بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم

Allaah سبحانه و تعالى says,

This ayah can be understood from the following hadith of the Prophet  صلى الله عليه و سلم “Do not be envious of one another; do not artificially inflate prices against one another; do not hate one another; do not shun one another; and do not undercut one another in business transactions; and be as fellow-brothers and servants of Allaah. A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim. He neither oppresses him nor humiliates him nor looks down upon him. Piety is here – and he pointed to his chest three times. It is evil enough for a Muslim to hold his brother Muslim in contempt. All things of a Muslim are inviolable for another Muslim: his blood, his property and his honour.”[2]

Al-Imaam al-Qurtubi رحمه الله says, “Brotherhood in religion is stronger than the brotherhood in kinship because it is severed with the difference of the religion and brotherhood in religion is not severed due to kinship.”[3]

Explaining the phrase, “… and be conscious of Allaah, that you may receive mercy.”Al-Haafidh Ibn Kathir رحمه الله said, “And this is a promise from Allaah that He will grant mercy to those who fear and obey Him.”[4]

What can I apply from this verse?

1) Treat your fellow Muslims as your brothers and sisters. Try to have to good Akhlaaq and Adaab with them. Forgive their mistakes as you would forgive the mistakes of your brothers and sisters in kinship. If they harm you forgive them, if they mistreat you bear with them and if they break ties with you then join with them.

2) If you see brothers or sisters in an argument, then try to reconcile between them

3) To have Mercy of Allaah سبحانه و تعالى have Taqwa of Allaah سبحانه و تعالى

And, indeed, Allaah سبحانه و تعالى knows best.

[1] Surat ul-Hujuraat:10

[2] Sahih Muslim

[3] Jaami‘ li-Ahkaam al-Qur’aan

[4] Tafsir al-Qur’aan al-‘Adhim

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم

This ayah specifically refers to the People of the Book as is understood from the context of the verse. But it can be used by us to derive some important points.

Points of Benefit:

1)We learn from this ayah that the first and foremost thing Allah سبحانه و تعالى commanded His slaves was sincerity in worshiping Him.

2)The first part of the ayah is similar to the third ayah in Surat ul-Baqarah,

In the first verse, Allah سبحانه و تعالى says that He did not command the people anything except to worship Him sincerely. And in the second one, Allah سبحانه و تعالى describes the people of Taqwa with the same characteristics in the very same order. Because having the correct belief in the Unseen is devoting worship to Allah alone. It is as if Allah سبحانه و تعالى commanded the people to become Muttaqin.

3) We also learn that sincerity is the first of the worship and it is a prerequisite for doing other acts of worship. This verse is also similar to the last verse in Surat ul-Kahf:

The ayah mentioned on the top contains the righteous acts and also contains the command to not commit shirk.

4)The root word of hunafaa’ is haa’-noon-faa’ which linguistically means an inclination towards right religion. A haneef is the one who is inclined towards God and inclined away from [false deities] so considered upright.[2] In tafsir, this word has been given six meanings:

a)Followers (of the true religion)

b)The steadfast people said Muhammad Ibnu Ka’b رحمه الله

c)Sincere people said Khusif رحمه الله

d)The Muslims said adh-Dhahhaak رحمه الله

e)The Hujjaaj (i.e. the ones who have performed al-Hajj) said Ibnu ‘Abbas رضي الله عنهم And al-‘Atiyah al-‘Awfi رحمه الله said, “If al-Hanif and al-Muslim are used together, then al-Hanif means the one who has performed al-Hajj. But if al-Hanif is singled out then its meaning is al-Muslim.” And Sa’id Ibnu Jubayr رحمه الله said, “The Arabs would not name al-Hanif to except the one who did al-Hajj and was circumcised.”

f)They are the believers in all the Messengers said Abu Qulaabah رحمه الله3]

5)In the end, we also understand that for a religion to be correct, it needs to have these characteristics: a) Commandment of abstinence from polytheism b) Commandment of establishment of as-Salaah c) Commandment of giving Zakaah or charity.

And indeed Allah سبحانه و تعالى knows best

[1] Surat ul-Bayyinah:5

[2] HdO Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage

[3] An-Nakat wal-‘Uyun by al-Imam al-Mawardi

The word has been explained in three meanings as mentioned in Tafsir al-Qurtubi:

1)Doubt
2)Accusation
3)Deficiency

It seems that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has told us that in order for a non-Muslim to disprove the Qur’an or Islam, he/she has to prove one of the meanings of in regards to the Qur’an.

Doubt in:

a)it being from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala
b)its authenticity
c)it being unadulterated


Accusation that:

a)it promotes immorality
b) it has laws of injustice that are not applicable in 21st century

Deficiency in its:

a)linguistic and literary form
b)language

So whenever a non-Muslim will ask a question regarding the Qur’an, it will be from or related to these categories. It is as if Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala already made it clear to us what type of questions should the du’aat expect. In addition, this shows the importance of doing da’wah because it is implictly mentioned in the very beginning of the Qur’an.

This also ayah shows the richness of the language used by Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in the Qur’an.

And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala knows best

The Prophet sallAllahu ‘alayhi wassalam went to As-Safa’, climbed up and called out, “O people!” The people gathered around him, some coming of their own accord and others sending people on their behalf to find out what was happening. The Messenger of Allah said, “O Bani `Abd Al-Muttalib, O Bani Fihr, O Bani Lu’ayy! What do you think, if I told you that there was a cavalry at the foot of this mountain coming to attack you — would you believe me?” They said, “Yes.” He said, “Then I warn you of a great punishment that is close at hand. Abu Lahab said, “May you perish for the rest of the day! You only called us to tell us this””[2]