Significance of Fasting & Ramadan (Tafseer of Surah Baqarah 183-186)

INTRODUCTION: THE RELIGION OF IBRAHIM AS

The religion of Islam is in essence the religion of Ibrahim AS. All of the five founding pillars of Islam go back of Ibrahim AS:

Shahadah goes back to Ibrahim AS as he is considered the father of monotheistic faith, and he built the Ka'bah, the establishment of Tawheed.

The Salah go back to Ibrahim AS, as he made dua for prayers to be established in his offspring.

Every part of Hajj commemorates the legacy of Ibrahim AS (Maqam e Ibrahim, Safa Marwah, ZamZam, Rami, Sacrifice)

Zakat goes back to Ibrahim AS as well. Ismael AS used to tell his family to pray and give Zakat, and he obviously learnt these teachings from his father.

Even Ramadan is attributed to the legacy of Ibrahim AS. In the barren desert, he made the dua that a messenger be raised who recites the revelation, and teaches people the book and wisdom, and cleanses them. Ismael AS was alongside him when this prayer was made. The only prophet who came from Ismael AS's lineage was Muhammad ﷺ He received the Qur'an in Ramadan, and Allah describes Ramadan as the month in which Qur'an was revealed. Ramadan is an answer to Ibrahim AS's prayer.
Ibrahim AS had two sons, Ishaq AS and Ismael AS. The nation of Bani Israel was from the progeny of Ishaq AS, and Muhammad ﷺ was the only messenger from the progeny of Ismaeel AS.

The Muslims initially used to pray in the same direction as Jews. Our Ummah was closest to the nation of Bani Israel. In Makkah, Prophet ﷺ prayed in such a direction that he'd be facing Masjid Aqsa while being in line with the direction of Ka'bah. But, after migration to Madinah, Prophet ﷺ could only face Masjid Aqsa as the Ka'bah was in the opposite direction. Allah revealed the ayahs about change of qibla to Ka'bah and immediately after, Allah mentioned the establishment of Muslims as a middle nation امة وسطا. The change of qibla established our new capital as Makkah, and distinguished us as a separate nation from the Bani Israel. The Jews were deeply offended by this change of qibla as they realised that now they were no longer the favoured Ummah, and they had to submit to the truth of Islam.  They were aware in their hearts that Prophet ﷺ was indeed the last Messenger, but their pride prevented them from openly professing faith. Surah Baqarah addresses the mistakes made repeatedly by the nation of Bani Israel, and how they had knowledge but did not implement it. 

Followed by the change of Qibla, the ayahs about Ramadan were revealed. Initially Muslims fasted the same days as Jews, but with these ayahs, the institution of fasting was established in the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is the month in which our constitution was revealed in the form of Qur'an. Allah gave us not one day, but 30 days to mark the celebration of our constitution! It marks the beginning of a new era for Muslims.

PART 1: FASTING PRIOR TO RAMADAN

O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -

صوم means to abstain. In the context of fasting, it refers to abstaining from eating, drinking and intimacy from dawn to sunset, with the intention of fasting. But, that is merely a legal definition. True fasting involves fasting of every limb and cell of the body, from everything that is displeasing to Allah and harmful for our Ruh.
Fasting is not unique to the Muslims, but it had also been enjoined upon the earlier Ummahs. The reference to the earlier Ummahs in this verse shows the importance of fasting on one hand, and also gives encouragement to the Muslims. It indicates that although there may be some apparent inconvenience in fasting, but it was also faced by earlier nations. This brings psychological comfort because if something is experienced by a large number of people, it becomes easier to cope. (MQ)

Fasting in previous Ummahs

It does not mean that the fasts enjoined upon earlier communities were fully identical in all respects with the fasts enjoined upon our Ummah. There were differences in the number, timings and rulings of fasts. Note that Allah used the word صيام which is not synonymous with صوم. Saum was used for the fast of Jews in which they refrained even from speech. It was part of their law. For Muslims, the prohibitions of fasting were made more lenient, and speech was allowed. Guarding our tongues was emphasised as a form of spiritual development, but not as a law. 


The Goal of Fasting!

The purpose of fasting is different from the purpose of Ramadan. The purpose of fasting is to develop تقوى. Taqwa is not equal to fear, but the word for fear is خوف. Taqwa comes from وقايه which means "Abstinence" or "protection". اتّقى means to seek protection. Taqwa refers to taking appropriate precautions/protective measures to protect oneself from something e.g. locking the doors, installing security alarms, wearing a seatbelt etc. to protect oneself from danger. Even preparing well in advance for an exam to avoid failure, or preparing provision for a journeys as a precaution is a form of taqwa. Taqwa provides us the filter to get a renewed perspective regarding how we live various aspects of our lives because we become aware of Allah’s pleasure and displeasure in all our affairs. (MQ)

We all know Taqwa is essential. It has been mentioned over a hundred times in the Qur'an! But how do we develop Taqwa? Allah gives us different training exercises to assist us in developing taqwa, and one of the most important exercise is fasting. All of us are commanded to fast in order to attain Taqwa because we are all in need of it. None of us can claim to have ultimate taqwa but it is something we must always strive towards. Fasting is not guaranteed to develop taqwa, but Allah says لعل maybe, hopefully you will develop Taqwa. Allah has the hope that we will develop taqwa, so we should have hope in Allah's hope for us, SubhanAllah! 

“This is the Book (the Quran), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqin (People of Taqwa).” (Sura Al-Baqarah:2)

"Verily, the most honourable of you with Allah is that(believer) who has Taqwa." (Hujaraat 49:13)

Abu Dharr said: "The Messenger of Allah said to me: 'Have Taqwa of Allah wherever you are, and follow an evil deed with a good one to wipe it out, and treat the people with good behavior." (Tirmidhi)

How does fasting develop Taqwa? 

Our existence consists of our body and our Ruh. Our body and Ruh have entirely different needs. Our body was made from dirt, so it's food and nutrition is derived from the earth. Our Ruh came from the heavens, so its nutrition comes from the heavens. Just like our body, our Ruh is also always in need of food, and without food it will starve to death. Its food is in the form of revelation, which Allah describes as "Nur" in the Quran. The light within us is in need of the light of revelation to complete itself, and light the way.

Our Ruh has the intrinsic desire to submit to Allah, but our Nafs is like a wild horse. We are the horse rider who needs to learn how to control and command this wild horse. If we don't control this wild horse, it will lead us wherever it wishes. It is driven by our needs and desires. Needs are necessary for our survival e.g. food, drink, shelter etc. Desires are in excess of our basic needs and are  not necessary for  our survival. Sometimes, we become so obsessed with our desires that they overpower us. Allah does not ask us to strangle our desires, but He asks us to control and channel our desires in the right direction. If we lose self control, we become like animals. We need to maintain the balance between our body and Ruh. If we feed our body alone and starve our soul, we will lose this balance. 

