 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأمبياء والمرسلين حبيب إله العالمين أب القاسم المصطفى محمد وعلى أهل بيته الطيبين الطاهرين الذين أذهب الله عنهم الرجسة وطهرهم تطهيرا أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الفلاميم تلك آيات الكتاب الحكيم هدا ورحمة للمحسنين الذين يقيمون الصلاة ويؤتون الزكاة وهم بالآخرة هم يؤنون أولئك على هدى من ربهم وأولئك هم المفلحون صل على محمد وآل محمد اللهم صل على محمد وآل محمد as we continue with the Tafseer of Surah Luqman chapter 31 in the Quran we first see the verses the first verse in the Quran is Now there are 29 chapters in the Quran Surahs in the Quran that begin with disconnected letters it begins with Arabic letters like Surah Al-Baqarah, Alif, Lam, Meem or Kaaf, Ha, Ya, Ain, Saad in Surah Maryam or Surah Yasin, Ya, Sin Surah Taha, Taha and there are 29 chapters in the Quran that begin with the disjointed, the حروف المقطعات and the majority of them, 27 of the 29 were revealed in Makkah and only two of those chapters with the مقطعات with the disconnected letters were revealed in Medina and those were Al-Baqarah and Al-Imran All of the other chapters that begin with disconnected letters were revealed in Makkah Now these disjointed and disconnected letters they have mesmerized commentators many commentators they give many opinions as to what these disconnected letters mean one group they say these are from the متشابهات the Quran has clear verses and ambiguous verses the ambiguous verses they say that it is not our task it is not our job to come and try to analyze them and see them and we shouldn't play guessing games only Allah knows what is the true meaning of these حروف المقطعات a different group of scholars another group and perhaps the majority they say that the Quran was revealed for a purpose الله سبحانه وتعالى revealed the Quran in order to deliver a message to us in order to tell us in order to speak to us now yes we might not understand certain things certain meanings in the Quran however that doesn't mean that it doesn't have a meaning and then from there on they began to give many meanings and interpretations and possibilities as to what these حروف المقطعات mean one opinion says these are the names of God these are the names of Allah ألف لا ميم كافها يا عينصاد ألف لا مراع these are the names of God another is that these are the letters of اسم الله الأعظم الله سبحانه وتعالى has a great name where when you call upon Allah سبحانه وتعالى with that name Allah سبحانه وتعالى will answer you so one opinion says that these حروف المقطعات they are letters from اسم الله الأعظم another opinion says that these are letters which describe the qualities of Allah سبحانه وتعالى so for example ألف it describes it begins with الله لام the L describes the لطف and the compassion of Allah سبحانه وتعالى نيم describes the مجد and the glory of Allah سبحانه وتعالى of course the Quran can have more than one meaning the Quran has an internal meaning and the internal aspect of it also has another internal meaning and many meanings so it could be very much a possibility that all of these are true because we have some hadith from the أهل البيت عليهم السلام which they describe that for example the A the ألف describes Allah the لام describes the لطف and the ميم describes the مجد and we also have other narrations which may describe other things other things that have to do with this life but of course we are in no position to do تفسير of the Quran on our own we need to refer to the إمام we need to refer to the معصوم they are the infallibles they are the ones who understand the Quran therefore they have the right to give us various interpretations of one verse one meaning of these letters is that Allah سبحانه وتعالى speaking to us humans and one of the qualities that differentiates the humans from all other creation is that we have the ability to communicate we have the ability to connect with one another the animals other creation they also do communicate but Allah سبحانه وتعالى is communicating with us in a language that we understand in a language that we comprehend and especially the Quran was being revealed to the Arabs in Makkah and the Arabs they were very proud of one thing there were many things that they were not proud of they used to kill they used to oppress they used to abuse but there was one thing that made them proud and that was their Arabic language that was the eloquence of their language and their poetic skills so here Allah سبحانه وتعالى is revealing these verses in Makkah and as we mentioned the chapters that were revealed in Makkah are proving the faith they are more focused on ideological concepts so here Allah سبحانه وتعالى saying ألف لا ميم كافها يا عين صاد these are the letters of your language you should comprehend what is being said in the Quran so Allah سبحانه وتعالى begins by showing us letters that we understand letters that we use to communicate with one another and then Allah سبحانه وتعالى begins to speak to us so imagine someone they want to speak to you in English and they are talking to you but you don't understand what is being said so they come and they tell you A B C these are letters that you are familiar with and then after that they begin talking to you in a language that you are familiar with because Allah سبحانه وتعالى states in the Quran that we send every prophet to every people to every group of people we send to them a prophet that speaks to them in their own language it wouldn't make sense if Allah سبحانه وتعالى sends a prophet that does not speak in the