Surah Naas

We should not try to give scientific rationale a higher place than Quranic revelation itself and we should not change the meaning of Quran just to make it more pleasing to others or to make it more scientific. People try to attack the hadith e.g. by saying that hadith were not compiled until around a 100 years after Prophet SAWW passed away, and the more authentic a hadith is the more fabricated it is and it has been covered up to make it seem authentic. Even some muslims doubt ahadith and say that they should not be used to interpret the Quran and they don't believe in context of revelation/shaan e nuzool.

The Quran was transmitted to us by the same sahaaba that transferred the ahadith. When you cannot trust them with ahadith, then you cannot even trust them with Quran? The Quran does NOT have contradictions but if we just look at ayahs without their context we will apparently find some contradictions, e.g. kill them wherever you find them vs. do not harbour animosity against anyone and treat them in the best way. Seemingly contradicting ayahs can be figured out when we look at their context, some surahs are mani some are makkki and the situation was different in these eras. Over simplification can lead to a lot of problems.

Surah Falaq was about outwardly sources of evil and Surah naaas is about the SOURCE of that evil i.e. Shaytaan. Allah not only protects us from evils outside ourselves as mentioned in Surah Falq but Allah also protects us from the evils inside us. The evils mentioned in Surah falq are out of our control, but those mentioned in Surah naaas are in OUR control as we can control our waswasa. Shaytan only invites us and WE are the ones who act upon it so this is a greater danger. The evils in Surah falq harm our dunyaa while waswasas harm our akhirah and imaan, so it needs to be guarded more. So we asked Allah's protection THRICE in Surah naas, we called Allah only once in Surah Falq.
The one we ask protection from is Mustaaaz bihi and the one we are escaping is Mustafa minhoo. The previous surah mentioned several mustaaz minhoo and one mustaaz bihi, and in this surah there is one mustaaz minhoo and several times mustaaz bihi is mentioned. That emphasises how strong this evil is and how strong a protection is needed.


قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ

Say, "I seek shelter with the Lord of the mankind"

QUL is an act of Allah's obedience and this is a means of seeking Allah's help and refuge. We can only seek protection after we have obeyed Allah's command. Declare your need for protection as this is a humbling experience as we admit that ONLY Allah can protect us.

The people are the one who need protection in this Surah that is why Allah used Rabbinaas. The Rabb of people. RABB has several implications. Rabb means absolute owner. e.g. owner of house, owner of slave. It is different from MALIK as Rabb has many meanings and includes SAYYED(one who has complete authority and charge) e.g. we can own a car and not have absolute authority over its make up. It also means MURABBI (it comes from tarbiyah, tarbiyah means to ensure the growth and maturity of something until it reaches the maturity where it can be productive) Murabbi is the one who ensures growth.  Root word is Raa baa wow and this also comes in the duaa rabbirhamhuma kaman RABBAYANI sagheera. It is possible that we own something and don't take care of it e.g. the garden, our home maintenance. But Allah not only OWNS us but also takes care of us. Rabb also means MURSHID (guides towards proper usage, grant us rash and hidaya). It also means MUNIM(the one who gives gifts so whatever Allah gives is a gift and he doesn't owe us anything). It also means QAYYIM(the one ensuring existence of his subjects). So we only exist because Allah allows us to exist and nurtures us e.g. a very delicate plant only survives if we take care of it otherwise it will die if we don't water it.

RABB is the first name Allah used to introduce himself to Muhammad SAWW and Musa AS.Allah said Iqra bismi rabbikalazi khalaq.  Allah Himself has introduced Himself as RABB. Allah said to Musa AS Inni Ana rabbukk and later said inane AlalAllah. Allah said in Surah Fatiha Alhamdulillahi rabbil aalameen. That is how important RABB is. The Quran begins and ends with RABB.  The summary of Quran is to accept Allah as the master and ourselves as slave. We need to internalise it. This guidance will only benefit those who accept themselves as slaves. We have to say iyyaka nabudu wa iyyaka nastaeen and only then we can say ihdinasiraatul mustaqeem. The Quran begins and ends with the emphasis that Allah is our rabb and we are His ABD. When we say we are his slave, that put us under his authority and we need to follow Allah's guidelines to live our life. We have to live our life according to Quran.


مَلِكِ النَّاسِ

King of mankind

One of the first realisation a child has is that his needs are being taken care of by his parents. MURABBI is one of the first realisations we have. Sometimes the problem is so big that parents cannot take care of it, then we need to go to the King/ Government. Then sometimes the problem is SO big that we can only ask ALLAH for help and have no one else to turn to on earth. There is a psychological progression. People tend to turn in dunyaa first to their loved ones and then to their king and higher authority and then to Allah. But Allah teaches us to go immediately first to our Rabb, we should turn for EVERYTHING to Allah. Ask Allah even if for a shoelace. So Allah fulfils all our needs so HE is our KING ALLAH and RABB.

