An Epic Journey part 1

حيم الر حمن الله الر بسم

First and foremost Alhamdulillah, I have been given the chance to share what I have gained during the short course. Most of the following notes are taken from the course binder (yes, I copied directly) as I am in no capacity to come out with the insights and learning on my own.  

Am sure some of the readers knows more than I do, so please, if any of the facts and learning presented here is misleading, kindly let me know, so we will not astray in the road for Allah’s blessing. The main learnings are all numbered (in blue) and InsyaAllah I will try my best to share all, in no particular time frame  :) Besides the tafseer of the ayat, I will also be sharing some useful info on general tafseer as well.

Ulama’ dives into tafseer by means of : 

• Arabic language grammar
• Expressiveness’ of the ayat : the ayat was being told as a form of reminder, order, or to tell a story
• Reasons for revelations of the ayat and surah
• Different qira’at
• Tells about other verses that has association with the story and ayat.

From Palestine to Egypt, An Epic Journey

Taught by: Sheikh Sajid Ahmed Umar

Introductory information about Surah Yusuf

Name : The surah is named thus because it is dedicated in entirety to the biography of Yusuf A.S

Place of revelation:

• According to the majority of scholars, the entire surah is Makki
• According to b. Abbas and Qatadah, the surah is Makki with the exception of ayat 1,2,3 and 7

Number of ayat

It is composed of 111 ayat according to the most correct opinion. The story of Yusuf A.S are told in 102 verse, the rest are conclusion to the story.

Reasons for revelation (Asbab al-Nuzul)

1. Test:

1.1 One view is that Surah Yusuf was revealed after the Jews attempted to test the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W in an effort to discredit him. Thus, because the Prophet (S.A.W) was from the lineage of Ibrahim (A.S), they asked him about Yusuf (A.S).

1.2 Another version states that the Jews told the idolaters of Makkah to question the Prophet (S.A.W) about Yusuf (A.S), and how the family of Ya’qub (A.S) moved from Palestine to Egypt, in order to test his prophethood. The Jews were of the opinion that the Prophet (S.A.W) would seek the answer by asking them about Yusuf (A.S), thus exposing himself (Prophet Muhammad S.A.W) as a fraud. However this plot of theirs failed because Allah SWT revealed this surah to his messenger (Prophet Muhammad S.A.W). in fact Allah SWT further said :

Surah Hud, verse 49

Salasilah Nabi/Rasul

Prophet Muhammad S.A.W was from Isma'il (A.S), as we can see above the lineage of all other Rasuls before him (after Isma'il A.S) are from Ishaq (A.S), which belongs to Bani Israel. This is one of the refute the Jews has in terms of not accepting Muhammad S.A.W as the final Rasul, as he is of Bani Quraish.

 

2. Best of stories:

2.1 Al-Hakim reports that Sa’ad b. Abi Waqas reported that, as the Qur’an was being revealed to the Prophet, he was relaying it to its companions, until the companions requested “Please relate to us stories”. So Allah revealed: “We relate to you, [O, Muhammad], the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Qur’an although you were, before it, among the unaware.”[Surah Yusuf, 12:3]

Then Prophet conveyed the story of Yusuf to the Companions until they said, “please speak to us”; so Allah revealed : Allah has sent down the best statement, a consistent Book wherein is reiteration….”[Surah al-Zumar, 39:23]

In other narration by Sa’id b. Jubayr it is added that the Prophet spoke to the companions, until a time when they asked the Prophet, “please remind us,” so Allah then revealed: “Has the time not come for those who have believed that their hearts should become humbly submissive at the remembrance of Allah and what has come down of the truth?….” [Surah al-Hadid, 57:16]

1. This teaches us the importance of being diverse in our teaching and propagating methods. Audience must be kept engaged in a way that their hearts continue to yearn for more.

Was Surah Yusuf revealed near the beginning or end of the Makkan period?

Timeline of Surah Yusuf revelation

2. The way to alleviate someone’s pain is to tell a story of somebody else’s who has experienced the same ordeal. This is how Allah SWT ease Rasulullah SAW’s pain due to many difficulties faced at that time.

I think this is quite long for introductory and I am not done with the muqaddimah yet :D That’s all for now, till next part, wassalam..

An Epic Journey

Assalamualaikum w.b.t

Alhamdulillah, I have attended this course over last weekend. It was my first time experience ever to attend a tafseer course. With my almost to none knowledge in Arabic, let alone tafseer studies, I can say that I learnt a lot in the 2 days. We covered the whole 111 ayat of Surah Yusuf. The lecture provides in depth analysis of the surah, and the lessons extracted from it. Some we can see right from the meaning of the ayat, but some takes deeper understanding and appreciation of the story (which we know it’s not just a story).

The course content also provides few distinct comparisons between few ulama’ and how and why it differs. It goes above and beyond of what I have expected. The constant reminder throughout the session was were there to worship Allah first and secondly learn, and I hope I met the objective. Subhanallah for the path that was opened for me to be in the course, albeit a short one.  Just from one surah, it shows how beautiful Islam is, for those who seek to know and understand. It’s a complete guide, comprising learnings to all walks of life. I hope I can share all, but it’s too much at one go.

InsyaAllah, I have the course binder with me, what I plan to do is capture parts of it and share with the rest of you from time to time. I hope Allah gives me the strength to do that. Hope we can all learn and apply the learning together, insyaAllah.

It was indeed, an epic journey.

The one I attended was in KL...could not find the KL poster :P

Wassalam,

p/s: I know I have been going against my words about the challenge, truly sorry!!!

Alternatif to 'Bersih' ?

So what's up on 9th July this year? Here are things that I am considering to do and maybe you have some other alternatives too!!

1. Visit my friend who has just given birth last 1 month, and 9th July is her birthday!!
2. Attend studies on Surah Yusoff by Al-Khauthar Institute - 9th-10th July
3. Attend Mukhayam Ikram at D'Kok Eco Camp, Kg Talang, Kuala Pilah - 9th-10th July
4. My alma mater get together organised by BBGS OGA - which is now canceled due to the so called 'Bersih'!!
5. My colleague's doa selamat in PD for his new bundle of joy - 9th July
6. Movie catch up marathon, since I have been enslaving myself (yeah rite!!) for the past two months
7. 'Bersih'kan my own house, since I have been neglecting them for more than just 2 months!!

That is all that I can think for now. High chances that I am going to no 2, insyaAllah...No 6 and 7 can still wait ( I guess.. :P )

I am a believer in democracy, by all means, say your piece, make yourself heard, fight for your rights, yada-yada... just not at the expense of some other people's time, money and convenience. Also safety at some point. We know how the last version turned out. The KL city area are filled with garbage, some stalls/shops are vandalised, and I don't how many businesses were interrupted for the day. Some may say that we pay good money (tax) so its DBKL's job to clean up the city, yes and no. They are paid to keep the city clean, but that does not mean they are to service at every citizen's havoc behaviour comes once in a while when these kinds of demonstration takes place. Its a pitiful sight of Dataran Merdeka, Masjid Jamek and all sorrounding area once all these gathering dispersed. I've seen the amount of garbage, and these people wants to 'Bersih' the system, they might as well start with their own behaviour.

There are alternatives to get your message accross, I just don't think a street rally which comes to all these consequences is one of them. Since there is a lot of intellegent folks that is engineering the rally, why not come up with a better, safer, cleaner, and more effective approach?

Or the least they can do, is proper control of their people during the rally. The last thing we want is a clip of Malaysian people doing all sorts of funny things with KL landmarks as background, and some very wrong headlines comes out in the CNN and BBC.

p/s: Challenge will resume tomorrow ;)