Surah Al-Baqarah 2:40-46 - Quran Translation Commentary

(2:40) Children of Israel!¹⁰⁴ Remember My favors¹⁰⁵ wherewith I favored you, and fulfill My covenant I shall fulfill your covenant,¹⁰⁶ and fear Me alone.

(2:41) Believe in that I have sent, confirming that which is with you,¹⁰⁷ and be not the first to disbelieve in it.¹⁰⁸ Barter not My signs for a paltry price,¹⁰⁹ and fear Me alone.

(2:42) Do not confound the Truth with falsehood,¹¹⁰ nor conceal it¹¹¹ while you know.

(2:43) Perform the Prayers, pay the alms¹¹² and bow down along with those who bow.¹¹³

(2:44) Do you enjoin the people to righteousness and forget yourselves,¹¹⁴ while you recite the Book?¹¹⁵ Do you not understand?

(2:45) And seek help in patience and Prayers.¹¹⁶ They are indeed hard but not upon those who fear.

(2:46) Those who believe¹¹⁷ that they shall meet their Lord, and that unto Him they shall return.¹¹⁸

Commentary

104. The address at the time of revelation was to the Jews of Madinah, but with the lapse of that historical situation, it is to the Jews of all times, as well as all those who will follow them in their footsteps, not excluding the Muslims. Note the tenderness in the appeal and mildness of reproach. This is because this was the first direct call and the Prophet's first encounter with them. The tone became harsher with the passage of time and experience of their increased obduracy and hostility (Au.)

Israel was the title conferred on Ya`qub (Jacob), the son of Is-haq (Isaac) and the grandson of Ibrahim (asws). The progeny of Ya`qub were known as the Children of Israel. According to Ibn `Abbas, the meaning of the term is "the slave of God" (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir), since "Isra" in Hebrew stands for "slave" and "ail" for God (Ruh).

The Christian Biblical commentators state that the meaning of the term is "the soldier of God," a title which Jacob won when he defeated God in a wrestling bout! Genesis: 32. Whatever the meaning, not all the Jews were the progeny of Ya`qub at the time of the address. Many of them in and around Madinah were, in fact, Arabs and of the Isma`ili line. As for the modern Jews, the great majority of them have no lineage with that Prophet. With several large scale massacres at the hands of their enemies at different times in history, and conversion of new peoples to Judaism (the East Europeans, Russians, Ethiopians, Middle easterners, etc.), the original stock is lost. However, they were addressed as the Children of Israel because that is how they loved to be addressed (Au.).

Ibn Kathir writes: The point in addressing them in a manner they liked most was as if to tell them: 'O the progeny of an obedient slave of Ours! Be like your forefathers.'

Majid comments: "This nation of priests, patriarchs and prophets, perhaps the most remarkable people in ancient history, blessed of their Lord, always great in the realm of religion and faith, and mighty and glorious for long periods in the affairs of the world, had migrated in their thousands, after the capture of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus, into Arabia, and had settled in and around Madinah long before the advent of the holy Prophet. The whole of the north western Arabia was dotted over by their colonies, and many of the Arab pagans, in the course of time, had come to adopt their ways and their faith. In the third century of the Christian era an Arabian tribe, even so remote as in the south of the Peninsula, was led to adopt the Jewish faith. As proud possessors of the book and the divine Law, and even more as adept in crude occult sciences and magical crafts, these Arab Jews were in early days of Islam, in effect intellectually the dominating masters of the country. In matters religious and divine they were the trusted advisers of the unlettered pagans and their acknowledged superiors. Jewish legends, Jewish tenets and Jewish feats of exorcism were by now popular knowledge throughout Arabia. The 'idolatry of Arabia,' to use the words of Muir, had formed a compromise with Judaism, and had imbibed many of its legends and perhaps many of its tenets. It was the Jews, again, who had been long predicting a new redeemer, and had been keenly looking for him. This helps to explain the extent of attention they receive in the Qur'an, and the long series of admonitions, warnings and exhortations addressed to them. In the domain of religion they were always the foremost: in Arabia, contemporaneous with Islam, their importance stood especially high."

105. Drawing the meaning from the comments of Ibn `Abbas, Abu al `Aliyyah, and Mujahid, Ibn Jarir says that the favors wherewith Allah (swt) favored the Children of Israel are: His choice of Messengers from among them, revelation of Books unto them, releasing them from the tyrannies of Fir`awn and his people, giving them a foothold in the holy land, springing forth of water from a piece of rock, and feeding them with mann and salwa. He reminded them of His favors shown to their fathers in order that the progeny might not forget (their unique position with God), and might not commit those acts that entail Allah's anger.

