Why Allah Opens Surah Al-Noon With Just One Letter

Cheap cheap stuff.

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If we could please keep the noise down to a minimum. We have a big, beautiful, fantastic, shiny gym right across the hallway. You can run in it and scream in it until you turn blue in the face. We'd ask everyone cordially, all the children to the gym, please. If you want to continue to play upstairs, the running, the pounding is very loud down here.

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Alhamdulillah.

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It is extremely loud up there. Starting tonight inshallah with surah noon. It's called surah no. It's also referred to as surah due to the first verse and the second verse the first verse and the second verse. And this is often where chapters get their titles from. The chapters of the Quran most usually have their names derived from one of two places. Number one, the opening verses. If those opening verses are unique to that chapter or two, something unique, a topic that is unique that is mentioned in that chapter that is not mentioned elsewhere. So for instance, it's referred to as anab because this animal and its name is not mentioned anywhere else. So it is identified by this name. The prophet sallall.aii wasallam named most of the chapters. The companions of used to refer to the chapters by various names. And so some of them we have chains of narration going directly back to the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam with respect to the name of the chapter. whilst others are known amongst the companions and the scholars of the Quran and are referred to and they are most usually referred to in this way for instance it's referred to as the prophet sallallahu alaii wasallam referred to it as why because that's the only chapter that begins with and has a sag in it. No is very similar. This is the only chapter in the Quran that begins with the singular letter noon. It's also one of the only chapters that opens or the only chapter that opens with the mention of the pen. And so those are the two very well-known names of Alam. This chapter is a mechan chapter as we've come to know and it is 52 verses in total and it is often cited as the fourth chapter to be revealed to the prophet sallall.aii. Now remember, we've mentioned this many times before and that is that just because a chapter is revealed or the scholars for instance mentioned that a chapter is revealed in this order doesn't necessarily mean that every single verse in that chapter was revealed at the same time. Some chapters have other chapters that were revealed throughout or even some chapters took years to complete. for instance, what is cited most usually by the majority of the scholars as being the first chapter revealed to the prophet sallall.aii wasallam in Medina. Who knows this? The first chapter revealed in Medina. Yes. Al is the first chapter in Mecca. That's the first chapter. We want the first chapter in Medina. Alakurah Bakar is usually referred to as the first chapter revealed in Medina. Other site surah. Now what is the last verse that was revealed to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam?

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And this is part of which chapter? So we know that this chapter took 10 years to reveal and there were many other chapters that were revealed throughout many other chapters, right? And so when the scholars mention this chapter was revealed first, second, third, fourth, it doesn't necessarily mean that all of it was revealed at once. And most usually it's not the case. Many many many chapters are revealed intermittently and they're revealed simultaneously along with other chapters at the same time. Surah noon. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala begins this chapter with noon. This one letter one letter noon. And this is one of 20some chapters of the Quran that begin with letters. That's the way that the chapter begins. It begins with letters. Very interesting things come to light when we take all of these letters and try to study them individually and together. First of all, there are 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet. Exactly 14 of them are mentioned, half of the Arabic alphabet is mentioned in these opening letters, chapters that are opened with these letters. etc. There are many chapters that open in this way. When we take all those chapters, take all those letters without repetition, we find that it is exactly half of the Arabic alphabet. And these are the most unique and most necessary letters of the Arabic alphabet. The most unique and most necessary letters of the Arabic alphabet. We also notice a pattern that any chapter that is begun with a letter or a series of letters, those letters are the main ingredient used to compose that chapter. So for instance, If we were to take every letter and give it a tally, how many times is it used in this chapter? We'll find that the ch that the letter that is used the most in is going to be which letter. If we were to look into Bakar, it begins with al if lamb. If we were to look which letter is used the most in Bakar, it will be al and then right after and then right after in numbers. If we were to look at surah Mariam and we were to examine which letters are used the most in surah mariam number one is going to be ke number two is going to be number three is going to be number three etc. kef yeah so yeah etc. We we get the point here. The pattern this pattern becomes becomes obvious when we look at something with respect to the numbers, the number of times that this letter is used. But that's very great. That's nice. That's unique and interesting and all of that. But what does it mean? What does it really mean? That's really the point. What are we to understand? Is there any part of the Quran? Now, think really good before you answer. Is there any word or any part or sentence or verse of the Quran that the ummah of Islam as a whole does not know the meaning of? I'll repeat the question. Is there any verse or part of the Quran that the ummah as a whole, maybe not individuals but as a whole that the of Islam does not know the meaning of which means they recite it. They have no idea what it means.

