran.

The Challenge of the Quran

Allaah challenges the disbelievers to bring something similar to the whole

Quran (Al Isra 17:88), then Allaah challenged them to bring 10 surahs like it

(Surah Hud 11:13) and then Allaah finally challenges them to bring something

similar to only a single surah (Baqarah: 2:23-24).

Allaah also challenged the disbelievers to find a fault within the Quran. These

verses prove the sincerity of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam e.g. if we

take an exam in which we have guessed all the answers and then challenge

them we would never do this, a liar would not do what the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam did. This style/direct challenge is seen throughout the whole

Quran. The case of Abu Lahab proves the miraculous nature of the Quran, it

states he would die a disbeliever, all he had to do was become Muslim or even

pretend to become Muslim and prove it wrong, but he didnt.


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The challenge is to create something, which is similar to the composition of the

Quran.

Four types of Ijaz

1) Literal Inimitability: Its structure falls outside of that found in Arabicliterature. Evidence for this can be seen in Sahih Muslim, with the case

of Unays and Abu Dharr, who both affirm that it was neither the speech

of a poetr nor a soothsayer.

2) Inimitable Information: Information about the unseen e.g. Allaah, hisnames and attributes, the angels, day of judgement etc, and historical

facts e.g. referring to the king at the time of Yusuf as Malik instead of

Firaun like the Bible, Hamman referenced in Quran and recently

discovered as an Ancient Egyptian architect.

3) Future Events: Victory at Badr, the conquest of Makkah and the defeatof the Persians by the Roman Empire.


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Sunday 1st

July 2012/ Ahad 11th

Shaban 1433

06:00am Session One

Chapters Four and Five are the most difficult in this course, everything else is

easy.

Imam Qurtubi reported an event from the court of Al- Mamun: A Jewish man

embraced Islam after testing, the Torah, the Injil and the Quran. He made

deletions and additions to each book and found only the Muslims noticed these

additions and deletions in the Quran, fulfilling the promise of Allaah, that the

Quran will be protected (Surah al-Hijr 15:9).

Many scholars say that the rules of tajweed are taken from the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam, who took it from Jibreel alayhis-salam, who took

it from Allaah.

Chapter Nine The Quranic Message

Ibnul Qayyim said 102 scriptures were sent and all of them can be condensed

into three books, the Torah, Injeel and the Quran, can be condensed into the

Quran, which can be condensed into the beginning and the end of the Quran,

which can be condensed into Al-Fatiha, which can be condensed to the ayah

iyyakanabudu wa iya kanastaeen

There is profound symmetry throughout the Quran with topics being

mentioned throughout. One writer mentions concerning Juz Ama. If you see a

house on fire, you will scream and shout at them to get them out, but they have

their tv on very loud and they cant hear you or in London, you see a person you


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go into a night club and scream out to him, but he cant hear you because it is so

loud, so you shake him, warning him. Sayyid Qutb mentions that this is what

the Quran does.

Through his mercy, Allaah has placed all these things in the

The major aim of the Quran is to know Allaah and every page alludes to

Tawheed and learning about our creator is a fundamental aim of the Quran and

this is why the greatest ayah is about Allaah ayatul Kursi. Another major aim

of the Quran is to tell us that now that we recognize Allaah as our Lord and

the one we worship we must as individuals become balanced and avoid what

Allaah dislikes and do the things Allaah likes. The Quran is a shifa (cure for

our deseases). The Quran has different cures in different parts of the Quran,

for example, you will see a different cure in Surah Fatiha than what you will

see in another surah. The Quran is aimed at two periods, the Makkan people,

who are undergoing hardship and problems and the Madinan people, who are

still undergoing problems but to a lesser extent.

Another theme in the Quran is our role to society as a whole. As an individual

what is our criteria for right and wrong, what motivates us to do righteous

actions. It is not possible for a person that does not believe in a religion to be a

good person, because they have no criteria for right and wrong e.g. incest is

considered wrong because of social consensus, but this can easily change, but

through the Quran we can actualize criterias within ourselves and in our lives.

In terms of the structure, there is an element that has only been propogated

more recently, this is an nadm, having a structure in the Quran. Ibn al Qayyim

says all of the Quran revolves around the beginning and the end of the Quran

and it can all be found in Fatiha. He further says that all the scriptures can be

summarized in iyyakanabudu wa iya kanastaeen in Surah fatiha. In terms of

its structure, fatiha is a phenomenal surah fatiha. Everything mentioned before


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iyyakanabudu is about Allaah and everything that comes after this, is all

about the creation.

A translation of the Quran is a type of interpretation, in which the message of

the Quran is not lost, but there are twelve verses about the Quran being

revealed in the Arabic language. There are two types of words in the Arabic

language nouns (ism) and verbs (fal) e.g. democracy is considered to be a

noun and a verb is a doing word. The implication of a noun is that it is

permanent and a verb is temporary by nature, because it is constrained by the

past, present and future. What is amazing is that if we look at the verses before

iyyakanabudu, Allaah only uses nouns to describe himself. However, when

Allaah describes the creation he uses verbs. iyyakanabudu wa iyaka nastaeen;

Both of these iyyaka go back to the verse before them, which are about Allaah.

Alhamdhulillah is translated into English as a verb, but in Arabic if it was

mentioned as a verb, it would restrict praise to time, but Allaah is always

deserving of that praise.

Two face sentences.

If we look at the structure of Surah fatiha, Allaah mentions three main concepts

in the first verse; 1) Al Hamd, 2) Rahma, 3) Malik.

When you think about the Rahma of Allaah, you have hope. When you think

about Allaah as the owner of the day of judgment you have fear and when you

hear Al-Hamd, you have love. These are three main elements of eeman.

There are four concepts that are mentioned towards the end of Surah concepts,

these are 1) those who have gone astray (dual-een), 2) those who have incurred


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Allaahs anger (maghdubi) 3) favour (nima) and 4) guidance (hidaya). We can

link anger with favour and guidance with those who have gone astray.

Scientists say that the left side of the brain, looks at things in black and white,

right or wrong, and the right side of the brain looks at creativity.

The Arabic language is mathematical but is also rich in its literature form.

There are words like falan, which act like a verb and words like faeel, which

act like an adjective. Ar Rahman-ir-Raheem Ibnul Qayyim says that Rahman

is the mercy of Allaah for the believers and disbelievers in this life - temporal,

but raheem is the mercy of Allaah for the believers and is permanent forever.

In Fatiha, there is a connection between Ar-Rahman and the verse, which

comes before it because the verse mentions whatever is between the heaven

and the Earth temporal. Ar-Raheem has a connection with the verse that

comes after it, as it mentions the Day of Judgement which is outside the

temporal time.

Faqur-udeen Ar-Razi says the Quran is like one ayah, due to its coherence.

>Fadhil Samarrai

Surahtul Fatiha is a unique surah. Each of the aims of the Quran mentioned

above could all be found in surah Fatiha.


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Conclusion

Ibn Masud used to have his own copy of the quran and they said this copy has

its own order and has 106 surahs, which is less than the mushaf we have today.

Ibn Masud would consider surah Falaq and Nas as dua and not surahs in the

Quran. Uthman did not include Ibn Masud in the project to collate the Quran

and he became upset because the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam praised

him in relation to the Quran. Perhaps, Uthman did not include it for political

reasons.

-END OF RETREAT -

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{Sabeel} Divine Science - Part One Retreat Notes

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