What is Islam

AL DHARIYAT (The Winds that Scatter).

1 By the (Winds) that scatter broadcast;
2 And those that lift and bear away heavy weights;
3 And those that flow with ease and gentleness;
4 And those that distribute and apportion by Command;
5 Verily that which ye are promised is true;
6 And verily Judgment and Justice must indeed come to pass.
7 By the Sky with (its) numerous Paths,
8 Truly ye are in a doctrine discordant,
9 Through which are deluded (away from the Truth) such as would be deluded.
10 Woe to the falsehood mongers,
11 Those who (flounder) heedless in a flood of confusion:
12 They ask, When will be the Day of Judgment and Justice?
13 (It will be) a Day when they will be tried (and tested) over the Fire!
14 Taste ye your trial! This is what ye used to ask to be hastened!
15 As to the Righteous, they will be in the midst of Gardens and Springs,
16 Taking joy in the things which their Lord gives them, because, before then, they lived a good life.
17 They were in the habit of sleeping but little by night,
18 And in the hours of early dawn, they (were found) praying for Forgiveness;
19 And in their wealth and possessions (was remembered) the right of the (needy,) him who asked, and him who (for some reason) was prevented (from asking).
20 On the earth are Signs for those of assured Faith,
21 As also in your own selves: will ye not then see?
22 And in heaven is your Sustenance, as (also) that which ye are promised.
23 Then, by the Lord of heaven and earth, this is the very Truth, as much as the fact that ye can speak intelligently to each other.
24 Has the story reached thee, of the honoured guests of Abraham?
25 Behold, they entered his presence, and said: Peace! He said, Peace! (And thought, These seem) unusual people.
26 Then he turned quickly to his household, brought out a fatted calf,
27 And placed it before them, He said, Will ye not eat?
28 (When they did not eat), he conceived a fear of them. They said, Fear not, and they gave him glad tidings of a son endowed with knowledge.
29 But his wife came forward (laughing) aloud: she smote her forehead and said: A barren old woman!
30 They said, Even so has thy Lord spoken: and He is full of Wisdom and Knowledge.
27th Section (Juzu')
31 (Abraham) said: "And what, O ye Messengers, is your errand (now)?"
32 They said, We have been sent to a people (deep) in sin;
33 To bring on, on them, (a shower of) stones of clay (brimstone),
34 Marked as from thy Lord for those who trespass beyond bounds.
35 Then We evacuated those of the Believers who were there,
36 But We found not there any just (Muslim) persons except in one house:
37 And We left there a Sign for such as fear the Grievous Penalty.
38 And in Moses (was another Sign): behold, We sent him to Pharaoh, with authority manifest.
39 But (Pharaoh) turned back with his Chiefs, and said, A sorcerer, or one possessed!
40 So We took him and his forces, and threw them into the sea; and his was the blame.
41 And in the Ad (people) (was another Sign): behold, We sent against them the devastating Wind:
42 It left nothing whatever that it came up against, but reduced it to ruin and rottenness.
43 And in the Thamud (was another Sign): behold, they were told, Enjoy (your brief day) for a little while!
44 But they insolently defied the Command of their Lord: so the stunning noise (of an earthquake) seized them, even while they were looking on.
45 Then they could not even stand (on their feet), nor could they help themselves.
46 So were the People of Noah before them: for they wickedly transgressed.
47 With power and skill did We construct the Firmament: for it is We Who create the vastness of Space.
48 And We have spread out the (spacious) earth: how excellently We do spread out!
49 And of every thing We have created pairs: that ye may receive instruction.
50 Hasten ye then (at once) to Allah: I am from Him a Warner to you, clear and open!
51 And make not another an object of worship with Allah: I am from Him a Warner to you, clear and open!
2 52 Similarly, no messenger came to the Peoples before them, but they said (of him) in like manner, "A sorcerer, or one possessed"!
53 Is this the legacy they have transmitted, one to another? Nay, they are themselves a people transgressing beyond bounds!
54 So turn away from them: not thine is the blame.
55 But teach (thy Message): for teaching benefits the Believers.
56 I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me.
57 No Sustenance do I require of them, nor do I require that they should feed Me.
58 For Allah is He Who gives (all) Sustenance, Lord of Power, Steadfast (forever).
59 For the wrongdoers, their portion is like unto the portion of their fellows (of earlier generations): then let them not ask Me to hasten (that portion)!
60 Woe, then, to the Unbelievers, on account of that Day of theirs which they have been promised!

**************************************************

Explination of the Surah

Name The Surah derives its name from the initial letter Qaaf, thereby implying that it is the Surah which opens with the alphabetic letter Qaaf. Period of Revelation There is no authentic tradition to show as to when exactly this Surah was sent down. A study of the subject matter, however, reveals that its period of revelation is the second stage of the Holy Prophet's life at Makkah, which lasted from the third year of the Prophethood till the fifth year. We have given the characteristics of this period in the Introduction to the Sarah Al-An`aam. In view of those characteristics it can be said that this Surah might have been sent down in about the 5th year, when the antagonism of the disbelievers had become quite intense but had not yet assumed tyrannical proportions. Theme and Topics Authentic traditions show that the Holy Prophet used to recite this Surah generally in the Prayer on the Eid days. A woman named Umm Hisham bin Harithah, who was a neighbor of the Holy Prophet, says that she was able to commit Surah Qaaf to memory only because she often heard it from the Holy Prophet in the Friday sermons. According to some other traditions he often recited it in the Fajr Prayer. This makes it abundantly clear that this was an important Surah in the sight of the Holy Prophet. That is why he made sure that its contents reached as many people as possible over and over again. This reason for this importance can be easily understood by a careful study of the Surah. The theme of the entire Surah is the Hereafter. When the Holy Prophet started preaching his message in Makkah what surprised the people most was the news that people would be resurrected after death, and they would have to render an account of their deeds. They said that that was impossible; human mind could not believe that that would happen. After all, how could it be possible that when the body had disintegrated into dust the scattered particles would be reassembled after hundreds of thousands of years to make up the same body once again and raised up as a living body, Allah in response sent down this discourse. In it, on the one hand, arguments have been given for the possibility and occurrence of the Hereafter in a brief way, in short sentences, and, on the other, the people have been warned, as if to say: "Whether you express wonder and surprise, or you regard it as something remote from reason, or deny it altogether, in any case it cannot change the truth. The absolute, un-alterable truth is that Allah knows the whereabouts of each and every particle of your body that has scattered away in the earth, and knows where and in what state it is. Allah's one signal is enough to make all the scattered particles gather together again and to make you rise up once again as you had been made in the first instance. Likewise, your this idea that you have been created and left free to yourselves in the world and that you have not been made answerable to anyone, is no more than a misunderstanding. The fact is that not only is Allah Himself directly aware of each act and word of yours, even of the ideas that pass in your mind, but His angels also are attached to each one of you, who are preserving the record of whatever you do and utter. When the time comes, you will come out of your graves at one call just as young shoots of vegetable sprout up from the earth on the first shower of the rain. Then this heedlessness which obstructs your vision will be removed and you will see with your own eyes all that you are denying today. At that time you will realize that you had not been created to be irresponsible in this world but accountable to all your deeds the meeting out of the rewards and punishments, the Hell and Heaven, which you regard as impossible and imaginary things, will at that time become visible realities for you in consequence of your enmity and opposition to the Truth you will be cast into the same Hell which you regard as remote from reason today and the ones who fear the Merciful God and return to the path of righteousness, will be admitted to the same Paradise at whose mention you now express wonder and surprise.