Surah Al-'Ankabut 29:45-51 - Quran Translation Commentary

45. Recite from the Book that has been revealed to you,⁸³ and establish salat. Verily salat prevents from lewdness and evil.⁸⁴ And Allah’s remembrance is great.⁸⁵ And Allah knows what you do.

46. And do not argue with the people of the Book except in a way which is better, unless it is with those among them who do wrong. And say: “We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you, our God and your God is one, and to Him we are submissive.”⁸⁶

47. Likewise We have revealed the book to you.⁸⁷ Those to whom We gave the Scripture (before) believe in it; ⁸⁸ and some of these (Meccans) also believe in it,⁸⁹ and only the disbelievers deny our revelations.⁹⁰

48. (O Prophet ! ) never had you read a book before, nor had you written it with your right hand, for then who follow falsehood might have doubted it.⁹¹

49. But it is clear revelation in the hearts of those who are endowed with knowledge.⁹² And only the wrong-doers deny Our revelations.

50. And they say: “Why no signs have been sent down to him from his Lord ?”⁹³ Say: “Signs are with Allah, and I am but a clear warner.”

51. Is it not enough for them that We have revealed to you the Book which is recited to them ? Verily there is in this a reminder for the people who believe.⁹⁴

Commentary

83. In this conflict of truth and falsehood mentioned above the Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, and through him his followers, have been directed to recite the Qur’an and establish salat, which signifies that the deniers are wasting their lives, let them do it, you should develop in yourselves a quality which would beautify your lives and which would provide to you benefit in the Hereafter. And that quality is: deep relationship with Allah, and deep relation with Allah is established by reciting the Divine Book and by establishing the prayer.

Full benefit from the recitation of the Qur’an can be obtained only by reciting in the manner which it deserves, i.e. first of all man should try to ponder over its teachings. He should accept its consul, and accepting its guidance adopt His life according to its teaching. But it does not mean that non-Arabic knowing Muslims should always read Qur’an with its translation. It is not always possible, for in the salat only recitation of Qur’an is possible. The question of reading its translation there does not arise. The main point is that Qur’an being the word of Allah, its mere recitation is Allah’s worship and is the means of nearness to Allah; when a man believing in it with sincerity recites it then he remembers Allah and because of the effect of the divine word his heart becomes tender, and it is a great spiritual wealth. That is why for every word of Qur’an its reciter gets a reward, therefore, the importance of the recitation of Qur’an cannot be lessened. The more arrangement for its recitation the more would be its reward. Such an encouragement is given in the Qur’an itself and also in the hadith. As for those who recite the Qur’an much but do not try to understand its meaning, it is like offering the salat without knowing what is being read in it, so much so that they do not know what are the meanings of the Surah Fatiha, bowing and prostration and what is read in them, nor do they know what promises they make in the salat and what they deny in it. Though such prayers are supposed to have been duly performed, they remain defective from the standpoint of their fruitfulness, their blessings and their rewards. Similarly by recitation, the benefit of worship is achieved, but on account of carelessness concerning its sense and meaning not only the reward for this worship is lessened but a person who is reciter of this kind is not benefited from the Qur’an and he is unable to establish the relationship which he should have established with the Qur’an for his own training, purification and guidance, and this is a great deprivation. Do such people feel that Allah wont ask them as to why they did not try to understand Qur’an which was with them? Was this Book revealed only for recitation or was it revealed to enable them to get light (of knowledge) from it?

84. This is quite a perceptible effect of salat that it causes purification in thinking and righteousness inactions. Even then what a large number of people are there who are regular prayer-offerers and also evil-doers, but this is their own fault, because only that prayer is effective which is performed with concentration, devotion and humility. And Allah has guaranteed triumph in the Hereafter for only those people of faith who offer their prayer with humility and concentration, (Surah Muminoon, ayah No.2 and note No.2) If the prayer is bereft of sincerity, then the desire to avoid sin does not develop.

85. From this the importance of remembering Allah becomes clear. This is a great form of worship and salat is the best example of this form. In ‘zikr’ (remembering) Allah, is included remembering Him in heart, to utter His name from the mouth and singing His praises. Whoever remembers Allah, he establishes a relationship with Him, and its extraordinary effects influence his heart, mind and practical life. Then the sweetness, the pleasure and enjoyment experienced in remembering Allah cannot be imagined by those who have no interest in this activity.

