Assalammualaikum wbkt..
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I would like to share with you about something that we can learn from Surah Maryam. Why I am interested in this Surah? Because particularly, i like the way it is structured. And I also love the miracles (in fact three miracles) in the beginning of surah maryam, that might increase our iman and understanding about Allah and His power, and His ability to do all things, including something beyond our logic! I mean, something impossible that (we might think that way), but in the power of Allah, nothing is impossible. And this is happened, and no doubt with the power and will of Allah, the "impossible" can turn/change to "not impossible". In whatever circumstances!
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Of course I am not going to explain the word by word (as in the subject of Ulum ul Qur-an) whereby the sheikh will explain in arabic, word by word and it would be very long and complex discussion and only few have/understand the knowledge. I have to admit that I dont have a specific qualification/formal education about Al-Qur'an, so I would like to discuss about this matter using a layman view (which is still in line with rules and regulations in Islam)
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As Prof. Nouman Ali Khan said, that Al-Qur'an can be explained using complicated way (very long discussion in Ulum al Qur'an subject) and easy way (whatever that you can learn from it). Surely I will choose the second method as I only a layman with very limited knowledge in this area. But hopefully this simple effort will be blessed by Allah swt, beneficial to me and to you.
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In sura Maryam (chapter 19), it begins with the story of Prophet Zakariyya, a.s. Then it continues with the story of Maryam (the mother of Prophet Isa a.s). I will just play around these two stories in this posting since I dont want to make it too long and hopefully we can benefit something out of it.
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In the name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful
1. Kaf. Ha. Ya. 'Ain. Sad.
2. A mention of the mercy of your Lord to His servant Zakkariya
3. When he called to his Lord a call in secret
4. Saying: My Lord! My bones grow feeble and my head is shining with grey hair, and I have never been unblesses in prayer to You, my Lord.
5. I fear my for relatives after me, since my wife is barren. Oh, give me from Your presence a successor,
6. Who shall inherit of me and inherit (also) of the house of Yaakub. And make him, my Lord, acceptable (to You).
7. (It was said to him): O Zakkariya! We bring you tidings of a son whose name is Yahya. We have given the same name to no-one before (him)
8. He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when my wife is barren and I have reached infirm old age?
9. He said: So (it will be). Your Lord says: It is easy for Me, even as I created you before, when you were nothing.
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This chapter starts with Kaf. Ha. Ya. 'Ain. Sad (only Allah knows the meaning). Then it continues with the dua of the Prophet Zakkariya, which he recited in secret (which I believe it is far from public- in private area). With a very high marvel language (best selection of word) he recites the doa to Allah. He prayed that Allah will grant him a son that can inherits the prophethood - someone respected/can be trusted with the resposnsibility to carry on the duty to spread the religion. And in fact, he didnt trust his own relatives to carry on the prophethood/responsibility as his relatives diverted far away, further away form God day by day.
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Prophet Zakariyya is a very genius guy. We see that from this sura, he prayed to Allah to have a son for the purpose of - to make sure that the word of Laillaha illa Allah continues. He need a son for him to pass the prophethood, someone with wisdom and righteous, that can be trusted to spread the word of God.
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If we reflect this story to ourself, let us ask each other, why basically we need children? Why it is important for us to have children?
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Have you heard people talked each other .."Oh common, you need to get marry and have kids, otherwise no one will take care of you when you reach old age!". Sounds familiar, right?. Indeed.
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I dont know but it seems that we have to remove the paradigm that "having kids is necessary for them to take care of me when I reach old age". For me personally, it seems that you already expected that- one day you will be old, then probably you get a lot of disease (nauzubillah), you need your kids to take care of you, to feed you, to etc etc..- but I just dont understand why we basically need to have that kind of mentality.
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Why don't we imagine/think/set in our mind about something better than that. Prophet Zakkariya didnt mention that - Oh Lord, I need kids, I am old now, who is going to take care of me now? who is going to feed me? to clean my urine etc? But instead, he said that he need kid/a son for the purpose of religion - prophethood and be someone who Allah satisfied/pleased.
