بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

Quranic Concepts in the 30 Selected Verses

Verse No. 1:

Surah 39 Ayah 36

أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِكَافٍ عَبْدَهُ

Translation:

Is God not sufficient (support) for His servants?        

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• The idol worshipers used to say to the Prophet of Islam: If you insult our idols, you will be harmed. This verse was revealed and supported the Prophet: “Allah is sufficient for his servant.”
• The Qur’an has presented the immunity of the Holy Prophet SAWA and his family, from all kinds of conspiracies in several verses as God saved Noah from drowning. And He protected Abraham from the fire, Moses from the danger of Pharaoh, and Jesus from being hanged.
• If a person becomes a servant for God, he will be insured and God will take care of his affairs.
• In the cace of threats from enemies, let’s calm ourselves down by remembering God’s help and protection.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• Our duty is to serve God in any situation.
• Whoever makes all his efforts to serve God, God will fulfil his desires in this world and in the hereafter.

Actions required! (Only for children between 10 and 15 years old)

• Think about one good and one bad thing happen to you over the last three months. Take a pen and paper and write them down. Then, in the front of each of those good and bad incidents, write a few of your previous good and bad behaviours / actions which could led to that good / bad outcome.
• Make a plan for changing those bad actions in the future. What do you want to change?
• Talk about all of these with your friends and family members.

Verse No. 2:

Surah 96 Ayah 14

أَلَمْ يَعْلَم بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَرَىٰ ‎

Translation:

Does he not know that Allah sees?

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Allah SWT is seeing.
• Nothing from our actions is hidden from Him.
• Allah SWT is Superior to all His creatures.
• The sooner the sinners repent the sooner Allah forgives because He is there to forgive.
• Our sins cannot harm Allah SWT.
• Our good actions cannot benefit Allah SWT.
• The root of rebellion is thinking that God does not see His creatures.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• The world of existence is in the presence of God: Paying attention to the fact that everything a person does is in the presence of God, and basically “the entire universe is in the presence of God”, and nothing of a person’s actions and even intentions are hidden from Him, can have an effect on a person’s lifestyle and prevent him from doing wrongdoing, provided that faith in this matter really takes place in his heart and becomes a definite belief.
• We should worship Him and act the way like we also see Him.
• We should assume that there is a CCTV surrounding us and The One behind the screen watching us is Allah SWT.

Actions required! (Only for children between 10 and 15 years old)

• Assume that there is a CCTV surrounding us and The One behind the screen watching us is Allah SWT. Give a report of your own action and give score to yourself from 100.

Verse No. 3:

Surah 57 Ayah 23

لِّكَيْلَا تَأْسَوْا عَلَىٰ مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلَا تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتَاكُمْ

Translation:

In order that you not despair over what has eluded you and not exult [in pride] over what He has given you.

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Incidents are purposeful.
• Blessings are from God, “آتاکم” but taking them away is not attributed to God. “فاتکم”
• God has announced the recording of events in the “Protected Tablet” (Lawh Mahfouz) so that His servants will not be sad and proud. “لکیلا تأسوا… and لا تفرحوا”
• Sadness and natural joy are not bad, it is reprehensible to be sad about the past or to be intoxicated with what you have. “لکیلا تأسوا… and لا تفرحوا”
• A person who is unaware of God’s destiny thinks that he has a virtue because of which God has blessed him, and therefore he brags on others. “Mukhtal Fhoor”

How can we use this verse in our life?

• All the bitter and sweet events are like steps of black and white ladder, to climb and reach perfection, and one should quickly pass over them regardless of the colour of the steps.
• A bank employee is responsible for taking money from people one day and paying the other day. He does not lose his temper on the first day, nor is he happy on the second day, because he knows that he is nothing more than a trustworthy employee.
• We should increase the power of tolerating the hardship. By determining events and ups and downs, God wants to elevate the human spirit to such an extent that bitterness and sweetness do not affect it, as Hazrat Zainab, peace be upon him, said after the events of Karbala: I saw nothing but beauty, “and I saw nothing but Jamila” (80) and Imam Hussain, peace be upon him, said in the pit of the slaughterhouse and in the last moments of his life: O God! I am satisfied with your judgment and I am patient with your trials and tribulations. “And God for Ibn Abi Talib Anas Balmut Man Al-Tilfe Baddi Amma” (81)
• If we know the events based on God’s knowledge and wisdom, not random and without reason, and if we know the wisdom of the occurrence of events, we will not be jealous, greedy and angry and we will not have enmity in our hearts because we know that the scenes have been wisely planned in advance. If we know that the gift of blessings brings responsibility and duty, we will not be happy to have it, and if we know that receiving a blessing will be compensated for in the resurrection, we will not be worried about the death.
• Hazrat Ali, Alayhessalam, said: All asceticism is in two words of the Qur’an, then he recited this verse and said: And do not regret what you have lost, and do not be happy about what is given to you, and whoever is like this is a comprehensive ascetic. (82)

Verse No. 4:

Surah 2 Ayah 148

فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ

Translation:

Compete with each other in performing good deeds.