Allama Ibn Taimiyah has clarified the importance of the remembrance of Allah in a very nice way. He writes :

“Salat eliminates undesirable things like shamelessness and evil and refreshes Allah’s remembrance, which is a desirable thing; and achieving of this desirable thing compared to eliminating the undesirable things is a great achievement, for remembrance of Allah is His worship, and Allah’s worship from heart is in itself the desired objective, while elimination of evil from it is the natural objective for some thing.”

(Majmu’ Fatawa Ibn Taimiyah, Vo1.10, p.188) For further explanation, please see Surah Taha Note No.16.

86. This Surah was revealed at a time when a group of Muslims had migrated to Abyssinia due to the oppression by the unbelievers. In Abyssinia (Ethiopia)the ruler was a Christian. Thus Muslims got an opportunity to present the message of Qur’an before the Christians. In view of this the direction is given that with them the argument and debate should be in a better way, and further on it was clarified that the discussion should be started with the point of agreement between the two, and it was this that the scriptures which were revealed for them are also believed in by Muslims, and that the God of both is one, then why should they not believe in the Book that He has revealed then; and if the reality of faith is acceptance and agreement, then why should they not put their faith in the Prophet whom He has sent for the guidance of all, and why should they not accept him as their prophet?

In connection with the dawah the direction to adopt the best way and nice style of discussion is a direction of principle. Aggressive debating and philosophical discussion do not yield anything. However sober discussion, argumentative power and appealing style conquer hearts. For further explanation, please see Surah Nahl, Note No.186.

As for the wrong-doers, that is those who are not prepared to use their common sense and intelligence and are determined to stick to their wrongdoing, then however good a method of dawah may be adopted it is not going to influence them at all.

87. That is: O Prophet! As We had been revealing the holy Scriptures before this, similarly this time also We are revealing the divine Book to you.

88. Qur’an uses the phrases: ‘the Book was bestowed’ and ‘the Book was given’ with a certain shade of difference, the Book was bestowed or revealed is to indicate those people of the Book who appreciated the divine Book, and the Book was given indicates the general people of the Book.

Here those people of the Book whose accepting the faith is mentioned are the sincere ones who believed in the divine Book from before and when the Qur’an was presented to them, they at once believed in it. The reference particularly is to those Christians of Abyssinia who believed in Qur’an and its Prophet, and among them the king of Abyssinia, Najashi (Negus) was in the forefront.

89. That is: From among the people of Makkah also there are people who are embracing Islam.

90. Here by ‘Kafir’ (disbelievers) are meant those people who are not at all prepared to accept faith, i.e. die-hard disbelievers.

91. What can be a more convincing proof of Muhammad, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, being a true prophet than the fact that he did not know to read or write i.e. he was unlettered. He had never read the Torah or the Injeel, the divine Books that were with the people of the Book, nor did he ever copy anything from those books with his hands. And this thing was known to the idolaters of Makkah and all others, therefore, none denied the fact of his being an unlettered man. In such a case the question arises: How did it become possible for an unlettered man like him to present to the world a Book like Qur’an which is a treasure of knowledge and enlightenment, and which presents the history of prophets with perfect authenticity, which is a remedy for the sick hearts, which also bedecks man with good moral character, and whose every statement is balanced and appropriate and every word a ruby and diamond, and in which the right recognition of God is given, and in which provision is made for the guidance of man? There is no other answer to this question except that the Qur’an is not of his authorship but is a Book revealed by God, and this is a clear proof of his prophethood.

After the bestowal of prophethood also, he did not learn reading and writing and no authentic hadith can be produced in support of the point that afterwards he had not remained unlettered. His being unlettered is not a but is a thing to be proud of because inspite of being unlettered his presenting of a Book full of wisdom like Qur’an is an open miracle, which will last for ever.

For further explanation please see Surah A’raf Note No.234

92. This is another proof of Qur’an being the Book of God. The message of Qur’an is the Natures invitation, and a right-minded person, hearing its ayat, feels that it is a distinguished piece of wordings and it is God who is speaking. And if the person has knowledge of other divine Books which were revealed before Qur’an, then he will know that the source of both is the same, as if the people of knowledge consider the verses of Qur’an as if they are the matter of their own heart. In other words, the ayat of Qur’an are written on the tablets of heart of the people of knowledge, and this is the clear evidence of its being the word of God.

93. Means tangible and perceptible miracles.

94. This is an answer to their query that he is a prophet, then why he does not manifest a miracle before them saying this Book is a great miracle; in the presence of this miracle there is no need for any other miracle.

Then this miracle is very beneficial owing to its nature: those who will believe in it, Allah’s mercy will descend upon them and they will get a reminding admonition from it.