Tafsir Surah al Kawthar

I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan.

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

The Abundance

(1) Indeed, We have given you, [O Muhammad], KAWTHAR.

(2) So pray to your Lord and sacrifice.

(3) Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off.

This Surah, called Kawthar, sometimes also called "Knowledge by Overcoming," could have come down in Medina or Mecca. It feels more like Mecca. Here, Allah speaks. He uses "We." It is big. It means Majesty. "We have given," not "I have given." It means Allah acts with all His beautiful names, or many of them.

The word 'ata' (given) itself holds no special weight. Not like blessing, grace, or mercy. 'Ata' can be for believers. Or for disbelievers. "We provide for all—these and those—from the bounty of your Lord. And the bounty of your Lord is not restricted." He gives to the bad and the good. His giving is not cut off. 'Ata' is used for what God gives to non-believers, too. When a man does good, it is 'ata'. "As for he who gives and is God-fearing, and believes in the best." Good deeds, even from others, are 'ata'. God's work is always good. But what He gives can go to the bad or the good. Material things. The giving itself isn't a mark of favor. But when God speaks, using "We," it means care. It means grace. Still, 'ata' is not the same as blessing, mercy, or favor.

In the Surah of Hijr, about the Quran, it says, "Indeed, it is We who sent down the Dhikr [the Quran]." Three times He speaks of Himself with Majesty. Here, it is not like that. Still, it is special. It is not without grace. "Indeed, We have given you." We gave to you.

What is Kawthar?

Kawthar is not a lot of evil. It is not a mix of good and evil. It is only a lot of good. We gave you much good. "Indeed, We have given you Kawthar." When God says "much," it is different from when a man says "much." When God says it is "much," it can reach to the Day of Judgment. The Kawthar God gave the Prophet (peace be upon him and his Purified Family) is lasting. It will stay. It is steady.

There are many sayings about Kawthar. Twelve, thirteen, maybe more. Some say it is worldly. Some say it is heavenly. Some say both. Prophethood, the Quran, outward success, a spring in Paradise, other blessings in Paradise. Many things are called Kawthar. All of them are true. All are included. Kawthar is not limited. But the clearest meaning comes from the end of the Surah. What is Kawthar? "Indeed, We have given you Kawthar."

This is past tense, "We have given." But because it is Kawthar, it is beyond time. It covers past, present, and future. If it is Kawthar, it is much good. It is lasting. What is lasting, what stays, its giving is continuous. The past is not in it, not truly. Sometimes a past tense means it is over. But if something is lasting, covering past, present, and future, then "We have given" means past. It also means "We will give," covering present and future. And it means His special bounty to you is constant. His grace flows always.

So, it is much good. It is far-reaching. It covers past, present, and future. Not that We gave and it stopped. Because Kawthar is forever. The bounty is forever. The Giver is ever-bounteous. He gives continuous grace, a lasting blessing. "Indeed, We have given," means "We give," and it will be so. So it must be a blessing. Much good. Lasting. The end of the Surah shows this.

Prayer and Sacrifice

For every blessing, there must be thanks. The best thanks is prayer. This prayer, which is much good, is the best worship. It is the pillar of faith. It is talking to God. "Indeed, the one who prays is communing with his Lord." When a man wants to talk to God, he prays. When he wants to hear God's word, he reads the Quran. Then God speaks through him. A man listens sometimes. He speaks other times. The best thanks is prayer. And how to pray? How to raise hands for the first takbir? Where to put them? Traditions say: "So pray to your Lord and sacrifice." It means raise hands for the takbir to the ears. This shows prayer is the best thanks for God's gifts. And sacrifice means this, not the sacrifice of camels. If it came down in Mecca, the rules of Hajj and Ihram were not fully explained then. Hajj was done, yes, it was the tradition of Abraham. The Kaaba was circled. But the detailed rules of Hajj came later. "Indeed, We have given you Kawthar." So be thankful. And your thanks should be to your Lord. Raise your hands to your ears for the takbir.

Ibn Babawayh al-Qummi, in his book "Al-Tawhid," a good Shia book, relates from Ali (peace be upon him) that he was asked about the meaning of the Adhan and Iqamah. He explained each part. Until he came to "Qad Qamat al-Salah." They asked him, "What does 'Qad Qamat al-Salah' mean?" He said, "It is time for the visit." It is time for the servant to visit his Creator. Prayer is the visitation of God. Just as God's caliphs have visitations, especially the visitation composed by Imam Hadi (peace be upon him) for the pure progeny. He said you can read this comprehensive visitation at any shrine. And about the Household it says: "Rather, they are honored servants. They do not precede Him in speech, and they act by His command." These are like the angels in Surah Anbiya. These are God's men. They do not speak without His permission. They do not go beyond it. Neither before nor after. For them, there are visitations. For God Himself, a visitation has been set. God Himself set it. Prayer is God's visitation. When they asked Ali what "Qad Qamat al-Salah" meant, though its meaning seemed clear, he said, "It is time for the visit." Because prayer is the visit of the Worshipped. And the worshipper visits the Worshipped.

So prayer has this special quality. And so it says: "So pray to your Lord." The sacrifice part does not mean the sacrifice of camels on the tenth day in Mina. That has its own rules. That is included in some religious statements. If this verse covers that, there is no conflict. But that would have to come down after Mina. So everyone would know. Or it would have come down when it was practiced. It seems none of that was the case. This part, "So pray to your Lord and sacrifice," suggests that meaning.