In Ramadan, Allah deprives us of our basic needs of food, drink and intimacy. During fasting, we feel intense thirst and hunger. These natural bodily needs continuously push us to rebel against Allah to fulfil our needs. But, we fight against our nafs the entire day, due to the consciousness of Allah. It is a constant battle between our Nafs and our Ruh that goes on throughout Ramadan. Allah locks Shaytaan for 30 days to make this period of training easier for us. We crush our basic needs and the strongest desires only to gain the pleasure of Allah.  We starve our bodies to feed our Ruh in order to regain the lost balance between our body and Ruh.

When we manage to suppress our basic needs during Ramadan, we realise that we have the strength to refrain from sins outside of Ramadan. When we manage to stay away from even the permissible things in Ramadan, we realise that we have the ability to abstain from impermissible things. Allah makes us go through a tough physical practice regimen, and this training develops our spiritual muscles that drive us after Ramadan is over. It is a practice of self-restraint, just like an athlete who follows a strict diet and exercise plan to prepare for a marathon race. Fasting develops into us a power that helps us control our desires, which is the foundation of Taqwa. Fasting is not the ultimate goal, but it is the means to attain Taqwa.

[Fasting for] a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of days [are to be made up]. And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person [each day]. And whoever volunteers excess - it is better for him. But to fast is best for you, if you only knew.

ايام معدودات= Handful of days. Linguistically it refers to less than 10 days. It refers to the fasts of Ramadan because the days of Ramadan are a handful compared to the days of the year. It has been used rhetorically to encourage the muslims that fasting is easy e.g. a teacher tells his student that the exam is easy, so that the student doesn't become afraid and lose confidence

Whoever is ill or is on a journey should make up by fasting an equal number of days. "Ill" refers to a person who cannot fast without unbearable hardship or has a strong apprehension that his illness will be aggravated. This should be verified based on the opinion of a reliable doctor, or based on personal past experience. Pregnant and breastfeeding women are also included in this ruling.

While giving concession to a traveler, Allah says whoever is "on a journey" rather than "whoever is a traveler". This is to point out that merely leaving the home is not enough to claim the exemption, but the duration of travel should be taken into consideration.  The precise duration is derived from Ahadith, and is considered 48 miles. Moreover, the travel will only be entitled to this exemption as long as his travel continues. If he stays at a place for fifteen days or more, he is no longer considered to be a traveler, based on a hadith. Allah has given us the rukhsah(concession) of not fasting if we are traveling, but if our travel is easy, the azimah(better, preferable course of action)  would be to fast. 

"Equal number of days are to be made up" suggests that fasts only have to be made up after the ill person regains health, and after the traveler returns home. If one dies before having the opportunity to make up for these fasts, he will not be required to make a bequest for Fidya. (MQ)

Those who have the strength to fast and are not restricted by sickness or travel but do not wish to fast, had the alternative to feed a poor person instead(fidya). Fidya is to pay the market value of approximately 1.6 kg wheat to a poor person, in lieu of every missed fast. But, Allah adds that whoever volunteers excess i.e. keeps extra fasts, or feeds extra people, it is better for him. And fasting is best in the sight of Allah as it has a lot of spiritual benefits and is a means of gaining His qurb. 

PROGRESSION OF THE RULINGS OF FASTING FOR MUSLIMS

Initially, Prophet ﷺ used to fast for three days every month (ايام بيض) i.e. the 13th,14th and 15th of every month.  He also used to fast on Ashura, the 10th of Muharram.  When Allah revealed these verses "Fasting is for a limited number of days", it became fardh upon Muslims to fast in Ramadan. It was difficult for Muslims initially as they were not accustomed to fasting for an entire month, so Allah gave them the alternative of feeding a poor person as a concession. 


After that, Allah revealed the following verse that "Whoever witnesses the month of Ramadan should fast" which abrogated the previous ayah. If a person is traveling or is ill, he has to make up for it later with an equal number of days. The concession of paying Fidya(expiation) was taken away from those who had the strength to fast. Fidya only remained permissible for those who were  unable to fast in their lives because of old age or sickness.

Moreover, initially Muslims were not allowed to eat, drink or have relations if they fell asleep after Maghrib, even if the night wasn't over. Sleeping was taken to be an indicator of the beginning of the next fast. Some Sahaba karam R.A. faced difficulty as they fell asleep after Maghrib and had to fast without eating any meal. Some Sahaba had relations with their wives after having a post iftar nap in Ramadan. Allah made it easier by making these actions permissible until dawn, in fact Suhoor was made a Sunnah. (MQ)

PART 2: THE SPIRIT OF RAMADAN

The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful.

This is the only ayah about Ramadan in the whole Qur'an. How did Allah choose to introduce the month of the Qur'an? The Month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur'an was sent down. The Qur'an was sent from the Lauh e Mahfooz (Preserved Tablet) to the lowest heaven in one night of Ramadan, but it was gradually revealed to Prophet  ﷺ  over the course of twenty three years. The defining feature of Ramadan is Qur'an, not fasting. We subconsciously associate Ramadan with fasting, hunger, thirst, and Iftaars. Ramadan has been reduced to a festive activity for us, and has lost its true spirit. We should repeatedly remind ourselves that this is the month in which the food for our soul came down. Ramadan was the turning point in history, as Qur'an brought a revolution and transformation in the entire world. The Qur'an had the power to transform entire civilisations in a brief span of time, so imagine how it can transform our hearts! Moreover, all the previous scriptures were also revealed in their entirety in the month of Ramadan.

This is the month of Qur'an, so we have to allow it to penetrate our hearts, and experience it the way we have never experienced it before. Ramadan is the month to rediscover and reflect upon the Qur'an, the way we've never reflected upon it before. Moreover, Allah mentioned the passive tense: In which was revealed the Qur'an. This shifts all the focus to the Qur'an exclusively. When we reconnect to the Qur'an, we rediscover our relationship with Allah.

