Surah Al-Asr is a Meccan Surah with three verses. Asr mean The Declining Day, The Time. The Surah takes its name from the word Al-Asr occurring in the first verse.
It is known that this Surah was revealed in Makkah, though some commentators have also said that it is probably Medinan. Its short verses, as well as its tone and style, surely attest to the first idea. While in Makkah when the message of Islam was being presented in brief but highly impressive sentences so that the listeners who heard them once could not forget them even if they wanted to, for they were automatically committed to memory.
The completeness of this Surah is so much that all the knowledge and objectives of Quran are briefly gathered in this single Surah. In other words, this short Surah leads Man to a total complete program for his happiness.
This Surah is a matchless specimen of comprehensiveness and brevity. A whole world of meaning has been compressed into its few brief words, which is too vast in content to be fully expressed even in a book. In it, a clear way has been stated what is the way to true success for man and what is the way to ruin and destruction for him.
Imam Shafi has very rightly said that if the people only considered this Surah well, it alone would suffice them for their guidance. How important this Surah was in the sight of the Companions can be judged that whenever any two of them met they would not part company until they had recited Surah Al-Asr to each other.
(Tabarani)
It begins with a meaningful oath to ‘Time’, to refer to the loss existing in nature along the gradual path in the lives of all human beings except for the persons who have:
These four principles involve, in fact, the theological, practical, personal, and social doctrine of Islam.
In this Surah an oath has been sworn by the Time to highlight the point that man is in sheer loss and only those people are an exception from the loss who are characterized by four qualities:
The oath by Time signifies that Time is witness to the truth that man is in sheer loss except for the people who possess the above four qualities. Asr literally means when time is running out. It’s that part of the day, the time of Asr, when day is declining, denoting that human life is declining too day by day.
When Allah swears by something, Allah means by it to show the grandeur nature of that thing. So time is magnificent, something which is profound, and demands attention. Allah is seeking our attention to think about how important time is to make your score for Hereafter.
Allah uses time as an object to show that actually humanity is in loss. Time itself is a proof that how we waste it and loose productivity of life blessed to us. It talks about he idea of human loss and its connection with passage of time.
Asr also denotes the lives of the nations. The history of rise and fall of nations itself is a proof that humans are in loss. Time is the witness to human beings wrong aspirations. By taking oath in time shows a sense of urgency that human beings need to wake up and get alert for the preparation of the Final Day, not repeating the same mistakes of the people of the past and testifies that the people who were without these four qualities, eventually incurred loss.
Imam Razi has cited a scholar as saying: “I understood the meaning of Surah Al-Asr from an ice-seller, who was calling aloud for the attention of the people repeatedly in the market: ‘Have mercy on the one whose wealth is melting away !’ Hearing what he was crying I said to myself: this then is the meaning of Wal- asr-i innal-insana la-fi khusr-in. The age-limit that man has been allotted is passing quickly” like the melting away of ice. If it is wasted, or expended in wrong pursuits, it will be sheer loss to man.
Allah took oath of time and stated that man is in literall loss except for the four qualities which the Surah states at end. The Quran uses the word khusr (loss), as an antonym of falah (true success).
Just as the concept of falah is not merely worldly prosperity but comprehends man’s true success from the world till the Hereafter, so the concept of khusr (loss) also is not merely worldly failure or distress but comprehends man’s real failure and disappointment from the world till the Hereafter.
According to Quran true success is man’s success in the Hereafter and real loss is his failure there, yet in this world too what the people describe as success is not, in fact, real success but its end in this world itself is failure. And what they regard as loss is not, in fact, loss but a means of true success even in this world.
The human beings loose the capital of their existence. Hours, days, months, and years of life pass quickly, spiritual and material potentialities decline and abilities fade. Yes, Man is like a person who possesses great capital and without his permission and will, every day, a portion of that capital is taken away. This is the nature of life in this world; the nature of continual loss.
Here Allah highlights the four qualities on the existence of which depends man’s being secure from loss and failure.
1. Faith
The first principle is Faith (Imaan) which forms the basis of all activities of Man. It includes belief in One God, His Messenger pbuh, all the Prophets, Divine Books, Angels, Resurrection, Qadr hence all areas where pure belief is a demand and a must! The actions of Man are reflections of his beliefs and thoughts. For the same reason all Prophets used to improve the basis of the Faith of their people first. Hence pure and sincere Imaan serves as the foundation.
It implies that one has to believe in Allah, not merely in His Being but in the sense that He alone is God; no one else is an associate in His Lordship; He alone is worthy that man should worship, serve and obey Him. Man should invoke Him alone and have trust in Him alone. He alone can enjoin things and forbid things, man is under obligation to obey Him and refrain from what he forbids.
