Sahih International
Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah , the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.
1-believers
2-disbelievers
3-hypocrites
Hypocrites are the trickiest, because there are 2 groups of hypocrites, one are those who KNOW they are hypocrites and they only entered Islam as spies
One are those who don't even realise they are hypocrites but their actions and their words do not match, they only believe Islam as long as it's convenient and when they are tested they back off, this category is really scary because it could be any of us
Then Allah describes the story of ADAM A.S.
interestentingly, it has all these 3 characters:
The believer is Hazrat ADAM AS
The hypocrite is Shaytaaan who until then claimed to be a believer, and when he openly disbelieved now he is in the character of the disbeliever
Then the Surah begins to describe Bani Israel who was a model nation for all mankind,they had the highest status and were blessed with Prophets generation after generation, Allah made nations as model to show this is what a nation looks like when they obey the commands of Allah, so Allah not only gives an individual as a role model but also a nation as a model,and they were given so many Prophets so that Allah could demonstrate that when a nation is given guidance, it can do amazing things, And Allah promised they would be rich in this world as well as afterlife. Under Daud AS they actually achieved this and conquered the whole world so such nations prosper in both worlds
Bani Israel began to take everything for granted and they became hypocrites with time, they even killed some Prophets, Allah gave them sooo many chances but when they tried to kill Hazrat ISA AS, Allah didnt let them do that,that was the breaking point
Allah tells Bani Israel to remember the list of favours Allah did for them and Allah mentions how they kept messing everything up
Jews thought that Ismael AS did not deserve to have a Prophet in his lineage and only they were deserving of it, they developed a false sense of superiority and believed that only their lineage could have prophets. And they used to think Arabs were also rejected and so they also rejected Muhammad S.A.W.W
Allah then reminds them of their common ancestor Hazrat Ibrahim AS to show that they were linked to Muhammad SAWW, He is described raising the foundations of Kaabah, and his prayer is mentioned which he made alongside his son Ismael AS about a Prophet coming from their generation
Then the changing of direction of Qibla is mentioned because the Jews rejected it, Allah is reminding that Ibrahim AS built the Kaabah so we should pray towards it as it is common to everyone(Jews,Christians,Muslims)
Now Prophet SAWW moved to Madinah. In Makkah, he used to pray towards both Jerusalem and Madinah which were both in line. But when he moved to Madinah, Kaabah was on his back and Jerusalem ahead of him, that saddened the Prophet because he did not want his back to be towards Kaabah and then Allah changed the direction of the Kaabah, NOW his back is towards Jerusalem, now the Jews are in the uproar, the question arises why did they care when they do not even believe in Islam or the Prophet? It shows that they DID actually believe in the Prophet S.A.W.W deep down but they did not want to admit it, they exposed their hypocrisy
Now they had a new capital - Madinah, a new constitution - the Quran, and the independence month - Ramadaan. Previously we used to fast like Jews and pray in their direction. So this was the inaugration of our nation.
Then Allah revealed the ayah under discussion
The point is that sometimes people start focusing on one thing in religion and focus on it so much that they ignore other aspects. It could have happened that people became obsessed with prayer and Qibla and forget the bigger picture. So here, Allah tells how to get a bigger picture.The Jews also pick and chose some commandments and ignore others. So here Allah emphasises what is important so that we do not repeat that mistake:
Turning your faces towards East and West alone isn't all that there is to being good
Birr= comes from the word Barr which means land, the opposite of land is sea and when we are in sea we are in danger(can drown) so being on land means we are safe and not drowning
Sometimes, we exaggerate something when we want to imply something for e.g. if somebody is very rich we say that guy is money! although he isn't money,we mean that he is rich
What we mean is that the entire concept of wealth is in that man, When I think of wealth I think of that guy
>However,goodness is someone who believed in Allah, The last day, Angels, Book, Prophets
It means that when we think of goodness,we think of someone who believed in Allah
Even atheists can have good in them but none of that counts until they believe in Allah
The order is not random, the number 1 reason of being good is belief in Allah, Allah is enough reason for us to want to be good
Rabia Basri RA said that I wish I could burn heaven and hell so that people strive purely for Allah
Some people are not that mature in faith yet, so some people do it because they are afraid of the last day and afraid of punishment or they want to earn Jannah
Angels are the one who deliver the book, the book comes to the Prophets so these 3 are tied together and form the Message
There are some basic ethics that are common to every religion and every society,but Qur'an laid down the definition of goodness required from us
Our belief is like a foundation, and the foundation is underground so we cannot see it, nobody can know what is in your heart, it's only between you and Allah, that unseen faith needs to be deeply rooted in us,then this faith is followed by deeds.
