Tafseer of Surah Maryam – Day 6: Ayahs 13-15 ~ Tafsir with Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda

Beauty

 

Notes from this lecture with Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda. Notes from Ayah 1-12 can be found on the blog as well. Ramadan Mubarak!

 Highlights

• Yahya is born and is growing up and being raised by incredible parents.
• then Allah addresses Yahya.

Ayah 12: Yaa Yahyaa khuzil kitaba biquwwatinw wa aatainahul hukma sabiyyaa

khuzil: hold firmly, grab, take ahold of the Book (Torah)

biqu: with strength, firmness, conviction

• • Doesn’t just mean read, means understand, memorize, live it, practice, dedicate your life to implementing it.
  • Our lesson: too often when we are reading about the Prophets we treat it like a fairytale. We need to make it relevant. Our lesson is we need to implement the same mentality and the Qur’an must be the basis of everything we do in this life. Allah is saying that this is guidance and you cannot succeed without it. And for us, the Book is the Qur’an.

hukum:

• spiritual maturity
• knowledge, wisdom, understanding.
• Allah Gave this maturity to Yahya very early on.
• For  us, the earlier we are introduced to the Qur’an, earlier we mature spiritually.

Note: in non Arabic speakign Muslim community we have a commitment to teaching our families to read. And generally speaking there is less focus on understanding. And so some people take this to an extreme and say there is no benefit to reading without understanding. No, hold on, reading is a gateway to understanding. Opposite extreme is reading translation after translation, attending tafsir lecture after tafsir lecture, but cannot read juz amma. We need balance. We need to continue the education of reading and reciting Quran. It is fard, compulsory to recite properly. We need to learn to recite properly and also need to make time for children to understand Qur’an. Qur’an is a practical code of life, way to live my life. Ibn Abbas said that the sooner we do this, introduce children to the Qur’an the sooner they will get into spiritual maturity

 

Ayah 13: Wa hanaanam mil ladunaa wa zakaatanw wa kaana taqiyyaa

Wa hanaan

• closest term: affectionate
• root: affectionate
• Means to be soft, to learn towards someone
• Love mother has for child is hanaan
• Best description in English: soft spot for someone.
• Having a great amount of affection.

Hanaanam

• Hyperbolic derivative of root word
• Can either mean that he was very affectionate to people around him (family, friends, humanity in general) or referring to the fact that he was shown affection by people, his family.
• Active and passive true
• Shown affection by parents and Allah. Can see affection Allah had for Yahya and his father. First of all, birth of Yahya is a miracle in and of itself If Allah did not love that family so much, Yahya would not exist. Secondly, see in previous ayah that Allah Gave him wisdom at a very young age that is normally reserved for Prophets at a much later age. Allah Gave to him at a very young age, under age of ten.
• Great amount of affection Allah Showed Yahya.
• Shown/given affection. Where does this affection come from?

min ladunaa

• Allah says min ladunaa
• min: from
• min ladunaa: especially from
• ladunaa: special favour by someone
• min ladunaa: especially from Us.
• So Yahya was so affectionate  because this was a special gift from Allah specially given to Yahya, the ability to be so affectionate to humanity. Secondly, Yahyaa was shown a great deal of affection as a special favour from Allah.
• Going back to Ayah 5, when Zakariyya asks for a child he says, min ladunka. He says, I want a special gift of a child, someone I can rely on, specially from You, a special favour. I don’t want just any child, I want a special gift of a child. So Allah Says, Yes, We Made Yahya really remarkable and uses the same term. We accepted his supplication and Gave him a special gift of a child.

Wa zakaatanw:

• next quality of Yahya
• Zakaat: is to internally purify something
• Tazkiyyah is the same root.
• Note: When you give zakat in a disciplined fashion, it emotionally disconnect you from wealth which is a blessing. You find yourself giving more regularly. When you don’t care for money, you see it as a means to an end, and to our ultimate end.
• Yahya: internally very pure. Embedded within same meaning is charitable, and with the Qur’an, when two meanings are possible we don’t limit the meaning of the word.

