Surah 3. Ali 'Imran

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Verses [Section]: 1-9[1], 10-20 [2], 21-30 [3], 31-41 [4], 42-54 [5], 55-63 [6], 64-71 [7], 72-80 [8], 81-91 [9], 92-101 [10], 102-109 [11], 110-120 [12], 121-129 [13], 130-143 [14], 144-148 [15], 149-155 [16], 156-172 [17], 173-180 [18], 181-187 [19], 188-200 [20]

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Quran Text of Verse 1-93. Ali 'Imran Page 503. Ali 'Imranبِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِالٓمَّٓ ۙAlif Laam Meem اللّٰهُAllahلَاۤ(there is) noاِلٰهَGodاِلَّاexceptهُوَ ۙHimالْحَیُّthe Ever-Livingالْقَیُّوْمُؕthe Sustainer of all that exists نَزَّلَHe revealedعَلَیْكَto youالْكِتٰبَthe Bookبِالْحَقِّin [the] truthمُصَدِّقًاconfirmingلِّمَاthat whichبَیْنَ(was)یَدَیْهِbefore itوَ اَنْزَلَand He revealedالتَّوْرٰىةَthe Tauratوَ الْاِنْجِیْلَۙand the Injeel مِنْFromقَبْلُbefore (this)هُدًی(as) guidanceلِّلنَّاسِfor the mankindوَ اَنْزَلَAnd (He) revealedالْفُرْقَانَ ؕ۬the CriterionاِنَّVerilyالَّذِیْنَthose whoكَفَرُوْاdisbelieve[d]بِاٰیٰتِin (the) Versesاللّٰهِ(of) Allahلَهُمْfor themعَذَابٌ(is) a punishmentشَدِیْدٌ ؕsevereوَ اللّٰهُAnd Allahعَزِیْزٌ(is) All-MightyذُوAll-Ableانْتِقَامٍ (of) retribution اِنَّIndeedاللّٰهَAllahلَاnotیَخْفٰیis hiddenعَلَیْهِfrom Himشَیْءٌanythingفِیinالْاَرْضِthe earthوَ لَاand notفِیinالسَّمَآءِؕthe heaven هُوَHeالَّذِیْ(is) the One Whoیُصَوِّرُكُمْshapes youفِیinالْاَرْحَامِthe wombsكَیْفَhow(ever)یَشَآءُ ؕHe willsلَاۤ(There is) noاِلٰهَgodاِلَّاexceptهُوَHimالْعَزِیْزُthe All-Mightyالْحَكِیْمُ the All-Wise هُوَHeالَّذِیْۤ(is) the One Whoاَنْزَلَrevealedعَلَیْكَto youالْكِتٰبَthe Bookمِنْهُof itاٰیٰتٌ(are) Versesمُّحْكَمٰتٌabsolutely clearهُنَّthey (are)اُمُّthe foundationالْكِتٰبِ(of) the Bookوَ اُخَرُand othersمُتَشٰبِهٰتٌ ؕ(are) allegoricalفَاَمَّاThen as forالَّذِیْنَthoseفِیْinقُلُوْبِهِمْtheir heartsزَیْغٌ(is) perversityفَیَتَّبِعُوْنَ[so] they followمَاwhatتَشَابَهَ(is) allegoricalمِنْهُof itابْتِغَآءَseekingالْفِتْنَةِ[the] discordوَ ابْتِغَآءَand seekingتَاْوِیْلِهٖ ؔۚits interpretationوَ مَاAnd notیَعْلَمُknowsتَاْوِیْلَهٗۤits interpretationاِلَّاexceptاللّٰهُؔۘAllahوَالرّٰسِخُوْنَAnd those firmفِیinالْعِلْمِ[the] knowledgeیَقُوْلُوْنَthey sayاٰمَنَّاWe believeبِهٖ ۙin itكُلٌّAllمِّنْ(is)عِنْدِfromرَبِّنَا ۚour Lordوَ مَاAnd notیَذَّكَّرُwill take heedاِلَّاۤexceptاُولُواmenالْاَلْبَابِ (of) understanding رَبَّنَاOur Lord!لَا(Do) notتُزِغْdeviateقُلُوْبَنَاour heartsبَعْدَafterاِذْ[when]هَدَیْتَنَاYou (have) guided usوَ هَبْand grantلَنَا(for) usمِنْfromلَّدُنْكَYourselfرَحْمَةً ۚmercyاِنَّكَIndeed YouاَنْتَYouالْوَهَّابُ (are) the Bestower رَبَّنَاۤOur Lord!اِنَّكَIndeed Youجَامِعُwill gatherالنَّاسِ[the] mankindلِیَوْمٍon a Dayلَّا(there is) noرَیْبَdoubtفِیْهِ ؕin itاِنَّIndeedاللّٰهَAllahلَا(does) notیُخْلِفُbreakالْمِیْعَادَ۠the Promise

