A verse by verse short conceptual and contextual interpretation of the Quranic Surahs with explanations.
THE QURAN IS THE FINAL MESSAGE OF ALLAH REVEALED THROUGH MUHAMMAD THE FINAL MESSENGER OF ALLAH AS A PROGRAM, CONSTITUTION AND LAW FOR MANKIND FOR EDUCATION BASED REVOLUTION FOR BUILDING A PROPER HUMAN COMMUNITY THAT IS UNITED, PEACEFUL , PROGRESSIVE AND PROSPEROUS SO THAT MANKIND TOGETHER COULD BRING THE UNIVERSE UNDER THEIR MANAGEMENT FOR THEIR OWN WELL BEING AND THUS MANIFEST GLORY OF ALLAH.
Foreword
Things will be explained as this work progresses in due course.
Word QUR-AAN is from root QAAF, RAA and ALIF. Concrete meaning of this root is information that is received, collected, wrote down and proclaimed before the crowd like a crier is sent by a king who cries out loud in a place of gathering to let people know the message of the king. Also reading, recitation, gathering, collection, crowd, cycle, period, time span, appointed time, menstruation, become pregnant, to add, to gather together, to hold in, to match in length etc etc.
Word surah is from roots SEEN, WOW and RAA etc. The concrete meaning of this word is something that covers or shields or shelters something or encompasses it for protection or preservation etc. Something that is sufficient or fit for its purpose or deals with the matter fully or comprehensively. Something that protects something or shields something from something etc etc. In the Quranic context it means the comprehensive divine program that if followed by mankind will protect humanity from all sort of troubles and problems. The Quranic program is a path to peaceful, progressive and prosperous life for mankind hence the name of this program is Islam. The same root means the fortified wall that surround the fort to protect the city within the wall. Also circle, fence, wall, an enclosure, to scale, to go over a wall, to be high in stature or spirit, to have courage or strength, bracelets, bangles, armlets, a chapter of the Quran etc etc.
Word AQL is from root AIN, QAAF and LAAM. Concrete meaning of this root is weight or anchor or peg or stake etc. Something that is used to tie down something to stop it from running about all over the place. It is used for thinking process of the brain because the brain processes information for making sense of it in order to act on it instead of wandering off all over in confusion. The ability of brain to make sense of things by means of thought process is called intelligence. Also brain, intelligence, sense of making sense of things, tie, stoppage, halter, rational person, to ransom, blood money, refuge, use sense, be sensible, head, leader, chief, to judge as rational, fine woman, understanding, comprehension, to reason things etc etc.
How brain learns sense to make sense of things.
Throughout life by means of learning experiences by way of trial and error brain becomes experienced in making sense of obtained or given information.
1)aql and revelation are two different things.
2)aql is an activity of the brain ie a process for processing information or data and revelation is information or data needing processing.
3)Aql is needed for organising and making sense of data to understand it.
4)Where does aql come from? It comes from sense of making sense of things ie through life experiences through trials and error.
5)The more experienced you are in making sense of things the better is your judgment about things. It is because then you know what information is available and what is not at any given point in time and how to get information and how to put it together and what it means after you have organised it in your head.
6)The Quran is nothing more than information that needs to be understood by human brain as explained for its purpose and use. Therefore sufficient aql/sense has to be there already to begin with in order to make proper sense of the Quran to use it accordingly.
7)Brain only works on basis of language that it uses for communication just like a computer. Without having a way of processing data to make sense of things brain cannot make sense of anything. Even when data is there brain has to construct or deconstruct and reconstruct it to see if it makes sense or not. Destructive criticism is not helpful when one scrutinises something for its truth because if you destroy something before you examine something as a whole then you are left with nothing whole to see it for what it is worth. It is because things only look good or bad when they are in one piece and complete. A piece of art is only good as such but if you will break it apart, it will become nothing at all other than jumble of pieces of nothing. Our universe looks great as it is but if we were to destroy it, we will be left with nothing. I mean start breaking things into their smaller and smaller pieces and once you have done away with sub atomic particles what will you be left with to see? We see a nice house but if we were to tear it down brick by brick, what will be left of it to see? So truth lies in beauty and beauty is only there if we could see it put together beautifully so that we could be seen at work or in action. This is why the purpose of scrutiny is to see the full picture or plan or thing to see what purpose it serves and how it does that if at all. This is why the first thing to do with any piece of information is to see its construct if it is already there otherwise devise own construct using the same information and if it look ok and works fine then it is worth keeping for the purpose it can serve and the way it can do that and benefit from it.