language that we understand and we comprehend so Allah سبحانه وتعالى states in the Surah ألف لا ميم these are the letters and these are the possible meanings of the letters that we mentioned تلك آيات الكتاب الحكيم these are the signs and the verses of the book that is حكيم the book that is wise now scholars point out that when Allah سبحانه وتعالى says تلك this is referring to something that is far إشارة إلى البعيد when you point at something close you say هذا but if you are pointing at something far you say تلك so when far how is this far these are the signs of Allah these letters one interpretation says these letters are letters that are difficult for our minds and our intellects to grasp and the signs of Allah سبحانه وتعالى some of them we could grasp and we could easily understand and there are others that we cannot easily understand so Allah says ألف لا ميم تلك آيات الكتاب الحكيم these are the far-fetched signs where it's difficult for a person to grasp Allah سبحانه وتعالى continues by referring to the Quran as كتاب الحكيم تلك آيات الكتاب الحكيم these are the signs of the book of wisdom the Quran Allah سبحانه وتعالى describes it in the Quran as a book of wisdom a book of knowledge a book of truth حكيم and of course there's a correlation between Allah سبحانه وتعالى talking about لقمان الحكيم and the signs of the book that are حكيم so Allah سبحانه وتعالى Allah سبحانه وتعالى talks to us about these signs of Allah and here Allah سبحانه وتعالى describes the Quran in one verse as كتاب الحكيم in another verse as كتاب المنير the illuminating light and in another one Allah سبحانه وتعالى describes it as كتاب المبين the clear the book of Allah the Quran is a very clear book there is there are no inconsistencies there are no contradictions in the Quran and this is what makes it a wise book this is what makes it a book of wisdom if you find someone who's wise you will see that this person does not have any inconsistencies in their life this person a person who's wise they will not be telling lies they're very clear they're very honest they're crystal clear in their talk so here Allah سبحانه وتعالى is telling us this is the book that is حكيم now why is Allah سبحانه وتعالى telling the people of Mecca that the Quran is a book of wisdom this is because as we know رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله was delivering the Quran to the people in Mecca and the people in Mecca they were living in a society that was filled with vices and there were many soothsayers fortune tellers magicians people saying talk that is gibberish talk that has no meaning talk that carries no meaning and Allah سبحانه وتعالى later on as we will point out in Surat Luqman speaks about لحو الحديث the talk that is that is wasting time so Allah is trying to differentiate Allah is trying to create a dichotomy here where the Quran is a book of wisdom a book of truth a clear book while all of the other talk everything else that is a talk that perhaps is not always truth is not always truthful the Quran is a book of truth my dear brothers and sisters throughout history 1400 years the Quran has proven to be a book of truth and this is what makes it a miracle the miracle of the Quran is that the Quran is always relevant there is never a time that the Quran does not become relevant the Quran is always relevant it's a book of truth it's a book of wisdom perhaps I could be saying something right now it may be true right now as I say it but maybe 10 years down the line maybe 100 years down the line it's not going to be true for example I say right now we don't have a vaccine for the Corona virus this may be a word of truth right now but in a couple of months in a while this will change and insha'Allah there will be a vaccine for the Corona virus so this will not be a word of absolute truth but the Quran is different the Quran is absolute truth the Quran time generations all of this it does not change the Quran and it is always relevant it is always something that is relevant and something that is clear now the Quran says and these are the signs of someone who is wise someone who is wise should also be someone who is clear someone who is always saying the truth someone who is crystal clear in their message and in their life and then Allah سبحانه وتعالى says the Quran is a book of guidance and a book of mercy for who for the for the good doers for the ones who do good in their life the Quran is a book of guidance and mercy for them Allah سبحانه وتعالى the Quran and Allah they are the ones who are clear they are the ones who guide Allah is the source of mercy Allah is the source of all guidance in our lives and guide you the way Allah سبحانه وتعالى guide you and no one can have mercy upon you the way Allah سبحانه وتعالى has mercy upon you and the source of all guidance that you have in life and the source of all mercy that you have experienced and you see in life goes back to Allah سبحانه وتعالى because in order for someone to be merciful in order for someone to guide they need to have several qualities that we lack you need to be omnipotent you need to have absolute power and you need to have absolute knowledge omniscient these are qualities that are with Allah سبحانه وتعالى so Allah سبحانه وتعالى says in the Quran هدا ورحمة للمحسنين we know Allah سبحانه وتعالى guides everyone and Allah سبحانه وتعالى is a mercy towards everyone everyone deserves and everyone receives a portion of the mercy of Allah and a portion of the guidance of Allah سبحانه وتعالى Allah has guided every