Surah baqarah 36-38

2:36

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Sahih International

But Satan caused them to slip out of it and removed them from that [condition] in which they had been. And We said, "Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another, and you will have upon the earth a place of settlement and provision for a time."

2:37

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Sahih International

Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.

2:38

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Sahih International

We said, "Go down from it, all of you. And when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.

>Haa means instruction,guidance of Allah..it can refer to the tree

>Allah expelled both of them..it can also refer to satan that he got them expelled ..from what they used to be in

Here there isnt any detail about shetaan caused them to slip,greater detail is in surah aaraaf..b/c every surah has a central topic, Allah only discusses details that are relevant the surah

>Allah makes it clear by HUMA that both of them slipped, not just eve

>ihbitoo..All of them descended including shetaan(for two people we use ihbitaa)..and there will be animosity between them which is generated by shetaan..there is 3 kinds of animosity..one b/w man and woman ..one b/w woman and man..and one b/w shetaan and men and women

The main animosity is b/w man and woman,which still hasnt been resolved..theres male chauvinism and feminism..true balance can only being created by Allah,humans end up being unfair 

>In the Earth there will be a temporary place of rest for you, not permanent..and utilities(MATAA-a tool) for a given time..it means something you use but you dont enjoy..you have a lot of things but dont get caught up into them..keep them in your hands,not in your heart..some ppl have no dunya in their hands but the entire dunya in their hearts..they have no materials but they are materialistic ..on the other hand, there are ppl who have wealth in their hand but none in their heart, they know everything belongs to Allah and to Him it returns

>catholics believe they were born into sin..so they denounce the world..the protestants believe the opposite, they think worldy acquisitions are a sign that ALlah loves you,the more the better, but we KNOW that acquisitions do not determine how happy Allah is,they are just a test..so you shouldnt believe that your haraam buusiness is going well, ALlahs happy

>THEN,once they were set down.Allah immediately told them how to set things right..especially from his master he received special words of repentance..Allah told him how to repent..when ALlah forgives and accepts taubah,he converts bad deeds to good deeds

imagine Allahs mercy,Allah told him how to do taubah, rabbanaa zalamna anfusana..when you recite them,recite them with full attention and humility..not when you're distracted..THINK that you have wronged yourself

>NO doubt it is he who comes back towards the one who makes taubah over and over again

(ATTAWAAB)

>ARRAHEEM means constantly merciful

Allah is saying that i will continously accept taubah,he is assuring us is no big to be forgiven..dont think that ur too messed up

Humans have a breaking point where they cant forgive anymore..and cant see the other person..even rahmat ul alameen SAWW couldnt see hind after she accepted islam because he couldnt forget that she chewed on his uncles liver

>now ALlah tells how to get the ticket back to jannah..whoever follows my guidance there will be no fear and they wont be those who will be grieving

Faa means whoever followed my guidance THEN there will be no fear and grief

2ndly it is ya'tiyanna..noon mushaddad..it shows that only if and if the guidance came from me..it implies that make sure the guidance is FROM me..so if somebody claims to give guidance on Allahs behalf,then be sure of it

muslims should not blindly follow their forefathers but should make sure that this is from Allah
and if somebody challenges Quran,then dont get angry but welcome it because Allah has invited people to challenge the quran,we should be confident, because people argue in philosophy that Quran is the opiate of the masses,you only believe in religion because you can't accept reality and its just a means of escape,but we should prove that we believe in deen with eyes open and not with eyes closed
so here Allah is saying that first verify it then follow me

There will be no fear and grief neither in this world nor in akhirah
in Arabic every little detail counts
Allah talked about fear first and sadness later..that which is in more quantity is mentioned first..fear is associated with more quantity because we fear what will happen in the future,everything that is yet to occur..whereas sadness is not associated with the future but is associated with all that has happened in the past ..for example if we give a test we are sad after the test and afraid before the test
Fear is a permanent part of life,it is always there..it almost drives us..because we dress a certain way follow certain rules and do things..
Now here Allah didn't say laa khaufa that means no fear at ALL,but Allah used laa khaufun,so there may be some fear but it won't be overwhelming

