Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
So now we took three opinions here. We took the opinion that the mursalat are the angels, or the mursalat are the prophets. And what was the third opinion? That mursalat is the wind.
We took one more opinion. That is the opinion of Ibn Jarir, that the mursalat is all of them—everything which Allah Azzawajal sent, even the lightning which Allah Azzawajal sent, or anything else which Allah describes in the Quran that He sent.
The One who created death and life to test you, which of you is the best in deed, and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving.
الحمد لله رب العالمين، والصلاة والسلام على عبد الله ورسوله نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين، أما بعد
After praising Allah and after asking Allah to exalt the mention and grant peace to our Messenger Muhammad ﷺ, and to his family and his companions, I would like to welcome you all to what is—at least as I see it—the second part of our Tafsir class.
And that is because we began in this masjid with the Tafsir of Juz' Amma.
And we started with Surat Al-Fatiha, and then we did Surat Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq, and An-Nas.
And we continued up to a point—I don’t remember how far we got when we stopped the classes.
But the classes continued on YouTube.
And Alhamdulillah, recently—not too long ago, a few months ago—we finished the Tafsir of Surat An-Naba, and we finished Juz' Amma.
This is the next part of that Tafsir class, and that is Juz' Tabarak.
And we're going to be starting from the end. That means we're going to be starting from Surat Al-Mursalat, and we're going to be working our way up to:
تَبَارَكَ ٱلَّذِى بِيَدِهِ ٱلْمُلْكُ
And the source for our Tafsir class, Insha'Allah Ta'ala, is the summary of Tafsir Ibn Kathir— Al-Misbah Al-Munir by Al-Mubarakpuri, Rahimahullah Ta'ala.
He summarized the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, and what we generally do is use this as a base and add points from:
- Tafsir At-Tabari
- Other books of Tafsir, Insha'Allah Ta'ala
We add points in there, but we use this as a base, as something for us to read and to be comfortable with.
And this book is widely available in English as well. So you can take a copy of the summary of Ibn Kathir, and more or less, we will be reading the same thing—more or less.
It is a great blessing from Allah Azzawajal to be able to come back to the masjid, to be able to come back to Dubai, and to be able to start the classes again.
And I would remind you of the value of coming to the masjid, not only for the Salah, but also for learning together.
The hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:
مَا اجْتَمَعَ قَوْمٌ فِي بَيْتٍ مِنْ بُيُوتِ اللَّهِ يَتْلُونَ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ وَيَتَدَارَسُونَهُ بَيْنَهُمْ إِلَّا نَزَلَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّكِينَةُ، وَغَشِيَتْهُمُ الرَّحْمَةُ، وَحَفَّتْهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ، وَذَكَرَهُمُ اللَّهُ فِيمَنْ عِنْدَهُ
There is no group of people who come together in a house from the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah and studying it among themselves,
except that:
- Tranquility descends upon them
- Allah's mercy covers them
- The angels surround them
- Allah mentions them with those who are with Him
سبحانه وتعالى
This hadith alone tells us the virtue of us coming together in the masjid:
- To learn from each other
- To recite the Qur’an
- To listen to the Qur’an being recited
- To understand some of the meanings of the Book of Allah عز و جل
- To learn some of what Allah intended by His Speech, سبحانه وتعالى
That being said, Insha'Allah Ta'ala, we will begin with the Tafsir of Surat Al-Mursalat.
And that is the last surah in Juz’ Tabarak.
Now, bear in mind, and I will always say this, that it does take quite a long time with the small surahs.
And that’s because, as you know, the Qur’an can be divided into two parts:
- The part we call Al-Mufassal
- The part before that
And Al-Mufassal means the part of the Qur’an where there are lots of breaks between the ayat.
Generally, we say from Surah Qaaf approximately, or some scholars said from Surah Al-Hujurat.
Now, what do you see from Surah Qaaf onwards to the end of the Qur’an?
You see that:
- The ayat have lots of breaks
- There is no ayah which is one page
- There is no ayah which is half a page
- The ayat are maybe one ayah on a line, maybe two ayat on a line
So you have these regular breaks.
Even this Mufassal can be divided into three parts:
- طوال المفصل (Tiwal Al-Mufassal) – The longer surahs
- أواسط المفصل (Awsat Al-Mufassal) – The surahs that are in the middle in length
- قصار المفصل (Qisar Al-Mufassal) – The surahs that are very, very small
Once you get to Surah Ad-Duha, approximately, the ayat are very, very small, right?
Sometimes, just one word or two words in an ayah.
From Surah Ad-Duha until—give or take—maybe Surah An-Naba, maybe a little further than that.
Perhaps you can say all the way up to Surah Al-Mulk
You have these surahs which are about a page, a page and a half long—these are the middle-length ones.
Then you start to have surahs that are three pages, four pages, or five pages long—these are the longer ones.
In general, the Tafsir of the Mufassal takes longer than the Tafsir of the rest of the Qur'an.
And that is because:
- The meanings are very deep, and there is a lot of meaning packed into a few words.
- Whereas when you get to the surahs that deal with Ahkam (rulings), like halal and haram, the meanings are more explicit—there is a lot more content in the ayah, but the Tafsir itself is somewhat easier.
Whereas now, we're going to be dealing with a lot of the surahs that are Makkiyah— They were revealed to the Prophet ﷺ during his time in Makkah, in the Makkan period.
Why does Tafsir of Makkan Surahs take longer?
