The
Prophet of Beauty ﷺ in the Quran
1. FIRST
RENDITION
In attendance: Sh Hamza Yusuf, Habib Ali Jifri and Naqshbandi shaykh
2. SECOND
RENDITION
Qāriʾa Rabia Sayed
Exegesis
from The Study Quran (33:38-48)
مَّا
كَانَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّ
مِنْ حَرَجٍ
فِيمَا
فَرَضَ ٱللَّهُ
لَهُۥ ۖ
سُنَّةَ ٱللَّهِ
فِى ٱلَّذِينَ
خَلَوْا۟ مِن
قَبْلُ ۚ
وَكَانَ أَمْرُ
ٱللَّهِ
قَدَرًا
مَّقْدُورًا
There is not to be upon the Prophet any discomfort
concerning that which Allah has imposed upon him. [This is] the established way
of Allah with those [prophets] who have passed on before. And ever is the
command of Allah a destiny decreed.
ٱلَّذِينَ
يُبَلِّغُونَ
رِسَـٰلَـٰتِ
ٱللَّهِ وَيَخْشَوْنَهُۥ
وَلَا
يَخْشَوْنَ
أَحَدًا
إِلَّا ٱللَّهَ
ۗ وَكَفَىٰ
بِٱللَّهِ
حَسِيبًا
[Allah praises] those who convey the messages of Allah
and fear Him and do not fear anyone but Allah. And sufficient is Allah as
Accountant.
38–39 As God is reported to have commanded the Prophet to marry Zaynab,
he is here reminded that he cannot be blamed for following anything that God
has ordained for him (IK, JJ), even though others may deride him for it. That
is the wont of God (cf. 3:137; 33:62; 35:43; 40:85; 48:23) with the prophets
who came before him (IK, JJ, Q). These verses also refer to God having allowed
the Prophet to now take more than four wives, which was the wont of God with
previous prophets such as David and Solomon (Q).
مَّا
كَانَ
مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَآ
أَحَدٍ مِّن رِّجَالِكُمْ
وَلَـٰكِن
رَّسُولَ ٱللَّهِ
وَخَاتَمَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ
ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ
بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ
عَلِيمًا
Muḥammad is not
the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allah and
seal [i.e., last] of the prophets. And ever is Allah, of all things, Knowing.
40 Muhammad is not the father of any man among you refers to the
Prophet’s relationship with Zayd ibn Ḥāritha,
whom the Prophet had claimed as his son after Zayd’s father disowned him and
whom others had referred to thereafter as the “Son of Muhammad” before the
revelation of this sūrah. Although this
proclamation clarifies the Prophet’s biological relationship with members of
his community and the rights and restrictions pertaining thereto, it is also
understood as opening onto the spiritual reality of the Prophet as the father
of all true believers (Aj, Ṭs).
That the Prophet is the Seal of the prophets is understood to mean that he is
the last Prophet sent to humanity. The Prophet is reported to have said, “No
prophethood shall remain after me, save for true visions” (IK, Q), and “Messengerhood and prophethood have ceased. There will be no
messenger or prophet after me” (IK). The most frequently cited ḥadīth pertaining to his place as the Seal of
the prophets states, “My likeness among the prophets
before me is that of a man who has built a house, completed it, and beautified
it, yet left empty a place for a brick. Then the people come to the house, are
amazed by it, and say, ‘If only you were to place this brick, your house would
be complete!’ I am this brick” (IK, Q). According to the Prophet, being the
Seal of the prophets is one of six qualities that distinguish him from other
prophets: “I have been favored above the prophets in
six things: I have been endowed with consummate succinctness of speech; I have
been made triumphant through dread; war booty has been made lawful for me; the
whole earth has been made a place of worship for me and a means of
purification; I have been sent to all created beings; and the succession of
prophets has been completed in me” (IK).
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ
ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱذْكُرُوا۟
ٱللَّهَ
ذِكْرًا
كَثِيرًا
O you who have believed, remember Allah with much
remembrance!
41 This verse instructs one to
not forget God ever, at any moment (Aj), as when the
Prophet counseled a man, “Let thy tongue be always
moist with the remembrance of God,” and when he is reported to have said,
“Remember God much, till they call [you] mad” (Aj).
Regarding this verse, Ibn ʿAbbās is
reported to have said, “God did not enjoin any duty upon His servants without
setting known limits and accepting the excuses of those who have a valid
reason, except for remembrance, for God has not set any limits for it, and no
one has any excuse for not remembering God, unless he is oppressed and forced
to neglect it” (IK). It is said that remembering God frequently arises from the
sincerity of the heart, while remembering God little arises from hypocrisy,
like the remembrance that is only upon the tongue (Q). Thus
Ibn ʿAjībah says that what is meant by this
verse is remembrance of the heart, as that is the one type of remembrance that
does not cease. The remembrance and invocation of God (dhikr Allāh) is considered the quintessential prayer and
thus to be at the core of every act of worship. In this vein, it is reported
that when the Prophet was asked, “Which of those who strive has the greatest
reward?” he responded, “Those who remember God most.” When asked, “Which of the
righteous has the greatest reward?” he replied, “Those who remember God most.”
