SURATUL LAHAB AND ITS LESSONS BY USTAAZ ITOPA, SADIQ OBIYO

 

SURATUL LAHAB AND ITS LESSONS

PLACE OF REVELATION: Makkah

NAME OF SURAH: Suratu Masad

CHAPTER OF THE SURAH: 112

NUMBER OF VERSES: 5

ABULAHAB: Abu Lahab is one of the uncles of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). His real name was Abdul Uzzah which means the slave of Uzzah, the idol. He was an idol worshiper and a great enemy of the Prophet (saw).

WHY WAS THE SURAH REVEALED?

When Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) became Allah’s messenger, he called his relatives and friends to admonish them to abstain from idol worship and to worship only Allah. This uncle of his was not happy, and out of anger, he cursed the Prophet (saw) and said “may you perish oh Muhammad (pbuh) for calling us to worship only Allah.” Then Allah revealed this surah as a reply to him and his wife who was also a great enemy of the Prophet (saw).

MEANING OF EACH VERSE OF THE SURAH

1.     Condemned are the works of Abee Lahab, and he is condemned.

Commentary: a) "his work" here means all his activities to see that the Prophet (saw) fail in his mission and all his wish in life are condemned.

b). Abee Lahab means the father of hellfire. Allah called him with this name for two reasons: one, because he cursed the Prophet (saw), so he will surely enter hellfire and be a leader therein. Two, because his real name i.e Abdul Uzzah is wrong name as everyone is a slave to Allah, not a slave to any creature.

c). he himself is also condemned, so no blessing will ever come from him thence forth.

LESSONS:

·        Don’t insult anyone, let alone the righteous slaves of Allah.

·        As we are all slaves to Allah alone, we must not bear names like AbdulMuhammad (pbuh), AbdulMaseeh, AbdulUzza etc so when we use Abd, it must be followed by Allah’s name like Abdullahi, Abdurrahman, AbdulQodir etc

·        We should be mindful of our words because one word can lead us to hell as one word can also please Allah and He admits us into paradise.

2.     His money and whatever he has accomplished will never help him.

Commentary: This promise of Allah came true. He Abee Lahab spent his wealth to see that Islam and the Muslims are crushed totally in the first battle of Islam, Badr, but the Muslims won the battle and he, Abu Lahab, lost woefully. Out of the pain, he took ill few days after the battle and the malignant sickness was contagious. All his people ran away from him including his children so as not to contract his disease. He died alone in his room and when the smell of his corpse became too much in the community, they hired people to dig a grave for him in his room and they used sticks to push him to his grave. Neither his wealth nor his children could help him out in this word, so also shall he not have a helper on the Day of Judgment.

LESSONS:

·        Whatever Allah says must come to pass.

·        No one can save us from Allah if He is to punish us for what we do.

·        We should pray against evil end.

3.     Certainly, he shall be cast into a blazing fire:

Commentary: his name did not only work for him in this world but also in the Last Day. He was certain that hellfire was his abode. Though after his death, his two sons accepted Islam but that will not save him from the hell Allah promised him.

LESSONS:

·        One can obtain certificate of hell from this world the way some Sahaba obtained their certificate of paradise from this world.

·        His hell shall not only be fire but a blazing one.

·        A righteous son will not be able to assist his parents on the Last Day if they were disbelievers

4.     (not only him will enter the hellfire but) Also his wife, who led the persecution;

Commentary: Abu Lahab’s wife was the leader of the Prophet (saw)’s enemy who lied a lot against the Prophet (saw) so that people might hate the Prophet (saw) and reject him. She assisted her husband against the Prophet (saw) and Islam, so she is here included in the awaiting punishment on the Last Day.

LESSONS:

·        Don’t join someone in doing evil no matter how close you are to the person.

·        Whoever assist evil doer will face the same punishment of that parson.

·        Everyone has enemy including the Prophet (saw).

5.     She will be (resurrected) with a rope of thorns around her neck.

Commentary: the word use for neck in this verse is jeed which means a highly beautified neck with golden necklace and the likes. She used to be proud of her richness and saying that she could sell a single necklace of hers and use the money to tarnish the Prophet (saw) and the Muslims, So Allah promised her here that she shall be dragged to hellfire with a rope of thorn on that her neck.

LESSON:

·        Allah is not unjust to His slaves.

·        The Prophet (saw) really suffered before Islam could spread from his time.

·        Just fear Allah, Allah will handle your enemies.