The Meaning of “Indeed, We Offered the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth”
Allah Almighty says: “Indeed, We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and they declined to bear it and…
Tafsir
Tafsir is the discipline of interpreting the Qur’an, and this topic collects Shaykh Akram Nadwi’s writing on how its verses are best understood. The articles distinguish interpretation, deeper meaning, and reflection, and offer fresh readings that stay anchored in the tradition. They are for readers who want to move past translation towards the science of understanding the text.
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The Meaning of “Indeed, You Used to Come to Us from the Right”
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Allah Almighty says: “And they will approach one another, questioning. They will say, ‘Indeed, you used to come to us from the right.’ They will reply, ‘Rather, you were not believers.…
Men don’t own women
“The believing men and believing women are supporters of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, establish prayer, give…
Tafsir of Surah Al-Ikhlas
1. The Greatness of Surah Al-Ikhlas They asked: What is Surah Al-Ikhlas? I replied: It is the greatest Surah that introduces us to our…
Understanding ‘and strike them’
Men have charge over women by that [with which] God has favoured some among them over others, and by that which they spend from…
The Qur’anic translations
(Revised version) Q. Mr Haider Ali Nadwi, an `alim from Bhopal in India, wrote to me asking whether I can recommend an English translation…
The Qur’an should not be valued as merely a sacred object
1. Allah says in the Qur’an about the Qur’an, that it is a self-consistent, coherent message from the Creator to the most favoured among…
A few thoughts on Surat al-`Ankabut
The surah begins with the question: “a hasiba n-nasu ‘an…” It is not right to translate hasiba as ‘think’/‘imagine’ or ‘suppose’/‘conjecture’. The meaning here…
Al `Imran 121-130
The Qur’an is not revealed to human minds and hearts cut off from their pasts. It is not revealed to blank minds, but to…
Surah Al `Imran: Overview
The tried and tested way of teaching the Qur’an is to work through it verse by verse, striving to deepen our experience of the…
The Food of the People of the Book
By this link They said to me: We have some problems understanding verse five of Sūrah al-Māʾidah: “and the food of those given the…
1. SUMMARY OVERVIEW
PREFACE (§1–3; 1–3) The opening supplication is followed by a statement of author intent. Ibn Taymiyya aims, in response to a request to do…
The Nexus between Qurʾān and Sunnah
By this link: Clarify for us the true connection between the Qurʾān and the Sunnah. I asked: What do you mean? They replied: Islamic…
Questions & Answers on Tafsir
View all Q&A →Surah Baqarah verse 62
My respected student, Mr Ali Rasul, from Dallas, USA, asked me the following question: As-salāmu ʿalaykum Ustād, In Ayah 62 of Sūrah al-Baqarah, Allah says: “Indeed, those who believed, and those who were Jews, Christians, or Sabians, whoever believes in…
A question regarding an incident in Surah al-Qasas
as-salamu `alaykum Shaykh. I hope your Ramadan is going well. I wanted to ask you about the incident in Surah al-Qasas when Musa (AS) accidentally killed an Egyptian. After this incident, Moses ran away, but never sought forgiveness from the…
Removing Doubts About the Tafsīr of “And the food of those given the scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them” (Qurʾān 5:5)
Removing Doubts About the Tafsīr of “And the food of those given the scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them” (Qurʾān 5:5)