004, 5 surat al-mudaththir (the cloaked one) & al-fatiha (the opening)
1. 1
SURAT AL-MUDATHTHIR (THE CLOAKED ONE) & AL-FATIHA (THE
OPENING)
MECCAN PERIOD
Division: 14
1,2O you who ready for duty!21 Arise! Right Now, Al-Fatiha 1-7”Warn! In the name
of Allah, the One who nurtures all creatures He created, the Most Merciful upon
those He created: “All praises belong to Allah, Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the
Nurturer, the Sustainer], the Cherisher, the Nurturer, the Sustainer] of all worlds22,
the One who blesses all creatures He created, and the One who is Exceptionally
Merciful to those He created, the Master and the Owner of Akhirat [Afterlife], on
which everyone will be rewarded or punished in accordance with all they do and
make in their lifetime; no one else must be praised. You alone we worship24 and
only You we ask for help. Guide us to the right path of those You bless with Your
Grace but not to the path of those upon whom is Your Wrath!”25 3And proclaim your
Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the Nurturer, the Sustainer] as the Greatest; 4do not
stain your character; keep clean, abstain from filth, take away blemishes, do not do
favor for gratitude in return! And be patient only for your Rabb [the Lord, the
Cherisher, the Nurturer, the Sustainer]!26
8-10And when that trumped is blown,27 that day will be a hard and tough day.
That day will be far from easy for those infidels, those who consciously deny the
Divinity of Allah and the fact that He is Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the Nurturer,
the Sustainer].
(4/74, Al-Mudaththir (the Cloaked One)/1-2+Al-Fatiha (the Opening)/1-7+ Al-
Mudaththir (the Cloaked One)/3-10)
Division: 15
11-14Leave Me alone with the one whom I created alone, granted endless
blessings, bestowed sons as witnesses, furnished with a comfortable life!
15Yet, after all that, he desires Me to give him more. 16Certainly not as he
thinks! Surely, he has been stubbornly against Our Ayat/evidence/signs. 17I will
oblige him to climb a steep ridge. 18-25Surely, he contemplated and plotted. –May he
be cursed. How he plotted! May he be cursed once again. How he plotted!- Then he
looked. Then he scowled, frowned. Then he turned away and acted arrogantly: “This
is nothing but sorcery derived from ancient rumors. This is nothing but words of the
mortal”.
26-30Soon I will throw the one who says “the Qur’an is nothing but the words of
the mortal” into the Saqar [the torching fire of Jahannah [Hell]]. Do you know what
2. 2
the Saqar is? Nothing it spares yet nothing it terminates. It burns/scorches the
man/the skin/it is thirsty/it is the one that is seen from afar/it is the evidence. Upon
the Saqar are “the Nineteen”.
31And We have set angels as guardians of Jahannah [Hell]. Number of them
We have set as a test for those People of Scripture to know clearly; for the faith of
those who believe to increase; for those People of Scripture and those who believe to
not have any doubt; and for those are sick at heart; who are evil at heart and infidels;
those who consciously deny the Divinity of Allah and the fact that He is Rabb [the
Lord, the Cherisher, the Nurturer, the Sustainer] to say “What Allah intended to say
with this?”. Thus it is. Allah leads astray those who wish so/whom He pleases and
guides those who wish so /whom He pleases. No one knows the forces of Rabb [the
Lord, the Cherisher, the Nurturer, the Sustainer] except Himself. This is nothing but
a reminder and admonition to the mortals.28
32-37Certainly not as you think! I hereby adduce the status of the Messenger,
diminishing ignorance, initiated social enlightenment29 that the Saqar is one of those
great things that is a warning for the mortals; for those of you who want to
proceed/go ahead or those who want to lag behind/fall behind.
(4/74, Al-Mudaththir/11-37)
Division: 16
38,39Every soul who has found his/her inner self – except for the Companions of
the Right – will be pledged for his/her deeds.
40,41The Companions of the Right are in the gardens. They ask of the criminals:
42”What led you into the Saqar?” 43Criminals say: “We were not of those who served
the Salat [Support others financially and spiritually; strive to enlighten the
community], 44nor we did not feed the poor; we did not produce opportunity for
those who were determined to earn their breads. 45And we talked vain with those
vain-talkers. 46,47And we used to deny the Day of Recompose until the indisputable
and inevitable death; the Qiyamat came for us”. 48No intercession of the intercessors
will benefit them now.