There can be multiple caretakers in dunyaa but only one king in a country, but there is only one Allah in the whole universe so all these names have a logical progression and they become more and more specific to Allah. Allah cannot have ANY worldly implications as it is exclusively for Allah. It is a progression from more to less.

Caretaker can only take care of a few people, the king can take care of more people as he can watch over a country. Allah can watch over everyone. So NAAS is from qillat to qasrat as the people keep increasing. Allah does not repeat naaas just for beauty of language but it also has such hidden connotations.

Whenever we recite Quran, we should  be seeking refuge from Allah as Surah Fatiha begins, and we also end Quran seeking Allahs protection.

Who is the biggest victim of Shaytaan? Firaun. Firaun claimed to to be the rabb of people. Then he said don't I own the whole kingdom. He also called himself the maalik. Firaun also said to his generals: I don't know of any other Ilaah for you than myself. So Firaun tried to claim Allah's position, all 3 positions. His biggest problem was arrogance and shaytaan can also put that arrogance within us and that is a major waswasa. In this world, people declare themselves their OWN master, their own king, their own Ilaah. They think they own themselves and have full control over their lives and their lifestyles. We become mini Firaauns when we have ego and we think we do whatever we like. Allah crushes this ego by saying us to seek his protection at the start of this surah.

One of the root origins of Naas is Nisyaaan which means forgetfulness. People forget the promise they made to Allah when Allah asked us Am I NOT YOUR RABB? Allah has given Shaytaan the ability to make people forget, and they even forget Allah when living their life. They forget Allah while committing sins. We ask Allah to  be people of remembrance and not be people of forgetfulness. When we recite Quran we should seek Allah's refuge so that we are conscious and aware of Allah while doing every act. If the heart is filled with Allah's remembrance, then Shaytaan cannot enter it, but when the heart is an empty vessel and vacant, then Shaytaan will penetrate it and make us forget.

Allah has also repeated Naas to honour human beings by putting our name next to Allah's thrice.

MALIK is the authority of Allah. and the third name ALLAH includes both RABB and MALIK.


إِلَهِ النَّاسِ

God of mankind

ILAAH comes from alihaa which means to incline towards someone, to stick to someone, to go towards someone, to be obsessed with someone. so Allah is the one we should be constantly turning to. Allah also means one who should be worshipped AND obeyed. Ibadah includes worship and obedience. Firaun also said to his generals, who is your ilaah except me? so Ilaah is used in the context of obedience here. Some people are offered some very strong temptations e.g. a haram lavish job, then they have to remember that Allah is the ilaaaah and we should obey him.

مِن شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ

From the mischief of the whisperer (of Evil, the Satan or the Evil one) who hides away (after his whispers

Shaytaan plants himself right above the heart of human being, and as soon as a human becomes lax and ghaafil, Shaytaan puts a waswasa, and as soon as he remembers Allah , Shaytaan retreats. (mafhoom of a hadith). Shaytaan keeps turning back to give waswasas. He NEVER takes a break from making us forget. Although we do take breaks from remembering Allah. Shaytaan works really hard to throw people into the fire. Shaytaan wants to instil his kibar into others and one manifestation of kibar is anger, that is why we seek Allah's refuge when we are angry.

There is not anyone of you except that there is a constant partner assigned to him. Also with Muhammad SAWW. But Allah has aided Muhammad SAWW so he does not tell me anything but good. (mafhoom of hadith)

The messenger SAWW returned Safiyah RA to her home, and on the way two Ansar are walking by, and he tells his wife to stop and says that this is Safiyah. The sahaaba said why are you saying this, why are you explaining, we won't think anything wrong. Then our prophet SAWW said that shaytaan flows in us like blood and I feared he might put a waswasa in your heart. (mafhoom of hadith) Shaytaan also puts waswasa in our mind against Prophet SAWW and tries to turn us away from hadith and sunnah. People who don't have knowledge and don't remember Allah and leave a vacancy for Shaytaan are victimised by Shaytaan. Shaytaan plants an ego within our hearts that why should we follow Prophet SAWW, he is just a human like us, so why should we accept his authority over us. We don't like accepting authorities over us so we don't like the police, the boss, the teacher, the judge. So it's hard for us to accept Prophet SAWW as the ultimate authority, it is relatively easy for us because we are not in his era.  But how hard was it for people who were in his time as now his friends and family have to accept him as the ultimate authority. People keep asking IS IT IN THE QURAN? They don't say is this in the QURAN AND SUNNAH? People remove the sunnah from the Quran and separate them.

SHARR is a harmful evil and a spark that can harm us.
Shaytaan comes from shatana or shaaata and it means being consumed with rage.

