Surah al-Muminoon

A Makki surah, and is particularly famous for its first ten verses.
[23:2]
Who are humble in their prayers,
those who have khushoo3 in their prayer. what does "khushoo3" mean?
it often means, when a person has such strong feelings about the power, awe, fea
r, love of Allah, so deeply rooted internally, that it extends to their external
bodies, like they physically feel a change. when that happens, it gives them ca
lmness and peace in their prayer.
the Prophet(S) once saw someone who was praying, and while doing so he was kind
of playing with his beard, the Prophet(S) said that if this person had khushoo3
in their heart, then their body wold have been calm too.
khushoo3 also means:
- lowering gaze
- lowering voice
- (not?) looking side to side
- not toying with body parts
Hadith that Allah keeps His eye on the person who's praying as long as he's conc
entrating on Allah, when he loses it Allah also looks away.
another hadith: the first thing that will be taken away is khushoo3. so much so
that a time will come when noone will be left practicing it? who even knows what
it is today?
it's something that you have to work on for years, to realize Allah over years,
feelings from the heart.
but the short answer is that the more you remember Allah outside yoru prayer, th
e more you'll remember Him in your prayer.
"laghw": anything that has no benefit in this world or the hereafter.
that's futility. a comprehensive definition.
there's a hadith that the beauty of one's Islam is that they leave that which do
esn't concern them.
this doesn't mean we stop talking. it's okay to make small talk sometimes, to m
ake people get closer to deen. like to break the ice or make an opening that mig
ht help them warm up and come closer to Iman. so it's your niyyah that can defin
e what is laghw or not.
[23:4]
And who are payers of the poor-due;
the word "zakah" is usually used with "paying" or "establishing".
but here it's used with "do zakah".
scholars say:
-zakah was made mandatory in the Makki period, but the details weren't given unt
il the Madani period.
-many scholars actually say that this is referring to tazkiya, which means to pu
rify. because tazkiyah literally means to purify, where zakat is just the financ
ial purification. but this is referring to purification, which includes everythi
ng, their nafs, their qalb, etc.
The Shia concept of Muta is a transgression. It was made Haram eventually.
[23:8]

And who are shepherds of their pledge and their covenant,

there are two types of 3ahd:
- (trust). a legal obligation. something that if violated, you can take them to
court and expect due process.
- (covenant). a moral obligation. something that someone voluntarily promises to
do or give something to someone else, so it's a debt but if it's not fulfilled,
you can't force them. eg. if someone says okay i'll help you study for the test
and then they don't, it's a sin for them but you can't take them to court for i
t.
possible connections between initial verses of the Surah and the stories of the
Prophets:
- we were just discussing ships - and then we start with the story of Prophet Nu
h (AS) who built the ark.
- we were discussing the people of true success, and Tawhid, and now we move on
to the topic of those people who called to Tawhid, the Prophets (AS).
- the boat saved those, representing Iman, and the flood represents the destruct
ion because of disbelief, and ingratitude and false beliefs. and Allah has just
been telling us about beliefs, representing the boat for our salvation.
[23:31]
Then after them We created another generation,
which generation?
scholars say:
- 3ad of Hud (AS)
- Thamud of Salih (AS)
- People of Shoaib (AS)
- People of Lot (AS)
but most scholars say 3ad/Thamud
Hayhaata hayhaata: impossible, impossible/far-fetched, far-fetched.
[23:50]
And We made the son of Maryam (Mary) and his mother a sign, and gave them shelte
r on a height, having a place of rest and running springs.
the hill that they were settled on:
- some say that at the beginning of the life of Isa (AS), there was a tyrant kin
g who wanted to kill him, and so Maryam (AS) took Isa (AS) to a hill until the k
ing died and then they went back. some say this hill was in Sham, some say Bayt
ul Muqaddis in Jerusalem.
[23:54]
So leave them in their negligence for some time.
these people who've become different denominations, leave them in their
"ghamrah":
- ignorance/lost their senses
- flood
- ups and downs of life
[23:57]
(Contrarily) those who are anxious out of awe of their Lord,
mushriqoon: anxious state, they're worried/concerned...
this doesn't mean the bad type of anxiety. it just means those who're constantly
concerned in a good way.

[23:60]
And those who give whatever they give, with their hearts full of fear that to th
eir Lord they are to return
wajilat: their hearts are in a trembling state
wajilat is fear that's just felt in the heart, although it might not be seen on
the limbs.
fear due to your own shortcomings.
they know they have to return back to Allah. this puts them in anxiety, not para
noia, but concern that's positive and constructive.
so even though they've done something good, they're also scared, what if I'm not
accepted by Allah, what if I had riyaa in what I did, what if I don't die in a
good state...
so people who're pious - one sign of them is that they are scared. although they
haven't committed major sins, they cry as someone might if they'd done a major
sin.
sunnah of the Prophet(S) - whenever he used to do any good deed, he would do ist
ighfar.
this istighfar is that whenever someone does any good, they worry - was it accep
ted? maybe there was some riyaa.. maybe they didn't do it as well as it should h
ave been done.
when people don't do good deeds, it's not because it's difficult because of thei
r own sins or their takabbur, NOT because Allah's asking them to do something th
at's too difficult.
[23:64]
Until when We will seize their affluent ones with punishment, they will suddenly
start crying.
yaj2aroon: to pray/supplicate in a begging way.
it modern arabic it also means to moo like a cow. moaning, crying.
they're the ones who did bad, and stopped other people from believing.
some scholars say:
- this is referring to the Battle of Badr
- a famine that hit Makkah after the Hijrah, that was so bad that children were
dying, so Abu Sufyan (before he became a Muslim) came to the Prophet(S) and said
you're said to be a Mercy for the worlds, so make dua for this to be averted.
it comes that at one point the Prophet(S) dua'd that afflict the people of makka
h with a famine and that's why it came to them.
when he responded to Abu Sufyan and made dua for them, Allah lifted it. so Alla
h is saying you may intercede for them now, but later it won't matter.
[23:66]
My verses used to be recited to you, but you used to turn back on your heels
tankiSoon: to retreat or give up a person's intentions.
so even if they heard the recitations and it had an effect on them, and they had
thought about it a little, but they retreated, gave up. even though they may ha
ve been touched by the Quran, and made an intention about it, but let go, the do
or of Iman had opened, the window of opportunity had opened. And Allah gives thi
s opportunity to everyone in the world. and it's up to people to take it or turn
away.
and why do they turn away? Allah answers in the next verse.
[23:67]

in arrogance, making it a subject of tales at night, talking nonsense (about it)