8)The Quran is mere a jumble of words and words have attached to them certain concepts and concepts unless put together for a purpose have no use just like a jumble of letters, numbers, signs or symbols. So to understand the Quran one must get familiar with concepts of words used in the Quran and then try and see how these concepts make better sense by combining them in various ways that bring out the proper contexts of the words used in the verses so that verses make proper sense. Not only that but each verse of a given surah must be connected in such a way with other verses of the same surah that the whole surah of the Quran makes sense in a context from the text itself. The process of making proper sense of the Quranic text does not stop there but then each surah must be combined with rest of them in such a way that shows over all context of the Quranic text.
9)Once the Quran is reasonably and properly understood on basis of AQL then it becomes the criterion for judging all the rest of information about Islam be it from any source or person etc. Not only that once the Quran is understood then it becomes authority for AQL to go by. This is how it helps one to become self regulated because once people work out everything they need to work out then it is only matter of following a list of instruction to accomplish the goals for which Allah has revealed his program.
10)It is a very, very hard work which most people are not bothered to undertake. What people do is they just have some basic make beliefs which they take for granted and call it Islam. There are not many people with in-depth understanding of the revelation from Allah. This is why the world is in the state that it is. Where most people are trying to copyright knowledge as intellectual property and each person is trying to fool the next person. The learning process is a difficult one and that is why peace, progress and prosperity in the world is a very, very slow process. Parties with vested interests are a big obstacle in the way of peace, progress and prosperity of humanity because not only they themselves do not learn things worth learning but they also place obstacle in path of learning knowledge and try their best to throw humanity of course because if knowledge worth learning becomes available vastly then they cannot have the world the way they want it for themselves. However despite all this carry on, as we all can see we are making some progress but we could do much better if obstacles were removed from the path of learning knowledge for the betterment of the mankind. Messengers were sent by God to help people become clever that is why they came to teach humanity things which people wanted to hide from each other so that clever people could exploit others at will who are not as clever as them. This is why chiefs did not build educational institutions for learning but only when it suited their own agendas. That mindset, attitude and behaviour still continues to date. As the saying goes, one can make some of the people fool for some of the time but not all of the people all the time. The truth will prevail because people cannot be free of troubles unless they get to it and live by it. Only truth can set people free.
SURAH 1 AL-FAATIHAH-The open declaration of Allah for mankind to enter in agreement with him and with each other for living the advised way for blissful, dignified and secure existence
This surah is named AL-FAATIHAH from root FAA,TAA and HAA. Concrete meaning of this root is something that opens up something eg a key that opens a lock so that the locked things could be accessed by outsiders or so that locked things could have access to outside. Also the water on the surface of the earth, ways and means to something, opening, help, support, victory, triumph, decision, ruling, judgment, treasure, bringing facts to light, manage, control, open up the avenues, allow access, become obvious, aperture, space, conquer, initiate, begin, commence etc etc.
This surah is named AL-FAATIHAH because it introduces Allah and the purpose of his revelation to mankind and makes clear the context in which the rest of the Quran is supposed to be understood. In other words this surah is the key to the understanding of the rest of the Quran. This surah explain very clearly that the Quran is a program for mankind to follow by organising themselves on basis of it as a constitution and regulating themselves by forming laws according to its provided guidelines. The Quran is for people to educate themselves to a level whereat they are able to self regulate themselves as a proper human community that is united, peaceful, progressive and prosperous. In other words it sets goals for mankind to accomplish according to provided guidelines.
1)Proclaim! In the name of Allah, the provider of psychological, sociological and biological needs of mankind, that
In this verse two words need to be understood very clearly for proper understanding of the Quran a)AL-RAHMAAN and b)AL-RAHEEM. The root of both these words is same ie RAA, HAA and MEEM. The concrete meaning of this root is womb ie some sort of container that contains all the needed things that something in it needs to develop to its full potential. Also such free gift by one person to another that helps the growth and development of the recipient. Godly provision that helps biological, psychological and sociological emergent and progressive evolution of a human being to his full potential, provision, compassion, mercy, blessing, bliss, grace, blood relatives, bounty, let off the hook, kindness, forgiveness, sympathy etc etc.