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Excellence in good work increases its value. In the Qur’an, the words “سارعوا”, “سابقوا” and “فاستبقوا” are used for good deeds. And in the praise of the prophets, he says: “Yasareon fi al-Khirat” They speed up in good deeds.
• Leave useless arguments and focus on doing good deeds. “Fastbaqwa Al-Khirat”
• Instead of competing and excelling in material affairs, one should compete with others in good deeds.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• In some narrations below this verse, it is stated: At the time of the appearance of Imam Zaman (peace be upon him), those who are interested in him will gather in his presence from all over the world. So we need to prepare ourselves for the advent of Imam Mahdi AJ.

Actions required! (Only for children between 10 and 15 years old)

Write your plan for being prepared for the advent of Imam Mahdi AJ.

Verse No. 5:

Surah 2 Ayah 83

وَقُولُوا لِلنَّاسِ حُسْنًا

Translation:

Speak of goodness to people.

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Ehsan should be accompanied by politeness and without excuses. Next to Ihsan, there is the sentence “قولوا للناس حسنا”.
• Although you cannot be kind to all people, you can speak well to everyone. “قولوا للناس حسنا”
• It is necessary to treat well and speak well, not only with Muslims, but with all people. “Qooloo Linnasi Husna”
• In addition to paying zakat, kindness to the poor and orphans is also necessary. Both zakat and charity to the poor are mentioned in the verse.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• Goodness in speech is the beginning to the goodness in other types of our actions. We need to practice goodness in our look, our listening, our eating and etc…

Actions required! (Only for children between 10 and 15 years old)

Write 5 ways to express your love to your parents by your speech.

Verse No. 6:

Surah 5 Ayah 8

وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَى أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا

Translation:

Let not a group’s hostility to you cause you to deviate from justice.   

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• It is difficult to ignore internal grudges about people.
• Allah SWT, has used several commands and encouragements in this verse in order to make the difficulty of ignoring internal grudges about people, easy.
• If a man’s motivation is his grudges, there is no sincerity, but if the action is for the sake of God, grudges become ineffective in acting according to justice.
• Emotions must be controlled by justice.
• Hateful and complex people cannot be just. (In order to achieve justice, grudges must be controlled)
• Hatred is one of the factors of deviation from justice.
• We must be fair even to our enemies.

  How can we use this verse in our life?

• When our classmates or friends do wrong to us we must be careful not to do something which they is not appropriate.

Verse No. 7:

Surah 13 Ayah 28

أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ

 Translation:

Remembrance of God certainly brings comfort to all hearts.   

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Remembrance of God is not enough with the tongue only, it is also required to be practiced by the heart
• Only the remembrance of God brings peace to the heart.
• Nowadays, there are many people who have wealth and power, but there is no comfort in their hearts.
• Remembering God has many blessings, including:

1. Remembrance of His blessings is the cause of being thankful to him.
2. Remembering His power is the reason to trust him.
3. The memory of His kindness is the source of his love.
4. The memory of His anger is the cause of fear of him.
5. Remembrance of His greatness is the cause of fear in front of him.
6. The memory of His knowledge of the hidden and the open is a source of modesty and chastity for us.
7. The memory of His forgiveness and generosity is a source of hope and repentance.
8. Remembering His justice is the cause of piety.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• Prayer is remembrance of God and a source of peace. We need to fulfil the prayer meaning that we must mean what we say in the prayer. When we say Allahu Akbar we must see no one greater than Him and also we must have presence of mind in the prayer. We should look at other sentences in the prayer the same way.

Verse No. 8:

Surah 47 Ayah 7

إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنْصُرْكُمْ

Translation:

If you help God, He will help you.