Giving money although we love it
Giving money based on the love of Allah or the love of becoming good, they fought the greed inside themselves for the love of Allah
The more charitable we become, the more we heal, the better we become
We cannot reach goodness until we spend out of what we love,it includes both things and the efforts we make
Take your kids with you on Eid and make them buy gifts for others so that they develop the habit of giving, because this greed is even inside children
And when we give, its not a favour on others but it is a favour to ourself, because it helps us protect ourselves from the greed within us, so being charitable is also technically being selfish because it helps us more than it helps others
Wealth never goes down when we give charity,whatever good we give is refunded back to us
We always associate good ppl with their physical appearance, e.g. a beard or niqab or their apparent knowledge etc. , but Allah here shows that real goodness lies in the foundations which we cannot even see, faith is not something ppl wear on their face
And we are first told to give to family first who is closest to us, and they are the least grateful and most critical of us, and hardest to deal with, and we are least inclined to give to them usually
Try to get to know orphans in your area, an orphanage, get for them what you get for yourself. How do you find out who the orphans are? by getting to know people, In the past, the masaajid used to be the meeting point for the community where you got to know such things. Give first to orphans who are closest to you in relation.
Masakeen
Means people who are stuck in poverty and cannot find work, or someone who is terminally ill or handicapped for example,widows..best to give them before they have to ask for it, get to know them
Wabnisabeel=son of the path=traveller for a long time
They dont have any place to stay, people used to compete with each other to offer a place to travellers, if we do that the hotel industry would crash, we are supposed to go out of the way to offer a place to others, It is a gift to US if somebody stays with us.
Then come those who ASK, Allah mentions them very late, the saaileen, although they are the first that come to our mind when we think of charity, this shows that in Islam we are supposed to give so much on our own that there shouldn't be many people left who have to ask,
Riqaab - means people whose heads are changed, people who are enslaved, in a lot of debt, who need bail etc
We think that number 1 things is prayer but Allah first mentions the things that are related to dealing with people
In our culture there are 2 definitions of being good:
Religiously good= someone who has a beard or Hijab or makes a lot o=f ibadah or eat halal etc
Morally good= they may not do much religious ibadah but they are really nice people with good mannerism and ikhlaq
Both mock each other at their deficiencies and they hate each other and judge each other, and everybody thinks they are perfect
This ayah began with something we cannot judge- faith! Then it went on to moral goodness and then to religious goodness(salaat and zakaat)
Establishing prayer and giving zakaat is a figure of speech in the Quran, prayer benefits us,zakaat benefits others,and these 2 things are the pivots of islam, ibaadah and haqooq ul ibaad
Another way to look at this figure of speech is that:
To establish prayer we have to have a pure intention,pure clothes,pure income
For zakaat, wealth has to be pure,niyyah has to be pure
So it encompasses everything
Aahadoo means when both understand that they have an oath, clear communication..Muaahada means when both parties understand each other,so in Islam its extremely imp to be clear
Moofoona= implies that we can only be a society that fulfills promises when we become serious about agreements
We as a society have developed a culture where we make false promises and give false expectations and dont fulfill our commitments on time
We should only promise when we mean it,avoid saying yes just to avoid the guilt,say no when you cant do it
Sometimes people assume that you have an agreement with them without clear communication,thats also wrong
Be patient even when you are in the midst of battle and problems,means that we have to remain consistent and firm on deen no matter what the circumstances
This ayah has the same 4 lessons as Surah Asr, just in more detail
Muttaqoon means Ittaqa to protect yourself
For Book, singular is used but for angels and prophets,plural is used because there is only a single book that we believe in
If you are good to those you see then you are better able to be good to those you dont see
Then Allah revealed the ayah under discussion
The point is that sometimes people start focusing on one thing in religion and focus on it so much that they ignore other aspects. It could have happened that people became obsessed with prayer and Qibla and forget the bigger picture. So here, Allah tells how to get a bigger picture.The Jews also pick and chose some commandments and ignore others. So here Allah emphasises what is important so that we do not repeat that mistake:
Turning your faces towards East and West alone isn't all that there is to being good
Birr= comes from the word Barr which means land, the opposite of land is sea and when we are in sea we are in danger(can drown) so being on land means we are safe and not drowning
Sometimes, we exaggerate something when we want to imply something for e.g. if somebody is very rich we say that guy is money! although he isn't money,we mean that he is rich
What we mean is that the entire concept of wealth is in that man, When I think of wealth I think of that guy
>However,goodness is someone who believed in Allah, The last day, Angels, Book, Prophets
It means that when we think of goodness,we think of someone who believed in Allah
Even atheists can have good in them but none of that counts until they believe in Allah
The order is not random, the number 1 reason of being good is belief in Allah, Allah is enough reason for us to want to be good
Rabia Basri RA said that I wish I could burn heaven and hell so that people strive purely for Allah
Some people are not that mature in faith yet, so some people do it because they are afraid of the last day and afraid of punishment or they want to earn Jannah
Angels are the one who deliver the book, the book comes to the Prophets so these 3 are tied together and form the Message
There are some basic ethics that are common to every religion and every society,but Qur'an laid down the definition of goodness required from us
Our belief is like a foundation, and the foundation is underground so we cannot see it, nobody can know what is in your heart, it's only between you and Allah, that unseen faith needs to be deeply rooted in us,then this faith is followed by deeds.
