Surah Al-Mu'minun 23:33-50 - Quran Translation Commentary

33. And the nobles of his people, who disbelieved and denied the meeting of the Hereafter, and those whom We had given luxuries in the life of the world, said: “This is but a normal like you, he eats of what you eat, and drinks of what you drink.

34. ”If you were to obey a mortal like yourselves, you surely would be losers.

35. ”Does he promise you that when you are dead and turned to dust and bones, you will be raised to life?

36. ”Far, very far is that which you are promised !³⁹

37. ”Life is but of this world only⁴⁰ : we die and we live, and we will not be raised (again).

38. ”He is only a man who has invented a lie against Allah. We are not going to put faith in him.”

39. He prayed ⁴¹ : “My Lord! Help me, for they have denied me.”

40. He answered: “Before long they will be repentant.”

41. So the (Awful) Bang overtook them rightfully,⁴² and we swept them away like dried leaves. So away with the wrong doing people!

42. Then after them We brought forth other generations.

43. No nation can shorten its term of existence, nor can it lengthen it.

44. Then We sent Our messengers one after another.⁴³Whenever a messenger came to his nation, they denied him, so We caused them to follow one another (destruction), and We made them bywords. So away with the people who did not believe !

45. Then We sent Moosa and his brother Haroon with Our signs and clear authority,⁴⁴

46. To Firaun and his nobles, but they became stiff-necked and they were arrogant people.

47. And they said: What! Are we to put faith in two human beings like ourselves, while the people of their community are our slaves ?”⁴⁵

48. So they belied both of them and became of those who were destroyed.

49. And verily We gave Moosa the Book, so that his people might be rightly guided.⁴⁶

50. And We made the son of Maryam⁴⁷ and his mother a sign⁴⁸ and gave them shelter on a height (which was) peaceful and had a water- spring.⁴⁹

Commentary

39.They considered revival of mankind was not possible, and present-day man also considers it an impossible task. For him it is not a serious thing worth consideration, although many things which were considered impossible in the past have become possible and practicable today. But no change has taken place in the mentality of the deniers of the life after death

40.The materialistic world of the modern times is also following the footsteps of these nations which had gone astray. They have the material world as their ideal, and they are lost in its problems. They do not want that the available benefits which they are deriving should be taken away from them or there should be any reduction in them.

41. That is: Ultimately the messenger prayed to God.

42. That is: Eventually they were seized by the divine punishment. In whatever form this punishment was, it crashed on them with an awful bang, and along with it the truth also appeared about which the prophet had given promise.

43. That is: When the number of the nations in the world increased, Allah also sent down His messengers one after the other. At that time the nations of the world were not linked with each other as they are today by means of transport services and communication facilities. The coming down of a messenger in one nation could hardly benefit any other nation for lack of communication. Therefore, Allah sent down prophets in every nation. The names of these messengers and the nations are not mentioned in the Qur’an, but Allah has clearly mentioned that beside the prophets whose names have been mentioned in the Qur’an, other prophets had also been sent in other nations, at various times and climes.

44. The chronicle of Prophets Moosa and Haroon has been narrated in detail in Surah Taha.

By signs are meant the miracles, in which the conversion of Prophets Moosa’s staff into a snake was the biggest miracle.

By clear authority is meant that authority which was quite manifest in Prophets Moosa and Haroon’s message and their talks and character, and their personalities were the demonstration of the fact that they were appointed by Allah and that they enjoyed His support. A prophet’s personality in itself is authority regardless of his performing any miracle or otherwise.

45.In the text the word.

“Qomuhuma Lana Abidoon” is used which ordinarily means worshippers. but here this word does not mean worshippers but slaves. Accordingly at another place in Quran, Prophet Moosa is stated to have addressed Firaun saying :

This is your obligation that you are boasting to have made Bani Israil your slaves (Shu’ra -22). In this ayah the word “Abadtta” is used to mean to enslave. And it is a fact that Firaun had compelled the people of Bani Israil to lead a life of slavery. By referring to this inferior status of theirs, Firaun and the officers of his government provoked the people that by accepting Moosa and Haroon as prophets would amount to accepting the superiority of Bani Israil over them, while those people were actually living as their slaves. Should they then accept the faith of their slaves and recognise their leaders as their own leaders! This was that false pride, that faithless prejudice which prevented them from accepting the religion of truth.

A well known commentator of the present day has concluded from the use of the word (Lana Abidoon) that a person who obeys some other man, he worships that other man. But such an interpretation can be correct only in cases in which the man obeying another man considers him to be an absolute authority, having right to give command or that it is not necessary that his obedience be under the obedience of God. That is why Satan’s blind following has been termed as his worship.

But Bani Israil obeyed Firaun under compulsion, not only because he was ruling over them but also because he had compelled them to live like slaves. In such circumstances how would it be correct to say that Bani Israil were worshipping Firaun, and that Firaun meant to say that this community was worshipping him, And even if it is presumed that Firaun meant to convey the same meaning, even then how can it be proved that his statement was correct’? He had also called Prophet Moosa as mad, Was then this statement of his correct? If not, then how can his statement that Bani Israil were his worshippers be used as an argument to meaning as the Shariah-terminology : worship ?

46. Means the Torah, which was the means of seeking Allah’s guidance for mankind after Prophet Moosa.

47. Mention of Prophet Eesa is made without referring to his personal name but by referring to his parentage or rather mother, which was with the idea of pointing out that he was born without a father from his mother’s womb and that he was the son of Maryam and not of God.

48. Prophet Eesa and his mother, Maryam, both were signs from Allah, for Maryam got pregnant without a husband and Prophet Eesa was born without the agency of a father.

49. When Maryam felt the labour pains, she took shelter away from Baitul Maqdis near a trunk of date-palm, so that she might remain hidden from the sight of the people, and might be spared the criticism and abuses of the people. This was a very peaceful and a hilly place on a height beneath which, and near the foot of the hill Allah had provided a water-spring (See Surah Maryam, ayah No.24). This ayah refers to this very place which became a means of peace and comfort for Maryam in these trying and hard circumstances by the special favours of the Almighty. In the Bible the place of Prophet Eesa’s birth has been mentioned as Bethlehem.