Quranic Reminders: Surah Luqman
Surah Luqman primarily comprises the story of Luqman, who was someone Allah had bestowed with immense wisdom. It is why when Allah begins this surah, He talks about the wisdom of the Quran
Mohsineen are those who are ahsan in their deeds, who exert themselves in ihsan. Ihsan is doing a deed in the best of ways knowing that Allah is witnessing what we do
They are those who don’t only pray five times a day, but they are steadfast upon it, and establish it with humility and love for Allah in their hearts
They make sure they discharge the fard of zakat
They have certainty that the akhirah is going to come, that they will be accountable for all they do, say, feel
These are the ones who will be successful
“There is a man among the people who buys discourses of distracting amusements, so that he may mislead (people) from the Way of Allah, and make a mockery of it. For such people there is a disgraceful punishment.” (6)
31:06, the context of revelation of this verse is that it was revealed for Nazar bin Haris, who was a staunch enemy of the Messenger. He wanted to do something to distract the muslims from drawing close to Allah, so he would go on different travels, and once he purchased a singing girl. When he would hear of someone being inclined towards Islam, he would send this singing girl to him to get diverted from the mission of seeking knowledge about Islam. Another narration is that this man would also travel to Persia, and he would bring back books with rich stories, which would distract the Arabians
There are many narrations of the sahaba (Abdullah bin Abbas, Abdullah bin Masood) stating that “futile discourses of distraction” refers to music in this verse. Though in general it refers to something that distracts a person from worship and sets them on a different path
If our obsession with something becomes so time-consuming that it makes us forget our prayer, it indicates that there’s something wrong in our undue attachment, and thus it becomes forbidden for us
A contemporary example of a futile discourse is social media, which although can be of great benefit, if it takes away from our worship, our time with our family and keeps us away from our obligations, it is in effect forbidden to us
“Part of the perfection of one’s Islam is his leaving that which does not concern him…” (Hadith 12, 40 Hadith an-Nawawi)
Abstain from activities that have no benefit for us. This doesn’t mean we can’t have halal entertainment, because it is a human need
The teachings of the Quran are for everyone until the end of time
Most scholars contend that Luqman was not a prophet, but a wise man who Allah had inspired with guidance in a way only He knows. Some scholars say Luqman was a shepherd, carpenter, or a tailor. He lived in the period between Isa AS and the Messenger SAW
Since Allah had granted him so much wisdom, Luqman was once asked what was the reason he was given this. He stated he was granted this status because of his practicing these things: truthfulness in speech, returning trusts, and abstaining from deeds and speech that is futile
“We gave wisdom to Luqmān, and said, “Be grateful to Allah;” and whoever is grateful is, in fact, grateful for his own benefit, and whoever is ungrateful, then Allah is free of all needs, worthy of all praise.” (12)
31:12, scholars state ‘wisdom’ entails the ability to do the right thing at the right time in the right manner
Wisdom comes from Allah, you cannot learn it through a book
Reading can bring knowledge, but knowledge is not enough
One of the reasons of sending the Messenger SAW in this world was to teach wisdom
True wisdom is acquired through knowledge, and spending time in the company of those who have knowledge and wisdom. There’s much to learn from our elders
When a person’s heart is always in-tuned to Allah, they do not show rashness. We should make dua that we are granted hikmah/wisdom
Luqman AS stated that the first step of wisdom is that a person should turn to Allah in gratitude, being grateful only benefits us
A lot of times our blessings are taken away from us because of lack of gratitude. Furthermore, it is not enough that we are only grateful to Allah, we should also recognize the sacrifices of those around us and to be grateful for what they do
Our parents work hard to provide for us. Our children were given to us by Allah, we mustn't be comparing them with others
Three types of gratefulness: gratitude of the heart lies in the marifah of Allah, marifah means understanding. When our hearts are constantly aware of Allah, then our hearts are grateful. Gratitude of the tongue lies in the praise of Allah. The gratitude of our limbs lies in the obedience of Allah. The highest level of gratitude is to use our blessings to gain Allah’s pleasure