THE DESCRIPTION OF QUR'AN

1) A guidance for humanity هدى للناس
2) Containing clear proofs of guidance بينات من الهدى
3) Criterion, or the ultimate separation الفرقان

The Muslims were already familiar with these roles of Qur'an when these ayahs were revealed (in the Madani period). None of this information was new for the sahaba, so why did Allah repeat this description? The purpose was to reintroduce us to the Qur'an, because in this month we are meant to dive into the Qur'an again. Every time we dive into the ocean of Qur'an, we come back drenched, with treasures and pearls. We can never claim to have experienced the entire ocean. The only thing we can claim to have experienced is a few drops of the ocean. Every time we dive, we will be touched by different drops and come back with different pearls. We can never say: I have entirely experienced and understood Surah Fatihah, or any other Surah for that matter.

The Qur'an is a guidance for all people i.e. it provides us counsel to deal with every possible situation. Sometimes, when we are in a difficult situation, we open the Qur'an and find personal tailored guidance in the Qur'an for ourselves. It is a guidance for all the people ناس, so this reminds us that we should be concerned with the guidance all of humanity. The mission of RasulAllah ﷺ must be revived and the word of Allah must be shared with all people. 
للناس also emphasises that the Qur'an is a guidance for all people, irrespective of their culture, background or ethnicity. It is a guidance for all generations that have passed by, and all generations to come. The Bani Israel thought guidance and prophethood was exclusive to them, so Allah also negated them by making Quran a guidance for all humanity. All humans are equal in the sight of Allah, and there is no concept of racism in Islam. Our deen is so beautiful that Bilal R.A. stood next to Uthman R.A. during salah and there was no difference between them in the sight of Allah! The Qur'an is a unifying force for all Muslims.


The Qur'an contains clear proofs of guidance. All previous prophets were give a message and various visual miracles, but the miracles were limited to their own generations. Appreciating those miracles was effortless for those people. But people in the following generations could not experience those miracles, and gradually they became tales and fables for them. When we read about those miracles, it does not affect our hearts the way it affected the hearts of those who visually experienced it. Our Prophet ﷺ was given the message of Qur'an, which itself was a self evident miracle. But, it is not a miracle that will manifest itself to everyone, but only to those who reflect on the Qur'an. Allah not only gave us guidance, but also proofs and arguments to prove that this is the ultimate guidance.

The Qur'an is the criterion. فرق refers to having clear separation between things. Now, we have no excuse to go off sirat ul mustaqeem. Allah has given us clear laws and foundations of moral conduct. He has made clear the difference between good and evil and guidance and misguidance.

شهد means presence. شهر means month. Whoever witnesses the month of Ramadan, should fast in it. Fasting is obligatory for all those who "witness" or are "present" in the blessed month with the ability to fast (i.e. adult, sane, Muslim, resident, pure of ritual impurities). Whoever is ill, or on a journey, he should make up for it with an equal number of days. The option of expiation was taken away from a healthy person. The institution of fasting became harder because the number of days of fasting increased for Muslims, and now there was no alternative for a healthy person but to fast. 

ALLAH INTENDS EASE!

Immediately after that, Allah says that He intends ease for you and does not intend hardship for you.  Allah reassures us by repeating the same point twice! How does Allah intend ease?

1. Allah makes fasting naturally easy for us in Ramadan, more than at any other time in the year. 

2. Allah gives us 30 days dedicated to fasting, that helps strengthen our Imaan and Ruh, and makes us strong enough to deal with real life situations after Ramadan. The Qur'an is the ultimate food for our soul.

3. Deen is an ease for us because it gives us detailed guidance on how to live our lives. Some rulings might apparently seem difficult, but there is long term Khayr for us in following them. Sometimes, a short term discomfort leads to long term benefits. 

4. Allah has even given us easy alternatives for everything! If we make a mistake in salah, we can make sajdah sahw, if we make a mistake in Hajj we can offer sadaqah or sacrifice, if we miss our salah or fast, we can make up for it later, if we are unable to make up for it because of health, we can pay fidya. Allah hasn't kept a deadline for Qadha and we can make up for our missed ibadah at any point in our lives. 

Some people twist the verse by saying that we should do whatever is easy for us. Whatever appears difficult, we should leave it. This is incorrect. The verse means that Allah has made ease for us, so we should make use of whatever ease Allah has given us. Allah does not intend to make things difficult for us. Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. The verse can also be translated as Allah intends ease through you, which implies that fasting assists our purpose of spreading ease for other people.

Allah follows it by saying that He wants us to complete the count. Fasting in Ramadan is a tough training regimen for a fixed number of days, after which we have our graduation ceremony in the form of Eid. So, Allah says that He wants us to glorify Him because He guided us, referring to the takbeerat of Eid. Takbeer refers to declaring the greatness of Allah. Allahu Akbar implies that just like Allah was greater than all our desires in Ramadan,   it needs to continue after Ramadan. Allah should be the biggest priority in our lives. What greater thing to be grateful for than the month of Ramadan and the blessing of Qur'an?


PART 3: FRUIT OF OUR LABOUR

And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided.


In the previous Ayahs, Allah was speaking to us and conveying His message. In this Ayah, it is our opportunity to speak to Allah and complete the conversation. According to some narrations, this verse was revealed when a Sahaba asked Nabi Kareem ﷺ whether they should make dua silently or loudly i.e. Is Allah near or far? Or, a sahaba asked Nabi Kareem ﷺ at what time they can make dua to Allah? This verse was revealed to tell us that Allah is always there for us and always listening. 

Imagine a mother sent her soldier son to a battle. She is extremely hopeful of his return, so she says that "when" he returns, I will rush to welcome him. The mother doesn't say "if" because she loves her son unconditionally, and cannot even consider the possibility of her son dying and not returning.

Allah is more than a loving mother to us. Allah begins the Ayah by saying "when" "my" slave ask "you" about "me", "Indeed I am near". Allah is in anticipation of our call and calls us "my" slaves. Allah owns and loves us by saying عبادى, My slaves! Imagine that Allah is the highest of the highest as our Rabb, and we are the lowest of the lowest as His slaves, but Allah is there for us.  He also uses "me" instead of "us" to establish His closeness to us. Allah is so happy that He responds to the question directly, instead of responding through the tongue of Nabi Kareem ﷺ. Allah establishes a direct relationship with us, without the need of any intermediary or intercessor. Allah says انّى to place emphasis and remove all doubts about whether He is listening. قريب is an Ism Sift which has the internal meaning of "always" so Allah has always been near and always will be near. Allah never turned away from us, but we are the ones who turn our back to Allah. The advantage is that when someone is near, it is easier for us to communicate with them, as opposed to someone who is far away from us. This also makes us more conscious of the presence of Allah, and helps us increase in our Taqwa.

