The First Command

*So oppress not the orphan,

Nor turn away the petitioner unheard,

But instead of your Lord’s bounties do proclaim.”

S Ad-Duha, the morning brightness, the last three verses. 

*ACCEPTED OPINIONS*

Most Mufasir say that the revelation that followed on from the first six verses of Surah al-Alaq (the start of revelation), was Surah Qalam (the Pen). 

This because they like to think of revelation in linear terms, as one following logically on from another; the last two verses of the first revelation, after all, having talked of the Pen; “He (God) who taught by the Pen, taught man that which he did not know”. 

And so they suppose would not God, Most Gracious, expound more on the celestial (or even archetypal) Pen? That which we know He created first and commanded it to write, and it wrote all that would be. 

But then when you think about it the Quran is far from linear. Surah Alaq, the first revelation, sits 96th in the order of Surahs (or chapters) out of a total of 114. 

And that too it’s last 14 verses being revealed separately, on another occasion, from its first 6 verses. 

Indeed it is often forgot that the ordering of the Quran is part of the revelation itself. 

That it is not in the order of it’s coming down. 

And that the companions being fully cognisant of this fact, decided to set up a stringent committee with stringent rules to determine the Mushaf that we have today. *1

Some other Mufasir say that the second Surah to be revealed was S. Muzzamil, the wrapped up one, in reference to what happened directly after the first revelation. 

The Messenger (saw) ran home to Bibi Khadija (ra), his wife and the first of the believers, in a state of shock, anxiety and even fear and said “Cover me, cover me”. 

But when we read on past the first few verses of Muzzamil,  the argument and rhythm of the passage seems seamless. 

And it clearly recommends standing in prayer at night, as a precursor to what is implied in verse 8, and then made clear in its twinned Surah - Mudathir (the cloaked one).- the public call to belief. 

Those who know the Seerah know that the public call to belief came after the Messenger (saw) had invited his kin to a meal and then invited them to the true religion. 

It is as if God, in S Muzzamil, reminds the Messenger of how he felt after the first revelation, of the fear, trepidation and anxiety that enveloped him and then informs him that the prayer at night is the best to counter those feelings. And it is beyond certain that as he entered the public call to faith, that these feelings would likewise reappear. 

Furthermore the kernel of our perfectly revealed prayer, for Jibreel taught it to our Messenger (saw) who then taught it to us, is Surah al-Fathihah. And we know from a Prophetic Hadith that no prayer is complete without it. 

*A PROTECTED QURAN*

Then to hold that Muzzamil, which advocates the night prayer, descended before al-Fathihah, is incredible. 

It is once again evident that Allah t’ala protected the Quran from being fully explained, even that is in regards to its ordering, that we each might have the occasion to deliberate here and now. *2

*The Seerah: the biography of the Messenger*

We know of the earlier life of the Muhammed (saw) prior to his receiving the commission from God and becoming His Messenger. 

That he was kind to the orphan, since he himself was one fully at age of around three. That he treated the poor and destitute kindly. That he hated injustice. And that he had lived a lifetime amongst his people, for he only received the commission from God at forty, and was known to be honest and truthful to the extent that his own people named him al-Amin (the trustworthy). 

And then seclusion became dear to him. 

And one night the quiet of that seclusion was broken by a mighty word delivered to him by a noble heavenly Messenger, the angel Jibreel (Gabriel), and that was the beginning of 23 years of revelation that gave us the Quran. 

The Messenger said of it that the revelation came and “it was as if it was written on my heart”. 

The revelation says of itself that if it had descended on a mountain, the mountain would have humbled itself and crushed asunder in awe (Surah Hashr). 

That was a phenomenal event, the like of which had never happened before to any other Messenger or Prophet. The like of which will never happen again. 

The Seerah then tells us of a period of silence in revelation. Whilst the Messenger (saw) lay initially in fear of it, with time his thoughts were “why has My Lord forsaken me?” 

And it is with that that the second revelation descended - Ad Duha- the Morning Brightness. 

*Ad-Duha*

“By the morning brightness 

And by the night at its quietest 

Nay, your Lord has not forsaken you, nor is He displeased with you 

 And what will come later (for you) is better than what is before (you now). 

And your Lord will give to you that will make you well pleased. 

Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter?

Did He not find you straying and guide you?

Did He not find you in need and enrich you?

So oppress not the orphan,

Nor turn away any petitioner unheard,

And do proclaim your Lord’s bounties (to them)”

Muhammed (saw) was already known to be kind and generous to the orphans, poor and destitute. 

And whilst this confirmed him in what he had already been doing. The revelation took it to a whole new level. 

*Comfort them.*

Make them happy, and remind them of what they already have to be thankful for. 

It is as if this first command is a throwback to his description in the former scriptures as being a Comforter (Paraclete). 

And every other command is but an extension of this, and an explanation of this. 

For the Messenger (saw) taught us that if you have a roof over your head, and know where your next meal is coming from, then that is enough of a bounty to be thankful for. 

And that gratitude to God, is indeed an unbounded bounty. 

*Al Fathihah*

Indeed when we think deeply about it, did al-fathihah precede the sending down of our prayer, or did the prayer precede it?

The former must surely be the case. 

And then the forth line which is often rendered as “thee alone do we worship”, since worship had not been shown to us before that time, must be rendered as “thee alone do we serve”. 

The question then must be “how do we serve God?”, and we should rightly expect the answer to be given within al-Fathihah itself. 

“All thanks is due to the Lord (Sustainer/ Provider) of the Worlds,

The Most Mercuful, the Ever Forgiving”

Indeed God loves to do good. 

Sustains, and provides, us all from places we see and from places that we don’t see. 

And this He does out of kindness and generosity. 

So then should we not serve Him best by doing good, and by making the people happy?

And is not the best good that we can do, reminding our fellow men and women of God’s infinite care, mercy and goodness.  And then making it easy for them to appreciate that in the ordained prayer. 

This is In essence making them happy by reminding them of how much there is to be thankful for. 

This is why the prayer must and should be established. Because it makes it easy for us, as a people, to come closer to God, to do good and to be happy. 

*Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation 

Not lectures, nor talks, nor this above.*

*1 Ali (ra) the cousin of the Messenger, the first youth to accept Islam, and the fourth of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, was fully literate. And had his own chronological, hand written, Quran burnt after the compilation of the Uthmani Quran. 

*2 following on from *1, it’s clear that Ali (ra) being fully literate since he was the scribe for the treaty of Hudabiyyah, and being present since the beginning of revelation would have a better than good grasp on the order of revelation. 

And then he had his own chronological Quran burnt, and never once alluded to it afterwards. 

It is as if he knew the importance of the Quran posing a question about each verse. The time of its revelation, and the context of the revelation.