[Arabic recitation]

This would mean that we have an entire nation that are reciting things that they don't know what it means. What is the point of a verse that we don't understand its meaning? Why? Why do we have it then? And so this is a very important point to reflect on. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us that the reason he revealed the reason, excuse me, the reason that he revealed the Quran is for what purpose? So that people would reflect on its verses, on its meanings. Now is is are those part of what Allah intended for us to reflect on? Yes, they are all part of what Allah intended for us to reflect on. There is no part of the Quran that was not intended for us to reflect on. The ummah as a whole at every given time knows the entire meaning of the Quran. Does that mean that it know that every person or does that mean that every tiny secret or nuance is is obvious? No, that's not what that means. There are nuances, things that are salt in the food. It's not what nourishes the body. It is something which is something which is novel nuances not critical to its fundamental meanings. Yes, that the will continue to discover until Allah takes the Quran back. However, there is no verse of the Quran which is not known to the ummah. As a matter of fact, as a matter of principle, the first we say they mean in the first principle of when we speak about the hermeneutics of the science of exigesis. What is the first principle? The first principle of.

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This is an important principle. This is the first principle and misunderstanding this will bring about a lot of chaos with respect to the the book of Allah. The first principle is that our prophet sallall.aii wasallam was not taken back by Allah until he had conveyed and explained all of the Quran. Every single verse. every verse. Person may say, "Well, hang on a second. Every verse. If we were to take every authentic narration, as a matter of fact, even weak narrations, we were to take all of them and compile them together, would we have a narration of his words for every single verse of the Quran that he sat down and said, "This verse means this. This verse means this. The answer is no. Why not? Because the Quran in its is innately understandable to the Arabs. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala referred to the Quran as meaning that it is clear in itself and clarifies everything else. Allah also described the Quran as with a very clear Arabic language that is the Quran. And so the default of the Quran is that it is understood as it is recited. There are parts of it that could be misunderstood. When those parts come up and are under in and are under threat of being misunderstood, the prophet sallall.aii wasallam explains it. And that's why we find that most of the verses of the Quran did not need him to sit down and explain it we do now. Why do we do this now? This issue of tapsi. Why do the books of Tia keep getting bigger? The answer is because there is a thousand 100 1,00 almost 1,500 years between us and when the Quran was revealed. How much has changed in the Arabic language since then? He the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and his companions compared to our time and what we know to be normal versus abnormal. We might as well be from a different planet. Things have changed so much. So much. Even our bodies have changed. Even our sizes have changed. Everything has changed. Our tongue has changed. And so for this reason, the scholars are always commissioned by Allah and dispatched by Allah and raised up amongst every generation to make sure that the Quran is always has a bridge between the people and the Quran to be able to access its meanings at any given time. And so this is the main function of the scholars of however the prophet sallall.aii wasallam had two main jobs with respect to the Quran. Number one he was to convey it right he was to convey every single verse every letter of the Quran. That's the first thing. And the second thing is he was to ensure that all of the meanings of the Quran were explained were conveyed as well. And that is the purpose for his sending. He was sent to us with the book. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala very often mentions the prophet and the Quran together. together, right? He mentions them together. Why? Because the prophet sallall.aii wasallam was sent in order to tell us and explain to us and ensure that we understand the meanings of the Quran. But the Quran is in Arabic and most of it is self-evident. There are aspects of it that need to be explained and the prophet sallall.aii wasallam did so. However, every verse of the Quran has been explained by the prophet sallall.aii. its core meaning and what is necessary for us to know was all explained to him before he departed from this world. Now we go back to the letters. If we were to take the most comprehensive Arabic lexicon, the most comprehensive, and look up in that dictionary or that lexicon or that, and we were to look up the letter non, what does it mean in the Arabic language, what are we going to get? You speak Arabic, spoke it all your life, right? What does noon mean in Arabic? Tell me. Huh? What does mean mean? In Arabic, is that a full sentence?