I respond to the invocation of "the" caller "whenever" he calls me. اجيب means "to respond." Allah does not say استجيب  which means to try to answer, or to respond over time, but Allah says اجيب which means that Allah responds immediately. Allah responds to even the silent, unspoken duas in our hearts that have not even come upon our tongues yet. Allah does not put any conditions for responding to our dua, but He responds to every call, even if it is a single call دعوة. Anybody who calls, qualifies to be caller, even if he is not a Muslim. Allah listens to us even if this is the first time in our lives that we are making dua to Him and remembering Him. Don't forget that Allah has the right to be angry with us for neglecting His remembrance, but He still responds immediately. Some people lose patience and feel that Allah does not respond to their duas,  but Allah always responds immediately with that which is best for us. Moreover, Allah first mentioned His response, and then mentioned our call, which implies that Allah is so eager to respond to us that He flipped the sequence in this ayah! SubhanAllah!

Also, note that Allah says "the" caller الداع as if He knows every single one of us personally. It is very hard to gain access to any person of authority or importance in the dunya, but Allah has given each one of us so much importance that He calls us "the" caller. He identifies and recognises every single one of us.  Allah is closer to us than our jugular vein and can distinguish us from the millions of other people who may be calling Him simultaneously.  If we are asked to listen and respond to multiple people simultaneously, we will not be able to make any sense or even recall their names! Allah also emphasises that He will respond whenever He is called i.e. immediately اذا دعان.  It is very hard to arrange an appointment with important people, but Allah is with us 24/7. Allah is always available to listen to us, be it in the brightness of the day or the darkness of the night!

Allah follows it by saying that let them فليستجيبوا "try to respond to me". Allah values our niyyah and efforts, even if we are imperfect and unable to achieve the desired results. When they respond to me, they should believe in me وليومنوا. Allah mentioned belief because some people lose faith and assume that Allah is ignoring their duas, so Allah is reminding us to have tawakkul and sabr. Trust in Allah's plan, as His plans have the most khayr for us. Recall how the mother of Musa AS placed trust in Allah, and placed baby Musa AS in the river to protect him from being killed by Firaun's soldiers  It was apparently a suicide mission, but Allah quickly reunited Musa AS with his mother, in the palace of Firaun. SubhanAllah!

Allah ends by saying يرشدون "that they may be rightly guided" because those people who have such a strong reliance upon Allah, stay firm on Sirat ul mustaqeem. The revelation from Allah, and dua made to Allah when combined together, set our lives straight. Allah speaks to us through the Qur'an, and we communicate to Allah through dua, SubhanAllah!

This verse is also an indication that we should make special dua in Ramadan, especially at the time of Iftaar and Suhoor. Ramadan is the month to reconnect ourselves to Allah through dua. Dua is the most intimate conversation with Allah so we should call Allah with presence of heart. We should make dua with the belief that Allah is always, constantly listening to us, and waiting for us to call upon Him. 

The goal of fasting was defined as Taqwa. The goals of Ramadan are to complete the 30 day training period, to declare the greatness of Allah over everything else in our lives, and develop a feeling of gratitude for the Qur'an and every single blessing. The purpose of dua is to develop a relationship with Allah and be guided through it.

An-Nu'man bin Bashir (May Allah be pleased with them) reported:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Du'a (supplication) is worship." [Abu Dawud].

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

The supplication of the servant is granted in case he does not supplicate for sin or for severing the ties of blood, or he does not become impatient. It was said: Allah's Messenger, what does:" If he does not grow impatient" imply? He said: That he should say like this: I supplicated and I supplicated but I did not find it being responded. and then he becomes frustrated and abandons supplication. (Sahih Muslim)

Abud-Darda' (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The supplication of a Muslim for his (Muslim) brother in his absence will certainly be answered. Everytime he makes a supplication for good for his brother, the angel appointed for this particular task says: 'A meen! May it be for you, too'."[Muslim].

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "You must not supplicate: 'O Allah! forgive me if You wish; O Allah bestow mercy on me if You wish.' But beg from Allah with certitude for no one has the power to compel Allah."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Another narration of Muslim is: "A supplication should be made in full confidence and one should persistently express his desire (before Allah) in his supplication, for no bounty is too great for Allah to bestow (upon his slaves)."

Abu Hurairah [may Allah be pleased with him] narrated that:

The Messenger of Allah said: “Whoever wishes that Allah would respond to him during hardship and grief, then let him supplicate plentifully when at ease.” (Tirmidhi)

PART 4: THE LIMITS SET BY ALLAH

It has been made permissible for you the night preceding fasting to go to your wives [for sexual relations]. They are clothing for you and you are clothing for them. Allah knows that you used to deceive yourselves, so He accepted your repentance and forgave you. So now, have relations with them and seek that which Allah has decreed for you. And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]. Then complete the fast until the sunset. And do not have relations with them as long as you are staying for worship in the mosques. These are the limits [set by] Allah , so do not approach them. Thus does Allah make clear His ordinances to the people that they may become righteous.

رفث has been made permissible for all of you in the night of the fast. رفث encompasses all aspects of intimacy, including intercourse and everything that leads to it. Ramadan is the time to restore the loving relationship between husband and wife. Allah calls spouses a لباس for each other. It could refer to protection, zeenah, covering imperfections and closeness between spouses. Allah has mentioned this after the Ayahs of Ramadan because our spiritual efforts will be incomplete without developing a healthy, loving relationship with our spouses. This is important because an unhealthy relationship between spouses and a lack of sukoon at home affects our spirituality. The Shayateen are chained in this month, so this is the best time to reform the relationship.

Allah already knew that you were deceiving yourselves, and He has accepted your repentance. This refers to the mistakes made by Sahaba of having relations after post- Iftaar nap. Allah says, now have relations with them and seek that which Allah has decreed for you.  And eat and drink until the white thread (brightness) of dawn becomes distinct from the black thread (darkness) of night. This refers to the time of Fajr adhan. Then complete the fast until sunset (Maghrib). So it is impermissible for one to engage in any of the prohibited actions after adhaan of Fajr or before the adhan of Maghrib. This can spoil the fast and a make up would be required. 

Do not have any intimacy with them if you are in itikaaf. Itikaf literally means "to stay or remain attached to a place in seclusion". The sunnah itikah is the act of staying in the mosque in the last ten days of Ramadan. After Iftaar, it is permissible for the person inItikaf to eat and drink, but intimacy remains impermissible even at night. These are limits prescribed by Allah, so don't even go near them. If we go near the limits, we might end up crossing them unintentionally. 

