Exegesis of Surat Qaf (The Glorious Qur'an), Verses (1-5), and other selected verses, and the lessons derived from them.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows:
This is the twenty-ninth meeting after the hundredth of the meetings known as "The Open Door," which take place every Thursday of every week. This is Thursday, the eleventh of Safar, 1417. We ask Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, to bless our deeds and our words for us and for you, for He is Able to do all things. We begin this meeting with the exegesis of Surat , as we have finished, praise be to Allah, with the exegesis of Surat al-Hujurat.
First: The Basmala. We have previously spoken about it, and it is a distinct verse that is recited at the beginning of every surah except Surat al-Bara'ah, for the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did not write a Basmala before it, but they placed a separator between it and the end of Surat al-Anfal. There is no mention that is recited in place of the Basmala, as found in the margins of some mushafs, where it is written: "I seek refuge in Allah from the Fire, from the plotting of the wicked, and from the anger of the Mighty One. Might belongs to Allah, His Messenger, and the believers". This is undoubtedly a religious innovation with no basis and no authenticity. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate": This is a letter from the Arabic alphabet from which speech is composed. Like the other letters, it has no meaning in itself. It is known that the Qur'an was revealed in the Arabic language. If these letters have no meaning in the Arabic language, then they likewise have no meaning in the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in terms of their intrinsic meaning.
As for the great and significant purpose, it has a great and significant purpose, which is: that this Qur'an, which baffled the Arabs despite their eloquence and clarity, did not come with something new in letters they did not know. Rather, it is in the letters they know, and yet they were unable to produce anything like it. This indicates that it is the speech of the Almighty, the Praiseworthy, (Exalted and Majestic is He). For this reason, you hardly find a surah that begins with these alphabetic letters without a mention of the Qur'an following it. Here, the Exalted says: The letter "waw" is a letter of oath. Allah, the Exalted, swore by the Qur'an, for Allah, the Exalted, has the right to swear by whatever He wills. His swearing here by the Qur'an is swearing by His speech, and the speech of Allah, the Exalted, is among His attributes. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) mentioned that it is permissible to swear by Allah, the Exalted, or by one of His attributes. As for His signs, one does not swear by them unless the person intends by the signs His words, such as the Noble Qur'an, the Torah, the Gospel, and the like. As for the cosmic signs, such as the sun and the moon, it is not permissible for us to swear by them. As for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, He has the right to swear by whatever He wills.
The word "Qur'an" is derived from "qara'a" meaning to recite, or from "qara" meaning to gather. Hence, "qaryah" (village), because people gather in it. The Qur'an encompasses both meanings: it is recited, and it is also gathered.
Meaning: The Possessor of Majesty. This is greatness and absolute power. So the Qur'an has its great majesty; it is dominant and controlling over all previous books, ruling over them, not being ruled over.
It is also Glorious, by which it is glorified, elevated, and manifested. Whoever holds fast to it is elevated. This is like His saying, the Exalted: Here, the answer to the oath is not apparent to the reciter. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed regarding such cases: does it have an answer, or is its answer known from the context, or is it known from the thing sworn by? There are multiple opinions among the scholars. The most apparent is to say that such a construction does not need an answer to the oath, because it is known from the greatness of the thing sworn by. It is as if he swore by the Qur'an to the truth of the Qur'an. The Glorious Qur'an, by being Glorious, was evidence that it is the truth and that it was revealed from Allah, Mighty and Majestic. And thus, the oath does not need an answer, because the answer is included in the oath. The "waw" refers to those who denied the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), who denied his message, denied the Qur'an, denied the resurrection, and denied the Last Day. For this reason, They were amazed. "Amazement" here means astonishment and denial. We say this because "amazement" sometimes means denial and disbelief, and sometimes means approval. So the saying of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): The meaning of "amazement" here is what? Approval. And His saying here: The meaning is denial and disbelief. He is not far from them. He is of their lineage, lineage, and residence. They know him. And yet they said: When Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), came to them, he informed them that people would be resurrected, and that they would be recompensed and reckoned. They were amazed: how is this? Will a person live after he has become bones? It is known