- Because the meanings are extremely deep and complex inside just a few words.
- Especially when we translate them into English, trying to convey their meanings—this takes even longer.
So, bear in mind:
- We won’t be moving at a fast pace.
- It may take more than 3-4 months to finish up to Surah Al-Mulk.
- But we will take our time, Insha’Allah, and enjoy the process of understanding what Allah عز و جل wants from His Speech, Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.
Ibn Kathir (رحمه الله) on the Tafsir of Surah Al-Mursalat
Ibn Kathir (رحمه الله) said:
تفسير سورة المرسلات وهي مكية "This is the Tafsir of Surah Al-Mursalat, and it is a Makki surah."
Now, we previously discussed in Juz’ Amma the science of Al-Makki wal-Madani— the study of which surahs are Makkiyah and which are Madaniyah.
What does it mean for a surah to be Makkiyah or Madaniyah?
- Makkiyah → A surah revealed during the time when the Prophet ﷺ was living in Makkah.
- Not necessarily that it was revealed in Makkah, but that it was revealed before the Hijrah.
- Madaniyah → A surah revealed after the Prophet ﷺ migrated to Madinah.
- Not necessarily that it was revealed in Madinah, but that it was revealed after Hijrah, regardless of location.
What about individual ayat?
- Sometimes, there is a disagreement about one or two ayat within a surah.
- Some scholars may say: "This ayah was revealed in Madinah, even though the rest of the surah is Makkiyah."
- But in general, when we say a surah is Makkiyah, it means the majority of it was revealed in Makkah.
How do we determine if a surah is Makkiyah or Madaniyah?
- It should be based on evidence—not just the content of the surah.
- Some tafsir books judge based on the topics in the surah:
- "Does it mention zakah?"
- "Does it mention the five daily prayers?"
- "We know these were legislated later, so it must be Madani."
- But this is not a reliable method.
Why?
- Because sometimes, Allah speaks about a future ruling before it is legislated—as a prophecy of what is to come.
- Therefore, the correct method is to rely on narrations from the Sahabah regarding where and when the surah was revealed.
Evidence that Surah Al-Mursalat is Makkiyah
Ibn Kathir (رحمه الله) states:
- Al-Bukhari narrated from Abdullah bin Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه): While we were with the Prophet ﷺ in a cave (some said in a cave in Makkah), the entire Surah Al-Mursalat was revealed upon him. He was reciting it, and I took it directly from his mouth.
- Abdullah bin Mas’ud is one of the early Muslims, from the early Makkan period.
- Since he says “we were in a cave together in Makkah”, this is a strong evidence that Surah Al-Mursalat was revealed in Makkah.
Authenticity of this Hadith
- This hadith is narrated by Al-Bukhari.
- It is also narrated by Muslim.
Additional Evidence from Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir mentions another narration:
- From the Musnad of Imam Ahmad
- Narrated by Abdullah bin Abbas (رضي الله عنه)
- From his mother:
- Umm Al-Fadl bint Al-Harith Al-Hilaliyah
- She was the wife of Al-Abbas
- She was the mother of all of his six children
So Abdullah bin Abbas narrates from his mother that she said, سمعت النبي ﷺ يقرأ في المغرب بالمرسلات عرفة I heard the Messenger ﷺ reciting in the Maghrib prayer والمرسلات عرفة And he mentions another narration for this.
We can take a benefit from this.
We can take an important issue from this, and that is that even though the general Sunnah is to recite in Maghrib the small surahs, it is not always the case that the Prophet ﷺ would recite the small surahs in Maghrib. Sometimes it is narrated that he recited long surahs.
Surah Al-Mursalat is narrated. Even it is narrated that he read at times from Surah Al-Araf, and other surahs that he read in Maghrib.
So sometimes, even though his habit in Maghrib was to read قصار المفصل, the small surahs with the small ayat, sometimes he would read a longer surah in Maghrib.
And so a person should sometimes vary. Not every time in Maghrib should they read, for example, قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ and قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ and وَالضُّحَى and the small surahs. Sometimes they should read the longer surahs in Maghrib from time to time.
Because Umm Al-Fadl رضي الله عنها said, I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reciting it in Maghrib.
In some of the narrations, she said, The last thing that I heard him recite in Maghrib. The last thing that I heard him recite in Maghrib.
Our next topic is, what is the subject of the surah?
Now, when we talk about the subject of the surah, this is something approximate. We are not going to give every single point, because that would be what we are talking about in tafsir.
But we are going to say that the idea is to give a general overview of the surah.
The general overview of the surah is that it talks about the Day of Resurrection and the events that will happen on it, the change that will happen to this world and to the heavens, and the recompense in terms of reward and punishment—the reward of the people of Iman and the punishment of those who disbelieve in Allah عز و جل.
Generally, this is the topic that we are going to be talking about.
Ibn Kathir starts by saying:
قَالَ إِبْنُ أَبِي حَاتِمٍ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ وَالْمُرْسَلَاتِ عُرْفَى قَالَ الْمَلَائِكَةَ وَرُوِّيَ عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ وَأَبِي الضُّحَى وَمُجَاهِدٍ فِي إِحْدَى الرِّوَايَاتِ وَالسُّدِّي وَالرَّبِيعِ بْنِ أَنَسِ مِثْلُ ذَلِكَ وَرُوِّيَ عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحِ أَنَّهُ قَالَ هِيَ الرُّسُلُ وَثِي رِوَايَةٍ عَنْ أَنَّهَا الْمَلَائِكَةَ وَهَا كَذَا قَالَ أَبُو صَالِحِ فِي الْعَاصِفَاتِ وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ وَالْفَارِقَاتِ وَالْمُلْقِيَاتِ إِنَّهَا الْمَلَائِكَةَ
وَالْمُرْسَلَاتِ عُرْفَةً
He said, الملائكة, that the مرسلات here are the angels.
