Qur'an Studies, QDO 27, Revision ©

All my notes are based solely on the 2 revision sessions (may be added onto if I have missed something), so please give credit if using. Thank you. ©

Surah at Tur

• Surah at Tur, Ayat 1 - 5: Allah swears by these 5 things to prove that the punishment/day of judgement will definitely occur and nobody can prevent it from happening.

• Surah at Tur, Ayat 17 - 24: the rewards of Jannah: the righteous will enter the gardens of Jannah, Allah will protect them from the Hellfire and they will enjoy whatever their Lord has granted them. They will eat and drink happily, reclining on their thrones, neatly lines up, facing each other. They will be paired with maidens with gorgeous eyes and will be elevated in rank. They will have fruit and meat, passing around pure wine. There will be no idle talk or sins in Jannah. They will be waited upon by youthful servants.

• هوى is desire which is not guided by Allah's guidance.

• Wahy is revelation. Nobody can access this revelation apart from the receiver and Allah. Wahy uplifts a person and improves someone to be closer the Allah. Following the revelation improves you because you become a better person in the sight of Allah.

• Abdullah is the servant of Allah and you raise in status in the sight of Allah by following the Wahy, but Abdulhawa the servant of the desire. It lowers them from the status of Abdullah. The prophet SallAllahu alaihi wa sallam was sent the Wahy so he was sent to us to uplift us.

Surah an Najm

• Surah an Najm, Ayat 1 - 4: mentions Wahy and هوى

• The prophet SallAllahu alaihi wa sallam saw Jibreel in his real form only twice in his life. Jibreel had 600 wings that spanned the entire horizon. The first time he saw Jibreel in his true form was when he left mount Hiraa and the prophet SallAllahu alaihi wa sallam fled. The second time the prophet SallAllahu alaihi wa sallam saw Jibreel was on the night of Mi'raaj.

• The Arabs did not like to have daughters and preferred sons so why did they attribute daughters to Allah? This is addressed in Surah an Najm.

• Surah an Najm, Ayah 32: the characteristics of the people of Jannah is that they stay away from Major sins and Fawahish (immorality and shameful deeds).

Surah al Qamr

• In Surah al Qamr, Ayat 16 and 17 is repeated - فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عَذَابِى وَنُذُرِ ١٦ وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍۢ ("Then how ˹dreadful˺ were My punishment and warnings! We have certainly made the Quran easy to remember. So is there anyone who will be mindful?"). Repeated in Ayah 22

• Ayah 17, admonition is to be advised for something good for you. Allah has made the Qur'an easy for us to take lessons from it.

• أهوائَهُم - Ayah 2 and 3 of Surah al Qamar. "Yet, whenever they see a sign, they turn away, saying, “Same old magic!“ They rejected ˹the truth˺ and followed their own desires—and eve ry matter will be settled—" This is the attitude of the people who follow their desires and reject the advice. This is linked to Surah an Najm, starting with talking about desires. If you follow the reminders, you are following Wahy. If you dont follow reminders, you are following hawa and you are being pushed down.

• After every nation, the repeated Ayah of Surah al Qamr is mentioned ("Then how ˹dreadful˺ were My punishment and warnings! We have certainly made the Quran easy to remember. So is there anyone who will be mindful?"). This is a warning. Who will benefit from this warning? Do not ignore this warning, it is a test.

Surah ar Rahman

• فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ is repeated contantly in Surah ar Rahman. It means "Then which of your Lord’s favours will you ˹humans and jinn˺ both deny?". It is repeated 31 times.

• HINT - QUESTION WILL BE - WHICH AYAH IS REPEATED IN SURAH RAHMAN? WHAT IS ITS TRANSLATION AND EXPLAIN THE KEY WORD?

• ءَالَآء is favours, blessings, bounty. They great signs in nature, pointing to the greatness of Allah (afaaq) and the great signs inside us (Anfus). Which of these signs will you still continue to reject? This is the key word in the repeated Ayah.

• Through the repeated Ayah and the whole of Surah ar Rahman, Allah shows that he has given us countless favours, blessings, signs, etc. out of mercy (which is the name of this Surah, Ar Rahman). One sign is enough to prove His existence, yet He has given us multiple signs to reflect His greatness. Allah has provided so many signs so which of them will you deny? Human and Jinn deny the clear signs given to us through Allah's mercy, yet we are still given a chance to repent before it is too late. Allah can either punish straight away or give us time to repent - he gave us time to repent to show us that he is merciful.

• The first 4 ayat of Surah ar Rahman tells us that the greatest favour from Allah is the guidance he gives us through the Qur'an. It has been given bit-by-bit so we can learn gradually. We cannot learn everything all at once. Through teaching us step-by-step, Allah is showing us mercy. Allah has given humans (the best creation) the ability to understand and the ability to express their understanding clearly with speech. We are given the Qur'an to understand clearly and we have speech to convey it clearly. By teaching it, we are bringing the mercy of Allah to others.