that "idha" is a temporal particle, and every temporal particle needs a governing verb. What is its governing verb? The governing verb is omitted, indicated by what follows. The implied meaning is: "When we have died and become dust, will we return and be resurrected?" Then he said: For this reason, it is good in recitation to pause at His saying: Because His saying: is a new sentence that has no grammatical connection to what came before it. So we say: "Idha" is a temporal particle, and every temporal particle needs what? A governing verb. Where is the governing verb in the verse? It is omitted. The implied meaning is: We return and are resurrected. The interrogation here means denial and disbelief, as if they are saying: It is not possible that we return and are resurrected after we have been dust and bones. But Allah, Mighty and Majestic, made clear that He is Able to do that. When they said: And their meaning by "far" here is impossibility. They consider that impossible. Perhaps some of them softened their tone and said: So sometimes they deny absolutely and say: This is impossible. And sometimes they say: This is far. Allah, the Exalted, clarified His ability regarding that: The earth consumes the person when he dies. So Allah, the Exalted, knows what the earth takes from him of the parts of his body, particle by particle, even if the earth consumes him. And His saying: may indicate that it does not consume the entire body. There is detail in this. As for the prophets, the earth does not consume them, however long they remain in their graves, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): As for others, the body may remain for a long time without the earth consuming it, as Allah wills. Or the earth may consume it, but if the earth consumes it, the backbone remains. The backbone is a small part of the bone at the lower back. This remains, by the permission of Allah, and the earth does not consume it. It is as if it is the seed of the body when it is resurrected on the Day of Resurrection. From it, the human being is created in his grave. When the blowing of the Trumpet is completed and they rise from their graves to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, And if Allah, the Exalted, knows what the earth has taken, He is Able to return what the earth has taken at the resurrection. With Allah, the Exalted, is a Preserving Book, meaning: a Guardian of everything. Allah, the Exalted, said: He, the Exalted, said: And this is good. Rather, the "bal" here is for transitional negation, not for absolute negation, because the first is established and the second is added to it. This is the difference between "bal" for absolute negation and "bal" for transition. So "bal" is always for negation, but if it negates the first, it is called absolute negation, and if it does not negate it, it is transition, as if he moved from one topic to another.
But their hearts are certain, except that their tongues deny. As He, the Exalted, said about the family of Pharaoh: "Lamma" here means "when," so it is a temporal particle and not a particle.
The "fa" here is for immediate sequence and causality. The meaning is: So when they denied the truth in a confused matter, meaning: mixed up. Their matter became mixed up, refuge in Allah. This is like His saying, the Exalted: What? These people, when they denied, became in a confused matter. Their matter became ambiguous, they hesitated in their matter. And so, every person who rejects the truth the first time should know that he will be tested with doubt and suspicion in accepting the truth in the future. For this reason, it is obligatory for us, from the moment we hear that something is the truth, to say: We heard and we obeyed. Unlike some people now, you say to him: The Messenger ordered this.
He says: “Is the matter for obligation or for recommendation?” Glory be to Allah, do what you are commanded to do, whether it is obligatory or recommended. If you hesitate, because the meaning of your question, “Is it obligatory or recommended?” implies that if it is recommended, I am free from it, and if it is obligatory, I would do it by mistake, then say: “We hear and we obey.” Then, if a discrepancy occurs, it may be appropriate to ask at that time whether it is obligatory or recommended. But before that, it is not. Someone might say: “I am asking whether it is obligatory or recommended because there is a difference between the obligatory and the recommended. Which is more beloved to Allah? The obligatory is more beloved to Allah, so I do it so that if I believe it is obligatory, I am rewarded with the reward of the obligatory, and if I believe it is a sunnah, I am rewarded with the reward of the sunnah.” We say: Yes, that is good, but the reward for your submission to the truth the first time, with ease and without asking, is better than your believing it to be obligatory or recommended. And if Allah has made it obligatory upon you, He will reward you with the reward of the obligatory, even if you do not know. Submission and complete submission is far better than my believing this to be obligatory or recommended. And He, Mighty and Majestic, said: Then He said: He argued with the cosmic signs for the validity of the legal signs, and the discussion of them will come, if Allah wills, in the next session. Yes, no question for anyone else.