JIQ: Young Professionals

Rashed Hasan/MyLLife Team

1/11/2025

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Session 6: Summary and Discussion

Surah An-Nisa (v. 147 - 176) & Surah Al-Maidah (v. 1 - 82)

What We Read and Process We Followed

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Session 6 Assigned Reading:

• Chapter 4: Women (Surah Al-Nisa) – v. 148- 176 (end)
• Chapter 5: Repast (Surah Al-Maidah) – v. 1 - 82
• A total of 110 verses - 1 hour at regular pace
• ~40 verses each weekly – dedicate 30-45 mins for reflective and deeper reading each week
• Consistent routine and building weekly rhythm

Context and Relevance

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• Chapter 4 context
• Communal and marriage roles – man and women
• Several Surahs that deals directly with women’s rights and challenges social norms that works against them – Chapter 4 (Women), 19 (Mary), 34 (Sheba), 47 (Mohammad), 49 (Making Space), 58 (Pleading Woman), 60 (Woman being questioned), 65 (Divorce), 96 (Love)…

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• Chapter 5 Context
• Named after last supper of Prophet Jesus with his followers (apostles)
• Affirmation of monotheism and denial of Trinity
• Denial of special privileges to Jews or wholesale salvation for Christians
• A good chapter to share with Christian friends/neighbors

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Note: ( I have compiled all verses in the Qur’an that mentions Jesus/Mary in one document – happy to send if you are interested. It is also in my Volume 4 Appendix C)

Range of Topics Covered

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Surah An-Nisa (beyond the topics already listed in Session 5)

• Public shaming, hurtful speeches and disclosure of evils in public is discouraged except by those who have been wronged (that does not mean we don’t address these evils but through proper means)
• Overconfidence in our faith (especially public claims) are cautioned against
• Conjecture about the nature of Jesus’s death is categorically refuted – He was not put on the cross and he did not die on it
• Wrongful conducts of Jews – usurious practices, “their wrongful displacement of rightful owners from their properties under false pretext.” (very relevant in today’s Palestine)
• Unity of faith – same teaching to all Prophets (from Adam till Mohammad)
• While you have the freedom of choice, it is in your best interest to establish faith in God and do good deeds
• Attesting to Trinity or godhead for Jesus is proof enough for disbelief

Range of Topics Covered

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Surah Al-Maidah

• All Believers should fulfil covenants with God and contracts/promises/oath to fellow human beings
• Hatred and unjust treatment is no excuse for doing injustice
• Islam is the final way of life as willed by God as God had perfected the guidance and completed His blessing – this is known as the last verse to be revealed (two+ months before his death)

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Conversation…

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• Any verses that resonated with you and why?
• Observations/Reflections you want to share
• Questions you want to explore/ask

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Highlights (v. 148 - 169 )

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• ALLAH does not like that evils or hurtful speeches be mentioned in public, except by whoever has been wronged.
• They disbelieved when they lodged against Mary the serious allegation (of being unchaste) and said, “We have killed the Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, Messenger of God.” But they killed him not, and he did not die on the cross… they had no real knowledge, and they made only conjectures. They did not kill him for certain, and God exalted him in His presence
• As for the injustice committed by those from among the Jews and their turning away repeatedly from God’s guidance, We (God) deprived them of the good things that were available to them. (This was also due to) their persistent usurious practices, though forbidden, and their wrongful displacement of rightful owners from their properties under false pretext.
• Surely We (God) had inspired you (Mohammad) as We had inspired Noah and the prophets after him; We inspired Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants; (We inspired) Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and We gave David a scripture. (We sent) Messengers that We have mentioned to you before and others that We have not mentioned to you. And ALLAH spoke His words to Moses. (These are) Messengers, bearing good news and dispensing caution, so that people may have no excuse before God after the Messengers.

Highlights (v. 170 - 176)

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• O Mankind! This Messenger has come to you with truth from your Sustainer God; it is in your best interest to believe. If you deny and disbelieve, (know that) God owns all that is in the universe and on earth; He is All knowing and Wise!
• do not say, “(God is one of) three.” Restrain, as it is better for you. Indeed, God is but One God, and His glory does not include a son but all that are in the universe and all that are on earth.

Surah Al-Maidah: Highlights (v. 1 - 3)

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• O Believers! Be faithful to your covenant. (contract, promise, obligations…)
• Never let your hatred of a people who may hinder you from the Inviolable House of Worship lead you to act of aggression. Rather, help one another to advance virtue and increase your (collective) sense of responsibility (Taqwa). And do not help one another to further evil and enmity.
• Forbidden to you is carrion, blood, flesh of swine, one on which any name other than God’s has been invoked, a strangled animal, an animal beaten to death, one killed due to a fall, one gored to death or savaged by beast of prey but not what you have slaughtered. Forbidden also is anything sacrificed on altars for idols. (You are also forbidden to) seek to learn by divination about the future—this is sinful.
• On this day, I have perfected your Guidance (Way of Life) and completed My blessings on you and willed wholesome submission to Me (Islam) as your way of life. (one of the last few verses to be revealed)

Surah Al-Maidah: Highlights (v. 4 - 16)