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Man is a limited being and his support and help from God is also limited; But God is infinite and His victory comes from unlimited power.
• God has made His assistance necessary in exchange for people’s help.
• The requirement of faith is practical action in the direction of publishing and expanding the divine religion.
• God’s reward and punishment are the same as human actions.
• Receiving divine grace depends on human effort.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• Hazrat Ali, peace be upon him, says: If you help God, God will help you and make your steps firm… God does not ask for help from you out of humiliation and necessity… He asked you for help. While he himself is dear and wise, and the armies of the heavens and the earth are under his command. Seeking help and God’s borrowing is to test you and determine the best cause of good deeds.

Verse No. 9:

Surah 5 Ayah 2

وتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى

Translation:

Co-operate with each other in righteousness and piety.        

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Faithfulness to covenants and maintaining the sanctity of divine rituals requires cooperation.
• Ignoring the mistakes of others is one of the ways of cooperation for goodness.
• For practicing the virtues, one must prepare the grounds and cooperate in the way to reach that goal.
• Instead of supporting one’s family, tribe, region, race or language, one should support the truth and truthfulness.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• Many narrations have been ordered to cooperate in good deeds and help the oppressed and deprived and forbidden to help the oppressors, and here we mention some hadiths for blessing:

1. As long as a person is thinking of helping people, God will help him.
2. Helping a Muslim is better than a month of recommended fasting and I’tikaf.
3. Whoever helps an oppressor is himself an oppressor.

Verse No. 10:

Surah 5 Ayah 2

ولا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ

Translation:

Don’t co-operate with each other in sin and hostility.  

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• No individual or group of people should cooperate in oppressing innocent people. 
• In an Islamic atmosphere the doer of wrong actions must be left alone.

How can we use this verse in our life?

We must always be alert of the wrong doers around us. Usually they want to get others involved to have more peace of mind in committing the sins and they try their best to make the sins appear normal to have our cooperation. So we need to be aware and not cooperate with them.

Verse No. 11:

Surah 21 Ayah 35

وَنَبْلُوكُمْ بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً

Translation:

We test you with both hardships and blessings.

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Hazrat Ali, peace be upon him, said about this verse: Health and wealth are good, and illness and poverty are evil and both are for testing.
• Although good and evil are both tools of testing, testing with bitterness is more appropriate and perhaps the introduction of “Evil” as the first tools for testing in this verse is because of this reason.
• In this verse the death is the most obvious example for test with evil so here are some examples for the image of death in the Qur’an and narrations:

1. Preparedness for death is a sign of God’s saints. “This is my pledge that you are the guardians of God without people, so fear death”
2. The place of death in human life is like a necklace on a girl’s chest. “The line of death on the birth of Adam, the line of death on the good of the girl”
3. Death is not the end of the road, but it represents a change in life and lifestyle, like a change of clothes.
4. Every human being leaves this world in some way, some with the most difficult situations and some like smelling flowers.
5. A person’s fear of death is like the fear of a driver who either doesn’t have fuel, “Oh, I’m the peak of al-Zad and the long way”, or he is carrying contraband and prohibited goods (he is a sinner) or he is not ready to drive, otherwise why fear?

How can we use this verse in our life?

• We should be alert not to utter the words of complain when there is a test for us with evil and to be thankful whenever we are granted with a favour of Allah SWT. This is the only way we can pass the tests of Allah SWT.
• We should always say Alhamdulillah even in the time of difficulty.
• Whenever we are tested by the death of one of our relatives or family members we must keep in mind that we should say: “Inna Lillah wa Inna Ilayhe Rajeoon.” Meaning that: “We belong to Allah SWT and to Him we shall return.”

Verse No. 12:

Surah 14 Ayah 7

لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ

 Translation:

If you give thanks, I shall give you greater (favours).       

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• God made gratitude necessary to educate us, not that he himself needs gratitude.
• With thanksgiving, not only God’s blessings on us increase, but we ourselves also grow, increase and rise.
• Imam Sadiq, peace be upon him, said: Gratitude for a blessing is an avoidance of sin, and he also said: Thankfulness is when a person recognizes the blessing from God (not from his own or others’ cleverness, knowledge, intellect, and efforts) and is satisfied with what God has given him. And don’t use God’s blessings as a means of sin. The real thanks is when a person uses God’s blessings in the path of God.
• We read in a hadith that God revealed to Musa (a.s.): Fulfil my right of gratitude. Musa said: This is not possible, because every word of thankfulness needs another thankfulness. A revelation came: Your confession and the fact that you know that everything is from me is the best thanks to me.
• Thankfulness is very insignificant and unmentionable in front of God’s blessings.
• According to the narrations, the one who does not thank people has not thanked God.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• Being thankful has 3 stages:

1. The gratitude of the heart for a person to know all the blessings are from God.
2. Verbal thanks, like saying “Alhamdulillah”.
3. Practical gratitude that is obtained by performing worship and spending life and property in the path of pleasing God and serving people.