This person fears versus there is a fear ON the person
these are 2 ways of saying this
When we say the child fears it means the child is afraid
if we say there is no fear on the child it means the child is not in danger
for e.g. if a child is playing with a snake we would say that the child does not fear BUT there is a fear on the child
Which is worse?the child feeling afraid or having a fear in them?
Allah didn't say laa yakhaafoona,but he said laa khaufun!
because the believer does fear..for e.g.the believers fear the day of judgement..they are afraid of standing before their Master
they will be afraid on judgement day but Allah is giving a consolation that allthough you are feeling afraid there is no fear on you,there is no danger

And it not THEY who will be grieving
it is pointing to this that there WILL be some who will be grieving
Some people don't follow islamic laws because they think it will make them unhappy and make life difficult,but here Allah is saying that all who try to find happiness elsewhere will have empty sadness..they won't ever be happy even if they party as hard as they can,so it proves that those who follow Quran will not grieve
2nd thing is that Allah now used a verb instead of a noun,because noun is permanent and verb is temporary,sadness is a temporary emotion and fear is more permanent

A muslim can't lose it's only a win-win situation..even if he is sick there is no problem in that because it is a means of purification of all sins,on the day of judgement we will thank Allah for that sickness,even affliction in this world is not sadness for them

In life 2 trials are very serious..one is extreme luxury..and one is extreme poverty e.g. in a natural disaster
In luxury we become ungrateful and never stop asking for more

following guidance is mentioned in singular because sometimes you may be the only one following deen,like rasuls were mostly alone,but then it mentions plural walaa khaufun walaa hum yahzanoon,this shows ALlah welll bless them with new company and they will no longer be alone

Surah baqarah ayah 30-35

2:30

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Sahih International

And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" Allah said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know."

The first part of baqarah was about believers, the next was about disbelievers, then about hypocrites. Then there was the call to humanity to be enslaved to Allah and worship Him because He created us.(The start and end of this chunk is a symmetrical theme  21-30 and the middle ayah is congratulating believers about jannah because Allah wants us back in jannah). Then Allah talks about the story of creation of Adam AS and all of humanity which BEGINS in jannah and the fruit which was not allowed for Hazrat Adam AS will also be allowed in Jannah for all of us, and jannah will also have purified spouses just like Adam AS had HAWA AS. 

Beginning of Bani israel marked the beginning of proper laws for a muslim society..beginning of a guided nation who were given prohibitions

Allah said to Muhammad SAWW iz(And remember when/think about the time when/reflect about the time when) your master said to the angels that He will make a khalifa on earth.

Allah didn't use the word AJ-ALU but the word JAAIYLUN is used. AJALU means that it could have been negotiable and it was just an idea presented by Allah, whereas INNI JAAIYLUN means that definitely WE are creating a khalifa on earth. The christians believe that Allah asked the angels and the angels said it was a bad idea so Allah killed them and then made angels again until they agreed that it was a good idea. This is the wrong account because Allah just informed the angels. It might be all the angels or it might be the closest angels to Allah. The angels also included Iblees(because iblees is a jinn but was present among the angels) so Allah exclusively asked iblees to also do sajdah. 
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KHALF literally means behind, and refers to leaving progeny behind. OR it could mean someone left behind to do as he pleases(to make decisions as he thinks best). Khalifa also means someone who is left behind by a supreme authority as his deputy or representative or in charge.(We are representatives of Allah's attributes and of the Prophets mission)  Khalifa means someone who will come one after the other so human race continues in this fashion as one generation replaces the other. Khalifa not only applies to Adam AS but also to all of us. 

Malaika are always doing tasbeeh of Allah and they are obedient of Allah. They act only by Allah's command and they are incapable of denial. Are the angels questioning Allah here? Angels are merely asking a question here and not QUESTIONING Allah. So it is not haraam to ask questions in deen merely to understand but what matters is HOW and WHY we ask it. Iblees also asked a question later but he became iblees. Why are these questions so different?  Iblees asked a question full of pride and arrogance and not out of humility. We should not become angry if someone asks questions in deen as our deen teaches us to think and have tafakkur and also FASALU AHLAZIKRI(ask the people of knowledge and remembrance if you don't know)

Allah is telling us that the angels had an idea that humans will cause corruption and will shed blood, and they said that we do tasbeeh so they are trying to say that the corruption is a disregard for the tasbeeh of Allah swt.Such violations end up violating the tasbeeh of Allah.Allah gives us the gifts of fitrah and guidance and honour but we disrespect it by not living up to our purpose and our honour.Everything continues to do tasbeeh except human beings.
Allah also knows this is going to happen..Allah himself has said that they cause corruption..but to the angels he says I know something you dont know.This refers to the believers,those handful of believers who will prove the point of their existence and obedience to Allah

