Chapter 108:
Al-Kauthar
The Abundance of Good
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In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
- Surely We have given thee abundance of good.
- So pray to thy Lord and sacrifice.
- Surely thy enemy is cut off (from good).
This chapter, Al Kauthar (Abundance of Good), was revealed
at Makkah and it is the shortest chapter of the Holy Quran. However,
the Holy Quran had already issued a challenge to the whole world
as regards its uniqueness in eloquence and elegance of language
and this had aroused bitter feelings of jealousy and frustration
in the hearts of the Makkan leaders. When this chapter was revealed
it was hung up in the Ka‘bah and this action was considered a challenge
to the whole country. Whereupon the Arabs, who prided themselves
on the beauty and style of their diction, were inflamed and so they
sought out a poet who was unsurpassed in eloquence and fluency of
language in order for him to compose a reply to this chapter. He
came and read the chapter and left quickly saying: “This is not
the word of man.” This chapter has wonderfully summarized the essence
of religion in a single verse and this same verse embraces every
means of attaining Allah’s pleasure and gaining self-perfection
in a statement that is so exquisite, delicate, subtle and comprehensive
that it is beyond man’s ability to describe its sublimity.
Inna a‘tainakal kauthar |
1. Surely We have given
thee abundance of good. |
Kauthar means abundance of everything and here it means
abundance of good things. This chapter was revealed at a time when
our Holy Prophet was most helpless and powerless. A storm of opposition
was raging on all sides, every kind of persecution was being meted
out to him and the hope of success in his mission was non-existent.
In fact, if one considered his material resources then the picture
was even gloomier – failure seemed to stare him on all sides. But
it was at this time of despair that the Heavenly Voice was heard
saying: We have given thee abundance of good.
In this verse the news of abundant good was given with great force
and certainty and world events have borne out the truth of this
statement. If we study carefully the history of the world we shall
see that as regards abundance of good things, Allah’s favours to
the Holy Prophet were so complete that nothing was left out – worldly
and religious favours, heavenly and earthly blessings of the highest
rank and to the greatest measure; in addition, power and kingdom,
followers and community, honour and renown, nobility and culture,
high morals and perfect spiritual blessings flowing from his prophethood
till the Day of Resurrection – all these and more were bestowed
on him to the highest degree and to the greatest measure as were
not granted to any mortal before or after.
This prophecy which was given at a time when the Holy Prophet was
in a most helpless, powerless and forlorn position was fulfilled
with such splendour and magnificence that even the enemies of Islam
cannot help but acknowledge its veracity. Accordingly, in the Encyclopaedia
Britannica it is written:
“Of all religious personalities Muhammad, the Arab, was
the most successful.”
History is witness to this truth and no one can deny these historical
facts. And what he received in this world is nothing compared to
what is in store for him in the life hereafter.
Fa salli li Rabbika
wanhar |
2. So pray to thy Lord
and sacrifice. |
The whole religion is encapsulated in this one verse. If a person
acts according to this verse, he is putting the whole religion into
practice. We are told to pray to our Lord and make sacrifices for
His sake. To live in accordance with the religion, or, to forge
a relationship with Allah and win His pleasure, there are only two
ways open to us worship and good deeds.
Firstly, let us take worship. The essence of worship is du‘a
(supplication) as the Hadith tells us, and the highest form
of du‘a is salah (formal prayer) through which a person
can confess his servitude to Allah and seek His aid and assistance
in helping him to obey Him with total obedience in the doing of
good deeds.
Secondly, sacrifice is the ultimate in good actions that
is, to reach that point of perfection where a person can give up
everything for the sake of Allah his possessions, his deepest
attachments, his ego and all his desires and ambitions.
Prayer and sacrifice are so intricately bound that without sacrifice,
prayer cannot be perfected, neither can sacrifice be complete without
prayer to Allah for His help and assistance. We shall examine the
two aspects.
- To achieve perfection in prayer, first of all one’s intention
must be solely for the sake of Allah, after which connection with
everything else besides Him must be completely severed
be it possessions, or pleasures, hopes, egoism, desires or ambitions.
At the time of prayer, the pronouncement of the first takbir
(pronouncement of Allah is the Greatest), called the
takbir tahrimah, must be like the cutting of the neck of
an animal in sacrifice. Then this sacrifice will give rise to
the cutting off of relationship from everything worldly and turning
wholly and solely to Allah. This, in turn, will lead to the perfection
of prayer and the fulfillment of the Holy Prophet’s statement:
As-salatu mi‘rajul mu’minin (Prayer is the ascension of
the believers). Thus the command to perform prayer and to sacrifice
points to the fact that prayer is perfected when a person reaches
the stage where at the moment when he makes his intention and
pronounces the first takbir, he has already cut off connection
with everything except Allah.
