On the occasion of the advent of the month in which the Messenger of Allah  was born, a month that the whole world was honored by and the sky became jubilant, let us read this great event mentioned in one Surah of the Holy Qur'an in which the Exalted Allah said:
In the name of Allah, most Gracious most Merciful.1- By the Glorious Morning Light. 2 - And by the Night when it is still . 3-Thy Guardian Lord hath not forsaken thee, nor is He displeased with thee. 4- And verily the Hereafter will be better for thee than the present. 5-And soon will thy Guardian Lord give thee (that wherewith) thou shalt be well pleased. 6- Did He not find thee an orphan and give thee shelter (and care)? (he  was an orphan since he was born for his father died before his birth) 7- And He found thee wandering, and He gave thee guidance. (this refers to the stage of his second childhood and his early youth) 8- And He found thee in need, and make thee independent. (this describes the stage of his youth prior to his mission) 9 -Therefore, treat not the orphan with harshness. 10- Nor repulse the petitioner. 11- But the Bounty of thy Lord rehearse and proclaim !‏(Al Duha).
This is one of the Surahs in the Holy Qur'an in which the Exalted Allah reveals the distinguished privileges of His beloved, Muhammad , and makes the Ummah be acquainted with the perfection of these privileges.
We are going to meditate briefly upon this Surah in which there are innumerable meanings, and deal with some points mentioned in it according to the limited time we have.
When the Exalted Allah said: "By the Glorious Morning Light, and by the Night when it is still", He reveals one of the privileges attributed to the Messenger of Allah , for the forenoon and late night prayer in addition to Witer (the odd prayer) after the late night prayer were not ordained but to him only, whereas the mentioned prayers are voluntary worship for his Ummah .
Why were these prayers meant to be obligation for our Master, Muhammad ?
It is because he  is the Master of the universe, a universe that performs its own glorification at these two times, i.e., night and forenoon, and it is not fitting for the universe to be glorifying the Exalted Allah but with its Master before it sharing it its most private glorification. It is not fitting for the universe to be in an attitude of glorification in these two times without the participation of the Master of the worlds, Muhammad , who is the most distinguished, the one who has the greatest privilege.
If you want to be acquainted with the peculiarity of the universe glorification in these two times, read the Exalted Allah's speech:
Have patience at what they say, and remember Our Servant David, the men of strength for he ever turned (to Allah). It was We that made the hills declare, in unison with him, our Praises, at eventide and a break of day (Sad, vs. 17-18).
Ibn Abbas was in bewilderment of how to interpret the expression Ishraq (forenoon) and its time and the closer time to it till Um Hani' told him (as is mentioned in Al Hakem's Mustadrak): "The Messenger of Allah came to my house and performed the forenoon prayer". Ibn Abbas did not use to perform the forenoon prayer before. So, when Um Hani' told him about this prayer, he went out of her house saying: "I have read what is between the two coverings of the book (meaning the Holy Qur'an). I haven't known the forenoon prayer mentioned in the Holy Qur'an: perform 'our Praises, at eventide and a break of day' till now". Then he said: "This is the forenoon prayer".
The Holy Qur'an relates the story of one of the Prophets with whom the mountains glorified the Exalted Allah, in a scene of close communion and intimate discourse.
Certainly, it is the state of communion. In this Surah, our Lord, Exalted He is, talks about His communion, about a secret, about an intimate discourse, and about hours of closeness between Him and His Beloved.
Thus, "By the Glorious Morning Light. And by the Night when it is still" means: while you are in them, you, the Beloved of the Exalted Allah, the Messenger of the Exalted of Allah , you are in this state of closeness and intimate discourse.
"Thy Guardian Lord hath not forsaken thee, nor is He displeased with thee", i.e., Is it possible that the One, Who swears by the time of His closeness to you, forsakes or hates you?
The Exalted Allah swears by the time in which you are in His presence.
The Exalted Allah swears by the time in which you are engrossed in His Beauty, His Magnificence and His Perfection…
Is it possible that the One, Who swears by the time of His closeness to you, forsakes or hates you?
When the Revelation was late to the Messenger of Allah  in the beginning of his mission (as Imam Muslim relates in Sahihihi), the unbelievers said: "The God of Muhammad has forsaken him". Consequently, the Exalted Allah sent this Surah saying to His Messenger : " By the Glorious Morning Light. And by the Night when it is still . Thy Guardian Lord hath not forsaken thee, nor is He displeased with thee".