Verse No. 13:

Surah 14 Ayah 7

لَئِنْ كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِي لَشَدِيدٌ

Translation:

If you are unthankful My punishment is indeed stern.    

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Our ingratitude cannot harm Allah SWT.
• He has warned us of being unthankful to Him because He wanted to educate us.
• If we use God’s blessings in a wrong way, this can be a beginning for disbelieving in Him.
• Being unthankful to people is exactly as being unthankful to Allah.
• The reason why being thankful or unthankful to people is equal to thankful to Allah SWT is because Allah’s graces to us is usually through His creatures.
• The punishment for blasphemy is not only taking the blessing, but sometimes the blessing is not taken away, but it is in the form of revenge and retribution, so that the person falls down little by little.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• Being unthankful has 3 stages:

1. The ingratitude of the heart for a person to think some of the blessings are from people without considering them from Allah SWT.
2. Verbal ingratitude, like saying any word of complaining when there is a problem in the life.
3. Practical ingratitude that is obtained by committing the sins (for example by NOT worshiping Allah SWT and NOT spending life and property in the path of pleasing God and serving people.

Verse No. 14:

Surah 46 Ayah 15

وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ إِحْسَانًا

Translation:

We have advised the human being to be kind to his parents       

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Kindness to parents has been ordered throughout history and in all religions.
• Kindness to parents is one of the human rights that every parent has on their children.
• Being a Muslim is not a condition for benevolence to parents so we must practice this to our parents even if they are not Muslim.
• Kindness to parents has a great significance before Allah SWT.
• In the Qur’an, the word “Wassaina” is used five times, three of which are related to parents.
• Due to the difficulty of pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, the mother has a special right to the child and the children should be more kind to her, as in the narrations more emphasis has been placed on kindness to the mother, and in a narration, the Holy Prophet SAWA enjoined goodness to the mother three times while he did it about father once.
• Perfect kindness to parents is the one which is done directly.
• Kindness to parents should be continuous and outstanding, not temporary. Not only charity, help and respect, but every kind of kindness towards parents is necessary.
• Strengthening the foundation of the family and maintaining the status of parents is the subject of God’s special attention.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• We must be very careful about our words and actions to our parents not to offend them.
• We must show the highest level of love and respect to them for example we can practice kissing their hands.
• We need to make sure that they are happy with us by asking them frequently specially before going to bed.

Verse No. 15:

Surah 29 Ayah 17

فَابْتَغُوا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الرِّزْقَ

Translation:

Seek your sustenance from the bounties of God.             

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Sustenance is not only money; it can be any Halal need which is fulfilled by Allah’s SWT will.
• Any being other than God, do not have the ability to provide sustenance, not that they can but do not provide.
• God is the provider, but man must also try. “Fabtghoo”
• First, the material and welfare needs should be solved, then the people should be guided.
• The source of sustenance is with God
• Worshiping deserves ONLY The One Who has the absolute power.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• We should make endeavour to gain the money we need to afford our life expenses and we must take into consideration that the one who provides us with our needs is Allah SWT not the one who pays us.

Verse No. 16:

Surah 30 Ayah 44

مَنْ كَفَرَ فَعَلَیْهِ كُفْرُهُ

Translation:

Those who disbelieve do so against their own souls.       

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Man has free will and can choose to believe or disbelieve.
• Encouragement and punishment are both necessary.
• People’s disbelief and faith has no effect on God.
• Disbelief alone is the cause of misfortune, even if he does not do wrong, but faith alone is not enough, but requires righteous action.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• We should be mindful about what we do because whatever we do would affect ourselves on the first hand.

Verse No. 17:

Surah 30 Ayah 44

مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلِأَنْفُسِهِمْ يَمْهَدُونَ

Translation:

Those who do good pave the way for their own benefit.

 What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Faith and righteous deeds should not make you proud, because receiving every blessing is from the grace of God.
• To go to heaven, faith alone is not enough, but righteous deeds are also necessary.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• We should always be humble after doing good acts without raising expectations from Allah SWT because our good actions benefits us before others.

Verse No. 18:

Surah 40 Ayah 19

يَعْلَمُ خَائِنَةَ الْأَعْيُنِ وَمَا تُخْفِي الصُّدُورُ

Translation:

God knows the disloyalty of the eyes and what the hearts conceal.          

