let us experience the Quran: surah Ma'oun
In the name of Allah, the Beneficient, the Merciful!
All praises and Glory be to Allah (swt), the Lord of the Universe, Master of the day of judgement. Peace and blessings of ALlah (swt) be upon our master, the illiterate Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (saw).
surah ma'oun (small kindness)
Have you seen him who denies Our religion?
It is he who harshly repels the orphan
and does not urge others to feed the needy.
Woe to those who pray
but are heedless of their prayers;
who put on a show of piety
but refuse to give even the smallest help to others.
--------------------------------------------
This surah derives its name from the last word of the last verse. It is a Makkan revelation according to some authorities and a Makkan-Medinan one according to others. The latter opinion is perhaps more accurate. The subject matter is more in line with the topics of the part of the Qur'an revealed in Medina. It is related to the phenomena of hypocrisy and false appearances which were unheard of among the Muslim community in Makka.
1. This surah tackles an important and vital issue. It brings forth -
a) The fundamental truth essential in the nature of the Islamic faith,
b) The enormous benefit it offers to all humanity and
c) The abundant blessings with which Allah (swt) favoured mankind when He (swt) sent them His last Message.
2. Islam is not built on ostentation and superficiality. Acts of worship are meaningless unless motivated by sincerity and devotion to Allah (swt). Sincere worship produces effects within the individual's heart driving him to act righteously. This in turn are reflected in a social behaviour which elevates man's life on this earth.
3. Neither is Islam a loose, fragmentary, disjointed system from which one can pick and choose at leisure. On the contrary, it is a complete way of life with acts of worship and rites as well as individual and collective obligations that are mutually complementary. Together they lead to a goal of which mankind is the sole beneficiary, a goal which ensures that hearts are purified, life is ennobled, and men co-operate for the common good and progress. A goal wherein abounds the blessings of Allah (swt).
4. The essence of faith once firmly rooted in the hearts and minds, will begin immediately to operate and manifest itself in men's behaviour. The surah stresses unequivocally that, if this is not the case, there is no faith.
"Have you seen him who denies Our religion? It is he who harshly repels the orphan and does not urge others to feed the needy."
(One) who harshly repels the orphan and does not urge others to feed the needy is thus identified by the Qur'an as the one who denies the religion of Islam? This definition may sound surprising but in fact, this is the core of the whole matter. For if the truth of Islam has in any degree touched his heart, he would commit no such acts. True belief in Islam is not a spoken word but an overall change of the individual's heart, motivating him to benevolence and goodwill for all his fellow beings that are in need of his care and protection. Allah does not want mere words from His servants but demands deeds to support the spoken words which, otherwise, are as weightless and valueless as blown ash.
5. Next, Allah offers a practical illustration of what is meant above:
"Woe to those who pray, but are heedless of their prayers."
These verses contain Allah's invocation against those who offer prayers but are careless about them. Those
"who put on a show of piety but refuse to give even the smallest help to others"
They execute the mechanical aspects and pronounce the verbal formulae of prayers but their hearts are never alive to them, nor are they nourished by praying. The essence and purpose of prayer and its component parts (recitation, supplication and exaltation of Allah) are never present in their souls. Muslims are required to offer their prayers regularly as a manifestation of their servitude to Allah alone. Thus, prayer leaves no result in those who are neglectful and inattentive to it. Consequently they refuse to be kind or helpful to their fellow beings and deny the slightest charity. Since their prayers have not affected their hearts and behaviour, they are not merely useless but rather a sin liable to severe punishment.
6. From all these, we gather the purpose behind what Allah demands of His servants when He instructs them to believe in, and worship Him. He seeks no benefit thereof for Himself, as He is All-Affluent, but all He cares for is their own welfare and prosperity, purification of their hearts and happiness in their lives. Allah wishes human life to be elevated, happy, based on pure motives and characterised by mutual compassion, brotherhood and purity of hearts and behaviour.
To where then is humanity driving itself?
Away from this abundance of mercy?
Away from this wonderful and sublime path?
