Surah Al-Kawthar 108:1-3 - Quran Translation Commentary

1. This is the royal style of speech, in which instead of the singular, the plural pronoun ‘We’ is used. The purpose is to express the grandeur with which the Prophet has been granted the auspicious gift of kauthar, by the Divine. grace.

2. The address is direct to the Prophet.

3. Kauthar means good in abundance (An- Nihayah Vol. IV, P. 37, Lissanul Arab Vol.V.P. 133), and with this reference it is the name of a river in the Paradise which will be granted to the Prophet in the Hereafter. The great commentator of Quran, Abdullah Ibn Abbas, has taken Kauthar to mean good in abundance, in which the river of the Paradise is also included. Accordingly in the Bukhari it is mentioned:

“Saeed bin Jubair narrates from Ibn Abbas that kauthar is that good which Allah has granted to the Prophet Abu Bishr(narrator)says that he told Saeed bin Jubair: ‘People think that it is a river in the paradise.’ Saeed replied that the river of Paradise is within that good which Allah has granted to the Prophet.” (Bukhari Kitabut-Tafseer)

In this way in its meaning even that haudh (tank) is also included which will be granted to the Prophet in the Hereafter. The Prophet will give its water to his sincere followers to drink. In the hadith, this haudh has also been called as kauthar. In Sahih Muslim, Anas is reported to have narrated, that in explaining kauthar the Prophet has said:

“It it a haudh which my Ummah will reach on the Doomsday.” -(Muslim Kitabus-salat). In other words, in the good in abundance about which Allah has hinted, these two gifts are particularly worthy of mention, because beside being magnificent and most valuable these things are special marks of Prophet’s greatness. The hint of the verse, as had been explained by the hadith, is towards these two grand gifts from the Lord of the Universe. Since the grant of the gifts which Allah promises is certain to be accomplished, it is mentioned to have been given by using the verb ‘to grant’ in the past tense, which expresses its certainty and definiteness.

This is a great glad tidings given to the Prophet at a time when the polytheists of Makka had become his enemies and they were leaving no stone unturned to hurt the Prophet as much as possible. This glad tidings was a great source of comfort to the Prophet. Moreover, its purpose, was to make it clear to the opponents that the person whom they were trying to harm, was most honourable and of a very high rank before Allah. He is a person on whom the showers of Divine blessings and auspiciousness are continually falling, and its further manifestation will be in the form of the grant of the hauz of kauthar and the river of kauthar. If inspite of all this you want to be disrespectful to him, you may be so, but you cannot stop the heavens from showering the flowers of blessings and favour on him.

It would take a lot of space if all the hadith that have been narrated in connection with haudh and river of kauthar are quoted. Therefore we will only quote a few traditions as follows:

The river of kauthar was shown to the Prophet at the time of Me’raj. Anas has narrated:

“When the Prophet went to the skies for his Me’raj, (describing what he observed there) he said: ‘I come to a river, on both the banks of which domes of hollow pearls were made. I asked Jibril, what is this?” He said: ‘It is kauthar. “

-(Bukhari Kitabut Tafseer).

In another narrative in Bukhari it is stated:

“It is that Kauthar which your Lord has granted you.”

-(Bukhari Kitabur Riqaq).

And Abdullah bin Umar narrates that the Prophet has said:

“Kauther is a river in the Paradise, whose banks ,are of gold, and it flows on pearls and yaqut. Its clay is more fragrant than the musk, and its water is sweeter than the honey and whiter than the snow. -(Tirmizi Abwabut Tafseer).

About Haudh of Kauther Sahal bin saad narrated that the Prophet has said:

“I will reach the haudh earlier than you. One who will come to me will drink its water, and the one who will drink its water will never feel thirsty again.”

-(Bukhari Kitabur Riqaq)

Abdullah bin Amar narrates that the Prophet has said:

“The length (or breadth) of my haudh will be equal to the distance of one month’s journey; its water will be whiter than milk, and its fragrance will be better than musk, and its jugs will be as numerous as the stars of the sky. One who will drink its water will never feel thirsty again.”(Bukhari Kitabur riqaq).