Now, sometimes we have to actually step back a little bit because we have to bring this into English and explain how Abu Hurairah came to this conclusion.
The word مرسل is something sent. The word مرسل is something which is sent.
Ibn Jarir, رحمه الله تعالى, the great Imam of Tafsir, does not specify anything by this. He leaves it open to everything which Allah has sent—the angels, the prophets, the things which Allah عز و جل sent—which is مرسل from Allah.
Ibn Kathir starts by quoting الملائكة, that the مرسلات here are الملائكة.
And he also quotes a narration from Abu Saleh, who said that it refers to the prophets.
How could someone come to that conclusion, that it means the prophets?
Because the prophets are also sent.
However, we can point out here that it is unusual for the prophets to be described as مرسلات.
It is normally مرسلين.
It is rare that the word would be used as مرسلات.
This is more likely to be used for the angels because of the way it is made plural here as مرسلات.
It is not usual. Normally, Allah describes the prophets as مرسلون or مرسلين.
He brings us two opinions here.
And there is another opinion, which is very common. In fact, it is so common that it is said to be the majority opinion. And that is that المرسلات here is the wind.
That المرسلات here is the wind.
So now we have taken three opinions here.
We took the opinion that the مرسلات are the angels.
Or that the مرسلات are the prophets.
And what was the third opinion?
That المرسلات is the wind.
We took one more opinion.
That is the opinion of Ibn Jarir.
That المرسلات is all of them.
Everything which Allah عز و جل sent.
Even the lightning which Allah عز و جل sent.
Or anything else which Allah describes in the Quran that he sent.
All of it is included.
Here we could ask a question.
What would Ibn Jarir رحمه الله تعالى say about the Shayateen?
Did not Allah عز و جل say at the end of Surah Maryam that he sent
أَلَمْ تَرَأَنَّا أَرْسَلْنَا الشَّيَاطِينَ
Do you not see that we sent the Shayateen?
عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ
Here, no.
Why?
Because Allah swore by the مرسلات.
And Allah only swears by something which is of great significance in his sight.
As for the Shaytan, Allah does not swear by the Shaytan.
Because the Shaytan is nothing in the sight of Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
إِنَّ كَيْدَ الشَّيْطَانِ كَانَ ضَعِيفًا
The plot of the Shaytan is weak.
So we come back to one of these four.
That it is the angels.
Or that it is the prophets.
Or that it is the wind.
Or that it is all of them, like Ibn Jarir said.
Why did Ibn Jarir say all of them?
He said there is no evidence.
There is no specific evidence to say one or the other.
So why do we not keep it general?
Allah made it general.
And this is a habit of Ibn Jarir رحمه الله تعالى in his تفسير.
Normally, when he can keep it general, he keeps it general.
But the people who specified the angels, or those who specified the wind, or those who specified the prophets, they had a reason for it.
What was their reason?
We need the next word.
وَالْمُرْسَلَاتِ عُرْفًا
So the word عرف comes with two meanings in Arabic.
The first meaning of عرف in Arabic is coming one after the other, after the other.
Something coming one after the other.
Like they talk about the horses coming one after the other.
Sometimes the Arabs say things like that.
So some of them said this—one after the other—supports, for example, the messengers, because the messengers Allah عز و جل sent them one after the other, after the other.
The angels also come down one after the other.
But the meaning that comes to mind often with regard to عرف is what?
What does the meaning عرف often come as in the Quran?
خُذِ الْعَفْوَ وَأْمُرْ بِالْعُرْفِ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْجَاهِلِينَ
The word عرف comes meaning معروف—something good.
So that would mean the ones that Allah sent with goodness.
Allah is swearing by those that he sent with goodness.
So now, those who said that the word عرف here is goodness, most of them said it is the angels here.
It is the angels.
And some of them said the prophets.
As we said, some of them said the prophets is less likely because usually Allah does not talk about the prophets as مرسلات.
He talks about them as مرسلين.
So we came back to the angels.
We came back to the wind.
The wind also comes one after the other.
And the angels also come one after the other.
And the wind can bring good.
And the wind can also bring destruction.
And that brings us to the next ayah.
فَالْعَاصِفَاتِ عَصْفًا
Here, العاصفات—more than one of the scholars brought إجماع.
They said there is consensus here that العاصفات is the wind.
But that is actually not true.
There is not agreement on it.
There is some disagreement about it.
Still, some people said the angels.
Still, some people said the angels.
Because they said the angels sometimes bring destruction from Allah.
And sometimes the angels, they drive the wind which brings the clouds.
And Allah decrees for them to bring the raindrops.
So some of them said like this.
The goodness.
Even if it is the wind, still Allah عز و جل drives it from the angels.
In reality, it is not really important for us to choose one or the other.
But it is important to understand where it came from.
So if we said that عرف here means التتابع—one after the other, after the other—this leads us in a particular direction.
And if we say that عرف here is المعروف, then the ones that were sent with goodness are the angels and the messengers عليهم الصلاة والسلام.
The فاء here is important.
