Salaam and welcome to your favourite weekly programme “The Path Towards Enlightenment” in which we present to you a fluent and easy-to-understand explanation of the Revealed Word of God Almighty, the holy Qur’an. Last week, we finished our discourse on Surah Shu’ara, and today we take up the next one, that is, Surah Naml, which is the 27th Surah of the holy Qur’an.

As you know some of the Surahs of the holy Qur’an carry the names of natural events or animals. Naml means Ant, and this Surah contains the dialogue between this seemingly insignificant insect and Prophet Solomon, whom God had given wisdom and a kingdom with power to rule birds and animals as well. 

We start with ayahs 1 and 2 of Surah Naml:

طس ۚ تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْقُرْآنِ وَكِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ

هُدًى وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

“Ṭā, Sīn. These are the signs of the Qurʾān and a Manifest Book;”

“A guidance and good news for the faithful”

As we said at the beginning of Surah Baqarah, as well as Surahs Aal-e Imran, A’raaf, Yunus, Hood, Ibrahim, etc, 29 Surahs of the Holy Qur’an start with Horoof Muqatta’at or seemingly unarranged alphabets whose meaning is known only to God and His Prophet, although some exegetes have tried to interpret them. Surah Naml is one such Surah, and here God has used the alphabets Ta Sin at its start. This is among the marvels of the unmatched eloquence of the Holy Qur'an, which bewildered the infidels of the age of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Today also, they continue to confound the disbelievers of our own days, who despite the advancement in science and technology, have failed to meet the divine challenge to bring about at least some phrases equal to those of the Holy Qur'an.

The ayahs that we recited to you mean to say that the contents of God’s Revelation to the Prophet are clear and transparent, sifting truth from falsehood, and specifying righteousness from wrongfulness, in a manifest manner. God says that He has sent this final heavenly scripture to mankind for the guidance of the faithful, since it is only the true believers who accept the manifest truth, while those in whose hearts are doubts, malice, and mischief, they try to belittle it. The Prophet, as per the revelation of the Words of God to him, used to recite them for the guidance of others; hence this is called “Qur’an”, which means something that is recited. Next, when these ayahs were written down by the scribes of the Prophet they took the form of folios; hence it is called “The Book”.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Since the dawn of creation, Prophets were sent by God to all nations around the world, and in every age, for the guidance of mankind, before the revelation of the universal message of Islam to the Last and Greatest of them all, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). The theme of their message was the same, that is, monotheism, abstention from polytheism, and refraining from evil and vices.
2. The Prophets used to give tidings to the believers of the rewards reserved for them by God, and at the same time, they used to warn people of the dire consequences awaiting the disbelievers, for their refusal to obey God.

Now we listen to ayahs 3 to 5 of Surah Naml:

الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُم بِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ زَيَّنَّا لَهُمْ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فَهُمْ يَعْمَهُونَ

أُولَـٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَهُمْ سُوءُ الْعَذَابِ وَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ هُمُ الْأَخْسَرُونَ

“Those who maintain the prayer and pay the zakāt, and who are certain of the Hereafter.”

“As for those who do not believe in the Hereafter, We have made their deeds seem decorous to them, and so they are bewildered.”

“They are the ones for whom there is a terrible punishment, and they are the ones who will be the biggest losers in the Hereafter.”

First of all, God describes the characteristics of the faithful, who regularly perform the daily ritual prayers, give the needy persons of the society the zakaat or the amount specified by God for public welfare, and firmly believe in afterlife and the Day of Resurrection. If prayer is proof of one’s humbleness in the presence of God, the giving of zakaat to the poor proves one’s abstention from greed of the material world by caring for improving the situation of others. It is evident that those who do not believe in the afterlife indulge in evil deeds, and these evil deeds appear decorous to the evil person, who have submitted to the temptations of the Satan. For such unrepentant sinners, a terrible punishment awaits them in the Hereafter. When a person continued to indulge in evil ways, without the least repentance or remorse, he/she gradually become oblivious of the sins being committed, and thus become habituated, without having any distinction between good and evil. Such persons go astray and will be the perpetual losers in the Hereafter.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Among the dynamics of Islam is helping the poor, besides being humble in the presence of God, so as to uplift the society as a whole.
2. Disobedience of God’s commandment makes the sinners perpetual losers, even if for the moment they seem to enjoy prosperity in life.
3. Belief in the Day of Resurrection and Judgement makes faith firm, and saves from the pitfall of sins.

FK/AS/SS