Dr Osama Al-Azhari
Minister of Awqaf
(Charitable Endowments)
To the esteemed ladies and gentlemen, to all the great people of Egypt, and to the Arab and Muslim nations: welcome to a new journey with the Ever-Glorious Qur’an. In this blessed journey, we dwell in the lights of the Ever-Glorious Qur’an, drawing pearls and coral from its treasures, its secrets, its meanings, and from what Allah has deposited therein of guidance and wisdom.
Here we sail with the fifteenth Juz’ (part) of the Ever-Glorious Qur’an, in order to extract from it pearls, coral, treasures, secrets, and sublime values.
The beginning of the journey: Connecting sacred places with messengers
In this blessed, we pause at several significant stations, to pluck wisdom from the jewels, values, and meanings of the Ever-Glorious Qur’an, and to fish out the pearl and the coral from the garden of the Ever-Glorious Qur’an.
The first reflection
Almighty Allah says: “Extolment (to Him) Who made His bondman to travel by night from the Inviolable Mosque to the Further Mosque, around which We have blessed, that We might show him (some) of Our signs; surely He, Ever He, is The Ever-Hearing, The Ever-Beholding.” (Qur’an 17: 1).
In this divine verse, Allah, Glorified is He, has connected the Inviolable Mosque (Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām) and the Further Mosque (Al-Masjid al-Aqṣā), and connected the two Prophets: Mūsā (PBUH) and Muhammad (PBUH), as well as the two heavenly Books, and the two great communities. Thus, Allah has brought together Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām and Al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, affirming that Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām is a sacred symbol that can never be relinquished under any circumstance, which reinforces the bond of brotherhood that Allah has established between the two mosques.
The first principle that is to be derived from this connection is that Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām cannot be bargained over, for it is bound up with our very conscience and forms the centre of our religious and national sentiment.
Likewise, Allah has connected the two Prophets, Mūsā (PBUH) and Muhammad (PBUH). Mūsā (PBUH) is one of the Messengers endowed with firm resolve; Allah chose him for His Message and His Words, and Allah completed the noble traits of His Messenger Muhammad (PBUH). We hold in reverence and exaltation our master Mūsā (PBUH), our master Muhammad (PBUH), and our master ῾Isā (PBUH), and we do not differentiate between them in our love and veneration. Our love for Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām and Al-Masjid al-Aqṣā is in fact an expression of our love for these great prophets.
Allah, Glorified is He, has also connected the two Books, as He says: “And We brought Musa the Book and made it a guidance for the Seeds (Or: sons) of Israel.” (Qur’an 17: 2). Furthermore, in another verse, He says: “Surely this Qur’an guides to (the way) that is more upright.” (Qur’an 17: 9). Thus, the Torah is a Book that contains guidance, yet the Qur’an is more upright, more guiding, more complete, and more perfect. This connection between the two heavenly Books clarifies the close relationship between them.
As for the connection between the two communities, Allah has described the community of the Children of Israel in the Book as having corrupted in the land twice: “And We decreed to the Seeds (Or: sons) of Israel in the Book: ‘Indeed you will corrupt in the earth twice, and indeed you will rise to a great height.’” (Qur’an 17: 4). While the community of Islam, to which Allah has honoured us to belong, is described in His saying: “So when the promise of the first of the two came, We sent against you servants of Ours endowed with great might, and so they went taming through (your) homes; and the promise (was) performed.” (Qur’an 17: 5).
Thus, there is a community whose affair is corruption, falsifying and distorting history, aggressing against women and children, and seeking to displace the Palestinian people from their land – a community whose historical course has been to adopt corruption in the land. There is a community that Allah, Glorified is He, has made a community of truth, and a community that preserves rights; it does not accept the injustice done to the Palestinian people, nor does it relinquish rights, but conducts itself in all matters with honour, trustworthiness, and truth, for it has been formed upon true morals.
The second reflection
Almighty Allah says: “And your Lord has decreed that you should not worship (any) except Him, and (that you show) fairest companionship to parents. If ever one or both of them reaches old age (while) with you, then do not say to them, ‘Fie!’ and do not scold them; and speak to them respectful words.” (Qur’an 17: 23).
Here, the Ever-Glorious Qur’an speaks about dutifulness to parents. The father and the mother are your Garden and your Fire. Either Allah, Glorified is He, grants you the blessing of perfect dutifulness to your father and mother, so that, by the blessing of their supplication, there remains for you light, guidance, blessing, and abundance in this world and the Hereafter; or you become – may Allah protect you and us from that – among the wretched, who treat their parents with harshness and bad conduct, become angry with them, rage against them, insult them and harm them, wounding their feelings, so that their hearts turn against you and one of them supplicates against you with a supplication whose evil consequence and bitterness you shall taste sooner or later.
Treat them with humility, yet this is not, in reality, humiliation; it is rather mercy, appreciation, and affection. Thus, says Almighty Allah: “And lower to them the wing of humbleness out of mercy, and say, ‘Lord! Have mercy on them, as they reared me small.’” (Qur’an 17: 24).
The third reflection
Almighty Allah says: “The seven heavens and the earth, and whoever is in them, extol His praise; and decidedly there is not anything except that it extols His praise, but you do not comprehend their extolment. Surely, He has been Ever-Forbearing, Ever-Forgiving.” (Qur’an 17: 44).
Here emerges the greatness of respecting everything that exists. It is not only the human being; rather, all beings – heavens and earth and whatever is therein – extol the praise of Allah. It is therefore not befitting for us to demean any creature that extols His praise; rather, we must show respect to everything around us: trees, rivers, animals, angels, mountains, and stars. Every thing has its station, and every thing has an address from Allah.
The fourth reflection
Almighty Allah says: “And indeed We have honoured the Seeds (Or: sons) of Adam, and carried them in the land and the sea, and provided them of the good things, and graced them over many of whom We created, with marked graciousness.” (Qur’an 17: 70).
This honouring encompasses all human beings without exception: Muslim and non-Muslim, young and old, the obedient and the disobedient. It is a universal human honouring that urges us to respect every human being and to safeguard his dignity. This meaning was embodied in the conduct of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) when he stood up in respect for the funeral of a Jewish man and said: “Is it not a soul?” – affirming respect for human dignity regardless of difference in creed.
From these Qur’anic meanings, there emerge five great principles for building the consciousness of the believing human being:
– Respecting the worlds.
– Honouring the human being.
– Safeguarding homelands.
– Increasing civilisational development.
– Deepening faith.
The fifth reflection
Almighty Allah says: “And thus We made them to rise again that they might ask one another. A speaker from among them said, ‘How long have you lingered?’ They said, ‘We have lingered a day, or part (literally: some) of a day.’ They said, ‘Your Lord knows best how long you have lingered. So, send one of you with this your money to the city; then let him look for whichever of it has the purest food, so let him come up to you with a provision thereof, and let him be courteous, and definitely let no man be aware of you.’” (Qur’an 18: 19).
What astonishes us in this story is that when they awoke, they did not rush to eat randomly; rather, they sent one of them to the city to seek out the purest food and bring it back to them. This reveals their refined taste and fine choice, and it is a lesson for us in attachment to what is good and best in all matters.
This underscores the importance of holding fast to what is best – whether in food or in other aspects of life – even when means are limited. That which is neat and pure is better than what is ostentatious and luxurious when the latter is not attainable.
In conclusion, we pray that Almighty Allah gather us and you upon goodness – outwardly and inwardly – and grant us the pursuit of the highest peaks in every affair!
Until we meet again with a new part of Qur’an, stay noble, stay safe.