فَالْعَاصِفَاتِ عَصْفًا
Because the فاء gives you the idea that it is connected.
And this is why some of the people brought that the first one is the wind.
Because they said, look at this فاء here.
It is like these two ayat are talking about the same thing.
وَالْمُرْسَلَاتِ عُرْفًا فَالْعَاصِفَاتِ عَصْفًا
It is as though they are talking about the exact same topic.
So if they are talking about the same topic, then what is it that we can describe as being a violent wind?
The wind.
And then: وَالْمُرْسَلَاتِ عُرْفًا
We can say that it is the wind that is sent with good.
And فَالْعَاصِفَاتِ عَصْفًا
Is the wind that is violent, that is sent with destruction.
Or if we talk about the angels, we can say:
The angels who come with the good commands from Allah.
And the angels who bring destruction and the command of destruction from Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
Notice that then Allah عز و جل says:
وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا
So it is as though there is a change in topic again because the فَاء didn’t come.
So it is like the فَاء is linking those two, but it is not linking the rest.
And that is why some of them, when they said:
The first two are the angels.
And the first two are the wind.
And the last three refer to the angels.
And this is a very common opinion.
In fact, some of them quoted it as the opinion of the majority.
That the first two refer to the wind.
And then everything after that refers to the angels.
As we said, it is not really important for us to choose.
But what is important for us is to understand where it came from.
So those that are sent with good.
And that which is sent with a violent wind.
Like we said, most of the scholars here said the wind.
Some of them said the angels that drive the violent wind.
And we explained the meaning or the meanings that brought us to that point.
فَالْعَاصِفَاتِ عَصْفًا
As we said, some of them said every one of the scholars said it is the wind.
And we said that is not necessarily the case.
Ibn Jarir kept it open.
And said everything that can be said about it, we say about it.
Ibn Kathir then says:
وَقَالَ الثَّوْرِيُّ عَنْ سَلَمَةَ بْنِ كُهَيْلٍ عَنْ يَسْلَمَ أَنَّهُ قَالَ سَأَلَ ابْنُ مَسْعُودٍ
Or he said:
سُئِلَ ابْنُ مَسْعُودٍ
He said:
سَأَلَ ابْنُ مَسْعُودٍ عَنْ وَالْمُرْسَلَاتِ عُرْفًا قَالَ: الرِّيحُ
قَالَ وَهَذَا قَوْلُ الْجُمْهُورِ
Ibn Kathir says:
Ibn Mas'ud was asked about وَالْمُرْسَلَاتِ عُرْفًا.
He said: The wind.
And Ibn Kathir says: This is what the majority of them said.
وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا
He says:
إِنَّهَا الرِّيحُ كَذَا قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ وَمُجَاهِدٌ وَقَتَادَةُ
وَقَطَعَ ابْنُ جَرِيرٍ بِأَنَّ الْعَاصِفَاتِ عَصْفًا هِيَ الرِّيحُ
He said: Both العاصفات and الناشرات refer to the wind.
And he quotes Ibn Jarir on this.
Now we come to:
وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا
He said:
وَتَوَقَّفَ فِي النَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا هَلْ هِيَ الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَوِ الرِّيحُ
وَعَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ أَنَّ النَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا هِيَ الْمَطَرُ
وَالْأَظْهَرُ أَنَّ الْمُرْسَلَاتِ هِيَ الرِّيَاحُ كَمَا قَالَ تَعَالَى: وَأَرْسَلْنَا الرِّيَاحَ لَوَاقِحَ
He says:
As for وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا, it is said they are the angels.
And it is said it is the wind.
So what is وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا?
It is what spreads something out.
What spreads it out?
And نشر is to spread something out.
So once again, they said the wind.
Because the wind spreads out the clouds and spreads out the rain.
And some of them said the rain.
And some of them said the angels.
And the angels who spread the rain.
Because the rain is what spreads out the clouds.
Or the wind is what spreads out the clouds.
Ibn Kathir then says:
وَقَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: فَالْفَارِقَاتِ فَرْقًا فَالْمُلْقِيَاتِ ذِكْرًا عُذْرًا أَوْ نُذْرًا
He says:
الْمَلَائِكَةُ قَالَهُ ابْنُ مَسْعُودٍ وَابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ وَمَسْرُوقٌ وَمُجَاهِدٌ وَقَتَادَةُ وَالرَّبِيعُ وَالْأَنْسُ وَالسُّدِّيُّ وَالثَّوْرِيُّ وَلَا خِلَافَ هُنَا
He says, Ibn Kathir:
As for فَالْفَارِقَاتِ فَرْقًا and فَالْمُلْقِيَاتِ ذِكْرًا, he says here:
This is the angels.
This is the angels.
Some of them said فَالْفَارِقَاتِ فَرْقًا are the scriptures.
Why?
What does فَالْفَارِقَاتِ فَرْقًا mean?
It means the things that separate between people.
That separate between people.
So some of them said it is the angels.
And some of them said it is the scripture.
As for فَالْمُلْقِيَاتِ ذِكْرًا, here you almost will not find another opinion than فَالْمُلْقِيَاتِ ذِكْرًا.
Here, it is the angels.
The angels who bring Allah's revelation upon those that Allah عز و جل chooses from His creation.
So let’s go back again.
We have وَالْمُرْسَلَاتِ عُرْفًا.
We have the wind that brings goodness.
Or the angels that bring goodness.
