Topics

https://topicsfromquran.com/2018/08/18/prophet-suleimans-invitation-to-queen-of-saba/

Al-Kitab gives an interesting account of communication between Prophet Sulieman A.S and Queen of Saba in Sura Namal, twenty seventh Sura/chapter of Al-Kitab.The link to the above post reviews the invitation of Prophet's Suleiman A.S/Solomon to Queen of Saba and reading between the lines in that story.

https://topicsfromquran.wordpress.com/2018/06/10/who-are-jinns-as-per-quran/

The above link to a post discusses Ayas related to Jinns in Quran

Most people think of Jinns as paranormal creatures, very different from human beings. Common belief about Jinns is that they can become invisible or attain any shape and form and even can get inside human bodies to possess them. They are free from material form and can fly in air or space. Their diet is different from humans, they eat bones and sweets. Their life span is also different from human life span and a plethora of similar fantastic beliefs about Jinns. The root word ج ن ن of 'Jinn' imply meanings in the sense of 'shielded' or 'covered'. The above linke to post we will see what Quran tells us about Jinns, and whether the concepts about Jinns mentioned above are from Quran or are from outside of Quran:

8:67  مَا كَانَ لِنَبِيٍّ أَن يَكُونَ لَهُ أَسْرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ يُثْخِنَ فِي الْأَرْضِ ۚ تُرِيدُونَ عَرَضَ الدُّنْيَا وَاللَّهُ يُرِيدُ الْآخِرَةَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ

Salam,
Whats your understanding of Ayat 67 of Anfal.
What could يُثْخِنَ mean?
The spelling of word أَسْرَىٰ used here and in 17:1 are exactly the same, although they are different words. Can there be some connection?

Will appreciate your comments.

Thanks

Salam,
Any thoughts or understanding of below Ayat? What had happened with the Donkey and food. How was he made aware of the
process of anatomy?

2:259  أَوْ كَالَّذِي مَرَّ عَلَىٰ قَرْيَةٍ وَهِيَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَىٰ عُرُوشِهَا قَالَ أَنَّىٰ يُحْيِي هَٰذِهِ اللَّهُ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا ۖ فَأَمَاتَهُ اللَّهُ مِائَةَ عَامٍ ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُ ۖ قَالَ كَمْ لَبِثْتَ ۖ قَالَ لَبِثْتُ يَوْمًا أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ ۖ قَالَ بَل لَّبِثْتَ مِائَةَ عَامٍ فَانظُرْ إِلَىٰ طَعَامِكَ وَشَرَابِكَ لَمْ يَتَسَنَّهْ ۖ وَانظُرْ إِلَىٰ حِمَارِكَ وَلِنَجْعَلَكَ آيَةً لِّلنَّاسِ ۖ وَانظُرْ إِلَى الْعِظَامِ كَيْفَ نُنشِزُهَا ثُمَّ نَكْسُوهَا لَحْمًا ۚ فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ قَالَ أَعْلَمُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

Or like the one who passed by a hamlet, all in ruins to its roofs. He said. "Oh! how shall Allah bring it (ever) to life, after its death?" thus Allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him up (again). He (Allah) said. "How long did you stay (thus)?" He said. (Perhaps) a day or part of a day." He said. "No, You have stayed a hundred years; but look at your food and your drink; they show no signs of decay; and look at your donkey. And that We may make of you a sign for the people, Look further at the bones, how We bring them together and clothe them with flesh." When this was shown clearly to him, he said. "I know that Allah has power over all things."

https://topicsfromquran.wordpress.com/2018/05/04/recognize-groups-by-their-behaviors-not-by-their-labels/

Al-Kitab mentions several groups of people with certain names or labels, such as Muslims, Jews, Christians, etc. When Al-Kitab introduces these labels it also gives behaviors and character traits of these people. An important point to understand is that when Al-Kitab mentions for example 'Jews' it means those people who act according to traits given in Al-Kitab for Jews, and not by what the world calls them or not by what label they put on themselves.

And when Al-Kitab mentions 'Muslims', then those people who match the character traits of 'Muslims' in Al-Kitab are meant.  The labels that people put on themselves don't matter. If some people call and label themselves as 'Muslims', however, their actions actually match the traits of 'Jews' given in the Book, then they are actually 'Jews' in the eyes of the Lord. Vice Versa, if some people call and label themselves as 'Jews', however they do not match the characteristics of 'Jews' in the Book, they are not 'Jews' in the eyes of the Lord.

