In this surah Allah condemns people who pay attention only to ritual acts of worship such as salah, but ignore the importance of helping others out of the goodness of one's heart. It warns against being forgetful of one's prayers by not praying regularly or on time, or only praying at the last minute as a matter of habit.
It also warns against hypocrisy, as shown by the person who prays so that others can say that h is very religious, rather than solely for the purpose of humbling himself before his Creator, in praise and gratitude.
According to some reports, this verse was revealed about 'As Ibn Wa'il, a staunch unbeliever who was known for his miserliness. (Ruh-ul Ma'ani) The words, however, are general which indicate that acts like pushing away an orphan or refraining from feeding the needy are not conceivable from a Muslim who believes in Requital. This includes to miss salah due to carelessness, or to perform it without observing its due rules.
According to Sayyidina Ali (r.a), Ma'un in this verse refers to zakat, because it is payable in a small proportion to one's aggregate wealth.
TRANSLATION:
Surah al-Ma'un (107: The Simple Acts of Kindness)
In the name of Allah, the Kindest and Most Merciful One..
1. Have you seen the one who denies the religion?
2. - the one who pushes the orphan aside,
3. and does not encourage feeding the poor people?
In pre-Islamic era, the entire Arabia was facing a grave situation of mutual battles, robberies, and carnage. When travelling from one place to another, people were under constant fear of being attached either from their enemies or from the robbers. As opposed to this, the trade caravans of the tribe of Quraysh used to travel safely to Yemen in winder and to Syria in summer. This was because the people of the entire Arabia respected them as caretakers of the Sacred House in Makkah, and never touched them with any evil during their commercial trips. As such, Ka'abah was the basic cause of their security and economic prosperity.
This surah reminds them that Allah has blessed them with this special favour only because they are caretakers of His Sacred House. In this capacity, they are required to have a higher standard of obedience to Allah, and refrain from worshipping anyone other than Him.
The Prophet saw belonged to the tribe of Quraysh, which was the most powerful and important tribe in Makkah. They were proud of their position and resisted the message of Islam for a long time. Now, to understand this surah, one must know that Makkah is in the middl of a very hot desert and almost nothing can grow there.
TRANSLATION:
Surah al-Quraysh (106: The Tribe of Quraysh)
In the name of Allah, the Kindest and Most Merciful One..
1. For the benefit of the Quraysh
2. for their benefit of the caravans go outin the winter and summer
3. So they should worship the Lord of this House
4. Who has fed them, protected them from hunger, and has made them safe from fear.
Some leaders of the Quraysh made fun of the Prophet Muhammad saw when his young son Qasim died, saying that he no longer had any sons to carry on his name and that he would be forgotten after his death.
Allah promised with this surah that it would be those people who insulted the Prophet saw, and not him, who would leave behind no one to remember them. 1400 years later, millions of Muslims around the world ask Allah to shower His blessings on the Prophet Muhammad saw and his family and Companions in every ritual prayer as well as on many other occasions.
TRANSLATION:
Surah al-Kauthar (108: The Abundance)
In the name of Allah, the Kindest and Most Merciful One..
1. Surely We have given you the Fountain of Abundance
2. so pray to your Lord, and make a sacrifice;
3. Surely it is the one who insults you (Muhammad, and not you) who will leave no one behind to remember him.
The Makkans who resisted the Prophet’s message used to try to make compromises or ‘deals’ with him now and then to change the religion of Islam to something which they thought would be easier for them to practice. In one of these deals some people said that they would worship only Allah for one year if he would worship their idols the next year, and they could continue to take turns year after year.
So Allah swt revealed this surah to make it clear to the Quraysh that this was an impossible idea, and also to show us how we should speak to unbelievers. If a person does not accept Islam after it has been explained to him, we should not argue but simply say ,”Me to my way, you to yours.”
