Study: Surah Al-Asr
Name:
Al-Asr literally means Time is running out.
Revelation:
This is a Makki Surah and, because of this, it is short, easy to memorize and the message is strong and to the point.
Theme:
There is no other Surah in the Quran that is as short or as easy to understand. In it is the way to true success and the way to destruction. Imam Shafi’ said this Surah alone could bring guidance. That is why the Sahaba (RA) would recite it to each other when they met and parted.
Meaning:
- By the Time!
- Man is surely in loss,
- Except those who believed and did good works, and exhorted one another to Truth, and exhorted one another to patience.
In, this surah Allah explains that man’s time is running out. From the time we are born we begin to lose time as we move towards death. We do not control this, but we do control what we can do in the time we have in this world.
Allah says we shouldn’t waste the time He has given us. We should use it wisely by using it for these four important things:
1. Faith
Another name for faith is Iman. Iman has many levels. The most important is Tawheed, believing in the oneness of Allah SWA. This is not that simple. We must also follow Allah`s guidelines, doing the things He commands and avoiding the things He forbids.
2. Righteous deeds
Allah wants us to also fill this time with doing good deeds. No good deed can be done expect with three things:
- Quran
- Iman
- Allah and His Messenger’s (SAW) guidelines Calling one another to Truth
3. Truth is opposite of falsehood, usually this means two things:
- A correct and right thing, which follows justice and truth, whether it relates to belief and faith or just every day things.
- To give rights to everyone. Especially to Allah, then to each other and to ourselves.
When we live in a society we have to make sure that we are asking everyone to follow the rules and correct them or stop them if they are not on the right path. These rights come from the Quran and Sunnah for the Muslim.
Allah asks us to enjoin good and forbid evil, if we don’t then the society will collapse and we will all suffer because of it. To do this we have to be active and aware of our surroundings and make other people wake up too.
4. Calling one another to patience
Last, Allah asks us to be patient and ask for others to be patient too. When you call others to the truth our first priority is patience, but this can bring hardships, so we need patience in times of difficulties, hardships, trials, losses and boycotts or sanctions.
How applies to me and the world we are living in:
This surah is very helpful in the world we live in today because:
- Time is running out, many signs of the end of times that the Prophet (SAW) told us are happening very rapidly. Death will also come to every individual.
- There are very few people on the truth following the Quran and Sunnah today.
- Those few Muslims have to wake everybody up, but the fitna is so great in the world today that this can be very hard.
- But we need to have patience and keep gaining knowledge so that we can know how Allah wants us to talk, how to recognize people (i.e: munafiq, mushriq, fasiq) and when to stop if someone refuses to understand the truth, so that we can use our time and efforts to help others or do good deeds that will make Allah happy.