 What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Looking at the non-mahram, looking down on others and looking to encourage corruption are examples of eye betrayal.
• Imam Sadiq (a.s.) was asked about the verse “He knows the betrayers of the eyes”, he said: It means the looks under the eyes.
• Imam Kazim, (a.s.), said: There is no believer who does not feel sad after committing a sin, and if he does not feel sad, he is not a believer, and there is no intercession for him, and he is an oppressor.
• Values are based on motivations. A look with different motives can be worship or betrayal. “The Traitor of Al-Ain”
• Believing that God knows the innermost part of everything prevents man from oppression.
• God’s knowledge is not only external, He also knows the internal.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• This verse should make us more alert about our actions when we are alone.

Verse No. 19:

Surah 17 Ayah 53

وَقُلْ لِعِبَادِي يَقُولُوا الَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ يَنْزَغُ بَيْنَهُمْ

 Translation:

Tell My servants to say what is best. Satan sows dissension among them.             

 What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• It seems that the Muslims had questions about how to deal with the infidels and their laughter and how to deal with the parable, which the verse answered with “qal”, because sometimes speaking ill of the idols of the infidels made them arrogant so that they also blaspheme God. .
• “Kalam Ahsan” includes any kind of worthy speech, such as: greeting, prayer, guidance, expression of love, enjoining the good and forbidding the bad, mentioning God, repentance and seeking forgiveness, and the like.
• In calling for good words, the word itself should be good.
• Good speech is the basis of love, and wrong speech is the basis of all kinds of evil temptations. Yes, righteous words remove the stage for temptation.
• The requirement of servitude is to speak well with others.
• Inducing enmity between people is the work of the devil, and whoever does this is a partner of the devil.
• The devil has always been the enemy of man and has not hesitated for a moment in his enmity.
• The devil is very serious in sedition and enmity with humans.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• Use the Islamic words in greeting and farewell.
• Using the most respectful words while addressing others.
• See what titles are liked by the one to whom we are speaking to, and use them in calling him or her.
• Not mock at anyone.

Verse No. 20:

Surah 61 Ayah 3

كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَنْ تَقُولُوا مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ

Translation:

It is most hateful in the sight of God if you preach something and do not practice it yourself.        

 What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• “Maqt” means intense anger.
• Failure to follow through on speech is sometimes due to incapacity and sometimes due to indifference, which is a not liked by Allah SWT.
• In hadiths, we read: “Knowledge without action is the proof of Allah against the servant” Knowledge without action is a proof against man.
• We also read in a hadith: A knowledge that is not practiced is like a treasure that is not spent or used.
• We also read in another hadith: “The worst regret of people on the Day of Resurrection is the one who speaks of justice, but is not righteous. He will have the worst regret on the Day of Resurrection.”
• Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him, said: “The lover of people is known to people with unknown knowledge.” The person who is known to people for knowledge, but not known for action, is the poorest of people.
• Imam Sadiq, Alayhessalam, said: “A person whose actions do not confirm his words is not a scholar.”
• Imam Sadiq Alayhessalam considered this verse to be one of the examples of a promise and said: A believer’s promise is like a vow, but (opposing it) has no expiation.
• According to the commentators, the dignity of the revelation of the verse is about those who wanted Jihad, but as soon as the order of Jihad was issued, they made excuses and apologized. Of course, the content of the verse is related to all those who speak the truth but do not act upon it.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• When we want to enjoin to good and forbid from evil we need to be more careful to be practicing according to what we say.

Verse No. 21:

Surah 94 Ayah 6

إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا

 Translation:

Certainly, after every difficulty there comes relief.          

 What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• This principle of hoping relief after difficulty is general and not specific to the Prophet. All people should expect relief after hardship.
• Of course, in some cases, the “burden” and heaviness was removed from the shoulders of the Holy Prophet through unseen help and the descent of angels (5) or by instilling fear (6) in the hearts of the enemies.
• A woman complained to Hazrat Ali, peace be upon him, about her poor husband’s non-payment of alimony. Hazrat did not imprison the man and said: ” Certainly, after every difficulty there comes relief.”
• It is a divine global rule that every difficulty is followed by relief.
• Hardships and difficulties are perishable and turn into ease.
• Patience and success are both old friends.
• The result of patience, it is success.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• We must be always hopeful to the future specially when we feel we have lost the games in the life. After every loss there is a victory.