Giving money although we love it
Giving money based on the love of Allah or the love of becoming good, they fought the greed inside themselves for the love of Allah
The more charitable we become, the more we heal, the better we become
We cannot reach goodness until we spend out of what we love,it includes both things and the efforts we make
Take your kids with you on Eid and make them buy gifts for others so that they develop the habit of giving, because this greed is even inside children
And when we give, its not a favour on others but it is a favour to ourself, because it helps us protect ourselves from the greed within us, so being charitable is also technically being selfish because it helps us more than it helps others
Wealth never goes down when we give charity,whatever good we give is refunded back to us
We always associate good ppl with their physical appearance, e.g. a beard or niqab or their apparent knowledge etc. , but Allah here shows that real goodness lies in the foundations which we cannot even see, faith is not something ppl wear on their face
And we are first told to give to family first who is closest to us, and they are the least grateful and most critical of us, and hardest to deal with, and we are least inclined to give to them usually
Try to get to know orphans in your area, an orphanage, get for them what you get for yourself. How do you find out who the orphans are? by getting to know people, In the past, the masaajid used to be the meeting point for the community where you got to know such things. Give first to orphans who are closest to you in relation.
Masakeen
Means people who are stuck in poverty and cannot find work, or someone who is terminally ill or handicapped for example,widows..best to give them before they have to ask for it, get to know them
Wabnisabeel=son of the path=traveller for a long time
They dont have any place to stay, people used to compete with each other to offer a place to travellers, if we do that the hotel industry would crash, we are supposed to go out of the way to offer a place to others, It is a gift to US if somebody stays with us.
Then come those who ASK, Allah mentions them very late, the saaileen, although they are the first that come to our mind when we think of charity, this shows that in Islam we are supposed to give so much on our own that there shouldn't be many people left who have to ask,
Riqaab - means people whose heads are changed, people who are enslaved, in a lot of debt, who need bail etc
We think that number 1 things is prayer but Allah first mentions the things that are related to dealing with people
In our culture there are 2 definitions of being good:
Religiously good= someone who has a beard or Hijab or makes a lot o=f ibadah or eat halal etc
Morally good= they may not do much religious ibadah but they are really nice people with good mannerism and ikhlaq
Both mock each other at their deficiencies and they hate each other and judge each other, and everybody thinks they are perfect
This ayah began with something we cannot judge- faith! Then it went on to moral goodness and then to religious goodness(salaat and zakaat)
Establishing prayer and giving zakaat is a figure of speech in the Quran, prayer benefits us,zakaat benefits others,and these 2 things are the pivots of islam, ibaadah and haqooq ul ibaad
Another way to look at this figure of speech is that:
To establish prayer we have to have a pure intention,pure clothes,pure income
For zakaat, wealth has to be pure,niyyah has to be pure
So it encompasses everything
Aahadoo means when both understand that they have an oath, clear communication..Muaahada means when both parties understand each other,so in Islam its extremely imp to be clear
Moofoona= implies that we can only be a society that fulfills promises when we become serious about agreements
We as a society have developed a culture where we make false promises and give false expectations and dont fulfill our commitments on time
We should only promise when we mean it,avoid saying yes just to avoid the guilt,say no when you cant do it
Sometimes people assume that you have an agreement with them without clear communication,thats also wrong
Be patient even when you are in the midst of battle and problems,means that we have to remain consistent and firm on deen no matter what the circumstances
This ayah has the same 4 lessons as Surah Asr, just in more detail
Muttaqoon means Ittaqa to protect yourself
For Book, singular is used but for angels and prophets,plural is used because there is only a single book that we believe in
If you are good to those you see then you are better able to be good to those you dont see
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