Tafseer Maryam Day 21 Ayat 75-76

up till now stories about prophets so some of the times we need the backdrop and contextual explanations
but ayah from now mostly talk about iman, more general iman-y discourse
distinguishing between right and wrong
Iman in Allah, akhirah, messengers, Day of Judgment
day of judgment etc
so we don’t need that historical analysis now
because we have talked about period of revelation, at end of 4th year and beginning of 5th years of prophethood
so we’re still basically discussing Iman 101
simple approach – in this is a lesson for us
there needs to be a primary discourse happening there on public platform whether with Muslims or non Muslims
it needs to be basic, straight forward
there is a time and place for advance discussion whether it be advanced aqeedah, deep philosophical issues but there is time and place and audience for that
we should take advance aqeedah and philosophical discussion and make them public
you as an advanced student of knowledge or have started to study Islam years ago, you’re at point where you enjoy and literally benefit from it
you’ve built up to this point for 4 years, you’re at a point where imam or sheikh sits down and they talk about aqeedah and philosophical issues, you benefit from it
but when you take that to the Sunday school or give khutbah, and you decide to talk about it and talk to people who are not ready for it yet, you have just created a problem
doing this creates more work for the shuyookh
a man, a convert who accepted Islam a few years ago, and there was a weekly halaqa in the masjid for the college students held by a student who have been regularly attending classes, he started delving into these advanced issues, especially in area of aqeedah
these students should be passing out their knowledge but they should keep in mind what is needed for people
for him himself, what did he need 5 years ago at that point in his life? he should keep this in mind when delivering knowledge
they have to understand what the audience he has need
Sh. AbdulNasir gave khutbah at that masjid , on ayah in surah Yunus about believing in Allah and how ALlah helso us whenever we need Him but once He has taken away difficult from us, what do we do
it’s a basic discussion
a simple discussion in Quran, everyone in a boat and it rocked and the people freak out and they start to implore Allah when they were not even believers before and then Allah saves them and then they go right back to business as usual. Allah who?
this man came up to Sh. AbdulNasir and started talking about these advanced issues and he became confused so much so that he felt like leaving Islam and he said he left for 2 years, had to disassociate from the Muslim side of himself and get back to what he was doing before
and then he matured, and few weeks ago he started forcing himself to come back and felt that what the brother taught was not representative of what he believed in and he had to question himself why he came to Islam to begin with
the khutbah Sheikh gave really solidified it for him
Sheikh sat down with him and had a discussion with the brother and he was able to realize some things
Sheikh was once that overzealous kid who had that same mentality but his teacher taught him
Sheikh’s teacher’s story – after he had graduated he lived a little away, a day’s journey away (before plane) from where he had studied. So he had started a masjid and shcool in his community, but every few months he would spend some time with his teachers and get their supervision and advice (that’s how things should be done).
The morning he’s about to go back, his teacher would give a dars after fajr, and his teacher had been preaching and teaching for over 50 years and his very advance students were shuyookh themselves
he was sitting there and listening and his teacher said some really deep and heavy things
this is past point of motivating people, but he’s doing tarbiyyah of his students, he’s cracking down on them a little bit
those students were writing everything down
he was having breakfast after and his teacher sat with him and said “You took a lot of notes this morning, huh?”
his teacher told him not to share what he learned this morning to his community because his community is still fresh and so they need motivating and not hard core tarbiyyah
when he has put in 40-50 years then they can put in something like that
Prophet saw said “deal with people according to their level.”
so, the reason why we’re covering a lot of ayah now is because there doesn’t need to be any historical context/analyses anymore

Ayat 75

Sahih International

Say, “Whoever is in error – let the Most Merciful extend for him an extension [in wealth and time] until, when they see that which they were promised – either punishment [in this world] or the Hour [of resurrection] – they will come to know who is worst in position and weaker in soldiers.”

