Reflections on Sūrat al-Furqān

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 6 March 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Dr. Ahmed paused at verses from Sūrat al-Furqān, and said: and what will make you know what Sūrat al-Furqān is!

Those who do not hope for the meeting with Allah

He recited the saying of the Exalted: ﴿وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ لَا يَرْجُونَ لِقَاءَنَا لَوْلَا أُنزِلَ عَلَيْنَا الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَوْ نَرَىٰ رَبَّنَا لَقَدِ اسْتَكْبَرُوا فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ وَعَتَوْا عُتُوًّا كَبِيرًا﴾ (And those who do not expect the meeting with Us say, "Why were the angels not sent down to us, or why do we not see our Lord?" They have certainly become arrogant within themselves and transgressed with great transgression),^[1] then: ﴿يَوْمَ يَرَوْنَ الْمَلَائِكَةَ لَا بُشْرَىٰ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُجْرِمِينَ وَيَقُولُونَ حِجْرًا مَّحْجُورًا * وَقَدِمْنَا إِلَىٰ مَا عَمِلُوا مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَاءً مَّنثُورًا﴾ (On the Day they see the angels, there will be no good tidings that Day for the criminals, and they will say, "A barrier forever prevented!" And We will turn to whatever deed they have done and make it as scattered dust).^[2]

And he commented, saying: By Allah the Magnificent, nothing moves them in their religion except the devils among their humans and jinn; by Allah the Magnificent, nothing moves them except their own minds, which have put their belief in this world above anything else, and which only Satan moves. And we seek refuge with Allah, blessed and exalted, from resembling them or following their example, and we ask Allah for safety and well-being.

My people have taken this Qur'an as something abandoned

Then he recited: ﴿وَقَالَ الرَّسُولُ يَا رَبِّ إِنَّ قَوْمِي اتَّخَذُوا هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنَ مَهْجُورًا﴾ (And the Messenger said, "My Lord, indeed my people have taken this Qur'an as something abandoned"),^[3] and he paused at the meaning of abandonment: what does it mean for the Qur'an to be abandoned? And he called to mind the saying of the Exalted: ﴿وَاهْجُرْهُمْ هَجْرًا جَمِيلًا﴾ (and part from them with a gracious parting).^[4]

He recited the verse again, and paired with it the saying of the Exalted: ﴿وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِيٍّ عَدُوًّا﴾ (And thus We have made for every prophet an enemy).^[5]

The supplication

He concluded with a supplication: I ask Allah, the Most High, the Almighty, by His mercy, His bounty, His self-subsisting sustaining, His justice, His gentleness and His kindness, and I ask Him by His most beautiful names and His most exalted attributes, by the fact that He is Allah, the One, the Unique, the Singular, the Eternal Refuge, who neither begets nor is begotten, that He return us to the Qur'an, and return the Qur'an to our hearts, and grant us good practice of it as He granted us good recitation and delivery of it, and extend to us the provision of understanding His intent, and make us the best of those who carry out His commands and stop at His prohibitions.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: al-Furqān 21. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: al-Furqān 22–23. The speaker mentioned the verses up to ﴿هَبَاءً مَّنثُورًا﴾. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: al-Furqān 30. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: al-Muzzammil 10. ^[5]: Editor's documentation: al-Furqān 31.