In the Quranic context this root means the universe that contains mankind and all it will ever need to exist and develop to its full potential eg food for eating and food for thought and support of others related to each other on basis of sharing same womb etc. That is what social relationships are ie people are relatives of each other because of womb. Words RAHMAAN and RAHEEM within them contain sense of universal evolution also as designed by Allah. This is why Allah is named AL-RAHMAAN and AL-RAHEEM, which is usually translated as the gracious and the merciful. These words do not convey full sense of meanings of the stated Arabic words so they are not used in this interpretation of the Quran. In fact the Quran cannot be translated into any language word for word so it has to be explained instead.
The growth of mankind is like growth of a tiny seed into a huge tree. The human beings are brought about through evolutionary process just like all other things in the universe by way of processes and set-up, systems, mechanisms and laws but they have been brought about with brains, senses and body mechanisms. Once people are born and they learn through life experiences in the real world to become self aware and aware of the universal realities then they realize how far they can go on their own and soon they sense need for more information that they cannot learn all by themselves. That is when they sense the need for external guidance and start looking for it. On the other hand Allah sent his messengers with messages to help human development along throughout times and places. As development process is a time consuming process therefore it takes people time to figure out things for themselves as each person learns things in his own time in his own way under his own circumstances in his own place. This means mankind cannot live on basis of make beliefs and senseless rituals because times change, places change and with times and places, change things so all non-permanent things and ideas change therefore people must learn things in time to ensure they are ready for the future challenges that will come their way in time.
This bismilla verse called TASMIYA is known as the seal of the Quran and usually recited before beginning any project or task in order to remind oneself that one is doing what one is going to do for sake of furthering the goal set by Allah ie Islam=peace, progress and prosperity. Before opening of this seal another verse is recited when one recites the Quran and that verse is called TAOOZ. A OOZU BILLAHI MINASH SHAITAANIRRA JEEM. Usually translated as, I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the rejected. The idea is that when one reads the Quran for understanding guidance of Allah towards a way of life that is blissful, dignifying and secure for mankind then one has to reject all sorts of opposing ideologies and ways of life that are harmful and destructive for mankind. That is how by knowing program of Allah and acting upon it one could protect oneself and others against harm and destruction as a constructive member of the human community. The whole of the Quranic teaching is within context of this seal ie the program of Allah for the benefit of mankind is sealed with this formula of bismillah.
- Sovereignty belongs to Allah alone because He is the sole creator and the sustainer of all the kingdoms in the universe,
Word HAMD is from root HAA, MEEM and DAAL. Concrete meaning of this root is recognition or acknowledgment of something by someone in some capacity that is highly impressive. Also aroused adoration or admiration, glory, sovereignty, introduction, praise, praiseworthy, commendable, exalted etc etc.
Since Allah is introducing himself to mankind as the creator, provider and sustainer of the universe so he is seeking acknowledgement of these facts by mankind so that they could then accept and act on his advice or directions for their own good. For children to take advice of their parents it is necessary that they acknowledge importance of their parents so that they could then take their advice and act upon it for their own good. If the advice is found to be good when looked at and then acted upon, this will automatically lead to appreciation of the advice and good parenthood.
Word RABB in this verse is from root RAA, BAA and BAA. Concrete meaning of this root is the one who takes care of some one in every way but particularly in sense of teaching knowledge and providing other things of need for growth and development. Allah is teacher of mankind by way of revelation as well as the one who takes care of all their needs. Also it means lord, master, provider, care taker or guardian, teacher etc etc.
Word AALAMEEN is from root AIN, LAAM and MEEM. Concrete meaning of this root is information about something that is properly understood by the brain because that is how one knows something by knowing information about it. It also means universe, world, kingdom, nation, scholarship, knowledge, state of existence, mountain, landmark, flag, notch, slit, mark, harelip, learning, acquaintance, familiar, inform, make obvious, make known, make evident, cognition etc etc.