qul – say

Prophet saw being commanded to say, announce to the people

man kaanaa – who was

but kaana here is more for emphasis not necessarily past tesne

fi dhalaalati – in misguidance

fi for imagery -> whosoever is immersed in being lost, they’re so lost they can’t even see the way anymore
dhalaala – to be lost

falyamdud –

base of the word is madda yamuddu – extending something, like extending rope or imagine you have a dog on a leash, when you press the button to extend the leash, that extension, or you fly a kite and you unwrap more string, or when you are fishing and you give it a little more of a give, that’s what it is
fa at beginning -> it should be given, it is appropriate that some leave, give, extension is given

lahu – to him

him refers to the same guy that is drowning in misguidance
Ar Rahman – referring to Allah
but we see again Ar Rahman occurring in this surah
oftentimes when this surah refers to Allah it says Ar Rahmaan

maddan –

this is maf’ool mutlaq
it creates more emphasis, exaggeration
-> it is befitting, the habit/sunnah of Ar Rahman that He gives an extension, a great deal of extension even to that person who is drowning in misguidance
when someone reaches a certain point in misguidance, they realize the truth but they say they don’t want to believe and accept, it is befitting Ar Rahmaan that He gives them not just a little bit but a LOT of extension
why? because He is Ar Rahmaan, He doesn’t give up on people
this guy is a Firawn maybe, he was a bad bad dude
but even in that situation, Allah sent him sign after sign after sign after sign one after another
1st – Musa a.s. , staff, glowing hand
then Toofan – storms and winds
then locusts, then infestation of lice, then infestation of frogs, then blood
clear open distinct signs one after another
when signs come, Firawn would come crying to Musa a.s. promising future change and asking Musa a.s. to make dua to Allah and stop this and that he would believe and accept after that
so Musa a.s. would make dua and the difficulties would be removed
but Firawn goes back to his old behavior
Firawn doesn’t get killed, Allah doesn’t send His punishment immediately but He gives more signs, this is the mercy of Ar Rahmaan
one opportunity after another after another
Abu Sufyan accepted Islam 20 years after dawah started
he didn’t just fight in those battles against Muslims, he led the army against the Muslims
at the end of it, Allah gave him iman
this is who Allah is – Ar rahmaan
mufasiroon mention that this extension keeps being given to allow these people to seal their own fate if you will
“I’m going to see how badly you can mess this up, I’m going to let you do your thing.”
so a person is building a case against himself and that’s another element of it as well
but primary purpose of mentioning this is to show how Allah handles these situations so as to remove the doubts that a person may have
“this person is not kept in check because Allah is not capable of keeping them in check” – this kind of thought is removed
falyamdud –
in the lightest form
it’s called mudhaa’af – it’s when the last two letters of the base verb is the same
root is meem dal dal
dal & dal, they become merged together -> madda yamuddu
in this case when you make it light, it coudl be said in 4 ways : falyamuddu, falyamuddi, falyamudda, falyamdud
all 4 are permissible
why did Allah choose this one?
even in physical word Allah is showing how much separation He is giving them but separating the letters dal and dal – falyamDuD
hatta – until
Allah is now telling us how much He gives them extension
izha – future
ra aw – they have seen
you have a word that puts something in future and then a past tense
by using past tense you get emphasis of past tense
so, put together, you get a meaning of future with emphasis of past tense (Quranic eloquence)
maa yu’adoona – what they were promised
the warnings that used to be given to them, when that promise is now being fulfilled before their eyes, that’s when they get the extension
Imma;a ‘azhaaba – either they were promised punishment in this dunya
wa imma saa’ah – or they were promised the coming of the hour (refers to life of hereafter)
the former – like what happened to past nations
the latter – Day of judgment
sometimes people are not punished in this world, they die naturally, not some horrible death
sahabah says that when a person dies, his qiyaamah has started
either one of two is coming for them
when thet time comes, that extension is yanked
when you give more give, the thing will go as far as you let it go
like a kite, you unwrap more string, it will just go further and further
when you pull the string, the kite comes ripping back and that’s when they will feel the pain

fasaya’lamoon – therefore (in conclusion) sa (near future) they will find out

even this extension that Allah is giving them they shouldn’t think it would last forever, Allah says “very soon they will find out”

man sharu makaana – who is worst in standing/spotiion

wa a’dh’afu junda – and who had the worst/weakest support system

this in contrast to when these people in ayah 73 said to the believers
Maryam 73
Sahih International

