- Ustaadh Yasin Munye حفظه الله
Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly [white] star lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things. {Surah Nur 24:35}
اَللّٰهُ نُوۡرُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡض
“Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth”
- He سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى is the guider of the heavens and the earth.
- Some of the salaf said that this part of the Ayah means that Allah is the One that looks after all the affairs of the heavens and the earth. From amongst these affairs - the guidance of the people.
Then Allah given an example of this light...
مَثَلُ نُوۡرِهٖ كَمِشۡكٰوةٍ فِيۡهَا مِصۡبَاحٌ
“The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp”
Niche - Indent in a wall in which something is usually placed i.e a light or frames
Some of the Mufassireen (authors of tafsir) mentioned - This indent in the wall with the lamp in it, is like the heart of the believer.
Ibn Qayyim, Ibn Mas’ood and Ibn ‘Abbas mention this too: ‘It is the heart of the believer that Allah is about to tell us about’
Ubay ibn Ka’ab used to say in his Qiraat:
‘The example of the one who believes in Allah’
So the example is like the indent is the believer, and the lamp is the heart of the believer.
الۡمِصۡبَاحُ فِىۡ زُجَاجَةٍ
“The lamp is inside a glass.”
اَلزُّجَاجَةُ كَاَنَّهَا كَوۡكَبٌ دُرِّىٌّ
“This glass is like a shining star.“
Muhammad ibn Ka’ab al Quradi رضي الله عنه gave a tafseer of this and said: “It is the star of Zuhra”
The glass is so clean and so light that it becomes like a star.
Muhammad ibn Ka’ab al Quradi:
*One of the people from Bani Qurayda
*He was a child and survived, and then became Muslim
*From the Sahaabah
This glass that Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى is talking about is like the covering of the heart; and this covering is mentioned in many places in the Qur’an and sunnah:
كَلَّا ۖ بَلْ ۜ رَانَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِم مَّا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ
“No! Rather, the stain has covered their hearts of that which they were earning.” {Surah Qiyaamah 83:14}
The people of the hell fire have a ‘raan’ over their hearts because of what they used to earn.
When the Prophet ﷺ was explaining this, he said: “When a believer commits a sin, a black dot (raan) is placed on his heart. If he repents then the black dot is removed from his heart but if he continues to commit this sin, then Allah places more and more black dots on this heart of the believer until it becomes a black heart.” {Sunan At Tirmidhi}
These people on the day of judgement will be covered from seeing their lord and this is from the greatest punishments of the people of the hellfire and the greatest reward for the people of Jannah is to see the face of their lord.
وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَّاضِرَةٌ
“[Some] faces, that day will be radiant,
إِلَىٰ رَبِّهَا نَاظِرَةٌ
“Looking at their Lord.” {Surah Qiyaamah 75:22-23}
Just like a glass would get rusty from not cleaning it, polishing it and looking after it, the heart gets rusty from not doing dhikr of Allah and worshipping Allah.
The Prophet ﷺ said: “My heart is sometimes surrounded by Al-ghain (a small covering of the heart that the prophet would sometimes feel) I ask Allah to forgive me 100 times a day.” {Sahih Muslim}
Even the cleanest of hearts need istighfaar
The Prophet ﷺ said: “The trials and tribulations are going to be presented into the hearts one by one (like the threads intertwined to make mattresses) until the hearts become into two types: one light as a white stone - which no fitnah will affect this heart, as long as the heavens and the earth are present because the heart rejects the fitnah that came to it. The other type is a heart like a black cup that is upside down - which nothing can enter it, not even light.” {Sahih Muslim}
يُّوۡقَدُ مِنۡ شَجَرَةٍ مُّبٰـرَكَةٍ
"Which is lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree,”
Why did Allah mention an olive tree specifically?
*The olive tree is a blessed tree, a blessed fruit and it grows in blessed places.
The prophet ﷺ commanded us to drink the olive oil and to use it on our skins, because it is a blessed tree.
The scholars also mention that the best type of olive tree is the one in the blessed land of Palestine.
لَّا شَرۡقِيَّةٍ وَّلَا غَرۡبِيَّة
“neither of the east not of the west”
Then Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى describes this olive tree to be neither from the east or west...
The mufassireen from the salaf, the sahaabah and the taabi’een explained this in many ways:
Ibn ‘Abbas: “It’s a tree and in it’s in the middle of the dessert; and the sun hits it in the morning and the evening. When it rises from the east, the rays of the sun hit the tree. All throughout the day, because there is nothing shading the tree, and then again when it sets”
Hassan al Basri: “Neither of the east nor the west - meaning it’s not from this world. This olive tree is the fitrah of the believer, and the fitrah of the believer is not from this world, its from Allah SWT”
يَّـكَادُ زَيۡتُهَا يُضِىۡٓءُ وَلَوۡ لَمۡ تَمۡسَسۡهُ نَار
“whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire”
The oil becomes so bright, and fire has not touched it yet.
The light of the oil - gives light from within itself - and the light of the fire; it’s light upon light.
The light of the fire is the light of revelation. When Allah reveals to the clean heart that has its fitrah intact from Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى, it accepts the fire (revelation) and becomes light upon light - this is the heart of the believer; when revelation touches it, the heart accepts it and the light comes into the heart of the believer, and so the light also becomes evident on the faces.
Ibn Qayyim رحمه الله mentions: “When this heart accepts this revelation, the light becomes so bright that is goes on the face of the believer; you see the light of the believer wherever he goes. It’s seen on their body parts and even their clothes.”
When Anas ibn Maalik described the Prophet ﷺ, he said: “His face was more beautiful than the full moon”
Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى says: “On the Day you see the believing men and believing women, their light proceeding before them and on their right, [it will be said], "Your good tidings today are [of] gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein you will abide eternally." That is what is the great attainment.” {Surah al-Hadid 57:12}