It may not be that a particular group exhibits characteristics of a trait all the time. It would seem more likely that in every community wether as a whole this community be labeled as Muslim, Jew or Christian, there would be some people within each community behaving like Muslims, Jews and Christians, Hypocrites and Momin/Believers etc. God has created all people. He is the Lord and sustainer of all people in the World. Then why would God punish people who He Himself created in a certain place or community unless they exhibit the behaviors he has warned them not to do.

The above link to the post presents the behavior traits of people as given in Quran.

Link to complete article:
https://topicsfromquran.wordpress.com/2017/12/25/hadith-of-moosa-a-s-and-hoot-whale/

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Hoot (حوت) means big fish in Arabic. Normally the word is used for whales and dolphins. There is an incident mentioned in Al-Kitab about a Hoot/Whale swallowing prophet Yunus A.S. There is another incident mentioned in Al-Kitab about Prophet Moosa (A.S)and a youth who went on an expedition. The indication they had of their quest was to follow a Hoot/whale uptil the point of merging of two oceans.

18:60  وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِفَتَاهُ لَا أَبْرَحُ حَتَّىٰ أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ أَوْ أَمْضِيَ حُقُبًا

And when, Moses said to his attendant, "I will not give up until I reach the junction of the two seas or even If I have to spend a long time in travel."

18:61  فَلَمَّا بَلَغَا مَجْمَعَ بَيْنِهِمَا نَسِيَا حُوتَهُمَا فَاتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُ فِي الْبَحْرِ سَرَبًا

But when they both reached the Junction, they forgot (about) their Whale, which took its course in the sea freely.

18:62  فَلَمَّا جَاوَزَا قَالَ لِفَتَاهُ آتِنَا غَدَاءَنَا لَقَدْ لَقِينَا مِن سَفَرِنَا هَٰذَا نَصَبًا

When they had passed on (some distance), Moses said to his attendant. "Bring us our supper; truly we have suffered much fatigue at this (stage of) our journey."

18:63  قَالَ أَرَأَيْتَ إِذْ أَوَيْنَا إِلَى الصَّخْرَةِ فَإِنِّي نَسِيتُ الْحُوتَ وَمَا أَنسَانِيهُ إِلَّا الشَّيْطَانُ أَنْ أَذْكُرَهُ ۚ وَاتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُ فِي الْبَحْرِ عَجَبًا

He replied. "Did you see (what happened) when we betook ourselves to the rock? I did indeed forget (about) the Whale. none but Satan made me forget to tell (you) about it. it took its course through the sea in a marvelous way!"

18:64  قَالَ ذَٰلِكَ مَا كُنَّا نَبْغِ ۚ فَارْتَدَّا عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِمَا قَصَصًا

Moses said. "That was what we were seeking after." So they went back on their footsteps, following (the path they had come).

18:65  فَوَجَدَا عَبْدًا مِّنْ عِبَادِنَا آتَيْنَاهُ رَحْمَةً مِّنْ عِندِنَا وَعَلَّمْنَاهُ مِن لَّدُنَّا عِلْمًا

So they found one of Our servants, on whom We had bestowed Mercy from Ourselves and whom We had taught knowledge from Our own Presence.

The conventional story associated with above Ayas in Quran is that Moosa and his attendant were on land. They had a cooked fish with them as their meal. After walking for a long time Moosa was tired and asked the attendant to bring the fish for their meal. At that time the attendant told him that when they passed over the rock, the dead fish suddenly became alive and made its way into the water. Moosa told him that was the place they were seeking and they turned back to find that place.

In the above conventional story beside the problem of a cooked fish suddenly becoming alive and jumping in water, another point is that the word Hoot (حوت) is used for big fish like whale and dolphin which people don't carry for lunches.  The small fish which are eaten are called Samak( سمك) in Arabic. If we ponder over the Ayas only, the scenario which builds up is that Moosa and the youth must be travelling on a boat or ship. They are following a whale or dolphin. Whales do season migration on known routes. They are following the whale which is destined to go to a specific place as part of whale migration