Surah 93: Al Duha, Surah 94: Al Sharh & Q&A Surah 9: Al Tawbah, Al Duha, Al Sharh | Project Illumine 

I'm watching this on the 2nd of October 2024 and oh boy I needed this today. Thank you so much for this video, these are my two favourite Surahs and you've helped me recontextualise them in regards to the awful things that are happening in this world. May Allah bless you for this ❤️

TIMESTAMPS Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem [Video suitable for viewing at increased Playback speed. Transcript available in video Description. Grace Song's preamble until 5:12] 6:56 the difference between the present Project Illumine commentary \ Tafsir of specific chapters previously covered according to the traditional methodology. 8:11 the minority reports maintaining Surah al-Duha and Surah al-Sharh are a single chapter. 9:35 the traditional narratives maintaining an event triggered the revelation of Surah al-Duha... 12:10 ...the reports highlighting the Prophet's alarm at the discontinuation of revelation after Surah al-Fajr... 13:10 ...still other traditions noting the taunts aimed at the Prophet when revelation did not come to him after a two week period - Surah al-Duha being the response finally... 14:13 ...reports attributed to Aisha about the Prophet during this time... 14:48 ...all of which are likely fabrications due to their highly problematic nature because: (1) they defy logical sense - why would the absence of revelation for a short period of time trouble the Prophet; (2) they occur at a time when the revelation was discreet rather than public knowledge; (3) at other points during the Meccan stage the Prophet did not receive revelation for up to six months at a time. 18:45 the reports as a function of mediaeval narratives and folkloric melodramatic story telling... 19:00 ...related by a bunch of the usual suspects - Ummayyad goons trying to discredit the Ahl al-Bayt... 21:35 ...Aisha's report amounting to hearsay at the very least since she was too young and had not married the Prophet during the early phase of the Meccan revelation... 22:25 ...crucially, had the incident come from the Prophet himself via people like Aisha etc it would have been widely narrated and thus recorded for posterity for sure, not as a lone/single report. 23:38 Surah al-Duha, #93 : Ayah #1: "wad-duha" (By the morning light) 24:09 Ayah #2: "wa-al-layli idha saja" (And the night as it settles). 24:27 Ayah #3: "ma wadda'aka rabbuka wama qala" (Your Lord did not abandon you, nor did He forget). 27:39 Ayah #4 "walalakhiratu khayru laka min al-oola" (The Hereafter is better for you than the First). 27:45 Ayah #5: "walasawfa yu'teeka rabbuka fatarda" (And your Lord will give you, and you will be satisfied). 28:08 Ayah #6: "alam yajid'ka yateeman fa-awa" (Did He not find you orphaned, and sheltered you?). 28:48 Ayah #7: "wawajadaka dallan fahada" (And found you wandering, and guided you?). 28:56 Ayah #8: "wawajadaka a-i-lan fa-aghna" (And found you in need, and enriched you?). 29:14 Ayah #9: "fa-amm al-yateema fala taqhar" (Therefore, do not mistreat the orphan). 29:28 Ayah #10: "wa-amma as-sai-la fala tanhar" (Nor rebuff the seeker). 29:51 Ayah #11: "wa-amma bini'mati rabbika fahaddith" (But proclaim the blessings of your Lord). 32:10 Surah al-Duha, a new perspective: Ayah #1: the emergence of light out of darkness for the human being - the promise of enlightenment. 35:00 making sense of Ayah #3 - not thinking one is personally abandoned by God; not despairing in God's commitment to the truth and light... 41:05 ...by losing sight of the ultimate objective - the hereafter (referencing Ayah #4). 41:30 Ayah #6: referring to the metaphysical reality of human birth - born vulnerable orphaned from the womb care after with God's blessings. 46:00 Ayah #5: God's company pleasing and personally sufficient. 51:28 the importance of avoiding personal darkness by looking after the weak and needy (referencing Ayat #9 & #10). 52:50 Ayah #11: the declaration of God's greatness being inseparable from the kind treatment of the needy and powerless... 