PRACTICAL TIPS:

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

Allah the Exalted and Majestic said: Every act of the son of Adam is for him, except fasting. It is (exclusively) meant for Me and I (alone) will reward it. Fasting is a shield. When any one of you is fasting on a day, he should neither indulge in obscene language, nor raise the voice; or if anyone reviles him or tries to quarrel with him he should say: I am a person fasting. By Him, in Whose Hand is the life of Muhammad, the breath of the observer of fast is sweeter to Allah on the Day of judgment than the fragrance of musk. The one who fasts has two (occasions) of joy, one when he breaks the fast he is glad with the breaking of (the fast) and one when he meets his Lord he is glad with his fast. (Muslim)

1. Add the niyyah of Taqwa with every fast.  "I intend to fast for the pleasure of Allah, to gain taqwa and draw closer to Allah, and become a better person"

2. Niyyah to reconnect to the Qur’an

Listening to the Qur’an, Recitation, Memorization, Understanding, Explanation.

Focus on a Surah as a project: memorize, recite in salah, reflect, understand, implement.

Ibn 'Abbas said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was the most generous of people in giving charity. He was even more generous in Ramadan when Jibril, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to meet him. Every night of Ramadan Jibril used to come to him and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would read the Qur'an to him. When Jibril came to him, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was more generous in giving charity than the blowing wind.” (Al Adab al Mufrad)

3. Memorise Sunnah duas. Implement one Sunnah a day, inward and outward

4. Kick out distractions. Prepare for Eid well in time

5. Fardh comes first, so focus on faraidh and qadha, them move to Sunnah and nawafil

6. Simple Iftaar and Suhoor. Don’t waste precious dua time in preparing food

7. Maximise the barakah of last 10 nights. Try to sit in Nafl Itikaf at least.

8. Give charity

Zaid bin Khalid Al-Juhani narrated that:

The Messenger of Allah said: "Whoever provides the food for a fasting person to break his fast with, then for him is the same reward as his (the fasting person's), without anything being diminished from the reward of the fasting person.” (Tirmidhi)

9. Perfect our ikhlaaq. Fast from sins, not just food. Develop lasting habits that can be continued outside of Ramadan

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: Fast is a shield ; when one of you is fasting, he should neither behave in an obscene manner nor foolishly. If a man fights or abuses him, he should say: I am fasting, I am fasting. (Sunan Abi Dawud)

10. Invite others to deen this month as hearts are softer.

11. Make personal duas to Allah. Make a dua list

12. Habit of zikr. Remembering Allah in the heart, and with the tongue, only and also.

Surah Baqarah ayah 8-21

Sahih International

And of the people are some who say, "We believe in Allah and the Last Day," but they are not believers.

2:9

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>The 1st category were the people who had taqwa

the 2nd were those who were bent upon disbelief

the 3rd category are those who say that we have come to believe in Allah but they haven't

>there are 2 kinds of hypocrites..nonmuslims pretending to be muslims..spies or double agents

2nd is the muslim who doesnt even know that he is a hypocrite,two-faced people, he could be any of us..this is really scary..even Umar bin khattab was scared that he may be a munafiq when the list of munafiqs was given by Allah swt

The generation of Prophet SAWW had the best believers and the worst of munafiqoon. Allah went out of the way to keep the hypocrites a mystery and not name them. 

When the Prophet SAWW came to Madinah, at that time the different tribes decided to get together to form one city Yasrib(Madinah), and one man Abdullah bin Ubay was going to become the head of Yasrib before Prophet SAWW came. But when Prophet SAWW came then that man could not become the head as Prophet SAWW unanimously became the leader of the people. That man decided to join the Prophet's ranks and become muslim instead of openly opposing him because Prophet SAWW had more support than him. He thought that he could maybe get some other high rank by joining Prophet SAWW. But the closest people to Prophet SAWW were his companions e.g. Hazrat Abu bake, Hazrat Umar etc. So he had no route to become the Vice President. He used to show up to every prayer early and used to be in the first row. Whenever Prophet SAWW were going to make an announcement, he used to say People listen carefully, the prophet is going to speak. He just tried to be in the public eye. He internally hated the Prophet SAWW because his political career ended because of him.
Such hypocrites did not like that the rich and poor and slaves were all equal in Islam and all used to stand together in prayer. Those who were of a high rank were bothered by it and did not like that everyone was equal for him. 

Allah has a wonderful way of addressing different people simultaneously. For e.g. different people in a classroom are doing different mistakes and the teacher says, some people are in trouble here, everybody will think the teacher was addressing them. Allah addressed different types of hypocrites through this ayah
Some hypocrites did not realise that accepting Islam had a lot of consequences and would require a lot of sacrifices. They did not realise they would have to be at war with the Quraiysh. They also had to have a lot of lifestyle changes but those laws came some time later. The primary concern was that they had to be ready to face Quraiysh if the need arose.  These people were ready for ibadah but not ready for the extreme sacrifices.  Then their imaan weakens and they took some steps towards hypocrisy. 

There was another group who was affected by Islam. The scholars of Jews Rabbis by accepting Islam had to submit to Prophet SAWW and from a position of influencing people, they would have to come to the level where they had to accept Prophet SAWW as the ultimate authority and be his student. Such people even used to earn money through religion by staying close to the politicians and they used to maintain ties with people of influence and earn through deen.  So that is why they could not Islam, and they turned everyone against Islam and the Prophet SAWW. Some of their followers when they heard the Prophet SAWW saw the signs of the last Prophet SAWW as told to them, but the rabbis told them not to follow Islam as it would involve a lot of struggle. Even today, some people do not believe in religion because they don't want to take the responsibility of obeying, sacrificing for deen. They suggested that jews were similar to muslims so they could coexist and they did not think they needed to accept Islam(because deep down they knew Islam was right but they didn't want to go through any difficulties).

Minanaas includes hypocrites who have accepted Islam and the hypocrites within jewish community who recognised Islam but did not accept it. Minannaas is an expression just like we say THAT person or that guy or that group etc out of disapproval/disgust, e.g. saying oye Allah k bandy, oye insan

Mann is ism mausoom mubham- which means somebody says. Allah does not specify who is a hypocrite because Allah did not want ANYONE to call anyone a hypocrite by name in future. No one can see inside the heart. We judge people based  on the apparent but we have no right to call anyone a munaafiq. We are not the judge. When we read about munafiqoon we should search in our OWN selves for this disease.

Yaqoolu is muzaray which shows that this person continuously says that. 

