(Ar-Rad [The Thunder])
And within the land are neighboring plots and gardens of grapevines and crops and palm trees, [growing] several from a root or otherwise, watered with one water; but We make some of them exceed others in [quality of] fruit. Indeed in that are signs for a people who reason. [13:04]
What a great sign! Everybody knows that plants are given the same food and water but some fruits are better than others. In my class of Programming too I notice that some students understand quickly but some have a hard time in understanding the same concepts. Many people read the Quran but there are still conflicts among Muslims which proves that not everybody understands it in the same way. Oh Allah make us among those who understand it correctly and act upon it. Amen.
Then is he who knows that what has been revealed to you from your Lord is the truth like one who is blind? They will only be
reminded who are people of understanding – And those who join that which Allah has ordered to be joined and fear their Lord
and are afraid of the evil of [their] account. And those who are patient, seeking the countenance of their Lord, and establish
prayer and spend from what We have provided for them secretly and publicly and prevent evil with good – those will have the
good consequence of [this] home – Gardens of perpetual residence; they will enter them with whoever were righteous among
their fathers, their spouses and their descendants. And the angels will enter upon them from every gate, [saying] "Peace be upon you for what you patiently endured. And excellent is the final home." [13:19-24]
These ayahs give me hope that I will be able to see my mom inshaAllah in Jannah. But this is possible only if I meet the conditions mentioned in ayah 20 to 22. A great hope for all those who have lost their loved ones.
Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allah. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured." [13:28]
A great reminder for us to remember Allah in times of distress.
(Ibrahim [Abraham])
Alif, Lām, Rā. [This is] a Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that you might bring mankind out of darknesses into the light by permission of their Lord – to the path of the Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy – [14:01]
This reminded me of a day in Pakistan when I was making roti (bread) and the light went off and it became completely dark. I could do no work till my brother found the candles. And we were totally helpless during those minutes of darkness. I remember my undergrad times when there was my midterm exam and the light went off for the whole night and I was worried how I will give my exam. But afterwards I forgot the significance of light and never thanked for it till I perceived this ayah. Here, the Quran is mentioned as a tool to bring man from darkness to light. So if we do not understand the Quran we will be in darkness.
And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.'[14:07]
There is a hadith, once a hungry man came to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and asked for help. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) gave him a date. He made a face and went away. Another hungry man came to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and asked for help. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) gave him a date, for which he very grateful and thanked him. The Prophet (SAW) asked his wife to bring 20 dirhams and gave to that man who was very grateful.
Personally I experienced it myself. One day I made fried chicken with fries, my daughter was very happy, she hugged and thanked me and said you made a great meal. I felt very happy and decided to make this dinner for her quite often. Being human, I could only think of making that kind of dinner again but Allah is the GREATEST. And HE has power over everything and if we thank Allah, He will increase his bounties on us beyond our expectations insha’Allah.
And they will come out [for judgement] before Allāh all together, and the weak will say to those who were arrogant, "Indeed, we were your followers, so can you avail us anything against the punishment of Allāh?" They will say, "If Allāh had guided us, we would have guided you. It is all the same for us whether we show intolerance or are patient: there is for us no place of escape." [14:21]
In this world also we follow whom we love and when somebody asks as to why we do this, immediately we say so and so told us to do like this. And another thing is that whenever something bad happens we start blaming others.
The above ayah is telling us that we will fight with those who misguided us on the Final Day. Be careful whom you follow for on that day all will be responsible for their own deeds.
And Satan will say when the matter has been concluded, "Indeed, Allah had promised you the promise of truth. And I promised you, but I betrayed you. But I had no authority over you except that I invited you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me; but blame yourselves. I cannot be called to your aid, nor can you be called to my aid. Indeed, I deny your association of me [with Allah] before. Indeed, for the wrongdoers is a painful punishment." [14: 22]
Satan tells us that we have time and death is far away. He tells us we can repent afterwards. He tells that we can always do it tomorrow. For example get punctual for Fajar from tomorrow. When we plan to spend in charity Satan scares us that we may need this money tomorrow. And on the Final Day he will say whatever promises he made were false.
Have you not considered how Allah presents an example, [making] a good word like a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed and its branches [high] in the sky? [14: 24]
In this ayah Allah is telling the strength of the good word which is La ilaha illal lah Muhammad ur rasool Allah. We all learn La ilaha illah when hardly 3 years old alhamdolillah. But I must tell you I understood the meaning of it only in the last seven years. In short it means Allah is the only one and Muhammad is His messenger. That is to follow Allah and Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and THATS IT. And to do that one must read the Quran because it is described in the Quran ONLY what Allah wants from us and only the study of Hadith can tell us how Prophet Muhammad (SAW) implemented it.
