Welcome Friends: Ahlan wa sahlan!
In our last reading we saw the importance of travel, and looking in our ‘Tanzil’ link, we find that the Qur’an says no less than 13 times ‘travel through the earth.’
COMMENTS:
1. Some might find it amazing that the Qur’an –more than 14 centuries ago – was encouraging oppressed people to emigrate, but that is only natural: Nothing should block the path of human potential! And it is through travel that Islam spread, arriving in China only a few decades after the Prophet’s emigration, peace upon him, perhaps in response to his advice: “Seek knowledge even in China.” Islam spread all along the route there, and was in full flourish during the rule of the Ming Dynasty, which, as evidence seems to indicate, was a dynasty of Muslim rulers. 1
The famous poem ‘The Hundred-word Eulogy’ (百字讃 bǎizìzàn) in Praise of Prophet Muhammad was composed by the first Ming Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang (1368-1398 CE). It was engraved in stone, and copies of it can be found today in the mosques of Nanjing.
2. Our Reading today continues with ‘relaxation’ of obligations of prayer, here related specifically to the congregational Prayer of an army fearing sudden attack, which is why Muslims have called it, ‘The Prayers during Fear’ or “صلاة الخوف”.
Verse 102 details how to conduct a congregational prayer in such times of danger, maintaining readiness during its rituals, and safeguarding one’s arms and equipment. Muhammad Asad tells us in note 132 that the words ‘or if you suffer from affliction’- “أو كنتم مرضى” allows for a wide range of possible emergencies.
What we should notice here is the warning related to our priorities, especially in times of grave danger. In this verse, the danger is from ‘Those Who Deny,’ and we are told that they:
”wish, if ye were negligent of your arms and your baggage, to assault you in a single rush…/ would love to see you oblivious of your arms and your equipment, so that they might fall upon you in a surprise attack..”
Those Who Attained Faith were urged to pray even as they moved on, not stopping for prayer, never being inattentive of their arms and equipment, or else they would be assaulted.
That is the balance we should maintain when in danger, realizing that we do not have to choose between our spiritual and physical sustenance and strength. In fact, we should not choose, because one without the other will throw us off balance. One reason why God rendered for us the solitude and quiet of nighttime versus the hustle and bustle of daytime is to give us a chance for both, quiet remembrance and active appreciation (HQ25:62).[1] In these days of grave spiritual and physical danger we would do well to make good use of both night and day.
3. Verse 103 tells us to remember God at all times and to uphold prayer when safe. It also tells us that prayer is ‘a timed compilation,’ a ‘kitaab.’
Muhammad Asad translates this as “sacred duty linked to particular times of day,” while Yusuf Ali says it is “enjoined on Believers at stated times.”
Indeed, each of our prayers is a compilation that is set to a certain time of day or night, when all its parts come together at that point in time, to form one valid unit. The word ‘mawqoot’ موقوت or ‘timed’ indicates that, outside that time, the unit is invalid. This is why most scholars say that prayer is an act of worship that cannot be made up later. A study of these verses strengthens that argument, for had anyone been a candidate for ‘make up’ prayers, it would have been such an army. They would not have required a special ‘Prayer of Fear’ where they would exchange formation in bowing and prostrating just to uphold congregational prayer on time.
But the way many see this, is that ‘making up’ for lost prayers is a way of penance, an attempt at atonement, and a call for forgiveness…may God forgive.
4. Verse 104 encourages Those Who Attained Faith to persevere, showing them that their pain and suffering is similar to the pain and suffering of their enemies, with one major difference: What they seek from God- and will obtain- is in direct contrast to what their enemy neither seeks nor will ever obtain.
5. Verse 105-107 addresses the Messenger Muhammad, peace upon him, telling him he should judge with the Compilation, and seek God’s forgiveness, and he should NOT argue on behalf of those who are hindering traitors (to their own Selves, as explained in the last verse). What a telling description of Hypocrites and half-hearted people!
Verses 108-109 warn that they can hide things from others but not from God Who Is with them, encompassing all, and will furthermore Be their Judge on Resurrection day.
6. Verses 110-112 begin with a beautiful promise to any who earn/beget Hindrance or wrong their own Selves that they will find God Most Forgiving and Unceasingly Merciful. That section then ends with a dire warning to any who earn/beget a hindrance (a hindering misdeed) and then blame it on an innocent person. Such a person would have burdened oneself, not only with evident hindrance, but also with ‘buhtaan/ astounding deceit/slander.’ See all occurrences of this word in the Qur’an. We first encountered this word in HQ4:20,[2] which was about a spousal relationship coming to an end with a man leaving one wife for another, in which case he should not take back any part of whatever gift he had given her, which is considered ‘buhtaan’/astounding slander, [3] taking place in the now.
‘Buhtaan’ is not a simple ‘lie,’ but rather, it is a lie against someone that is huge and astounding (present continuous).[4]
7. Verse 113 addresses the Messenger, showing him God’s Grace and Mercy in keeping him above the influence of those who would seek to misguide him-and also in revealing to him the Compilation and Wisdom and imprinting upon him what he had no knowledge of (‘allama means to imprint, impress).
Enough said!
Our next Reading is from HQ4:114-127.
Peace unto all!
1 The first I heard of this was from my dear Chinese Muslim friend, Aliya Ma Lynn (1925-2018 CE), an author who knew her heritage well, wrote and spoke of it often. Aliya was too humble to mention this, but I learnt from her family that she had been proof-reader and editor for her husband, Shums T.C. Tung, who had spent 17 years translating the meanings of the Qur’an into modern standard Chinese (published in 1989, Nanjing, China). Today their beloved daughter-in-law, Dr. Fawzia Mai Tung, also an author and a dear friend of mine, has hopes of carrying that legacy forward to future generations. God Alone knows how much her input is needed!
[1] وَهُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ خِلْفَةً لِّمَنْ أَرَادَ أَن يَذَّكَّرَ أَوْ أَرَادَ شُكُورًا ﴿الفرقان: ٦٢﴾
وَإِنْ أَرَدتُّمُ اسْتِبْدَالَ زَوْجٍ مَّكَانَ زَوْجٍ وَآتَيْتُمْ إِحْدَاهُنَّ قِنطَارًا فَلَا تَأْخُذُوا مِنْهُ شَيْئًا أَتَأْخُذُونَهُ بُهْتَانًا وَإِثْمًا مُّبِينًا ﴿النساء: ٢٠﴾
[2]
[3] Taking back any of the gift may have been called ‘buht ’ because -as the word’s context throughout the Qur’an seems to indicate- his doing so would insinuate his having sexual reasons for divorcing her. Isn’t this amazing? We could now add this verse to the list of verses protecting the ‘womb’ and its guardians.
[4] Perhaps now/الآن would be a good time to draw attention to Arabic nouns that follow the grammatical form of ‘faعlaan/فعلان’ which convey something superlative and current; active, in the now ‘aan.’ As an example, from the root verb ‘to sleep/nawama/نَوَم’comes the common Arabic noun form ‘faaعil/فاعِل’ which would make the person asleep ‘naa-im/نائِم’… but if he is currently and actively oversleeping, he’d be ‘نومان/nawmaan.’
This information helps us understand the profoundness of many Qur’anic words of similar grammatical structure, one of which is today’s word: Buhtaan. Please keep in mind this grammatical form as it will come up again; we will also be going back to words of this caliber encountered earlier.