"And verily the Hereafter will be better for thee than the present". In the mentioned verse, the Exalted Allah refers to particularization of a time in the two worlds, the present world and the second one. He also refers to particularization of a place where the Messenger of Allah  is the Master of all people, for he  is our Master in this life and in the Hereafter:
In this world, he, , is the Imam of all mankind, the Imam of all Messengers, the Imam of all pious people, the Imam of all who are close to the Exalted Allah in this life. He is the one for whom the earth is made pure and mosque. He was the one who led the Messengers and Gabriel behind him (the mediator of revelation) in prayer in Jerusalem. Thus he is the Master of the world.
In the Hereafter, he is the owner of the Praised Status that nobody else has but he, the owner of mediation.
In the Hereafter, he is the First Master among mankind, and in this world he is the Imam of those with shining light on their foreheads, and the leader of all Messengers.
Thus when the Exalted Allah talks about time and the privilege of the Messenger of Allah , He said: " By the Glorious Morning Light. And by the Night when it is still", then He, Exalted He is, moves to the specialty of place.
According to us, place is proportionate to what is predestined for us and to our sizes. To us, place is moving from one place into another. But when the Exalted Allah talks about the place with the most distinguished of people, with the greatest close person o Him, it is more fitting to talk about two places: one of them is the whole world; and the second is all the second world. After which, it is said to him : "Your sovereignty in the Hereafter is superior, and it is higher, prettier and more sublime than your sovereignty in this world. For your sovereignty in this world is mixed with difficulty and exhaustion in the Mission. It is full of endurance of tribulations for the cause of the Exalted Allah; whereas, in the Hereafter, you sovereignty is full of joy, is full of the sovereignty of closeness and uniqueness in status.
"And soon will thy Guardian Lord give thee (that wherewith) thou shalt be well pleased". In this verse, the Exalted Allah continues His communion with the soul of Al Mustafa  and his secret when He said: "Thy Guardian Lord hath not forsaken thee, nor is He displeased with thee", for soul and heart long for gift, and spirit and secret long for closeness. Thus the two wishes are joined together for the Messenger of Allah .
The soul of the Messenger of Allah  will not be satisfied until his Ummah is honored. Thus, if we want to make the Messenger's heart pleased, we can achieve that by our affiliation to him , for only the one who is verified by affiliation to the Messenger of Allah , without having doubt or suspicion, can be dignified, but the double-minded who belong neither to this party nor to that will not get any of this high esteem.
The high status and position of our Prophet  is quite clear. Our Imam, our Messenger, our Leader and Master, our instructor, and our guide, is our Master, Muhammad . The title of our dignity is our affiliation to our Master, Muhammad .
When we turn away from this affiliation, we shall be humiliated and weakened. We shall be disgraced and abased; and we shall be a prey to the hegemony of our enemies. Consequently, the unbelievers and double-dealers will dominate us . But when this Ummah restores its affiliation to the Messenger of Allah , it will regain the glory and dignity it has lost.
Relieving Messenger of Allah , the Exalted Allah reminded him of the favors He had bestowed on him, telling him that the One Who took care of him when he was born, when he came from the belly of his mother to the belly of this world, would not forsake him. Had He not, Exalted He is, taken care of his religion since his childbirth?
The Messenger of Allah  came from the belly of his mother to the belly of this world in Rabi' Al Awwal, and he went out of the belly of this world into the belly of the Interval World to meet the High Companion in Rabi' Al Awwal too. Moreover, he  went out of the belly of Mecca into the State of Islam in Rabi' Al Awwal too. Thus, his birth, his immigration, his moving to the High Companion were all in the month of Rabi' Al Awwal. Thus, the birth of his honored body from the belly of his mother into the belly of this world was in this honored month. The birth of the State of Islam during his life , as well as the birth of his closeness to the Exalted Allah were also in this month.
Rabi' Al Awwal is the month in which resolutions and determinations are born. It is a month in which repentance is born. It is a month in which wonders are born according to the distinguished and beloved people to the Exalted Allah. If we belong to these people, we will be reborn in this great month, and heavenly lights will be born in us, as well as good manners loved by the Exalted Allah and His Messenger . Consequently, this is the kind of praised behavior and good qualities that will be born in us.
