Surah 28. Al-Qasas

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Verses [Section]: 1-13[1], 14-21 [2], 22-28 [3], 29-42 [4], 43-50 [5], 51-60 [6], 61-75 [7], 76-82 [8], 83-88 [9]

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Quran Text of Verse 51-6028. Al-Qasas Page 392وَ لَقَدْAnd indeedوَصَّلْنَاWe have conveyedلَهُمُto themالْقَوْلَthe Wordلَعَلَّهُمْso that they mayیَتَذَكَّرُوْنَؕremember اَلَّذِیْنَThose whoاٰتَیْنٰهُمُWe gave themالْكِتٰبَthe Scriptureمِنْbefore itقَبْلِهٖbefore itهُمْtheyبِهٖin itیُؤْمِنُوْنَ believe وَ اِذَاAnd whenیُتْلٰیit is recitedعَلَیْهِمْto themقَالُوْۤاthey sayاٰمَنَّاWe believeبِهٖۤin itاِنَّهُIndeed, itالْحَقُّ(is) the truthمِنْfromرَّبِّنَاۤour LordاِنَّاIndeed, weكُنَّا[we] wereمِنْbefore itقَبْلِهٖbefore itمُسْلِمِیْنَ Muslims اُولٰٓىِٕكَThoseیُؤْتَوْنَwill be givenاَجْرَهُمْtheir rewardمَّرَّتَیْنِtwiceبِمَاbecauseصَبَرُوْاthey are patientوَ یَدْرَءُوْنَand they repelبِالْحَسَنَةِwith goodالسَّیِّئَةَthe evilوَ مِمَّاand from whatرَزَقْنٰهُمْWe have provided themیُنْفِقُوْنَ they spend وَ اِذَاAnd whenسَمِعُواthey hearاللَّغْوَvain talkاَعْرَضُوْاthey turn awayعَنْهُfrom itوَ قَالُوْاand sayلَنَاۤFor usاَعْمَالُنَاour deedsوَ لَكُمْand for youاَعْمَالُكُمْ ؗyour deedsسَلٰمٌPeace (be)عَلَیْكُمْ ؗon youلَاnotنَبْتَغِیwe seekالْجٰهِلِیْنَ the ignorant اِنَّكَIndeed youلَا(can) notتَهْدِیْguideمَنْwhomاَحْبَبْتَyou loveوَ لٰكِنَّbutاللّٰهَAllahیَهْدِیْguidesمَنْwhomیَّشَآءُ ۚHe willsوَ هُوَAnd Heاَعْلَمُ(is) most knowingبِالْمُهْتَدِیْنَ (of) the guided ones وَ قَالُوْۤاAnd they sayاِنْIfنَّتَّبِعِwe followالْهُدٰیthe guidanceمَعَكَwith youنُتَخَطَّفْwe would be sweptمِنْfromاَرْضِنَا ؕour landاَوَ لَمْHave notنُمَكِّنْWe establishedلَّهُمْfor themحَرَمًاa sanctuaryاٰمِنًاsecureیُّجْبٰۤیare broughtاِلَیْهِto itثَمَرٰتُfruitsكُلِّ(of) allشَیْءٍthingsرِّزْقًاa provisionمِّنْfromلَّدُنَّاUsوَ لٰكِنَّButاَكْثَرَهُمْmost of themلَا(do) notیَعْلَمُوْنَ know وَ كَمْAnd how manyاَهْلَكْنَاWe have destroyedمِنْofقَرْیَةٍۭa townبَطِرَتْwhich exultedمَعِیْشَتَهَا ۚ(in) its means of livelihoodفَتِلْكَAnd theseمَسٰكِنُهُمْ(are) their dwellingsلَمْnotتُسْكَنْhave been inhabitedمِّنْۢafter themبَعْدِهِمْafter themاِلَّاexceptقَلِیْلًا ؕa littleوَ كُنَّاAnd indeed, [We]نَحْنُWeالْوٰرِثِیْنَ (are) the inheritors وَ مَاAnd notكَانَwasرَبُّكَyour Lordمُهْلِكَ(the) one to destroyالْقُرٰیthe townsحَتّٰیuntilیَبْعَثَHe (had) sentفِیْۤinاُمِّهَاtheir mother (town)رَسُوْلًاa Messengerیَّتْلُوْاrecitingعَلَیْهِمْto themاٰیٰتِنَا ۚOur Versesوَ مَاAnd notكُنَّاWe would beمُهْلِكِی(the) one to destroyالْقُرٰۤیthe townsاِلَّاexceptوَ اَهْلُهَاwhile their peopleظٰلِمُوْنَ (were) wrongdoers 28. Al-Qasas Page 393وَ مَاۤAnd whateverاُوْتِیْتُمْyou have been givenمِّنْfromشَیْءٍthingsفَمَتَاعُ(is) an enjoymentالْحَیٰوةِ(of the) lifeالدُّنْیَا(of) the worldوَ زِیْنَتُهَا ۚand its adornmentوَ مَاAnd whatعِنْدَ(is) withاللّٰهِAllahخَیْرٌ(is) betterوَّ اَبْقٰی ؕand more lastingاَفَلَاSo (will) notتَعْقِلُوْنَ۠you use intellect

