Assalam o Alaikum warahmatullah he wabarakatuhu dear GS members,
First off, I would like to wish you all a very blessed month of Ramadan. May Allah give us the capacity to worship Him more than we usually do in this blessed month of Ramadan. May Allah shower His blessings upon Ummat e Muhammadi (SAW), and guide us all to the right path.
As i was reading Quran e Paak today, I thought why not open a thread regarding verses in Quran which one would like to have some explanation on. This will not only help us understand Quran better but also encourage others to read it.
I will keep on posting the verses from Quran throughtout Ramadan of which I would like fellow Muslim brother/sisters to help me understand them better. I will really appreciate it.
Let me start off with this verse.
[2:22] O ye men, worship your Lord Who created you and those who were before you, that you may become righteous
and on the very next verse says : [2:23] Set not up, therefore, equals to Allah, while you know.
I would like someone to please clarify this verse to me. What does " those who were before you" mean? JazakAllah Khair.
QUR’AN: O men! worship your Lord… may guard (against evil):2:22
The preceding nineteen verses have described the positions of the three groups category-wise: The pious ones who are on the guidance from their Lord; the disbelievers whose hearts and ears have been sealed and who have their eyes covered; and the hypocrites in whose hearts there is disease so Allah added to their disease and they are deaf, dumb and blind.
In this background, Allah calls the men to be His good servants, to worship Him and to join, not the disbelievers and the hypocrites, but the pious ones, those who guard themselves against evil. This context shows that the clause, “so that you may guard (against evil)”, is governed by the verb “worship” - you should worship Allah to join those who guard against evil, who are pious. It may also be governed by the verb, “created” - Allah created you in order that you may guard yourselves against evil.
if you need help: some of the part are uploaded on this website; a good tafsir but not yet uploaded on internet completely.
[2:22] O ye men, worship your Lord Who created you **and those who were before you, that you may become righteous
In that there are some who falsely believe they must treat their parents or their forefathers as gods besides Allah (SWT) because they were "created" as a result of the union of their parents.
This here using the wisdom in the Qur'an we can see that Allah (SWT) Created us and our forefathers and their forefathers. This connects on to the next verse about not setting up equals to Allah (SWT).
Also, we must realise that our natures are such that "Creator" deserves to be worshipped by what it created ... Allah (SWT) deserves to be worshipped and we do this not so that Allah (SWT) gets any sense of fulfilment from it ... no ... rather that it will make us righteous for doing so. Righteousness is the attribute of those who do fair things and give dues to those who deserve them ...
[2:154] Do not say of those who are killed in the cause of GOD, "They are dead." They are alive at their Lord, but you do not perceive.
Please clarify what it means that they are alive? alive in what sense?
this is talking about the life of barzakh - no one knows its reality. All the righteous people are alive in barzakh life and their souls are inside birds flying in Jannah. Check tafsir ibn Kathir for details. Allahu A'lam
Also , I would like to know why Allah addresses men in Quran more..and not humankind in general?
this is the communication style of Arabic language. Most of the times when the Qur'an or the ahadith address men, they are addressing both genders. Allahu A'lam
[2:154] Do not say of those who are killed in the cause of GOD, "They are dead." They are alive at their Lord, but you do not perceive.
Please clarify what it means that they are alive? alive in what sense?
"woh log jo Allah ki rahh mein maaray gaye, unko mare huye loogon mein shaamil mat karo - kyunke woh zinda hain lekin hamari aankh se oojhal hain"
dont include those that were killed during jehad (in Allah's name) into those who are dead - as they are not dead; they are very much alive, but we cannot see them.
jst a side note: shaheed ko ghusl nahi diya jaata.. sirf Janazah hota hai aur kafan mein lapeit dete hain..