Information about the universe helps a person understand things through life experience by means of interaction with other things within the universe by way of trial and error. The human brain learns things in the real world through its senses because things trigger brain into action by acting as stimulus and then by way of trial and error brain gradually builds up a bank of information in form of life experience, some of it in an organized way or with understanding. This is why people have certain models of the real world in their heads according to which they look at any new piece of information ie people draw on life experience when they come across new situations to deal with them.
3)the provider of biological, psychological and sociological needs of mankind for its development.
4)The provider of guidance for mankind to abide by in form of a program, constitution and law.
Word MAALIK is from root MEEM, LAAM and KAAF. Concrete meaning of this root is power base, foundation for authority, something that has something in its grip or control or under its influence or care or responsibility. It also means ownership, in-charge, chief, master, administration, management, guardianship, missionary, ruler, king, monarch, emperor, office bearer etc etc. The use of this root expresses someone or something with power or authority or ownership for some purpose eg a ruler, a king, a chief, an administrator, a manager or an office bearer etc.
Word YAWM is from root YAA, WOW and MEEM. Concrete meaning of this root is distance between two points, universe, a period of time, value, status, standard, world, era, reference point, day etc etc.
Word AL-DEEN is from root DAAL, YAA and NOON. Concrete meaning of this root is point of reference, landmark. Something to which something keeps going back to or it keeps coming back to something for some reason. This is why it is used in various ways to express different ideas eg it is used in sense of a way of life because people keep living their lives in a certain way hence it means a way of life or tradition. Also because a way of life becomes a custom so it means a standard. Likewise money is lent and borrowed therefore keeps changing hands back and forth hence it means debt. The way of life means what people do for living and their actions for certain good or bad outcomes hence it is taken as verdict or judgment on actions of people etc etc.
It must be noted that Allah has set-up processes, systems and mechanisms throughout the universe for all things to work according to therefore all actions by all things are based upon law of cause and effect ie all courses of actions by all things are bound to trigger consequences with varying periods of times. In other words the natural world is based upon laws of nature so it works naturally. All things interact with each other and that is how they play their roles as actors play their roles as characters in a movie or drama. In the grand scheme of things there is a role for Allah and a role for mankind as well as roles for all other things regardless lifeless or living. The Quran states the plan of Allah and the goals he set for mankind to accomplish and the guidelines according to which mankind are supposed to accomplish those set goals. So if people will go about life as advised by Allah according to set out guidelines then things will work out fine but if they will try to ignore that and go their own way then set-up systems and law will take over and the consequences will ensue in form of harm and destruction of mankind by their own actions.
5)Therefore declare O mankind that we will abide by Your program, constitution and law and seek Your help thereby,
Word NABUDU is from root AIN, BAA and DAAL. Concrete meaning of this root is abiding by some reference point as if something is tied to something like an animal is tied to a peg so that it does not wander off and get lost. Since this root carries sense of bonding hence it is also used in sense of enslavement. Bonding could be biological, physical, social, ideological or emotional. This root also means glue or stickiness etc etc.
Since the Quran is a manifesto, a constitution and a book with guidelines for law formation from Allah therefore humanity is told to abide by it for the reasons already told and for the reasons yet to be told in coming surahs ie if you do things the way the one who set them up tells you then you save yourself from lots of troubles and difficulties. If you choose to go your own way then you could end up making loads of mistakes due to being ignorant of how you should go about things which could land you in harm and destruction as a consequence.
Word NASTAEEN is from root AIN, WOW and NOON. Its concrete root meaning is support like a pillar that supports a beam to stop ceiling from falling on the floor. Something that supports something properly so that the purpose for which the support is given is served to the full. The point made here is that Allah only helps people through information and people get that information in two ways a)life experience based upon information through brain and senses and b)through revealed information through messengers sent by Allah. Regardless whichever way the information is gained what matters is its proper understanding so that it could be used properly for the purpose it is given. The revelation based information is only needed where knowledge gained through life experiences cannot help on its own because it is not sufficient or takes ages to learn on one’s own. The divine revelation raises one’s awareness beyond one’s own life experiences by drawing one’s attention to matters which one may otherwise think are of no importance to oneself because the connection between things is not so obvious for simple minded person. Also the concept of living for each other is not an easy thing for anyone to accept that is why the world is the way it is because that is the way people made it. So the Quran wants to motivate and inspire a person beyond living for oneself because it emphasises community life or brotherhood to bring about a caring and sharing human society that is united like a successful single family.
