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Welcome
Friends: Ahlan wa sahlan!
This Chapter corrects our understanding of the
meaning of ‘takfeer,’ and shows us that our understanding often CONTRADICTS the
original definition of the word!
Muhammad
Asad’s explanation of this
Chapter.
Their commentaries can be read in ‘verse by verse’
view.
سورة التغابن
‘Mutual
Liability’
‘Mutual
Disillusion’
From Introduction of Yusuf Ali:
“The special aspect spoken of here is the mutual gain and
loss of good and evil, contrasted in this life in the Hereafter.”
From Introduction of Muhammad Asad:
“THE
MAJORITY of the commentators regard this surah as belonging to the Medina
period, but many others are of the opinion that it is a late Meccan revelation.
The expression taghabun, occurring in verse 9, has become the key-word by which
this surah is designated.”
COMMENTS:
It is this
Chapter which actually defines for us
the meaning of ‘takfeer’ which takes place at the inevitable Time/ Event/ Day
of ‘Mutual Liability’ when we shall ALL be paying for/ covering’ the MISDEEDS
we’d committed against each other in life!
This Chapter’s introductory
verse begins with a statement similar to others in the Qur’an ([i]-
although it ends differently):
‘Motivated/
Moving to God is everything in the Exalted Expanses and on Earth…’
Here, it continues, stating that ‘HIS is all Dominion and
all Praise, and He is, over all things, ‘Qadeer/
Capable (in every way; knowing,
judging, performing etc..)
New Readers: See definition of ‘Tasbeeh’ below ([ii].)
Arabic words mean so much
more than their translation, which makes it difficult to convey their full
meaning! Even more so when the Qur’an
says something about God: How do we
attempt to convey the grandeur of His all-encompassing attributes?
1. The first verse reminds us
of ALL God’s Creation being in constant motion/ motivation towards Him ([iii]),
and assures us that all Dominion/ Sovereignty is HIS ALONE.
This assertion (that God is
SOLE SOVEREIGN AND WORTHY of all Glorification) is the basis upon which the coming verses are to
be understood.
When we put the 2 Arabic words
‘Mulk’ (dominion/ sovereignty) and ‘Hamd’ (praise/ glorification) together in
our Tanzil search-engine, we notice that the combination of these two
attributes which are ‘all His’ appear with regard to ONE issue in the Qur’an:
To declare FALSE any
allegation of God having any ‘equal,’ any kind of ‘partner,’ or any need
whatsoever!
‘And Say: All Praise/
Glorification (is due) to God who did not betake any progeny, and
never had a partner in Sovereignty/ dominion, and never had a protector against
weakness, and glorify Him in Glorification!’
HQ 17:111
It is upon this basis of
sole Sovereignty and Worthiness that the Chapter continues, as God speaks
directly to us:
‘It
is He Who created you all…’
2. Verses 2- 4 mention His creating us, that there will
be those of us who are ‘Deniers’ and others ‘Faithful’ and God is of what we do
‘Seeing.’ That He created the Exalted
Expanses and the Earth in Truth/ Justice and ‘designed/ formed’ us, and ‘designed/
formed’ us well, and that to Him is the conclusion/ final destination. That He knows what we keep private
(concealed) and what we publicize (reveal), and He is Knowing of what is in the
hearts/ minds.
Quite POWERFUL verses,
contrasting the sole sovereignty and worthiness of God to:
3. To: The reaction of ‘Those who Had Denied’ EARLIER, in
Verses 5-6, despite the Messengers who had come to them with evidence. The reason they had given for their
denial was that these Messengers were human mortals who, in their opinion,
could not guide. When they turned their
backs, God did WITHOUT them completely, for God is ‘Self-sufficient / Free of
all wants,’ Worthy of all Praise.
New Readers: Put ‘sudoor’ in
‘Search.’
4. After mentioning ‘Those who Had Denied’ earlier,
Verse 7 speaks of ‘Those Who Denied’ in real time (WHEN these verses were being
revealed), contemporaries of the Messenger Muhammad, peace upon him, telling
him to respond to their allegation that they shall not be resurrected by
telling them that, ‘INDEED YOU SHALL, by my Lord, certainly be resurrected, and furthermore, shall also be informed
of what you had done, all of which is ‘easy’ for God.’
