Messages

["Shall We then (warn you not and) take away the Reminder (this Quran) from you, just because you are a people Musrifun (transgressors) ?"]

Assalamu alaikum brothers and sisters.

Well "to preach" somewhat sounds weird to me. I would prefer "to spread" the message of Islam or "to introduce Islam to the people in the best way one can do", "being an example". Simply because humanity is in desperate need of it. In need of understanding the beautiful essence of it. We can't be selfish about this. We can't hide it for ourselves.

"Shall We then (warn you not and) take away the Reminder (this Quran) from you, just because you are a people Musrifun (transgressors) ?" (43:5)

"And there may spring from you a nation who invite to goodness, and enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency. Such are they who are successful." (3:104)

"Indeed, those who conceal what We sent down of clear proofs and guidance after We made it clear for the people in the Scripture - those are cursed by Allah and cursed by those who curse. Except for those who repent and correct themselves and make evident [what they concealed]. Those - I will accept their repentance, and I am the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful." (2:159-160)

assalamu alaikum

Please consider Yakub and Yusuf (peace be upon them).

alaikum salam Yahya

can you re-check the numbers of the ayat you talk about ?

7:59 "We had certainly sent Noah to his people, and he said, "O my people, worship Allah ; you have no deity other than Him. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a tremendous Day." (there is no mention of "Ad" here)

10:73 "And they denied him, so We saved him and those with him in the ship and made them successors, and We drowned those who denied Our signs. Then see how was the end of those who were warned."

Last one is simply about the people who survived the flood. So you can think of them as the first generation of a new community.

[do not devour your property among yourselves falsely,]

assalamu alaikum brothers and sisters

This topic has been bothering me for a long time. I asked similar questions before (sister Nura posted the link above). But still my heart feels dissatisfied. Because sometimes I have to use those pirated software somehow. Professors at university don't seem to care about these copyrights at all. Mostly they give us "pdf" documents of books (not available for free) to study. They give projects, homeworks from them and even they ask from them in quizzes / exams. Sometimes we have to use pirated software like "photoshop", "ms office" and such. Mostly we (students at university) don't have another choice because we need to do very specific calculations, projects and things using "certain" softwares for our thesis.

There are also tons of websites streaming new movies/tv series before they're out on the market to purchase. Most people watch them just because they are available online.

I'm really really confused about this.

"O you who believe! do not devour your property among yourselves falsely, except that it be trading by your mutual consent; and do not kill your people; surely Allah is Merciful to you." (4:29)

" And do not swallow up your property among yourselves by false means, neither seek to gain access thereby to the judges, so that you may swallow up a part of the property of men wrongfully while you know." (2:188)

assalamu alaikum brothers and sisters

Alhamdulillah. Thanks all for your contributions. Great links Amira!

What about the opinion of "Ezra" being "a title" and referring to Enoch ? What do you think ?

Also, what do you think about the possibility of Ezra being "Azarias" mentioned in Daniel 3:25 ?

peace.

["They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah , and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary.]

Salam.

Alhamdulillah it's nice to see your contribution Duster. Thanks. I wonder what Torah and Bible say about Ezra and Enoch and even Azarias though.

I also think that the relevant ayah 9:30 must be considered along with the next ayah following it:

"They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah , and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship one God; there is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above whatever they associate with Him." (9:31)

I've just come across this article: https://discover-the-truth.com/2015/01/01/ezra-uzayr-the-son-of-god/

Quoting two comments from two Jewish professors from it:

Professor Rabbi Reuven Firestone

"While it is clear that Judaism as a religious civilization does not accept the view that God has partners or children, it is probable that some fringe groups pushed the limits of acceptable belief with the important figure of Ezra. Two ancient and originally Jewish books, for example, associate a near-divine or angelic status to the biblical personages of Ezra and Enoch. These are 4 Ezra, also known as 2 Esdras 14:9, 50 and 2 Enoch 22:11. Although composed by Jews, both of these books were rejected by Judaism and did not become part of its canonical literature. However, because of their parallels with Christian beliefs, some Christian groups adopted and preserved them. It appears as if some members of a Jewish sect espousing these beliefs were living in Medina at the time of the Prophet and expressed such views, which were immediately rejected and countered through the revelation of the Qur'anic verse." [4]