It produces its fruit all the time, by permission of its Lord. And Allah presents examples for the people that perhaps they will be reminded. [14: 25]
This is in continuation of the last ayah. It can be related to a Momin who understands and implements the meaning of Kalima Tayyaba. It is like he gives fruits in all seasons. All seasons means every moment of our life. And fruits mean good deeds. I by no means can count myself in that category but I pray to Allah and request all of you to pray for me to be of those people.
Allah keeps firm those who believe, with the firm word, in worldly life and in the Hereafter. And Allāh sends astray the wrongdoers. And Allah does what He wills. [14: 27]
Here it is mentioned that Allah will establish strength in this world and in the Hereafter to ONLY those who truly believe and implement La ilaha illal lah Muhammad ur Rasool Allah throughout their lives. The first question in the grave will be, about who is your God and second, who is your Prophet and the answers lie in La ilaha Muhammad ur Rasool Allah. It is like when we are busy in some project of ours just before sleeping; the first thing that comes to our mind after waking up is about the same project. And death is like sleep and when Munkir and Nakeer come, we can only answer these questions if we had implemented Kalima Tayyaba during our life. There is a hadith telling that Munkir and Nakeer are very frightening figures and in their hands they will have iron rods with which they will beat the person and he will break like a glass of water and reform again and they will continue beating. And it is told that they will be so frightening that a person with weak eeman will get frightened and won't be able to answer those questions correctly. The Sahabas asked the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) that Munkir and Nakeer will be so frightening and will carry iron rods then how will we able to answer, on which he replied that only if you strongly believe and implement La ilaha illal lah Muhammad ur Rasool Allah then it will give you the strength to answer the questions.
It is Allah who created the heavens and the earth and sent down rain from the sky and produced thereby some fruits as provision for you and subjected for you the ships to sail through the sea by His command and subjected for you the rivers. And He subjected for you the sun and the moon, continuous [in orbit], and subjected for you the night and the day. And He gave you from all you asked of Him. And if you should count the favor of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, mankind is [generally] most unjust and ungrateful. [14:32-34]
In these ayahs Allah mentions four times that he "made subject" (Zair-e-Farman or Rules follower) and we go through these problems of “making subject” all the time. A maid used to work for me in Pakistan and I observed it was very difficult to take work from her the way we wanted to so ended up changing the maids quite often. Then there was the problem of drivers, some were not punctual and sometimes were absent without notification. Raising a kid according to our rules is again a problem of making subject (Zair-e-Farman or Rules follower). And all these problems are present when the people who we want to make subject (Zair-e-Farman or Rules follower) speak the same language as we do. When I used to work on projects in teams during my studies, taking work from some other member used to be so tough that I ended up doing everything myself. Taking work from team members got even more difficult when I worked in America due to language differences. What I am saying is taking work from somebody is such a difficult task but Allah the greatest, does it with no problem. Subhan Allah. In the above ayahs Allah mentions ships, rivers, oceans, sun, moon, day and night. Allah knows the language of all of them and we only know just Urdu and a little bit of English. And all the things He made subject (Zair-e-Farman) never get absent or late and never do anything unusual. Subhan Allah.
And never think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only delays them for a Day when eyes will stare [in horror]. Racing ahead, their heads raised up, their glance does not come back to them, and their hearts are void. [14:42-43]
[It will be] on the Day the earth will be replaced by another earth, and the heavens [as well], and all creatures will come out before Allah, the One, the Prevailing. And you will see the criminals that Day bound together in shackles, Their garments of liquid pitch and their faces covered by the Fire. [14:48-50]
The above ayahs give a glimpse of the Day of Judgment. Oh Allah save us all from the horrors of that day. Amen.
Reading the Quran on a daily basis gives me such contentment alhamdolillah, which I never had before and it takes hardly seven minutes to read one ruku with translation. Try for yourself and do recite Surah Fateha before beginning your recitation. Surah Fateha is the best duaa to ask for guidance. And we should always ask for guidance because it is mentioned in the Quran itself that some readers of the Quran will be guided and some will go astray after reading it. May Allah guide us all. Amen. Read it even if you don't understand it, Allah will help you understand it inshaAllah. Send me an email if you have not done so already. Oh Allah help us and all our children die as Muslims. Amen.
