✨Reflections on Surah Sajdah

All praise is due to Allah the All-Knowing Creator. He informed man of his origin and how he was created. And guided him to His religion. And taught him about resurrection and recompense. He established evidence against him and left no possibility for excuses. We praise Him for teaching and guiding us. And we are grateful for what He has provided us. The Prophet ﷺ used to recite the surahs of Sajdah and Insan during Friday Fajr prayer to remind about the origin and the destiny. Such that reciting them both has become an established sunnah.

So be conscious of Allah Almighty and obey Him. And strive in what brings you closer to Him from righteous deeds. For the worldly life is the abode of deception. And the hereafter is the eternal abode.

Al Imran (3) 185:Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your [full] compensation on the Day of Resurrection. So he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire]. And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion.

Friday is a great day. It is the holiday of Muslims. It has many special attributes. From among them is the virtue of reciting Surah Sajdah in the first rakah of Fajr prayer. And whoever reflects on its meanings will know that Allah wants it be heard during the Fajr of Friday to rectify hearts, to review accounts and to remember the hereafter. And we are in most need of that in these times in which the worldly life is magnified. And the material world dominated many minds and hearts.

This is a brief explanation of what was included in Surat Al-Sajdah.

The surah began with a reminder of Allah’s favor upon His servants with the revelation of the Quran. And it’s aim is to remind people. And they were lost before the Prophetic mission.

Sajdah (32) 1-3: (1) Alif, Lām, Meem. (2) [This is] the revelation of the Book about which there is no doubt from the Lord of the worlds. (3) Or do they say, “He invented it”? Rather, it is the truth from your Lord, [O Moḥammad], that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you [so] perhaps they will be guided.

And the creation of the heavens and the earth are among the greatest signs of Allah. Just as the Almighty’s management of His creation is a proof of His power. And knowledge of that fills hearts with magnification, love, hope and fear of Allah Almighty. Especially if one knows that Allah is watching. For He the Most Glorified knows the evident and the concealed. Indeed no one knows the unseen but Him Most Glorified. No secret of the condition of His servants is hidden from Him.

Sajdah (32) 4-7: (4) It is Allah who created the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them in six days; then He established Himself above the Throne. You have not besides Him any protector or any intercessor; so will you not be reminded? (5) He arranges [each] matter from the heaven to the earth; then it will ascend to Him in a Day, the extent of which is a thousand years of those which you count. (6) That is the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, the Exalted in Might, the Merciful, (7) Who perfected everything which He created

And every person yearns to know his origin and his history. This is what is covered in the next verses of this great surah.

Sajdah (32) 7-9: (7) And began the creation of man from clay. (8) Then He made his posterity out of the extract of a liquid disdained. (9) Then He proportioned him and breathed into him from His [created] soul and made for you hearing and vision and hearts [i.e., intellect]; little are you grateful.

And the polytheists used to have doubts about the resurrection after death. And it is proven in the surah:
Sajdah (32) 10-11: (10) And they say, “When we are lost [i.e., disintegrated] within the earth, will we indeed be [recreated] in a new creation?” Rather, they are, in the meeting with their Lord, disbelievers. (11) Say, “The angel of death who has been entrusted with you will take you. Then to your Lord you will be returned.”

And when they are resurrected and brought to account, disgrace and humiliation will befall them. And their heads will be bowed from what they see with their eyes of what they used to deny. So they will request to return to the worldly life so that they could believe and perform righteous deeds. But it is too late and the opportunity has passed. And misery and torment will be due upon them.

Sajdah (32) 12-13: (12) If you could but see when the sinners are hanging their heads before their Lord, [saying], “Our Lord, we have seen and heard, so return us [to the world]; we will work righteousness. Indeed, we are [now] certain.” (13) And if We had willed, We could have given every soul its guidance, but the word from Me will come into effect [that] “I will surely fill Hell with jinn and people all together.

And after Allah Almighty mentioned the state of the people of misery, Allah the Almighty mentioned the state of the people of Iman (faith), certainty, the glorifiers, those praying at night and those who spend. They aspire for what Allah Almighty promised them of everlasting delight.

Sajdah (32) 15-16:

Transliteration :

(15) Only those believe in Our verses who, when they are reminded by them, fall down in prostration and exalt [Allah] with praise of their Lord, and they are not arrogant. (16) Their sides part [i.e., they arise] from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend.