6)because thereby You show us a firmly founded way of life that leads to blissful, dignified and secure existence,
Word SIRAAT is from root SAWD, RAA and TWAA. Concrete meaning of this root is cut. Siraat is called a way that is purpose built because it cuts through the land from one point to another. Anything that makes its way through something is also called siraat eg a sword makes its way through a body. A traveller who makes his way through a road from one place to another. The food one eats makes its way through the digestive tract etc etc.
Word MUSTAQEEM is from root QAAF, WOW and MEEM. Concrete meaning of this root is something that stands firmly in its place or is firmly fixed eg a peg or stake in the ground for tying animals or to tie a tent so that it does not fly away due to wind. Something that takes a firm stand or rises up or is properly balanced. Revival of something eg an idea or a thing etc. Also uprising, revolt, revolution, something that is alive, resurrection, to establish, judgement, verdict, to stand by something, to provide with foundation etc etc.
The Quran is a special book that provides mankind with sound foundation for their identity to give them such sense of belonging that they never fall victim to identity crisis. This means the Quran gives people stable mindset, attitude and behaviour which is absolutely necessary for bright future of mankind. If one falls victim to unstable mindset, attitude and behaviour then life becomes a very serious problem and future become very dark and depressed.
7)Way of those who brought about for themselves blissful, dignified and secure life, not of those who brought about for themselves painful suffering nor of those who lived a life of confusion and instability.
Word ANAMTA is from root NOON, AIN and MEEM. Concrete meaning of this root is, all things of need that help people develop and prosper to their full potential.
Word MAGHDOOB is from root GHAIN, DWAD and BAA. Concrete root meaning of this root is pain that is felt after burning oneself by fire or heat. It means to take oneself away from blissful state. Also lion, cyst on the eye lid, red colour, thick skinned, strength, skin disease, toughness, rage, anger, revengefulness, boiling of blood, rising of temperature, heat, fire, bitterness. When one does things the wrong way and suffers the loss or gets harmed by so doing one feels oneself in trouble or difficulty and goes through painful suffering. To avoid all this, one should not do things this way rather one should find out the right way before doing things so that one saves oneself from all this self inflicted unnecessary pain and suffering.
Word DWAALEEN is from root DWAD, LAAM and LAAM. Concrete meaning of this root is lack of proper information or its proper understanding for making a choice or decision about something so the result is a confusion or loss of way to some target or goal.
This Surah is called UMMUL KITAAB=mother of the book. It is because it gives overall picture of what the Quran is all about. It is clearly telling mankind Allah is beneficial and sole sovereign of the universal kingdom therefore it is up to Him alone to set for mankind the criterion to live by so that mankind by following this program attain blissful, dignified and secure life in this world like those before them, unlike those who suffered pain due to living confused lives. The rest of the Quranic Surahs expand various points raised in this surah directly or indirectly. It will become clear that the Quran gives this way of life a name called Islam meaning peace. DEEN means way of life or code of conduct or a program, constitution and law to live by. The other main point to remember is that this book is all about agreement between Allah and mankind, which is, people must live as explained by him and his set-up systems and laws will deliver the results that are promised in this book. Similar agreements existed between Allah and people in the past which are told about in the Quran repeatedly. Those who have entered this agreement with Allah keep refreshing their commitment by reaffirming it on daily basis to keep reminding themselves about it, alone as well as along with others who are part of the commitment to the same program, constitution and law. This is what is meant by being God conscious or having awareness of divine will or plan or program. A person can only be true to his commitment if one is conscious of the goal one is committed to and all the rest that goes with it for accomplishing it, otherwise one is declaring his commitment to one thing and doing another. This is why results of actions of people show what they are actually committed to. It is because motives of people become obvious when they act upon them and so their actions show what they were thinking or hiding from others ie betterment for them or their destruction. The Quran is a program for mankind to live as a proper human community based upon the Quran as its constitution by regulating itself using guidelines for law in the Quran.