40. Ghafir (Al-Mu’min)
| Importance of Ha-Meem Surahs |
| 1) The Messenger of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said
Chapters beginning with Ha-Meem* are beautiful, fresh, fragrant, splendid meadows. Whosoever desires to walk around in the meadows of Paradise should recite these surahs. *[Surahs with Ha-Meem at the start. It includes seven Surahs 40-46 i.e. Ghafir or Al-Mumin (40), Fussilat or Ha-Meem (41), Ash-Shura (42), Az-Zukhruf (43), Ad-Dukhan (44), Al-Jathiyah (45), Al-Ahqaf (46)] (Al-Tadhkar Fi Afdal Al-Adhkar by Imam al-Qurtubi) 2) Ibn Mas’ud (radiAllahu anhu) said, The Ha-Meems are the embellishments of the Quran. (Hakim, Dhahabi, Ibn Al Mundhir & Baihaqi) 3) Narrated Khaleel ibn Murrah, That the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The Haa’-Meem soorahs are seven, and the gates of Hell are seven. Each Haa’-Meem will come and stand at one of these gates and will say: ‘O Allah, do not admit through this gate anyone who believed in me and recited me.’” (Bayhaqi in ash-Shu‘ab 4/105, Tha‘labi in at-Tafseer 8/261) 4) Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Everything has an essence and the essence of the Qur’an is the family of Ha Mim,” or he said, “the Ha Mims.” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir) 5) Mis`ar bin Kidam said, They (Ha Mims) used to be called ‘the brides’. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Abu `Ubayd Al-Qasim bin Sallam in Fada’il Al-Qur’an) 6) Humayd bin Zanjuyah narrated That `Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “The parable of the Qur’an is that of a man who sets out to find a place for his family to stay, and he comes to a place where there is evidence of rainfall. While he is walking about, admiring it, he suddenly comes upon beautiful gardens. He says, `I liked the first traces of rainfall, but this is far better.’ It was said to him, `The first place is like the Qur’an, and these beautiful gardens are like the splendor of family of Ha Mim in relation to the rest of the Qur’an’.” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Al-Baghawi) 7) Ibn Mas`ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “When I reach the family of Ha Mim, it is like reaching a beautiful garden, so I take my time.” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir) 8) Narrated A man who heard the Prophet: Al-Muhallab ibn Abu Sufrah said: A man who heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: If the enemy attacks you at night, let your war cry be حم لاَ يُنْصَرُونَ Ha-Mim. They will not be helped. 9) The Messenger of Allah said When you go to bed tonight, recite حم لاَ يُنْصَرُونَ Ha Mim, La Yunsarun. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir) 10) Ibn Mardawih related from Anas bin Malik That the Messenger of Allah said, ‘Allah has bestowed As-sab’u at-tiwal (first long seven Surahs) in place of Tawrat (Torah). Aif-Laam-Ra1 Surahs to Ta-Seen2 (Surahs of Sunan) in place of Injil (Gospel). Ta-Seen to Ha-Meem (Mathani surahs) in place of Zabur (Psalms). He bestowed Ha-Meem Surahs and Mufassal3 to me. No other prophet recited them (the Mufassal) except me. 1Suarhs 10,11,12,14 & 15 2Surah 27 an-Naml 3Surahs from Al-Hujuraat (Surah 49) to the end of the Qur’an. They are divided to three groups based on the number of verses –Tiwal is from 49 to 85, Awsaat is 86 to 98 and Qisaar 99 to 114 (Dur al-Manthur) 11) Ibn Abbas narrated Everything has a core and the core of Quran is Surah Ha-Meem. (Dur al-Manthur) 12) Ibn Masud narrated Surah Ha-Meem is the gist of Quran. (Shuab-ul-Iman, Dur al-Manthur) 13) Samrah bin Jundub narrated Surah Ha-Meem is a garden from the gardens of Paradise. (Dur al-Manthur) 14) Ishaq bin Abdullah narrated Every tree has a fruit and the fruit of Quran are the Ha-Meem Surahs. Whoever wants to be in the luxurious gardens of Paradise should recite these Surahs. (Dur al-Manthur) 15) Abu Umama said Ha-Meem is from one of the attributes of Allah. (Dur al-Manthur) 16) Muhammad bin Nasr narrated Abu Darda built a mosque and when he was asked about it, He said it is for Al-Hawamim. (Al Mustadrak, Dur al-Manthur) 17) Abdullah Ibn Masud (رض) said ‘Al Ha Mim is: dibaj-ul- Qur’ an (Dibaj, in Arabic, is the cloth of pure silk, and here it signifies embellishment). (Ma’ariful Qur’an) 18) According to a Prophetic tradition Hawamim constitute the gist of the Holy Qur’an. The series is the crown of the Holy Qur’an and its fragrant flowers. God bestows His Bounties upon the reciter of these Verses as well as his neighbors, relatives, and friends and Divine Throne ask for his forgiveness. (Tafsir Nimuna) |
40.1 Narrated Abu Hurairah:
That the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever recites Ha Mim Al-Mu’min – up to – To Him is the return (40:1-3) and Ayat Al-Kursi when he reaches (gets up in) the morning, he will be protected by them until the evening. And whoever recites them when he reaches the evening, he will be protected by them until the morning.”