Professor Moshe Idel

"Indeed in the Qur'an 9:30, some Jews were described critically as believing in a form of sonship relating to the mysterious figure of Uzair, who was designated as the Son of God, and Muslim authors even reported that some Jews worshipped him as such. This means that long before the emergence of the Ashkenazi esoteric literatures to be discussed below in chapter 2, concerning a hypostatic versus a national understanding of sonship, some Jews entertained concepts of or even practiced worship related to figure described as a Son of God. Do these two references to sonship reflect a broader historical situation? At least in principle, we should be aware of the possible role played by the vast poetic literature written in the land of Israel in the early Middle Ages, and its impact on southern Italian poems since the ninth century, and also of the role played by Ashkenazi religious poetry in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, in transmission of mythologoumena from East to West. Since those literatures are quite abstruse, and many of them have not yet been analysed from the conceptual point of view, they may constitute another potential bridge between continents and historical periods." [5]

[4] Children of Abraham: An Introduction to Judaism for Muslims [Copyright 2001 American Jewish Committee] By Professor Rabbi Reuven Firestone Page 35 – 36
[5] Ben Sonship and Jewish Mysticism [Shalom Hartman Institute – Continuum] by Professor Moshe Idel Page 54 – 55"

Salam.

Salam

Sorry for my late response and yes i did find it informative although i don't quite agree with the last paragraph (above the note). But that part is the subject of another topic. So let's stay on the topic

Actually the article touches on the points i made in my first post here. So historically, Ezra and Enoch are quite similar in characteristics! Also now, we learn about "Azarias" who was mentioned in Daniel 3:25.

Alhamdulillah. This is getting more and more interesting May ALLAH (swt) guide us to the right way.

Salam.

nope please share it if you can Wanderer... it would be a great contribution

edit: is this it ? http://almadinainstitute.org/blog/the-quran-the-jews-and-ezra-as-the-son-of-god/ 

Assalamu alaikum brothers and sisters,

This is actually a very controversial topic. We know 9:30-31:

"And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away! They have taken their rabbis and their monks-as well as the Christ, son of Mary-for their lords beside God, although they had been bidden to worship none but the One God, save whom there is no deity: the One who is utterly remote, in His limitless glory, from anything to which they may ascribe a share in His divinity!"

Now, i really don't know much about Ezra/Uzair historically but i would like to read about him very much. Perhaps Brother Joseph has done some research on this, i don't know. If we just talk about this here generally, under this topic, it would be really informative for those who seek some knowledge about the issue. Personally, i would love that.

Most of the Muslim scholars say that the ayah about Ezra was revealed about a certain group of Arab or Yemen Jews, who lived back in the time of the Prophet (pbuh).

Also there are those who say that the word "Uzair" is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew word "Azar" or "Ozer" which means "Helper". So they think that the "Uzair" was actually a "title" not a name of a person i.e. "the Helper of Allah". Hence this may be attributed to "Enoch" !

And so on ...

Let's gather all the information we know about Ezra/Uzair here in sha ALLAH.

May the mercy and blessings of RAHMAN be upon us all.

Peace.

[qaryatin]

salam

i don't think it means lands of where they live. because there are two different words, which i marked in bold, to describe their towns/villages and their homes. this is the transliteration of 28:58 :

"Wakam ahlakna min qaryatin batiratmaAAeeshataha fatilka masakinuhum lam tuskan minbaAAdihim illa qaleelan wakunna nahnu alwaritheen"

wa alaykum salam

28:58:

And how many a town have We destroyed which exulted in its means of subsistence, so these are their abodes, they have not been dwelt in after them except a little, and We are the inheritors.

22:45:

So how many a town did We destroy while it was unjust, so it was fallen down upon its roofs, and (how many a) deserted well and palace raised high.

Approach these two ayat coherently. Those towns were destroyed, dwellings were deserted and in ruin. After their first owners (people who were punished) just a few people dwelt in those places, but now you see them (their homes) as completely abandoned ! So, these two ayat together may not be indicating the same period of time. They could be telling us about the condition of those places gradually, over time. This is my opinion and ALLAH (swt) knows best.

About your second question, i don't have the required information of history to make a comment

Take care inshaALLAH.

salam yahya

46:25: Destroying everything by command of its Lord. And they became so that nothing was seen [of them] except their dwellings. Thus do We recompense the criminal people.

51:42: It spared nothing that it reached, but blew it into broken spreads of rotten ruins.

I don't think there is any contradiction. We must think of these two ayat together. The wind destroyed everything it reached, leaving their dwellings. This is what "ruin" look like:

assalamu alaikum all

Alhamdulillah. thank you for letting me know of your opinions.

["They said: " There is no power for us today against Goliath and his soldiers."]

My interpretation? Those who drank were left behind and did not join Saul. Some of those who remained with Saul were then scared that they would be crushed by Goliath. But those of Saul's companions who were perhaps stronger in faith consoled them, telling them they had God on their side.
Regards
wanderer

salam wanderer

so you say, "They said: " There is no power for us today against Goliath and his soldiers." was said by those who were with Saul. And that they were the minority ...