single one of us Allah has blessed every single one of us with mercy ورحمة وسعة كل شيء and the mercy of Allah has encompassed everything everything even those who do not believe in God they have received the mercy of Allah and even the guidance Allah says in the Quran بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم سبح اسم ربك الأعلى الذي خلق فسوى والذي قدر فهدا Allah سبحانه وتعالى created and guided even those people who aren't when we look at them today we see that they are not guided Allah سبحانه وتعالى has guided them Allah has guided us in numerous ways Allah has guided me through the intellect Allah has guided me in my creation Allah has guided me in creating the perfect creation لقد خلقنا الإنسان في أحسن تقويم Allah سبحانه وتعالى has guided me by giving me that internal navigation system that fitrah that innate subconscious that guides us and leads us to Allah سبحانه وتعالى these are all types of guidance and all types of mercy however the Quran Allah says in the Quran هدا ورحمة للمحسينين the Quran is a book of guidance for the ones who choose to be guided by the Quran if someone rejects the Quran if someone places the Quran on their bookshelf the Quran is a book of guidance but it won't be a book of guidance for them because they are rejecting the guidance so we understand that there are types of guidance there are levels of guidance one guidance Allah gives it to everyone everyone deserves it and everyone will take it but there is another more specific guidance and that is the guidance of the Quran the guidance of the faith the guidance of Iman the special guidance that we ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى for and this is the guidance in this verse it is for the محسين you have to be a doer of good you have to be a محسن someone who does good then you will be deserving and worthy of the guidance of the Quran and the mercy of the Quran of course Allah سبحانه وتعالى describes the Quran as a guidance for three categories in one verse in Surah Al-Baqarah when you first open the Quran بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم ألف لا ميم حيب فيه هداً للمتقين هداً للمتقين it's a book of guidance for the pious this is one another is the pious are the God conscious you have to be God conscious second in Surah An-Naml هداً وبشرى للمؤمنين it's a guidance and glad tidings for the مؤمنين for the believers which is a level after after you're aware after you have conscious you're aware of Allah سبحانه وتعالى now you're a mu'min now you become a mu'min and it's a book of guidance for you and here هداً ورحمةً للمحسنين you also need to be a mu'min you also if you've believed if you're aware of God and if you believe in God now you need to show your faith should be reflected in your actions so how can my faith be reflected in my action Allah سبحانه وتعالى describes exactly who are the mu'min who are the ones who this book is a book of guidance for them هداً ورحمةً للمحسنين three qualities three characteristics of the believers الذين يقيمون الصلاة ويؤتون الزكات وهم بالآخرتيهم يؤنون three very important three qualities which make you a mu'min according to the Quran to be a doer of good إحسان is doing good a mu'min is the one who does the good the first الذين يقيمون الصلاة those who uphold prayers my dear brothers and sisters there's a difference with someone who prays and someone who upholds prayer في أمام الحسين عليه السلام we say أشهد أنك قد أقمت الصلاة I bear witness that you upheld prayer that you stood for the sake of prayer upholding prayer means caring for the prayer giving the prayer the proper respect that it deserves this is what makes you a mu'min and when you are praying you are doing إحسان to who who is the first beneficiary of your prayer some people say why does God need my prayer God he knows what's in my heart why does Allah need my prayer the first beneficiary of your prayer is yourself my dear brothers and sisters we are the first ones who benefit from the prayers when you pray you're going to benefit you're going to change your life you're going to become a better individual and when you do not pray you're stripping yourself of the ability to communicate with the Lord of the Universe you're stripping yourself with the ability to speak to Allah SWT and you're showing that you are ungrateful for what Allah SWT has given you Allah has given us all of these things He asked me to pray so that the prayer makes me a better person so that the prayer helps me have vision and foresight in life Allah says in the Quran إن أحسنتم the muhsin someone who does good we think when I'm doing something good when I for example help someone out when I do something good I pray, I fast, I give charity I consider myself a muhsin I'm doing a favor upon other people but Allah SWT says something that's totally the opposite Allah says in the Quran إن أحسنتم أحسنتم لأنفسكم وإن أسأتم فلها if you're doing good if you're doing good you're going to be the first one who benefits from it and if you do bad you're going to be the first one who suffers as a result of the bad that you do so this is the first sign الذين يقيمون الصلاة second ويؤتون الزكات giving zakat giving alms giving charity this is also a sign of the believer the believer the one who's a muhsin the one who's connected with Allah SWT is the one who gives and helps out a lot of us we minimize faith to just salah and spirituality and dua and connecting with Allah SWT whereas the Quran tells us that faith and إحسان is not only for restricted to prayer and dua and