Translation and Explanation of Surah Al-Asr [103]























Assalamu Allykum, 

Surah Al-Asr is a Makki Surah which is three verses, fourteen words long. It is believed to be the thirteenth surah revealed to the Prophet ﷺ, revealed after Al-Inshirah and before Al-Adiyat. It is number hundred and three in the compilation of the Quran. 

Iman Shafi' said about this Surah, Al-Asr, that if Allah had only revealed this Surah, it would have been sufficient as a warning. This in no way means that the rest of the Quran is not important, it means that this Surah enough is sufficient as an advice. For someone who could take a lesson, this Surah would be enough for him. He would understand the reality of this life and will not be distracted by which that isn't important.

Additionally, it is believed that the companion's of the Prophet ﷺ would recite this surah to one other (usually one within the group) as a reminder when they would end their meeting or conversation. They would remind each other through this surah that anything a human being does is useless and void of benefit except that which is according to Islam and regards to your iman.


1:

وَالْعَصْرِ 

By time,


Allah swears by Al-Asr, which attests to its importance. Allah can make an oath by anything, because He is the Creator, yet He only swears by specific things. Whenever Allah swears something in the Quran, we have to realize and understand that these things that Allah has sworn by are very important. These things have value in the sight of Allah, therefore they should have value in our lives. 

A human being can only make an oath by Allah or any of His names or attributes, and if one must break this oath or cannot continue it, he should either feed ten poor people or clothe ten poor people, if he is unable to do that, then he may fast for three days (they can be together or separate). That being said, man must not make too many oaths, because this lowers the value of the oath. 

The scholars have differed in the meaning of Al-Asr. Some have said that Asr refers to the time from the beginning of existence of human race to the Judgement Day. It also refers to the later part of the day; from the time from when the sun begins to decline to until the sun sets, the last part of the day. 

Some scholars have also said that Asr refers to the middle prayer, the Asr prayer. Which is a very important prayer as it is called most excellent, virtuous. Intentionally missing the Asr prayer is like losing one's family and property, or in other words, his everything.

The majority of scholars have agreed that Asr refers to time in general. 

As each moment passes, a part of life is over and will never return again, it is the loss of life. We must realize that each second on this earth is leading us to the HereAfter, therefore it is important that we learn how to manage our time, how to use it in the most efficient way. Islam through the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ tells us how to achieve this in multiple places. One evidence is when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in Surah At-Tahrim, verse six: 


"O you who believe! save yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones.."

The scholars say that one of the lessons from this verse is that when a Muslim is going about their day, they should not busy themselves with what other people are doing. They should focus on their own self and then their own family. Similarly, the Prophet ﷺ has said:


"Part of the perfection of one's Islam is his leaving that which does not concern him." [Tirmidhi].

It is important for a person to prioritize that which is important, starting with their relationship with Allah, because there is nothing more important than that. 


2:
إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ
Indeed, mankind is in loss, 


This directly refers to every single human being.

Human beings are in a state of loss, even from as soon as their birth. As the moment from when one is born, his count down has begun, a part of his life gets over. He can never pause it nor take a break. But unfortunately, we believe that as each year is passing, we are gaining, when in fact, it is the opposite.

Life is only for a specified time. When time is over, you are over. So in the end, it is what you have gained; your good deeds.


3:
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ
 Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.


If a person has these four traits, he is not in loss. Life will be over one way or the other, though at the end, what a person has gained will be beneficial for him and will save him.

These people use their time in the best way. Every person's life is valuable and every moment must be used properly. Either he uses it in something that will benefit him or wastes it, there is no third option.

We generally don't like to think this way, we believe that we are taking a break or a moment of rest, in which we believe that we have somewhat paused our time. But the fact is that if we are not using our time for something productive, beneficial, we are just wasting it.

And wasting time is equal to wasting our life.

The first trait is that a person must must have Iman. This is the most essential part. No matter how productive his life is, if he doesn't have faith, his productivity won't mean anything on the Day of Judgement. He will get no reward for it.

(Details of iman can be found in several places in the Quran and Sunnah.)

Belief means belief in Allah and His Messenger, belief in the six pillars of iman:

  1. to believe in Allah
  2. to believe in His angels
  3. to believe in His books
  4. to believe in His messengers
  5. to believe in the Day of Judgement
  6. to believe in Predestination 

It is necessary for a person to believe in these in their entirety, as believing in one thing but not the other doesn't satisfy as complete iman.

This iman must be without any doubt, not even the slightest bit. His iman must be firm and unshakable, free from all forms of shakh.

The second one in these traits is righteous deeds. The more righteous deeds a person does, the more he is productively using his time and ultimately his life. On the Day of Judgement we will be questioned on how we spent out life, therefore we must be very careful. 

Righteous deeds are not those deeds which we consider good in our own personal morals, but in fact, they are deeds which are performed with sincerity and conformity, and according to what Allah has commanded. They can generally be divided into two categories, which are: the rights of Allah and the rights of the creation.

The rights of Allah include Salah, Hajj, Umrah, fasting and such.

The rights of the creation include respecting, caring for, fulfilling duties towards them and spending on them, whether they are our relatives, loved ones or Muslim brothers and sisters. Similarly, rules related to them. How to speak to one another, how to sit in a gathering.

Moving to the third and forth, we have tawasee. Tawasee means instructing, guiding one another. When we remind other people, we are in fact benefiting ourselves, as when we remind them, we are reminding ourselves.

One sort of tawa'se is tawa'se bil haq. Al haq refers to this deen, this shari'ah, this Quran, is the truth, everything about it is true.

So it is important for a person who wishes to save himself from loss, to spend his time telling people about this haq, and hearing them sharing the knowledge of this haq as well. We must share the knowledge of the Quran and deen, as this is a great way of giving sadaqah and reminding ourselves about the haq. And when we share our knowledge of the haq, we get to hear other people's share of knowledge as well, which in turn strengths our own iman. It is an excuse to ourselves firm.

The other tawa'se is sabr, patience. Without patience, we cannot survive in this world. Without patience we cannot be thankful, refrain from performing disobedient acts and not be satisfied by the decree of Allah.

Therefore, tawa'se enables us to comfort others about remaining satisfied by pre-destination and decree, and when our time comes, other people comfort and remind us.

Surah Al-Asr can be understood with a simple example of a person who sells ice. This person does not own a freezer and only has a thick cloth, which he wraps around this ice, to keep it from melting. He calls out to people for this bargain, constantly fretting about the minimum amount of time he has, after which his resources will finish. He is aware of each minute passing, in which he attempts to sell his goods as soon as he can.

A Muslim is like this, he has minimum time and must use this time productively.


(* Arabic text borrowed from Quran.com all rights go to them, tafseer explained by Ustadh Aqeel Mahmood and Ustadha Taimiyyah Zubair)

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