Uqba bin A’mir says that the Prophet said from the mimber (pulpit):

“I shall be there as Prophet has said: your predecessor on the haudh before you and I shall be a witness to you. By Allah, I am seeing the haudh at this very moment.” -(Mulsim Kitabul Fazail).

Anas bin Malik states that the Prophet has said:

“To my haudh will come some such persons as had been my companions. When I would have seen them and they would have been brought to me, they would be removed away from me. I would say O Lord! These are my companions. But it would be said to me: “You don’t know what they did after you”. (Mulsim Kitabul Fazail).

A number of traditions like these in connection with the haudh explain that the Prophet’s ummah will reach the haudh, but only those of them will be allowed to drink who will be his sincere followers, and who would not have modified or changed his way (Sunnah) throughout their life.

4. For being blessed with this valuable gift you should thank your Lord and the manner of showing your gratitude is to offer prayers and sacrifice for Him. In other words these forms of worship are the best way of expressing gratitude and the best means of achieving nearness to Allah. The liking which the Prophet had for the prayers (salat) can be gauged from the fact that he used to get up in the night and busy himself in prayers for hours together, so much so that his feet used to get swollen. When the companions drew his attention to it, he said: “Should I not become a grateful slave of Allah:”

-(Bukhari and Muslim).

Similarly he used to obey the command of sacrificing for Allah with great liking. In Madina on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha it was his usual practice to offer sacrifice, and on the occasion of his last Hajj he slaughtered 63 camels with his own hands.

In the text the word ‘Wanhar’ has been used, which is originally used for sacrificing the camel, and here its objective is to make a reference to the Millate Ibrahimi who followed the practice of sacrificing camels, as against the jews who considered the sacrifice of camels as improper and un-permissible.The Prophet has been commanded

to revive this practice, but it does not mean that essentially only camels should be sacrificed, otherwise, the sacrifice will not be acceptable. But as is proved by his sayings and practice, sacrifice of other animals is also allowed. Therefore, here the main purpose of the command is to stress on offering sacrifice, it may be any animal which is permissible according to the Shariah. In the hadith the word ‘Nahar’ has also been used for sacrificing the cow, as in a hadith narrated by Jabir. —(Tirmizi-Abwabul Hajj)

“Jabir says: “In the year of Hudaibiyah, we offered sacrifices with the Prophet - cow from seven persons and a camel from seven persons.”

The command for prayers and sacrifice that has been given to the Prophet is for the entire Ummah, through the Prophet. As this Ummah is associated with the Prophet in the grant of kauthar, in the same way it is associated with the Prophet in obeying the command of prayers and sacrifice. According to the occasion, this aspect of the command is also being manifested that in the Surah Ma’oon, the prayer of the polytheists that has been declared as unreal, compared to this prayer the prayer of the Muslims should be purely for Allah, as is more clearly expressed at another place: “Say: ‘My prayer, my sacrifice, my life and my death all are for Allah, Lord of the Worlds, Who has no partners” -(Al-An’am -162).

5. This is in reply to the insults of the polytheists which they were hurling at the Prophet. They were indulging in a propaganda against him, using insulting language against the Prophet that his connection with the community has been broken” because of his opposition to idolatry and polytheism; the honour, position, superiority and the power which the Quraish have achieved in this world, the Prophet has been deprived of them, and now his position has become that of a helpless and uncared for person. In reply to all this it is stated that he has been blessed with the good in abundance, and his enemies are deprived of all good, and eternal deprivation has been destined for them.

In reality it was a prophecy, which has been proved to be fully right. The enemies of the Prophet were ruined, destroyed and disgraced so completely that no traces of them can now be found, and Allah’s Messenger achieved such supremacy and honour that crores of people are sending Darud and Salam on him, daily and will be sending them till the last day.

It may be noted that this prophecy did not relate only to the enemies of the Prophet of that time, but that it relates to all the enemies of the Prophet that will be born in every age. Whoever will indulge in being disrespectful towards him or will oppose him will be destined to be deprived of good and righteousness and will himself be disgraced.