And when Our verses are recited to them as clear evidences, those who disbelieve say to those who believe, “Which of [our] two parties is best in position and best in association?”

they challenged the believers “Oh yeah, who do you think is going to be better in status and more excellent in company of elite people? Us or you?!” “We’re better off here, so what is to say we won’t be better in akhirah?”
Allah is saying that they’re going to find out who is going to be in worst opposition and have the weaker support system
look at the words Allah used there
they used ‘maqam‘ , refers more to status, like status among the people, these people are vain so they’re more concerned about social status
they’re more concerned about being elite and having social power so they used nadiyyan from nadwah
but when Allah responds to them Allah uses makaan – it means standing but not social status
it’s more like where one stands in moral and ethics
Allah uses a more befitting word for Allah to use
Allah doesn’t use nadiyyan(referring to influence and elitism and being in power and control) because that is what those people obsess about but Allah refers to junda which refers to more like a support system, an army, infantry, legs of a military unit
Allah doesn’t talk about being elite and influential but He talks about support system
this goes back to early seerah, who was the support system of Prophet saw?
not Abu Sufyan, Khalid ibn walid, they were more elite, but they came to Islam later
some of more high caliber people did come to Islam early on like Abu Bakr and Umar but who made up the core? Bilal, Ammar, Khabbab
these are the people who made up the core
Sumayya, Yasir Khadija, Ali – women and children and slaves and poor people – they made up the core ,support system is strong
they might look weak in soxiety
but see who you have on your side
Abu Lahab, Abu Jahl money and power but were they reliable dependable people?
but look at Bilal, Khabbab, Yasir, Sumayyah, they might not look like a lot, but talk about being there, steadfast, dependable, reliable
they used to drag Bilal in the streets like an animal
imagine strapping a tire to the back of the car and driving, dragging it along at the back, see what happens to it
imagine that happening to a human, strap a person to a horse, and hit the horse and the human is dragged
imagine a human thrown on sand and abig rock put on him in 140 degree weather
being so reliable and dependable that when told, “This is tough, huh buddy?” by his tormenters and “We’ll let you go right now, just say no more Islam, Allah, Muhammad.”
he responds “Ahadun Ahad”
imagine a woman being tortured for weeks then thrown down on ground and spear over her body and she says shahadah and killed on the spot and her husband son who are tied up watching this
the tormentors said to them “Look at what we just did, this will happen to you too, leave Islam now!”
they said shahadah too
Khabab dragged across hot coals on his back
Umar was never the subject of a lot of torture but he says to get the feeling of what they went through in those early days, he would sit with people like Khabbab and ask to listen to their stories
Khabab showed his back to Umar, it was hideous, ravaged
Umar said he’d never seen anything like that in his entire life
at end of all of it “AshHadu An laa ilaaha illaa Allah wa ash Hadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullah”
so Allah telling them “see who will have the weakest support system”
Allah takes care of the believers, He will take care of them, Muhammad saw will be there for those people
he (saw)says on the Day of Judgment to look for him in 3 places and he(saw) will be there to help them; 1. place where scales of deeds will be 2. bridge that we have to cross (Prophet saw will cheer you on and motivate you) 3. fountain of alkawthar (after all the difficulties of Day of Judgment, when we feel thirsty, Prophet saw will serve the cold water from jannah in cup with his own hand)
imagine the love he(saw) has for these people
that’s the support system I want to have

Ayat 76

Sahih International

And Allah increases those who were guided, in guidance, and the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for recourse.

what’s a good support system like? Allah explains
wa yazeedullahu – Allah increases
He increases and will continue to increase
allazheena ihtadaw – those who were guided
what does He increase?
hudan – guidance
when guidance was presented, Quran recited, when they heard, learned about Muhammad saw, they followed that guidance
people who follow guidance when it’s presented to them, Allah increases them with more guidance
when basic guidance presented and people follow, Allah gives more and more gudiance
doesn’t just mean in spiritual matters, but also in worldly affairs
when people follow guidance in spiritual affairs, Allah will give them guidance in their personal, family, business affairs
following guidance of Quran and Prophet saw help us in our family life, in business and financial dealings (barakah and blessing), become a better friend,neighbor (akhlaq)
in Taghabun 64:11
Sahih International