The Prophet saw used to recite this surah along with Suratul-Ikhlas in the sunnah prayer of Salatul- Fajr; he also recommended that Muslims recite it before going to sleep at night, as a protection against the unbelievers.
TRANSLATION:
Surah al-Kafirun (109: The Unbelievers)
In the name of Allah, the Kindest and Most Merciful One..1. Say: Oh, unbelievers! 2. ‘I do not worship what you worship, 3. And you do not worship what I worship, 4. And I will not worship what you worship, 5. And you do not worship what I worship, 6. (So,) for you is not your way, and for me is mine.’
Suratun-Nasr was the last complete surah of the Quran to be revealed, on the occasion of the Farewell Pilgrimage three months before the Prophet saw’s death. The surah itself was a sign from Allah that his mission had been completed and he could look forward to returning to his Lord in full favour.
Only two years before, the holy city of Makkah had been peacefully taken over by an army of 10,000 Muslims and had been cleansed of idolatry and all evil practices. Now, no less than 100,000 believers accompanied the Prophet saw on his Farewell Pilgrimage to the holy city! In that short time, Islam had spread beyond Makkah and Madinah to include all of Arabia. For the first time in recorded history, people had accepted-by the thousands- the Prophethood of a man while he was still alive, and received him as their leader and ruler. Tribe after tribe came to offer their allegiance to the beloved Prophet Muhammad saw and merchants began to spread the message of Islam beyond the borders of Arabia. The mission of Prophet Muhammad saw had become, through Allah’s infinite grace, clearly victorious.
Although this is a specific instruction to the beloved Prophet saw, it is also meant generally for all believers. Whenever a person is successful in any worthy project or undertaking, no matter how much he has sacrificed and how much good he has done, he must never forget to remain humble before his Lord, Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.
TRANSLATION:
Suratun-Nasr (110: The Help/ The Divine Support)
In the name of Allah, the Kindest and Most Merciful One..
When Allah's help comes, and a successful victory,
and you see people accepting Allah's religion in masses,
then remember to praise your Lord and ask Him for forgiveness. Surely He is always ready to forgive.
Abu Lahab and his wife did many terrible, almost unbelievable things to the Prophet and his Companions throughout their lives. Although he was the Prophet's own uncle, he tried in every way to make his life miserable. He is the only person mentioned in the Quran specifically by name for Allah's punishment.
His wife used to get up early in the morning to collect thorns to put in front of the Prophet's house. It is said that she owned a valuable necklace, and that she wanted to sell it so she could use the money to harm the Prophet saw in some way. Allah says here that rather than the necklace, she will have a rough rope around her neck in Hell.
This surah is also known as al-Lahab.
TRANSLATION:
Surah al-Masad (111: The Palm Leaf/The Flame)
In the name of Allah, the Kindest and Most Merciful One..
The power of Abu Lahab will perish and he will perish.
Neither his wealth nor what he has gained will help him.
He will be pushed down into the flaming Fire
and his wife, the wood-carrier
will have a rope of rough palm leaves around her neck.
This is one of the most important surahs because it describes the main points of Islamic believe about God. It is related in several hadith that it was revealed in response to questions asked by the Makkans of the Prophet (PBUH) about the nature of Allah. The idolators asked:'Tell us of your Lord's ancestry'; some Jews asked:'..Allah created the angels from light, Adam from the rotten clay, Iblis (Satan) from the flame of fire, the sky from a smoke, and the earth from the foam of water. Now tell us about your Lord(what he is made of).' A group of Christians came and asked:' O Muhammad, tell us what your Lord is like and of what substance He is made.' In each case, the Prophet answered with this Surah.
What is the right way to understand the Oneness of God, Allah? It is not in the sense of numbers and counting, because the word AHAD is not the same as the Arabic word WAHID which is used for the number one. Allah is ONE in the sense that He is unique, and there is nothing like Him anywhere with which He could be compared. He is not one of a group of 'god and goddesses' who fall in love, marry, plot against each other or put silly curses on humans. He canno tbe divided into parts, such as in the Christian concept of the trinity in which somehow, three gods or parts of God are believed to merge into one. He is not in need of anything; He does not have a father, and He does not need a wife for company or a son to help Him.
