AL KAWTHAR (ABUNDANCE)

                                
               In the name of Allah, the Beneficient, the Merciful!

                       Indeed We have given you abundance.
                   So pray to your Lord and sacrifice to Him.
                  Surely, he who hates you is the one cut off.
                      
  Similar to surahs 93 and 94, "The Forenoon" and "Solace", this surah
  exclusively concerns the Prophet, cheering him up and assuring him of
  happier prospects in his struggle. In it Allah threatens the enemies of
  the Prophet with destruction while directing the Prophet to the path
  of thanksgiving.

  The surah represents a glimpse of the life of the Prophet and the course
  of his mission in the early period at Makka. It deals with the plots and
  insults directed against the Prophet and the Divine message he conveys.
  The surah is an instance of Allah's actual protection of His servant and
  the few who followed the Prophet and believed in Allah. It is an instance
  of Allah's direct support to the believers in their struggle, supplying
  them with fortitude, restraint and promise, while threatening a terrible
  fate to their antagonists.
 
  In this way, the surah symbolises the reality of guidance, goodness and
  faith on the one hand and that of error, evil and disbelief on the other;
  the former category is one of abundance, profusion and expansive goodness,
  the latter one of scantiness, shrinking resources and annihilation.

  Among the people of the Quraish (the Arab tribe which was dominant in
  Makka) there were some impudent folk who viewed the Prophet and his
  mission with no small degree of antagonism. They would resort to
  machinations and taunts against him to deter the people from listening
  to the Truth, which he conveyed to them in the form of a Divine message.
  Among them were people like Al-Aas ibn Wa'il, 'Uqba ibn Abi Mu'yat,
  Abu Lahab, Abu Jahl and others.

  They used to say about the Prophet that he was a man with no posterity,
  referring to the early death of his sons. One of them once remarked,
  "Do not be bothered with him; he will die without descendants and that
  will be the end of his mission ."
 
  Such a trivial and cunning taunt had a wide impact in the Arab society
  of the time, which set great store by sons. This sharp taunt delighted
  the enemies of the Prophet and undoubtedly this was a source of
  depression and irritation to his noble heart. This surah was therefore
  revealed, comforting the Prophet and assuring him of the abiding and
  profuse goodness which Allah had chosen for him and of the deprivation
  and loss awaiting his persecutors.

  "Indeed We have given you abundance." The word used in the surah and
  rendered here as "abundance" is "kawthar", derived from the stem word
  "kathrah'' which signifies "abundance" or "a multitude". This "kawthar"
  is unrestricted and unlimited. It indicates the opposite meaning to the
  one the impudent folk of Quraish tried to attach to the Prophet. " We
  have given you" that which is plentiful, overflowing and rich, unstinting
  and unending.

  If anyone wishes to pursue and observe this abundance which Allah has
  given to His Prophet, he would find it wherever he looks and reflects.
  He would find it in Muhammad's prophethood itself this link with the
  great Reality and the great Being, Who has no parallel and no partner.
  What indeed can the one who has found Allah be said to have lost?

  He would find it in this Qur'an which was revealed to Muhammad every
  chapter of which is a fountain of richness which flows incessantly.

  He would also find this kawthar or abundance manifest in the of the
  Prophet's Sunnah (way of life) throughout the centuries, in the far
  flung corners of the earth, in the millions upon millions who follow
  in his footsteps, in the millions upon millions who pronounce his
  name with respectful affection and the millions upon millions of hearts
  that cherish, and would cherish his example and memory even to the
  Day of Resurrection.
 
  He would also find this Kawthar or abundance manifest in the goodness
  and prosperity which have accrued to the human race as a result of his
  message, and which reach those who know and believe in him and those
  who do not. He would also discern this abundance in various and manifold
  phenomena, attempting to enumerate which would at best give only a passing
  feeling of a great reality.
 
  This indeed is abundance in its absolute unlimited sense. The surah
  therefore does not give it a specific definition. Several accounts
  relate that "al-Kawthar" is a river in Paradise granted to the Prophet
  but Ibn Abbas, a learned companion of the Prophet, contends that the
  river is but one part of the abundance which Allah has furnished for
  His Prophet. Keeping the circumstances and the whole context in mind,
  Ibn Abbas's view is the more valid.

  "So pray to your Lord and sacrifice to Him." Having assured the Prophet
  of this munificent gift, which disproves what the calumniators and
  conspirators say, Allah directs the Prophet to be completely and
  sincerely thankful to Him for His bounty; to devote himself to Him alone
  in worship and ritual slaughter, taking no heed whatsoever of all forms
  of polytheism and refusing to participate in the worship of the poly
  theists, especially when they pronounce any name other than that of
  Allah in their offerings.

  Islam frequently lays emphasis on the pronouncing of Allah's name when
  slaughtering animals. It prohibits anything that is consecrated to any
  other being, which indicates the importance Islam attaches to the
  purification of human life from all forms of polytheism and all that
  leads to it. Islam does not aim merely at purifying the imagination and
  conscience, for it is the religion based on the unity of Allah in every
  sense. It pursues polytheism in all its manifestations, striving to
  eliminate its marks in the conscience of man, in his worship and
  rituals, and in his behaviour generally. Life, Islam says, is one
  indivisible entity and must be treated as such. It must be cleansed
  inside out and completely oriented towards Allah, in all its aspects
  and spheres - worship, tradition and social behaviour.

  "Surely he who hates you is the one cut off". In the first verse, Allah
  specified that Muhammad was not the one who had no posterity but, on
  the contrary, was the one endowed with abundance. In this verse, Allah
  throws back the taunt on those who hated and reviled the Prophet. Indeed,
  the promise of Allah has come true. For, the influence and the legacy of
  Muhammad's enemies was short-lived, while his impact on human history
  and human life has grown and deepened. Today we are witnessing the
  truth of this Divine pronouncement as clearly as no one among those
  addressed by the Qur'an for the first time ever did or imagined.

  Faith and goodness cannot be barren: they leave deep-rooted influence
  but falsehood, error and evil- no matter how fast they grow and spread,
  do ultimately come to nothing.

  Allah's criteria are different from the criteria laid down by man. Men
  are often deceived when they vainly believe their sense of judgement
  to be the criterion. Before us is the eloquent and enduring example of
  the Prophet. Of what value or interest to humanity have those slanderers
  and foes of Muhammad been to anyone?
 
  On the other hand, calling others to the religion of Allah, to truth and
  goodness, can never be called futile. Neither can the righteous and
  the true be called deprived or cut off. How can it be, when this message
  itself comes from and is supported by Allah, the Immortal, the Eternal?
  But deprived and sterile indeed are disbelief, error and evil as are
  their votaries, however strong and widespread they may appear to be at
  a particular moment.
 
  Allah affirms the truth; the wily opponents are but liars!
--
  
            Ali Abbas             | Say: I ask of you naught in return for it
  The George  Washington  Univer. | but love for relatives.     (Quran 42:23)