53:35 ....searching for the light in these quarters as the epitome of al-Duha. Amen 53:55 55:34 Surah al-Sharh's revelation shortly or right after Surah al-Duha in the early Meccan period. 56:34 Ayah #1: "alam nashrah laka sadrak" (Did We not soothe your heart?). 57:08 Ayah #2: "wawada'na anka wiz'rak" (And lift from you your burden). 57:22 Ayah #4: "warafa'na laka dhik'rak" (And raised for you your reputation?). 57:34 Ayah #5: "fa-inna ma' al-'us'ri yus'ra" (With hardship comes ease) Ayah #6: "inna ma' al-'us'ri yus'ra" (With hardship comes ease). 57:40 Ayah #7: "fa-idha faraghta fansab" (When your work is done, turn to devotion) Ayah #8 "wa-ila rabbika far'ghab" (And to your Lord turn for everything). 58:03 the oral traditions interpreting Ayah #4 etc as akin to the remembrance of the Prophet during the commonly recited testimony of faith as well as God reminding the Prophet of His backing - this being the standard/traditional understanding of the chapter. 1:00:45 the problematic reports about the Prophet supposedly feeling burdened by his past sins hence the wording of Ayah #2 (And lift from you your burden) addressing this point... 1:01:30 ...no evidence produced to support the contention the Prophet sinned prior to prophethood... 1:02:30 ...the doubtfulness of these traditions based on their inconsistencies. 1:03:20 a more straightforward interpretation - God speaking to us via the Prophet. 1:04:06 Ayah #1: alam nashrah laka sadrak" (Did We not soothe your heart?) - addressing us and our belief \ Iman. 1:07:43 Ayah #2: "wawada'na anka wiz'rak" (And lift from you your burden) - the feeling of levity with the arrival of belief \ Iman. 1:09:45 Ayah #4: "warafa'na laka dhik'rak" (And raised for you your reputation?) - becoming closer to the heavens. 1:11:55 reference to Ayat #5 & #6: (With hardship comes ease) - via the agency of God's mercy hardship \ الْعُسْرِ \ al-'Usr becoming ease \ یُسْرً \ Yus'r. 1:14:08 Ayah #7: "fa-idha faraghta fansab" (When your work is done, turn to devotion) - perseverance to know the truth. 1:15:19 Ayah #8 "wa-ila rabbika far'ghab" (And to your Lord turn for everything) - maintaining focus during hardship via the connection with God. 1:19:31 both chapters as foundational building blocks; defining one's relationship between light/good and dark/bad and feeling better because of the understanding these are speaking to oneself, personally, not just directed to the Prophet. Amen 1:21:37 Q&A SESSION 1:22:43 Q: what was the Professor's personal engagement with each of the chapters covered? 1:25:18 A: recounting in relation to Surah al-Tawbah. 1:34:55 Muslim thinking/scholarship in relation to their tradition being reactive or derivative during and since the colonial period. 1:40:38 Q: what were the Professor's reflections on chapters al-Duha and al-Sharh? 1:42:40 the key to deconstructing traditional commentaries casting the Prophet in a weak or doubtful light - whether the narrators were anti-Ahl al-Bayt. 1:45:45 nullius in verba - the importance of not taking anyone's word, including one's teachers if necessary, as a source of truth - checking matters out to one's satisfaction. 1:51:43 decolonising the mind, not taking the history dealt widely out at face value: historiography = the study of the writing of history to check which vested interests at involved/at stake. 1:53:10 the difference between analytical and obstructionist thought. 1:53:47 Q: for those suffering a particular form of shame is service towards the weak a means of healing? When thinking about the Muslim community arguably carrying the intergenerational trauma of colonialism how might these chapters apply to Muslims in our current psychological state? 1:57:53 how small forces manage to completely rout entire civilisations - Ummah as a community of mutually reliant souls United in one purpose. 2:16:00 Q: according to Surah al-Tawbah, should we expect a test once or twice every year? 2:24:16 Q: the word Sai in Ayah #112, Surah al-Tawbah means traveling or fasting, what is the relationship between these?