The Exalted Allah reminds His Messenger of His care and sponsoring of him when he was born: "Did He not find thee an orphan and give thee shelter (and care)?" This was the first childhood of the Messenger of Allah  when the Exalted Allah provided him with lodging in his grandfather's house, then in his uncle's house.
"And He found thee wandering, and He gave thee guidance". In this verse, the Exalted Allah refers to a well known incident that happened with the Messenger of Allah  in his second childhood when he was grazing the sheep in the mountain paths of Mecca and lost his way. Abu Jahl saw him away from his sheep and lost, so he took him to his grandfather, Abdul Muttaleb (as is related by Ibn Abbas, GBTH). The Exalted Allah reminds him of the favor He bestowed on him by making his own enemy the means of his going back home. Is there a favor greater than this one?
If Moses was reared in the palace of Pharaoh, Muhammad, , was guided to his house and city by the Pharaoh of this Ummah, Abu Jahl.
The Exalted Allah reveals His favor on His Beloved reassuring him that the One Who was able to restore him to his home by means of his own enemy, will be able to restore the Muslims to their religion even if it were at the hands of their enemies, and will be able to reveal light out of darkness.
Thus, we can have hope out of despair, frustration and weakness.
"And He found thee in need, and make thee independent". The Messenger of Allah did not have any money in his youth, but the Exalted Allah supplied him with money first, by grazing sheep; secondly, by working in the trade of Lady Khadija; and thirdly, when Khadija and her wealth became in his possession, for she (GBH) bestowed herself and her wealth to the Messenger of Allah  to do whatever he liked with them. Afterwards, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah bestowed their souls and wealth to him too.
Oh, Messenger of Allah, we, herein, bestow our souls and wealth to you in the month of your birth.
Oh Messenger of Allah, do accept us in the month of your birth so that we join the group of the beloveds who were part of your privilege, and one of the sides of your greatness.
After the Exalted Allah reviewed the specialty of time and place, and after He set our Prophet's heart at rest when He reminded him of the beginnings (the One who sponsored him in the beginnings will certainly do that in the end), He directed him into good manners that the Messenger of Allah  adopted. Thus, the character of the instructor and the guide becomes conspicuous, and he  becomes our Imam, as well as the great Imam of the Ummah.
"Therefore, treat not the orphan with harshness; nor repulse the petitioner; but the Bounty of thy Lord rehearse and proclaim". In this verse, there are three instructions.
-In the first, the Exalted Allah urges society to take moral and psychological care of its members, that is, when He said: "treat not the orphan with harshness", so that human sides should spread in this Ummah, and so that merciless people, people with cruel heart or dull feelings, may not exist in this society.
This first instruction refers to a quality that we have lost or about to lose.
Because of the casteism we are living in now, and because the feeling of human equality has vanished amongst us, the issue of sponsoring the orphan has been excluded from our minds and hearts. In the past, our ancestors used to look for the orphan so that he might be reared among their own children, and when he became young, they used to help him to marry and have an independent family. But today, we run away from sponsoring orphans by establishing houses for them in which abnormalities are presented, and in which the orphan loses his feeling of the affiliation to a family, and lives in a state similar to that of the soldier. Thus the orphan gets away from the meaning of mercy. However merciful the clerks that we employ for him are, these will not make up for the environment of the real family the orphan lacks. Consequently, the orphan's character grows incomplete and unstable and lacks the stable character of the perfect man.
We have missed the moral care the orphan needs. We have become away from this responsibility because of the feeling of individualism. The family and its specialty distinguishes man from his brethren. Should the one who enjoys the bliss of belonging to a family look askance and with disdain at the others? Should he feel that he is in the high tower above the deprived of this bliss…
The second instruction is financial care. The Exalted Allah said: "nor repulse the petitioner".
When the children of a society do not receive sound, adequate care and mercy, this society will not receive mercy.
If we want to be treated with mercy, we have to treat the orphans with mercy.
How can we expect the Exalted Allah's support if we refrain from the moral and financial care of the orphans?
The Exalted Allah supports our society. He supplies its members with moral care, and the needy with financial care.
In the earlier Islamic society, the widow was not neglected. She used to receive the needed care, but nowadays, imitating the Christians, their habits have become the motto of our Islamic society.
