Quran Tafsir : Sura Al-Isra : A marvel of ethical manifest
Sura Al-Isra is the seventeenth sura in Holy Quran. It starts with telling about the Prophet Muhammad’s(saw) miraculous ascending to heavens and since Isra means “night walk, night journey”, this sura is named after it. According to a hadith in Tirmidhi revealed from Aisa(r.a), Rasulullah(saw) didn’t go to bed before reading sura al-Isra and sura az-Zumar. After mentioning the miracle of “Miraj”, the night journey, the sura mentions “Children of Israel” with the following remarks:
1) Holy Quran is the only and the most accurate guide to “right way”.
2) For those who deny the existence of afterlife will face an unfortunate and sad ending.
3) Nobody can undertake or ease the responsibility of anyone else’s sins.
4) Allah(j.j) grants anyone if they wish only for this world, and also grants anyone if they wish afterlife.
5) Allaj(j.j) tells humans that He is the only One to be worshiped and every single human being is responsible to treat their parents with good manners.
6) One should stay away from being chary and should distribute certain amount of their wealth to the poor and the needy but also should refrain from going too far while doing so. Giving up “all” of one’s worldly possessions to the poor is not suggested in Islam.
7) Killing children, adultery and unlawful killing is strictly prohibited.
8) One should refrain from being arrogant, should indefinitely and absolutely stay away from orphans’ goods and wealth since they deserve it and they need it more than others.
9) It is also a very bad manner to scrutinize one’s bad habits or secrets and try to gather information to spread about bad rumors, about anyone in general.
10) Allah(j.j) is One, there’s no god other than Him and every single living thing and entity on earth and in heavens “remember” Him
11) Allah(j.j), being the first creator, is also capable of re-creation on the judgement day.
Since most beginners might remember this beautiful sura of Al-Isra as the sura of night journey, it is important to note such “ethical and deep philosophical” remarks and warning given in this sura.
This is a typical characteristic of Holy Quran. Since it is not a book of “secret sciences” or “esoteric wisdom”, it mentions “miracles” only briefly and for the sole purpose of “testing” the sincerity in the beliefs of its addressees. As usual, when Prophet Muhammad(saw) told his sahaba and people of Mecca about his “night journey”, the believers didn’t see a problem believing every word of him, however the arrogant moguls of Mecca by then, who resembles very much like the Islamophobic and Orientalist crowds of today’s “modern world”, tried to make fun of Prophet Muhammad(saw) and his sahaba.
Aftermath, most historians and philosophers discussed ad nauseum whether this night journey was physical and spiritual. However, as we tried to highlight in the above list, this Sura Al-Isra is also a marvel of ethical manifest, if one seeks true and since guide of “good deeds”
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