Verse No. 22:

Surah 2 Ayah 286

لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَ عَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ

Translation:

It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns.         

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Everyone reaps the fruits of their good and bad actions and will face the consequences in this world and the next.
• This verse makes people aware of their responsibility and the consequences of their actions and rejects the wrong ideas like predestination, fortune, astrology, and other myths.
• It is worth noting that when these 2 terms are used in the same sentence like in this honourable verse, there can be differences between them like: it is said about good deeds, “gain” and about bad deeds, “earning”, perhaps the difference in interpretation is because “earning” (کسبت) is said about things that a person does with an inner desire and does it without being obliged to do it and it is in accordance with his nature, while “gaining” (اکتسبت) is its opposite, that is, actions that are against the nature and institution of a person, and this leads to the fact that good deeds are in accordance with the nature and institution of a person. And evil actions are inherently against nature.
• Another difference between earning and gaining is: “earning” (کسب) is specific to the works that are useful, It is not exclusive to the human being, but includes others as well. (Like good deeds, the result of which does not include only the person who does it, but his relatives and friends may also participate in it, while “gaining”(کتساب) is said in cases where the effect of the work only affects the person himself and this is about sin.
• Allah SWT is fair. He does not punish us unless we did something wrong. And his reward is based on our good deeds.
• Humans have freedom to do what they want. But they need to be careful about the consequences of their deeds.
• The first person who is benefitted or punished as the outcome of an action, is the doer of that action.
• The outcomes of our actions – whether to be positive or negative – will come back to us both in this world and hereafter.
• Chance does not have any impact on our lives. Everything is being counted.
• We should not be in hurry to see the good and bad outcomes of our actions. Sometime, it takes time to come back to us.
• Sometimes the source of forgetfulness is the negligence of the person himself, who can be blamed.
• Amnesty is requested from the heavy punishments that were imposed on them due to the rebellion and corruption of the previous nations.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• Think before doing anything. Ask a question from yourself. What are the consequences of this action? Thoroughly reflect on your answers to that question. Make sure that you did not miss any possible consequences.
• Treat others as you want to be treated! That’s called ‘fairness’. If you don’t want somebody else to do something with you, don’t do it for others.
• Be accountable towards what you did and what you do. Don’t finger-point and blame others.
• Think about your past experiences. What did you achieve when you did something good? And what did you lose when you did something bad?
• Think about your friend / family member’s good and bad deeds. What happen to them after doing something good or bad.
• When something bad happen to you, think about your previous deeds. What did you do that you deserve this bad consequence? Don’t finger-point!
• When something good happen to you, think about your previous good deeds. What did you do that you deserve this good reward?
• When you have a list of your previous good and bad deeds, make a plan. A plan for increasing your good actions and reducing your bad actions.
• If we keep in mind that our actions would benefit or harm ourselves, we will think more before we act.
• We need to learn that this world is the world of reflection. If we do good, the universe will reflect goodness to the doer; and if we do bad the reflection from this universe will be also negative. So we should know that the first person who would benefit from the results of our good actions is ourselves and the first person who would suffer from the consequences of our wrong actions would be ourselves too. Therefore we must be mindful about our actions.

 How can we use this verse in our life?

• If we suffer from the consequences of our actions we shouldn’t blame anyone other than ourselves since we have used our freedom to do them.

Verse No. 23:

Surah 35 Ayah 29

وَأَنْفَقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ سِرًّا وَعَلَانِيَةً

Translation:

Those who spend out of what We have given them secretly and openly.

 What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Whoever accepts the faith with love, his prayers and charity are certain.
• The prayer and charity are in the past tense, which means that the believers definitely do it and it’s wajib on them while The recitation of the book is used in present tense which means: “It’s Mustahab”.  
• Prayer should be accompanied by charity (taking care of the deprived).
• Human assets are given by God and they are trusties of Him.
• If we pay attention to the fact that our assets belong to Allah SWT, we will not be stingy in donating.
• You should donate some of your wealth, the rest is for yourself.
• It is not only money that needs to be donated, but knowledge, reputation and power should also be used to help people as well.
• Donation should be both in secret and public. (By donating in secret, the sincerity of a person grows and in public donation, other people are also encouraged.) “Secretly and openly” Of course, secret donation is superior, so it is named before public donation. “Secretly and openly”
• The hope for salvation must be accompanied by thought, action and sacrifice, otherwise hope without work is just an illusion.
• Do not consider yourself deserving heaven only by having knowledge and fear of God (which was in the previous verse) and by reciting the Qur’an and offering prayers and helping the deprived, You can ONLY be hopeful.
• In Islamic culture, the world is like a market and man is a seller and the choice is with the mankind. He can make a deal with God and deal with Him or he can choose anyone other than God.

