EL SHA'rawy-G19.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
19 19 In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Dispenser of Mercy. 19 19 Published by : Tel +97126265151 [email protected] Printing & Binding: Printing Group [email protected] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISBN: 978-9948-36-806-9 First edition 1441 H. - 2020 ©All rights reserved to Al Hosn Research & Studies Centre No part of this book maybe reproduced or transmitted including printing, publishing, photocopying, or storing by any electronic or mechanical means without written permission from the publisher. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Chapter of al-Ahzab the chapter of al-Ahzab 5 The Chapter of al-Ahzab In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Dispenser of Mercy T he chapter of al-Ahzab(1) (The Clans): Allah Glorified is He says: IH G F E D C B A O N M L K J Prophet, be mindful of God and do not give in to the disbelievers and the hypocrites: God is all knowing, all wise[1] (The Quran, al-Ahzab: 1) The Word of Allah the Almighty ‘Prophet…’ (al-Ahzab: 1) is an address to Messenger Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him and the one who is delivering that address is the True Lord the Almighty. ‘Messenger of Allah’ is his title, but his name is Muhammad or Ahmad as is mentioned in the Quran. When a human being is born, he is given a name which denotes him. So, when that name is mentioned, people’s attention is drawn to the one to whom that name has been given. People who are named have a particular environment in which they are known, while other people possessing the exact same names have another environment in which they are known. So the name ‘Mohamed’ of this environment is not the same as the name ‘Muhammad’ of that environment. (1) The chapter of al-Ahzab is the 33rd chapter in the order of the Noble Quran. It is a chapter revealed in Medina and comprises of 73 verses. It was revealed to address the hypocrites’ criticism of Messenger Muhammad Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him and the harm they were inflicting upon him, the issues surrounding his marriages to women and especially his marriage to his cousin Zaynab bint Jahsh Allah be pleased with her and the correct courtesy that must be shown upon entering the apartments of Prophet Muhammad Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him. The chapter of Al-Ahzab was revealed in Medina just after chapter of Al-'Imran and just before the chapter of al-Mumtahana. It was the 89th chapter to be revealed in terms of the order of revelation. See As-Suyuti, Al-Itqan fi ῾Ulum Al-Quran, 1/27. 7 EL SHA'RAWY REFLECTIONS / vol- 19 A human being is identified by either his name, his kunya (nickname) or his laqab. (title). A name is what a person is called by – it is given to him to identify him and distinguish him from others. A kunya is a name which begins with Abu (Father of) or Umm (Mother of) such as Abu Bakr or Umm Al-Mu’minin. However, if a name such as this is given to a person right from the very beginning, then it is not a kunya (nickname) but a name. A laqab (title) is that which is used to indicate the highness or lowness of a person’s status such as the poet So-and-so or the clever So-and-so and so forth. If a number of people are given the same name making it impossible to tell them apart, then each of those people must be given a secondary descriptive name. So, for example, if a particular family loved the name Mohamed and gave all of their sons that name, it would be necessary for the parents to call them Mohamed the eldest, Mohamed the middle, Mohamed the youngest, and so on and so forth. Messenger Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him had a name, a nickname, and a title. His name was Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him and it appears four times in the Holy Quran: Allah Glorified is He says: 'Muhammad is only a Messenger before whom many messengers have been and gone…' (Al-‘Imran: 144). He Glorified is He also says: 'Muhammad is not the father of any one of you men; he is Allah’s Messenger…' (al-Ahzab: 40); 'Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Those who follow him are harsh towards the disbelievers and compassionate towards each other…' (al-Fath: 29) and '…and believe in what has been sent down to Muhammad––the truth from their Lord …’ (Muhammad: 2). He is also mentioned in one place with the name Ahmad: Allah Glorified is He says: '…and bringing good news of a Messenger to follow me whose name will be Ahmad…' (as-Saff: 6). We have already talked about the reason for this name earlier in this Tafsir. His kunya was Abu Al-Qasim and his title was Messenger of Allah. Thus, our master, the Messenger of Allah’s full name encompassed all its three aspects – name, kunya and title. A title is sometimes also bestowed upon a person by his parents or by someone else who knows him – they might give him a title indicative of high 8 The Chapter of al-Ahzab status out of hope that he might one day become a person of substance, or a title indicative of low status. This latter form of title is usually given by parents to children when they fear that those children may one day become exposed to the evil eye. So, in order to protect them against that, they give their young children a title which indicates inferiority, debasement or some other form of lowliness. The title of Messenger Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him was chosen for him by his Lord. And naturally the title given to him peace and blessings of Allah be upon him indicated a loftiness of the highest degree, for his high rank was not just with creation but also with the Creator. When Messenger Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him was born, his grandfather named him with the name that he loved the most. He said, ‘I name him Muhammad so that he may become praised in both the heavens and the earth.’(1) When Al-Qasim was born, Messenger Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him was given the kunya of: the father of Al-Qasim, or: Abu Al-Qasim. And when Allah chose him to be the bearer of the Message and His Ambassador to creation, He the Almighty gave him the twin titles of ‘Messenger of Allah’ and ‘Prophet’. If these two titles were to have been bestowed upon him by men, they would have indicated the loftiness of his station, so how much more must that be the case when they were bestowed upon him by Allah! When you set out criteria for judging something, you set out criteria limited by the extent of your own knowledge or capacity. Messenger Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him, however, is the Messenger of Allah and the Prophet of Allah according to the criteria of Allah and so he is rendered noble in your eyes and noble in the eyes of the One Who sent him. Allah Glorified is He says: '…But Allah knows best where to place His messages…' (al-An‘am: 124). So the most beloved way for us to refer to Messenger Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him is to say Muhammad, Abu Al-Qasim, Messenger of (1) Ibn Hisham mentions in his As-Sira An-Nabawiyya (1/170) said that Amina bint Wahb, the mother of Messenger Muhammad peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said that when she was pregnant with him peace and blessings of Allah be upon him a voice came to her saying, ‘You are pregnant with the master of this nation. So, when he is born, say ‘I seek the protection of the One from every envier, and name him Muhammad.’ 9 EL SHA'RAWY REFLECTIONS / vol- 19 Allah or Prophet. On all the occasions that the True Lord the Almighty addresses His Messenger Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him, He never once addresses him by his name – He never once says 'O Muhammad'. Rather, He only addresses him by the title which indicates the lofty rank he holds with the True Lord the Almighty. So, He either says: 'Prophet…' (al-An‘am: 65), or Glorified is He says: 'Messenger…' (al-Ma‘ida: 41). If you look at the way Allah addresses His messengers, beginning with Adam peace be upon him, you will find that Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him is the only one whom Allah does not address by name. Yes, the word 'Muhammad' does appear in the Quran but never as an address. It only appears in the context of informing that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. And, indeed, even on many of the occasions that Allah does inform about him peace and blessings be upon him he informs about him by means of his title: Allah Glorified is He says: 'A Messenger has come to you from among yourselves…' (at-Tawba: 128). Allah Glorified is He says: 'The Messenger has said, “Lord, my people treat this Quran as something to be shunned…’ (al-Furqan: 30). So, it is only 'O Prophet' and 'O Messenger' that is used when Messenger Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him is addressed. However, when He peace and blessings be upon him is being informed that his actual name must be mentioned – we must say Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.