Jami` at-Tirmidhi Vol. 5, Book 42, Hadith 2879
40.2 It is narrated from the Prophet
Whosoever recites Surah Ad-Dukhan all of it, and the beginning of Ha Mim Al-Mu’min (Surah Ghafir) till the verse Ilayhil Maseer (40:3) and Aayat Al-Kursi (2:255) in the evening he is protected till he rises in the morning and whoever recites them in the morning he is protected until evening.
(At-Targhib wat-Tarhib 390)
40.3 Narrated An-Nu’man bin Bashir:
That the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Supplication is the worship.” Then he recited: ‘And your Lord said:
وقال ربكم ادعوني أستجب لكم إن الذين يستكبرون عن عبادتي سيدخلون جهنم داخرين
‘Call upon Me, I will answer you. Verily, those who scorn my My worship, they will surely enter Hell in humiliation (40:60).’
Jami` at-Tirmidhi Vol. 5, Book 44, Hadith 3247
40.4 Thabit Bunani said
‘I was with Sayyidna Mus` ab Ibn Zubayr (رض) in a certain section of the city of Kufah. I walked into a garden to make two raka’ at of salah there. Before I would start my salah, I recited the verses of Ha Meem Al-Mu’min (40:1-3)
حم
تَنزِيلُ الْكِتَابِ مِنَ اللَّـهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ
غَافِرِ الذَّنبِ وَقَابِلِ التَّوْبِ شَدِيدِ الْعِقَابِ ذِي الطَّوْلِ ۖ لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ إِلَيْهِ الْمَصِيرُ
Of a sudden, I saw a man in Yemeni attire astride a white mule standing behind me. This man said to me, ‘when you say: غَافِرِ الذَّنبِ (ghafiradh-dhanbi: Forgiver of sins), with it, you should pray: یاغَافِرِ الذَّنبِ اِغفِرلِی (ya ghafiradh-dhanbi, ighfirli: O Forgiver of sins, forgive me). And when you say: (qabilit-tawbi: Accepter of repentance), you should pray: یا قَابِلِ التَّوْبِ اقبَل تَوبَتِی (ya qabilata-tawbi, iqbal tawbati: O Accepter of repentance, accept my repentance). After that, when you say: شَدِيدِ الْعِقَابِ (shadidil-‘iqabi: Severe in punishment), you should pray: یَا شَدِيدِ الْعِقَابِ لَا تُعَاقِبنِی (ya shadidal-` iqabi, la tu’aqibni: O Allah, severe in punishment, please do not punish me). And when you say: ذِي الطَّوْلِ (dhit-tawli: Source of all power), you should pray: یَا ذِي الطَّوْلِ طُل عَلَیَّ بِخَیرِ (ya dhat-tawli, tul ` alaiyya bikhayr: O source of power, bestow the best on me).
Thabit Bunani says, ‘After having heard this good counsel from him, when I looked back at him, there was no one there. Looking for him, I went to the gate of the garden. I asked people there if they had seen a person in Yemeni attire passing through here. Everyone said that they had not seen anyone like that.’ In another narration from Thabit Bunani, it has also been said that people think this person was Sayyidna Ilyas (علیہ السلام) while it has not been mentioned in the other.
