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Nur al-Muhammadiyyah
Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim
 

Explanation of  Ayat 26:219

Allah said to the Holy Nabi (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim): “Wa tawakkal `ala al-`azizi-r-rahim al-ladhi yaraka hina taqum wa taqallubaka fi-s-sajidin” (al-Shu`araa 26:217-219), “And rely on the Almighty, the Merciful, Who sees you when you rise up, and your descending (lit. “taking turns”) among those who fall prostrate in worship.”

The literal translation of the last verse is that Allah sees the Nabi’s various postures when he prays in congregation; but Sayyidina Ibn `Abbas (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) and a number of commentators after him have seen in the verse a reference to the Nabi’s descent through the loins of his ancestors, who were all pious worshippers and prophets.

The Holy Nabi, Blessings and Peace be upon him, has referred to his “descent through the ancestors” in the following three hadiths:

  • “I have been sent as a Nabi in the best of all the generations of Adam’s offspring, generation after generation, until I came to be in the generation that I came to be” (Bukhari, Book of the Virtues and Merits of the Nabi and Companions). 

  • “I was cast into the clay of Adam and was the promise of my father Ibrahim and the good news of `Isa ibn Maryam” (Several chains in Ahmad 4:127-128, Bayhaqi in the Shu`ab #1385 and in Dala’il al-nubuwwa 1:83, 2:130 and Hakim, Dhahabi weakens it, but Qadi `Iyad cites it in the Shifa among his “sound and well-known traditions”). 

  • “When Allah created Adam, He made me descend to the earth in his loins. He put me in the loins of Nuh in the Ark and cast me into the fire in the loins of Ibrahim. Then he continued to move me from noble loins to pure wombs until He brought me out from my parents. None of them ever met in fornication.” (Ibn Abi `Umar al-`Adani relates in his ‘Musnad’, al-Tilimsani cites it, and Qadi `Iyad included it among his “sound and well-known traditions.”)
Qadi `Iyad says after quoting the last hadith: “This is what al-`Abbas ibn `Abd al-Muttalib was indicating when he said:
... Before you came to this world,
you were excellent in the shadows and in the repository (i.e. loins)
in the time when they (Adam and Eve) covered themselves with leaves.
Then you descended through the ages...
When you were born, the earth shone
and the horizon was illuminated by your light.
We travel in that illumination
and in the light and in the paths of right guidance.”

Mullah Ali al-Qari in his ‘Sharh al-Shifa’(1:364) says it is related by Abu Bakr al-Shafi`i and Tabarani, and cited by Ibn `Abd al-Barr and Ibn al-Qayyim respectively in ‘al-Isti`ab’ and ‘Huda Nabiyy Allah (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim)’.

This light is also the explanation of ayat 26:219 found in a classical Indian commentary, the “Tafsir-e-Uthmani”:

“Some of the earlier writers have said that in this verse sajidin represents the fathers of the Holy Nabi (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim), that is, the translation [i.e. transmission] of the Light of the Last Messenger (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) from one prophet to the other prophet culminating in the external appearance of the Nabi (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) in this world of matter. Some scholars by this verse have confirmed the iman (belief) of the Nabi’s parents.” Allama Shabbir Ahmad Uthmani, Tafsir Uthmani, trans. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmad (Bombay: Taj Publishers, 1992) vol. 2, p. 1657.
Imam al-Suyuti (Rahmatullahi alayh) in his book Masaalik al-Hunafa’ fi waalidayy al-MuSTafa (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) [Methods of Those With Pure Belief Concerning the Parents of the Nabi (s), also contained in al-Hawi li al-Fatawi] (Cairo: Dar al-Ameen, 1414/1993) presents this view and cites it also from Fakhr al-Din Razi, Shahrastani, Mawardi and others:
“al-Razi states in Asrar al-Tanzil that some scholars have said that Azar was not Ibrahim’s father but his uncle because, among other proofs, the parents of prophets are not unbelievers. Proving the latter is the verse: “[Your Lord] Who sees you when you stand, and your turning [taqallubaka] among those who prostrate themselves” (26:218-219), i.e. your descent through the loins of your ancestors, who are called: worshippers. He continued: And what proves that the Nabi’s (s) parents were not idolaters is his saying: “I was carried from the loins of the pure men into the wombs of the pure women” [Lam azal unqal...] Therefore it is necessary that none of his ancestors be a mushrik because Allah said: “The idolaters only are unclean” (9:28)... The above is verbatim what Imam Razi said, and I remind you of his status as the Imam Ahl al-Sunna among his contemporaries, the principal upholder of belief against the various sects of innovators, the one who defended the truth of the Ash`ari creed in his time, and the Mujaddid (renewer) of this umma in the sixth century.” p. 39-40.

“Further, Imam al-Shahrastani (Rahmatullahi alayh) said in al-milal wal-niHal: “The light of the Nabi (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) appeared partly in the features of Abd al-MuTTalib, and with the blessing of this light he was inspired to vow to slaughter his child [cf. Ibn Hisham, ‘Sira’], and with its blessing also he used to order his children to avoid wrong-doing and rebellion... and with the blessing of this light he said to Abraha: This house has a Lord which shall defend it.” (P. 64)

“Further probative views are that of Imam Abul Hasan al-Mawardi in ‘A`lam al-nubuwwa’ who said: “Ibn `Abbas said in interpreting the verse of ‘taqallubaka’ that it means “your translation down from the pure loins of your fathers until He made you a prophet”, and the light of prophecy was present in the Nabi’s (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) parents, and the Nabi (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) had no partner in inheriting it, that is, no brother and no sister, because the perfection [Safwa] of his parents resides in him, and the greatness of their lineage [nasab] is derived from him alone, and that is also why they died young. (p. 67-68).

Abu Ja`far al-Nahhas in ‘Ma`aani al-Qur’aan’ also quotes Ibn `Abbas’s explanation and adds: “How well did Shams al-Din ibn Nasir al-Din al-Dimashqi speak when he said: Ahmad (s) progressed as a great light which shone in the foreheads of those who made prostration. He took turns in them century after century Until he appeared as the best of messengers.

“And Sharaf al-Din al-Busiri the author of the ‘Burda’ said [in another poem]: You (O Muhammad) are the light of every perfection, And no light takes its source from other than your light.” (p. 68-69)

Allah gave permission to countless people to see the Nabi’s light referred to in the various explanations above, for example:
  1. to Waraqa ibn Naufal’s sister, who wished to marry the Nabi’s father Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, when she saw a light in his forehead, but changed her mind after she saw him again without that light, as Amina, the Nabi’s mother, had received it, i.e. conceived him, Peace be upon him (Ibn Hisham);
  2. to Bahira the Monk who recognized the Nabi from afar by the overhanging light that singled him out among other people (Ibn Hisham);
  3. to the Nabi’s own mother Amina bint Wahb (alayhas-salaam), according to his words: “When my mother gave birth to me she saw a light proceeding from her which showed her the castles of Syria”; (Ibn Hisham; Tafsir Ibn Kathir 4:360; Bayhaqi, Dala’il an-Nubuwwa 1:110; Haythami, Zawa’id 8:221; Ibn al-Jawzi, ‘al-Wafa’; Qadi Iyad, ‘al-Shifa’).
  4. to Amr ibn al-`As who said on his deathbed that after he had entered Islam, the Nabi seemed so radiant (ajall) in his eyes that he could not bear to look at him for any length of time (Sahih Muslim).
 
Millions of Sallams upon the Holy Nabi, his Family, and his Companions

Original article courtesy Sunnah Foundation
 
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Last modified: 08/29/06