'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Al-Kawthar

It is a Meccan surah. His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿Indeed, We have given you Al-Kawthar﴾ ﴿So pray to your Lord and sacrifice﴾ ﴿Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off﴾

Al-Hasan read: "Indeed, We have given you Al-Kawthar," and it is a dialectical variation of "gave." The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "The giving hand is better than the receiving hand." Al-A'sha said:

Your steeds are the best steeds of kings; they protect the majesty and give the barley.

Anas, Ibn Abbas, and Ibn Umar - may Allah be pleased with them - and a group of the Companions and the Tabi'in said: Al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise, its banks are domes of hollow pearls, its soil is musk, and its pebbles are rubies, and this is among its descriptions, although the words of the narrators differ. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, also said: Al-Kawthar is abundant good.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "Kawthar" is a superlative form from abundance. There is no doubt that what Allah, the Exalted, has given Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, of prophethood, wisdom, knowledge of his Lord, the Exalted, success in attaining His pleasure, and honor over His servants is the most and greatest of all things. It is as if it is said in this verse: Indeed, We have given you the greatest share. Said Ibn Jubair: The river in Paradise is among the good that Allah, the Exalted, has given him. How excellent is what Ibn Abbas has said, and how excellent is what Ibn Jubair, may Allah be pleased with them, has completed. The matter of the river is established in the narrations in the Hadith of Isra and others. May Allah bless Muhammad and grant us benefit from what He has bestowed upon us of guidance through it. Al-Hasan said: Al-Kawthar is the Qur'an. Abu Bakr Ibn Ayyash said: It is the abundance of companions and supporters. Ja'far Al-Sadiq said: It is light in his heart that guided him to Allah, the Exalted, and cut him off from anything else. He also said: It is intercession. Hilal Ibn Yasaf said: It is monotheism.

And His saying, the Exalted: "So pray to your Lord" is a command for prayer in general. It includes the obligatory prayers with their conditions, and the supererogatory prayers following them. And the sacrifice is the sacrifice of the offering and the ritual in the opinion of the majority of people. It is as if He, the Exalted, said: Let your concern be these two, and there was no jihad at that time. Anas Ibn Malik said: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, used to sacrifice on the Day of Eid before the prayer, and he commanded that he should pray and then sacrifice." This was also said by Qatadah. Al-Qurtubi and others said: In the verse is a rebuke of the disbelievers of Mecca, meaning that they pray to other than Allah, the Exalted, with clapping and whistling, and sacrifice to idols and the like. So do this for your Lord, and you will be on a straight path.

And Ibn Jubair said: This verse was revealed on the Day of Hudaybiyyah at the time of the peace with Quraysh. It was said to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him: Connect and sacrifice the offering. Thus, this verse would be from the Medinan. It was narrated from Ali Ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: The meaning of the verse is: Pray to your Lord, and place your right hand on your left at the time of your sacrifice in prayer. Thus, the sacrifice - according to this - is not from the source of "nahr" (to slaughter), but it is the chest. Others said: The meaning is: Raise your hand in the opening of your prayer at the time of your sacrifice.

'And His saying, the Most High: ﴿Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off﴾ is a response to a statement that many of the foolish of Quraysh used to say because the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, had no children. They would say: He is cut off; he will die and we will be relieved of him, and his matter will die with his death. So Allah, the Most High, said - and His saying is the truth -: ﴿Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off﴾, meaning the one severed, cut off from the mercy of Allah, the Most High. And if he had sons, they would not benefit him. 'And the enemy': the one who hates. And Qatadah said: The cut off here refers to the lowly and humiliated. And Ikrimah said: When the son of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, died, Abu Jahl came out saying, 'Muhammad has been cut off.' Then the Surah was revealed. And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said: It was revealed concerning Al-As ibn Wa'il, who named the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, when his son Abdullah died: 'He is cut off.' The interpretation of Surah [Al-Kawthar] is complete, and all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.