THE STORY OF CREATION is in all religions. They say that God decided to create Adam and the devil became a servant and was jealous of Adam.Allah created Hawa from Adams ribs. The serpent coaxed Hawa to eat from the forbidden fruit so that they become heavenly creatures and have eternal life. God had a fiery angel guarding that tree. Eve convinces Adam and then they eat from the tree. Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the devil. God is extremely angry at them and sends them to Earth as a punishment. Now you will suffer forever and bleed every month and cry during birth and man will have power over you, said god, and now all of humanity is born into sin as a punishment.  Then they say that Jesus sacrificed for the sins of humanity. 

We don't believe that Adam AS was sent to the dunya as a punishment.Allah tells us that Adam AS was created as a khalifah for the earth, this decision was made in the beginning.Allah first mentions this in the Quran and then he mentions the incidence of the forbidden fruit.Christians in contrast believe that all humans are born into sin as a punishment, we believe we are born innocent. Human beings come to earth as an amanah, a trust, a responsibility.  We enjoy the blessings in this world and Allah offers us the perfection of these blessings in jannah. 
Shaytaan in reality caused BOTH of them to slip and Allah is not angry at the women in Quran, rather the women has a beautiful status in Islam and Allah showers His rahmah on them. Allah holds the head of the house Adam AS responsible for the slip. 

Imagine there's a person who started off very low in a company and then due to his handwork he got promoted so much that he became the manager of the company. Then one day the boss just decided to bring some junior inexperienced guy in his place and make him the manager. How will the manager feel?Obviously he will flip out and be really angry.
Imagine another story. A person is working in a firm, and the boss sends an email to everyone except the person that he will be transferred to a different place as he is more suited to that place.  Then one person tells him that he was going to be transferred. The next day the person comes late to office as he was mentally disturbed and the boss tells him he is not suited so he will be transferred to a different place. That person complains to the boss that this was already decided and has nothing to do with me coming late.
DO these stories ring a bell?

All angels knew Adam AS was meant for earth although Adam AS was unaware of it.Iblees tells him to eat from the tree to prevent transfer to earth because only angels or permanent residents can stay in jannah. Adam AS did not ask Allah why He is being blamed for being sent to Earth when it was already planned. This addresses the question of fate which is still the most controversial question. Adam AS and Iblees were both given an honour and a position superior to angels, both ended up disobeying Allah once but Adam AS sought forgiveness and Iblees was arrogant. Adam AS believed in the wisdom of Allah and accepted his humility so he was raised in rank by Allah. We need to admit that we cannot know everything with our mind and somethings need faith in the heart. SO what matters is how you react to the circumstances given to you.

Why is there suffering in the world? A lot of good people suffer in the world, why? Allah says that this world is a test and we will certainly test you with fear and loss and hunger etc so that we can test who is best among you, as you are a khalifa on earth able to make choices and having the wisdom to make them. We are taught to embrace suffering. Allah thinks we are qualified to handle all the sufferings and are fully capable.All challenges are custom designed to the person and tailor made and all of them have a purpose.

2:31

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Sahih International

And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful."

2:32

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Sahih International

They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise."

2:33

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Sahih International

He said, "O Adam, inform them of their names." And when he had informed them of their names, He said, "Did I not tell you that I know the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth? And I know what you reveal and what you have concealed."

2:34

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Sahih International

And [mention] when We said to the angels, "Prostrate before Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers.

2:35

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Sahih International

And We said, "O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat therefrom in [ease and] abundance from wherever you will. But do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers."