Secondly, one has to believe in the Messenger, in the sense that he is a guide and leader appointed by Allah, whatever he has taught, is from Allah, is based upon the truth and has to be acknowledged and accepted. This belief in Apostleship also includes faith in the angels, the Prophets, the Divine Books and in the Quran itself, for this forms part of the teachings which the Messenger of Allah has given.
Thirdly, one has to believe in the Hereafter, in the sense that man’s present life is not his first and last life, but after death man has to be resurrected, to render an account to God of the deeds done in the present life, and has to be rewarded for the good deeds and punished for the evil deeds accordingly.
This Faith provides a firm basis for morality and character, upon which can be built the edifice of a pure life, whereas the truth is that without such Faith, the life of man, however beautiful and pleasing outwardly, is like a ship without an anchor, which is at the mercy of the waves wherever they may take it.
2. Good Deeds
After Faith the second quality required to save man from loss is to perform righteous deeds (Salihaat). Salihat comprehends all kinds of virtuous and good deeds. However, according to the Quran, no act can be a good act unless it is based on Faith and it is performed in obedience to the guidance given by Allah and His Messenger pbuh. That is why in the Quran exhortation to perform good deeds is preceded everywhere by Faith, and in this Surah too it has been mentioned after the Faith.
A deed without Faith can not be called a good deed, nor any reward promised for a deed performed without Faith. On the contrary, this also is a fact that only that Faith is reliable and beneficial, the sincerity of which is proved by man’s own act and deed, otherwise Faith without righteous deeds would be a false claim refuted by the man himself when in spite of this claim he follows a way opposed to the way taught by Allah and His Messenger pbuh.
The relationship between Faith and righteous deed is of the seed and the tree. Unless the seed is sown in the soil no tree can grow out of it. But if the seed is in the soil and no tree is growing out of it, it would mean that the seed is lost in the soil. What man requires to do after the Faith in order to remain secure from loss is to perform righteous deeds. In other words, mere Faith without righteous deeds cannot save man from loss.
Good deeds are indeed not only ‘worthy deeds’, adorations, charity for the sake of Allah, fighting in the way of Allah, and learning divine knowledge, but it also includes every worthy action that can be a means applied in the way towards soul-perfection, moral improvement, nearness to Allah, and the service to humanity. This includes from even the tiny of the good deeds like moving a stone out of people’s way to the bigger act like to be martyred in a battlefield.
3. Enjoining on Truth
The above two qualities of Imaan and Good deeds are such as must be possessed by every single individual. Then, the Surah mentions two further qualities, which a man must have in order to be saved from loss. They are that the people who believe and do good deeds must exhort one another to truth and to patience.
This means that in the first place, a believing and righteous people should not live as individuals but should create a believing and righteous society by their combination. Second, that every individual of this society must feel his responsibility not to let the society become degenerate. Thus, all its members are duty bound to exhort one another to truth and to patience.
It is the right which is obligatory on man to render, whether it is the right of God, the right of man, or the right of one’s own self. Thus, to exhort one another to truth means that the society of the believers should not be so insensitive that falsehood may thrive and things against justice and truth be done in it, and the people be watching everything indifferently. On the contrary, it should be a living, sensitive society so that whenever and wherever falsehood appears, the upholders of the Truth should rise up against it, and implement the Law of Allah.
This is the spirit that can ensure security of a society against moral degeneration and decay. If a society becomes devoid of this spirit, it cannot remain secure from loss. So calling each other to truth is from a micro to a macro level, same at micro level we shall be enjoining truth upon each other, calling others to what Islam says, even in our houses, workplaces, markets etc.
As the Quran says,
“That is why to enjoin what is good and to forbid what is evil, has been enjoined on the Muslim community as a duty..”
(Al-Imran: 104)
“And the community which performs this duty has been declared to be the best community..”
(Al-Imran: 110)
4. Enjoining on Patience
Besides exhorting to the truth, the other thing which has been declared as a necessary condition for keeping the believers and their society secure from loss is that the members of the society should enjoin patience upon one another. That is, they should enjoin upon one another to bear with fortitude and steadfastness the difficulties, hardships, trials, losses and deprivations which befall the one who adheres to the truth and supports it. Each one of them should encourage the other to bear up against adversity steadfastly.
The word ‘patience’ here has a vast meaning that involves both the patience of obedience and the patience against motivations of committing sin, and patience for bitter happenings like losing members, forces, wealth, etc.,
T H I N K
As Surah Al-Asr comes to an end, we all must check for ourselves what levels are we fitting into? Are we heading towards Falah or Loss, the worst Loss that a man can ever have!
Mind Map Of Surah Al-Asr
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