Lessons from Surah Al-Mutaffifin and Applying Quranic NLP.

Alhamdulillah! I felt this week’s Tafsir session was extra special. Not only that we get to read the entire 36 verses together, we also get to apply, for the first time, Quranic NLP, which I’ve been talking about in my classes and my seminars for the last 2 years. The session was also extra special because the whole class got to apply and practice the Quranic NLP process, usually it was just me demonstrating the process.
The idea started from discussing the concept of Yaumul Hisaab, the Day of Judgment, from the previous lesson (We explored Surah Al-Infitaar in our previous lesson you can click here to read about it). That, in order for the concepts in the Pillars of Imaan to be beneficial for us, we need to know how to apply it in our life. That’s when Quranic NLP as a process comes in. As a continuation from previous lesson, Surah Al-Mutaffifin also grow our imaan and educate our spirit by describing to us what’s going to take place in the Day of Judgment.

Surah Al-Mutaffifin which means The Defrauders (who uses this kind of word in their everyday language?), or in simple English we say those who cheat in their dealings, begins with Allah s.w.t. expressing verbal anger towards those who cheat in their business or dealings. Allah s.w.t. then explain that this sinful practice originates from an attitude in life that does not believe in the Day of Judgment and the Hereafter.

Something very interesting about this surah is the context of its revelation. Though a meccan surah, which means the surah was revealed before Rasulullah s.a.w. migrated to Madinah, in the hadith it is mentioned that the surah was revealed to the people of Madinah, they were practicing untrustworthy business dealing by taking full payment from others and yet giving less quantity or mixing the quality of the merchandise. It is also narrated in the hadith the positive attitude of the people of Madinah as soon as the surah was revealed to them they stopped their bad practice immediately, and begin to deal nobly.

That information then makes us ask ourselves this question, because we all want to improve ourselves we all want to be a better person, and leave this life in the best manner possible! Typically the question is of neurolinguistic nature since it was asked by a neurolinguist: what is in the verbal construct of surah Al-Mutaffifin that change the bad habit of the peopl of Madinah to noble dealings? From linguistic point of view the construct of this surah was beautifully arranged to facilitate behavioral change. It began with an intervention process by Allah s.w.t expressing his anger, and then move on to the four steps of behavioral change process which is the following:

1. From feeling good doing bad things, and intervention occurs here

2. To feeling bad doing bad things, (intervention in previous step leads here)

3. To feeling good NOT DOING the bad things (this is the crucial step in the process of facilitating positive change that most are not trained  and which Quranic NLP is offering)

4. to feeling good DOING the good things!

DOWNLOAD HANDOUT SURAH AL-MUTAFFIFIN HERE BY CLICKING THIS LINK

In exploring the verses of Surah Al-Mutaffifin, we also learned that:

1. We should be AWARE towards which objective are we competing in life. We should compete for that which is eternal and everlasting and that is the hereafter, verses 22-26 

(22. Indeed, the righteous will be amid bliss.
23. On thrones, looking on.
24. You will recognize on their faces the radiance of bliss.
25. They will be given to drink a sealed wine.
26. Whose seal is musk—this is what competitors should compete for.)

2. Allah is never unjust to anyone. The reward for the wicked will be from his own doing, verse 36

(36. Have the unbelievers been repaid for what they used to do?)

DOWNLOAD HANDOUT SURAH AL-MUTAFFIFIN HERE BY CLICKING THIS LINK

Due to the limitation of time and space I can’t share everything that learned in this post. We didn’t even get to finish the surah.
InsyaAllah we will be able to finish it next week and move on to the next surah, Surah At-Takwiir.

This Tafsir Class is happening every Monday (except 5th of the month) at Masjid Sultan MPH after Maghrib till 10pm.
You can call 9777 9586 to register or email registrations@aspireinstitute.com

May Allah bless us with consistency to practice reading and understanding Quran in days to come till we meeet again next week!

Ya Allah please guide us towards Imaan, Ilmu and Hikmah,
and guide us away from Ignorance and Injustice…
Ameen!

Please leave your comments
and share with me what you’ve learned from the surahs!
I’d love to read your thoughts.