(Ma’ariful Qur’an)
40.5 Ibn Abi Hatim said
There was a man of strong and dignified bearing among the Syrians who used to visit Sayyidna ` Umar (رض) . When he did not show up for a longer than usual period of time, Sayyidna ` Umar inquired about him. People said, ‘ya amiral-mu’minin, please do not ask about him. He has become a drunkard. Sayyidna ` Umar (رض) called his scribe and dictated a letter to him in which he said:
من عمر بن الخطاب الی فلان بن فلان ۔ سلام علیک فانی احمد الیک اللہ الذی لا اَلٰہ اَلِّا ھو
غافر الذَّنب و قابل التَّوب شدید العقاب ذی الطول لَا اِلٰہَ اِلَّا ھُو اِلَیہِ المَصیرُ ۔
From ` Umar son of al-Khattab to — son of —. salamun ` alaik, peace on you. After that, I praise Allah before you, other than whom there is no god worthy of worship. He is the One who forgives sins and accepts repentance, the One who is severe in punishment, the One who is the source of all power. There is no god but He. To Him is the ultimate return (of all).
Then he turned toward those around him and said, ‘Let us all join in to pray for him that Allah Ta’ ala reverses his heart and accepts his repentance.’ Sayyidna ` Umar (رض) had instructed the messenger who was to deliver his letter that he was not to hand over the letter to the person addressed until such time that he became sober, and that he was not to hand over the letter to anyone other than the person intended to receive it.
So, when this person received this letter, he read it repeatedly and thoughtfully while realizing that it carried a warning of punishment against him with a concurrent promise of forgiveness for him. Then he started weeping. Finally, he stopped drinking and made such a firm taubah that he never touched it again.
When Sayyidna ` Umar (رض) learnt about the effective manifestation of these words, he said to people around, ‘In such matters, you too should do the same. When some brother falls into some slip of conduct, think of ways to bring him back to his normal and better self. Prompt him to turn to Allah, to place his trust in Him, to rely on His mercy. Pray to Allah for him, pray that he is enabled to repent and make his taubah. And do not become an accomplice of Shaitan against him (that is, if you chide him or infuriate him and thereby estrange him from his religion, then, you would actually be helping the Shaitan).
(Ma’ariful Qur’an)
40.6 Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that
Whoever recites Al-Mu’min (Surah Ghafir) once in every three days, his sins will be forgiven and he will become a God-fearing person.
(Fawaid-e-Qur’an)
40.7 Ibn Kathir related about
فادعوا الله مخلصين له الدين
So invoke Allah , [being] sincere to Him in religion (40:14)
فادعوه مخلصين له الدين
So call upon Him, [being] sincere to Him in religion (40:65)
Imam Ahmad recorded that after ending every prayer, Abdullah bin Az-Zubayr used to say:
لَا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ،لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ، وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ،
There is no (true) God except Allah Alone with no partner or associate, to Him belongs the dominion and praise, for He is able to do all things;
لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللهِ،
there is no strength and no power except with Allah;
لَا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ، وَلَا نَعْبُدُ إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ،
there is no (true) God except Allah and we worship none but Him;
لَهُ النِّعْمَةُ وَلَهُ الْفَضْلُ وَلَهُ الثَّنَاءُ الْحَسَنُ،
to Him belong blessings and virtue and goodly praise;
لَا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُون
there is no (true) God except Allah, we worship Him in all sincerity even though the disbelievers may hate that.
He said, “The Messenger of Allah used to say the Tahlil in this fashion after every prayer.” Similar was also recorded by Muslim, Abu Dawud and An-Nasa’i.
(Tafsir Ibn Kathir)
40.8 Duas
ربنا وسعت كل شيء رحمة وعلما فاغفر للذين تابوا واتبعوا سبيلك وقهم عذاب الجحيم
Our Lord, You have encompassed all things in mercy and knowledge, so forgive those who have repented and followed Your way and protect them from the punishment of Hellfire (40:7)
ربنا وأدخلهم جنات عدن التي وعدتهم ومن صلح من آبائهم وأزواجهم وذرياتهم إنك أنت العزيز الحكيم
Our Lord, and admit them to gardens of perpetual residence which You have promised them and whoever was righteous among their fathers, their spouses and their offspring. Indeed, it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise
وقهم السيئات ومن تق السيئات يومئذ فقد رحمته وذلك هو الفوز العظيم
And protect them from the evil consequences [of their deeds]. And he whom You protect from evil consequences that Day – You will have given him mercy. And that is the great attainment (40:8-9)
إني عذت بربي وربكم من كل متكبر لا يؤمن بيوم الحساب
Indeed, I have sought refuge in my Lord and your Lord from every arrogant one who does not believe in the Day of Account (40:27)
﴾ بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم ﴿ 
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