94. ALAM NASHRAH (EXPANSION)

Introduction

NAME: The Surah begins with the words “Alam Nashrah” and it takes its name from these words.

TIME OF REVELATION: It is Makkan. From the theme it appears that it was revealed at a time when the Prophet had developed in himself a strong determination to bravely shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the onerous mission of prophethood, as a result of which it had become easier for him to pass through the storms of opposition. His prophethood had become a common topic for discussion, and a number of people who had responded to his call had gathered round him.

CENTRAL THEME: This Surah is a supplementary to the previous Surah Ad- Duha. In the previous Surah Allah had referred to his favours which He had bestowed on the Prophet in order to comfort him and to remove his mental anguish. In this Surah Allah mentions about his great favour of expanding or opening up the breast of the prophet and re- assuring him that after every difficulty there is relief. And this is the central point of this Surah, i.e. after every difficulty the path for relief opens as if comforts and difficulties are attached together. Therefore, a missionary should not get disheartened by seeing the difficulties that lie in the path of Truth.

ORDER OF THE VERSES: In Verse Nos. 1 to 3 is mentioned that favour of Allah which He has bestowed on the Prophet by expanding his breast and by removing the burden which was breaking his back. In Verse No.4 the glad tidings is given to the Prophet that his reputation has been raised high. Verses Nos. 5 and 6 re-assure that every difficulty in the path of Truth is a forerunner of relief and comfort. In Verses Nos. 7 and 8 very important Instructions are given that when you are free from your daily chores, you should busy yourself in praying and turn your attention to Him only as He is the Aim of all aims.

ALAM NASHRAH (EXPANSION)

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

1. (O Prophet !) Have we not expanded your breast?¹

2. And not removed from you the burden,

3. Which was breaking your back?²

4. And not raised your recital (reputation) high?³

5. So verily with every hardship there is ease;

6. Verily, with every hardship there is ease.⁴

7. So when you are free, busy yourself in praying,⁵

8. And then turn your attention to your Lord.⁶

1. By expanding of the breast is meant that condition of contentment of heart and determination which is created as a result of absolute faith and insight. Such a condition is the source of great energy and power, after achieving which toleration of adversities in the path of truth, facing the oppositions, and resisting the onslaught of the opposing forces become easy. In Surah An’am it is stated:

“Any person whom Allah desires to give guidance Allah expands his breast for Islam”.(Al-An’am —125). So the expansion of the breast is by the grace of Allah.

Here the mention of the expanding of the breast of the Prophet is made which means that Allah has removed all his mental anguish and anxieties and that He has bestowed on the Prophet that iron determination, that great courage and that light of guidance which were necessary for shouldering the great burden of prophethood.

2. The direction for expressing and proclaiming the great blessing of prophethood, given to the Prophet in the last verse of Surah Ad-Duha, was a very heavy and back-breaking responsibility because in an environment where people were leading the life of jahiliyah, where idolatry and polytheism had become second nature, the presentation of the message of oneness of Allah and the Hereafter ------ and particularly to say that he has been sent as a Messenger by Allah was not an easy task. It was the hardest and the most trying job. Accordingly as soon as the Prophet started to preach his message, a storm of opposition broke out from every direction. The people not only rejected his call, but also made him a butt of their jokes. This responsibility of communicating the message, carrying on the mission and expression of Truth was so heavy and for fulfilling which the Prophet was so much griefstricken that he was never free from this absorbing thought. But in the later stages this condition did not prevail, because this expanding of the breast gave him great support, His courage and determination made the difficult task easy. Besides, the availability of sincere followers in the later stage gave him much comfort and great solace. This condition of satisfaction which appeared at a later stage has been termed as removing the back-breaking burden. And the reality is known to Allah only.

3. This is the greatest honour that has been conferred on the Prophet in this world. The expression raising the recital or reputation high does not carry the full meaning. It has a very deep connotation and has a world of glad tidings concealed in it. Some of its aspects are: he will be spoken of at high levels; his prophethood will be a subject of common topic; his name will be mentioned with great respect and honour; without bearing a witness to his prophethood no person will be able to embrace Islam; his name will be included in Azan; no prayer will be complete without respectfully reciting his name; he will be called the savior of the world of humanity; some will call him a guardian of the orphans and some a protector of the slaves; In some places he will be remembered as a teacher of morality and a purifier of souls, and in some other places as a revolutionary historic figure; some will call him the leader of the world and some will call him a blessing for all the nations; nations will remember him as the greatest leader and the ulema and the learned men will remember him as the embodiment of light; his life (Seerat) will be imprinted on the hearts of the people by the narration of his clean and pure biography with which meetings and conferences will resound; to sing praises in his honour will be considered a privilege; and people will learn by heart panegyrical verses written in his honour; the people of faith will have deep attachment to him and they will be sending gifts of Darud and Salam to him day and night. May peace of Allah be upon, him.

