Ihsaan Magazine May 2020 Issue - Living your best Life | Page 47

*Surah Ad-Duha* was revealed to the Prophet (SAW) to relieve him of these negative feelings and
to give him hope, positivity, and the assurance that Allah is with him no matter what. From it,
we too can find peace, hope, and a renewed faith in Allah when we go through similar states of
depression, sadness, and hopelessness.
So what does this surah say? It comprises of 11 verses which are broken up into 2 oaths from
Allah, 3 declarations by Allah, 3 favours of Allah and 3 demands from Allah.
Wad duhaa
By the morning
brightness
This tiny sentence has so much meaning in it; firstly it
is an oath. Allah swears by the morning brightness, a
specific time of the day.
The day is long, but ‘Duha’ refers to the early morning, the
time when the light is soothing and wonderful, not harsh
and intense. That soothing, wonderful light is exactly what
you need when you feel depressed and hopeless. You need
that reason to open your eyes, a reason to get out of bed,
to feel hope.
Night is normally associated with darkness and a specific
time of night is also referenced, ‘sajaa’ refers to stillness, a
time when there is no movement.
You may wonder why Allah chose to swear by darkness;
some scholars say that this still time in the night is when
we find comfort and peaceful rest, others say that it
indicates difficulty, which is a necessary part of life.
Wal laili iza
sajaa
And [by] the night
when it covers with
darkness,
These are two extremely different times but Allah mentions them both with purpose. Both times
are significant and important from a psychological point of view, the early morning when you
have the most energy and zeal and the still night when you seek your comfort and rest. These 2
verses mention specific times, the brightest of day and the darkest of night, some scholars say
these times also refer to ease and difficulty, which are both necessary parts of life, experiencing
highs and lows are normal. Without having to go through the darkness and difficulty, we may
not be able to harness our true potential. For example, patience and gratitude often follow pain
and struggle. We are truly grateful when we have lost something we took for granted or we
exude the highest levels of patience that we never thought possible during the most difficult and
overwhelming periods.
The placement of both times has also been analysed by scholars who believe that Allah has
specifically placed day before night unlike most other placements in the Qur’an where night
is mentioned before day (examples: Surah Al-Imran, Surah Az-Zumar, Surah Luqman, Surah
Anbiyah) with purpose. It refers to the coming and stopping of revelation which the Rasool
(SAW) was experiencing. Allah swears that by either the revelation coming or stopping… “Ma wad
da’aka rabbuka wa ma qalaa”
Ma wad da’aka
rabbuka wa ma
qalaa
Your Lord has not taken
leave of you, [O Muhammad],
nor has He detested [you].
Allah does not hate us and hasn’t abandoned us. He
reminds us of this in this verse, despite our depressed
state or difficult period that we are faced with He is
always with us, we only need to reach out to Him.