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Translation of Verse 51-60

51. And surely We have caused the Word to reach them without break so that they may be reminded.¹⁰⁰

52. Those to whom We gave the Scripture before, believe in it,¹⁰¹

53. And when it (Qur’an) is recited to them, they say: “We believe in it, verily, it is the truth from Our Lord. We submitted to Him before it came.”¹⁰²

54. These will be given their reward twice, because they are steadfast,¹⁰³ and repel evil with good,¹⁰⁴ and spend in charity from what they have provided for them.¹⁰⁵

55. And when they hear any vain talk they keep away from it¹⁰⁶ and say: “Our actions are for us and your actions are for you.¹⁰⁷ Peace be upon you.¹⁰⁸ We do not seek (the company of) ignorant men.”¹⁰⁹

56. (O Prophet!) You cannot guide whom you please. But it is Allah who guides whom He will.¹¹⁰ And He knows best who accept guidance.

57. They say: “If we accept the guidance with you, we will be removed from our land.” Have We not given them a sanctuary (Haram)of safety to which fruits of every kind are brought as a provision from Ourself? But most of them do not know.¹¹¹

58. And how many a city have We destroyed that was vainglorious ¹¹² for its means of livelihood! And there are their dwellings, which have not been inhabited after them, except a little.¹¹³ And We were the inheritors,¹¹⁴

59. Nor did your Lord destroy the cities until He had sent a messenger to their central city reciting to them Our revelation.¹¹⁵ And never do We destroy the cities unless their people are wrong-doers.¹¹⁶

60. And whatever has been given you is the provision of the life of the world and its ornamentation; and that which Allah has is better and more lasting. Have you then no sense?¹¹⁷

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Commentary

100. That is: Allah’s revelations were sent one after the other continually and He made provision for their reminding without a break.

101. Means those people of the Book who had put their faith in the Qur’an. It may be noted that generally Qur’an refers to the people of the Book in the words “Whom the Book was given,” but when Qur’an particularly refers to this group of people among them who are sincere Muslims and believe in Qur’an, it uses the words “Whom We had given the Book.”It shows the aspect of favour.

102. It is a reference to those among the people of the Book who were the followers of the real religion of Islam, which invites to believe in monotheism, the Hereafter, all the divine books and all the prophets of God, and when Muhammad, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, was sent with Qur’an, they also believed in him and followed him, as if they had found Qur’an and the Prophet of Islam in continuation of their faith. Therefore, they were Muslims before and remained Muslims afterwards also. For them the question of conversion did not arise at all.

From this the idea is refuted that when the Qur’an began to be revealed there was no Muslim, and that the beginning of the religion of Islam starts with the Prophet of Islam. The fact is that Islam had been the religion of all the prophets, and at the time of revelation of Islam there were individuals whose religion was Islam, and therefore, they had no hesitation in following the Arabic Prophet (For the explanation of Islam, see S. Baqarah, Notes Nos.152 S. Al-i-Imran Notes No. 105,106,108).

103. That is: They deserved to be rewarded on the first occasion because they were believers in Islam, and when they accepted the faith of Arabian Prophet and became his followers, they deserved to be rewarded for the second time. In the hadith it is stated :

“There are three people who will be rewarded twice. One is that one who was of the People of the Book and was a believer in his prophet, then he believed in me—”

(Tafseer Ibn Katheer, Vol.3, p.393, with ref. to Bukhari).

