Tafsir of the first few ayat of the Surah Al-Muminoon Part I

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Qad aflahal-mu-minun Al-ladhina hum fi salati-him khashiun Wal-ladhina hum anil-laghwi muridun Wa-l-ladhina hum liz-zakati failun Wa-l-ladhina hum li-furujihim hafizun Il-la ala azwaji-him aw ma malakat aymanu-hum fa-in-nahum 6. ghayru malumin 7. Fa-manibtagha wa-ra-a dhalika fa-ula-ika humul-adun 8. Wa-l-ladhina hum li-amanati-him wa-ahdi-him raun 9. Wa-l-ladhina hum ala salawati-him yu-hafizun 10. Ula-ika humul-warithun 11. Al-ladhina ya-rithunal-firdawsa hum fi-ha khalidun

What are the characteristics of a Mumin? What is on the checklist that can be used as a yardstick to gauge our behavior? InshaAllah, thats the topic of todays khutbah. Lets use the tafsir of the first few ayat of the Surah Al-Muminoon to get there.
Qad aflahal-mu-minun. Successful indeed are the believers. Here Qad is used to emphasize something. It is also used to convey the meaning of already. It is not that something is going to happen but it has already happened. For example, success to the Muminoon is not thats going to happen; it has already happened. Then Allah (SWT) uses the verb aflaha. By using this word aflaha, Allah (SWT) refers to a very particular flavor of success. It is related to the Arabic word fallah, the farmer. The farmer was a very unique entity in the Arab society since there was very little land available to farm about. So all activities associated with the farming were very special. And success associated at the end of the farming season was indeed extraordinarily special. Think about what went into that successful farming How would you visualize his success? Who is he, the farmer? Lets see: The farmer has to put in hard work. Indeed a very hard work. He gets up early in the morning, runs to his farm, he toils the soil, prepares the field, plants the seed, waters the crops daily, removes the weeds, trims the weeds, sprays chemicals to kill the insects, spends nights at the farm for months to protect the crop from the robbers and intruders, prays to Allah (SWT) for goof weather, rain, and so forth, and finally hope for the best. Alhamdulillah. This is what goes into farming. Its not easy. Its round the clock, 24/7 so to speak, all around the year. The man behind these activities is the farmer. He is devoted to his work and his deeds. He has unbelievable faith in his Creator (SWT) so regardless of the adversity, he is eternally optimistic. And even if the season turns out to be a flop, he is stoic in his fate. Subhanallh. I believe none of us are familiar with having only one paycheck per year. But this farmer is. All his effort that we saw will yield into one paycheck at the end of the year, at the end of

the season, if everything goes well. Thats the fruit of his labor. Thats his success. Such success is called aflaha in Qad aflahal-mu-minun. Subhanallh. The next word in the ayah is al-Muminoon. The believers. Its a noun. In Arabic, a noun is used to show its permanent nature while a verb is used to show its transient nature, meaning it can change. So al-Muminoon is substantial, its permanent and is not going to change. What it means is that Allah (SWT) is describing these people as mature in their faith. MashaAllah. So these are the al-Muminoon who is successful. Now lets look at the checklist that tells us what do they do to deserve such high honor of Allah (SWT): The first on the list is: Al-ladhina hum fi salati-him khashiun. So for those who humble themselves in the salat. This refers to those who have khushua in their salat. Khushua most commonly is misunderstood as sincerity or focus but its not just focus. Khushua in Arabic means its the kind of fear that numbs your muscles; that you get overwhelmed with fear. It just overtakes you! This is the most powerful experiences that one can feel! And you have attained that level of submissiveness if you can feel that way in your salat. Why? Why Allah (SWT) highlights this as the first characteristic of al-Muminoon? You know, in describing salat, elsewhere in the Quran, Allah (SWT) says: Innas-salaati kaanat alal Muminoona kitaabam mawqutaa (4:103). Rough translation. That the salat are the means by which we maintain our schedule. That I will see you at Fajr, that we can meet around Dhur, that that can be done after Asr or before Maghrib, and so forth. Our daily routine revolves around our salat, isnt it? Now what did I say about that farmer? That he too have to follow a strict schedule if wants to be successful. He needs to know what to toil the soil, when to plant seeds, and so forth. The same way our schedule has to be the salat. It reminds us that we are working hard for success. And we need khushua in salat so that we dont lose the sight - we dont lose the focus - but retain the focus with numbing fear of Allah (SWT), called khushua that can keep us on the straight path. So whats the next expectation? It is: Wal-ladhina hum anil-laghwi muridun. And they who turn away from ill speech. Very interesting, especially with reference to the word Laghu. It means ill speech, vain talk, useless conversation. In Urdu, it is bakwaas, bak-bak, trash. Arabs call it Qalaamal falaah. Vain talk will not benefit us here or in the Hereafter. Its a useless activity. You lose respect for time. By the way, how do we, the Muslims, respect the time? By having the salat. If you have respect for salat and you have khusha in your salat, you start respecting the time, not just in the salat but even between the salat. What it means is that you stop having the vain talk or ill speech at any time. Its like cleaning up the dirty mirror. And when you do that, what do you see? You see a better, improved image of yourself! Alhamdulillah. See how these different characteristics of al-Muminoon are falling in place! Next is: Wal-ladhina hum liz-zakati failun. And they who are observant of zakkah. Here we are not talking about ordinary zakkah. Those, who especially have a goal of cleansing themselves, they really put themselves to work! This is not about giving zakkah. Thats Walladhina hum zakaata mutoonaa. Its totally different language. They realize that something dirty has to be cleaned up. And we know that when a

