Quraanic Exegesis, Dought&clear, - * The meaning of al-huroof al-muqatta’ah in the Qur’aan

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what is meant by the ayah Alim Lam Meem, and other similar ayahs in the quran? What have the scholars said regarding them?
Praise be to Allaah.
A group of scholars, such as the Rightly-Guided Khaleefahs (may Allaah be pleased with them), and others among the Sahaabah, Taabi’een and their followers, refrained from interpreting this aayah and others which contain al-huroof al-muqatta’ah [letters which appear at the beginning of some soorahs]. It was not narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) interpreted them, so it is preferable for us to say Allaah knows best what they mean. But it was narrated that some of the mufassireen among the Sahaabah, Taabi’een and their followers did interpret them, and they differed as to their interpretation.
Al-Saheeh al-Masboor min al-Tafseer bi’l-Ma’thoorby Dr Hikmat Basheer, vol 1, p. 94
Some of the scholars tried to discover the wisdom behind these letters and said: These letters are mentioned – and Allaah knows best – at the beginning of soorahs which point to the miraculous nature of the Qur’aan, which implies that all mankind is unable to match it, even though it is composed of the letters that they use in their daily speech. This was the view supported by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) and was approved of by Abu’l-Hajjaaj al-Mazzi (may Allaah have mercy on him). And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions, and grant them peace.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, vol. 4, p. 144.

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Quraanic Exegesis, Dought&clear, - * Why did Allaah create the heavens and the earth in six days when He is able to have created it in less time?

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If Allah intends a thing, his only word is "BE" and it is. can you please explain why he took 6 days to create the heavens and earth?.
Praise be to Allaah.
One of the firm beliefs held by people of deep faith and complete Tawheed is that the Lord, may He be exalted, is able to do all things, and His power is without limits. He has absolute power, perfect will and ultimate control of all affairs. If He wills a thing, it happens as He wills it at the time when He wills it, and in the manner that He wills.
There are many definitive texts in the Book of our Lord and in the Sunnah of His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which affirm this and state it clearly, with no ambiguity. It is sufficient here for us to quote some of the verses that indicate this, such as the verses (interpretation of the meaning):
“The Originator of the heavens and the earth. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it : ‘Be!’ — and it is”
[al-Baqarah 2:117]
Al-Haafz Ibn Katheer said in his commentary on this verse (Tafseer1/175): “Here Allaah explains the completeness of His power and the greatness of His authority, and that if He wills and decrees something, He simply says to it, ‘Be!’ – just once – and it is, i.e., it comes into existence as He willed it. This is like the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
‘Verily, His Command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, “Be!” — and it is!’
[Ya-Seen 36:82].”
And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“When He has decreed something, He says to it only: ‘Be!’ —and it is”
[Aal ‘Imraan 3:47]
“It is He Who gives life and causes death. And when He decides upon a thing He says to it only: ‘Be’— and it is”
[Ghaafir 40:68]
“And Our Commandment is but one as the twinkling of an eye”
[al-Qamar 54:50]
Al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer said in his commentary on this verse (4/261): “Here Allaah tells us how His will is executed in His creation, and how His decree is implemented. ‘And Our Commandment is but one’ means, We only issue a command once, and We do not need to repeat it a second time, and what We command happens in the twinkling of an eye, it is not delayed for an instant. How well the poet put it:
‘When Allaah wills something, all He says to it is “Be!”, once, and it is.’”
And there are many other verses which speak of this matter and explain it.
Once this is established, then why did Allaah create the heavens and the earth in six days?
Firstly:
It is narrated in more than one verse of the Book of our Lord that Allaah created the heavens and the earth in six days. For example, Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Indeed, your Lord is Allaah, Who created the heavens and the earth in Six Days, and then He rose over (Istawa) the Throne (really in a manner that suits His Majesty)”
[al-A’raaf 7:54]
Secondly:
There is nothing that Allaah does but there is great wisdom in it. This is one of the meanings of Allaah’s name al-Hakeem (The Most Wise). Allaah may or may not show this wisdom to us, and those who have deep knowledge may understand it, to the exclusion of others.
But the fact that we may not know or understand this wisdom should not make us deny it or object to the rulings of Allaah, or try to ask too much about this wisdom that Allaah has hidden from us. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“He [Allaah] cannot be questioned as to what He does, while they will be questioned”
[al-Anbiya’ 21:23]
Some scholars have attempted to explain the reason why the heavens and the earth were created in six days:
1 – Imam al-Qurtubi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said inal-Jaami’ li Ahkaam al-Qur’aan, commenting on al-A’raaf 7:54 (4/7/140):
“Allaah mentions this period – i.e. six days – although if He had wanted to create it in an instant, He could have done so, because He is Able to say to it ‘Be!’ and is. But He wanted to:
- Teach His slaves kindness and deliberation in their affairs.
- Manifest His power to the angels step by step.
- And there is another reason: He wanted to create it in six days because Allaah has decreed a course for everything, for which reason He He delays the punishment for the sinners, because everything has an appointed time with Him.”
2 – Ibn al-Jawzi said in his tafseer calledZaad al-Maseer(3/162), commenting on the verse in Soorat al-A’raaf:
“If it is said, why did He not create it in an instant when He is Able to do so? There are five answers to this question:
(i) He wanted to create something each day to show His power to the angels and those who witnessed it. This was suggested by Ibn al-Anbaari.
(ii) He was preparing things for Adam and his offspring before Adam existed, to emphasize Adam’s high standing before the angels.
(iii) Doing things in a short time is more indicative of power, and deliberation is more indicative of wisdom. Allaah wanted to manifest His wisdom in that, just as He manifested His power when He said, ‘ “Be!” And it is.’
(iv) He taught deliberation to His slaves, because if the One Who does not make mistakes created the universe in a deliberate manner, then it is more appropriate for those who are vulnerable to making mistakes to do things in a deliberate manner.
(v) Creation was accomplished step by step, lest anyone think that this happened as the result of an accident of nature.
3 – al-Qaadi Abu’l-Sa’ood said in his commentary on the verse in al-A’raaf (3/232):
“The fact that Allaah created things in stages although He is able to have created everything in one go is indicative of the Divine Will and is a sign of His power for those who understand, and it encourages deliberation in all things.”
And he said in his commentary on al-Furqaan 25:59 (6/226):
“The One Who created these great stars in this precise configuration in stages, even though He is able to create them in one go, (that was) for a great reason and sublime purpose, which human minds cannot comprehend fully.”
Based on the above, it is clear that Allaah has absolute power, ultimate will and perfect control, and He has wise reasons for everything that He creates, which no one knows but He, may He be exalted. Now you can understand some of the reasons why Allaah created the heavens and the earth in six days when He is able to have created them simply by saying “Be!”.
May Allaah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and companions.