فَالْعَاصِفَاتِ عَصْفًا
The violent wind or the angels that bring destruction.
And we have وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا.
We have the thing that spreads out.
So either it refers to the angels.
And some of them said it refers to the angels.
And others said no.
This refers to the wind that blows the clouds.
فَالْفَارِقَاتِ فَرْقًا
Those things which separate.
And they said either it is the angels.
Or it is the scripture of Allah that separates between truth and falsehood.
As for فَالْمُلْقِيَاتِ ذِكْرًا, these are the angels.
The ones who bring Allah’s revelation.
عُذْرًا أَوْ نُذْرًا
They bring Allah’s revelation.
And they bring Allah’s revelation which contains عُذْرًا أَوْ نُذْرًا.
It contains كِيَا الْعُذْر.
I would not say that it means an excuse.
But more, it means a validation.
That what some people are doing is correct.
And that what others are doing, they are warned against it.
So some of them are praised for what they do.
And others are warned against what they are doing.
And that is what Allah sent the prophets with.
And that is what Allah sent the scripture with.
And that is what Allah عز و جل His message contains.
It contains بُشْرَى—glad tidings.
And it contains a warning.
عُذْرًا أَوْ نُذْرًا He says here, Ibn Kathir:
فَإِنَّهَا تَنْزِلُ بِأَمْرِ اللَّهِ عَلَى الرَّسُولِ تُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ الْحَقِّ وَالْبَاطِلِ وَالْهُدَى وَالْغَيْبِ وَالْحَلَى وَالْحَرَامِ
He said: The angels, they come down with Allah’s commands to the prophets, making the difference between truth and falsehood, between what is guidance and what is misguidance, and between what is halal and what is haram.
وَتُلْقِي إِلَى الرُّسُلِ وَحْيًا
And they give revelation upon the prophets.
And this revelation:
فِيهِ إِعْذَارٌ إِلَى الْخَلْقِ وَإِنْذَارٌ لَهُمْ إِقَابَ اللَّهِ إِنْ خَالَفُوا أَمْرَاهُ
It contains الإعذار and الإنذار—glad tidings for those who do the right thing and a warning for those who go against the command of the messengers عليهم الصلاة والسلام.
As for Ibn Jarir رحمه الله تعالى, he kept upon the same methodology as before. He said that we can make it general:
- It can refer to the angels.
- It can also refer to the scriptures.
Because both of them contain glad tidings and warnings.
And even the prophets also came with glad tidings, and they came with warnings.
The Importance of These Oaths
What is important to note is that Allah عز و جل swore by these things.
And Allah عز و جل only swears by something that is very, very important.
So we learned the importance of the wind—that it is an ayah from the ayat of Allah عز و جل, that it brings good and it also brings destruction.
We learned the importance of the angels—that they are given commands by Allah:
- Some of the angels bring good.
- Some of the angels bring destruction.
- Some of the angels spread out the clouds and place the drops of rain.
- Some of the angels distinguish between truth and falsehood.
- Some of the angels bring revelation upon the messengers عليهم الصلاة والسلام.
And it is possible to say that all of these things are true—because in reality, these meanings do not contradict each other, right?
And we spoke a lot about this in Juz Amma—that really, these things don’t contradict.
And so, if something doesn’t contradict, there’s not really a need for you to say one over the other—just absorb all of the meanings that are taken from these ayat.
The Answer to the Oath
عُذْرًا أَوْ نُذْرًا—we mentioned already.
And then Allah عز و جل brings what we call جَوَابَ الْقَسَم—the answer to the oath.
Why did Allah swear by all of these things?
What was the reason for it all?
What does it all come down to?
إِنَّمَا تُوعَدُونَ لَوَاقِعٌ
Indeed, what you have been promised is certainly going to happen.
Here, the phrase what you have been promised is general, right?
It includes everything that you’ve been promised—especially the affairs of the Day of Judgment, which Allah is going to mention in the coming ayat.
إِنَّمَا تُوعَدُونَ لَوَاقِعٌ
And this is important because Allah swore by all of those things—He made you think about all of those points—so that He can show you that, for certain, the Day of Judgment and all of the things related to it are definitely going to happen.
The Theme of the Surahs in Makkah
Now, remember—this is one of the core themes of the Surahs Makkiyah—the Surahs that were revealed in Makkah.
One of the main themes and topics that Allah عز و جل speaks about in the Surahs revealed in Makkah is the Day of Resurrection.
- You have been promised that the resurrection will happen.
- You have been promised that the horn will be blown.
- You have been promised that the bodies will be resurrected.
- You have been promised that the first of mankind and the last of them will all be gathered on a single plane.
- You have been promised that each person will be given the reward or the punishment that they deserve.
لَوَاقِعٌ—this is all certain to happen.
And this word لَوَاقِعٌ gives a strong benefit—because the way that Allah said it, it is something that must happen.
In fact, Allah speaks about it as though it is already happening right now—that’s how certain it is.
إِنَّمَا تُوعَدُونَ لَوَاقِعٌ
This is certainly and definitely going to happen.
What Happens When the Horn is Blown?
Then, Allah عز و جل tells us about some of the things that will happen at the time of the blowing of the horn and the Day of Judgment:
فَإِذَا النُّجُومُ طُمِسَتْ
When the stars’ light will be extinguished.
He said:
أَيْ ذَهَبَ ضَوْقُهَا
The light of the stars will go away.