“(Remember) when Luqmān said to his son, while he was advising him, “My dear son, do not ascribe partners to Allah. Indeed, ascribing partners to Allah (shirk) is grave transgression.”(13)
31:13, highlights the role of a father in a child’s life. Luqman’s most important worry for his son is his iman/belief. This should be our greatest worry, the purpose of our being in this world. We need to do whatever we can to sustain iman in our children
We see that Luqman speaks in a deeply affectionate manner to his son
Amongst the creation of Allah, the ones who we need to be most grateful to is our parents: our mothers first, because they bore pain to birth and nurse us
If a person hurts their parents intentionally in matters unrelated to the deen, they will be punished for it in this world and the next. Therefore we must ensure we discharge the rights of our parents in the best of ways
A person who makes dua for their parents whenever they get an opportunity, demonstrates a sign of their piety being accepted in the sight of Allah
Our role models in life should be those who turn towards Allah
When we are doing tarbiyah of our children, we should advise them to remain steadfast in their prayers, to help others do good, and to be patient and preserving whenever a difficulty comes upon us, because the difficulty came by the permission of Allah
The waiting for ease after difficulty with patience is worship
“O you who believe, if you will help (the religion prescribed by) Allah, He will help you, and will stabilize your footings.” (47:7)
“A single endeavor (of fighting) in Allah's Cause in the forenoon or in the afternoon is better than the world and whatever is in it.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 2792)
Luqman stresses the importance of humility, of good akhlaq
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The dearest and the closest of you to me on the Day of Resurrection will be those who are the best in behaviour; and the most hateful and the farthest from me on the Day of Resurrection will be the talkative and the most pretentious and the most rhetorical." (Riyad as-Salihin 1738)
We need to speak in a calm way in a pitch that isn’t harmful to the ears or arrogant. It should be a moderate speech, such that when someone listens to us they find it pleasant; not too low, not too high
Every time a donkey shrieks, it has witnessed a shaytan. Therefore when we hear the sound of a donkey, we should seek refuge in Allah
The best gift a father can give his children is the gift of husn-e-adab, the gift of good etiquettes
We learn about giving quality time to our children, because this is when we can establish healthy relationships with them where we can groom them in the best of way, instilling essential yet difficult concepts to simply teach
As children grow older they start preferring their peers, and this is when the parents need to be there to support their children
Outward blessings refer to what we can touch, while the inner blessings include our iman, being born as a muslim, the ability to practice our deen
When a person begins to learn the compassion and mercy of Allah, the blessings He continues to confer upon us despite all of our disobedience, when a person discovers all this, they naturally fall in love with Allah
When we are distant from Allah, it is because we don’t have sufficient knowledge of Him
It is in our nature to be attracted to beauty, and hence the fitrah of the human soul is that a person helplessly falls in love with Allah’s beauty when we begin to discover it. Therefore it is important we get to know Him, and we can do this by getting to know Him through His Book, His Names, and by learning about Him though the Sunnah
Reducing the deen to rules and regulations is the core of our distance from the deen
It is only when a person has love for Allah that they immerse themselves in the deen, and to fully submit themselves. It is love that makes us submit
Ramadan comes to reignite our love for Allah, because it adds wholeness to our worship
We need to use our facilities of intelligence and understanding to reflect upon the signs of Allah, and to discover Him and increase in our belief of Him
If we remember Allah through ease and joy, Allah will remember us through the grief we are experiencing in life
“O people, fear your Lord and fear a day when no father will help his son, nor will a son be helpful to his father at all. Surely, the promise of Allah is true. So, the worldly life must not deceive you, nor should you ever be deceived about Allah by the Deceiver.” (33)
31:33, When we connect ourselves to the Quran, we remind ourselves of the direction and purpose of our life. The purpose of shaytan is to deceive us, hence we mustn't fall in his trap
When we don’t even know what will occur next in our life, how can we be arrogant? We are in essence helpless across Allah’s will, so we must submit to Him
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