49Then what is the matter with them that they turn away from the
admonition/that which makes them think? 50,51They are like scattering asses startled
by the lion. 52Forsooth each of them desires to be granted scriptures spread.
53Certainly not as they think! Yet they do not fear Akhirat [Afterlife]. 54Certainly not
as they think! The Qur’an is an admonition/what makes you think. 55,56Then
whoever pleases will think and remember it. And they do not accept any admonition
but the Will of Allah. He is capable of protecting, avoiding and forgiving.
3. 3
(4/74, Al-Mudaththir/38-56)
21 While in the 10th division the term muzzemmil is used, here the expression ya ayyuha’l
mudaththir [o the clocked one] is used. In many works the terms muzzammil and mudaththir are used
in the same meaning. However, there is a nuance between these two words in terms of meaning. If
this fact is overseen, the true message of the Ayah cannot be fully comprehended. The word
muzzammil means the act of “dressing in general using such items as dresses, blankets, clothes, etc.”.
Mudaththir, on the other hand, means the act of “dressing in a manner that is acceptable in the public
using garments that can be worn in the public”. The original form of mudaththir is mutedaththir.
Daththar means “such garments that can be worn over the shirt as gowns, coats, trench coats, robes,
etc.”.
In this Ayah, allegory, one of the literary techniques that are utilized in the Qur’an, is used.
Wearing an outer garments means being prepared to go shopping, go to work or go out. This allegory,
in turn, means that Muhammad wears the uniform of the prophethood and he is ready to warn the
people.
The explicit message of the Ayah is as follows: “O one who wears the coat of prophethood! O
Muhammad, the one who wears the coat of prophethood and girded up!”.
22 Al-Alemin means everything that bears the signature of Allah and manifests Allah”.
23 See Footnote No. 2
24 While the Arabic word Ibadah is borrowed directly in Turkish, it has lost its meaning
related to the style and attitude of the man as in its literal meaning of “servitude, slavery” and thus
has become a concept that is used only for certain rituals, rites and behaviors. Being the infinite form
of the triliteral root of a-b-d, the term Ibadah means “to serve, to engage in voluntary servitude”.
These meanings express the unconditional submission, obedience and compliance of the individual.
In the context of religion, it means: “Unconditional acknowledgement and fulfillment of the liabilities
of the votary against his master/creator, which are assigned to him by his master/creator”. Allah, the
Creator of All Things, informed His servants on the attitude and lifestyle He determined for His
servants using various methods and ultimately compiled all these revelations in the Qur’an. In the
light of these facts, Ibadah is the unconditional fulfillment of the duties conveyed by Allah through a
guide [the Qur’an] to His servants, under absolute obedience and submission. Then, Ibadah is not
fulfilling a few specific deeds as widely used by the people. Ibadah is to “fulfill and implement all
duties assigned in the servitude guide of Allah”.
25 Inzaar means “to frighten, to faze by informing and raising awareness”. We translate
the imperative mood of this word as “Warn!”. Our dear readers should remember that the expression
“Warn!” does mean “Faze by frightening, informing and raising awareness!”.
26 In those Ayat we have seen so far, it can be understood that; our Rabb [the Lord, the
Nurturer, the Cherisher, the Sustainer] directly addresses Muhammad bin Abdullah, appoints him as
the Prophet and commands him to learn and teach in the name of his Rabb [the Lord, the Nurturer,
the Cherisher, the Sustainer]; trains and prepares him for his task; adorn him with the uniform of
prophethood and furnish him. Here we can see that Allah calls Muhammad for duty by saying: “Rise
now! All praise to the Rabb [the Lord, the Nurturer, the Cherisher, the Sustainer] of all universes, the
Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful, the Master of the Day of Judgment, on which every deed of the
man, good or bad, will be rewarded or punished. Warn them and say: We only worship You and ask
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only for Your help. Guide us to the righteous path of those who You blessed and keep us away from
the filthy path of those who have suffered Your wrath and those who are stuck in confusion!” and
declare your Rabb [the Lord, the Nurturer, the Cherisher, the Sustainer] as the Greatest! One should
remember that in the divisions of the Qur’an, our Rabb [the Lord, the Nurturer, the Cherisher, the
Sustainer] addresses only our Prophet and our Prophet has not the Messages to anyone else.