(ASIDE: Notice the
conversational tone and rhetoric questions which make us feel that God is
speaking directly to each of us. The
Qur’an sometimes asks questions of each of us, to which we DO involuntarily
respond. Silence is a response, after all.)
Verses 8 continues the
general address to all listeners, and specific address to ‘Those Who Denied,’
telling them to have Faith in God and His Messenger and the Light which ‘We’
(God) had sent down, and that God is, of what they do, ‘Khabeer/ All-Knowing
AND fully acquainted with every detail.’
5. Verse
9 begins by telling listeners that they shall ALL be gathered together at the ‘Time/ Event/ Day’ of GATHERING, drawing their
attention to the fact that it is also the ‘Time/ Event/ Day’ of ‘Taghaabun,’ after which this Chapter is named:
o Root-verb: ‘Ghabana’ ([iv])
is literally about someone ‘falling short,’ when a transaction is NOT equitable
for him.
o Noun form: The noun of ‘ghabana’ is ‘ghubn,’ but the noun-form ‘taghaabun’ means
that this is MUTUALLY taking place (as if it is in the present continuous). It
is a ‘mutual short-falling,’ where everyone concerned is ‘falling short’ in
their attempt to cover for their liabilities.
To simplify the concept I
have used the word ‘liability.’ Each
person being LIABLE to someone, attempting to break even.
o ‘Yawm al Taghaabun’ is
the Time/ Event/ Day of ‘Mutual
Liability,’ when each person has to ‘cover/ compensate’ for the misdeeds
committed against another in life, attempting to break even and be free of this
liability.
The following part of this
verse is SO IMPORTANT!
It assures any who have
faith in God and perform good deeds that He, God, SHALL COVER/ COMPENSATE THEIR
MISDEEDS FOR THEM!
Regular Readers will recall
that there are different Arabic words to indicate different types of
‘sin.’ Please put ‘sayyi’ah’ in
‘Search.’
What a relief, IF we can be
of that category!
Think dear reader, that when
Final Justice is imposed upon Humanity, and one has to pay whoever was wronged
out of one’s own hard-earned deeds, ‘covering’ the deficiency until there is
nothing left to compensate with, but one’s own suffering … think how wonderful
it is IF we, as people who had Faith in God, trusted Him, felt secure in that
trust, AND followed up on our faith with good deeds (which includes the attempt
to do no wrong)… think how wonderful it would be that we would NOT be
humiliated at the Time of ‘Taghaabun/ Mutual Liability’ because God will ‘cover
for us’ our ‘misdeeds,’ compensating others in full.
It is as simple as that. Why?
Because with Faith and a
conscious attempt at good Deeds in Life, our misdeeds against others would
probably be mostly unintentional, and we would probably have attempted to
redeem ourselves and repair any damage we know we’d done, PLUS seeking God’s
forgiveness every day.
May we be among them!
That is why such persons
shall be entered into Gardens beneath which rivers flow, to be ‘snug’ and
comfortable therein for a lengthy period of time, and that is THE Great
Deliverance!
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Regular Readers already know
that the root-verb ‘kafara’ means ‘to cover,’ and ‘kaafir’ is someone who
‘covers something.’ The plural ‘kuffaar’
was used once in the Qur’an referring to farmers who cover the seeds they sow
with soil (HQ 48:29), and is mostly used with regard to those who ‘cover the truth’ or deny
it; ie..‘Deniers.’
Our previous verses have showed
us the definition of ‘TAKFEER’ in action:
IF we earn it (by our life-record), God ‘yukaffiru/
carries out the ‘takfeer’ of our misdeeds for
us (at the time of judgment), COVERING FOR US, compensating those whom we
have wronged so that we bear no more liability towards them.
Note that this word ALWAYS appears in the Qur’an as
something which God does FOR us, in a two-word combination (kaffara‘an) كفّر عن ; to compensate/ cover for someone.
Let us now ask ourselves
this SAD, sorry question:
How is it that the word
‘takfeer,’ which is about generous
compensation from God for something we have done (after we sought to remedy
our wrongs) …
HOW IS IT THAT THIS ABSOLUTELY
BEAUTIFUL CONCEPT IS OVERTHROWN TODAY, and ‘takfeer’ has come to be understood
as something absolutely UGLY which WE do to each other?
You probably know, dear
Reader, that this word has been misused and misunderstood by countless
generations of ‘Muslims’ as ‘to dub
someone a Heretic.’ And you also
know that what took place across the world because of that has been absolutely UGLY!!!