He is not a father in the sense that He provides everything for His creatures as a father does, and He does not have children except in the sense that those who follow His commandments are well-loved by Him, as a human father might love those of this children, and more pleased with the mother is to her beloved child, and more pleased with the repentance of a servant of His than a man who loses his camel in the hot desert and then finds it again.
He is the Eternal One who never dies, the Guide and Protector to whom everyone calls when they are in desperate need of help, Who does whatever He wills in perfect wisdom.
The Prophet Muhammad saw said that al-Ikhlas is equal to one-third of the Quran, and that we should recite it often. A man came to the Prophet and said, 'Messenger of Allah, I love suratul-ikhlas;, and the Prophet told him that his love for it would admit him to Paradise.
TRANSLATION:
Surah al-Ikhlas (112: The Purity)
In the name of Allah, the Kindest and Most Merciful One..
The last TWO surahs of the Quran, al-Falaq and an-Nas, were revealed together and are usually recited together. These surahs were revealed during a time when Prophet saw's health and memory had been slightly affected by witchcraft or black magic as practised on him by a Jewish man in Madinah named Labid. This man had gotten hold of some of the Prophet saw’s hair and put a spell on it, which led to him feeling weak, tired and sometimes confused about whether or not he had done something or gone somewhere. Then the Prophet saw had a dream about the spell and how to overcome it, and when he awoke , the Angel Jibra’il (peace be upon him) came to him with these two surahs and confirmed that his dream was true. Before their revelation, the Prophet used to say various du’a against all kinds of illnesses, troubles and evils; after they were revealed he abandoned all other prayers and repeated these over and over, urging his followers to do the same.
‘Seeking refuge’ means to ask for protection and help from someone against something which you feel powerless to face or handle. The right attitude of the believer when he faces any difficulty is to realize that he has no power by himself, but only that which Allah may give him. Although everything that Allah has created is good in its own way and has its own special purpose, evil does appear from some of His creatures.
The evil work of devils, jinn or magic of the effects of the ‘negative vibrations’ of hatred and jealousy are unpleasant to think of ,but very real. Rather than looking at anyone or anything to help us, the most obvious and logical thing to do is to ask help from the Lord of the creature, the One who created it in the first place and Who is completely Powerful over it.
Whenever a person faced with a trying situation such as hunger, the death of the family member, losing one’s job, an unexplainable or serious illness, a fire or accident, being bitten by a snake or scorpion, being attacked by criminals, etc, he or she should recite surah al-Falaq and an-Nas, REPEATEDLY AS NECESSARY.
Beyond this obvious cases, these surahs should also be recited in the face of ‘invisible’ enemies;when a person feels that he is unable to concentrate in his prayer or has been unable to offer it on time as usual, when feeling sad or depressed, angry or overcome by other strong emotions, when troubled by the hatred or jealousy of others, when he has been a victim of gossip or slander, and so forth.
These words of comfort, light and protection come as a beautiful conclusion to God’s last Holy Book; a generous and merciful gift from the Lord of all the Worlds.
TRANSLATION:
Surah al-Falaq (113: The Dawn)
In the name of Allah, the Kindest and Most Merciful One..
Say: ' I seek safety and protection in the Lord of the Dawn
from the evil of the things He created,
and from the evil of the darkness when it is very strong,
and from the evil of people who practise witchcraft,
and from the evil of the envious one when he envies.
Surah an-Nas (114: The People)
In the name of Allah, the Kindest and the Most Merciful One..
Say: 'I seek safety and protection in the Lord of all people,
the Kind of all people,
the God of all people,
from the evil of those who whisper secretly,
who whisper (evil) into the hearts of people
from (those evil ones of) the jinn and the people.'