>Allah taught Adam AS the names of Allah

Allah attributes allama to himself..teaching

KUL doesnt necesarrily mean everything,it means a lot of things

every knowledge is based on some terminologies and names/nouns..in the end every single thing is derived from nouns,even verbs..Allah says the same thing:He taught Adam AS the names

Allah gave Adam AS the potential of knowledge


Allah tells the angels to tell the names if they are true..IF they are true means that if they cant demonstrate the names then their claim is also false and will be proven wrong

>The angels say we declare your perfection above and beyond all..sabbaha means swimming..it means we dont bring ALlah down from his perfect status

Whatever knowledge we have is from Allah

>Allah corrects our concepts..even the knowledge of dunya is given to us by Allah..the human mind has been equipped by Allah himself..so that is also a manifestation of Allahs greatness

>The Angels call Allah wise..because Allah has the wisdom to know why he created man.and ALEEM means he knows everything

>Then Allah tells Adam AS to tell the names to others..He tells it immediately(Faa)..then Allah says that didnt i tell you?then Allah says that I know what you profess and what you hide..what does it mean?what have the angels been hiding?Iblees had a rank above the angels..his disobedience is hidden among the ranks of angels..so Allah knows the element of kufr that is hidden in the ranks of angels..so Allah is alluding to iblees here

>Abaa means when you refuse the command of someone who has authority over you..a lack of regard for authority..

while rafada could be refusing anyone,not necessarily authority

Istikbaar literally means to seek greatness .. he was arrogant..Iblees sought this position for himself..that was the motive behind his crime..why is sajdah done to him?i have been working for this position for so long

The greatest honour given to humans are to be slaves of Allah,its a position of servitude for Allah..iblees even WANTS that..this tells us that competition doesnt only occur for material positions..even religious people can have arrogance amongst themselves..desire to be the greatest scholar or to lead everyone or be best known..

He knew of the potential of his kufr all along..He had been a disbeliever(Allah lets us know that he knew all along)..this is also a wake up call for us..that even if the disease has not manifested and is within us Allah knows that too..

>Shaitaan also gives a logical explanation for his disobedience..Im made of fire and He's made of earth so Im BETTER than him..this is also a warning sign for us because we also give logic to justify ourselves

Allah doesnt blame Eve alone..Allah says that SHaitaan caused BOTH of them to sleep

>Sakoon means you were in motion and then you stopped somewhere..secondly sukoon doesnt imply permanent residence..so it means Adam as was settled in Jannah..you and your spouse were settled in paradise...Allah addressed Adam AS and then said you and YOUR spouse were settled..Allah has given men a position of responsibility over the household..that responsibilty begins with Adam AS..as Allah instructs Adam AS here..you and YOUR spouse..

similarly Allah says to Muhammad saww..YOU tell your spouses..it also shows that the man has the responsibility

Surah baqarah ayah 26-29

2:26

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Sahih International

Indeed, Allah is not timid to present an example - that of a mosquito or what is smaller than it. And those who have believed know that it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What did Allah intend by this as an example?" He misleads many thereby and guides many thereby. And He misleads not except the defiantly disobedient,

2:27

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In the world, there has never been such a revolution where the thinker and the one carrying the idea is the same person. Usually the thought is given by a philosopher which takes hundreds of years to materialise into a revolution which is led by someone else. The Prophet SAWW received revelation at 40 years and brought about a complete revelation in only 23 years which was in every minor and major sphere of life. Revelations are usually EITHER on a public level or a personal level and never affect every sphere of  life.  The Quran lives in the hearts of people so even if all books of the Quran are taken away, the Quran will continue to live in the hearts of the people. No other book can be recovered in this way. The words of Allah are like an ocean which never dries, and people will find new treasures every time they dive into the ocean of the Quran. 


>There is no doubt that Allah is not embarrassed to strike an example. Allah deliberately gives easy examples as Allah comes down to our level and wants to enhance our understanding just like a good teacher. 
Striking an example is an arabic figure of speech, just like when you strike something it makes noise and everybodys attention is diverted towards the source, 2ndly it means that the example has an impact on the people..so Allah is not embarrassed to strike an example even if its that of a baby mosquito or even smaller than that..fauqa means above and beyond(meaning even more miniscule than that). Baooza was the smallest insect visible to the eyes of Arabs, a baby mosquito or a fraction of a mosquito. Fauqaha means even bigger than that or even more far fetched than that. 

In surah Hajj Allah gives the example of a fly, you cannot even create a fly even if you come together to do it. The point isn't the example, the point is that what is the point behind that example, just like a teacher uses examples to convey his point

Allah said His book is a guidance in the beginning of this surah..so people who reject it try to come up with things to substantiate their claim,so they make fun of these examples..why does your God give such silly examples? As for the believer when he hears an example, even if he doesnt fully understand it he submits to it and declares Allahs greatness.HAQQ means that it is purposeful and rightful and has worth and there is a reason for it.  A believer's attitude should be full of humility like a slave, and even if we do not understand something we should make dua that Allah opens the door to wisdom for us. Allah tells all these examples for our understanding so we should be grateful. 

