Surah AlHujurat - Class 1 - (17/7/16)

بِسْم الله الرحمن الرحيم 

The Prophet ﷺ said:

"تركت فيكم أمرين لن تضلوا ما مسكتم بهما كتاب الله وسنة نبيه" 

"I have left behind two things, you will never go astray as long as you hold fast onto them ie. the Quran and Sunnah." [Muwatta Imam Malik] 

Following the Qur'an and Sunnah is your salvation in life.

The Qur'an is the speech of Allah. We should be grateful that Allah made it easy for us to recite it. And Allah named the Qur'an with 8 names:

1) الفرقان 

2) الحق 

3) البلاغ

4) الروح 

5) النباء العظيم

6) الموعظة

7) الشفاء

8) أحسن الحديث 

And He described it with 7 attributes:

1) الحكيم

2) العزيز 

3) الكريم 

4) المجيد 

5) العظيم

6) البشير النذير

7) "لَّا يَأْتِيهِ الْبَاطِلُ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلَا مِنْ خَلْفِهِ"

Allah said in [9:124]:

"And whenever there comes down a Surah (chapter from the Quran), some of them (hypocrites) say: "Which of you has had his Faith increased by it?" As for those who believe, it has increased their Faith, and they rejoice."

And in [8:2]:

"The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts and when His Verses (this Quran) are recited unto them, they (i.e. the Verses) increase their Faith; and they put their trust in their Lord (Alone);"

These two verses are evidences that everytime you listen to the word of Allah and ponder upon the verses of the Qur'an, your faith should increase. This should be our goal by studying the Qur'an. We want our faith, and accordingly certainty to increase.

What's the connection between faith and certainty? You reach certainty through knowing the details of faith. The more you know the details of faith, the more your certainty will increase.

This is why we first focus on the pillars of faith when studying a Surah:- so that we increase our faith and learn in detail. 

سورة الحجرات - Surah AlHujurat 

The Surah is Madaniyyah. 

Repeated Words 

1) "يأيها الذين آمنوا" five times in Verses 1,2,6,11,12. 

Abdullah Ibn Masoud said, "If you hear يأيها الذين آمنوا listen carefully, because Allah is either ordering you with a command, or prohibiting you with a prohibiton you have to abstain from" 

2) إيمان and its derivations (ءامنوا، المؤمنون, etc) 

It's repeated in Verses 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 (mentioned twice here), 15, 17. It's repeated fourteen times. 

This shows us that the Surah is about Eeman, is directed to the believers, and shows us how to increase our faith.

3) التقوى

It is repeated five times in Verses 1, 3, 10, 12, 13. And of these five, Allah orders us with Taqwa three times.

Taqwa is in the heart. And we learn this from Verse 3, where Allah says:

"Verily! Those who lower their voices in the presence of Allah's Messenger ﷺ they are the ones whose hearts Allah has tested for piety. For them is forgiveness and a great reward"

If you want to increase in faith, increase in Taqwa. We have to practice Taqwa in every action in our lives. 

4) علم and its derivations (يعلم، عليم، اعلموا)

It's repeated in Verses 1, 7, 8, 11, 13, 16, 18

If you want to increase in practicing Taqwa, know who Allah is. One of His perfect attributes is knowledge. He knows knows about what you're doing. He sees and hears you. The more you know about the knowledge of Allah, the more you'll practice Taqwa. You know that Allah sees you, you won't commit that sin. You know that Allah hears you, so you don't say that word.

The more you are heedless of Allah's knowledge, the less you will practice Taqwa.

5) قلوب (Hearts) 

It's repeated in Verses 3, 7, 14.

Allah addresses the believers. He wants their faith to increase. Their faith will increase through performing Taqwa and the place of Taqwa is the heart. 

6) إخوة (Brothers) and its derivations 

It's repeated in Verse 10 twice and once in Verse 12 

All the Believers are brothers. You need to treat each other as you treat your sister and brother. There is no difference between a black or white, races, nationality, except in Taqwa. This is a rule, a قواعد from the Qur'an:

"Verily, the most honourable of you with Allah is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa"

7) أصلحوا - Make Reconciliation 

This is repeated twice in Verse 9 and once in 19

We shouldn't have problems between each other, because it'll cause us to hate each other, and we are brothers and sisters. This is what Islam is. We have to love each other. 

8) رسول (Messenger)

This is repeated in Verses 1, 2, 3, 7, 15

Homework: 

-> Listen to the Surah repeatedly. The more you listen, the more Allah will open for you of understanding.

-> Go through the verses and collect the Pillars of Faith. And don't just enumerate them, ponder and reflect over the wisdom behind it being mentioned. 

E.g. Verse 1: 

"O you who believe! Do not put (yourselves) forward before Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ), and fear Allah. Verily! Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing."

The Pillars of Faith

1) Belief in Allah 

Allah repeats His Name الله three times in this one verse while addressing the believers. What is the wisdom? 

"سميع عليم"

2) Belief in the Angels

3) Belief in the Books

4) Belief in the Prophets and Messengers

"رسوله" - This is the Prophet ﷺ's right on us

5) Belief in the Last Day

6) Belief in the Qadar

The first pillar of Qadar is that Allah knows everything