IlmNotes

All 20 videos of this series can be viewed at HalalTube.

Continued from Part 1.

Ta’if (continued) was the third and the hardest of the three afflictions that he had faced. Aisha’ (radhi Allahu anha) once asked him if there was a worse day the Prophet more than Uhud (when the Prophet himself had gotten wounded, had a spear stuck in his cheek, had blood streaming from his face, and many of his beloved including Hamza had passed away) and the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) responded, “Yes, the day of Ta’if”. With his own testimony, he said that the day of Ta’if was the most traumatic and difficult day for him. Ta’if was ruled at that time by three brothers, who have agreed ever since their father’s death that they wouldn’t bicker and that they would rather rule the city together.

When the Prophet came to them, they rejected the religion in the utmost contempt and sarcasm. One of them said, “Has Allah not found anyone more worthy than you to be a Prophet?” A’udhobillah. Another one said, “I am never going to speak to you”. Why? H said, “Because if you’re a liar, then you are too ignoble for me to speak to. If you’re a true Prophet, then you’re too noble for me to speak to.” In other words, he was being very sarcastic and contemptuous. Not only did they reject him, but they sent their slaves and the riff-raffs of the city to physically pelt him with stones, to physically hurt and torture him. Because of all of this, the incident of Ta’if was the single most traumatic time in the whole entire life of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam).

So, in the context of Surah Yusuf, we find a number of things.

1. First and foremost, the fact that the Prophet had been calling in preaching and doesn’t find a positive response in his people and is physically and mentally tortured and ridiculed can also be found in Surah Yusuf, when Yusuf (alayhis salaam) is tempted, tortured, and rejected by his own brothers and people, and accused of crimes that he did not commit. All of these are recurrent themes in the theme and Tafseer of Surah Yusuf.
2. We notice the loss of loved ones. The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam)’s uncle and wife had died, and we notice in the Tafseer of Surah Yusuf that Yusuf (alayhis salaam), even though he didn’t die, but he was separated away from his father and was not able to enjoy the love and comfort that he would have otherwise enjoyed. There is the traumatic scenario when the families are split apart.
3. There is also the rejection theme when the Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) was rejected and in the same way, verily the blood brothers of Yusuf had rejected him and had persecuted and even tried to kill him. If the Prophet suffered in Ta’if, surely Yusuf also suffered greatly in his life.

Therefore, we now understand the context behind the Surah. Now, this is just the general context. However, there are specific incidents that occurred in the Seerah that precipitated certain Ayaat from Surah Yusuf. This is what we call “Asbaab An-Nuzool”.

There are two very specific incidents that occurred that Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) had revealed verses from Surah Yusuf. The first of these are that the people of Makkah went to some Jews in Madinah (as there were none in Makkah and the Prophet never contacted any of them while living in Makkah). The Makkans considered the Jews to be learned people and considered them to be superior in terms of civilization as they had a Book and could read and write. Therefore, they used to go to the Jews countless times and asked them how they can discredit the Prophet. One of the questions that the Jews told the Makkans was to ask him about Yusuf (alayhis salaam). If he is a Prophet, he will respond and if he is not a Prophet, then he will not respond.

The second cause of revelation was because the Companions asked the Prophet, “Oh Rasulullah, why don’t you tell us stories from the Prophets of Allah in the past?” because they wanted to know their trials and tribulations. That is why Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) said about Yusuf’s story,

نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ الْقَصَصِ

“We relate to you, [O Muhammad], the best of stories” (Surah Yusuf, Ayah 3).

It is human nature that we want to listen to stories; just look at children and how they love bedtime stories. It inspires them, gives them morals, and a world that existed before. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not as the children’s imagination begins to work and it begins to think of other cultures and civilizations. Even as an adult, there is an element that all of us love to hear, and that is why we love to hear stories. That is why the Qur’an has stories, and each of them are true stories that have benefits in them. That is why Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) revealed not just a story, but the best of stories.

~Tafseer Begins~

We began with A’udhobillah because it is commanded for us to say this before any time we begin to recite the Qur’an. Allah says in the Qur’an, “فَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ”. So when you recite the Qur’an, [first] seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the expelled [from His mercy] (16:98). This means that “I turn to Allah for refuge. I turn to Him to seek help and protection. Allah is the one that is my Protector. Allah is the one whom is my Refuge and my source of all serenity and peace. I turn to Allah in refuge from the Shaytaan and that is the name, title, and description that is given to Iblis. Shaytaan means the one who has gone beyond the bounds and out and above what he should be doing. This is Shaytaan; he has transgressed the bounds. Ar-Rajeem means the accursed. He is somebody who is cursed and has been deprived of Allah’s Mercy. Before we begin understanding and reciting the Qur’an, we must seek refuge in Allah from the Shaytaan so that our minds do not get clouded and we can concentrate.

We must also say, “Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem”, and this is true whenever the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) used to begin a Surah, except for Surah Tawbah. Bismillahir Rahmani Rahmeen basically means that you are beginning this recitation by mentioning Allah, the Most Merciful, the Extra-Beneficent. The point of beginning with this has many benefits.

• It reminds you of why you are doing this deed. I begin this for the sake of Allah. We should say Bismillah before doing any good deed.
• We seek Allah’s help. After I have sought refuge from the Shaytaan (protection), you want even more and you want help, which is a level higher.

Ar-Rahman means the Most Merciful and Ar-Raheem means the Most Merciful in His Actions. If you begin from the beginning of a Surah, you must say Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem but if you are starting from the middle, then you don’t have to, but it is permissible.

The first letters of the Surah are Alif, Laam, Raa. We know that many Surahs begin with letters (Qaaf, Alif Laam, Meem, etc.) What are the meanings of these letters? There are many interpretations of this, but the meaning that seems to have the most strength (and indeed, Allah Knows Best) is that Allah has used these letters as a means of indicating that the Qur’an is composed of the same letters that you have, it is used with the same words that you use, but it is not the same Speech of men. It is the Speech of Allah. If you take the letters together, it makes 14 letters. There are 28 letters of the Alphabet, so it is as if Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) is saying here is half of the letters; let Us see if you can make anything similar to the Qur’an out of the other half.

Allah says, “ۚ تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ” – One phenomenon that we notice is that almost every single time that Allah begins a Surah with letters, the very next Ayah talks about the Qur’an itself. Perhaps the reason is that these letters indicate the powerful nature of the Qur’an and the miraculous aspect of the Qur’an. Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) says that these are the verses of the Clear Book. So Allah mentions that this Qur’an is composed of Ayahs, and in other parts, it mentions that the Qur’an is composed of Surahs, which shows that Allah Himself has differentiated from Surahs and Ayahs. Allah Himself mentions that a Surah is a Chapter in the Qur’an and that Ayahs are verses within the Chapters in the Qur’an. In Surah Noor, Allah mentions ‘Surah’, while here in Surah Yusuf for example, Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) mentions letters.

To be continued…