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One more, why must we have a very negative imagination that when we get old, we need someone to take care of us (the dual meaning is that we are unable to do this and that), so what happened to someone who dont have kids? someone who is not married?
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Allah is fair. Is Just. We should not expect our kids to take care of us, because kids are all human, and we cannot expect anything from human. Instead, why not we say that- oh when I am old, I hope that Allah will take care of me, Allah will make me stay healthy so that I can continue worship Allah. Allah is the best caretaker. I need nothing than Allah. Well have kids is important for the survival of Islam, I hope that my next generations (and over generations) will hold the kalimah Laillaha illa Allah, and spread this kalimah to everyone and everywhere and keep it high.
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So basically when we have this kind of mentality- we are not fear of our future as we keep our trust in Allah. Allah, you are my protecting friend in this world and in the next, so please take care of me. Bear in mind that expectations/trust in human will disappoint you. If you trust your husband more than Allah, (you believe that your husband is everything and you need him more than you need Allah), of course one day he will disappoint you, because he is human. But if we put our trust in Allah, he will never disappoint you as he is the most powerful over all things.
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Alright, lets back to the story of prophet Zakkariya. He was a very positive man and very confident with his doa. Why I said that, because basically we do not pray on something that we think we will not achieve (if we think it is impossible, then we tend to avoid such doa). In his case, the situation is very special. He is now reached extremely old age with feeble bones and grey hair - so basically very-very old and his wife is barren. Everyone knows that in this situation (when you are very old, and your wife is barren) it is impossible that you will get a baby. This is something logic, that if your wife is barren, how you are going to have kids? If you have kids, it means that your wife is not barren!. So since he said in the doa that his wife is barren, it means that it is impossible for him to get a child. Having said this, we come to the conclusion that he was in extremely difficult situation (impossible condition) to get a child.
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Let see what Allah's replied to Prophet Zakarriya doa. Allah AlMighty responded to the doa (refer to ayah 7) of prophet Zakkariya and will grant him a pious son named as Yahya. And prophet Zakariya in the first place was not able to accept that fact then he replied again to Allah - how can I have a son, because I am already old and my wife is barren?
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Let see what Allah's replied to Prophet Zakarriya doa. Allah AlMighty responded to the doa (refer to ayah 7) of prophet Zakkariya and will grant him a pious son named as Yahya. And prophet Zakariya in the first place was not able to accept that fact then he replied again to Allah - how can I have a son, because I am already old and my wife is barren?
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Then in ayah 9, Allah's replied "It is easy for Me, even as I created you before when you were nothing". You see, Allah said "IT IS EASY FOR ME", so no big deal in His eyes, He is most powerful to do all things, He is able to fulfill your doa and my doa and why must we lose hope in Allah? Why must we give up in our doa? Because whatever problem we have, in whatever conditions we are, IT IS EASY FOR Allah to help us. Allah will help us.
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Then in ayah 9, Allah's replied "It is easy for Me, even as I created you before when you were nothing". You see, Allah said "IT IS EASY FOR ME", so no big deal in His eyes, He is most powerful to do all things, He is able to fulfill your doa and my doa and why must we lose hope in Allah? Why must we give up in our doa? Because whatever problem we have, in whatever conditions we are, IT IS EASY FOR Allah to help us. Allah will help us.
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Alright, lets move to the next story, which is about Maryam. Maryam is indeed a very special woman that Allah has chosen her and purified her and make her the best women above all nations. As in surah Ali-Imran;42 ("Behold," the angels told Mary, "God had chosen you, purified you and given you distinction over all women"). Masha Allah, how great is Allah's recognition to Maryam. No woman in this world is comparable to Maryam. Allah give her high rank because of her piousness and righteousness in worshipping Allah. We should feel very jealous to Maryam because of the achievement she had. In fact, we should not feel jealous to our friends who are more stylish, more beautiful, more vogue than us because they are not the woman that Allah satisfied and we should also not simply follow the crowd.