• The favours mentioned in Surah ar Rahman include: Allah created humankind from clay like pottery and Jinn from a smokeless flame of fire, from bodies of water you can extract pearls and coral, Allah has allowed boats to sail on the sea, etc.

Surah al Waqiah

• The first 7 Ayat of Surah al Waqiah tells us what will definetely happen and nothing can stop it. The Earth people used to stamp on arrogantly will shake. The mountains will crash so what about the humans? There will be 3 groups on this day.

• The people of the left (Ashaabul Ash'amah) will keep their hands behind their back so they do not have to receive their book of deeds but they will still receive it in their left hand.

• As Sabiqun are the ones who listen and obey and are first to do this. They don’t ever wait, they obey Allah straight away. They are foremost in faith and will be nearest to Allah in Jannah. They are better than the people of the right...

• Ashabul Yameen (the people of the right) are the ones who did good deeds and will receive their book of deeds in their right hand.

• The end of Surah al Waqiah tells us the outcome of the 3 groups. Ayat 88 and 89 tells us the outcome of As Saabiqun. Ayat 90 and 92 talks about the outcome of the people of the right and Ayat 93 till the end talks bout the outcome of the people of the left.

• Outcome of As Saabiqun - they will have serenity and nice fragrance in the gardens of Jannah.

• Outcome of Ashaabul Yameen - they will be told “Greetings to you from the people of the right.”

• Outcome of Ashaabul Ash’amah - they will have boiling water to drink in the burning Hellfire.

• Sabbih means to appreciate Allah's perfectness so you submit to Him and obey Him. You acknowledge Him as the highest of the high (Ayah 96 of Surah al Waqiah).

Surah al Hadeed

• The main message of Surah al Hadeed is to do Infaaq by spending what Allah has favoured you with for the path of Allah but do not do Nifaaq by being a hypocrite. He doesn't believe in the Akhirah and loves the Dunyah so much so he will not spend for the Akhirah (Infaaq).

• The main themes of Surah al Hadeed are about Allah (Ayat 1-6), Infaaq (7 - 11), Nur on the day of judgement (Ayat 12 - 15), the hardening of the heart (16 and 17), Hasanah (loan for good cause) (18 and 19), the reality of this life (Ayah 20), Infaaq (Ayat 21 - 24) and Rahbaniyyah (Ayat 25 - 29).

• Rahbaaniyyah is to cut yourself off from the world and being extreme. Rahbaaniyyah means monasticism which means to go to the extreme of thinking you are worshipping Allah (like monks and nuns). You fear Allah so much that you think you cannot do anything else except fear Allah. Fear in an extreme way. There is no balance between fear and hope.

• Ayat 12 - 15 of Surah al Hadeed talk about Nur. The believing men and women will have a light with them to guide them on the bridge on the day of Judgement. The light will be because of the Infaaq they used to do in the Dunyah. The hypocrites will not have this light. Since they pretended to be believers, they will ask the believers for a share of this light. They did not do Infaaq in the Dunyah as they didn’t believe in the Akhirah, hence they had nothing to spend on. A wall will separate the hypocrites and believers. The believers will go to Jannah full of grace but the hypocrites will have to face the torment.

• Hadeed is might and power. Allah has given us iron to make swords which should be used to fight oppression. Iron has many benefits for ourselves but it is up to us to spend it for the path of Allah or for ourselves. Iron symbolises the many favours of Allah. Each favour has a benefit towards our own selves but we should also spend them on the path of Allah for the Akhirah.

• There are 2 types of Nifaaq: Aqeedah/belief, where the person never believed but pretends to be a beleiver and actions (4 signs of a hypocrite in actions, it is where a believer has the traits of a hypocrite).

• The hypocrites of action lies when he speaks, breaks his promises, betrays his trusts he has been entrusted with and explodes in rage in arguments, violently.

• Qard Hasanah is a good loan, spending for just the path of Allah, from whatever you have gained through halal means and knowing that Allah will be the only one who can reward you.

This life is just a game لَعِبٌۭ, a distraction وَلَهْوٌۭ, and a form of beautification وَزِينَةٌۭ. It involves boasting about what you have وَتَفَاخُرٌۢ بَيْنَكُمْ and competing to accumulate more wealth and children وَتَكَاثُرٌۭ فِى ٱلْأَمْوَٰلِ وَٱلْأَوْلَـٰدِ. As a child, you enjoy playing (like babies), then as you grow older, distractions increase. In your teenage years, you focus on looking good, and as an adult, you achieve things and boast about them. Eventually, you start a family and work hard, competing for more wealth and children. As you age, you wither and become frail, like a plant that grows and then shrinks to chaff. This is the nature of the Dunya, so be cautious and engage in Infaaq instead. Life is merely an illusion of enjoyment.