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• Today all things pure and good are made lawful for you. The food of those who have received revelations before (e.g., Jews, Christians, and others) are lawful to you, and so is your food to them.
• (It is lawful also) to marry women who are faithful and women from faiths that have received revelations before
• O Believers! When you get ready to pray, wash your face and your hands and arms up to the elbows, wipe your head, and wash your feet up to the ankles. If you have an obligation for shower, then do so.
• O People of Faith: Be constant in your devotion to God, and bear witness with justice and truth; Do not let hatred of a people incite you to acts of injustice and inequity. Be just—this is the closest to the observance of your responsibility (taqwa).
• God said to them (Jews): “I am with you. If you sustain your worship (of Me), share your wealth with the poor, believe in My Messengers and assist them, and offer up to God a loan of goodwill; then God will efface your evil deeds and let you enter Paradise (of peace and plenty) wherein rivers flow.

Surah Al-Maidah: Highlights (v. 16 - 32)

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• As for those who say: “We are Christians,” We (God) also took a solemn pledge (covenant), but they became similarly unmindful of a certain portion of the reminders (revelations); As a result, We let enmity and hatred to stir up among them, until the Day of Resurrection.
• Those who say God is the Christ, Son of Mary are indeed deniers of God. Say (to them): “Who will prevail against God in any matter if He wishes to destroy Christ, Son of Mary, his mother, and all who live on this earth?”
• The Jews and the Christians say: “We are sons of God and His beloved.” Say (to them): “Why does He then make you suffer for your sins? You are nothing but mortals from His creations.
• Now relate to them with truth the story of the two sons (Abel and Cain) of Adam…
• In light of this did We (God) prescribe to the Children of Israel (and by implication to all): Whoever kills a person, unless for committing murder or for spreading corruption in the land, it is as if he has killed all of humanity; and whoever saves a life, it is as if he has saved all of humanity.

Surah Al-Maidah: Highlights (v. 33 - 46)

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• O People of Faith: Be mindful of your responsibility (taqwa) to God (and to fellow humans) and always seeks ways to get close to God (and fellow humans) and strive diligently on the path toward God (and goodness to others), that you may find and achieve success.
• As for those men and women who persist in theft, cut off their hands as a punishment and as an exemplary punishment from Allah. But if they repent their wrongdoing and make correction in their conduct, then God will accept such repentance (so should you).
• We (God) indeed revealed the Torah containing guidance and light (knowledge), by which prophets, who submitted (to God), rendered judgment for the followers of Jewish faith; as did the rabbis and the scholars—(they were all) entrusted to preserve what Allah had revealed of the Book and they were to bear witness over it.
• We made Jesus, the son of Mary, to come after them, confirming that which was in the Torah, and revealed to him the Gospel (Bible), which also contained guidance and light (knowledge). It verified what remained of the Torah and served as a guidance and as an admonition for those who were mindful and responsible (muttaquin). So let the people of the Gospel judge (and act) according to what God had revealed in it. Those who do not do so are deemed oppressors.

Surah Al-Maidah: Highlights (v. 47 - 59)

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• We have revealed to you (Prophet) the book (the Qur’an) establishing the truth, verifying all books that came before it, and making it a guardian (preserving and encompassing this truth)
• For every group (of people) We (God) have allowed different rules and different ways of life (as they opted for). If God had willed, He could have made all into a single community, but He wanted to test each group in what they find themselves. Therefore, compete for goodness. To God all of you will return, and He will then inform you in all that you were differing.
• O People of Faith: If you abandon your Way of Life, God will bring another generation who will love Him, and He will love them. These people will be humble with the faithful and resolute against those who deny faith, they will strive their utmost to follow God’s guidance and persist in the face of all obstacles. This (disposition and resolve) is a grace from God, who is Infinite and All Knowing.
• Be mindful of your responsibility (develop taqwa) if you claim to have faith.
• O People of the Book: What fault do you find with us other than that we believe in ALLAH, in what has been revealed to us, and in what has been revealed before (to you all), while most of you are transgressing.

Surah Al-Maidah: Highlights (v. 60 - 59)

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• Only if they have been faithful to the Torah and the Bible and acted according to what has been revealed from God to them, they will be blessed with the gifts from heavens and earth. There is a group among them that pursues the right course, but most others are engaged in evil.
• Say to the People of the Book: “You cannot claim to faith until you accept what is in the Torah and in the Gospel and what is being revealed from your Sustainer.”
• Indeed, anyone who has faith, and those from the Jews, the Sabians, and the Christians—whoever establishes (and demonstrates) faith in God, the Day of Judgment and does good (to others)—they will have no reason to grieve or fear (see also 2:64).
• Christ, son of Mary, was an Apostle (of God), and many apostles have passed away before him. His mother was a woman of great virtue and truthfulness. They both ate food (like other creatures of God). See how We make the matters clear to them; yet see how they continue to deny (the truth).

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Session 7: February 8^th (Sat at 11AM)

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• Link to reading - https://myllife.org/read/monthly-quran-readings.html/title/session-7
• Weekly rhythm – each week (reading/reflections)
• Perhaps keep a journal, if that is helpful

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