- Interpretation Of Quran / The long version
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- (110) Al Nasr
This surah announces the death of the prophet:
Dear brother, the surah we are going to talk about today is An-Nasr.Allah says:
When there comes the Help of Allah, and Victory; and you see that the people enter the deen of Allah in crowds -celebrate the Praises of your Lord , and ask His Forgiveness for He is Oft-Returning (in forgiveness).
It was mentioned that our master Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, used to show deep respect for our master Ibn Abbas. There were four Companions of the Prophet, may Allah be pleased with all of them, who carried the name of Abdullah: Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Az-Zubair , Abdullah ibn Umar and Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Al-'As.Narrated Ibn Abbas: Allah's Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, put his hand on my shoulder and said : "O Allah , make him comprehend the deen and teach him at-ta'weel (explanation)."
Once Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, invited the Companions who fought at Badr to ask them about this surah, and it seemed that they were annoyed about Umar's respect to him (i.e. Ibn Abbas, who was also invited) as he was at that time a young boy. Umar, however, consulted him and ask him in their presence, and they admonished Umar for that. He asked them: What do you say about this surah ? Allah says:When there comes the Help of Allah, and Victory; and you see that the people enter the deen of Allah in crowds -celebrate the Praises of your Lord , and ask His Forgiveness for He is Oft-Returning (in forgiveness).
They said: "Allah the Exalted and Glorious gives His Prophet glad tidings of help and conquest." Upon that Umar said: "Speak Ibn Abbas!" He said: "This surah is the announcement of the death of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace."When this surah was revealed the prophet felt that his death was close:
And it was narrated that some people from the land of Hijaz came to our master Umar ibn Abdulaziz, and that group was preceded by a boy hardly 11 years old, and this angered Umar, who considered it an insult. So the boy entered to speak on behalf of them, but Umar said to him: "Sit down boy, and let somebody older than you speak." The boy smiled and said: "May Allah guide the emir! The man is made of two small parts: his heart and his tongue. Indeed, if Allah gives His slave a tongue that speaks well and an excellent heart that is aware, he deserves to speak; and were it indeed as you have just said, there would be found many people in this nation more suitable than you to preside over the present gathering!"So, as regards His Words:
When there comes the Help of Allah, and Victory;
The mission of the Prophet had been accomplished. The great do not live to eat to satiety. They live in order to deliver a great message. If they deliver it, their mission is accomplished, and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when this surah had been revealed to him, felt that his death was near. He disclosed this feeling in confidence to his daughter, Fatima, may Allah be pleased with her, saying that his death was near. When she wept, he said: "You will be the first one to follow me." Hearing this she smiled! The Gracious Prophet interpreted from this surah that his death was approaching and that the time of meeting (his Lord) had come.The prophet died and didn’t leave anything of this world:
Thus,Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
Allah's Messenger addressed the people saying: "Allah has given option to a slave to choose between this world and what is with Him. The slave has chosen what is with Allah." Abu Bakr wept, and we were astonished at his weeping caused by what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, mentioned as regards a slave of Allah who had been offered a choice. (We learned later on that) Allah's Messenger himself was the person who was given the choice, and that Abu Bakr was the first to realize it. Allah's Messenger added: "The person who has favored me most of all both with his company and wealth is Abu Bakr. If I were to take a khalil other than my Lord, I would have taken Abu Bakr as such, but (what relates us) is the Islamic brotherhood. All the gates of the mosque should be closed except that of Abu Bakr."
As-Siddiq Abu Bakr knew that that man was the Prophet himself, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.History has it that a man stood up and said: "O Allah's Messenger! You owe me three dirhams!" "Where and when?" The man said: "On such and such day you charged me to give them to a poor person." The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to another man: "O so-and-so, give him this money!" Then another man, who was listening to this conversation, said to the Prophet: "O Allah's Messenger! I am a hypocrite and liar! Upon that Umar said angrily to him: Waihaka! (archaic Arabic expression meaning may Allah be merciful to you) You have disclosed yourself. The Prophet said: "Leave him Umar, indeed the disclosures in the worldly life are easier than the disclosures in the Hereafter. O Allah, guide him to sincerity and right conduct."
The Prophet died and he didn't leave anything in this world.
Once Abu Bakr brought to him all he had. "O Abu Bakr, what did you keep for yourself?" He said: "Allah and His Messenger. This is the greatest treasure."Allah said:
And take provision for the journey, but the best provision is right conduct. So fear Me, O you that are wise.