No disaster strikes except by permission of Allah . And whoever believes in Allah – He will guide his heart. And Allah is Knowing of all things.
that’s it, now you’re riding the hidayah train
you just gotta stay on the train and when the next stop comes, don’t go on a personal tour and get lost
“ooh there is something shiny out there…”
what you will find is like a mirage, a metal that the sun hit just the right way
Quran talks about mirages, how people who follow falsehood, is like following a mirage
and you come back and find out train was gone -: don’t get distracted

Prophet saw said “The worldly distractions, they’re sweet and green

everything sweet is not necessarily good for you
it tastes good the first time and then it becomes a problem
indulge in a little bit of bad stuff and you might have this instant little rush but then you get addicted and it brings your life crashing down
it rips your life apart
things that are very very sweet spoil faster than those that are not sweet
it’s not as good now but since you’re addicted you keep going
from a natural perspective, ‘green’ is ‘shiny’
in the culture Prophet saw was addressing green (to them)= (our) bling bling
but once you get up close there is really not much to have past that point
you get something shiny and then you need something shinier, and then more

walbaaqiyatu saaalihaatu –

this refers to good deeds
opinion of some mufasiroon –baaqiyaat and saalihat are both adjectives but the noun that is described is omitted
the noun = a’maal
when you omit it, it’s to show that the adjective is defining the noun
when you say nice house, ‘house’ is the more important part of that statement
but when you say “Man! that’s nice!” it;s like you’re defining the house through that adjective
baaqiyaat – ever lasting, remaining, that which remains
saalihaat – that which is good
these actions they define being good
everlasting and good action

khayrun ‘inda rabika – they are better in eyes of your Lord

if your goal is to please Allah, the thing that pleases Allah more than anything is good deeds
good deeds are righteous in nature, they embody what is good, and long lasting

thawaaban – reward

it is better in reward
the more you invest into baaqiyatu saalihat…
in surah Nahl – tells us what are baaqiyat saalihaat
16:96
Sahih International

Whatever you have will end, but what Allah has is lasting. And We will surely give those who were patient their reward according to the best of what they used to do.
little manifestations of this spread out in ahadeeth
Prophet saw says, saying 1 subhanallah walhamdulillah allahu akbar , you get a tree in Jannah
a tree in Jannah never goes away
hadith in Bukhari tells us that this tree, if this person was to ride a horse for a 100 years he wouldn’t be able to cross the shade of this tree

wa khayrun maraddan – and it’s better in consequence as well

thawaab = reward

but what gets a person at the end of the day? what is it that one little thing that puts a doubt in your mind?
person worries about here and now
if I use all my time for akhirah, what is going to happen to me here?
that is one thing that nags at the person which leaves a little hesitation in a person
Allah is saying this is even better in terms of consequence
Allah tells us in surah Nahl
16:97
Sahih International

Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer – We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward [in the Hereafter] according to the best of what they used to do.
give them an amazing wonderful life
even in this dunya they’ll fare better, they’ll find peace and love
even end of surah says this
Maryam 96
Sahih International

Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds – the Most Merciful will appoint for them affection.
people who do good deeds will find love from the people around them
they’ll be loved by people
that’s the most basic human need; love
Allah gives loves to those people not just from Him but from other people around him
famous hadith – when Allah loves someone he tells Jibri,l I love that person so you love him, Jibril tells the angels the same and then on to the inhabitant of the heavens and then to inhabitants or earth as well and ends up with everyone loving that person
mufasiroon comment that this is not just talking about doing good but it’s talking about a higher caliber of believers
look back at ayat 72
Sahih International

Then We will save those who feared Allah and leave the wrongdoers within it, on their knees.
Allah already promise that He will save the people of taqwa
so once person has reached that basic awareness of Allah, this person qualifies to being saved by Allah, now Allah is saying, “Don’t remain content there, but raise your level, continue to follow the guidance given to you and Allah will give you more guidance and so on.”
keep climbing those steps, as you keep climbing, you keep getting closer to Allah