The disbelievers ask:what does Allah intend by using THIS as an example?they are saying whats the point of talking about that?(in a condescending way). They are too caught up in the objects used as examples to bother about the lesson. Our deen does not discourage questions but the questions have to be with the right attitude with the intention of understanding, NOT criticising. Allah says that He misguides with it many and guides with it many.IT could refer to this example...and it could also refer to the Quran..this shows that guidance depends upon the motives with which the person comes to the Quran..if somebody comes with poison in his heart he wont be guided

Allah first mentions the misguided because they are greater in number..then Allah clarifies that only that person is misguided who is inherently corrupt, the faasiqeen. Fasaqa is basically used for peel that has gone bad and the inside comes out of that.  The corruption in these people is so bad that it starts coming out and the filth could not be contained within them.

Sahih International

Who break the covenant of Allah after contracting it and sever that which Allah has ordered to be joined and cause corruption on earth. It is those who are the losers.

2:28

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Naqada means to undo a knot. It refers to those who untie the promise made to Allah because the promise used to tie us to Allah. Usually a rope is used to tie something, and the Quran is the rope which ties us to Allah. This refers to those who let go of Quran's words and the promise. And they untied the knot after it was tied STRONGLY (misaaqihi)

Fasiqeen are those who violated the covenant..the 1st covenant was the 1 made when all souls testified to Allah(surah airaf 177)..the appreciation of Allah was installed in our hard drives even before we matured..so these people broke that covenant

There are people even among muslims who have taken the covenant over again and took their shahadah, even they question the Quran,theres no room for us to say I dont think this makes sense/I dont agree with it

They cut apart what Allah had enjoined to be kept together..this refers to islamic brotherhood..this also refers to the faasiqs family relations as the faasiq cuts off relations. Some relations are tied by blood and cannot be cut apart no matter what we say. The faasiqeen sever their ties with Allah and with the people. When these relationships are cut then this results in fasaad on the Earth. 

One of the movements within hypocrisy was to separate Quran from sunnah..even in the Prophet SAWW's time..Allah has commanded that Quran and sunnah SHOULD be together..but the munaafiq wants to separate those two so that he can interpret the Quran in whatever way he likes..he is no longer caged by the ahadith..even today people say that they are not obligated to follow the Prophet SAWW..this is an attack directly on the Quran, not on the sunnah and theres no room to make this claim

They cause corruption in the land,other people suffer as a result..Allah says that even though they think they are harming others,they themselves are the losers as the harm to their own selves is the greatest

Sahih International

How can you disbelieve in Allah when you were lifeless and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you [back] to life, and then to Him you will be returned.

How can any of you disbelieve in Allah?be ungrateful to Allah?you used to be dead and he brought you to life then he will give you death again and bring you to life again then you will be returned..our entire life is described in this ayah..so how can we be ungrateful when we know that we have to return to Allah and answer to Him?we are on a conveyer belt whether we like it or not, we are constantly moving towards our return

All of the creation on Earth was created at the same time and we were with Allah in aalam e arwah. We used to speak to Allah directly. Allah asked us am I not your master and we testified that Allah is our master.Then Allah put us under some kind of sleep so we became lifeless. Then Allah brought us to life by putting rooh inside our body and bringing us to life on Earth. Then we will die again and be returned to Allah. So we have two lives and two deaths. Allah begins with lifeless but we can only be lifeless once we have experienced life (which was in alam e arwah in the company of Allah). We are all on the filtrat of Allah. We have glimpses of the sifaat of Allah. Allah has created us as a reflection of His qualities in some form. Our desire for better and more and for perfection will never be satisfied in this world but will only be satisfied when we meet Allah.

The more we love someone, and the more we care, the more expectations we have and the more hurt we become if they are not met. We are very close to Allah because we were together in alam e arwah and we have a special connection with Allah. The prophet SAWW is the closest to Allah who went even as far as the heavens on mairaj. Even the angels did not compare to the rank of our humans and Jibrael AS the mighty angel could not even go as far as the Prophet SAWW. But we forget the closeness and we become obsessed with the dunya and bodily needs and the material world. When we hold on to the rope of Allah through revelation, we are connected to Allah. 

