Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 3 (“Abundance”, …)
Continuing through the Qur’an, today I read the following chapters:
Surah 108 – “Abundance” (Al-Kauther)
A three-verse chapter in which Allah tells Muhammad that He has granted him the most abundant good and cut off Muhammad’s enemies from good things in this life and the next.
Questions
Q1. Muhammad is told to “offer sacrifice to [Allah alone]”. What sacrifices did Muhammad offer?
Surah 102 – “Competition” (At-Takathur)
This is a short warning against being distracted by the pursuit of worldly wealth. The hearer is reminded that he will one day die and face judgement
Surah 107 – “Small Kindness” (Al-Maun)
A poem against hypocrisy, those who want to be “seen” by men but who do not care for the poor and the orphan.
Surah 109 – “The Disbeliever” (Al-Kafiroon)
A rather drawn-out affirmation that Muslims and disbelievers do not have the same objects of worship since Muslims worship Allah alone.
Surah 105 – “The Elephant” (Al-Fil)
Muhammad is reminded of when Abrahah al-Ashram came with an army (which included an elephant) to Mecca with the intention of destroying the Ka’bah. Before he could enter the city, a cloud of birds bombarded his army with brimstone and destroyed them.
Surah 113 – “The Daybreak” (Al-Falaq)
A prayer for protection against evil and magic.
Questions
Q1. The text says to seek refuge from “the evil of that which [Allah] created”. it’s not affirmed that Allah made something evil, right?
Surah 114 – “Mankind” (An-Nas)
This is the last chapter of the Qur’an in the normal ordering of the text. This is another prayer asking for protection from men and from Jinn. I rather like the way temptation is described: “the retreating whisperer who whispers [evil] into the breasts of mankind”
Today’s chapters were short and rather simplistic. So far there hasn’t been any deep or complex theological concepts presented, mostly just affirmations of God’s greatness and exhortations to good living.