>A single person is speaking on behalf of the whole group, he tries to say that we ALL believe because he tries to associate himself with the believers..so Allah uses Mann instead of allazeena to point out that one person speaks on behalf of everyone that WE believe. He just tries to be part of the muslim group

>they make a special effort to CLAIM that they believe..in front of the muslims.. e.g. a kid comes and says that i didnt write anything on the wall..he tries to be overcautious..they become paranoid..they feel that everybody sees what they truly are..they try to go overboard with trying to prove they are sincere..e.g. Abdullah bin ubay the biggest munaafiq used to say before every khutbah of Prophet SAWW that listen to this man,he is the Prophet, he has many things to say etc..he went out of the way to make a show of his imaan. They go out of the way out of paranoia to prove their imaan. Allah uses billahi wa bill yaumil akhiri (two Baas) just to show that they go out of the way to show their imaan. 

This ayah can also refer to jews because they used to say they also believe in God and the last day and they thought that was enough and they don't need to accept the Prophet SAWW. They have so much hatred so they can't say they accept the Prophet SAWW but they tried to hide it by apparently showing that they have a similar faith. They wanted the final revelation to be in their own lineage and not among Arabs. They thought the children of Ismail were cursed by god. 

>Maa with baa shows that they absolutely do not believe, for stress. This is the strongest way to refute. 

Iman is in our heart and on our tongue. We can only judge what is on the tongue and not know what is in the heart. Momin mainly refers to what goes on in the heart. Muslim mainly refers to whats on the tongue. Islam is a black and white thing, either you are a muslim or you are not. Imaaan is like a container so it keeps going up and down and has gradations and keeps increasing and decreasing.  Kufr is the OPPOSITE of imaan as it shows an absence of imaan. Sometimes kufr is the opposite of Islam. But here Allah was talking about the heart and nifaq in the heart. 

Sahih International

They [think to] deceive Allah and those who believe, but they deceive not except themselves and perceive [it] not.

2:10

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Sahih International

In their hearts is disease, so Allah has increased their disease; and for them is a painful punishment because they [habitually] used to lie.

2:11

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Sahih International

And when it is said to them, "Do not cause corruption on the earth," they say, "We are but reformers."

2:12

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Sahih International

Unquestionably, it is they who are the corrupters, but they perceive [it] not.

The mushrikeen of Quraysh did not want the virus of Islam to spread and they wanted to assassinate the Prophet SAWW. But some Quraysh thought that if he goes to Madinah and becomes the leader of Madinah then the power of makkah will spread as he is from Makkah so it might actually be good.

At this time, a caravan was passing and some muslims were keeping an eye out to see what movements they were doing. One of the muslims scouts got caught so a fight broke out and the muslims destroyed their caravan. Now those people had to submit who used to say that it doesn't matter if the power of Makkah is spreading. Now they all agreed to go against war with muslims. So there were 3 reactions in Makkah, extreme hate, extreme love, or something in between.

Musa AS also had two different lives, one under firaun before the drowning of the firaun and one after the splitting of the sea AFTER firaun. This is parallel to the challenges faced by the Prophet SAWW first in Makkah and then in Madinah.

Prophet SAWW is only mentioned by name around 4 times in Quran and Musa As is mentioned over 70 times. There is a deep connection between both prophets and both umma and he is closest to the Prophet SAWW in mission. Both had to deal with internal problems and with a solid enemy. 

There was a similar reaction in Madinah, love, hate and something in between. The ansaar volunteered to be part of Badr. The leaders of jews actively opposed it. 

This is the background in which these verses were revealed. 
In obedience, we have to follow Allah and the messenger and they cannot be separated from each other.  One who is the enemy of the Prophet SAWW is Allahs enemy too. Allah makes himself next to the Prophet SAWW when it comes to obedience and disobedience because there is no imaan without belief in the Prophet SAWW.

>they try to fool Allah but they only end up fooling themselves. The messenger SAWW is not mentioned because messing with the messenger means messing with Allah. 

What is the difference between yukhadioon and yakhdaoon, they are from different barbs and yakhdaoon means they SUCCESSFULLY succeeded(in fooling no one but themselves). Yukhadioon means they are trying to deceive.

The people have signs of suffering from a disease e.g. like in bird flu we have certain signs and symptoms.They have symptoms because there is a disease in their heart. Sometimes there are certain diseases after which you develop anaesthesia and cannot feel anything at all. Such a disease has afflicted their hearts. They also have doubt about Allah. 

Chest is a treasure place inside which the heart is present. Shaytaan has access to the chest but not the heart. Chest is like the fence around the home so shaytaan cannot enter until you open the door when he knocks. If you persistently open the door, Shaytaan moves in and he starts redecorating your heart. If you let Shaytaan in for too long, he will cause your heart to stink and will take over you. 

BY painful punishment it means that they will not develop any tolerance to the punishment or the pain, it will stay persistently painful,thats there worst punishment, its worst than that of kuffaar. Aleem is sift mushaba which means constantly painful

>Surah baqarah talks a lot about imaan, surah al imran talks about islam, because islam follows imaan

>The hypocrites in time of Prophet SAWW used to mingle with both kuffaar and muslims, they wanted to remain in good books of both and show allegiance to both as there were some people in mushrikeen who were willing to find a middle way, and when they were told that they are creating fasaad, they said that they are only trying to create peace between both parties,but they do not realize that the hatred the kuffaar had against muslims was incurable..there is no doubt that THESE are the cause of corruption but they do not have the realisation

Fasaad actually means injustice. The biggest injustice is Shirk. There were a lot of corrupt traditions in their society e.g. discriminating against women and burying children alive and all immoral values.  The kabah was full of idols.Fasaad is MORAL fasaad. Truth cannot compromise with falsehood. We should never try to hide revelation of be embarrassed to proudly tell ANY part of the Quran. Every part of the Quran and deen is beautiful and we need to be proud of it and not mould it to please others and not compromise with kufr. 

When people increase in disobedience to Allah in a society, the corruption affects the barakah of the land and even the crop,rain etc is affected. Corruption increases in the land. 

The jews used to believe in God and afterlife but did not agree to accept the Prophet SAWW, but apparently they used to maintain friendly terms with muslims on face value because of common beliefs, and in reality they were plotting against muslims with the help of the mushirkeen. So they were playing a double game. In their heart, there is a disease and they are selective in imaan. They hid the revelation although their own books mentioned the coming of the Prophet SAWW. They tried to change the Torah. 

We should be proud of our book and we should not try to hide any part of it, even if it seems politically incorrect. Do not try to mould the book to please people. We cannot ignore some part of the Quran and only take the part which benefits and suits us. We often try to hide parts of the Quran under the label of hikmah. These days we don't even know the Quran so how can we even hide it...