And we’ve already heard about this:
وَإِذَا النُّجُومُ انْكَدَرَتْ وَإِذَا الْكَوَاكِبُ انْتَثَرَتْ
And we’ve already mentioned this in the previous Tafsir of Juz Amma—that the stars will be extinguished.
وَإِذَا السَّمَاءُ فُرِجَتْ
What is the meaning of فُرِجَتْ?
انْفَطَرَتْ—it will split open. انْشَقَّتْ—it will be torn apart.
These meanings already came in Juz Amma—so if you go over the previous videos and revise, the same meanings will come back to your mind.
إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْشَقَّتْ إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْفَطَرَتْ
The same meaning comes again.
وَإِذَا السَّمَاءُ فُرِجَتْ
Like Allah عز و جل said:
وَفُتِحَتْ السَّمَاءُ فَكَانَتْ أَبْوَابًا
And in a different recitation:
وَفُتِحَتْ السَّمَاءُ فَكَانَتْ أَبْوَابًا
The sky will be broken—it will be opened up.
It will be cleaved open, and it will become a gateway to the heavens.وَإِذَا الْجِبَالُ نُسِفَتْ
نُسِفَتْ means ذُهِبَ بِهَا—it means they will be taken away.
And Allah عز و جل also mentioned this in Surah Taha, Ayah 105:
وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْجِبَالِ فَقُلْ يَنْسِفُهَا رَبِّي نَسْفًا
"They ask you about the mountains. Say: My Lord will scatter them as dust."
This word نَسْفًا or نُسِفَتْ refers to a process where the outside of something becomes the inside, and the inside becomes the outside—a complete transformation.
The Stages of the Mountains' Destruction
If you think about what Allah عز و جل said regarding the mountains, He describes different stages that the mountains will go through:
- They will be taken from their place.
- وَبُسَّتِ الْجِبَالُ بَسًّا "And the mountains will be crushed to powder."
- They will become scattered dust.
- فَكَانَتْ هَبَاءً مُنْبَثًّا "So they will become like scattered dust."
- They will be made to move.
- وَسُيِّرَتِ الْجِبَالُ "And the mountains will be set in motion."
- They will move like clouds.
- وَهِيَ تَمُرُّ مَرَّ السَّحَابِ "And they will pass away like the passing of clouds."
And all of this will happen at the time of the blowing of the horn.
A Common Mistake in Tafsir
Here, I want to mention an important point—something that people sometimes make a mistake in.
I also mentioned this in the Tafsir of Juz Amma.
Sometimes, we make an error by applying an explanation that the scholars of Tafsir applied to Yawm al-Qiyamah and taking it literally in this world.
For example:
Allah عز و جل said:
وَتَرَى الْجِبَالَ تَحْسَبُهَا جَامِدَةً وَهِيَ تَمُرُّ مَرَّ السَّحَابِ
"And you see the mountains, thinking them to be stationary, while they pass like the passing of clouds."
Some people wrongly said that this is evidence that the Earth is spinning.
Why Is This NOT an Evidence That the Earth Is Spinning?
Because this ayah was not revealed about this world that we live in now.
This ayah was revealed about Yawm al-Qiyamah, and it comes in the context of Yawm al-Qiyamah.
So, we cannot take an ayah that is about the Day of Judgment and apply it to the present world—because this is a mistake in Tafsir.
The Danger of Overreaching in Scientific Miracles
Sometimes, people love to find scientific miracles in the Qur’an.
And yes, there are some scientific insights in the Qur’an.
But some people exaggerate—by interpreting the Qur’an in a way that it was not revealed for.
For example, we spoke about this in Surah At-Tariq:
The word الطَّارِقُ in Arabic traditionally means "something that comes at night."
But some people say الطَّارِقُ means "a pulsating star."
However, in the Arabic of the Qur’an, the word الطَّارِقُ does not mean "pulsating star."
Yes, in modern Arabic, the word can carry that meaning.
But in classical Arabic, the Arabic of the Qur’an, الطَّارِقُ simply means "the star that appears at night."
So, we have to be careful when trying to find scientific miracles in the Qur’an.
We should not go beyond what the Tafsir of the Qur’an allows.
The Mountains in Other Ayat
The meaning of the mountains dissolving and being moved from their place came in many other ayat, such as:
Surah Al-Kahf:
وَيَوْمَ نُسَيِّرُ الْجِبَالَ وَتَرَى الْأَرْضَ بَارِزَةً وَحَشَرْنَاهُمْ فَلَمْ نُغَادِرْ مِنْهُمْ أَحَدًا
"And the Day when We shall cause the mountains to move, and you will see the earth as a level plain, and We shall gather them, and not one of them will be left out."
The Gathering of the Messengers
Then, Allah عز و جل says:
وَإِذَا الرُّسُلُ أُقِّتَتْ
The word أُقِّتَتْ can be pronounced in two ways:
- أُقِّتَتْ
- أُقْلِتَتْ (outside of the Qur’an)
The meaning of أُقِّتَتْ is:
- Given a specific time
- Appointed at a fixed time
Some scholars also said it means جُمِعَتْ—"they will be gathered together."
But in any case, the original meaning of the word is "to be given a specific time."
And Allah عز و جل has already informed us that Yawm al-Qiyamah is a fixed time with Him:
يَوْمَ يَجْمَعُ اللَّهُ الرُّسُلَ
"The day when Allah will gather the messengers."
Ibn Kathir رحمه الله said that أُقِّتَتْ means وُعِدَتْ—"They have been given an appointed time."
