Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 21
21 God Almighty says: E َا ۡﻋ َﻄ ۡﻴ ٰﻨ َﻚ ا ۡﻟ َﻜ ۡﻮ َﺛ َﺮ ِا َّﻧ ۤﺎ O Muhammad sa , Messenger of Allah ! We have blessed you with abundance. E َﻓ َﺼ ِّﻞ ِﻟ َﺮ ِّﺑ َﻚ َو ا ۡﻧ َﺤ ۡﺮ “ So pray to thy Lord, and offer sacrifice” (Holy Qur’an , Ch. 108 : V. 3) So, you must pray to God and offer sa crifices, ِا َّن َﺷ ﺎ ِﻧ َﺌ َﻚ ُﻫ َﻮ ا َۡﻻ ۡﺑ َُرت “Surely, it is thy enemy who shall be without issue. ” (Holy Qur’an , Ch. 108 : V. 4 ) It is your en emy who will be abter. The Arabic word abter means ‘without male issue’. Usuall y , people translate this verse and the word kau tha r to mean a fountain, which the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa will be granted in heaven. They translate the Arabic word ‘ wanher’ to mean that the Holy Prophet sa will sacrifice camels in celebration of Allah granting him kau tha r in h eaven. There is no doubt that several Ahadith [ sayings of the Holy Pr ophet sa ] confirm that there will be a fountain in heaven, which will be named kau tha r. But the question is whether the word kau tha r used here [in this S urah ] can be interpreted in that way. The meaning of a word is determined by the reference and context. For example , in Urdu the word ‘ticket’ is used to indicate a ticket for mail , a train ticket, a court ticket, and a horse carriage ticket. Thus, it may only be one word , but it is used in four different ways. If a person goes to a post office and asks for a ticket and the clerk hands over a train ticket, how foolish you would think th at clerk to be. I f a person goes to the train station and the clerk gives him a mailing stamp as a ticket, people would call him a foolish person. If you went to a bo oth and asked for a ticket and you were given a court ticket instead of a taanga [ horse drawn carriage ] ticket, you would laugh at his stupidity. Mayhap, the word kau tha r signifies this and many of the A h adith prove that the Holy Prophet sa will receive a fountain named kau tha r , b ut the question is , does this verse indicate this m eaning ? The