Then when asked the same about prayer, alms (zakāh),
pilgrimage, and charity, he said, regarding each, “Those who remember God
most.” Then Abū Bakr said to ʿUmar,
“Those who remember have acquired every good,” to which the Prophet replied,
“Indeed” (Aj). For more on the remembrance of God.
وَسَبِّحُوهُ
بُكْرَةً
وَأَصِيلًا
And exalt Him morning and afternoon.
42 Glorify Him morning and
evening (cf. 6:52; 18:28; 19:11; 24:36; 48:9; 76:25) can be understood as an
injunction to glorify God at all times. It is also
interpreted as a reference to the morning prayer and the afternoon prayer, or
to the five daily prayers, or to performing supererogatory devotions such as
night vigil (R, Ṭ); cf. 30:17–18. Some relate this verse specifically to
acts of prayer and invocation performed between
هُوَ
ٱلَّذِى
يُصَلِّى
عَلَيْكُمْ وَمَلَـٰٓئِكَتُهُۥ
لِيُخْرِجَكُم
مِّنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ
إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ
ۚ وَكَانَ بِٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
رَحِيمًا
It is He who confers blessing upon you, and His angels [ask Him to do so] that He may bring you out from darknesses into the light. And ever is He, to the
believers, Merciful.
43 God has mercy upon the
believers who remember God much and perform the prayers enjoined in the
previous verses, and His angels watch over them and make supplications for
them, thus bringing them out of darkness into light (2:257; 5:16; 14:1, 5;
57:9; 65:11; see also Isaiah 42:16: “I will turn the darkness before them into
light,” and 1 Peter 2:9), which is understood to mean bringing them from being
astray to being guided (Ṭ), from disbelief to belief (Aj,
JJ), from disobedience to obedience (Aj), or from the
darkness of heedlessness to the light of awareness (Aj).
تَحِيَّتُهُمْ
يَوْمَ يَلْقَوْنَهُۥ
سَلَـٰمٌ
ۚ وَأَعَدَّ
لَهُمْ
أَجْرًا
كَرِيمًا
Their greeting the Day they meet Him will be,
"Peace." And He has prepared for them a noble reward.
44 The greeting of “Peace” may
be from God, the angels (Aj), the other people of
Paradise (Ṭ), or perhaps all of them. This is one of several verses that
speak of the greeting of “Peace” that awaits believers in the Hereafter, as in
16:32: Those whom the angels take while they are in a state of goodness. They
will say, “Peace be upon you! Enter the Garden for that which you used to do”.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِىُّ
إِنَّآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ
شَـٰهِدًا
وَمُبَشِّرًا
وَنَذِيرًا
O Prophet, indeed We have sent
you as a witness and a bringer of good tidings and a warner
45 The Prophet is a witness to
the Oneness of God and for the people, as in 2:143: Thus did We make you a
middle community, that you may be witnesses for mankind and that the Messenger
may be a witness for you (cf. 4:41; IK), or against the disbelievers and for
the believers in the Hereafter, as in 73:15: We have indeed sent you a
messenger as a witness concerning you, just as We sent unto Pharaoh a
messenger.
وَدَاعِيًا
إِلَى ٱللَّهِ
بِإِذْنِهِۦ
وَسِرَاجًا
مُّنِيرًا
And one who invites to Allah, by His permission, and an
illuminating lamp.
وَبَشِّرِ
ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
بِأَنَّ
لَهُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ
فَضْلًا
كَبِيرًا
And give good tidings to the believers that they will
have from Allah great bounty.
46–47 That the Prophet was sent
as a luminous lamp refers foremost to his function as a spiritual guide.
According to many reports this inner reality was also manifest in his outward
physical nature and countenance. When asked to describe the Prophet, one of his
Companions replied, “My son, had you seen him, you would have seen the shining
sun.” The Prophet’s stepson is also reported to have said, “He was dignified
and awe-inspiring, and radiant like the radiance of the moon on the night when
it is full.” In this same vein, the Prophet’s servant Anas ibn Mālik is reported to have said, “On the day when the
Messenger of God entered Madinah, everything in it was illuminated. Then, on
the day when he died, everything in it became dark. And we had barely dusted
off our hands after burying him when our hearts changed.”
وَلَا
تُطِعِ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ
وَٱلْمُنَـٰفِقِينَ
وَدَعْ أَذَىٰهُمْ
وَتَوَكَّلْ
عَلَى ٱللَّهِ
ۚ وَكَفَىٰ
بِٱللَّهِ
وَكِيلًا
And do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites and
disregard their annoyance, and rely upon Allah. And
sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs.
48 The Prophet is enjoined to
not follow the disbelievers’ and hypocrites’ caprice and thus not assent to
what contravenes the revelation. Similarly, the believers are told, And know that the Messenger of God is among you. Were he to
obey you in many matters, you would suffer (49:7).
Here, disregard their affront means not to retaliate against them unless a
command to do so is issued (JJ) and to bear their insults patiently (Ṭ).
In this regard, the Prophet is also told to bear patiently that which they say
(20:130; 38:17; 50:39; 73:10). That God suffices as a Guardian (4:81, 132, 171;
33:3; see also 17:65) means that one should entrust all of one’s affairs to Him
(Ṭ).
Aj – Ibn Ajība
IK – Ibn Kathīr
JJ – Jalalayn
Q – Qurtubī
R – Rāzī
Ṭ – Ṭabarī
Ṭs – Ṭabrisī