علم الزمن والوقت
In one of the small chapters(surahs) of the Qur’an, which shape the conception of the Muslim and which are taught at his/her early ages, we read this marvelous section of the Allah’s speech:” By the galloping striking sparks of fire ˹with their hoofs˺, panting horses and launching raids at dawn”
“Al-AAadiyat”, in the Arabic language, is the plural of “Al-AAdii” and its female name is “Al-AAdiyah” which means the fast charging horses, basically given this name from the root Arabic verb “Taadou” which means to run fast, which is what horses are known with.
“Dabhaa” is the sound of the horse heavy breathing when it is running at a high speed. Ibn El-Abbess, nicknamed Hibr El-Ummah (The Ink of the Muslim Nation), described the sound by saying:” Ah! Ah!”
Concerning ” Falmooriyati qadha”, it is the running horses which when their hooves strike the stones with force sparks fly. It is said in Arabic:” Qadaha an-nara min’ az-zind” which means bring out fire from the gun hammer.
Then, the scene of those blessed horses is completed by the swearing of Almighty Allah by them as they raid the enemies by the dawn, saying;” Then (by) the morning raiders”. It was narrated about the prophet of Allah (Peace Be Upon Him) that he used to make his raids by the Sobh Athan (Dawn prayer call), once he hears it he would take his enemies by surprise and attack them suddenly.
It is undoubtedly possible that every raid on the enemies whether it was with horses or else, like with jets, tanks or cars… is possible to be included in the meaning of these verses. The Imam At-Tabari in his Qur’an interpretation of this verse said:” Surely Allah, May He be exalted, swears “by the raider by the dawn” and He did not specify a raider from another, as every raider by the dawn is included in what He swears by”
While I was reading “Tafsir El-Manar”, by the Sheikh Rachid Reda, in the interpretation of the words of Allah in the surah El-Anfel:” And prepare against them all what you can muster of power and of warhorse garrisons…” till the verse end. This jurisprudential ruling really struck my attention, especially that the picture of the current war in northern Europe between Russia and The West is closely related to us too, the Sheikh said in his book:
“Among the rules of Islam Fundamentals is: that the point is in the generality of utterances not in the specificity of cause. Therefore, it is due to the Muslims nowadays, by force of the Qur’an text, to manufacture cannons in all kinds: guns, tanks, warplanes, aerostats and all kinds of battleships; among which are submarines that dive deep into the sea. It is indeed a must for Muslims to learn the secrets of arts and industry that lead to building all those kinds of battleships, based on the fundamental that “whatever leads to the ultimate duty is itself a duty”, then, this duty will follow the other civilizational duties that Muslims overlooked today due to their big struggle to keep up with the human progress train.
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Some other examples of raids, next to battling are: First, fighting ignorance; by going out in the early morning to ask for beneficial knowledge. Second is fighting poverty; by going out early in the morning wandering on land and endeavoring in agriculture, manufacturing and commerce. Third, protecting the motherland; by going out early in the morning to the frontlines and places of security and peace keeping…and so forth, there are plenty of other examples of Jihad for the sake of Allah The Almighty, in addition to the Jihad of battling the awaiting enemy.
The dawn (Sobh) in these verses, as in other verses of the Holy Qur’an, is a blessed time. Hence, the Muslim should benefit from it and fill it with what is a profit for his/her Worldly Life and his/her hereafter. Wasting it, in the other hand, is a waste of plentiful blessings, which is what the Muslims nation has been afflicted with lately for different civilizational reasons that need a profound analysis, not just a mere speculation or a saying that is not based on knowledge and proof.
Dr. Mohammed Babaammi
Translated by: Omar Bouchelaghem
A part of a call to establishing the science of Time (El-Waqt and Az-Zaman), from the book of “El-Fadjr (the Dawn)”