2:13

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Sahih International

And when it is said to them, "Believe as the people have believed," they say, "Should we believe as the foolish have believed?" Unquestionably, it is they who are the foolish, but they know [it] not.

2:14

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Sahih International

And when they meet those who believe, they say, "We believe"; but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say, "Indeed, we are with you; we were only mockers."

2:15

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Sahih International

[But] Allah mocks them and prolongs them in their transgression [while] they wander blindly.

2:16

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Sahih International

Those are the ones who have purchased error [in exchange] for guidance, so their transaction has brought no profit, nor were they guided.ALAA is a word used in the Quran to draw attention. Allah uses it at some places to make people realise how serious the issue is. Don't try to mix truth and falsehood in the name of compromise.

INNA is used for certainty and to remove all possible doubts. This is followed by innahum lahum mufsidoon so hum is used twice for emphasis. This is equivavalent to the exclamation marks we use in english. The Quran is full of emotions because the tone is conveyed through the way Allah expresses it.

Faasid is a corrupt person. Mufsid is someone who is corrupt himself and wants to corrupt others as well and create fasaad. So some people try to dwindle the confidence of muslims in Islam and spread misinformation about Islam.

They are told by their friends/well wishers that why don't you have true imaan like the other sahaba? But how could someone judge their imaan although imaan is something internal so how can anyone gauge it. It was manifested by their actions because their behaviour was not in conformity with shariah and sunnah. 

THEY say should we believe like those who are foolish?they left their homes..made too many sacrifices..they went overboard..they left everything for Islam and got themselves enemies and opposition because of following Islam. Should we become fools like them?we dont have to be that extreme etc etc 

This happens these days too because when we start to follow Islam seriously or when we convert to Islam, everyone becomes our enemy and we hear all sorts of insults for following deen. People will call us extreme and make us lose confidence in ourselves and deen.

The beauty is that the sahaba dont have to defend themselves.ALLAH DEFENDS THEM..and Allah now says that they have no knowledge whatsoever. In Allahs books sacrifices are done by the wise, by those who follow the legacy of Ibrahim AS, the fools are the one who don't sacrifice. For Allah, fool is the one who says whatever comes in his mouth, and does not think about anything or ponder about his actions, is weak in forming his opinions, involved in ghaflah, quick to do sins, and does not develop any understanding, lacks self respect and is deceived by shaytaan, a prisoner of his own desires, constantly sinning, committed to ingratitude, does not care about consequences. 

Prophet SAWW said about fools: People will suffer for years that are very deceptive. The liar will be believed on those days and the truthful will be considered a liar. The one who cannot be entrusted will be entrusted and one who can be trusted will be considered untrustworthy, and a group ruwaiybida will be doing all the talking. The fool that talks about matters of the public. 

nafaqa means lizard hole..a lizard makes two holes so that it can use the 2nd hole if there is any trouble in the 1st hole and vice versa..if muslims lose they would go on the side of the kuffaar..if kuffaar win they will say we will believe

When they meet muslims, they say we are with you but they make close intimate friends other than muslims. When they are alone and with the shayateen, they show their allegiance to them. Shayateen refers to the leaders of the hypocrites and ilaa shows that they go TOWARDS them which indicates that they are of a higher status than them. The non muslims would want nothing but to harm them and use them as pawns, and the hypocrites say that we are with you,we are on your side. Haza means to make fun of someone, to be sarcastic to someone, poke someone, or kill someone slowly. 

Sha ya taa or shaa taa naa are the root word of shaytaan. It means ready to be set on fire, or to burn someone to death.  SO that means their leaders were fumed when they heard they accepted Islam but then they went to them and clarified that they don't really believe. They are called shaytaan because of their fuming rage which resembles fire or because their eventual home is fire. It also means to pull slowly because shaytaan does shatan and slowly reels and ropes us in to doing sin. It also means one who goes far away from the right path. 

In reality, Allah does istahza of them. It means Allah gives them what they deserve in return of what  they used to do. Allah extends them in they rebellion because Allah allows them to continue in their disobedience. Allah extends them in their rebellion , blind in the heart..Allah keeps giving them opportunities for them to increase in disobedience..Allah doesnt restrict their opportunities..he lets them to dig the hole deeper. Allah plays the same role a teacher plays, He lets the students do everything freely and documenting everything they do and he punishes them when they cross the line. 

A parable to explain this is that of a dog who wants to break his leash and he keeps trying to do that although the master stops him, so the master decides to punish him by tying him with a 300ft leash, now the dog thinks that he is free so he runs at full speed, but you know whats going to happen?he will suddenly be pulled by the leash when he reaches the limit,and Allahs hold on them will be stronger. His punishment for them will be most severe on the day of judgement. This is how Allah will poke fun at them. 

Madda and amadda means to extend. Allah uses both words. Amadda is more emphatic and Allah uses amadda whenever he talks about giving something to humans, and everywhere else he uses madder. The extended word is used whenever Allah extends his mercy. 
Yamahoon means that Allah lets them slip away and they are blind in their ability to think and blind in their hearts.

They sold guidance in exchange of disbelief, although they got the gift of the company of the messenger and the sahaba, their trade gave them no benefit at all.

MUHTAD is someone who makes an effort to be guided, they NEVER made an effort to be guided, they came into islam on a bed of roses,they joined it when islam was on the rise and on its peak,they joined it with a casual attitude without commitment,they were not committed to guidance at all

These ayahs can also be applied to Jews, and not just munafiqeen. They also used to say that should we believe like the fools, because they used to consider themselves superior and educated and they thought Islam was beneath them. Allah says they know nothing.

2:17

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Sahih International

Their example is that of one who kindled a fire, but when it illuminated what was around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darkness [so] they could not see.

2:18

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Sahih International

Deaf, dumb and blind - so they will not return [to the right path].

2:19

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2:21

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Allah is like a teacher and through Quran, Allah often presents certain examples to make us understand things better. Their example is the example of a person who is alone TRYING(istaukada) to light a fire in pitch black. When everything around HIM was BRILLIANT with light,Allah took THEIR light away. Zia refers to light which also has heat(intense light). Noor is a light without heat and it is just a reflection of light.  
HIM refers to the prophet SAWW/musa AS who lit the light for the people to see and benefit who were previously in pitch dark with him so when they did not benefit, Allah took away their light, their noor, the ability to appreciate the reflected light,their eyes were gone,even if the light is ON it could not benefit them anymore.Allah did not take away the light so that others could benefit from it.Allah only took their ABILITY to see light. And Allah took it away permanently and it will never come back to them. They are in darkness and there is no possibility of seeing now. 