But now, you can see that one leaves money, movables and estates, and where is he? In his grave.If you attribute victory to other besides Allah you are a mushrik:
His Saying :When there comes the Help of Allah, and Victory;
Here itha, "when", is a conditional. It means the ineluctability or the actualization, and this means that Allah's Help and the conquest will undoubtedly come.And if you attribute the help or victory to some other besides Allah, you are then a mushrik, you commit shirk in your belief. Allah says:
Alif-Lam-Mim. The Romans have been defeated.
In a land close by, but they, after this defeat (of theirs), will be victorious.
(Surat Ar-Rum, 30:1-3)
It is plain shirk to claim that your victories are caused by some other than Allah, because He is Who helps and forsakes.Allah promised us to be victorious provided that we worship Him:
Allah says:
But when Allah wills a people's punishment, there can be no turning it back, nor will they find, besides Him, any to protect.
But His Help cannot come haphazardly. Allah says:O you who believe! If you help (in the cause of ) Allah, He will help you , and make your foothold firm.
It is a conditional covenant: If you help by your obedience to Him, your victory will definitely come. Allah says:Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to (power) in the land , as He granted it to those before them , and that He will establish in authority their deen, the one which He has chosen for them. And that He will change (their state), after the fear in which they (lived), to one of security and peace: "They will worship Me (alone) and not associate anything with Me." If any do reject faith after this, they are fasiqun (rebellious and wicked people).
Granting succession, authority, and security –three promises given by Allah if we worship Him; and in case we don't, this promise does not bind.Belief after victory is easy but it is heroism with hardship:
This help is Allah's Help. And about His Saying "the conquest", man perhaps may achieve victory for a period of time, then he may get defeated. However, Allah's Help is firm and the conquest reflects this firmness. And here the word "conquest" means undoubtedly the conquest of Mekka. Allah says:And that Allah may help you with powerful help.
Unlike the Jews, who cannot triumph except when men give them a hand, needing help and support, the believers receive Allah's Help, which is strong, miraculous and cannot result in failure.When there comes the Help of Allah, and Victory; And you see that the people enter the deen of Allah in crowds. Celebrate the Praises of your Lord , and ask His Forgiveness for He is Oft-Returning (in forgiveness).
It is easy to believe when Islam spreads all over the earth and becomes strong, but the real heroism is to believe at the time of hardship. The reward of the one who believes while the whole world is against Islam will be indeed great. When will people enter Islam? When Allah's Help comes and the conquest, then you see people enter it in crowds. Similarly, those who adhere to some intellectual doctrine immediately after it is introduced acquire a special status, unlike those who accept it when it becomes firm. Therefore, those who followed the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, at the time of hardship, as our master Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, enjoy a high status in Islam. After Abu Sufian entered Islam, on one occasion he stood waiting at the door of Umar for a long time until he was given permission to enter, while Suhaib (the Roman) and Bilal (the Abyssinian) would enter without asking for permission. This greatly annoyed Abu Sufian, and he admonished Umar for this, saying: "The chief of the Quraish has been standing at your door for long hours, while Bilal and Suhaib enter without permission!" Omar replied briefly: "Are you like them?!"They followed him (i.e. the Prophet) when hardships were most severe, and they were oppressed and tortured by the mushrikun, who put rocks on the chest of Bilal, and yet he kept saying: Ahad Ahad (Allah is One); and as-Siddiq came and bought him from Omayya ibn Khalf , who said to him: "If you had offered no more than one dirham for him, I would have sold him to you." And as-Siddiq said to him: "If you had asked one hundred thousand for him, I would have paid it!" He took Bilal, and put his arm under his armpit as a sign of brotherhood in the deen in spite of the fact that Bilal was an Abyssinian slave and Abu Bakr was one of the Quraish nobles. Yet he said: "This is my brother in Allah's Cause." And the Companions used to say whenever Abu Bakr was mentioned: "He is our master who freed our master, and Umar used to meet him on the outskirts of Medina whenever he returned from a journey.
So, it is easy to believe after victory has been achieved, and the reward for this belief is lesser.