- Similarly, the order to sacrifice, that is, to sacrifice oneself
from all personal desires and possessions, cannot reach perfection
unless Allah’s help is sought and so it is necessary for man to
make supplication in his prayer and beseech Allah for His help
in making his actions attain that supreme rank of sacrifice.
Now there are two aspects to good deeds: firstly, respect for,
and obedience to the commands of Allah and secondly, kindness to
the creation of Allah. Neither can be fulfilled without sacrifice
for in both cases sacrifice of personal desires, ambitions, hopes
and possessions are called for, and further, this sacrifice must
be performed for the sake of Allah and Allah alone. For example,
if a person should do a good deed to another, his intention must
not be to get something in return, but it must be done solely for
the pleasure of Allah. Similarly, if he practises obedience to any
of Allah’s commands, again it must be done only to please Allah
and not for show or for name and fame or for any ulterior personal
motive. That is why when the command to pray and sacrifice was given,
the words li Rabbika (for the sake of thy Lord) were added
they must be done specifically for the sake of Allah and
for no other reason.
When man reaches this stage of sacrifice, which is the furthest
limit of obedience to Allah, then his personality is dyed with the
Oneness of Allah and that is the utmost limit in the perfection
of man’s actions. To achieve this, man must seek the aid and succour
of Allah, that is, prayer is imperative. It was for this reason
that the command was given to man that if he wishes to receive the
bounties of al-kauthar and to become the inheritor of abundant
goodness, he must pray and sacrifice also. Obedience to Allah should
reach perfection through worship and sacrifice. Thus this is the
perfection in religion to which man is bound and if he follows it
then Allah, Most High is pleased and bestows on him the blessings
of al-kauthar (abundance of good).
Inna shani’aka huwal
abtar |
3. Surely thy enemy
is cut off from good. |
Abtar (cut off) refers to a person who has no descendant
and so remembrance of him is cut off from the world. The unbelievers
thought that as the Holy Prophet had no male offspring, as soon
as he died he would be completely forgotten. They were told that
it was their remembrance that would be obliterated and that
they should know that Allah, Most High, had made the Holy Prophet
(sas) the inheritor of an abundance of good things
that he would be blessed with progeny and faithful followers and
physical and spiritual favour to a degree unprecedented in the history
of the world; the chain of his spiritual progeny would extend to
the Day of Resurrection but no trace of his enemies names would
remain.
It is a fact that when a servant sacrifices everything for his
Lord his own self, and all his hopes and ambitions and his
possessions and all his expectations solely for the pleasure and
the obedience of his Lord, then Allah, Most High, comes to his assistance
and destroys anyone who is an impediment in the way of the servant’s
goals and advancement and effaces their evil designs. Just as the
servant sacrifices everything that is a stumbling block in the way
of obedience to his Lord and seeking His pleasure, in like measure,
his Lord removes every obstacle that stands in the path of the servant’s
ambitions and progress. In other words, Allah’s actions correspond
with those of the servant.
If anyone is in doubt about that, then let him look at the Holy
Prophet (sas) whose life was the perfect manifestation of
the Quranic verse: My prayer and my sacrifice and my life and
my death are surely for Allah, the Lord of the worlds (6:163)
and whose prayer and sacrifice reached the zenith of perfection,
and see how he became heir to an abundance of all good things whilst
his enemies became extinct and no mention of them remains in the
world. Today the number of those who would sacrifice their lives
for the name of the Holy Prophet runs into millions and the number
of spiritual descendants with which Allah has blessed him cannot
be found in any nation on earth. In the history of the world, other
nations never possessed even one hundredth of the number of righteous
servants, saints, abdals, qutbs, mujaddids, religious scholars,
inheritors of prophetic blessings and devoted followers that are
to be found in his community. The stream of good things in abundance
has not dried up but will flow until the Day of Resurrection and
if Allah wills, its current will become stronger and stronger in
this world as well as in the Hereafter.
Further, every member of his ummah (community) who performs
prayer and sacrifice in the manner explained above will partake
of this kauthar (abundance of good) now and in the future
in proportion to his capability and the degree of his worship and
sacrifice, whilst destruction is the lot of his enemy now and in
the Hereafter. Again, blessed is he who shares in this kauthar
which Allah, Most High, gave to the Holy Prophet (sas) and
by following whom every member of his ummah can and will
partake to the extent of his capacity and good deeds.
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