104. That is: The persons who clash with these sincere Muslims are not repaid in the same terms, abuse with abuse, but they are treated well in reply to their offensive behaviour.

105. Their praise-worthy quality is that they are not miserly and wealth-loving, but they are munificent, and they spend the wealth given by Allah in His way to seek His pleasure and help the needy.

It also gives a hint that by spending in the way of Allah new vistas of goodness are opened and greater guidance is provided.

106. For the explanation of the word ‘Laghv’ (Vain talk), please see Surah Muminoon, Note No.3

Here the hint is at the fact that they do not pay any attention to the nonsensical talk of their opponents, nor do they have any interest in giving a reply to such a talk.

107.That is: We are responsible for our actions and you are responsible for your actions. We will have to bear the consequences of our doings and you will bear the consequences of your doings.

108.This salaam or salutation is not like the salutation which a Muslim offers to another Muslim. This salutation is for taking leave, departing, with the salutation. For further explanation, please see Surah Al-Furqan, Note No.92.

109.The teaching of the Qur’an is that in the matter of religion people of faith need not clash or entangle themselves with those who behave ignoramusly, but that they should part with them in a nice way. Religious quarrels do not profit, however if the hearer is prepared to hear something then truth must be told.

110. It is Allah who gives the inclination to accept guidance. It is not within your power that you imbibe guidance into anybody and make him rightly guided. And when a prophet is not able to make anybody rightly guided without the guidance from Allah, then what to speak of any other person.

111.Quraish thought that the position which they enjoyed in Makkah and the safe ambience which was available there on account of their sense of tolerance under which they had allowed the idol of every tribe to be kept in the House of Ka’ba. Now if they accept the dawah of tawheed of the Prophet, then there will not remain any idol in Makkah nor will there be any idolatry, as a result of which they will have to encounter the opposition of the Arab tribes. It will affect their trade and their economic life and also their safety and security. This idea of theirs is refuted here and it is said that the blessing of peace and safety which has been provided here in a land of murders for them is not on account of their sense of tolerance and idolatry but it has been made available because Allah has made Makkah a safe Haram-holy land. Because of its being haram, Arabs respect this city and consider disturbance of peace in this city to be a great sin. Therefore the peace that is available to the Quraish is on account of the haram and not on account of idolatry. Similarly, the import of various kinds of fruits and items of food in this city which is an unproductive land, is due to this city’s being the centre of monotheism and is the result of the special favour of Allah. But the fact which is in support of monotheism is being counted as in support of polytheism due to their folly. They went on saying these wrong things, but only a few years later the world saw that the standard-bearers of tawheed conquered the whole of Arabia, and for them there remained no fear and no danger.

Today also the compromising political leaders want the people to be away from God and religion, so that peace and safety may prevail, while the real peace and security is achieved by accepting the faith of God and His religion and by fulfilling its demands.

112. That is: Those who were proud of their comfortable life and cultural progress.

113. That is: It was very rare that the destroyed cities and dwellings were inhabited thereafter.

114. They departed from this world in such a way that they had to leave all their properties in the world. Thus ultimately We became the inheritors or the owners of their properties.

115. That is: The cities which were subjected to Allah’s punishment had to face these consequences because they did not pay heed to the teachings of the messenger sent by God to reform them.

From this ayah it has become clear that God had sent His prophet in the central city and not in every township, so that it might be possible to convey the dawah to every other township from the central place.

116. That is: On account of their polytheistic beliefs and disbelieving attitude they would have become evil doers and concerning God their attitude would have been unjust and excessive.

117. The objective is to make it clear that if they are not prepared to accept the message of the Prophet because their economic chances and worldly benefits would be endangered, then let them know that the profits of the world are temporary and short-lived. As against this the blessings of the next world are far better and everlasting. Then is this sensible that a man should give preference to the temporary comforts and benefits over the permanent and everlasting blessings and favours?

Can he who has received Our gracious promise, and will see it fulfilled, be like him to whom We have given the provision of the life of this world and who will be summoned, (for punishment) on the Day of Resurrection? And on the day when He will call to them, saying: “Where are those whom you claimed to be My partners?”(Al-Quran)