Qurtubi and Sabuni note: The Gnostics say: 'The worshippers of favors and blessings are many. But the worshippers of Him who grants favors and blessings are few. The Israelites were asked to remember the favors, in order that they might reach through them the One who bestows. In contrast, the Muslims were told to remember the One who grants favors. They were told (2: 152): "Remember Me, I will remember you," so that they might know Him who grants the favors. Then, through Him, they could seek the favors. The two situations are poles apart.'

106. What was the covenant of God with the Israelites? It was to the effect that if they remained true to their part of the covenant, He will be pleased with them and reward them in the Hereafter with Paradise (Ibn `Abbas, Suddi, Dahhak, Abu al `Aliyyah, Rabi`: Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

According to Hasan al Busri (Ibn Kathir), the details of the covenant are in verse 12 of surah al Ma'idah which says (5: 12): وَلَقَدْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَبَعَثْنَا مِنْهُمُ اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ نَقِيبًا وَقَالَ اللَّهُ إِنِّي مَعَكُمْ لَئِنْ أَقَمْتُمُ الصَّلاةَ وَآَتَيْتُمُ الزَّكَاةَ وَآَمَنْتُمْ بِرُسُلِي وَعَزَّرْتُمُوهُمْ وَأَقْرَضْتُمُ اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا لأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنْكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَلأُدْخِلَنَّكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ "Allah took compact with the Children of Israel; and We raised up from among them twelve chieftains. And Allah said, 'I am with you. Surely, if you perform the prayer, and pay the alms, and believe in My Messengers and succor them, and lend to Allah a good loan, I will acquit you of your evil deeds, and I will admit you to gardens underneath which rivers flow.'"

Ibn Jurayj has said: This also happens to be the compact between us (Muslims) and Allah (Ibn Jarir).

107. Disbelief in the new revelation will amount to disbelief in your own revelation which the new revelation confirms as true (Au.).

108. That is, having known the theme of past revelations, and the common elements of divine guidance, of which the new guidance is also composed, it was not difficult for the Jews to judge whether the new call had a divine origin or not. Accordingly, they should have been the first to believe in the message of Islam and not the first to reject it. In fact, before the advent of Islam, they used to promise the pagan Arabs that soon a new Prophet would appear in whom they would be the first to believe and who would lead them to victory and destroy their enemies for good (Ruh).

109. That is, do not, O Rabbis, hesitate from spreading the word of Allah as found in your holy writ, in fear that if people begin to follow it you will lose your influence. The Prophet (saws) has said in a hadith of Abu Da'ud: "مَنْ تَعَلّمَ عِلْماً مِمّا يُبْتَغَى بِهِ وَجْهُ الله لا يَتَعَلّمُهُ إلاّ لِيُصِيبَ بِهِ عَرَضاً مِنَ الدّنْيَا لَمْ يَجِدْ عَرْفَ الْجَنّةِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ - يَعني رِيحَهَا". "Whoever sought knowledge that is normally sought for Allah's pleasure, for the sake of worldly rewards, will not even smell Paradise on the Day of Judgment" (Ibn Kathir).

Zamakhshari adds: The allusion is to the practice of the Rabbis who took a share of the fruits and crops which were in fact bribes offered to them by the commoners for securing rulings that made it easy for them to follow the "Law." The allusion is also to the financial help they received from their rulers for concealing the truth or giving the law a twist.

Although the Jews are the subject of the verse, a glaring example of this bartering of the truth for paltry price was provided by the Christians of Najran whose delegation appeared in Madinah those very days. They were sixty riders headed by three men, 1) Abu Haritha, a religious scholar and Bishop, 2) `Abd al Masih, in general command of the delegate, and 3) Al Ayham who looked after transport and general administration. Abu Haritha confided to his brother, Kurz b. Alqamah that he was convinced that Muhammad (saws) was a true Prophet. "Then what prevents you from accepting him?" asked the astonished brother. He replied, "The way these people (the Romans) have treated us. They bestowed titles on us, paid us subsidies, (built churches for us), and honored us. And they are absolutely opposed to him. If I accept him, they will withdraw from us all that you see (with us)" (Sirah Rasulullah, Ibn Is haq).

In connection with speaking out the truth and not bartering it away for a paltry price, Qurtubi gives us the account of Abu Hazim's encounter with the Umayyad king Sulayman. The original source is Darami, and here we present it in a truncated form but leaving the original text in full for Arab readers' enjoyment. أخبرنا الضحاك بن موسى قال: مر سليمان بن عبد الملك بالمدينة - وهو يريد مكة - فأقام بها أياما فقال: هل بالمدينة أحد أدرك أحدا من أصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ؟ قالوا له: أبو حازم فأرسل إليه فلما دخل عليه قال له: يا أبا حازم ما هذا الجفاء ؟ قال أبو حازم: يا أمير المؤمنين وأي جفاء رأيت منى ؟ قال: أتاني وجوه أهل المدينة ولم تأتني ! قال يا أمير المؤمنين أعيذك بالله أن تقول ما لم يكن ما عرفتني قبل هذا اليوم ولا أنا رأيتك ! قال: فالتفت إلى محمد ابن شهاب الزهري فقال: أصاب الشيخ وأخطأت. قال سليمان: يا أبا حازم ما لنا نكره الموت ؟ ! قال: لانكم أخربتم الآخرة وعمرتم الدنيا فكرهتم أن تنتقلوا من العمران إلى الخراب قال أصبت يا أبا حازم فكيف القدوم غدا على الله تعالى ؟ قال: أما المحسن فكالغائب يقدم على أهله وأما المسئ فكالآبق يقدم على مولاه. فبكى سليمان وقال: ليت شعري ! ما لنا عند الله ؟ قال: اعرض عملك على كتاب الله. قال: وأي مكان أجده ؟ قال: " إن الابرار لفي نعيم وإن الفجار لفي جحيم " [ الانفطار: 13 - 14 ]. قال سليمان: فأين رحمة الله يا أبا حازم ؟ قال أبو حازم: رحمة الله قريب من المحسنين قال له سليمان: يا أبا حازم فأي عباد الله أكرم؟ قال: أولو المروءة والنهى. قال له سليمان: فأي الاعمال أفضل ؟ قال أبو حازم أداء الفرائض مع اجتناب المحارم. قال سليمان: فأي الدعاء أسمع ؟ قال دعاء المحسن إليه للمحسن. فقال: أي الصدقة أفضل ؟ قال: للسائل البائس وجهد المقل ليس فيها من ولا أذى. قال: فأي القول أعدل ؟ قال: قول الحق عند من تخافه أو ترجوه. قال: فأى المؤمنين أكيس ؟ قال: رجل عمل بطاعة الله ودل الناس عليها. قال: فأي المؤمنين أحمق ؟ قال: رجل انحط في هوى أخيه وهو ظالم فباع آخرته بدنيا غيره قال له سليمان: أصبت فما تقول فيما نحن فيه ؟ قال يا أمير المؤمنين أو تعفيني ؟ قال له سليمان: لا ! ولكن نصيحة تلقيها إلي. قال: يا أمير المؤمنين إن آباءك قهروا الناس بالسيف وأخذوا هذا الملك عنوة على غير مشورة من المسلمين ولا رضاهم حتى قتلوا منهم مقتلة عظيمة فقد ارتحلوا عنها فلو شعرت ما قالوه وما قيل لهم !. فقال له رجل من جلسائه: بئس ما قلت يا أبا حازم ! قال أبو حازم: كذبت إن الله أخذ ميثاق العلماء ليبيننه للناس ولا تكتمونه. قال له سليمان: فكيف لنا أن نصلح ؟ قال: تدعون الصلف وتمسكون بالمرؤة وتقسمون بالسوية.

قال له سليمان: فكيف لنا بالمأخذ به ؟ قال أبو حازم: تأخذه من حله وتضعه في أهله. قال له سليمان: هل لك يا أبا حازم أن تصحبنا فتصيب منا ونصيب منك ؟ قال أعوذ بالله ! قال له سليمان: ولم ذاك ؟ قال: أخشى أن أركن إليكم شيئا قليلا فيذيقني الله ضعف الحياة وضعف الممات. قال له سليمان ارفع إلينا حوائجك قال: تنجيني من النار وتدخلني الجنة. قال له سليمان: ليس ذاك إلي ! قال له أبو حازم: فما لى إليك حاجة غيرها. قال: فادع لي. قال أبو حازم: اللهم إن كان سليمان وليك فيسره لخير الدنيا والآخرة وإن كان عدوك فخذ بناصيته إلى ما تحب وترضى قال له سليمان قط ! قال أبو حازم: قد أوجزت وأكثرت إن كنت من أهله وإن لم تكن من أهله فما ينبغي أن أرمي عن قوس ليس لها وتر قال له سليمان أوصني قال سأوصيك وأوجز: عظم ربك ونزهه أن يراك حيث نهاك أو يفقدك حيث أمرك. فلما خرج من عنده بعث إليه بمائة دينار وكتب [ إليه ] أن أنفقها ولك عندي مثلها كثير قال فردها عليه وكتب إليه يا أمير المومنين أعيذك بالله أن يكون سؤالك إياي هزلا أو ردي عليك بذلا وما أرضاها لك فكيف [ أرضاها ] لنفسي ! "When Sulayman b. `Abd al Malik visited Madinah he asked his courtiers whether there was any one in the town who had seen a Companion of the Prophet (saws). They named Abu Hazim. Sulayman sent word to him that he would be glad to receive him. When Abu Hazim came Sulayman complained that he did not come on his own, rather, had to be invited. He replied that the two had not known each other previously. Sulayman asked him: "Why do we fear death, Abu Hazim?" Abu Hazim replied, "Because you have built this world and destroyed your Hereafter and hate to shift from a beautified world to a ruined one." Sulayman remarked, "I think you are right," Then he asked: "What kind of returning will ours be to the Hereafter?" Abu Hazim answered: "For those who did well in this world it will be like someone returning to his home and family. As for him who did evil, it will be like a runaway slave reporting back to his master." This brought tears to Sulayman's eyes. He said: "God! I wonder what's in store for us in the Hereafter." Abu Hazim replied: "Well, you might weigh your deeds against the Qur'an." Sulayman asked: "What will be my place there?" Abu Hazim recited the verse (82: 13, 14): "The righteous will be in bliss, and the libertines will be in a fiery furnace." At that Sulayman protested: "And where is Allah's mercy?" Abu Hazim quoted another verse (7: 56): "Allah's mercy is very near the righteous." Then, as the conversation proceeded, Sulayman asked Abu Hazim's opinion about himself as a ruler and his government. Abu Hazim asked to be spared the answer. But Sulayman persisted. So he said: "You know that your forefathers came to power not by the people's consent or council but through brute force, killing a large number of their opponents. They are gone; but only if you knew how the people remember them now!" Upon this one of the courtiers interjected: "You have spoken evil, Abu Hazim." Abu Hazim shot back: "You have lied. (I have said what I should have). Allah has taken a pledge from us scholars that we shall speak the truth and never conceal it."

Later, Sulayman sent him a hundred Dinars. Abu Hazim returned it saying, "I do not approve it for you, how could I approve it for myself?"

110. Here, the term "the truth" refers to Tawrah and "falsehood" to its interpolations (Ibn Zayd: Tabari). But to Abu al `Aliyyah this refers to the Jews of Madinah admitting that Muhammad (saws) was a true Prophet but raised for the non Jews alone, and not for them at all. This he thinks is being referred to as confounding the truth with falsehood (Qurtubi).

111. The ‘truth’ that they used to conceal was the fact of Muhammad (saws) being the Prophet (whose advent was promised in the Biblical literature): Ibn `Abbas, Abu al `Aliyyah, Mujahid Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir.

Asad makes a point ".... The suppression of truth refers to their disregard or deliberately false interpretation of the words of Moses in the Biblical passage, ‘The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken’ (Deuteronomy xviii, 15), and the words attributed to God Himself, "I will raise them up a prophet from among thy brethren, like unto thee, and will put My words in his mouth" (Deuteronomy xviii, 18)."

Mawdudi writes: "For the proper understanding of the verse we need to recall that in the time of the Prophet the Jews of Arabia were more learned than the Arabs. In fact, there were some Jewish scholars of Arabia whose fame had spread even beyond the confines of that land. For this reason the Arabs tended to be intellectually overawed by them. In addition, the influence of the Jews had become pervasive and profound by virtue of the pomp and pageantry of their religious rites, and the magical crafts and feats of exorcism for which they were famous. The people of Madinah, in particular, were greatly under the spell of the Jews. These Jews made on them the sort of impression generally created on ignorant neighbors by a better educated, more refined and more conspicuously religious group.