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Ok, let see some of the story of Maryam in this surah:
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18 She said: I seek refuge in the Beneficient One from you, if you are God-fearing.
19 He said: I am only a messenger of your Lord, that I may bestow on you a faultless son
20 She said: How can I have a son when no mortal has tauched me, neither have I been unchaste?
21 He said: So (it will be). Your Lord says: It is easy for Me. And (it will be) that We may make of him a revelation for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained.
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Again, in this ayat, the impossible become possible. Allah sent an angel to Maryam, to deliver the message that she is going to have a son, and she herself was terrified - because how can she has a son since she has no husband and she is a very pious women (not a prostitute). It is something unimaginable, something beyond our knowledge that we usually think that this thing will never happen. Let say one day someone meet you and tell you - "you know, I am expecting a baby now, the angel come to me and suddently I realised that I am pregnant". Do you think that you will believe what she said???.
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Alright, lets move to the next story, which is about Maryam. Maryam is indeed a very special woman that Allah has chosen her and purified her and make her the best women above all nations. As in surah Ali-Imran;42 ("Behold," the angels told Mary, "God had chosen you, purified you and given you distinction over all women"). Masha Allah, how great is Allah's recognition to Maryam. No woman in this world is comparable to Maryam. Allah give her high rank because of her piousness and righteousness in worshipping Allah. We should feel very jealous to Maryam because of the achievement she had. In fact, we should not feel jealous to our friends who are more stylish, more beautiful, more vogue than us because they are not the woman that Allah satisfied and we should also not simply follow the crowd.
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Ok, let see some of the story of Maryam in this surah:
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18 She said: I seek refuge in the Beneficient One from you, if you are God-fearing.
19 He said: I am only a messenger of your Lord, that I may bestow on you a faultless son
20 She said: How can I have a son when no mortal has tauched me, neither have I been unchaste?
21 He said: So (it will be). Your Lord says: It is easy for Me. And (it will be) that We may make of him a revelation for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained.
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Again, in this ayat, the impossible become possible. Allah sent an angel to Maryam, to deliver the message that she is going to have a son, and she herself was terrified - because how can she has a son since she has no husband and she is a very pious women (not a prostitute). It is something unimaginable, something beyond our knowledge that we usually think that this thing will never happen. Let say one day someone meet you and tell you - "you know, I am expecting a baby now, the angel come to me and suddently I realised that I am pregnant". Do you think that you will believe what she said???.
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But you see, Allah replied, similar to the doa of prophet Zakkariya "IT IS EASY FOR ME" and the prophet Isa a.s himself is one form of Allah's sign to mankind, a mercy to mankind and it is a part of Allah decree.
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Alright, let see the third miracle.
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27 Then she brought him to her own people, carrying him. They said: O Mary! You have come with an amazing thing.
28 O sister of Aaron! Your father was not a wicked man nor was your mother a harlot
29 Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?
30 He spoke: I am the slave of Allah. He has given me scripture and has appointed me a Prophet,
31 And has made me blessed wherever I may be, and has enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive,
32 And (has made me) dutiful towards her who bore me, and has not made me arrogant, unblessed.
33 Peace on me the day I was born, the day I die and the day I shall be raised alive!.
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In this part, Isa a.s. able to defend his mother while he is still a baby in his mother's arm. He told the people (surrounding her mother) that as stated in ayat 30-33. We never expect that a baby can talk, but it happened in the case of prophet Isa, (as well as other stories in hadith). So this is another impossible thing that finally turn to fact in the power of Allah.
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CONCLUSION
Listening/reading about these stories in Al-Qur'an will actually increase our hope/motivation in life. The fact is that, there is nothing impossible in this world. We should not lose our hope in Allah. And we should not feel despair in our doa. Be positive, that Allah will help us, that Allah is able to do all things. We basically of our own self can do nothing, but Allah can do anything, can do everything. InsyaAllah, after hardship will come ease. May Allah grant me and u His Mercy, guidance and forgiveness. Amin. See you next time insyaAllah.
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Aisyah
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