Study Guide January 2023

Seerah Section:

•  The boycott of the muslims lasted roughly 3 years. Shortly after returning, the Prophets wife, Khadija (ra) fell ill. Khadija was someone who spent her wealth in the service of Islam and was always there to support the Prophet (saw) throughout any hardships he faced. She was a shoulder that he could lean on when things got tough. She was also the mother of 6 of his kids. Zaynab, Um Kulthoom, Fatima, Ruqaya, Qasim, and Abdullah.
•  Khadija (ra) ended up succumbing to her sickness and passed away. This broke the heart of RasulAllah (saw). He was deeply saddened and troubled by the loss of his companion who was with him for 25 years.
•  Shortly after Khadija’s death, the uncle of the Prophet (saw), Abu Taleb, fell ill.
•  The Prophet (saw) grew up in the home of Abu Taleb. Abu Taleb took him in after the Prophets grandfather, Abdul Muttalib passed away. Thus Abu Taleb was like a father figure to RasulAllah (saw). Abu Taleb not only raised Rasulallah (saw), but he protected him from other Quraish leaders. It was because of his protection, RasulAllah (saw) was not harmed greatly in Mecca.
•  Abu Taleb’s sickness was getting the best of him. On his deathbed, he was surrounded by other Quraysh leaders on one side, and Rasulallah (saw) on the other side.
• RasulAllah (saw) was asking his uncle to embrace Islam in his final moments, so that he may enter Jannah. On the other side, the Quraish leaders were pressuring Abu Taleb to not give up the religion of his forefathers which was idol worshipping.
•  The prophet and the Leaders of Quraish were going back and forth with Abu Taleb about his beliefs. Unfortunately, Abu Talib decided that he would die on the religion of his ancestors, and did not embrace Islam.”
•  This saddened the Prophet (saw) greatly.
• Losing Abu Taleb & Khadija in the same year was very tough on the Messenger of Allah. In fact, because of their deaths, this year was called, the year of sadness.
• After the year of sadness, Allah (swt) took RasulAllah on a miraculous journey. This journey was a gift for RasulAllah (saw) as a result of his loss and hard times he was going through. He (saw) also received the greatest gift on this journey as well.
• This journey was called Al-Isra Wa Al-Miraaj
• In this journey RasulAllah (saw) traveled from mecca to Jerusalem then to the Jannah. Al Isra means to travel. So this refers to the night journey that the prophet (saw) took from Mecca to Jerusalem. Miraj means the item/mechanism of rising up high. And this refers to him then going up to Jannah.
• Jibreel (as) came and visited the prophet (saw) one night with an animal named Buraq. Buraq was an animal that travelled at the speed of light. RasulAllah (saw) climbed on it, and it was with this animal that he travelled to Masjid Aqsa which was in jerusalem. RasulAllah (saw) entered masjid Aqsa and found that every single prophet that Allah had sent to mankind were inside the masjid. More than 100,000 prophets! RasulAllah (saw) was instructed to lead Salah and they made him an Imam over themselves. RasulAllah in various hadiths describes the description of prophets like Musa, ibrahim, and Esa.
• This was the first part of the journey and was one of the ways that Allah honored the prophet after the hard times he was going through prior. He had the opportunity to meet all the prophets that came before him subhanAllah.

Tafseer Section

Surah Qadr

•  Qadr means power. In the first verse of the Surah Allah (swt) mentions that he sent the Quran during the night of Power. RasulAllah teaches us that the night of power is a night that falls in the last ten nights of ramadan. The Quran was revealed in multiple stages. Ibn Abbas (ra) tells us more detail concerning these stages. He says: “Allah sent the Qur’an down all at one time from the Preserved Tablet (Al-Lawh al-Mahfuz) to the House of Might (Baytul-Izzah), which is in the heaven of this world. Then it came down in parts to the Messenger of Allah, upon whom be peace, based upon the incidents that occurred over a period of twentythree years.” And it is the night of Qadr in which Allah chose to reveal the Quran in this world.
•  In Ayah number 2 Allah (swt) asks “”And how will you know what the Night of Al-Qadr is?”. He then gives the answers in the verses to come.
•  Ayah 3 “The Night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months” If one worships during the night of Qadr, it will equal to as if they worshipped for 1,000 months. That is why it is very important that we worship properly EVERY night of ramadan because we do not know which night it will fall in. In a hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah (ra), he mentions: “When Ramadhan would come, the Messenger of Allah would say, ‘Verily the month of Ramadhan has come to you all. It is a blessed month, which Allah has obligated you all to fast. During it the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are shackled. In it there is a night that is better than one thousand months. Whoever is deprived of its good, then he has truly been deprived.’ ” Rasulallah (saw) also teaches us that if one stands up during this night to pray, hoping that Allah will reward him, he will forgive his sins. “Whoever stands (in prayer) during the Night of Al-Qadr with faith and expecting reward (from Allah), he will be forgiven for his previous sins.”
•  In Ayah number 4, Allah (swt) says: “In it the angels and the Spirit come down by their Lord’s leave, with all His decrees.” Allah gives us more details about Laylatul Qadr by mentioning that this is a night which has so many blessings, similarly, many angels decend to earth, including the greatest amongst the angels, Jibril. Jibril is referred to as spirit in the Quran. The angels decend with blessings and mercy for the believers. We also know in other hadiths that when there are circles of knowledge and remembrance of Allah, the angels come to attend those gatherings. The angels also seek forgiveness for the believers.
•   Ayah 5 Allah says: Then Allah says: “Peace it is, until the rising of the dawn.” Ash-Sha’bi said concerning this: “The angels giving the greetings of peace during the Night of Al-Qadr to the people in the masjid until the coming of fajr (dawn).” Qatadah and Ibn Zayd both said: “This means all of it is good and there is no evil in it until the coming of fajr (dawn).”