How can mankind debase itself to living in the wilderness of a wretched and gloomy Ignorance when it beholds the sparkling light of faith before its very eyes at the cross-roads where it now stands?
......
"They said: Glory be to Thee! we have no knowledge but that which Thou hast taught us; surely Thou art the Knowing, the Wise." (Quran, 02:32)
Wallahu 'aleemun hakeem. whatever is good is from Allah (swt) and all shortcomings are mine alone
All praises and Glory be to Allah (swt), the Lord of the Universe, Master of the day of judgement. Peace and blessings of ALlah (swt) be upon our master, the illiterate Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (saw).
surah ma'oun (small kindness)
Have you seen him who denies Our religion?
It is he who harshly repels the orphan
and does not urge others to feed the needy.
Woe to those who pray
but are heedless of their prayers;
who put on a show of piety
but refuse to give even the smallest help to others.
--------------------------------------------
This surah derives its name from the last word of the last verse. It is a Makkan revelation according to some authorities and a Makkan-Medinan one according to others. The latter opinion is perhaps more accurate. The subject matter is more in line with the topics of the part of the Qur'an revealed in Medina. It is related to the phenomena of hypocrisy and false appearances which were unheard of among the Muslim community in Makka.
1. This surah tackles an important and vital issue. It brings forth -
a) The fundamental truth essential in the nature of the Islamic faith,
b) The enormous benefit it offers to all humanity and
c) The abundant blessings with which Allah (swt) favoured mankind when He (swt) sent them His last Message.
2. Islam is not built on ostentation and superficiality. Acts of worship are meaningless unless motivated by sincerity and devotion to Allah (swt). Sincere worship produces effects within the individual's heart driving him to act righteously. This in turn are reflected in a social behaviour which elevates man's life on this earth.
3. Neither is Islam a loose, fragmentary, disjointed system from which one can pick and choose at leisure. On the contrary, it is a complete way of life with acts of worship and rites as well as individual and collective obligations that are mutually complementary. Together they lead to a goal of which mankind is the sole beneficiary, a goal which ensures that hearts are purified, life is ennobled, and men co-operate for the common good and progress. A goal wherein abounds the blessings of Allah (swt).
4. The essence of faith once firmly rooted in the hearts and minds, will begin immediately to operate and manifest itself in men's behaviour. The surah stresses unequivocally that, if this is not the case, there is no faith.
"Have you seen him who denies Our religion? It is he who harshly repels the orphan and does not urge others to feed the needy."
(One) who harshly repels the orphan and does not urge others to feed the needy is thus identified by the Qur'an as the one who denies the religion of Islam? This definition may sound surprising but in fact, this is the core of the whole matter. For if the truth of Islam has in any degree touched his heart, he would commit no such acts. True belief in Islam is not a spoken word but an overall change of the individual's heart, motivating him to benevolence and goodwill for all his fellow beings that are in need of his care and protection. Allah does not want mere words from His servants but demands deeds to support the spoken words which, otherwise, are as weightless and valueless as blown ash.
5. Next, Allah offers a practical illustration of what is meant above:
"Woe to those who pray, but are heedless of their prayers."
These verses contain Allah's invocation against those who offer prayers but are careless about them. Those
"who put on a show of piety but refuse to give even the smallest help to others"
They execute the mechanical aspects and pronounce the verbal formulae of prayers but their hearts are never alive to them, nor are they nourished by praying. The essence and purpose of prayer and its component parts (recitation, supplication and exaltation of Allah) are never present in their souls. Muslims are required to offer their prayers regularly as a manifestation of their servitude to Allah alone. Thus, prayer leaves no result in those who are neglectful and inattentive to it. Consequently they refuse to be kind or helpful to their fellow beings and deny the slightest charity. Since their prayers have not affected their hearts and behaviour, they are not merely useless but rather a sin liable to severe punishment.
6. From all these, we gather the purpose behind what Allah demands of His servants when He instructs them to believe in, and worship Him. He seeks no benefit thereof for Himself, as He is All-Affluent, but all He cares for is their own welfare and prosperity, purification of their hearts and happiness in their lives. Allah wishes human life to be elevated, happy, based on pure motives and characterised by mutual compassion, brotherhood and purity of hearts and behaviour.