2:29

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Sahih International

It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven, [His being above all creation], and made them seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things.

He created whatever is on the Earth for all of us,for all nations,for all the humanity..Recall that jannah is also created for us..so how are these two different?The purpose of dunya is to be a tool to get to hannah..


Allah created EVERYTHING for ALL OF US(Jameean- all religions and races and castes) so that means everything has a purpose and benefit for humans. Everything is of use to us. And everything is supposed to be shared with everyone and all humans have to use resources collectively. How can things like harmful animals and pests be of benefit to us? Such things are a benefit to our rooh because they remind us of what Allah might have put in jahannum as punishment so they remind us of our mission.  

Allah not only made things ONLY practical for us or ONLY beautiful for us but rather Allah made them both practical and beautiful to satisfy both kinds of people and both these traits in people. The Quran is also not only practical but also beautiful, so it has a list of laws and halal haram but is also extremely beautiful. Both these aspects compliment each other and complete each other. 

Sakhara means to domesticate animals and take control over them. Allah says he subdued the universe and did taskheer for ALL of us. How is everything under out control?Allah subdued for us everything on earth so that we could extract maximum benefit from everything. Allah also subdued the skies for us so everything is perfectly in orbit and nothing harms the earth(Allah has kept away meteors and other such chaotic things),  and has also subdued the skies for us so that we can travel in the skies. Allah also humbled the earth so that we are protected from natural disasters like volcanoes, earthquakes etc. The earth is waiting to explode and shake,  and the earth can be destroyed any moment by a flying star or meteor gone chaotic, but it is waiting for Allah's command, and on the day of judgement everything will be turned over. 

Allah turned His attention UPWARDS/Towards the sky and balanced it in seven layers. Istawa is used to climb on something e.g. when Hazrat Nooh AS's qaum climbed on the ship, or it is used to climb on animals. Allah rose up on a throne. Imam Malik RA's explains how to understand this because we start imagining things and often our imagination goes wild. Imam Malik RA says that it is something we have to believe in and asking useless questions about it is a form of biddah as it is focusing on things which do not concern us. We are only supposed to ask meaningful questions in deen.  Allah says HE knows everything(while we were having curiosity about how it happens). Allah puts us back in our place because we only know what Allah gives us of His knowledge.  Some people become obsessed with trying to interpret such mutashaabihat but we should humbly stay away from it. 

Thumma is not used here for order but it is used for MOREOVER: Not only did Allah make the earth but he also made the skies. Allah made everything full of blessings for us so that we could be appreciative and we could utilise it in good. Allah created seven skies but probably we have only gotten as far as the first sky because Allah says Allah has adorned the first sky  above the Earth with stars and all we have been able to see are stars. 

How did Allah rise to the sky?a bedouin kept asking such mutashaabihaat question from everyone,hazrat umar punched him in the face..because we are not supposed to delve into the mutashabihaat..the purpose of Allah mentioning these things is not for us to question unnecessarily but rather to be humbled..we are put in our place.

Human beings are always in pursuit of happiness but that will only be fulfilled when we reach Allah. Allah Himself says ala rabbikal muntaha(the intehaa is towards Allah). Allah is the one who makes us laugh and cry. The ultimate crying is not due to sadness but it is due to joy, when we meet Allah and are in His company. 

Surah Baqarah ayah 22-25

2:22

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Sahih International

[He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him].

Ja-ala means placing for our service or furnishing for us. It is used for a favour because Allah facilitated for us the Earth as a firaash(something that is laid down, soft and easy and firm to walk and live on). Firaash is like a bed, because people used to sleep on the floor in old times so Allah has made the earth comfortable for everyone to sleep and live anywhere.Then Allah sent down water and brought out fruits for us, so Allah is reminding us of the sustenance he has provided us with. Allah could have given us grass to eat like animals, but Allah made food so beautiful and attractive and delicious for us. Every fruit has its own flavour and its own wrapping. Allah went out of the way to provide us with blessings but we often fail to acknowledge them.

