Translations of the Quran, Chapter 108:
AL-KAUTHER (ABUNDANCE, PLENTY, BOUNTY)

 

 

Bismi Allahi alrrahmani alrraheemi
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

108.001
Inna aAAtaynaka alkawthara
YUSUFALI: To thee have We granted the Fount (of Abundance).

108.002
Fasalli lirabbika wainhar
YUSUFALI: Therefore to thy Lord turn in Prayer and Sacrifice.

108.003
Inna shani-aka huwa al-abtaru
YUSUFALI: For he who hateth thee, he will be cut off (from Future Hope).

This above is the traditional translation of surah Al Kauthar.

 

However, as far as this surah is concerned, if the muslims will only truly understand this surah, and then try to act this surah in letter and in spirit then according to this code of command of Rabb-ul-Alamien, the enemies will be destroid.  Thus no enemy will be able to stand against the Muslims.

 

But first and foremost we need to understand as to what happened with our understanding of Al-Quran.

 

Briefly when the Yahudo and Nasara and the Majosees were defeated by the Khulfa-u-Rashideen especially Umar ,these three enemies of Islam joined forces and tried to understand the reasons of their defeat.  They came to the conclusion that the great force behind the victory of the Muslims is only the commands upon which the Muslims act which is The Wahi-e Elahi, AL- QURAN.  Thus they, the enemy undertook to drive the Muslims away from this great Quran. And to achieve this they changed the meanings of the code of command of AL-QURAN, that is by changing the the terms (istlahat) used in Quran. 

 

The present translation of this surah Al Kauthar is one of the examples of this great conspiracy against the Quran.

 

Now, let us work towards gaining the true meaning of this surah. Firstly to understand the meaning of this surah one has to understand the three GREAT WORDS which ALLAH used in this surah:

 
1.    AL-KAUTHAR  
2,    FASALLI  
3,    WANHAR  

1.    AL-KAUTHAR:

 

You will find so many meanings of this great term in hadiths and they invariably contradict each other.  But the most popular meaning from the hadiths is that during qiyaamat, the prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H will be sitting at a well (kauthar) and he will give some water from this well to the people of jannat. Can we see how the Yahodees, Nasara and Majosees had distorted the meaning of this surah?

 

Now, coming back to the Quranic meaning of this term, we see that this word is from the root word kaaf thaa raa which means abundant, plenty, or something which is more than enough.So Al-kauthar is something that is more than enough. Now think about to it as to what did ALLAH give to prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H?  Allah gave the WAHI-E-ELAHI that is now safely ensconsed in Quran. 

 

Thus, if you study this surah deeply and ponder over these words which ALLAH has used in this verse you will find the true meaning of Al-kauthar within the same surah.  As long as you study the Quran you will find that ALLAH has never left His words unexplained.  Allah himself has given the principles to understand the Quran. One of the most important principle is Tasreefe ayat (6/65).  By Tasreefe ayat and according to the context ALLAH himself explains His words.  

2.    Fa-Salli

 

In the following word of this surah ALLAH has explained what is Al-kauthar is.  Allah used the word fasalli. This is derived from the root word suad-laam-wau which means to follow something or someone.   So in this verse ALLAH is giving the command to the prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H. and the Muslimeen TO FOLLOW which Allah has given to Mohammad  (PBUH). 
 
Therefore Al Kauthar is THE COMMANDS and VALUES found in the Quran which are more than enough for humanity.  

3.    Wan har

 

The word Wan-har is from the root word noon-haa-raa which means that by understanding we should always act upon the commands of the Quran, regardless of whatsoever hurdles are in our way.

 

Therefore, we can now translate this surah as:

"No dout we have given you the commands and values which are more than enough, i.e. Al-Quran (AL-KOASER) so follow these in letter and spirit to establish raboobiat of your Rabb and stick to it, regardless of whatsoever obstacles are in your way, your enemy will be destroid."

 

Now dear reader compare this understanding with the traditional understanding.