When people mix between ma’rouf and munkar it is a hard time:
Narrated Abu Huraira that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to the graveyard and greeted the dead, then he said: "Peace be upon you, the home of faithful people, and we, Allah willing, we follow you." Then he said: "I wish we could see our brother." They said: "O Allah's Messenger, aren't we your brother?" He said: "No, you are my Companions, and my brother are those who haven't come yet, and I will be their guide at Hawd." They said: "O Allah's Messenger, how do you know those who haven't come yet from among your ummah?" He said: "Don't you think that a man who has white horses amongst black horses will know them?" They said: "Yes, he will." He said: "So they will come on the Day of Resurrection, recognizable from the traces of wudu' and I will be their guide at Hawd." Then he said: "Verily, men from amongst you will be driven away from my Hawd as if stray camels, and I will call to them: "Come here!" And it will be said: "They changed after you, and I will say: "Even further, even further."
How will it be with you when al-ma'ruf (good acceptable behavior and deeds) becomes munkar (bad ones), and vice versa? This will be a very hard time, hence Allah says:When there comes the Help of Allah, and Victory; and you see that the people enter the deen of Allah in crowds -celebrate the Praises of your Lord , and ask His Forgiveness for He is Oft-Returning (in forgiveness).
After a meeting, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "Who is the man?" He said: "U'dai ibn Hatem, the ruler of the Ghassan. The Prophet welcomed him warmly, and while they were walking, an old woman stopped them in order to speak with him (the Prophet) about her problems, and he stood for a long time with her. U'dai said to himself: "This is not the manner of a king!" He related also: "Then I entered his house, and he pushed towards me a cushion filled with fiber, and it looked as if there was no other cushion in his house! Then he said: Sit on it. I said: No, you sit on it. He said: No, you sit on it. I sat on it, and he sat on the ground. Then he said: O U'dai ibn Hatim, haven't you been Rakusi (an old religion between Christianity and Sabians)? I said: Yes. Then he said: Haven't you levied on your people al-merba'a? [a quarter of one's wealth as tax) I said: Yes. The Prophet said: But it is unlawful in your deen! U'dai said: Upon that I knew that he was a Messenger, and he knew what we ignore. Then he said: O U'dai ibn Hatim, perhaps what prevents you from embracing this deen is that you see that the kingdom and the dominion are in the hands of other people (than the Muslims). By Allah, it is possible that you will soon hear that a woman from Babylon goes on a pilgrimage to the House (Ka'aba) riding her camel and fearing nothing. This will mean that all the peoples from Mekka to Babil (Iraq) have become Muslims. Then he said: And perhaps what prevents you (also) from entering this deen is that you see that they are in need. By Allah, it might be that soon you will see how the money increases for them until nobody takes it."During the Caliphate of Umar, the spoils were brought and put on the ground and two warriors stood there, holding their lances, and raised them, and each lance was made of solid gold and silver. And during Omar ibn Abdulaziz' rule, zakat was gathered, and it was announced that every poor man should come and take whatever he needed, but no one came; and whoever was in debt should come, but nobody came! Muslims lived in prosperity for a long time.
"Then he said to U'dai: And perhaps what prevents you from entering this deen is that you see how numerous their enemies are! By Allah, it might be that soon you will hear that the Babylon palaces are open to the Arabs."
They said: U'dai lived long enough to see how Muslims conquered Babil, and a woman performing a pilgrimage could ride her camel, fearing nothing, and how the money increased for them.
If you embrace Islam when it is weak you are the hero:
It isn't a highwayman who is a hero, but he who believes in AllahWhen there comes the Help of Allah, and Victory; and you see that the people enter the deen of Allah in crowds -celebrate the Praises of your Lord, and ask His Forgiveness for He is Oft-Returning (in forgiveness).
Ahmad narrated in his Misnad , from a neighbor of Jabir ibn Abdullah's, who said:I returned home and Jabir ibn Abdullah came to greet me, and I told him about the disunity of people, and what they invented (in the deen), and this made Jabir burst into tears. Then he said: I heard Allah's Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say: Indeed, people entered the deen of Allah in crowds, and they will leave it in crowds.
Verily, in Ramadan, you see many people eat during the day of fasting; restaurants are open, as well as places of entertainment and leisure, corruption, mixing of men and women, illicit gain… these things have become something normal in our daily life, and if the mixing of men and women and the ill–gotten gain become generally accepted, so what remains of the deen? What does decadence mean? It is the ill-gotten gains and the moral degeneration. What remains of the deen then? The salah is of no value, the fast is nominal –useless. Umrah and pilgrimage are formally done, people are interested only in money, their lusts and desires. Allah says:When there comes the Help of Allah, and Victory; and you see that the people enter the deen of Allah in crowds –celebrate the Praises of your Lord , and ask His Forgiveness for He is Oft-Returning (in forgiveness).