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Translation of Verse 1-9In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful,

1. Alif. Lam. Meem¹.

2. Allah, there is no god,² but He. He is Living, Self-Subsisting, and Eternal³.

3. He has sent down to you the Book in Truth,⁴ confirming that which were sent before it, and He has sent down Torahs⁵ and Injeel.⁶

4. For the guidance of mankind before this, and He sent down the Criterion.⁷ Verily, those who disbelieve the revelations of Allah will suffer the severest punishment. And Allah is Mighty, Lord of Retributions ⁸ (for Sins).

5. Verily, from Allah nothing is hidden on earth or in the heavens⁹.

6. It is He who shapes¹⁰ you in the wombs as He pleases. There is no god, but He, the Almighty, the Wise.

7. It is He, who has sent down to you the Book: wherein are firm verses,¹¹ which are the main foundation¹² of the Book, and others are allegorical.¹³ Then those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part there of that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hidden meanings;¹⁴ but no one knows its real meanings except Allah. And those who are firm in knowledge say: ‘We believe in it, the whole of it is from our Lord, and none take instruction except men of understanding.

8. “Our Lord ! Let not our hearts deviate after you have guided us, and bestow on us mercy from Your blessings. Surely, You are the Bestower of favours ¹⁵.

9. “Our Lord ! You will surely gather all mankind on a day about which there is no doubt. Verily, Allah never fails in His promise.

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Commentary

1. These are ‘Muqatta ‘at’ or separate letters, which have been explained in the beginning of Surah Baqarah’s commentary. There with reference to Zabur we had mentioned that these letters indicate or point out the specific subjects or words of the surah. The contents of this surah show that these letters have a special relevance to these topics. To be short, we will only say that Alif points to “Allah” whose correct understanding has been given in this surah. Moreover, it points to “Ayatullah” (Signs of Allah) which have been mentioned at several places, and especially in the verse no.7 two kinds of Quranic verses have heen mentioned: the clear revelations and the allegorical. Similarly Lam points to

“La Ilaha Illallahu” (there is no god, except Allah), which has been very magnificently presented in this surah (verses nos. 2, 6 and 18).

As regards Meem, that is also an important factor of this surah, because in this surah the attribute of Allah that He is the Master of land (Power) has been very effectively presented (verse no.26). Besides,a mention of angels has also been made in it at various places and their evidence is also presented in connection with the belief of oneness of God (verse no. 18). In addition, the Mumineen and the Muttaqeen (The faithful and the righteous) have been given the glad tidings of their success. In other words the position of these letters are like that of the milestones, which guide towards the destination.

2. It is not said that Allah is the biggest God among the gods, that is He is Mahadev or the Chief God, but it is said that there is no god except Allah that is beside Him, no other god exists. Therefore, all those that are called gods besides Allah, are imaginary gods, in reality none of them has any attribute of godness in him or her.

3. Please see surah Baqarah. note no.409 and 410. Here it refers to the fact that Self- subsistence is the attribute of Allah alone, therefore, He is rightly considered worthy of worship. But those who believe in the godhood of the Christ or of some other person or thing, should state whether they also have the attribute of self- subsistence. If not and definitely not then how can it be right to call them god ?

4. ‘Nazzala’ (sent down) connotes the sense of sending down with the words, that is there is no room for conjecturing that the revelation from Allah was given the form of words by the Prophet. No, the Holy Quran, in words and in text is the Book revealed by Allah, and in shaping its words or its text, no one, not even the Prophet had a hand.

5. Torah in Hebrew means law. It is the name of the Book which was revealed by Allah to the Prophet Moosa. Quran confirms its divine origin. But let there be no misunderstanding that the present old Testament is the same original Torah, and all its contents are confirmed by Quran because the present Bible is a religious book which contains some parts of the original Torah but it is a ‘collection of the historical events, biography, explanation of the learned men and opinions of the theologians, which wholly cannot be called a Divine book nor can anybody separate the parts of the original Torah from this collection unless he employs some unusual insight. The present Bible also does not claim that it is exactly the same book which was revealed by Allah. Besides, its contents are a clear proof that this collection is compiled by human beings. The Bible itself admits about the changes that have been made in the original words from God. Accordingly, in the Bible’s Book of Jeremiah it is written:

“and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God “(jer. 23:36)

A commentator of the present Bible admits that this collection was also compiled after the return of Israil from Babylon. Accordingly: in ‘Peake’s commentary on the Bible’its commentator writes;

“It was after the return of Israel from the Babylonian exile that the collection of the Books of the Law into the present corpus was made.”(page 2).

