Surat Al Mutaffifin (Those Who Deal in Fraud/Those who give less in measure and weight)

(To view this Surah, just click on the link above and select Surat 83 Al Mutaffifin from the drop down menu on the right side of the site)
Salam brothers and sisters,

AlhamdulEllah I have good news, my financial aid for the university was re-instated. Today I had Qur'an class and we studied about Al Mutaffifin. My imam says it is one of the earlier surahs. This surah seems to deal with a fundamental aspect of Islam, social justice and social responsibility. My imam said that sometimes we forget what Islam is all about. We are so caught up in certain aspects of our religion that we forget its fundamentals that should be the drive behind our religious life.

The Qur'an inspires us to reflect. In this case, this surah is inspiring me to reflect upon what drives me, what is the passion behind what I do? This is in turn a reflection on our true principles, on our spiritual character. How do we reciprocate goodness to others? Or do we just expect it from others but do not push this also from ourselves? Are we just concentrating on demanding social justice from the world around us, but neglect to reflect upon what we are doing to contribute to that? Do we expect love and respect, but forget to reciprocate it? The very first part of this aya makes one stop and reflect on this important aspect of our lives.

"Woe unto those who give short measure; those who, when they are to receive their due from other people, demand that it be given in full but when they have to measure whatever they owe to others, give less than what is due!" - Surat 83:1-2

According to my imam, these earlier surahs address a lot of the issues relating to commerce and the practicalities but at the same time can apply to all aspects of life. I love this aya because it reminds me to be more self-aware of what I am contributing to the lives of others and to Islam, maybe I can give more than what I give. Maybe I give only as little as I can get away with. So this reminds me to make sure I avoid this and be more giving in all aspect of my life. It also reminds me to consider what it is that drives me and work on that. My love for Allah the stronger it is, the more I will be passionate about being this way at all times.
Salam

Qur'an Class

Salam everybody,
I'm still working on reading all of the Qur'an. It is going great so far alhamdulellah. It is a very eye-opening and exciting experience and with each aya I read as I proceed through it, I feel a sense of exhilaration as though I am just discovering a buried treasure. I have a hard time putting the Qur'an down when I read it. I am about 3/4 of the way through it. I feel the peace of Allah come upon me more and more the further I get along. It is almost a feeling of being cleansed or purged from the inside out as with each Surah I read, I am being removed of any misconceptions or erroneous ideas I had about Islam before reading all of the Qur'an.

I am also attending Qur'an class at my mosque and I feel blessed to have a teacher who takes so much care to help us to learn the Surahs we study as well as really getting something from it. We just studied Surah Al-'Inshiqaq (84). In English this means "The Rending Asunder." It is considered to be one of the earlier Suwar. It seems to me to be a wake-up call in a sense. If you hear it recited, you would know what I mean. It is not fluid like many of the Surahs, but has a more blunt or strong rhythm to it at first. The first few ayas end abruptly so they are almost to be compared metaphorically to someone shaking you in order for u to wake up. Twice it also mentions the earth or some part of it "listening to our Lord." Almost as if He is saying "LISTEN TO ME you MUST hear." It is like to make us to be consciously aware of the coming Day and of the consequences we face and that it is in OUR hands essentially what kind of consequences those will be. It makes us face the question of what direction our life is going in. This Surah seems to bring into light our accountability and the reality of our actions and how they will affect our life in the hereafter and that we must face the reality that just living to live is not all there is to life, that there is something beyond it and that how we are here will reflect in that time. We will rejoice through the positive consequences of how we live, if we are righteous, and if we live lives of pride and pleasure without concern for Allah, then we will face consequences for that too.

One other point I want to make about this Surah, and all Suwar is that each and every letter in the Qur'an has a purpose and has perfect order. For example, in aya 16 and 17 and 18 it says;

"So, I swear by the afterglow of sunset; and by the night and whatever it gathers in its darkness, and by the moon when it is at the full. You shall certainly travel from state to stage. " - Surah 84:16-18

This is a very good example of what I meant by my comment above. If you see, Allah swears by the AFTERGLOW of sunset, that point at which the sun has just gone down and the sky is still lit up with beautiful colors and light. This is like twilight. There is a reason he used this instead of just saying by the sunset itself. This particular point of sunset. Also, he used the night to swear by. The night represents darkness which is where sin is committed and hidden away but it also represents a time of our day when we pray in devotion to Allah such as the late night prayers. I won't go into the interpretation as I would leave that for you to reflect upon, but I just wanted to point that out because this particular part of the surah really struck me.
I will write again soon insha2Allah. I welcome any comments or questions as always.
Fee eman Allah.