To support this, scholars quoted the ayah from Surah Az-Zumar:
وَأَشْرَقَتِ الْأَرْضُ بِنُورِ رَبِّهَا "And the earth will shine with the light of its Lord."
وَوُضِعَ الْكِتَابُ "And the record of deeds will be placed."
وَجِيءَ بِالنَّبِيِّينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ "And the prophets and the witnesses will be brought forth."
وَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْ بِالْحَقِّ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ "And judgment will be passed among them in truth, and they will not be wronged."
This is an example of what is meant by:
وَإِذَا الرُّسُلُ أُقِّتَتْ
"When the messengers will be gathered at their appointed time."
On that day, all the messengers will be brought forward to testify before Allah عز و جل
The Hamza here comes, as we said, with the meaning of "or" (أو)—indicating a particular waqt (appointed time):
وَإِذَا الرُّسُلُ أُقِّتَتْ
"And when the messengers are gathered at a specified time."
This means they will be gathered together at the specific time that was appointed for them.
The Meaning of This Ayah
It is said that the meaning here refers to those who showed enmity toward the prophets.
Remember, this Surah was revealed in Makkah, where many people from Quraysh were showing hatred and hostility toward the Prophet ﷺ.
Allah عز و جل is telling them:
"There will be a day and a time when Allah will gather you together with the very prophet whom you opposed and fought against."
And on that day:
- Allah will judge between you regarding what you did to him.
- Allah will ask you about it.
- Allah will reward those who deserve reward.
- Allah will punish those who deserve punishment.
This is an appointed time that you will not be able to escape.
The Warning to the Disbelievers of Quraysh
Many times, when Allah عز و جل addresses the disbelievers of Quraysh, He reminds them about this fixed time.
- You have a time on this earth.
- You have a time appointed.
- The Hour has been set for you.
- You will not be able to escape it.
This is meant to instill fear in their hearts—so that they realize:
Their actions against the Prophet ﷺ will have consequences.
Not only will there be consequences in this world, but there will also be consequences on the Day when Allah will gather all the messengers.
The Appointed Time for the Prophets
The prophets are:
- Sent for a specific time in this world.
- Gathered at a specific time in the Hereafter.
Pausing for the Adhan
And I think this is a good place for us to pause, insha'Allah ta'ala, for the Adhan.
We will take a few small questions after the Adhan, insha'Allah ta'ala, for about 5 or 10 minutes.
Then, we will give people time to go and make wudu before the prayer time is up.
We have some time? Okay.
Ibn Kathir, he says that we can move on to the next ayah:
لِيَوْمٍ أُجِّلَتْ
Which day has this time been delayed until?
This is actually important in relation to the Tafsir of the previous ayah. So, as we're learning Tafsir, one of the things we're learning is that to get the Tafsir accurate, you have to look at the ayat before and after to get the context of what's being said.
So some of the people said وَإِذَا الرُّسُلُ أُقِتَتْ—the meaning is every prophet is sent to this world for a fixed time. They said every prophet is sent to this world for a fixed time.
The problem with this is that the next ayah doesn't go with it:
لِيَوْمٍ أُجِّلَتْ
When has this appointment been delayed? It has been delayed until:
لِيَوْمِ الْفَصْلِ
It has been delayed until the day when Allah will separate between the people.
And we said that الفصل means separation, right? To be separated. And this is the day—one of the names of يوم القيامة is يوم الفصل, because it separates between the people of Jannah and the people of Jahannam:
فَرِيقٌ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَفَرِيقٌ فِي السَّعِيرِ
A group of people in Paradise and a group of people in the Hellfire.
So this next ayah: لِيَوْمٍ أُجِّلَتْ—it tells us that the first ayah is not talking about this world.
Every prophet is sent at a time in this world, but what the ayah is telling us is that every prophet will be given a time يوم القيامة, where they will face the people who were enemies to them and those who disbelieved in them and those who mistreated them.
Exactly as Allah said in Surah Al-Ma'idah:
يَوْمَ يَجْمَعُ اللَّهُ الرُّسُلَ
On the day when Allah will gather all of the prophets together.
And Allah will say to them:
مَاذَا أُجِبْتُمْ
Allah عز و جل will say to those prophets: Who answered you and who didn't? Who believed in you and who didn't? Did you deliver the message? What was the response of those people to the message that you gave?
لِيَوْمٍ أُجِّلَتْ
What day will this happen on?
It will happen on the Day of Separation—the day when Allah will separate between the people of truth and those of falsehood, the people of Jannah and those of the Hellfire.
That's a good place for us to stop, insha'Allah.
And next week, we will start from the statement of Allah عز و جل:
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا يَوْمُ الْفَصْلِ
What we'll do now is stop, give time for the Adhan, and then insha'Allah, we will have some small questions and answers, insha'Allah, for about 10 minutes.
Then we will give time for everyone to prepare for the Salah.
So in Arabic, it's called المصباح المنير.
It's called المصباح المنير في تهذيب تفسير ابن كثير by Al-Mubarakfuri رحمه الله تعالى.
However, as I know, in English, if I'm not mistaken, it is just called "A Summary of Ibn Kathir."
In fact, most books of Tafsir Ibn Kathir that you buy are summarized.
Generally speaking, Tafsir Ibn Kathir is really big.
So there's only one which is printed in full, and all the rest are the summaries.
So if you get Ibn Kathir and it's only in like two volumes or something like that, then this is the summarized version.
