Surah Bayyinah

Surah Alaq was about HOW revelation began. Sarah Qadr followed it with WHEN revelation began. Surah Bayyinah is about the essence of revelation.

Munfakkeen means to discontinue, or stop doing something OR people who cut themselves off.
The people who disbelieved were not going to quit it until Bayyinah came.

BUT Allah did not mention what they quit?
Infakka is similar to intaqa which means to stop doing something or it also means to be painfully separated(e.g. a dislocated shoulder) or it also means to be cut off

Mostly scholars say that it is a madni but it could also be late makkkii

What were they not going to stop? One opinion is that it points towards kufr and shirk, but HATTA implies that they later stopped it, which they didn't, so it doesn't make sense?

A scholar said that maybe the mushrikeen demanded a visible miracle for them to give up their shirk, they didn't believe in the Quran but wanted an apparent miracle? For them, THIS was bayyinah. So this scholar thinks that in the first ayah Allah is basically repeating their challenge. And the second ayah is in response to their challenge that a messenger was sent to them who recites scriptures to them.

MIN ahli kitaab wal mushrikeen could be min tabeezia which means that not all people disbelieved. MIN could also mean that ALL of them disbelieved.

The impact of bayyinah was so powerful that it made people separate from their ways of kufr and leave generations old kufr. They would have never abandoned from their kufr until bayyinah came.

It could also refer to their own book, that the ehl e kitaab would not have abandoned their old book until clear guidance came.

Ka fa ra means to deny and reject. Allah used this word for people even before revelation came although rejection comes AFTER revelation. Why?
Ka fa ra also means to bury a seed deep into the ground. Every society is in the dark until hidaya comes. Kufr is a form of darkness.

There are different kinds of people in a society.
Good on the inside and good on the outside e.g. Hazrat Abu Bakr even before Islam
Good on the inside but they are covered with a lot of things that hide their good e.g. Hazrat Umar, Hazrat Hamza
People good on the outside but very corrupt on the inside e.g. Abu Jahl
People corrupt on the outside and inside e.g. Abu Lahb

This message is forceful enough to separate these different kinds of people and reveal their true character. The society became compartmentalised. Quran is very uncompromising and unforgiving about shirk so there was no option but for people to be separated between imaan and kufr. Allah's destruction will fall upon those who reject the truth and Allah will bless those who accept the truth. Every society has a mix of people so Allah distinguishes the filthy from the good so that Allah can separately punish the evil in the society.

Bayyinah comes from bana yabeenu which means to put distance between two things clearly. It is the criterion.

Then Allah says Rasoolun, the tanween makes the translation a "a wonderful messenger". A messenger came who read ayahs to them. He was the practical demonstration of the Quran. This is the problem in this era that we invite people to Islam today with theory only but we lack practice and true character. Our actions do not match with our words.

Yatlu means to read out/recite something. But the Prophet SAWW did not know how to read and write?
The Quran was in the lauh e mahfooz written down. Then Angel Jibreel brings it down and reads it to Prophet SAWW. Prophet SAWW used to read it from his heart as the scriptures were written in his heart. He used to read the purified scriptures from a cleansed heart.
Tilawah also means to follow as our eyes follow the text, and it is also used for sun as it follows the moon.

In those scriptures, were kutubb, kutb refers to laws as it was used for books with laws but there is more to the scriptures than just laws. But there was more than just laws as Allah says, IN IT there are laws(which means laws are a part of it). Qayyim refers to setting something straight so the book sets straight the crookedness in a society. It also means to get rid of laws. Allah uses the word kutb himself for laws e.g. kutiba alaiykum qitaaal/siyaaam etc and is used for things that were made binding on us.

The next ayah refers to people who became disunited after the messenger came, as the jews and christians were told of the signs of the last Prophet SAWW and they knew about his advent yet they fell into disagreement after seeing the Prophet SAWW and still disbelieved.. This ayah refers to a journey from light to darkness, while the first ayah was for people who came from darkness to light. Religious knowledge is a means of empowerment. The clearest proof should make people lose agreements, but the people fell into disagreement because their motive was ego and power and they lacked sincerity so they began competing with each other religiously.