(Google it)
How did this happen? It happened when ‘Muslims’ distanced
themselves from the Arabic Qur’an (as received from God) and relied on
‘scholarly’ explanations, interpretations, opinions, and last but not least:
Tradition, which is all a reflection of society’s ailments and prejudicial mentality.
Dear Reader: Let us do something
about this!
When more people realize what
Humanity has LOST due to the misinterpretation of Qur’anic words and concepts,
perhaps then we can begin to do something effective together.
Please help spread this knowledge: The
world needs YOU!
6. After
beautiful Persuasion, we find Dissuasion in Verse 10:
What a different destination for ‘Those Who Had Denied
and Belied God’s Signs’!
Verse 11 gives us TWO important bits of information:
o
Anything which befalls us, does so by God’s ‘ithn,’ a
word which does NOT mean ‘permission,’ but rather, ‘making something known and
letting it run its NATURAL course.’
o
God, Who has full knowledge of everything, shall guide
the heart/ mind of anyone who has Faith
in Him!!
Regular Readers will remember the meaning of ‘ithn’
and ‘athaan’ (put ‘ithn’ in ‘Search’).
You will also remember that ‘good/ advantage’ is also said to ‘befall us’
(HQ 4:79), and that the SOURCE of any ‘ill/disadvantage’
which befalls us may be from what we have brought upon ourselves and each
other, as we saw in HQ 42:30.
Verse 12 calls upon listeners to obey God and obey the
Messenger, and if they turned their backs on it, then: ‘…upon Our Messenger is
only its clear conveyance /proclamation.’
7. Verses
13- 18 are addressed to Those Who Have Attained Faith.
Verse 13 announces ‘Allah, no God but He’ (see Qur’an),
calling upon The Faithful (so labeled here!) to depend on Him.
Verses 14- 16 are so interesting!
They call upon us, warning us to be alert to a certain
fact we hardly ever think of:
There might be OF our spouses and children those who
are ‘adversaries/ opponents/ enemies’ to us!
The verses then tell us to ‘be aware’ of God as best as
we can, and to do three things so as to be successful:
“Be Aware of God as best you can, and listen and
obey. And spend for the good of your own selves: for, whoever is saved/ from
his own covetousness/ stinginess– it is they who are successful!”
Note the importance of safeguarding ourselves from
covetousness, which seems to be the root of all failure (mentioned also in HQ 59:9).
Do you understand, dear Reader, why success has been
escaping us?!
Verses 17- 18 assure us that any ‘debt’ we give unto
God -by giving freely unto each other- shall be multiplied in return by Him,
PLUS He shall forgive us, for He is ‘The Enhancer’ (Shakoor), the ‘Immune to
haste or reaction’ (Haleem), The Knower of the Imperceptible and the Perceived,
The Invulnerable, The Wise.
We spoke about the concept of ‘debt’ earlier, mentioning
that such ‘transactions’ were readily understood by the merchant Arabs: Whatever is spent freely upon others is
considered a ‘debt’ which God holds ‘upon Himself,’ promising higher return
than can be imagined. What a lucrative
transaction!
This chapter opened on the
basis of the sole Sovereignty and Worthiness of God, and then closed reassuringly,
with five of His beautiful Attributes.
How can anyone doubt Him?
Peace unto all!
The word ‘sabaHa’ is related to
motion, most similar to swimming in water. Arabs have used this word to
describe the fluidity of camels upon the mirage of desert sands, the galloping
horses, the churning of ships through the waves & people going about their
different chores.
Regular Readers will
remember how we explained the concept of ‘tasbeeh,’ and said that it was
related to the constant ‘motion’ by which everything fulfills its innate
God-given characteristics (see how often this is mentioned in the Qur’an). Indeed,
everything ‘moves/ yusabbiHhu’[iii]
to fulfill itself so naturally, that its mere existence is its ‘tasbeeh;’
whatever stops moving, ceases to exist.
And, as cognizant humans, more is expected of us since we are not just
physical beings with physical potential, but are also capable of growing in
knowledge and awareness, and facilitating the growth of others as we all
progress together in God’s direction.
غبن: كلمة تدل على ضعف واهتضام، يقال غُبن
الرجل في بيعه فهو يُغبن غَبناً وذلك إذا اهتُضِم فيه. [iv]
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