*AS'SALAMU ALAIKUM (WR, WB)*
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Quraanic Exegesis, Dought&clear, - * Does being raised tothe status of their parents in Paradise apply to all offering, young and old?

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I read that one of the favours of Allaah is that He will raise the status of children in Paradise to that of their parents who are higher than them, and that on this basis the children of the Companions will be raised to the status of their fathers, and grandchildren will be raised to the status of their forefathers, and so on, every generation will raise the following generation, down to our generation, so we will be raised to the status of the Companions if we are their descendants. This may lead to people being heedless about their actions and relying on this divine honour. What is your opinion?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The question raised here stems from discussion of the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And those who believe and whose offspring follow them in Faith, — to them shall We join their offspring, and We shall not decrease the reward of their deeds in anything. Every person is a pledge for that which he has earned”
[al-Toor 52:21]
The scholars differed concerning the word offspring -- did it refer to young or old? Those who said that it refers to young children did not have any confusion about the meaning of the verse. Rather the confusion arises if the meaning of the word offspring is grown-up children. The more correct view concerning the meaning of it is that it refers to young children. Based on that, it does not refer to that which caused confusion for the questioner. The raise in status is for offspring in the sense of young children, otherwise the implication would be that all the people of Paradise would be of the same status.
1.
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: the commentators differed concerning the meaning of offspring in this verse. Does it refer to young, old or both? There are three opinions ... Then he said: The specific meaning of offspring here as referring to small children is apparent, otherwise it would imply that those who come later would be equal in status to those who came before, but there is no such implication if what is meant is small children, because the children and offspring of each man will be with him at the same status level. And Allaah knows best. End quote.
Haadi al-Arwaah ila Bilaad al-Afraad, p. 279-281.
2.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
If the children are destined for Paradise and the father is destined for Paradise, then Allaah says in His Book (interpretation of the meaning):
“And those who believe and whose offspring follow them in Faith, — to them shall We join their offspring, and We shall not decrease the reward of their deeds in anything. Every person is a pledge for that which he has earned”
[al-Toor 52:21]
Meaning that if a person has offspring, and they are people of Paradise, then they will follow their father, even if their status is lower than that of their father. Hence He said: “and We shall not decrease the reward of their deeds in anything” meaning, We will not decrease the reward of the fathers; rather the fathers will retain their abundant reward and the offspring will be raised to the status of their fathers. This refers to the children who are not excluded from the word offspring when they have their own wives and families. These will have a special virtue and will not be joined to their fathers, because if we were to say that each person will join his father even if he has a wife and children or he is on his own, then all the people of Paradise would be of the same level, because everyone is the offspring of the previous generation. Rather what is meant by offspring is those who were with him, and did not leave and have wives and children of their own. These people will be raised to the status of their fathers, and nothing of their fathers’ deeds will be lost. End quote.
Fataawa Noor ‘ala al-Darb(tape no. 324, side 1).
3.
And he (may Allaah have mercy on him) also said:
Moreover, Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):“And those who believe and whose offspring follow them in Faith, — to them shall We join their offspring…”[al-Toor 52:21]. Those who believed and whose offspring followed them in Faith -- the offspring who follow their parents in Faith are small children. Hence Allaah says “to them shall We join their offspring”, i.e., We will cause their offspring to join them in their levels in Paradise.
With regard to grown-up children who have got married, they will be in their own levels in Paradise, and will not be joined to their fathers, because they have their own offspring, so they will be in their own places. As for offspring in the sense of small children who follow their fathers, they will be joined to their fathers, but this joining does not imply any detraction from the reward or status of the fathers. Hence Allaah says, “and We shall not decrease the reward of their deeds in anything”, meaning that their offspring will be joined to them, and it cannot be said that a deduction will be made from the fathers' degrees commensurate with the rise in status of the offspring, rather Allaah says “and We shall not decrease the reward of their deeds in anything”. End quote.
Tafseer al-Qur’aan min al-Hujuraat ila al-hadeed, p. 187.
And Allaah knows best.

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Friday - Aug - 14 - 2015
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