Believing in Bayyinah means to humble yourself before the messenger and the message. The hardest part is humbling yourself in front of a messenger as humans like liberty and they don't like anyone with authority, and they like rebelling. People take Quran but don't take Sunnah. This is their ego. Revelation combined with messenger is a proof after which no argument is possible.

Ootul kitab. There are two ways of saying giving the book:Those who we gave the book OR those who were given the book.  Whenever Allah says, those who were given the book and doesn't mention his own name then it usually is used with a negative connotation.Whenever Allah says those who WE have given the book, it is used for people who valued imaan and acted upon it and it has a positive connotation.

Now this Surah summarises the whole message of the Quran in the 5th ayah. What was commanded except that we obey Allah.

Abd is a slave AND a worshiper. But we translate ibadah as worshipping, but in reality it includes worship and slavery. Worship is at a certain time and place but slavery has no specific time and it is a state of being. Servant is also the wrong translation as service is an exchange of something, just like people work for different organisations with a certain job description in exchange for something/ There is a set job description. In slavery, we have to do everything the master says. Slavery is usually involuntary and service is voluntary.

Slavery includes(according to Ibn Tayyimah)
LOVE
OBEDIENCE
SINCERITY
TRUST/TAWAKKUL
TERMS OF SLAVERY
We unfortunately have a very negative connotation of slavery but this slavery of Allah is beautiful as Allah is the best master. This slavery is NOT forced but it is willing and out of desire. To be a slave of Allah, we need to love Allah and all other loves are part of submission to Allah and they are FOR the sake of Allah. There is no obedience to the creation while disobeying the creator. Then it includes sincerity because EVERYTHING becomes for the sake of Allah only. We have to have complete trust and tawakkul in Allah that whatever happens is FOR our own good. If you place your trust in people you will always be disappointed and if you trust Allah, then you will never be disappointed. Allah DECIDES the terms of slavery and we do not decide it. Allah defines the standards and terms of slavery and we have no say in them.

Mukhliseena lahuddeen means exclusively and sincerely for Allah. When our ego comes in our deen,we lose our sincerity and we start doing things for the wrong reasons. We even bring ego into our deen and sometimes we search for worldly appreciation while doing something for deen. When you get used to being praised all the time, and sometimes someone criticises or insults you, you take it personally and your ego comes up. Remember the Prophet SAWW who was criticised and ridiculed a million times and called insane, a liar, a magician. Religion can even become a fight of recognition. Bani Israel also rejected Prophet SAWW because they thought they were superior in religion.

Hanaf means to incline away from misguidance towards guidance. Jannaf has the opposite meaning to jannaf. Hannaf is someone who is not distracted by anything in religion.

Salaah refers to ibadaat and zakat refers to mamulaat so it a summary of deen as deen consists of ibadat and mamlaat.

Deen ul qayyima means truly established religion. OR this is the religion of the established nation. This deen will have victory at the end,definitely in the akhirah.

The Surah began with the discussion of mushrikeen. Some people want to stay in kufr even after getting bayyinah. Such people will be in the fire of hell. Jahannum is from persian language and it means torture chamber. Khuld means to remain permanently in something.

Inna is used when the audience is unsure, so Allah uses anna to emphasise his point.

The most expensive resorts and estates in the world have gardens and beautiful scenery and rivers and waterfalls.  Allah promises us these things in Jannah because this is what everyone craves even in the most modern era.

For jannah, Allah uses the word abadan. Some people like Ibn Tayyimah thought that jahannum is not permanent but the majority believes that jahannum is also permanent.  The reality is that abadan is also used for jahannum in the Quran. Allah sometimes describes jannah in greater detail and sometimes jahannum. When more detail is given to one group, more wording is used to one group.

Allah says they will remain in there permanently. Everyone in the world wants to own and wants desire for permanence and stability. There is no bills, maintenance, nothing to worry about! The dune is nothing compared to akhirah.

Riza means to be pleased to that point where there is no room for any disapproval or any unhappiness. Even people are never completely happy as they always have greater expectations and want something more from us. Allah is incredibly happy and pleased and that is the biggest gift for us.  We will be completely happy too and we will never get bored.

Khashiya is the fear of something greater than yourself. We need to have khashiyah of Allah. We have to fear Allah and NOT society and people. We need to truly fear Allah.