Surah Al-Kawthar, Ayah 3

Which was revealed in Al-Madinah and They also say in Makkah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

«لَقَدْ أُنْزِلَتْ عَلَيَّ آنِفًا سُورَة»

(Verily, a Surah was just revealed to me.) Then he recited,

إِنَّآ أَعْطَيْنَـكَ الْكَوْثَرَ - فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ - إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الاٌّبْتَرُ

(Verily, We have granted you Al-Kawthar. Therefore turn in prayer to your Lord and sacrifice. For he who hates you, he will be cut off.) Then he said,

«أَتَدْرُونَ مَا الْكَوْثَرُ؟»

(Do you all know what is Al-Kawthar) We said, `Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said,

«فَإِنَّهُ نَهَرٌ وَعَدَنِيهِ رَبِّي عَزَّ وَجَلَّ،عَلَيْهِ خَيْرٌ كَثِيرٌ، هُوَ حَوْضٌ تَرِدُ عَلَيْهِ أُمَّتِي يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، آنِيَتُهُ عَدَدُ النُّجُومِ فِي السَّمَاءِ، فَيُخْتَلَجُ الْعَبْدُ مِنْهُمْ فَأَقُولُ: رَبِّ إِنَّهُ مِنْ أُمَّتِي، فَيَقُولُ: إِنَّكَ لَا تَدْرِي مَا أَحْدَثَ بَعْدَك»

The Enemy of the Prophet ﷺ is Cut Off

Verse [ 108:3] إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ‌ (Surely, it is your enemy whose traces are cut off.) The word shani' as used in the original is derived from sha'n and means 'one who hates, traducer, insulter'. This verse was revealed in connection with the unbelievers who used to taunt the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and referred to him as 'abtar'. Most narratives identify the traducer as ` As Ibn Wa'il, others identify him as 'Uqbah and yet others identify him as Ka'b Ibn Ashraf. Allah granted the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the Kauthar, that is, abundant goodness which includes a multitude of children. How wonderful are the works of Allah! There is no scarcity of lineal children of the holy Prophet ﷺ . Furthermore, a Prophet ﷺ is the spiritual father of his entire Ummah which comprises his spiritual children. The Holy Prophet ﷺ is the spiritual father of his entire Ummah till the end of time and as such will have the largest number of spiritual children compared to the Ummahs of the previous Prophets (علیہم السلام) . In this way, the enemy has been rebutted, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, their argument has been rebuffed that it is not the Prophet ﷺ ، but his enemies are, 'abtar' or cut off.

Note

Imagine how Allah has raised the name of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and exalted his reputation in every nook and corner of the world since the inception of his prophet-hood till today, and it will continue to be so until the end of time. His blessed name is recited along with Allah's name five times a day from the minarets. In the Hereafter, he will be granted the (Al-Maqam Al-Mahmud) Praised Station where he will make the Grand Intercession on behalf of the entire progeny of 'Adam (علیہ السلام) . On the contrary, ask the world history: Where are the children of ` As Ibn Wa'il? Where are the children of Ka'b Ibn Ashraf? where are the children of 'Uqbah, and what happened to their families? Their very own names have been lost to the world. No one cares to remember them. They have become unknown who thought that soon the Holy Prophet ﷺ will become unknown. They have left this world and the strings of their lineage have been cut off. Their names have been preserved in Islamic traditions only for purposes of interpretation of relevant verses. فَاعْتَبِرُ‌وا يَا أُولِي الْأَبْصَارِ‌ "So, 0 People of insight, take note !" [ 59:2].

Al-Hamdulillah

The Commentary on

Surah Al-Kauthar

Ends here

This is the shortest chapter in the Quran, consisting of only three verses. It was revealed at Makkah. The title is taken from the first verse. Al-Kauthar is the name of a river which flows through paradise, its water being reserved exclusively for God-fearing Muslims. The disbelievers used to taunt the Prophet that he had no son, and therefore he had none to uphold his religion after him. But the Quran says that it was in fact the Prophet’s opponents who were cut off from all future hope, in this world and the next, while the Prophet was granted abundance by God. At the time when this chapter was revealed, the Prophet was facing stiff resistance from the Makkan Quraysh. Only a handful of people had responded to his call. At that difficult moment this chapter was a message of hope to the Prophet and to the Muslims. The Prophet Muhammad had arisen with the pure mission of calling all men to the Truth. In the present world this is the most difficult task. So for the sake of this mission, he had to forego his all. He was isolated from his community. His economic position was ruined. The future of his children became dark. Nobody except a few supported him. But under these very discouraging conditions, he was told by Almighty God, ‘We have given you abundance’ i.e. the highest success of every kind (kawthar here means khayr kathir). This prediction of the Quran was fulfilled to the letter in later years. This very promise was also applicable in various degrees to the followers of the Prophet. For them also there was an ‘abundance of good things’ provided they rose in the cause of the divine religion for which the Prophet and his companions had risen. This ‘abundance’ extends from this world up to the Hereafter. It is never-ending.