According to the historical records, having received the command “Ris e now! All praise to the Rabb
[the Lord, the Nurturer, the Cherisher, the Sustainer] of all universes, the Most Beneficent, the Most
Merciful, the Master of the Day of Judgment, on which every deed of the man, good or bad, will be
rewarded or punished. Warn them and say: We only worship You and ask only for Your help. Guide
us to the righteous path of those who You blessed and keep us away fromthe filthy path of those who
suffered Your wrath and those who stuck in confusion!” and declare your Rabb [the Lord, the
Nurturer, the Cherisher, the Sustainer] as the Greatest!”, the Prophet climbed up the Al-Safa,
summoned people around him and started his speech: “I hereby (teach, warn) in the name of Allah,
the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful…”.
As can be seen, the 7 Ayat, which are known as the Surah Al-Fatiha, are actually the
supplemental parts of the 2nd Ayah of the Surah Al-Mudaththir and not an independent Surah.
Conversion of these Ayat into an independent Surah and naming it Al-Fatiha [the Introduction/the
Opening] invokes the notion that the Qur’an was compiled by the Prophet or these Ayat were not
revealed but merely a statement of the Prophet and then inserted in the Qur’an as an introduction.
27 The expression, “Blowing of the Trumpet” correlates to the specific method that was
used in the ancient era to summon people or warn them of a danger. The trumpet in question was
used to be made of the horn of cattle. Blowing of this trumpet reminds the trumpet muster or
summoning siren or a referee blowing his whistle to start or finish a game or the school bell that
marks the start or end of the lessons. We may interpret this as “the sounding of the alarm”. This
expression will be used in everywhere other than this Ayah in the form, “blowing of the Sûr”.
28 These Ayat have been considered as ambiguous and consequently interpreted
differently in other tafsirs (the research of the Qur’an thoroughly and its explanation in detail) and
interpretations (the message transfer of the Qur’an into the target language without degenerating its
artistic value and emphasis). For this very reason, this will likely be the case in the future. Bashar,
saqar and lavvahat, three terms mentioned in the Ayah, are homonyms. Bashar, saqar and lavvaha
are used a couple of times in the Ayah to pun. The literal meaning of saqar is “pain perceived by
brain caused by the fire”. Due to this meaning, Saqar has become one of the proper names attributed
to the Jahannah [Hell]. However, in this paragraph, our Rabb [the Lord, the Nurturer, the Cherisher,
the Sustainer] says “Do you know what Saqar is?” thus implying that the word Saqar is not used in its
literal meaning as widely used by the people instead it means another concept. There are many
examples of pun like this. That means, our Rabb [the Lord, the Nurturer, the Cherisher, the Sustainer]
ascribes a new meaning to the word Saqar (Division 15): “Saqar is something that produces
exceptional plaques for the man, spares nothing yet terminates nothing, upon which set is the
“nineteen”. And those who suggested that the Qur’an is fabricated words of the man will experience
the “Saqar” and know that the Qur’an is not the word of man. Bashar, on the other hand, means
“people, man” and “outer skin of humans which may grow hair”. The Root of the homonymlavahhat,
“levh”, means “timber” and also “lightning, to sparkle, to be seen from afar, to torch, burn the skin,
thirst”. Our dear readers may derive various definitions and adopt any of them according to their
understanding.
It is obvious that the 31st Ayah of the Official Mushaf does not fit in here in terms of content
and structure.We believe that it is placed here due to carelessness ofthose who compiled the Mushaf.
We are yet to determine the actual position of this Ayah which covers the same subject as the Surat
5. 5
Al-Imran/7 and Al-Baqara/26,27 in the Official Mushaf. For this reason, we rendered the Ayah as an
independent division (division 15) here. The Ayah is unrelated to other Ayat before and after it.
29 In this paragraph, another evidence is produced for that the Qur’an is not the words of
man and importance of saqar is emphasized. The “actual” meaning of the words of the Ayat is as
follows: “No, no! By the moon; and by the night when it turns away, and the day when it is bright and
light that it [Saqar] is one of the greatest things that are a warning for those of you who want to go
ahead/proceed or stay aback”. As will be seen herein, the word Qamar [the Moon] metaphorically
used for “the Messenger”; night for “ignorance”; and day for “social enlightenment”. So, in this
interpretation, we directly showed the metaphorical meaning. When the actual capacity of
Muhammad, the effect of the Qur’an on the community; eradication of the ignorance, and the social
enlightenment are considered, it can surely be understood that the Qur’an is not the word of man.
Saqar proves this fact with another approach.