MASAL is used for a very strange situation by Arabs. It is not used for something normal. Only KA is used for something normal and kamasal means something out of the ordinary.

They become deaf,mute,blind,there is NO ataf in between.It means they are the 3 things at the same time, in the pitch black.So now if somebody calls out to them to come see the light..they cant hear..and they cannot call out for help because they are mute..and they are blind so they cannot see the light..so ALL access to guidance is taken away from them now..now they will not be able to return,or come back,coming back SHOWS that they did have the ability before but now its taken away from them

The jews and the stubborn disbelievers of quraish knew the signs of the last messenger and they were eagerly waiting for him because he was mentioned in their books. Some traditions say that they even moved to this area where they thought the last Prophet would come. Darkness and absence of light represents an absence of revelation. When revelation was sent down, it lit up the light which lighted the world. Allah chose the bedouin arabs and the darkest of civilisations to give his revelation. The only strength of Arabs was the Arabic language. Prophet SAWW was born in that society but he never followed the darkness of that society. He used to contemplate by going to the cave of hira alone. Allah blessed him with light there. When the light illuminated the darkness, the people did not appreciate it and deliberately rejected it and refused to see it, so Allah took their ability to see the light away because they never appreciated it.

Sahih International

Or [it is] like a rainstorm from the sky within which is darkness, thunder and lightning. They put their fingers in their ears against the thunderclaps in dread of death. But Allah is encompassing of the disbelievers.

2:20

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Sahih International

The lightning almost snatches away their sight. Every time it lights [the way] for them, they walk therein; but when darkness comes over them, they stand [still]. And if Allah had willed, He could have taken away their hearing and their sight. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.

SECOND parable:Imagine a dark sky with thunder and lightening and intense pouring rain and these people are stranded.They have placed their fingers in their ears because of the loud explosions of the thunder and because of the fear of death. All light has been extinguished by this thunder. 

They are in a difficult journey and there are scary things happening. This describes the journey to islam which is filled with challenges but these people are SO scared of the challenges that they pretend that those challenges are not there and they dont have any responsibility

When lightning comes they are able to see very little so they walk a few steps.

Then when the lightning stops they stop again and are scared to walk in the dark. So hypocrites only follow what is easy, and they back out when a difficult commandment comes.They are fools because its dumb to put your fingers in your ears in a difficult situation,its of no use.

Every time a warning ayah comes down, it is like a thunder strike which warns them to come to Islam. The warning is paralleled with the  thunder. The ayahs reminded them of the judgement day and their responsibilities. Lightning refers to the ayahs which are about good tidings and ease so they take a few steps in lightning. This refers to hypocrites who only follow what is easy and are scared to follow what is difficult.

Allah will remove their hearing and sight. That means that at least they have weak imaan, at least they walk when theres no lightning and difficulty, they stil have some tiny iman left but if they continue this way Allah may decide to take their hearing and sight completely

>Allah describes munaafiqs in detail because its a gray area. Muslims and kuffaar are clearly distinct but hypocrites  needed to be explained in detail,thats why bani israel is mentioned later in detail, because they were munaafiqs and we should try not to be like them

Allah took their guidance away because they sold guidance for misguidance. Allah sealed their hearts and took away their nor because they refused to see the light. Allah took their ability to see and hear because they deliberately refused to see the truth. Allah said about the munafiqeen that they don't really believe in their heart and later elaborates that they only express belief when they are with muslims and when they are with shayateen their deception is revealed. Allah lets their disease increase because they were rebellious and Allah allows them to extend into their rebellion. They tried to mock the religion but Allah mocks them. The hypocrites thought highly and superiorly of themselves and thought the sahibs and those who followed islam were fools as they made sacrifices.

Sahih International

O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous -

>ENSLAVE yourselves to the master,the one who created you and those who before you so that you can PROTECT Yourselves. This is the summary of the Quran. Rabb abd relationship is the foundation of our life. We are entitled to nothing and everything Allah blesses us with is a GIFT. Our idea of slavery and mastery is  very warped because of the history associated with these words but our relationship with Allah is based on pure love and appreciation. Allah creating us is an act of Allah's mercy and part of Allah being rahman and raheem.  

Taqwa means protection..it includes both fear and the action that is developed out of that fear..even the criminal is afraid of the authorities but he only has fear, he doesnt protect himself..someone who protects is the one who stops at a red light and protects himself from breaking the rule, he doesnt  fear being caught by the authorities and also breaks the traffic signal..so the taqwa includes PROTECTION..like Allah says protect yourself from the fire. Allah asks us to protect us from all the images that Allah has just described by just making a commitment to Allah. TATTAQOON is mutaddi so it means we need to take measures and use tools to protect ourselves. It means we need to take precautions. Taqwa does not drop on anyone's head, rather we need to make an effort for it, and then Allah will help us. 

This ayah suddenly shifts from third person to first person. Third person is farther away, but Allah suddenly directly addresses you and me and all humanity. 
NAAS could be from Nisyan which means forgetfulness. Human beings are forgetful because they have forgotten the promise they made to Allah SWT in aalam e arwah. Naas can also be from anisa which means that which cannot be perceived and seen(opposite to jinn which are unseen). Third meaning is from UNS which is opposite of wash(wildness),because human beings are more civil and have feelings and compassion towards each other. and towards all living things. We are only humans because we care about each other but if we lose that quality, we are worse than animals.  
Allah comes from aliha which means to be excessively in love with someone, when your love is so fulfilling that it fulfils your appetite and extinguishes your loneliness. Allah calls upon us in this ayah with the word naas to arouse our compassion and our desire to seek love. 

In Surah Fatiha, we asked Allah to guide us and said we worship Allah. When we asked Allah to guide us to those he favoured, then we took refuge from maghzoobi alaiyhim and zaaleen. So Allah first mentions those he favoured in Surah baqarah, then he mentions the one he has ghazab on(hardcore disbelievers), and then he mentioned the last parable which is about the one who is not entirely lost but only follows deen partially(hypocrites). Then Allah ends with ubudu(now become an abd of Allah). In Surah Fatiha, we talk to Allah and call him Rabbul Aalameen and Surah baqarah is Allah answering our dua by saying Ya ayyahul naas.  Now that Allah has presented all 3 groups, we have to pick one side now. So this actually completes the conversation between us and Allah. This is a call to us to make changes in life, as there is no excuse for us after Allah has told us about all groups and asked us to protect ourselves.  Our belief in the unseen compels us to take action.