Asma' daughter of 'Amis, lost her husband, Ja'far of the Two Wings, the martyr, when he was the leader of the army in an expedition, whom the Messenger of Allah praised and was satisfied with. Hardly did she finish her Idda (woman's prescribed waiting period after the death of her husband or after divorce), than Al Siddik married her, and she was the one Al Siddik recommended to bathe him at his death and she did. Hardly did she finish her second Iddah, than she married our Master, Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, (GBTH).
This is the moral care of the weak.
The orphan is another example. Moral care should be presented to the old, to the widow and to the orphan.
In an Islamic country I once visited, I admired their preparation of information and social arrangements to prevent establishing old-age hospitals.
Where is the Islamic society if old-age hospital are established?
The mother or father who has a son, a brother or a relative should not be put in an old-age hospital.
If we do that, we will be falling in the pit of the hated materialism that is far away from humanity, and we will be like the others who are captives to materialism.
When Islam was applied soundly in the reign of Omar Ibn Abdul-Aziz, the representative of the Caliphate went out saying: "Whoever needs money, let him come to the Public Treasury".
Where is the Public Treasury of the Muslims today?
We have replaced it with the Western method that depends on the system of taxes, and turned away from our Islamic identity that supports us with social solidarity and joint liability. The Islamic system makes us live in a society where there will be no needy or poor.
Unfortunately, we are following the people of materialism however perverted, erroneous, and mistaken is their way.
When they become dissolute, we imitate them; if they apply adultery, we adopt it; and if they consider immorality their method, we do the same.
Unfortunately, we turn away from the religion of the Exalted Allah; from the goodness of this world and the second that the Exalted Allah reveals to us in the Holy Qur'an and during the life span of our Prophet .
This is the reality of our Islamic world that suffers from the aggression of its enemies whom the Exalted Allah made our masters to show us that we are an Ummah that is glorified only by Islam, and when we seek glory at anybody else other than the Exalted Allah, we shall be humiliates. We shall always be humiliated unless we exalt anew the word of Allah, and unless we prove, inwardly and outwardly, that our identity belongs to our Master, Muhammad , who is our Imam, our instructor and our guide.
Thus "Therefore, treat not the orphan with harshness. Nor repulse the petitioner" is an instruction to moral and financial care.
The third instruction should be the headline of Islamic information media and science. It is in the Exalted Allah's speech:" But the Bounty of thy Lord rehearse and proclaim ".
Enough bragging. Talk to people about the privileges of the Exalted Allah's deeds, favors, and bounties.
In the past, science was closely related to the speech about the favors of Allah. In the books on medicine of the ancient Arab Muslim physicians, I found that when they talked about something, they related it to the creation of the Exalted Allah for recovery from illness. They used to relate everything to the will of the Exalted Allah to reveal their servitude to Him.
On the other hand, nowadays, most of the methods applied in our books are related to the dirty theory that has proved its invalidity, the theory of the Jew, Darwin, that deals with a subject contradictory to science. It is a theory that relates everything to the material, idolizes it, and connects it with atheism.
"But the Bounty of thy Lord rehearse and proclaim" is the headline of science and information.
Instead of talking about Darwin and his theory, we had better talk about our achievements, about the bounties of the Exalted Allah, and about his favors, for it is He who honors us and makes us prosper. Shu'aib (PBUH) said: "and my success (in my task) can only come from Allah" (Hud, v. 88).
This should be the way of every Muslim, and every servant of the Exalted Allah.
On the other hand, the Qarunians (the followers of Qarun) say: "This has been given to me because of a certain knowledge which I have" (Al Qasas, v. 78). They ascribeb everything to themselves. But the servants of the Exalted Allah, ascribe everything to its Owner, the Exalted Allah.
When Joseph (PBUH) became a minister of the king, he said: "O my Lord thou hast indeed bestowed on me some power (You made me in this high status), and taught me something of the interpretation of dreams and events, O thou Creator of the heavens and the earth thou art my protector in this world and in the Hereafter" (Yusuf, v. 101).
In such a way the talk about the favors of Allah should be, and in such a way the way we have to follow should be if we are the owner of the Islamic identity, but when we lose our identity, we talk as the Qarunians do.
Al Duha Surah reveals and uncovers our ignorance. It makes us be acquainted with the status of the one most beloved by the Exalted Allah, our Master, Muhammad . Moreover, it directs the Ummah to a way in which good manners and high human principles exist.
Allahum…, guide us to You favorably and make us from those who listen to wisdom and follow the best of it.
I say my words and ask Allah's forgiveness.