Wa kaana taqiyyaa

• hyperbolic derivate from taqwa
• Very cautious and careful
• Yahya was someone who had a lot of taqwa.
• Kaana: means more than “he was.” It has a meaning of consistency, continuously, very conscious and aware of what he was saying and doing.

Observations so far: Yahya was

• affectionate
• pure
• cautiuos and aware

Note: Yahya born to parents who are very old as we are told in the beginning of the ayah. Parenting is a nonstop job, requires diligent work. With older parents, the tarbiyyah of a child, the raising of a child, gets harder as you get older. Allah is Giving Yahya incredible qualities because Allah is taking care of Yahya’s tarbiyyah. Zakariyya wants a child for noble intentions. This surah is a reminder “of the mercy and blessings of your Lord and that were showered down upon Zakariyya

Hanaanam – heart

Zakat – Spirituality

Taqiyyaa – Amal.

All three aspects of character are being taken care of by Allah.

Ayah 14: Wa barram biwaalidayhi wa lam yakum jabbaran asiyya

Wa barram

• birr
• exaggerated form of birr
• Quranic usage of birr: higher than taqwa
• apex of faith
• birr is perfection of deen in religion
• Highest level of piety.
• Can’t reach birr until you spend that which you love most.
• Nuance from term: has same root as dry land.
• We are more comfortable on dry land. Similarly when person has reached that level of piety, person feels that level of comfort that they feel on dry land. Distance from Allah, feels like being on rocking boat.
• When Allah refers to being good to parents, terminology of birr is used. Same term is used. Respecting, honouring, being good to parents.
• Allah mentions His rights upon us and then mentions parents rights to show the importance and necessity of parents rights. Same word is used to describe highest level of piety. Will not realize highest levels of piety until you are good to your parents.
• Yahya was extremely dutiful, good, kind, respectful towards parents.

lam yakun:

• he never ever

jabbaaran:

• never was, jabbaaran
• root word of jabbar means to apply pressure to something
• to push something, to apply pressure
• derivative: al jabira: splint, applies pressure to bone to heal it
• Jaabar: attribute of Allah. He Applies pressure to us when we need it, to help straighten us. Like when we are ironing a shirt with a crease, press a little harder to get it out.
• That’s Allah. When it comes to people, this trait means someone who forces their will on other people
• The Divine trait is a positive, it helps to straighten us, it’s a negative trait for human.
• So Yahya was never the type of person to force his will on other people, never pushy, never bossy.
• Yahya was never disobedient, means a very grateful person.
• Note: Going back to context of Surah describing this incredible person who is Yahya. Allah starting off saying I have given maturity to this person as a child, he is very affectionate, pure and sincere heart, actions of utmost caution and care. Last piece of puzzle, family relations and Allah is saying Yahya was very good at family relations. Common predicament. We have not understood the full scope of what it means to be spiritual. We have separated spiritually from the practical side of the deen – from family relations. So we can be praying five times a day, praying Qur’an, doing dhikr, doing all that but then have horrible family relations. And we are seen by others as someone who is very spiritual and righteous.
  The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The best of you are the best to their families, and I am the best to my family.  —  Family part and parcel of spirituality. Most important part of family relations is parents. Sign of Day of Judgement, people great with friends but not so good with parents.
• Yahya alayhis salaam, wasn’t bossy or impatient with parents (and they were older)
• Be good to your parents and your children will be good to you. When parents displeased with you, Allah is displeased with you. Realize pleasure of Allah, will never attain it until parents pleased with you. Nothing htat places more barakah and blessing into your life and sustenance than being good to parents and enjoining family relations.

Ayah 15: Wa salaamun ‘alaihi yawma wulida wa yawma yamootu wa yawma yub’asu haiyyaa

Peace and safety

Salaam: 2 meanings

literal: peace and safety is upon him (Yahya)

Figurative: given greetings, showing honour to Yahya.

wa yawma
Day of Judgement honoured as well.