At the time of the revelation of this verse, only a slight aspect of the raising high of the reputation’ could be seen, but later on when the truth shone like the world-illuminating sun, then none dare deny this reality, except the one who had shut his eyes.

As the occasion demanded, the idea was to re-assure the Prophet that however vehement his opponents might be in rejecting his call and however insulting they might be in making fun of him, Allah had exalted his honour and had granted him the highest position among His favourite virtuous slaves, and therefore, the whole atmosphere was reverberating with the sound of his praises, he need not therefore grieve over these oppositions and should have confidence that the opponents would not be able to do any harm to him or his Mission.

4. This is the main reality which is mainly required to be brought home. In this Surah as well as in the previous Surah (Ad-Duha) the events which have been mentioned are a clear proof of the fact that Allah opens the path of relief after difficulty, of comfort after adversity, and sunshine after darkness. By presenting this reality, the Prophet has been re-assured that even if difficulties arise in future he need not be worried, because every difficulty is a forerunner of relief and every adversity is a guarantee of the forthcoming comfort. After passing through the stages of these trials only he would be able to reach his destination where there are ease and comfort.

This brings out the basic reality that a man should not get disheartened by the adversities that he encounters in the path of truth, but that he should have full confidence and be re-assured that after the period of adversities a period of ease and comfort would also come, and the period of ease is so near as if it is attached to the period of adversities.

“With every hardship there is ease” has been repeated here so that it should be clear that in the path of truth hardships can come again and again, but after every hardship there is ease, provided a man does not lose courage. By passing through such conditions only the people of faith can reach their destination that is the place where there is no hardship and which in the Quranic term is called Paradise.

5. To be free here means to be free from all occupations, engagements or work, but here especially it means to be free from missionary work, because in the last verse of the previous Surah, (Wa amma bene’mati Rab-beka Fahad-dith)” instructions were given for fulfilling the responsibilities of the missionary work, and here in the same context it is said: “When you are free, busy yourself in praying”. The idea is that when there is no other work then you should busy yourself in praying, as prayer (Ibadah) is the best occupation. Accordingly in deference to this instruction the Prophet used to engage himself in prayers so devotedly that on account of prolonged standing in prayer his feet used to get swollen.

“Hazrat Ayesha states that in the night the Prophet used to stand in prayers for such long periods that his feet used to get swollen. I pleaded to him: ‘O Messenger of Allah! Why do you stand in prayers (Salat) for such long periods, when all your past and future sins have been pardoned.’ He replied: ‘Should I not become a grateful slave.’ “-(Bukhari, Muslim).

This clearly shoes what is the position of prayers (Ibadah) in Islam. Although all the commands of the Shariah have their own importance, the thing which has supremacy over all the commands is prayers, i.e. salat. zikr (recitation), prayer to Allah (for help, salvation, etc.) Allah’s worship is required to be performed at the appointed time as well as at times when man is free from other occupations. In other words men of faith should find greater interest in prayers and should be continually busy in Allah’s worship. If food and water are necessary for life, then the function of respiration is much more important for this purpose. If a man stops breathing for a few minutes, then it will be difficult for him to remain alive. Similarly if the commands of Shariah, whether they are concerning missionary work or concerning education and training, whether related to individual living or collective living, are necessary to be followed in order to lead an Islamic life, then Allah’s worship and praying to Him is much more important and necessary. This is the reason why in obeying other commands some adjustments are made, but nothing of the sort is done in respect of salat as this is an inalienable part of a Momin’s life. The arrangements for establishing salat strengthen his relation with Allah and a time comes when this mode of prayer (Salat) really becomes a source of incomparable pleasure and bliss for him.

6. That is: Turn your attent ton to your Lord only, remember Him as much as possible, recite His name and His praises, recite Him His words (Quran), beg for His pardon, pray to His (for salvation, help, etc.) in a meek and humble way.

Although these instructions have been given by directly addressing the Prophet, these are however applicable to all. And the most important reality which becomes clear from this is that the Aim of all aims is to turn to Allah or in other words to establish a ‘relationship with Allah.’