dish remains dirty for a long time, it takes more energy to clean it up. If you and I have a personal problem like anger, or greed, or lowering the gaze, etc. etc., who knows it besides Allah (SWT)? Its you and no one else! You have to be honest to yourself and clean it up! Longer you wait, more difficult it is like a hardened stain. Thats the kind of zakah, the purifying, cleansing zakah is referred to in Wal-ladhina hum liz-zakati failun. And it makes sense, right? And when it comes to cleansing yourself, there is this one fitnah one trial that is so dangerous that even Rasulullah (S) was worried about his Ummah. And that is the temptation between man and woman, lets call it shamelessness. You can get rid of backbiting from your life; its hard but you can do it. You can get rid of anger from your life; its hard but you can do it. And so on and so on. But it is this shamelessness that is so hard to get rid of. So much so that Allah (SWT) dedicates multiple ayat to address this problem. Lets see: 1. Qad aflahal-mu-minun. One ayah. One subject. Success. Al-ladhina hum fi salati-him khashiun. One ayah. One subject. Khushua 2. in salat. 3. Wal-ladhina hum anil-laghwi muridun. One ayah. One subject. Vain talk. Wal-ladhina hum liz-zakati failun. One ayah. One subject. Personal 4. cleansing. 5. Wal-ladhina hum li-furujihim hafizun. Il-la ala azwaji-him aw ma malakat aymanu-hum fa-in-nahum 6. ghayru malumin. 7. Fa-manibtagha wa-ra-a dhalika fa-ula-ika humul-adun. The last three ayat are on the subject of one topic. Shamelessness. Allah (SWT) reminds us that the al-Muminoon guard their private parts except what is allowed by Allah (SWT), and warns us that those who go beyond the prescribed bounds are indeed the transgressors. So three ayat for one subject and that shows the gravity of the matter. Its serious, major problem. You know why? Because the shamelessness is staring at you down the street; and it is on you iPhone and iPad and iTouch, and it is there when you checking e-mail; its on TV and computer and radio, its in conversation, its in your jokes, and its everywhere! And because its so widespread, it desensitizes you! What it means is that it makes our work that much harder! Thats why Allah (SWT) is using three ayat to highlight this problem! Every time when you witness a wrong and you dont feel bad, you add a stain on your heart. How many more stains do we need? Because our hearts become so stained, so dark, that no light of truth can penetrate them! These ayat reminds us over and over again to clean up our hearts. Subhanallh! Wallahi, talking about them is easy but doing something about them is not! But dont be afraid. Thousand miles start with a step! Take one step at a time. Please help yourself if you are faulting. And indeed Allah (SWT) will help you, inshaAllah. After mentioning this big temptation-thing and how we can ward off it, Allah (SWT) tells us two more things before He (SWT) tells that these are the people who will inherit the highest levels of the Paradise. Here they are: #1: Walladhina hum li-amanati-him wa-ahdi-him raun. And those who faithfully observe their trusts and their covenants (promises). #2: Wa-al-ladhina hum ala salawati-him yu-hafizun. And those who (strictly) guard their prayers.

When it comes trusts and promises, al-Muminoon not only fulfill them, them perform raun, meaning they watch over them. The security guard is not only keeping an eye on the item thats is being trusted to him or her, he or she is even guarding the item. So whats the item that Allah (SWT) has trusted to us? Its the salat. Allah the Almighty wants us to keep an eye on our salwaat as well as He wants us to guard our salawaat! If we are performing the salawaat but we cannot be trusted then what? Well thats the sign of something missing, and we need to correct as soon as possible. May Allah (SWT) help us fulfill these obligations; May Allah (SWT) make all our difficulties easier for cleansing ourselves; May Allah (SWT) brings love of the Quran and love of Rasulullah (S) into our hearts and into the hearts of our families. May Allah (SWT) make us one of these Ula-ika humul-warithun And these will be the heirs Alladhina ya-rithuna al-firdawsa hum fi-ha khalidun who will inherit Paradise; and they will dwell therein (forever). Ameen. Allahumma Ameen. Baarakallaahu lanaa walakum fil-Quraanil adhzeem, wa nafaana wa iyyaakum bil aayaati wadh-dhiqril hakim.

Part II
Dua