Reflections on Sūrat al-Qamar

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 13 March 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Dr. Ahmed recited from Sūrat al-Qamar and made his khatira a series of pauses at its verses.

Scenes from the surah

He began with the saying of the Exalted: ﴿وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ﴾ (and the moon split),^[1] then his saying: ﴿وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ﴾ (And We have certainly made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?).^[2] He mentioned the people of Pharaoh, then recited: ﴿كَذَّبَتْ عَادٌ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عَذَابِي وَنُذُرِ﴾ (Ād denied; so how were My punishment and My warnings?),^[3] then the furious wind ﴿فِي يَوْمِ نَحْسٍ مُّسْتَمِرٍّ﴾ (on a day of continuous misfortune).^[4] He commented on "a day of misfortune" that it is a day of distress, and asked Allah for safety and well-being.

Then he recited: ﴿إِنَّ الْمُجْرِمِينَ فِي ضَلَالٍ وَسُعُرٍ * يَوْمَ يُسْحَبُونَ فِي النَّارِ﴾ (Indeed, the criminals are in error and madness. The Day they are dragged into the Fire),^[5] then: ﴿إِنَّا كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقْنَاهُ بِقَدَرٍ﴾ (Indeed, We created all things according to a decree).^[6]

And in the surah is the address to Quraysh in the saying of the Exalted: ﴿أَكُفَّارُكُمْ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أُولَٰئِكُمْ﴾ (Are your disbelievers better than those?),^[7] and he paired with it what is in Sūrat al-Dukhān: ﴿أَهُمْ خَيْرٌ أَمْ قَوْمُ تُبَّعٍ﴾ (Are they better, or the people of Tubba'?).^[8]

A supplication, and honesty with oneself

And he made supplication: O Allah, destroy the wrongdoers by means of the wrongdoers, and bring us out from among them safe. Then he said frankly that we deny our own feelings and deceive ourselves, and that he calls this "the sedatives of the conscience."

Awareness first

And he gave counsel, saying: make the matter of awareness the first concern in life.

He concluded by asking Allah, glorified be He, to guide us to the best of speech, to grant us a good sense of the noble Qur'an, a good understanding of what He, mighty and majestic, intends, and good reflection upon its verses.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: al-Qamar 1. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: al-Qamar 17. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: al-Qamar 18. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: al-Qamar 19. The speaker mentioned the furious wind and a day of continuous misfortune; the opening of the verse is ﴿إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا﴾. ^[5]: Editor's documentation: al-Qamar 47–48. ^[6]: Editor's documentation: al-Qamar 49. ^[7]: Editor's documentation: al-Qamar 43. ^[8]: Editor's documentation: al-Dukhān 37.