 How can we use this verse in our life?

• We must pay attention to obligatory charity (Khums) before recommended charity which is general donation to the mosque or other good purposes.
• We must be generous and practice generosity by having Sadaqah box at home.
• Sometimes it’s better to pay charity online without letting anybody know about it. This way, it might be in the highest level of being secret.

Verse No. 24:

Surah 65 Ayah 2

وَمَنْ يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ مَخْرَجًا

Translation:

God will make a way (out of difficulty) for one who has fear of Him.

 What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• And whoever fears Allah, He will make a way out for him and provide for him from where he cannot count.
• He says: “And whoever fears Allah” and whoever avoids divine prohibitions for the sake of Allah and fear of Him, and does not break His boundaries, and does not violate the sanctity of His laws, acts upon them.
• In fact, God Almighty provides him with a way out of the hardships of life, because His law is natural, and through those laws, God invites mankind to something that his own nature requires, and the need of his nature.
• Allah SWT secures happiness for pious people in this world and the hereafter, and he/she will be happy from his wife, wealth and everything else that is the source of happiness and purity in his life, in a way that he himself does not even think about and does not even expect.
• The believer should not fear that if he fears God and respects his limits, he will not be satisfied with the happiness of his life, and will suffer from the hardship of living! No, it is not like that. Because sustenance is guaranteed by God Almighty and God is able to fulfil his guarantee.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• Before thinking about how we can enjoy the life, we should think about how we can please Allah SWT because if we please Him, He will please us and this way we can have both pleasure in this world and in hereafter Insha Allah.

Verse No. 25:

Surah 49 Ayah 12

اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ

Translation:

Stay away from conjecture; acting upon some conjecture may lead to sin.             

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Suspicion has different types, some of which are favourable and some of which are unfavourable:
  1. Suspicion of God, as we read in the hadith: A person who does not get married because of fear of the expenses of life, is in fact suspicious of God; He seems to think that if he is alone, God is able to provide for him, but if he has a wife, God has no power. This suspicion is forbidden.
  2. Suspicion of people, which is forbidden in this verse.
  3. Self-doubt, which is praiseworthy. Because a person should not have a good opinion of himself and think that all his actions are flawless. Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) enumerated the qualities of the pious in his sermon, saying: One of the perfections of pious people is that they are suspicious of themselves.
• Faith is binding and should avoid a series of thoughts and actions. Faith is not compatible with suspicion.
• To avoid certain sins, we must avoid possible sins, therefore since some suspicions are sins, we should avoid many suspicions.
• In a religious society, the assumption is that everyone is trustworthy, dignified and innocent.
• In order to prevent sinning, the grounds for that must be avoided.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• Whenever we have negative thoughts about others we need to remember Allah SWT and we can even recite Salawat, Allahu Akbar or Subhanallah and La Ilaha Illahllah to purify our thoughts about others.

Verse No. 25:

Surah 49 Ayah 12

اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ

Translation:

Stay away from conjecture; acting upon some conjecture may lead to sin.             

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Suspicion has different types, some of which are favourable and some of which are unfavourable:

1. Suspicion of God, as we read in the hadith: A person who does not get married because of fear of the expenses of life, is in fact suspicious of God; He seems to think that if he is alone, God is able to provide for him, but if he has a wife, God has no power. This suspicion is forbidden.
2. Suspicion of people, which is forbidden in this verse.
3. Self-doubt, which is praiseworthy. Because a person should not have a good opinion of himself and think that all his actions are flawless. Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) enumerated the qualities of the pious in his sermon, saying: One of the perfections of pious people is that they are suspicious of themselves.

• Faith is binding and should avoid a series of thoughts and actions. Faith is not compatible with suspicion.
• To avoid certain sins, we must avoid possible sins, therefore since some suspicions are sins, we should avoid many suspicions.
• In a religious society, the assumption is that everyone is trustworthy, dignified and innocent.
• In order to prevent sinning, the grounds for that must be avoided.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• Whenever we have negative thoughts about others we need to remember Allah SWT and we can even recite Salawat, Allahu Akbar or Subhanallah and La Ilaha Illahllah to purify our thoughts about others.

Verse No. 26:

Surah 4 Ayah 58

وَإِذَا حَكَمْتُمْ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ أَنْ تَحْكُمُوا بِالْعَدْلِ

Translation:

Be just when passing judgment among people.  

