Juz 18 Takeaway: The Light of Allah Will Guide You

Surah Al Mu’minoon has 118 ayahs and the main theme of the surah is to invite people to listen to the message of the Prophet Muhammad SAWS. In the first dozen ayahs, Allah SWT says that the true believer, who will be welcomed into Jannah, contemplates life, prays salah, and is faithful, generous, kind, and humble. Allah says the true believer is one who stays away from haram, from zina and wants to be closer to Him.

Then Allah SWT again reiterates the statement of humans being made from nothing but clay and then a drop of sperm etc. He speaks about His Signs and Miracles. Allah SWT mentions stories of the Prophets and the people who disregarded them, like Prophet Nuh and Prophet Musa. The disbelievers always treated the Prophets as crazy and ordinary and didn’t believe in the truth and they all ended up being punished by Allah SWT for their arrogance and disbelief.

Something that I found so interesting in this surah is the following ayahs:

Do they think, since We provide them with wealth and children, that We hasten to honor them with all kinds of good? No! They are not aware.

— Quran (23:55-56)

In these Ayahs, Allah is basically telling the people of Quraysh who were wealthy that just because they have been given that wealth, it doesn’t mean they are chosen by Allah SWT. This can be used in today’s age as well. Wealth, children, health, poverty, or disease doesn’t mean you’re close to Allah, or better than others. Each human being is different, and whether we are rich or poor, only Allah SWT knows our true intentions.

My favorite ayah is the following dua that Allah SWT told the Prophet Muhammad SAWS to make. This ayah is the last ayah in the surah and contains a powerful dua for forgiveness that we can recite every day, and especially during this blessed month of Ramadan.

Say, Oh Prophet, “My Lord! Forgive and have mercy, for You are the best of those who show mercy.”

— Quran (23:118)

Letting the Light of Allah to guide you

Surah Noor, which means Light, has 64 ayahs and the central themes revolve around guidance and the relationship between men and women. Surah Noor is also one of my favorite surahs because of the ayahs in it regarding the hijab.

The surah begins with rulings for those who commit fornication and then moves into the story of the slander of Aisha (RA). Allah SWT admonishes the Prophet Muhammad SAWS in ayahs 16 to 18 and tells him to never listen to slander and false accusations. How amazing is the status of Aisha (RA)? Her slander was directly dealt with by Allah SWT, the Creator of the universe! Even the most perfect of humans, the Prophet Muhammad SAWS, fell into the trap of rumors and was chastised by Allah SWT. With this story, we must be very careful of what we say about people and the rumors we hear and spread. It’s better for us to stay quiet.

In ayah 31, Allah SWT commands both men and women to lower their gazes, to guard their private parts. Allah then tells the believing women to draw veils (khimar/hijab) around themselves except in the presence of their Mahrams (people you cannot marry like your father, brother, grandfather, etc.). In today’s world, people tend to nitpick and choose which part of this ayah they use in order to insult women who wear the hijab and claim that Islam is a religion that hates women. The truth, however, is that in the first few words of the ayah, Allah SWT specifically says ‘men and women’, which means both men and women have to lower their gaze, practice modesty and be careful of what they wear.

My favorite ayah is ayah 35, in which Allah SWT says:

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. His light is like a niche in which there is a lamp, the lamp is in a crystal, the crystal is like a shining star, lit from the oil of a blessed olive tree, located neither to the east nor the west, whose oil would almost glow, even without being touched by fire. Light upon light! Allah guides whoever He wills to His light. And Allah sets forth parables for humanity. For Allah has perfect knowledge of all things.

— Quran (24:35)

In this ayah, Allah SWT gives us a parable for His Light. His Light, which is alluded to as the lamp, is encased in a niche that can be perceived as this universe and can only be lit with the oil of a pure and clean olive tree. Allah’s Light is so powerful but only those who Allah wills can see it. The Quran is a form of the Light of Allah, the guidance of Allah. We all have the means to accept the truth of this world and follow the message of the Prophet Muhammad SAWS and worship only Allah SWT. It is Allah SWT that Lights this universe and it is only in His Light that we see reality. Without light, we will be in darkness. Everything else, including this Dunya, is an illusion that will end with our deaths. And it is only Allah SWT that can give His guidance to us.

Dispelling the doubts of the disbelievers

Surah Al-Furqaan, which means the Criterion, has 77 ayahs but only 20 of them are in Juz 18. The first twenty ayahs address the disbelievers that cast doubts upon the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad SAWS being a messenger of Allah.

The disbelievers questioned why the Prophet Muhammad SAWS was an ordinary human, not an angel, or had an angel sent down with him, as stated in the following ayahs.

And they say mockingly, “What kind of messenger is this who eats food and goes about in market-places for a living? If only an angel had been sent down with him to be his co-warner, or a treasure had been cast down to him, or he had had a garden from which he may eat!” And the wrongdoers say to the believers, “You are only following a bewitched man.”

— Quran (25:7-8)

To their mocking questions, Allah SWT simply says that they are deniers of the final day and they will see nothing but the blazing fires of Jahannam in the Hereafter.

Let us know which ayah you like the most in Juz 18!