So don't furnish competitors for Allah. NIDD means an equivalent and competitor. Tandeed is to raise your voice against something. It means we shouldn't live our life in opposition of Allah and we shouldn't challenge or disobey Allah in any way. We can't put Allah's and our will together because Allah is above us. We make our desires, our nafs, our greed, our relationships a competitor to Allah.

2:23

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Sahih International

And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah , if you should be truthful.

2:24

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For 10 years, the prophet constantly tried to convince the mushrikeen to believe in Allah, but they kept rejecting it, he tried every possible means, only THEN did Allah say that why dont you produce a surah like this one, this shows that the dawah doesnt BEGIN with this challenge but it ends with this challenge..we are not supposed to begin dawah with this.Allah said this to the most obnoxious people who rejected the best daee as a last resort, this left them stumped. Dawah begins by inviting people to their good nature and calling them to their fitrah. When people do not accept the truth, then Allah gives them miracles and even if they reject clear miracles, then Allah challenges them.

Allah calls our Prophet SAWW abd in this ayah, and Allah always calls him SAWW abd whenever Allah mentions his highest status. e.g. Allah also calls him SAWW abd when mairaaj is mentioned. In this world, there is no station weaker than slavery, but in our deen this aboodiyat is a position go ultimate pride and it is the highest rank we can have. Slavery to Allah frees us of the slavery of the whole world, the cultural trends, relationships, peer pressure, fashion and what not. If we are not Allah's slave, we become slaves of all these things.

SURAH comes from Soor. Soon means the large outer walls of a city. The purpose of the walls is to protect the city. These walls were unusually high so that nobody could scale them and they were unusually thick so that nobody could dig through them. These walls were the property of the king and not of the people. So when we say surah, our mind goes to Allah, the king of the kings. Arabs did not have such walls because they never had such construction, and it was only a feature of Roman and persian and other such great empires. So whatever is inside a soor is of a very high value. If somebody tries to scale those walls, it is an offence against Allah himself. These walls go from the bottom above because walls are constructed from the earth. Allah's surah is sent NAZZALNA down from the sky. Your surah can never beat this surah as it is from high up and is matchless.  It is called Surah because it protects the timeless guidance contained in the Surah.

Allah challenges people multiple times to produce Surahs like in Quran. When we study the ahadith, we see a clear difference in the type of language used by the Prophet SAWW in hadith and the Quran. The speech pattern is totally different and easily distinguishable. It is not from the same person. Even if all humans and jinns combine, they can't produce anything similar to the Quran.  This is the 6th time Allah has challenged the people in the chronologically order of the Quran. Bring me something min mislihi(even something remotely close to the surahs of the Quran). Allah says IF you have any doubt and IF you are truthful about having doubts then try and produce a Surah like this. Through this, Allah exposes the people that they in fact know this is is haqq and their pride is preventing them from accepting imaan.

There was Tufail, he was the leader of his tribe and an important person, some people warned him not to come into contact with Prophet SAWW because his words are magical and he might deviate you..but he decided to go anyway..then they told him to put cork in his ears as soon as he sees the messenger SAWW..then when he sees the Prophet reciting the Quran, he puts the cork in his ears and runs away..but as he was running he thought that im the leader of my tribe and an excellent poet, why cant i make a text like this..so he came back to listen to the Quran and ended up taking shahadah instead

Utba bin raiba was the worst enemy of islam, he was an excellent debator, he used to debate and insult the other party and make a fool out of them, so his people sent him to argue with the messenger, he came to the prophet SAWW and said what do you want?women money power what? when he was done the Prophet SAWW starts reciting from surah fussilat, then utba starts crying and he grabs the mouth of Prophet SAWW, he put a hand on his mouth and asks him to stop because he cannot listen anymore, then he bows and then he returns and says that i dont know what that is but its not magic, but i guarantee its going to be a huge event..so his people said he has done his magic on you too..

One of the final accusations against Quran was that its magic but magic is something you see, NOT something you hear, yet they called the words magic because they had an amazing impact on the listener, by calling it magic they acknowledged the overwhelming power of the Quran, they would start crying when they heard it, but look at us, all we are thinking in salah is that when is the ruku coming?

Allah says bring your witnesses,call upon your witnesses, this is done to mock their false Gods, the 2nd witnesses are their experts, the poets , the intellectuals etc who could testify for them whether Quran is legitimate or not , so Quran says why dont they bring their people as witnesses?