Waswasa is translated as whisper. Hams is another word that comes for whisper. Hams can have a positive or negative context but Waswasa is only negative. Haamis is someone who whispers but waswasa refers to whispering again and again(syllables repetition also point towards repetition of the act).  Why did Allah not use the word Muwaswis? Allah used WASWAAS which is mubaalga, because Shaytaan is an obsessive compulsive whisperer and he repeats again and again. It refers first and foremost to ibleees as Allah used AL WASWAAS.

Some scientific people have the concept that Iblees is dead and now his followers are doing his job. This is false as Iblees is still around according to Quran.

Why did Allah say whisperer instead of whispering? Why waswaas and not waswasa? The one who does the whispering can do more evils than just the whisper.  So we seek Allahs protection from he whisperer when he whispers or does any other evil. It is more comprehensive. Then Allah says KHANNAAS. It was also used in Quran to refer to stars that twinkle and then disappear.  Allah did not use the word KHAANIS but he used KHANNAAS, so KHANNAAS is the one who KEEPS stepping back. Shaytaan keeps stepping forward and seeking refuge keeps pushing him back. Shaytaan keeps doing it over and over again and never gets tired. e.g. the seegha FA'AAL means that the person keeps doing the thing over and over again like WAHHAAB means keep giving gifts GHAFFAAR means keeps forgiving. Waswaas is his offence and Khannaas is his defence.

We express our humility and ask protection from Shaytaan who is most arrogant. Allah says no doubt about it, my slaves, you will have NO authority over them. When we call Allah RABB we are His IBAAD and slaves so that means Shaytaan can have no authority over us if we become slaves of Allah.
We should be in a state of wudhu and physical cleanliness in addition to seeking Allah's protection through spiritual duaas and Quran

الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ

(the same Evil one) who whispers into the Hearts of mankind

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Allah first called him waswaas and then said he whispers into the chest of mankind. That is his job and he does it so Allah is re emphasising it. He whispers into the chest of the people. Sadrr is zarf makaan(it is a place). Allah did not use the word hearts but he used the word CHEST. The heart is like a castle and there is an open real estate around it, Allah gave him access to the area around the castle but not INTO the castle. The only one who has the key to the door is US. Shaytaan is waiting to pounce and enter the heart. WE let him enter into our heart by leaving the doors open. When imaan leaves the heart, evil deeds are beautified for us. Evil deeds are disgusting to us when we have imaan and they are tempting to us when we lose imaan. If we let Shaytaan make his way in, he will beautify evil for us

مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَ النَّاسِ

Among the jinns and the men

Sometimes Allah mentions humans first and sometimes jinns first. When Allah talks about animosity against the Prophet SAWW, he mentions people first and when the context is whispering and waswasa then Allah mentioned jinn first. If a human being whispers something, then it might be his own idea and might be from Shaytaan so Allah mentions the SOURCE first which is Shaytaan. Ibleees uses jinn and people to conduct his waswasa.  Shaytaan uses people as puppets to transmit waswasa. He uses technology to give waswasa.

Connections between Surah falq and surah fatiha

This Surah is connected to Surah Falq and Surah fatiha. Prophet SAWW's sunnah was to finish Quran and then recite Surah Fatiha immediately as this teaches us that there is no end to completing Quran and we should start over again, and these two surahs have powerful connections. In Surah fatiha we ask for Istiaaana HELP, and in this surah we ask for Istiaaza PROTECTION from people who are trying to keep us from that task. Sarah fatiha has Rabbil aalameen and maaliki youmiddin and iyyaka nabudu which are the same 3 names mentioned in Surah naas. Sarah fatiha is more positive so rahmah word is used and Surah naas has a more negative theme as it mentions evil so rahmah is not used. This surah begins with asking for protection and Surah fatiha ENDS with asking for protection so they have a reciprocal relationship. Aauzu is a singular world used in Surah naas, and Surah fatiha has a plural word iyyaka nabudu wa iyyaka nastaeen. Surah Fatiha was more about general collective guidance as an umma, while Surah Naas is about individual guidance. There are two possible sources of evil influences in Surah naas, jinn and humans. Sarah fatiha is about two negative influences, maghzoobi alaiyhim and zaaleen. Everything that came before iyyaka nabudu in Surah fatiha is linked to iyyaka nabudu, and iyyaka nastaeen is linked to the second half of surah fatiha.  Sarah naas had two halves, about mustaaz bihi and mustaaz minhu (the one who's protection is sought and the one from whom protection is sought)

Our human race was sent to Earth because of the waswasa of Shaytaan so it all started with the waswasa of Shaytaan. Ibleees said you won't find most people grateful and they will disobey you, and Surah Fatiha begins with us starting with hamdd and gratitude of Allah. Shaytaan revealed what was hidden under their clothes(their hayaa) so that is the strongest attack of shaytaan.

The Quran begins and ends with duaa so duaa is extremely important. Don't underestimate the power of duaa.