And all of the summaries of Ibn Kathir are similar because what they did is they took out:
- The Isra'iliyat—the narrations from Bani Isra'il
- Some of the longer points
- Some of the weak narrations
And they basically summarized what Ibn Kathir said.
They took parts of what Ibn Kathir said and not all of what Ibn Kathir said.
I'm not aware of the best publication off the top of my mind for the Arabic copy—I will check it for next time.
But for the English copy, as far as I know, I remember Darussalam had a publication of it.
But I'm not sure if anybody else did it after that.
But I know that Darussalam’s summary of Ibn Kathir is the summary of Al-Mubarakfuri, as far as I am aware.
What we meant by the statement of Ibn Jarir, that it's everything that is sent that is deserving of being sworn by—so Ibn Jarir didn't include the Shayateen in it.
He included it as everything which is sent, which deserves Qasam—which deserves for Allah to swear by it.
So if we take the opinion of Ibn Jarir, that Al-Mursalat is everything which Allah sent—including:
- The angels
- The wind
- The prophets
But it has to be something that is deserving of being sworn by.
As for Allah عز و جل sending the Shayateen upon the Kafireen, this is not deserving of being sworn by.
So this is how we can remove it from the list.
Otherwise, Ibn Jarir kept it open.
This is also another way of looking at it.
You can look at it in two ways.
You can take the specific meanings that are given. For example, some of the scholars said the first three refer to the angels, and the first three refer to the wind, and then after that, it refers to the angels. And some said the first two refer to the wind and the rest to the angels.
You can take each one by itself and just benefit from the reason behind it.
Okay, I see. The angels—they bring goodness, they bring Al-Ma'uz, and you can say that, I can see that.
How, though, did the angels bring this violent wind?
Some of them said the angels drive the wind, but others said it's the wings of the angels—when the angels quickly ascend and descend between the heavens and the earth.
This is the meaning of "That's for those who brought it to them"—the meaning of the angels.
Even though, as we said, some of the scholars said there is consensus on the issue that it is the wind.
I think this word "consensus", you have to be a little careful. Sometimes people use it, and they don't mean Ijma'.
What they mean is that almost everybody said it, not quite everybody.
So you can take each meaning individually and benefit, or you can take the way that Ibn Jarir took it and say that all of these meanings are found within the ayah:
- The angels
- The wind
- The prophets
The wind brings good, and the wind could be a destructive wind.
The angels bring goodness, and the angels quickly move between the heavens and the earth.
The wind drives the clouds, which spread out the rain.
But also, the angels come with that command from Allah عز و جل to drive the clouds and to bring the raindrops upon the places where Allah عز و جل said for it to come.
So you can take each meaning individually and benefit from it.
And you can also take the general meaning of it—that Allah عز و جل didn't specify in the ayah.
He didn't say that this is specifically the angels or specifically the wind.
Rather, Allah عز و جل kept it to everything that is sent with goodness or everything that is sent mutatabi'an—one after the other, one after the other.
And Allah knows best.
Yes, I feel like we need to explore the connection between why it was mentioned.
This is very true.
We need to talk about the connection between these things that Allah swore by and the Day of Judgment.
So then, we go back to look at what it is that Allah عز و جل is swearing by.
So if we take, for example, we looked at three main things:
- The wind
- The angels
- The prophets and their scripture
The prophets and scripture together.
As for the angels and the scripture, then the connection with the Day of Judgment here is clear.
The requirement to believe in the angels.
The fact that the angels bring the commands of Allah.
The fact that the angels bring goodness, but also, there are times when Allah commands them to bring destruction.
And the fact that they are the ones giving the revelation to the prophets and the need to believe in this before the coming of Al-Qiyamah.
That's one aspect.
But even when we talk about Al-Reeh, there are two options here.
Many times, Allah speaks about His creation and His Lordship as a means of proving to you the need to worship Him alone.
This is very common in the Quran—that Allah talks about the wind and Allah talks about the signs, the sun, the moon, and the stars as evidence for worshipping Allah.
Because it is Allah who sends that wind with goodness, with the rain, with the plants that grow.
Some of them said, with regards to "that it refers to when the rain falls and the plants grow up from the ground", that this is only from Allah.
And if this is only from Allah, and your idols don't have any connection to this, then you must worship Allah عز و جل alone and believe in Him and single Him out for worship—because nobody else controls this universe except Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
It's also an indication of punishment because Allah spoke about "...", and this is the violent wind that destroys people.
And Quraysh knew from the people who came before that there were those whom Allah عز و جل destroyed with a violent wind.
And there were those whom Allah سبحانه وتعالى sent the angels down to destroy.
And they knew of these things, they had heard of these things, and these things were mentioned in the Quran.
So it's again a reminder for them of the coming of the Day of Resurrection.
Those are some points that, to me, seem to be important in this.
But also, bear in mind the messengers and the message as well.
Because the messengers and the message that Allah swears by is again something which they are required to believe in before the coming of the Day of Judgment.
On that day, when the messengers will be given their fixed time, and those who opposed the messengers will be brought before Allah سبحانه وتعالى to answer for their disbelief.
So that seems to me to be where it comes together.
And Allah عز و جل, in that case...
I think this is a good place for us to stop—to give everyone some time to go and prepare for the Salah, to make wudu, and so on.
And insha'Allah ta'ala, we will continue next week.
That is what Allah عز و جل made easy for me to mention.
Allah knows best.
والصلاة والسلام على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين
