118. “Imam” is anyone who is followed. So the Prophet is our Imam, the Qur’an is our Imam, and the followers of every religion have their own Imam. The Qur’an itself has used the word “imam” in the sense of a book. It said (36: 12),

وَكُلَّ شَيْءٍ أَحْصَيْنَاهُ فِي إِمَامٍ مُبِينٍ [يس : 12]

“And everything We have recorded in a clear book” (Razi).

Mujahid and Qatadah were of the opinion that by the textual term “imam” the allusion is to the Messengers sent to the nations. But Ibn `Abbas, Hasan and Dahhak thought the allusion is to the Book of Deeds (Ibn Jarir).

A second opinion of Ibn `Abbas as in Ibn Marduwayh, Ibn abi Shaybah, Ibn al-Munddhir and Ibn abi Hatim agrees with the earlier opinion that the allusion is to Messengers (Shawkani).

Qurtubi writes the opinion of Abu `Ubaydah that the allusion could well be to the religious denominations (madhahib, in which people take pride and deride each other). They might be called as, “(Come forward), O Hanafiyy, O Shafe`i, etc.”

Zamakhshari notes (while Razi and Alusi reproduce from him) that the Shi`a have interpreted “imam” as the plural of Umm (meaning mother). In the light of this meaning they explain that on the Day of Judgment the people will be referred to by the names of their mothers. They also say that the wisdom behind this is that Jesus Christ could then be called by his mother’s name, Hasan and Hussain by their mother’s name as well as a man out of adultery by his mother’s name. Zamakhshari then throws the punch, “I don’t know which of the two statements is more ridiculous: the interpretation itself or the wisdom cited.”

Alusi notes that `Uqayli has a report coming from Anas that he said, “The records (of deeds) are stored under the `Arsh. On Judgment Day Allah will send across a (powerful) wind that will fly the records into either the right hands or left hands of the people. The first line in it would read (17: 14),

اقْرَأْ كِتَابَكَ كَفَى بِنَفْسِكَ الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكَ حَسِيبًا [الإسراء : 14]

‘Read your record. Sufficient is your own soul this day for reckoning against yourself.’”

Alusi is not too sure of the authenticity of this report but feels that it is supported by another in Ahmad brought to us by `A’isha. She asked, “Messenger of Allah. Will a lover remember his beloved on the Judgment Day?” He answered, “On three occasions, no.” (The third occasion he mentioned as), “When the Records fly.”

Incidentally, the Qur’an or Sunnah are not specific about angels handing over the Book of Records to the people (Au.).

119. “Fatil” is that little thread which is found in the cleft (central split portion) of date seed.

120. That is, blind to truth.

121. When asked by someone coming from Yemen, Ibn `Abbas explained that a man who is blind to Allah’s signs in this world – to those signs that are spread around him - will be more so in affairs concerning the Hereafter (Ibn Jarir, Razi).

Another meaning is that those who are blind to Allah’s signs in this world will be blind to the ways leading to Paradise in the Hereafter. But the reference could as well be to actual blindness in the Hereafter as in the verse (20: 124-126),

وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْ ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنْكًا وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَى (124) قَالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرْتَنِي أَعْمَى وَقَدْ كُنْتُ بَصِيرًا (125) قَالَ كَذَلِكَ أَتَتْكَ آيَاتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَا وَكَذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ تُنْسَى [طه : 124-126]

“And whoever turns away from My Reminder, shall have a livelihood of hardships, and We shall raise him up in the Hereafter blind. He will cry out, ‘My Lord. Why have you raised me blind when I was seeing?’ He will reply, ‘That is how Our signs came to you but you forgot all about them. That is how you will be forgotten today’” (Razi).

122. “In” here is a short form of “inna.” It is called the lightened “in,” and is usually without government (Majid).

123. As context of revelation Ibn `Abbas said that once the Thaqif tribesmen came to the Prophet and said, “Give us a year to receive the gifts that our idols receive. Thereafter we shall abandon them and embrace your religion.” The Prophet was wondering whether he should allow them the reprieve when Allah revealed this and the next verse (Ibn Jarir).

Sayyid adds: “The allusion is perhaps to several efforts made by the Quraysh to soften the Prophet. On one occasion they asked him to give up criticizing their deities, in return of which they would include Allah in their worship. On another occasion they said that he should appoint a time when their chiefs and the honored ones could see him: a time when the lowly ones were not around. And so on.

“Those were efforts at a compromise of the kind that those in power of every age try to work out between themselves and the callers to Islam. The objective is to deflect them - a little to start with. Sometimes a caller is deceived by the offer, imagining that he is after all making a small concession. For, those in power do not ask that he give up the call altogether. They ask for minor adjustments that might make it possible for both of them to meet at a midpoint between the two ways: theirs and his. In consequence, the caller is most tempted, especially in view of what he sees as some advantages to the call. But a minor deviation at the beginning of the path leads to a total deviation at the end of it. The caller is unable to retrieve back what he surrendered, (and the list grows), adding to his weakness. In fact, his own willingness to give in, increases with every new compromise deal that he strikes.

“Indeed, the question is that of the caller’s own faith in his call. He who compromises, even though a little, and is silent about something that is wrong, even if apparently minor, does not have full faith in what he offers to others. Does he truly believe in the goodness and benefit of his call? For a true believer, every part of the whole is like any other part: neither less important nor more. There isn’t anything that is redundant. So, how can he give up anything? On the other hand, those in power first try to buy off a little. The process, once started, ends with a sell out of the whole.”

124. The addition of the word “a little” at the end of the verse implies that the Prophet did not incline to them even a little (Au.). Hence his prayer-words:

اللهمَّ لا تَكِلْنِي إلى نَفْسِي طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ

“O Allah, do not hand me over to myself even for a moment” (Qatadah - Ibn Jarir).

The hadith meets with the requirements of the Sheikhayn (Hakim: Au.).

125. The promise of double the punishment is to impress on us that the punishment from Allah is proportionate to the level of elevation: the more is one elevated in Islam, the greater the punishment for him (Zamakhshari).

Qurtubi adds, “Hence we have the verse (33: 30),

يَا نِسَاءَ النَّبِيِّ مَنْ يَأْتِ مِنْكُنَّ بِفَاحِشَةٍ مُبَيِّنَةٍ يُضَاعَفْ لَهَا الْعَذَابُ ضِعْفَيْنِ [الأحزاب : 30]

‘O womenfolk of the Prophet. If anyone of you comes with a clear indecency, the chastisement will be doubled for her.’”

126. The Quraysh in fact did not enjoy a long stay in Makkah after they had forced the Prophet out. They were destroyed at Badr (Ibn Jarir).

And the Makkans escaped with this lighter punishment because they did not exactly exile the Prophet, but rather, forced him out (Razi).