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And that is the point of these letters. There are a few opinions amongst the scholars of tied with respect to these letters. However, the opinion of starting with the companions Abbas is that these letters in themselves don't have a meaning. It's in English if I were to say ABC. What does that mean? ABC. Is it a word? No. But it has a meaning, doesn't it? This is as easy as ABC. Or we need to go back to ABC. What does that mean? It's not a word, right? It's not a sentence, but it has a meaning. They don't have a meaning, but they have an intention. They insinuate something. We look at these letters. Think about where these letters come from. E comes from down here all the way at the bottom. This hem, right? Alif. Alif. Then the next letter lamb it comes from which part? The tongue. And then me and that comes from where? The lips. So now we have three regions. Those are the three regions from which all words in the Arabic language come from. They come from the throat, the tongue and the lips. And some letters come from an amalgamation of more than one of those two places or three places. And so every single chapter of the Quran, six of them, eight if we count two more, every one of those eight chapters that begins with al if lamb mention in that chapter the beginning, the middle and the end of humans humanity's existence every one of those chapters. So what is the meaning of non noon? We said it doesn't have a meaning in the Arabic language. It doesn't. But it has an what it insinuates. What is insinuated by noon? What is insinuated by by sod what is insinuated is this book is comprised of letters that you all have access to. You all have access to these letters. There's no new letters revealed in the Quran. The Quran came and didn't add any new letters to the alphabet. You all have access to the materials from which this Quran is comprised. However, why can't you make it? Why can't you make one? You have access to the materials. The letters are there. The words are there. However, only Allah is able to use those to make this Quran. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when he wishes to show the miraculous nature of the Quran if I were to take two people let's say two s two two masons I want them to build something for me and I want them to compete we want to see which one of them is best or let's say two artists and I want to I want to see which one of them is more skilled in order for that competition to work, they both have to have access to what? The same color palette, right? They have to have both access to the same to the same paint. If I give one superior paint and the other inferior, well, it's not fair then, right? It doesn't exhibit their raw skill. So they have to have access to the same materials in order for the skill or or mastery or in this case miracle to be to be put on full display in all of its splendor. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the general meaning and tomorrow inshallah we'll get into the specific meaning of non but the general meaning of all of the letters when they're mentioned this is that look you claim that Muhammad is the one who made this Quran up or he and some other people all of you unite collaborate You have access to the same materials. Make one it. Matter of fact, make 10 10 chapters it. I tell you what, make one chapter it. Go ahead. Go ahead. Here you go. You have these letters. As a matter of fact, you've had collectively institutional knowledge of.

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Alone. sallallahu alaihi wasallam. He's just one man and he's only 40 years old. You guys have hundreds of years of poets and masters of the Arabic language. People who are literate, people who have studied other languages come up with a book that's it, a recitation that's it, 10 chapters it, one chapter it. I'll make it easy for you. three work, three three sentences. Go ahead, let's hear. But they were unable to do so. Right? And so this is the general intention behind these al the general is intention is just like have you seen a magician a slide of hand when he tells you okay take a look at this hat. He's going to pull a rabbit out of the head. He says, "Take a look at this hat. Examine it. Is it a real hat?" He brings an audience member up. He says, "Is it real? Turn it around. Any trap doors? Anything suspicious about this hat?" "No." "Okay, give me the hat. Look at this rabbit." That is exhibiting the materials before they are being used to do something that the the onlooker cannot produce. And so this is the general meaning behind these what the scholars refer to as inshallah but then the question comes in and that is what's the difference between each of the different chapters that have different letters. Why didn't he use al if for all of them? Why noon here and here and here and why is that? There is a reason behind that as well. But generally that's the answer to this that question specifically we will get.

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