Then Allah Almighty entices His believing servants with that which He has prepared for them in gardens of bliss.

Sajdah (32) 17: And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes [i.e., satisfaction] as reward for what they used to do.

And it is a bliss that no one can picture or imagine. For it is greater and bigger than any bliss that a human can imagine.

As what was related in the hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said:
Allah Most High said: ‘I have prepared for My righteous worshipers what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived.'” And that is testified to in Allah’s [the Mighty and Sublime] Book: No person knows what is kept hidden for them of delights of the eyes (32:17). [Bukhari 4780, Muslim 2824]

Then Allah, the Most High, contrasted the two groups. Allah said:
Sajdah (32) 18-21: (18) Then is one who was a believer like one who was defiantly disobedient? They are not equal. (19) As for those who believed and did righteous deeds, for them will be the Gardens of Refuge as accommodation for what they used to do. (20) But as for those who defiantly disobeyed, their refuge is the Fire. Every time they wish to emerge from it, they will be returned to it while it is said to them, “Taste the punishment of the Fire which you used to deny.” (21) And We will surely let them taste the nearer punishment short of the greater punishment that perhaps they will return [i.e., repent].

And from the nearer punishment that befalls them is worries, misfortunes and sorrows of this world. So that they may return to their Lord Most Glorified. And every punishment in the worldly life is insignificant relative to the torment of hell and it is the greater punishment. We seek refuge in Allah Almighty from that.

And there is no sin greater than turning away from the reminder and counsel. For the polytheists did not fall into shirk (associating with Allah) except through their turning away.

Sajdah (32) 22: And who is more unjust than one who is reminded of the verses of his Lord; then he turns away from them? Indeed We, from the sinners, will take retribution.

Then He the Most Glorified clarified the stance of Bani Israel regarding the book that was revealed to their prophet so that we take heed. So that we do not take the path of those who deviated among them. With a reminder of the previous communities that denied and perished.

Sajdah (32) 23-26: (23) And We certainly gave Moses the Scripture, so do not be in doubt over his meeting. And We made it [i.e., the Torah] guidance for the Children of Israel. (24) And We made from among them leaders guiding by Our command when they were patient and [when] they were certain of Our signs. (25) Indeed, your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ. (26) Has it not become clear to them how many generations We destroyed before them, [as] they walk among their dwellings? Indeed in that are signs; then do they not hear?

Then the surah concludes by demonstrating some of Allah’s signs that indicate His power.

Sajdah (32) 27: Have they not seen that We drive water [in clouds] to barren land and bring forth thereby crops from which their livestock eat and [they] themselves? Then do they not see?

And next the disbelievers call for the punishment to be hastened out of ridicule and mockery. And it will inevitably come to them. Then at that point they would wish for having faith. And they will request delay and respite. Their wish will not benefit them nor will they be granted their request.

Sajdah (32) 28-30: (28) And they say (mockingly), “When will be this Decision, if you should be truthful?” (29) Say, [O Moḥammad], “On the Day of Decision the belief of those who had disbelieved will not benefit them, nor will they be reprieved.” (30) So turn away from them and wait. Indeed, they are waiting.

Oh Muslims: This brief explanation of Surah Sajdah clarified what it contains of abundant knowledge and great benefit. So do not be surprised to hear it in the mosques at Fajr on Friday. Implementing the Sunnah and to obtain the reminder. And Allah Almighty described His great Book as a clear Book. That is, it clarifies everything that a person needs in his life. Either by literal text, or pointing to it, or general rules, or by referring to the Prophetic Sunnah. Just as the Quran clarified to man his beginning and ending. And the destiny of the people of faith and obedience. And the fate of the people of disbelief and disobedience.

An Nahl (32) 89: And We have sent down to you the Book as clarification for all things

Ibn Masood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Whoever desires knowledge must study the Quran. For it has the news of the former and latter people.

So hold fast to the Quran, for it is the criterion between truth and falsehood. Its people are the people of truth. And its adversaries from the disbelievers and hypocrites are the people of falsehood.

May Allah Almighty illuminate our hearts through the Quran. Indeed Allah is All Hearing, Answering.

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