.
background:
the Quraysh used to tell stories and tales to one another late at night, till th
e early hours of the morning. making light of the Quran.
saamiran: night entertainment, also means petty and frivolous.
sameera: a person who's a good conversationalist
tahjuroon: nonsense/foul language
so they didn't just turn away from the Quran, but used it to have discussion and
find entertainment in it. and people still do it sometimes, get a verse or two
and make their own analysis of it and in a type of arrogance will use it as ente
rtainment with their friends.
there are two words: "tadabbur" and "tafakkur".
what's the difference?
tadabbur: to reflect on the end result. to do tadabbur on the Quran: what's the
result/conclusion? that this is the truth, the true book of Allah, and that they
should follow the truth. So tadabbur is to understand the conclusion and change
your acts accordingly.
tafakkur: to look at some issue through different perspectives, angles and evide
nces. so tafakkur is more of a general understanding of reflection. while tadabb
ur is that which leads to a conclusion.
[23:77]
until when We will open against them the door of a severe punishment, they will
be taken aback in despair.
so sometimes Allah makes things good for them, sometimes make things hard for th
em, but either way they don't turn back to Him.
then sooner or later He will open a door of severe punishment.
some say:
- this is referring to the Battle of Badr. after 10 years of Allah showing them
hard signs, then making things for them, etc, yet the mushrikeen didn't come aro
und.
- this is referring to the beginning of day of judgment, when a person will know
there's no going back to the worldly life now.
mublisoon: overtaken. this comes from IBLEES. because Iblees DESPAIRED of the Me
rcy of Allah. before that he was called Azaazeel.
[23:97]
And say, My Lord, I seek refuge in You from the strokes of the satans (devils),
hamazaat means strokes/attacks.
it's similar to the word "waswasah".
hamazaat: to poke/prod with a sharp object.
waswasah: any bad thought that comes into the heart. we might not be prodded to
do it.
but hamzah (as in surah al-Hamazah) is those thoughts that we're being prodded a
nd poked to do.
shayateen can be amongst human beings and among the jinn.
make dua that Allah protect us from the prodding of Shayateen.
but one other way is dhikr. remembrance of Allah. that's the first line of defen

se from the attacks of Shaytan.

when your first line of defense goes down, then even the second line of defense,
Salah, goes down.
that's why we might find shaytan's whispering in our prayer. that means we're no
t doing enough dhikr outside prayer. we should keep trying to do dhikr outside p
rayer.
like when you're, driving you think of Allah.
you look around and see human beings and think of Allah.
everythign you do, you connect to Allah. always in touch.
another protection: wudhoo. hadith that wudhoo is a protection.
some people have a lot more wasaawis from shaytan. don't get worried.
the sahaba told the Prophet(S) that sometimes we get such bad awful thoughts tha
t we can't even say them.
the Prophet(S) said if you really do, then that's a sign of IMAN. because shayta
n is only attacking where he says Iman.
so having wasaawis is not a bad thing. but it's dangerous if it comes in your pr
ayer, and distracts you. some people get paranoid etc. don't dwell on the wasaaw
is. it's normal to get them. in one ear, out the other.
so scholars say this dua at the end in verses 97 and 98 is a very effective stro
ng dua to use against shaytan.
scholars say different things about "the weighing of the deeds":
- the deeds themselves are going to be weighed. every deed will be converted to
some tangible form, and then put on scales and weighed.
- the BOOKs of deeds of people are going to be weighed.
- the third way is that people themselves will be weighed, as said in a hadith t
hat there will be a man who was very heavy (i.e. important/significant) in the w
orld, but on the day of judgment, he won't even weigh as much as a fly. another
hadith: Abdullah bin Masud (R) was a well-known Sahabi, a great scholar of Fiqh.
he had a very thin frame, and when he ran, his lower garment would sometimes go
up, and his ankles were realy thin and fragile so the Sahaba (R) would laugh. a
nd the Prophet(S) said don't laugh at his ankles, his ankles will be heavier tha
n the Mountain of Uhud on the day of judgment.
3abatha: play/past-time/amusement
[23:118]
And say (O prophet) My Lord, grant pardon and have mercy, for you are the best of
all the merciful.
this last verse tells us that Falaa7/success is based on
ves us His Rahmah we will feel/do those things that will
without His Mercy, there's no hope.
but at the same time Allah is giving hope because we can
He is the BEST of showing Mercy, which encourages to ask

Allah's Mercy. If He gi
make us successful.
ask for His Mercy, and
even more.

may we imbibe, inculcate all the traits of the successful in this Surah.
tafseer: the last few verses: 115 to 188 have a lot of merit.
Abdullah bin Masood(R) came across someone who was very ill, and on his own he r
ecited these verses and blew on the man, and the Prophet(S) asked him what did y
ou do, he said I recited these verses, and the Prophet(S) said I swear by Him ..
.. if a person of true faith were to recite these verses on a mountain, the moun
tain would move from its place.