6. Injeel is the name of the Book which Allah had revealed to prophet Eesa. Quran confirms this Book. So far as the New Testament of the present Bible is concerned, original parts of Injeel are definitely found in it, which are harmonious with Quran but this collection also in its present form cannot be considered as the words of God. In this Book with the dispersed parts of the divine words are also found historical events, narratives and explanations, interpretations, etc. At the very commencement of the Bible of Luke this clarification is given that its compiler has himself compiled the events:

“In as much as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.” (Luke 1:1 to 4)

This is admitted by a commentator of the Bible in these words:

“The motive and the method of the writing of a gospel are described in the Prologue of the Gospel of Luke: without any claim to inspiration, the writer set out to get the best information that he could and to use the previous attempts, which had been made. The narrative was not designed to be sacred scripture. It was a record of the events; where in the sacred scriptures were fulfilled.” -(Peake’s commentary on the Bible, page 4).

7. Furqan or Criterion is the quality of Quran, which is the Book that distinguishes between the truth and the falsehood. The purpose of mentioning this quality of Quran here is to make it clear that when the people of the Book made changes in the Torah and Injeel and it became difficult for the people to distinguish between the truth and the falsehood, Allah sent down the holy Quran as a criterion so that the path of guidance may become clear to the people.

8. That is: if even after coming of the guidance in the form of Quran, those people who do not come out of the quagmire of the religious differences and do not accept this guidance will be severely ‘punished by Allah.

9. Points to the fact that the people have made bold to make changes in the Divine scriptures and the different religions which they have invented, are things which are not hidden from Allah, and that they should not think that there is no order or organisation in His affairs. He knows all these misdeeds of men. But since His intention is to take the test of the people in this world, it is exactly according to His intention that people are given freedom to do these things and the judgement in their case will be given on the Day of the Reckoning.

10. It is only Allah, Who creates ova in the mother’s womb and not any devi or devta. In the polytheistic religion this concept is found that a particular devi (Tvashtri) shapes the ova. This verse declares all such concepts as false. Besides, from a reference to the context it will be seen that the verse points to the fact that the creation of Christ had taken place in the womb of Maryam ( Mary) then how can he be a god ?

11. That is: firm and definite, meaning those verses of Quran, which are so far as their meanings and sense are concerned, quite clear and unambiguous, for example those verses in which the Islamic dawah, its teachings, its commands and laws, duties, worships, sermons and such kind of things are mentioned.

12. The position of the ‘Mohkamat’ (firm verses) is like ‘the foundation of the Book, that is they are the basic verses and origin of the Book. Therefore, it will not be correct to interpret Quran in a manner which would go against these clear revelations and wherever there is any doubt about the meaning, these clear revelations will have to be referred to.

13. ‘Mutashabihat’ that is similar, By’ Muta-shabehat’ are meant those verses in which simile is employed to represent the realities, i.e. allegorical. Those realities which are beyond human perception or feelings e.g. Allah’s being on the ‘Arsh’ (throne), realities of the higher world, weighing of the deeds, pleasures of paradise, punishments of hell, conditions of the Hereafter , etc. All these things have been described in such a way that they look similar to the things which are found in the world of perception and feeling and for which words are found in the human language. This gives man knowledge of metaphysical realities to an extent which is necessary for his guidance. Beyond this, if man tries to find out the exact reality, he is bound to meet with failure; he would only entangle himself in wordy debates and lengthy discussions which is not the work for wisemen.

14. An example of going after the allegorical verses of the scriptures is the question of Prophet Eesa’s birth. Since he was born in an extra-ordinary way, without having a father, he was called the word from God, i.e. he was like the command from God, because his birth took place as a result of Allah saying the word, “Be” But the Christians subsequently indulged in philosophical hairsplitting in this matter and believed in the godship of Christ. Thus they themselves went on the wrong course and misled others also. It is a pity that in spite of this clear guidance from the Quran, some groups of Muslims in the past indulged in unnecessary and lengthy discussions regarding the attributes of Allah, as a result of which the ‘art of Polemic’ called “Ilmi Kalam” came into being, and the uncomplicated and simple beliefs of Islam were turned into a puzzle.

15. This prayer which has been uttered by those who are mature in learning represents their faithful passion. They take care to keep away from the evils of interpreting the allegorical verses and are watchful against those who create disruption in the religion and they pray to the Almighty Allah to safeguard their faith.