Al-Kawthar:
SAYYIDA FATIMA AL-ZAHRA (A.S.)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the
Merciful
Indeed We have given you AL-KAWTHAR
So pray to your Lord and offer sacrifice (to Him)
Indeed it is your enemy that is ABTAR
(108:1-3)
The
chapter of Al-Kawthar (108) is one of the shortest Surahs of the
Holy Quran. Some Mufassireen say it was revealed in Madina and
according to some, it was revealed in Makkah. But from the nature of
this Surah and given its background, there appears no doubt that
this Surah was revealed in Makkah.
One
day ‘Aas bin Wail, a leader of the polytheists of Makkah saw Prophet
Muhammad (saww) coming out of Masjidul-Haraam. So he stopped and
conversed to him for some time. Meanwhile, the other elders of the
polytheists observed their chatting from a distance. When the talk
was over and ‘Aas joined his people, they asked, “O ‘Aas! Whom were
you chatting to?” ‘Aas pointed towards the Prophet (saww) and said,
“With that person who is
ABTAR.
(Tafseer of S V Mir Ahmad Ali)
ABTAR
in
Arabic is a person who is tail-less. In other words, it is in
reference to one without posterity. The Holy Prophet (saww) has two
sons from Khadeeja (as) namely Qasim and Tahir, also known as
‘Abdullah. Since both of them died, the Holy Prophet (saww) remained
without sons, so the Arabs began calling him
ABTAR
meaning ‘tail-less’. Surah al-Kawthar was revealed as a consolation
to the Holy Prophet (saww).
The
term
AL-KAWTHAR
has
two meanings:
A
stream of Super Excellence.
The
Holy Prophet (saww) has said,
“Al-Kawthar is a stream of super excellence exclusively belonging to
me. Only the righteous believers (among my followers) shall be
allowed to drink from it. Ali will distribute its water to them. On
the day of Judgement, I will see some of my companions driven like
cattle away from Al-Kawthar. It will be announced that they are
those, who after my departure from the world, had deviated from the
true religion and introduced innovations to corrupt the faith”.
(Musnad
of Ahmad ibn Hambal)
Imam
Ja’ffar ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq (as) has said,
“Al-Kawthar is a stream in Paradise, which Allah (SWT) has gifted to
His Prophet (saww) as a recompense for the death of his son
‘Abdullah”.
(Tafseer-e-Namoona)
Bounties in Abundance
Al-Kawthar
also
refers to
Khayr-e-Katheer
‘Bounties in Abundance’. Allah (SWT) blessed the Holy Prophet (saww)
with plenty of great bounties such as: prophethood, miraculous Book
of Quran, companions in large number, success in battles, kingship
and acceptance of Islam by many people.
In
addition to all the above bounties, because in the last verse of
this Surah, Allah (SWT) says: “Indeed it
is your enemy that is ABTAR”, this by itself also proves
that
Al-Kawthar
also
refers to the one and only beloved daughter of the Holy Prophet (saww)
– Sayyida Fatima al-Zahra (as) through whom Allah (SWT) gave His
beloved Prophet (saww) abundance of descendants.
(Tafseer-e-Namoona)
mulla@almahid.org.uk