Chronologically this Surah and the five that follow (Surah 11-15) are closely connected, and were revealed in the late Makkan period, as the great event of the Hijrah was gradually approaching down the stream of Time. The present group leads us to the questions that face us when external hostility has been met, and our relations to Allah have to be considered from a higher standpoint than that of self-preservation. How does revelation work? What is the meaning of divine grace and its withdrawal? - How do the Messengers of Allah deliver their Message? How should we receive it? All these...

The honorable Surah Al-Fatihah contains seven Ayat including the praise and thanks of Allah, glorifying Him and praising Him by mentioning His most Beautiful Names and most high Attributes. It also mentions the Hereafter, which is the Day of Resurrection, and directs Allah's servants to ask of Him, invoking Him and declaring that all power and strength comes from Him. It also calls to the sincerity of the worship of Allah alone, singling Him out in His divinity, believing in His perfection, being free from the need of any partners, having no rivals nor equals. Al-Fatihah directs the believers...

The Quraysh sent An-Nadr bin Al-Harith and Uqbah bin Abi Muit to the Jewish rabbis in Al-Madinah, and told them: Ask them (the rabbis) about Muhammad, and describe him to them, and tell them what he is saying. They are the people of the first Book, and they have more knowledge of the Prophets than we do.' So they set out and when they reached Al-Madinah, they asked the Jewish rabbis about the Messenger of Allah. They described him to them and told them some of what he had said. They said, You are the people of the Tawrah and we have come to you so that you can tell us about this companion of...

Surely, punishing the disobedient criminals as well as favoring those who had Taqwa, is from Allah's grace, mercy, justice, compassion and kindness for His creatures. His warnings against His torment and punishment, such as mentioned in these Ayat, should encourage all creatures to abandon the Shirk and disobedience they engage in, and this is why Allah reminded them of this favor; Then which of the blessings of your Lord will you both deny

Allah in Ayah 8 of the Surah says: In the case of those who are decreed to be among the doomed, when it comes to the matter of being guided, We have made them like a person who has a chain around his neck and whose hands are tied together beneath his chin so that his head is lifted up. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: Whoever recites Yasin in the night, will wake up forgiven, and whoever recites Ha Mim in which Ad-Dukhan (the Smoke) is mentioned, will wake up forgiven.

Surah Nisa's subject matter deals with the social problems which the Muslim community had to face immediately after battle of Uhud. While the particular occasion made the necessity urgent, the principles laid down have permanently governed Muslim Law and social practice.The Surah broadly can be divided into two parts ie -dealing with women, orphans, inheritance, marriage, and family rights generally, and -dealing with the recalcitrant in the larger family, the community at Madinah, viz., the Hypocrites and their accomplices. The Surah begins with an appeal to the solidarity of mankind, the...

The environmental and social influences which most frequently wreck our spiritual ideals have to do with sex especially with its misuse, whether in the form of unregulated behaviour, or false charges or scandals, or breach of the refined conventions of personal or domestic privacy. Our complete conquest of all pitfalls in such matters enables us to rise to the higher regions of Light and God-created Nature. Sex offences should be severely punished, but the strictest evidence should be required, and false slanderers are also worthy of punishment. Light talk about women is reprobated. Privacy...

This is the longest Surah of the Quran. The name of the Surah is from the Parable of the Heifer in Ayah 67-71, which illustrates the insufficiency of carping obedience. When faith is lost, people put off obedience with various excuses; even when at last they obey in the letter, they fail in the spirit, which means that they get fossilized, and their self-sufficiency prevents them from seeing that spiritually they are not alive but dead. For life is movement, activity, striving, fighting against baser things. And this is the burden of the Surah. The Surah begins (1-29) by classifying men into...