supplications that are good for you they help you in the afterlife however if you want help if you want to be a muhsin you have to pray and you have to help out people around you and this is what Islam is Islam teaches us to build two very important bonds one is a vertical bond a bond between you and your lord and second is a bond a horizontal bond a bond between you and people around you الله says in the Quran الذين يقيمون الصلاة ويؤتون الزكات you have to give zakat you have to give alms you have to think of the needy you have to think of those who don't have a portion of my money I think of it as mine but a portion of it does not belong to me according to the Quran الله says in the Quran وفي أموالهم حق معلوم للسائل والمحروم وفي أموالهم حق للسائل و المحروم in your wealth there is a part of your money announcements belongs to those whığınıeed who anyway do are needed have we given are we reminded of giving to those who are need the purpose on month of Ramadan is one of most important reason for month of Ramadan ماذا هو الفلسيفي من رمضان؟ هشام ابن الحكم يسكس إمام الباقر عليه السلام أو إمام الصادق. وإمام يخبره لكي تشعر أنك تشعر أن الناس يشعر بحيث نحن نأكل ونجمع ونجمع نفسنا. بعضاً يجب علينا أن نضع نفسنا في حالة التي نعتقد أننا أخذنا وعندما نضع نفسنا في هذه الأشياء، هذا من المرسي من الله سبحانه وتعالى الله يقول في القرآن الذين يقيمون الصلاة ويؤتون الزكات وهم بالآخرة هم يقنون في الآخرة. لماذا هو ذلك؟ لماذا يجب علي أن نضع نفسنا في الآخرة؟ لأن عندما أعتقد أنه في الآخرة أنا سأعتقد أن الله سبحانه وتعالى سيأخذني على كل شيء الذي أفعله في هذه الحياة. وعندما أعتقد ذلك في my mind then I'm going to be very careful not to oppress then I'm going to be very careful not to abuse people some people they have their own spiritual meditation and they give out money and they do things but they don't believe in Allah, they don't believe in the afterlife why is believing in the afterlife so important believing in the afterlife and believing in the Akhra is very important because you will be able to police yourself when you believe in the afterlife some people they do good they come and they give charity they're very good, they're very kind with people and then the moment they go home you see that there's a totally different side a totally different side they change 180 degrees why? because they're good and their actions are for other people to see in the masjid I pray I recite the Quran with a very beautiful voice I come and I give charity and I do so much but then when I go home I become a totally different person I start yelling, I start shouting I start abusing, I start insulting a muhsin is someone who's always muhsin someone who's always showing acts of kindness to everyone and the one who believes in the Akhra is someone who's always a muhsin someone who's always going to be very careful in their actions because you believe that there's a حساب there's a Kitab there's accountability الله سبحانه وتعالى is going to hold this accountable for everything that we've done and when I'm harmed when I'm oppressed I will also strengthen my faith it will keep me going I'm not going to give up because I believe in an afterlife I believe that there is going to be accountability if someone oppressed me maybe I'm not able maybe I'm not strong enough to be able to defend myself but I know Allah is there and this is the one who has the certainty the one who has the certainty in the afterlife this is why it's a very important quality to have إيمان comes to إيمان الحسين عليه السلام and he tells him I have daughters that men are coming and they're proposing they want to marry my daughters who should I give my daughter to the إيمان he says give your daughter to someone who has good أخلاق good manners and someone who believes in the Akhra someone who has strong faith someone who has strong إيمان and then the إيمان he adds he says because someone who has إيمان even if they had problems even if they had disputes with one another in the marriage but their إيمان is going to make them be very careful not to transgress not to oppress not to say anything that might be harmful that might be oppressive and this is why it's very important to believe in the Akhra so Allah says إنه قرآن الذين يقيمون الصلاة ويؤتون الزكات وهم بالأخرة يؤنون these are the ones who will receive the guidance from the قرآن because these are the محسينين these are the doers of good and then Allah says Allah continues to describe them أولائك على هدم من ربهم وأولائك هم المفلحون those are the ones who are guided who are continuously guided by their Lord and those are the victorious ones so if I want to be from amongst the victorious ones if I want to be from the guided ones then I have to be very careful that I have the connection with Allah my Salah my Zakat and my certainty in the afterlife these are what will make you a محسن if you become a محسن you will be a recipient of the guidance and the mercy of Allah which is in the قرآن and then you will be from the wise ones with that we will end asking Allah سبحانه وتعالى to make us from the ones who are wise نسألك الله وندعوك بسمك العظيم الأعظم يا الله يا الله يا رحمان يا رحيم يا مقلب القلوب ثبت قلوبنا على دينك اللهم أدخل على أهل القبور السرور اللهم أغني كل فقير اللهم أشبع كل جائع اللهم أكسو كل عريان اللهم أقض دين كل مدين اللهم فرج عن كل مكروب اللهم ردا كل غريب اللهم فكا كل أسير اللهم أصلح كل فاصد من أمور المسلمين اللهم أشفي كل مريض اللهم سد فقرنا بغناك اللهم غير سوء حالنا بحسني حالك اللهم أقض عن الدين وغننا من الفقر سد فقرنا بغناك على كل شيء قدير وإلى أرواح المؤمنين والمؤمنات