To where then is humanity driving itself?
Away from this abundance of mercy?
Away from this wonderful and sublime path?
How can mankind debase itself to living in the wilderness of a wretched and gloomy Ignorance when it beholds the sparkling light of faith before its very eyes at the cross-roads where it now stands?
......
"They said: Glory be to Thee! we have no knowledge but that which Thou hast taught us; surely Thou art the Knowing, the Wise." (Quran, 02:32)
Wallahu 'aleemun hakeem. whatever is good is from Allah (swt) and all shortcomings are mine alone
posted by bodda at 7:11 PM
5 Comments:
u wrote already :(
The word Ma'oun indicate small things. like browning pen, ink, plate etc. 1st person need a pen to write, 2nd person have extra pen but he or she does not help 1st person. the person who didn't like to help another person how can they happly spend money or anything in the name of ALLAH or way of ALLAH ? main thing is 'narrowness'. Islam did not support this kind of narrowness. We have to overcome this things.
Zajakumullah
Lessons
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1. Denial of the Hereafter renders a man so narrow-minded and niggardly that he is not even prepared to make a most minor sacrifice for the sake of others. (how the west destroys millions of tons of food, while millions are hungry in africa and asia). Islam aims at producing an altogether different character in its adherents from that found in its deniers.
2. It is our duty to help the orphan and miskin or the needy. ("And in their possessions is a due share of him who asks and of him who is. needy." adh-Dhariyat:19) especially among our realtives.
3. Prayer should be with khushu (sincerity and steadfastness), timely (it is better to pray as early as possible) and solely for the sake of Allah. Coming of other thoughts in the mind is natural weakness and something that does not come under this (though we should try to perfect our prayers).
4. the prayer as well as acts of charity should be solely for the sake of Allah.
5. Ma`un in ... (discussed by waly)
Assalamu Alaikum.. Jazaak Allah.
I specially wanted to comment on what Bro Waly said about-small kindness..
Specially among us females we see this type of narrowness-
I have seen how students don't even want to sit in group study, just because they need to share their notes/lecture sheets!!
How can we include ourselves among Muslims when we are yet to overcome such narrowness?
And specially I want to comment on another point-
Not going for prayer at due time.
Many of us just ignore the importance of offering prayer at right time. We offer our prayers as if Allah is in need of our prayers, and we are granting it to HIM .. Nauzubillah!.. But Nay, it is we who are in need of His Mercy, and Compassion. So we should race to be the first to get it.
I have seen many brothers who go to Jum'a prayer late so that they can come out first (Last in first out-LIFO method)...
Are they the ones mentioned in here?
May Allah help us all and accept all our deeds.
Assalamu'alaikum...
We should put Islam into practice in every aspect of our life. It is a complete package encompassing numerous fields that must all come together. The infliction and problems that human beings are suffering nowadays are the result of incompleteness in practising our religion.
Indeed, prayer is the most important form of submission for a servant to Allah. May Allah helps and guides us in improving our prayer, especially myself.
Hereafter, another substantial tenet of Islam without which Muslims hardly accept things that happen to them.
Allah know best.
Such an incredible surah subhanallah!
I have read the meaning many times before, but this time, the thing that striked me most is the phrase: "who denies Our Deen"...
Have we given this a serious thought--denying these small kindness is the same as denying the deen?
being careless about prayer is the same as 'denying the religion'. Note: Allah didn't say "Woe to those who do not pray". Allah cursed those who pray, but are careless about the prayer. The ones with lifeless prayers. Aren't we all guilty of that?
Have you noticed the third ayah? "does not urge others to feed the needy". Its not only about those who don't feed the needy, but don't go two steps further to 'urging' others to feed the needy too! We can pinch those useless changes from our pockets and easily give that away while feeling good about 'earning some hasanah'. However, unless we genuinely feel for the needy, we won't be asking others to join us and help the needy.
Subhanallah, with these small but weighty examples Allah made these very clear... Deen has to enter our heart and change us for good.
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