The disbelievers had no answer to the Qurans challenge so they started calling it magic to keep people away from Quran

Ghayra means OTHER THAN..doon means to be inferior..here Allah uses DOON to show that all the witnesses are inferior to Allah

Sahih International

But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.

Amal is something done consciously. Fail is something done without conscious thinking, it might be something we are doing subconsciously without intention e.g. doodling. Amal is doing something with constant effort.   Allah is saying forget bringing a Surah, you can't even do anything close to it consciously or subconsciously.  LAM TAFALU means you haven't been able to do it in the past and the present, and LAN TAFALU means that you will never be able to do it.  Allah defeated the Quraysh with His kalam and words, and they could not come up with a literary response so they responded with war and aggression.

You hadn't been able to do so and you wont be able to do so, then protect yourself from the fire. Allah tells them that they hadnt been able to do it ever and they wont be able to do it ever. In the beginning of surah Allah told the believers to have taqwa of Allah and now Allah is saying to the disbelievers to have taqwa from fire. This is out of sarcasm:How are you going to protect yourself from the fire?this sarcasm is appropriate because those people used to mock Allah and the Quran

-Allah goes on to say that the fire is fueled by people and stones:people includes the disbelievers and stone refers to the gods/idols they used to worship other than Allah, so they will be burned along with their stone-idols,or refers to their hearts which had turned into stone, OR it also means that the lava which consists of stone has extreme intensity of its flame.

Kafir comes from kafara which means to bury the seed in the ground and its also been used for a farmer because he plants a seed. It is used to show that the kafir had the seed of imaan inside him when he came to the dunya but he buried that light and didnt let the light of the revelation penetrate it and he buried the truth.

2:25

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Sahih International

And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, "This is what we were provided with before." And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally.

The Quran was being revealed through the messenger SAWW so denial of Quran included denial of the Messenger, so now the messenger is told to congratulate those who believe and acted righteously. This is the first direct command given to the Prophet SAWW in the order of the Quran, so it is a sign for us to begin dawah with good news. Prophet SAWW never overburdened people whenever they asked him questions but he always dealt with every sahaba individually according to their nature and advised them regarding their character. People are always at different levels and we need to deal with them appropriately, not everyone will go all out in deen and strive to be the best, some people are average and we need to guide them accordingly.

Allazeena aamino includes those who have strong faith and those who have weak faith and even the hypocrites who claim to believe, but the congratulation here is only to those who believe AND do good deeds.

Especially and only for them there are multiple gardens underneath which rivers flow. Think about it..picture it..even in this modern age, the highest price of real estate is the land which is at an elevated location..especially with a view of the sea..so Allah is trying to offer us what appeals most to us..greenery is another thing that really appeals to us..these desires are innate within us..most people want to buy a house when they grow up..they dont like to live at rent..they want stability in life, to be settled..Allah put these desires within us so that we could learn to long for paradise..Allah is giving us permanent real estate custom-made for us,without any cost. Allah gives us multiple gardens and all of them are different from one another and extremely beautiful.

Allah is talking to sahaba who have left their homes for islam,who are bankrupt, and they are in the middle of the desert, so Allah is saying that I will give you homes and gardens and rivers..with beautiful water..they will be given a lot of fruits..they will be given the fruits again and again..and they will not complain..they will be excited like a child when you give him his favourite dessert and will say hey thats my favourite fruit, i had it yesterday, they cant wait to have it again..and it doesnt end at that, when they taste it they will find it even tastier than yesterday..each time it tastes better. This doesnt even happen in the best restaurants in the dunya. We will never get bored of it.

They will have purified spouses. That shows that if we get a good spouse in the dunya,it will be a glimpse of jannah,a gift from Allah..they will reside in there forever. Zauj is used for both the husband and the wife. Zauj refers to perfectly matched counterparts e.g. sun and moon are zaujain, day and night are zaujain, life and afterlife are zaujain, body and rooh are zaujain, males and females are zaujain. Everybody in jannah will have at least one wonderful spouse.  Purified spouses means that the spouses are purified inside out and perfected for you. We will never get bored of our spouses unlike in this world and the relationship will always be fresh and beautiful and new for people, just like the fruits will taste beautiful every time.
Azwaaj does not only refer to spouses but also refers to companions and friends so it means that we will have a lot of wonderful friends to hang out with and they will all be purified and best in character.