Study Guide February 2022

Seerah Section:

• After the splitting of his chest, the Blessed Prophet (ﷺ) was returned to his mother.
•  He remained with his mother for the next two years.
•  When He was six years old, he went with his mother to visit their family in Yathrib (Madinah used to be called Yathrib).
•  On their way back to Makkah the blessed Prophet’s (ﷺ) mother fell ill and passed away in a valley named Abwa.
•  Umm Ayman (r.a.) was a servant for the blessed Prophet’s (ﷺ) mother. She also accompanied them on their journey; she was the one who dug the grave and buried Amina (r.a.). انا لله و انا اليه راجعون
•  Umm Ayman (r.a.) took the blessed Prophet (ﷺ) back to Makkah. She later accepted Islam and the blessed Prophet (ﷺ) loved her a lot. He used to call her امي بعد امي “My mother after my mother”. Prophet (ﷺ) also referred to her as a woman from paradise.
•  The blessed Prophet (ﷺ) was now in the care of his grandfather Abdul Muttalib.
•  Abdul Muttalib was a very honored, revered, and respected person in Makkah. He had a special place to sit where no one else was allowed to sit, except for the blessed Prophet (ﷺ). Abdul Muttalib showed a lot of affection to the blessed Prophet (ﷺ) and would look after him very closely.
•  The blessed Prophet (ﷺ), tragically, did not get a lot of time with his grandfather. Abdul Muttalib passed away when the blessed Prophet (ﷺ) was 8 years, two months, and ten days old.
•  Following the demise of his grandfather, his uncle Abu Talib took him into his care. Abu Talib was the full brother of Abdullah, meaning that they shared the same father and mother.
•  When the blessed Prophet (ﷺ) was twelve years old, Abu Talib decided to travel with a trade caravan to Syria with the Blessed Prophet (ﷺ). Once the caravan reached the border of Syria, a Christian Monk by the name of Bahira saw the caravan and began to walk around them, closely observing every individual.
•  Once he saw the Blessed Prophet (ﷺ), he immediately grabbed his hand and announced that “This is the leader of the world and the Messenger of Allah!”
•  The people around him asked, “What makes you say that?” He said when he came across this side of the pass the stones, and trees bowed in prostration to him. They only do that for a prophet. He also noticed the seal of Prophethood in between his shoulder blades. These signs were mentioned in the scriptures that Bahira had studied.
•  Bahira then had a feast in honor of the Prophet (ﷺ). He then took Abu Talib aside and pleaded that he does not take the Blessed Prophet (ﷺ) onwards in his journey. He feared that the Jews and Romans may also recognize him and ultimately his life would be in danger. Abu Talib, concerned for his nephew, sent him back to Makkah.
•  The seal of Prophethood was a piece of protruding flesh which was in between the shoulder blades of the Prophet (ﷺ). Different Sahabah described it differently, some said it was similar to the egg of a pigeon; others described it to be similar to a button. This served as a symbol of his Prophethood.

Tafseer Section: Surah Tariq

• The general theme of this Surah is to remind and imbed into the hearts of the reader; the reality of the Day of Judgment.
•  In the opening verses of the Surah, Allah begins by taking oath by a star; once again there is always wisdom behind the oath of Allah (swt). Ask yourself, have you ever seen stars in the sky? Have you seen them during the day when the sun is up? Can you see the stars during an extremely cloudy and stormy night? All the times that you didn’t see the stars, were they still there? Of course they were!
• The next verse Allah explains why he is discussing the stars; He says “There is no soul but that it certainly has over it a protector.” Meaning that just like you are definitely sure that the stars are always there regardless if you can see them or not, then be sure that there is an angel appointed to every one of us even if you can’t see him.
• The Quran referred to this angel as a “Hafiz” i.e. protector, there are two explanations for what angel Allah is referring to. The First is the angel who writes down everything that the human being does. All the good and bad deeds performed by the human being are being recorded by this Angel. The Second explanation is that this can be referring to those angels that protect the Human being from accidents, and calamities that were not meant to happen in that person’s life.
•  After those verses Allah goes into detail in regards to explaining how human beings came into existence. The reason is because it was difficult for Non-Muslims to believe that Allah will bring us back to life because after we die, eventually our bodies turn into dust. The gist of it is that Allah is fully capable of bringing us back to life just like He was able to create us the first time.
• In the 8th verse He informs us that He is certainly capable of doing so. Your body was nothing before; we made it to what you see now, and gave it life. Things are always easier to do when you have already done it once; therefore Allah is saying I will do it again.
•  Allah will give us life again on the Day of Judgment. Allah describes the Day of Judgment by describing it as “The Day when secrets will be put on trial”. Meaning our deepest darkest secrets that no one knew about, and the good or bad things we did when no one was watching, all of that will be brought out on the Day of Resurrection.
•  Allah (swt) teaches us an extremely valuable lesson, towards the end of the Surah, that the Quran is a final statement from Allah and it is not a source of amusement. That means the same way Allah demands respect the same way the book of Allah demands respect. We should never disrespect the Quran by placing it on the floor, or by holding it by our hips, or any other form of disrespect.
•  At the end of the Surah, Allah answers a question that was made by the Non-Muslims, that if we are wrong and Allah does not like us worshiping idols, why doesn’t he destroy us? Why do we still eat, drink, and enjoy life? Allah is saying that I am giving you a chance. I am granting you some time to realize why you exist. Allah is also talking to us as well, that He is giving us time to do good deeds and stop doing bad deeds. This is His mercy.