The One

Surah Ikhlas

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In my years of struggle of searching for the truth of God, I gave up everything, affirming no relation in it between my head and my heart.
One sunny afternoon a craving for Olives overtook me (which it often did) and so I bought a jar and walked out into Marble Arch and heared a man to my left say;
'Olives! do you know how good olives are for you, and that it was one of the favoured foods of the prophet?
'I know why I like them, and a little about your prophet' I replied and slowly walked towards this bearded man standing at the da3ey (religeous {islamic} stand)'
As our conversation took place and he tried to give me the snippets of info that he thought would keep my attention, I could see he was surprised to see how much I knew being a blonde haired art student walking with pride in my ripped jeans. He offered me any book from the table and as I browsed over them all and had no other ioption to decline his offer as I realised, I had read them all (this dissapointed me, all I was waiting for was for someone to prove me wrong once and for all).
He reached into a box and pulled out 2 books; 'Modern science in the quran', and......

'KITAB AL TAWHID'

The book of 'oneness of god
The oneness of God is what sets Islam, this abrahamic religeon closest to its core.

Surah Ikhlas (Tafsir)

Was revealed in Makkah to the prophet when the Quraysh (an arabic tribe) asked the prophet 'What is your herritage/ancestory (this is disputed amongst narators) of your lord?

To which he replied;

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ - اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ - لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ - وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَّهُ كُفُواً أَحَدٌ

1.Say: He is Allah, One.
2Allah He begets not, nor was He begotten.
3.And there is non comparable to Him.''

(2.As Samad is one that is not born and doesn not give birth)

Such a simple and short ayah (verse), What importance does this surah hold over others?

A man heard another man reciting قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ (Say: "He is Allah, One.'')

...and he was repeating over and over.

So when morning came, the man went to the Prophet and mentioned that to him,

and it was as though he was belittling it.

The Prophet said, وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ إِنَّهَا لَتَعْدِلُ ثُلُثَ الْقُرْآن

By He in Whose Hand is my soul, verily it is equivalent to a third of the Qur'an.

The Mother

As we can only ever hope to understand the Quraan better, here are my findings on tafseer of Al Fatiha.

Surah Al Fatiha has 7 verses of which consists of twenty-five words,and contains one hundred and thirteen letters and several names of which the following are included;

1. Umm Al-Kitab


2. As Salah


3. Al Fatiha


4. Ash-Shifa

Umm Al Kitab

In arabic, many things are referred to as Umm...(mother of...) for instance; Umm Al Qura (Qura-villages) is used to describe Makkah because it is the leader and the grandest of all villages. This indicates to us the stature this Surah has over the Quran.

As Salah

It is refered to as AS Salah as you can not complete a salah (preyer) without it and the prophet further validated this point in a Hadith;

...(Would you like me to teach you a Surah the likes of which nothing has been revealed in the Tawrah, the Injil, the Zabur (Psalms) or the Furqan (the Qur'an)

He said, `Yes, O Messenger of Allah!' The Messenger of Allah said, (I hope that I will not leave through this door until you have learned it.)

He (Ka`b) said, `The Messenger of Allah held my hand while speaking to me. Meanwhile I was slowing down fearing that he might reach the door before he finished his conversation. When we came close to the door, I said: O Messenger of Allah ! What is the Surah that you have promised to teach me'

He said, (What do you read in the prayer.) Ubayy said, `So I recited Umm Al-Qur'an to him.'

He said, (By Him in Whose Hand is my soul! Allah has never revealed in the Tawrah, the Injil, the Zabur or the Furqan a Surah like it. It is the seven repeated verses that I was given.)

Al Fatiha;

Muslim recorded in his Sahih, and An-Nasa'i in his Sunan that:

Ibn `Abbas said, "While Jibril (Gabriel) was with the Messenger of Allah , he heard a noise from above. Jibril lifted his sight to the sky and said, `This is a door in heaven being open, and it has never been opened before now.' An angel descended from that door and came to the Prophet and said, `Receive the glad tidings of two lights that you have been given, which no other Prophet before you was given: the Opening of the Book and the last (three) Ayat of Surat Al-Baqarah. You will not read a letter of them, but will gain its benefit.'''

This is the wording collected by An-Nasa'i (Al-Kubra 5:12) and Muslim recorded similar wording (1:554).

Ash-Shifa;

AS Shifa, meaning 'the cure'. It is also called Ar-Ruqyah (remedy), since in the Sahih, there is the narration of Abu Sa`id telling the the story of the Companion who used Al-Fatihah as a remedy for the tribal chief who was poisoned. Later, the Messenger of Allah said to a Companion;
(How did you know that it is a Ruqyah).

Structure

The formation of this Surah is into two halves between us and Allah. And Allah promices us what we ask for from within this surah, for example did you know;

If he says, 'All praise and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of existence'
Allah says, `My servant has praised Me.' When the servant says

...'The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Allah says;`My servant has glorified Me.'

When he says; 'The Owner of the Day of Recompense'

Allah says; `My servant has glorified Me'

When he says; 'You (alone) we worship, and You (alone) we ask for help'

Allah say;`This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall acquire what he sought.'

When he says; 'Guide us to the straight path. The way of those on whom You have granted Your grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your anger, nor of those who went astray.'

Allah says;`This is for My servant, and My servant shall acquire what he asked for.'

(all findings understood from)
© 1999-2008 Quraan.com.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir Translation © Dar-us-Salaam Publishing.

To Ahmed, a small thankyou...

'Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.'

(for all the common sense/advise you have said to me, here is one in return)


'I am ashamed that women are so simple, to offer war where they should kneel for peace.'

(a small piece of chauvinism that I could actually agree to)


'O! how much more doth beauty beauteous seem by that sweet ornament which truth doth give.The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem for that sweet odour, which doth in it live.'

(can you see the metaphor in this?)



'For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds.'

(I liked this comparison for you because it uses the flower you like so it should make stronger sense)

P.S. Welcome to William Shakespear