Notes from Al-Maghrib: The Eternal Journey, Tafsir of Juz Tabarak (Surah Al-Mulk)

Theme: Glorification of Allah

Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent

Notes:

1) Does Allah have hands (yad)? - When Allah says He has a hand, then He has a hand..who are we to say otherwise? But is His hand is like ours? Absolutely not. "There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing." [42:11]. We are not to image or portray Allah because He is beyond our knowledge and imagination. Only the true believers are able to see Allah in jannah, and that is the ultimate reward of those who believe..

2) The first word: Ta ba ra ka. yu baarik means to exalt, to bless, to increase/make something grow/to fix something/make something consistent. Like when we say 'baraakallahufik' which means may Allah increase the good in you. In this ayat, it is stressing that only Allah who can bless anything.

3) People tend to put words of Quran in places like cars and houses saying that the words of Quran can give 'baraka' to the people in it. Truth is, only when the Quran is being read, understood and act upon that the 'baraka' may set in, it's not the ink itself.

4) The best way to describe an ayat from Quran is from 1- Quran from another ayat, 2- Hadis, 3- Sahabah, 4- Poetry. Surah Az-Zuhruf:85 additionally describes what this ayat is about. "And blessed is He to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them and with whom is knowledge of the Hour and to whom you will be returned." [43:85].

Theme: Creation of Death, Life, The Heavens, And The Stars

[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving -

Notes:

1) Notice in the ayat Allah mentioned death first, then life. Why? It is because before we are alive, we WERE dead, as in non-existent at first.

2) Al-Maut (death) is also a creation of Allah, hence it will die one day.

3) Al-Hayaat (life): Life is the life of the heart, not the body. We should calculate life when we are staring to know Allah, realizing the purpose of this life, and being a true Muslim. Try to think of it. How old or how young are we now?

4) Ya ayyuhallazi naamanu (O People who believes). Allah says this more times than Allah says Ya ayyuhannaas (O People) in the Quran. When Allah says Ya ayyuhallazi naamanu, after this Allah will give command; either He will say 'do this' or 'don't do that'. So after this, we need to pay attention whenever we read Ya ayyuhallazi naamanu and the following ayat, because we are the believers who Allah is calling upon, insyaAllah..

5) Sometimes Allah puts a barrier between a person and the heart. The heart is the king of the body. Heart here is not the one pumping the blood, but it IS somewhere in the chest. That's why when we are feeling something, we feel it from the chest. "So have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts."[22:46]

6) As it is stated explicitly in the ayat. LIFE IS A TEST. Different people carry different forms of test given by Allah. Some people are given wealth, children and ranks, and some people had wealth, family members or loved ones taken from them. When Allah gives something, that doesn't mean that He pleases, when He denies, that doesn't mean that he displeases. Indeed, everything in life is a test.

"And this worldly life is not but diversion and amusement. And indeed, the home of the Hereafter - that is the [eternal] life, if only they knew." [29:64]

"And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient," [2:155].

6) Allah says in the ayat that "..which of you is best in deeds". Allah doesn't say, "..which of you is the most in deeds". Quality of the deed is more important than the quantity. There are 2 characteristics of a deed with quality:

1- intention, do only to please Allah. "Say, "I am only a man like you, to whom has been revealed that your god is one God. So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone."" [18:110]

2- the deed is with accordance of Rasulullah's way of doing it (Sunnah). "There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often." [33:21]