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• Leaving the jobs to the knowledgeable and skilful people and judging justly is one of the examples of righteous actions and one of the signs of faith.
• Faith is not a condition in the performance of trust and justice. You should be trustworthy and fair to all people.
• The judge and ruler must be just.
• It is necessary to hand over the responsibilities to experts and make a fair judgment to establish a divine system.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• Try to judge only if you are knowledgeable enough in that matter and you have been asked by both sides or a legal authority to judge.

Verse No. 27:

Surah 65 Ayah 3

وَمَنْ يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ

Translation:

God is Sufficient for the needs of whoever trusts in Him.

 What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• There are 2 solutions for managing the problems:

1. “And I fear Allah, and I will make him equal.”
2. Adherence to the Qur’an. “If you are tempted by temptation like the end of the dark night, then we are with the Qur’an” (25)

• A pious person puts his will in the path of God’s will and will, and since God’s will does not have dead ends, a pious person will not reach a dead end either.
• Piety and trust are two levers to get out of the deadlock.
• In order to secure life today, piety is necessary, and for the future, trust is necessary.
• Piousness precedes trust.

How can we use this verse in our life?

Reliance on Allah which has been emphasised in this verse means to endeavour and then ask Allah SWT make your action fruitful. This way, you don’t need to ask wrong people.

Verse No. 28:

Surah 66 Ayah 8

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا

Translation:

Believers, turn to God in repentance with the intention of never repeating the same sin.           

 What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• “Nasuh” means purity and truthfulness, and sometimes it also means firmness.
• In Tafseer books, some examples are suggested for repentance, such as: regret, seeking forgiveness, abandoning sin and deciding to abandon it in the future, fear of not being accepted, seeing the sin in front of oneself and being ashamed, crying, speaking less and eating less and less Sleeping, paying people’s salaries, etc.
• If we become proud and say that our repentance will be accepted 100%, we have paved the way for doing or repeating wrongdoing, and therefore, while being hopeful, we should not be 100% sure.
• In the previous verses, it was about fire, in this verse it is about light. In the previous verses, it was about prevention, “My strength is mine and my family’s strength” in this verse, it is about treatment that if you cannot protect yourself and you are caught in sin, the way of repentance is open and your hope should not turn into despair. “Repent to Allah… God bless you”
• Asking for forgiveness is both in this world: “Our Lord, forgive us our sins” and in the hereafter: “Our Lord… and forgive us”

How can we use this verse in our life?

• The best repentance is avoiding to commit sins rather after committing a sin our repentance is true only when we remove the facilities for committing that sin again in the future.

Verse No. 29:

Surah 29 Ayah 2

أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ

Translation:

Do people think they will not be tested because they say, “We have faith?”             

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• The word “sedition” (فتنة) means melting gold to separate its impurities, and because in the events and hardships, the essence of man is separated from impurities, the events and trials are called “sedition”.
• Faith is not only with words and slogans, but with tests. Claims are not enough, the performance must be seen and judged.
• Testing is a divine global rule throughout the history.
• Do not consider accidents as accidents; All are our test equipment.
• The reason of divine tests is objective and realization of God’s eternal knowledge and the separation of true believers from false ones and the flourishing of inner talents and their actualization.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• We must be alert that whatever we have declared between ourselves and our Lord to be our faith will be tested one day. This way we will not take offence from Allah SWT by seeing hardships in we will not attribute them to Him and we will have hope in Him to assist us in passing the tests.

Verse No. 30:

Surah 6 Ayah 116

وَإِنْ تُطِعْ أَكْثَرَ مَنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّه

Translation:

Most of the people in the land will lead you away from God’s guidance if you follow them.     

What does it mean? (Tafseer-e- Noor & Tafseer-e Nemooneh)

• The guidance and the way of the Qur’an is the criterion, not the way of the people and the majority.
• Attracting the opinion of the majority sometimes ends up at the cost of the destruction and deviation of man himself.
• Let’s move in the way of God, even if it is against the opinion of the majority
• Majority has such a manifestation that God warns the Prophet against following it.
• Prophets should follow the revelation, not people’s opinions.
• The root of misguidance is trusting in guesswork.
• The majority who follow guesses instead of the truth cannot be followed.

How can we use this verse in our life?

• The understanding of the majority is not the criterion for identifying the truth. The criterion is the truth, not the number, so don’t be afraid of few or large number of people in following the right path and the truth.