The One Cut Off

The main part is the third verse. It is a definite statement. It is emphasized. "Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off." It means he who blamed you. He who said you were lacking. Short. Far from fame. Far from a lasting civilization. Far from a community. He who said you had no sons, so your line would end. Your name would be cut off after you. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "A man is preserved through his children." They thought this meant only sons. This was a custom of the ignorant past. It appeared in their poetry:

Our sons are the sons of our sons,

And the sons of our daughters are the sons of distant men.

This means their sons were grandsons from their sons. The sons of their daughters were sons of distant men. Islam wiped this out. The Quran and traditions from the Household (peace be upon them) say a son from a son is a child, a son from a daughter is a child. There is no difference. What preserves an ancestor's name are his children, whether from sons or daughters. When the lineage of prophets, Abraham and Isaac, is listed, it says: "And from his offspring..." and so on, to Moses and other Abrahamic prophets. Then it says: "And Jesus." Jesus (peace be upon him) is from the noble line of Abrahamic prophets. It ends with Abraham. Then the followers of the Household, based on their teachings, argued with their opponents. If a daughter's child is not a child, if a daughter's son is not considered a man's child, if that false poem is true: "The sons of our daughters are the sons of distant men," then how could God say in the Quran that one of Abraham's descendants is Jesus? When Jesus is the child of Abraham through his mother, not his father? He is part of the Abrahamic prophets. He had no father, so he could not be linked to Abraham through a father. When the Quran came, it explained lineage, identity, sons and daughters. It wiped out ignorance. It said that whether a daughter's child or a son's child, they are a man's children.

With the birth of Fatimah (peace be upon her), eleven Imams came into the world from this pure lady. Each of these holy beings is Kawthar. Fatimah herself is Kawthar. Those eleven Imams, and this mother of eleven Imams, each one is Kawthar. Because each of them is lasting. They administer the world. Wherever the Quran is spoken of, they are its counterpart. They are its equal. Its parallel. Its complement. In this world, the Quran is the greater weight, they are the lesser. But as the late Kashif al-Ghita stated, the Quran is not above the Imam. Whatever is in the Quran, the Imam knows. And whatever the Imam knows, the Quran possesses. Those who openly said that with the Prophet's (peace be upon him and his Purified Family) death, his school would end—they blamed him with this. They insulted him. They belittled him. The Quran says those who belittle you and say you are "abtar" – "abtar" means no offspring, no result. A dull mind is one that has no outcome. Someone might be outwardly clever but have no lasting effect. Like an unproductive analogy. A fruitless argument. If it has no result, they call it abtar. If someone had no children, no sons, they called him abtar. In the days of ignorance, they insisted that children must come through sons, not daughters. The plain meaning of the Quran is that those who consider you childless, cut off, finished—they say this light will soon be extinguished, no news, no trace of it—they themselves are abtar. They are fruitless. Now, the names of these eleven Imams (peace be upon them all) and their descendants—their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren—govern the East and West. It's not about the number of offspring. It's about the multitude of remembrance. "And We raised high for you your mention." We preserved your mention. The Quran is preserved by the progeny. This is Kawthar. It is lasting until the Day of Judgment.

So, if there were eleven ordinary people in the line, maybe it wouldn't be Kawthar. But these eleven Imams, each a counterpart to the Quran, each revived their own age and land. They set up the 400 root books of Ahadith. Later, the four encyclopedic books were compiled. And until the Day of Judgment, these works are brought to life, narrated, taught. These are much good. Each of these Imams is much good. And Kawthar is the comprehensiveness of these holy beings.

So, the end of the verse confirms this is about Fatimah Zahra (peace be upon her). God gave this lady to him. From her, eleven Imams were born. They became the pride of the world. For Iran, these holy beings came through Imam Reza (peace be upon him) when he came to Iran. Iran, by his blessing, became a safe haven for them. The Hijaz was not. These holy ones, these great figures, one after another migrated to Iran. They guided Iran to pure Shiism. They brought blessings that will last until the Day of Judgment. What better Kawthar than this? What more eloquent Kawthar than this? They are the counterparts of the Quran. They explain the Quran. They interpret the Quran. Their conduct, their way, their inner nature spreads the works of the Quran. What is better than this? So, with "Indeed, We have given you," which carries a scent of honor and grace, He says: "Indeed, We have given you Kawthar. So pray to your Lord." In gratitude for this gift of Kawthar, pray. And during Qunut, raise your hands to your ears, to the place of sacrifice. "And sacrifice." This is another command. Why be so thankful? So mindful? Because God uprooted the evil thinkers of religion. He made them abtar. Cut off. And the Prophet, who outwardly had no son, He made him Kawthar. Many in offspring. Eleven Imams came from his blessed daughter, who is also a perfect proof of God. Infallible. Protected from error and forgetfulness in religious duties. Through them, this was done.

So, "Indeed, We have given you Kawthar. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice." Why? Because "Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off." He who blamed you is fruitless. He has no lasting effect. We hope God, by the blessing of the Quran and the Progeny, will preserve these divine verses, this Kawthar, for us until the Day of Judgment. And grant us more success in understanding the virtues and excellences of this Kawthar. And may the evil-minded, who seek to defame Islam, remain abtar forever.

May Allah forgive us and you. And peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.