Exegesis of Al-Kawthar (Q. 108)
In the Name of Allah the Most Merciful the Most Gracious... He was asked regarding: {Verily, We have given thee the Kawthar} (Q. 108:1). The meaning of {We have given thee} is: To you, We‟ve granted the Kawthar. {Kawthar} means: a great gift. It‟s said that "many" is derivation from kawthar, Just as ghafrān is from "forgiveness." Allah makes His Messenger and slaves know That Allah has graced him from his blessings and guidance and made its least into most. By the grace of Allah, the smallest was made into the largest. Victory cannot be achieved Except by the grace of Allah, and it‟s only by means of Allah that one‟s goal can be reached. {So pray to thy Lord and sacrifice. Verily, the one that hates thee is cut off} (Q. 108:2-3). It is a command from the Glorified to His Messenger, Allah bless him and his progeny, To pray all of his prayers to his Lord. {Lord} refers to: Allah, the Blessed and Lofty, Who blessed him with his blessings and nobility by which He blessed him with. This is because many people may pray to other than Allah by what they worship. Also, some of the People of Islam may pray their prayers while showing off Even if they were venerating and had declared the Divine Oneness of Allah. The Glorified commanded him that if he were to sacrifice anything to his Dominant, He was to sacrifice to none but Allah alone because the pre-Islamic Arab ignorant Used to sacrifice to idols and graven images. They associated others with Allah With their sacrifices between it and the Most-Merciful. They used to call out The names of their gods in their sacrificial offerings and mentioned Allah, the Majestic, When they mentioned it. Regarding that, Allah the Glorified and Exalted addressed it: {Do not eat that upon which Allah‟s Name is not mentioned}1: His specific Name. None of the sacrifices and slaughtered animals are specifically for Him, the Praised. The Glorified informs His Messenger that the one who hates him is from human beings. This person is the defeated one, defeated by being cut off and not honoured by means Of his hatred for him, his abhorrence, nor is he victorious. It is from Allah a grace To His Messenger. The one who hates and abhors him is the one who is disgraced. He can‟t go to Allah in His Love. We praise Allah for His favours! To His Messenger, He gave From His blessings. He has made love and affection for him a religious duty upon the slaves. It is said that the Kawthar is a river in Paradise that Allah has favoured His Messenger with And something He made for him in Paradise. They also say that the one who hates him And is cut off is intended to be „Amr bin al-Āš al-Sahmi2 specifically. With Allah‟s will, The explanation of that is it refers to any hater of the Prophet—„Amr or other than him.
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1 (Q. 6:121)
2 Although the text identifies the person as „Amr bin al-Āš, the correct rendering would be al-Āš bin Waa'il, the "father" of „Amr. Perhaps this was a mistake on the part of the copyist.
