Ayaat 16-36 ~ Maryam (Mary)

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

16. And mention, [O Muhammad], in the Book [the story of] Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place toward the east.

17. And she took, in seclusion from them, a screen. Then We sent to her Our Angel [i.e., Gabriel], and he represented himself to her as a well-proportioned man.

18. She said, “Indeed, I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, [so leave me], if you should be fearing of Allah.”

19. He said, “I am only the messenger of your Lord to give you [news of] a pure boy [i.e., son].”

20. She said, “How can I have a boy while no man has touched me and I have not been unchaste?”

21. He said, “Thus [it will be]; your Lord says, ‘It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign to the people and a mercy from Us. And it is a matter [already] decreed.’ “

22. So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a remote place.

23. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. She said, “Oh, I wish I had died before this and was in oblivion, forgotten.”

24. But he[1] called her from below her, “Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream.

25. And shake toward you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates.

26. So eat and drink and be contented. And if you see from among humanity anyone, say, ‘Indeed, I have vowed to the Most Merciful abstention, so I will not speak today to [any] man.’ “

27. Then she brought him to her people, carrying him. They said, “O Mary, you have certainly done a thing unprecedented.

28. O sister [i.e., descendant] of Aaron, your father was not a man of evil, nor was your mother unchaste.”

29. So she pointed to him. They said, “How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?”

30. [Jesus] said, “Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet.

31. And He has made me blessed wherever I am and has enjoined upon me prayer and zakah [2]as long as I remain alive

32. And [made me] dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me a wretched tyrant.

33. And peace is on me the day I was born and the day I will die and the day I am raised alive.”

34. That is Jesus, the son of Mary – the word of truth about which they are in dispute.

35. It is not [befitting] for Allah to take a son; exalted is He![3] When He decrees an affair, He only says to it, “Be,” and it is.

36. [Jesus said], “And indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is a straight path.”

Sura 19. Maryam (Mary)

[1] There is a difference of opinion among scholars as to whether “he” refers to the baby or to the angel.

[2] It should be noted that Zakat is always associated with prayer, and was enjoined on other prophets before Islam.

[3] i.e., far removed is He from any such need.

Hadith ~ Your weak ones

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Mus’ab bin Sa’d bin Abu Waqqas (MAPH) reported: Sa’d considered himself better than his inferiors, so the Prophet (SAWS) said to him: “You are given help and provision because of your weak ones”. (Al-Bukhari)

Abu-Darda (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) said: “Seek among your weak ones, for you are given provision and help only because of the weak amongst you.” (Abu Dawud).

Commentary: These Hadiths exhorts the resourceful people not to look down upon the poor and resourceless people of the society and not to consider themselves superior to others. They should learn to respect the weak and co-operate with them because may be Almighty, Allah, is providing them because of the poor.

SAWS: May Allah exalt his mention and protect him from imperfection
MAPH: May Allah be pleased with him

Riyaadiss-Saliheen (The Meadows of the Righteous)
By Imam An Nawawi
Hadith 1: Chapter 33, Page 93, No 271
Hadith 2: Chapter 33, Page 94, No 272

Ayaat 42-44 ~ Ibrahim (Abraham)

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

42. And never think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only delays them [i.e., their account] for a Day when eyes will stare [in horror].

43. Racing ahead, their heads raised up, their glance does not come back to them, and their hearts are void.

44. And, [O Muhammad], warn the people of a Day when the punishment will come to them and those who did wrong will say, “Our Lord, delay us for a short term; we will answer Your call and follow the messengers.” [But it will be said], “Had you not sworn, before, that for you there would be no cessation?

Sura 14. Ibrahim (Abraham)

Commentary ~ Avoiding the state of being proud

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Hasan Basri advised some of his students admonishing them about avoiding the state of being proud. He said:

1) Do not deceive yourself into becoming too proud because you are in a good or righteous environment, for there is no place that is better than Paradise, and our father, Adam (peace be upon him), experienced there what is known to all.

2) Do not become proud merely because you worship often, for consider what happened to Iblis (Satan) after he spent a great deal of time worshipping.

3) Do not think yourself great because you have met with righteous people, for there is no man more righteous than the Prophet (May Allah exalt his mention and protect him from imperfection), yet the disbelievers and hypocrites did not benefit by simply knowing him.

Gems and Jewels
Compiled by: Abdul-Malik Mujahid
Publisher: Maktaba Dar-us-Salam
ISBN: 9960-897-59-1
Page 182

Hadith ~ Be afraid of being unjust

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

According to Jaber (may Allah be pleased with him), the Messenger of Allah (May Allah exalt his mention and protect him from imperfection) said: “Be afraid of being unjust because injustice will result in darkness on the Day of Resurrection. Fear greed because it caused the downfall of those who were before you. In fact, it pushed them to shed their blood and to allow themselves what was forbidden to them.” (Reported by Moslem)

Riyad as-Salihin (The Gardens of the Righteous)
of Imam Mohieddine Annawawi 631 – 676
Translation and Commentary by Dr Salaheddine Keshrid (Tunisia)
Publisher: Dar Al-Gharb Al-Islami
Chapter 25, Page 95, Number 202

Ayaat 285-286 ~ Al-Baqarah (The Cow)

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

285. The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], “We make no distinction between any of His messengers.” And they say, “We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination.”

286. Allah das not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. “Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people.”

Sura 2. Al-Baqarah (The Cow)