“We have sent this Qur’an down as an Arabic Qur’an so that you may understand.”
TAFSEER;
A question that many Muslims ask is: ‘why does Allah refer to Himself in the plural?’ In fact, many non-Muslims ask this question. There are two primary interpretations of this. The first of them is that the ‘We’ is a royal plural, the plural of majesty, and the plural of ‘izzah. It is allowed in the Arabic language that a singular person (one man) will say ‘we’ when he is worthy of it, meaning king or royalty. In Arabic, this is called the royal plural. It is a permissible interpretation.
Taymiyyah has another interpretation and says that every time there is a plural in the Qur’an, it is a reference to Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) along with the command of the angels. That is why – and this is interesting – Ibn Taymiyyah says that never in the Qur’an does Allah say ‘worship us,’ but He always says ‘worship Me.’ Allah says, “We revealed the Book” because the Book comes down via Jibreel. Allah says, “We send the rain” because every single drop of rain has an angel taking it right to where Allah said it is going to go. Allah says, “We are the ones who blow the winds” because the angels are the ones who take the winds. When Allah says “We”, He means, “I am doing this and I am telling the angels to execute this command.” The Qur’an comes down at the Command of Allah by the hands of Jibreel. Jibreel is the one who brings it down. This is one interpretation as well, and it has a good basis to it.
Anzalah means ‘to descend.’ Nazalah means to go down / to descend. This shows that the Qur’an physically came down. What does it mean?
Firstly, that Jibreel came down with the recitation of the Qur’an. Literally, the Qur’an is coming down with Jibreel in his memory, and Jibreel is reciting it to the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam). Secondly, According to one hadeeth, which is authentic, on laylat al-qadr, Allah says “inna anzalnahu fi laylat al-qadr,” There is a physical descent of a divine copy of the Qur’an, and so Allah says anzalah. This is also one of the many evidences that Allah is above us, which is why the Qur’an is coming down. If the Allah was not above us, then the Qur’an would not need to come down and nor would the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) have to go up in isra’ wa’l-miraj to speak to Him. The Qur’an is coming down. “We have sent down this Qur’an.”
inna anzalnahu Qur’anan arabiyyan…”
“We have revealed this as an Arabic Qur’an.” This is a very, very interesting verse. There are exactly 11 verses in the Qur’an that characterize the Qur’an as being Arabic. Allah describes the Qur’an as being an Arabic Qur’an.
This shows us as well that the Qur’an has been revealed in the language that Allah ‘azza wa jall spoke. From Jibreel to the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and from the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) to the sahabah up until this day we have a continuous chain, non-stop, and it is from Allah ‘azza wa jall the recitation begins. This means that when Allah says, “We have revealed an Arabic Qur’an,” then that recitation was done in Arabic as well. When you recite the Qur’an, you feel that it is an amazing speech and divine speech.
We believe that this recitation was recited by Allah ‘azza wa jall; therefore, when we recite it, there is something divine about the Qur’an. The Qur’an must be respected –
la’alakum ta’qiloon.” (“So that you may understand…”)
So that you may understand what?
The sentence is not complete. Why?
When you leave it blank, it means “so that you may understand [everything]”, and it doesn’t need to be limited. This also shows us that there is a reason why Allah chose the language of the Arabs, which is because His Prophet is an Arab prophet and his immediate people are an Arab people. This tells us very frankly that the Arabic language is the most eloquent language. The opinion of Imam Al-Shafi‘i and Ibn Taymiyyah and many scholars, including non-Arabs, is that the Arabic language is the best language.
Why is Allah beginning this surah by mentioning that He has revealed the Qur’an to the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam)?
One of the reasons Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) is mentioning this is to remind the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) of the favors that He has given to him. This is a standard motif of the Qur’an. Surah Al-Dhuha: “Your Lord has not left you, nor has He abandoned you…Didn’t We find you as an orphan and take care of you?” It is human nature that when you are spiritually down, you need somebody to cheer you up. Allah ‘azza wa jall is telling the greatest positive thing: He has revealed the Qur’an to him (one person), and this is the greatest blessing.
REFLECTIONS;
Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an that you might understand. ‣ “We” shows status of Allah, it’s the royal we.
‣ This is one of the verses of the Quran that affirms the o’olow (علو) of Allah • Where is above? Above for Allah, and we can’t deny it
‣ Allah’s quality are appropriate for him only
– It’s only a quality and attribute appropriate for Allah • Allah sees, has hands, has a face, hears
– Only appropriate to Allah and unique to Allah
– Making Allah’s attributes human-like is a sin
‣ Why did Allah reveal the Quran in the Arabic language?
• Allah chose the Arabic language because of its beauty and Allah knew that this was a rich language (can use one word to describe complicated things that would take many more words in other languages)
AUTHENTIC TAWHEED;
HADITH: The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “God said, ‘The offspring of Adam abuse time, (even though) I am Time.'”
The Qur’an was revealed in Arabic because it is a specific book
–
–in Arabic, words are either feminine or masculine so it’s a specific language
Arabic is the Sunnah of Allah so it’s superior to all languages
–other languages are inferior to it
–He (swt) revealed the Qur’an in the best language, Arabic
–by His favorite angel, Jibreel
–to His favorite Messenger, Muhammad (saws)
–in the most sacred city, Makkah
–in the holiest month, Ramadan