"It was natural in such circumstances that, when the Prophet began to preach his message, the ignorant Arabs should approach the Jews and ask their opinion of the Prophet and his teachings, particularly as the Jews also believed in Prophets and Scriptures. We find that this inquiry was often made by the Makkans, and continued to be addressed to the Jews after the Prophet arrived in Madina.

"In reply to this query, however, the Jewish religious scholars never told the candid truth. It was impossible for them to say that the doctrine of monotheism preached by Muhammad was incorrect, that there was any error in his teachings regarding the Prophets, the Divine Scriptures, the angels and the next life and that there was any error in the principles of moral conduct which the Prophet propounded. At the same time, however, they were not prepared to make a straightforward affirmation of the truth of his teachings. In short, they neither categorically denied the Truth nor were prepared to accept it with open hearts.

"Instead, they tried to plant insidious doubts in the minds of everybody who enquired about the Prophet and his mission. They sought to create one misgiving after another, disseminated new slanders, and tried to engage people's minds in all kinds of hypothetical problems so as to keep them in a state of doubt and uncertainty. They also tried to raise controversial issues which might keep people, including the followers of the Prophet, entangled in sterile debate. It is this attitude of the Jews to which the Qur'an alludes when it asks them not to overlay the truth with falsehood, not to suppress and conceal it by resorting to false propaganda and mischievous campaigns of slander, and not to attempt to deceive the world by mixing truth with falsehood."

Razi comments: You should know that there are two effective ways by which a man can be misguided. They arise from two different situations: one in which the arguments in favor of truth have reached one, and the other in which the arguments have not yet reached him. In the first case, i.e., when the arguments have reached him, the way to misguide him is to confound those arguments so that he gets confused and remains undecided. The other way is to work against the arguments and prevent them from reaching the person. Now, both of these were practiced by the Jews who used to confound those whom the arguments had reached as well as prevent the arguments from reaching those that had not received them; hence the verse.

112. The word used in the original is zakah, which has in its roots two meanings: one, increase, and the other, purification and cleansing. Alms create both these effects. They increase welfare in a society as well as cleanse and purify the hearts of those who give out (Au.).

"In the language of the Islamic law it means: the poor rate, the portion, or amount, of property that is given therefrom as the due of God, by its possessor to the poor in order that he may purify it thereby" (Majid from Lane's Lexicon).

113. Thanwi writes: Deeds are of two kinds: external and internal. Again, the external deeds are of two kinds: physical and monetary. Hence the three injunctions: salah, which is an external and physical deed; zakah, which is also an external but a monetary deed; and humility, which is an internal deed and which has been alluded to in the words: "bow down."

Of these, humility is something that is to be learnt from those who are humble. Hence, "bow with those who bow."

Further, the three directives suited the Jewish situation most. Salah would have decreased their love of power, zakah their greed of wealth, and humility would have cured the diseases of envy, hatred, etc. These were the three major diseases that afflicted them."

114. According to one opinion of Ibn `Abbas, the meaning is: 'You enjoin the people O Rabbis, to believe in the Tawrah and to be true to the compact of God (that you will worship none but Him and will believe in every new Messenger sent by Him), but you do not do that yourself.' Others, such as Suddi, Qatadah, Ibn Jurayj and Ibn Zayd, believe that the meaning is more general and refers to the Jewish practice of preaching piety, godliness, obedience to God, and other practical virtues but not practicing them (Ibn Jarir).

It is also possible that reference is to, as Dahhak has said, the advice of the Jewish Rabbis to the pagan Arabs to accept Islam. This they used to do in the early days of Islam at Makkah in the hope that since the Prophet was preaching worship of one God and upholding those virtues and values that were the central themes of Tawrah, ultimately he would come around and follow their religion. In that event, they conjectured, he would bring with him the pagans too to the Jewish fold. But when that did not happen, rather, when the Prophet (saws) changed the direction of Prayers from Jerusalem to Makkah, after facing it for a year and a half in Madinah, they lost all hopes and began to advise the pagans not to give the ear to the new message (Au.).

This does not mean, says Ibn Kathir, that a non practicing person should not preach. Rather, a preacher should also practice. There are several ahadith that warn those who preach but forget themselves. A hadith of Tabarani says: عن أبي تميمة عن جندب بن عبد الله الأزدي صاحب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم مثل العالم الذي يعلم الناس الخير وينسى نفسه كمثل السراج يضيء للناس ويحرق نفسه (مجمع الزوائد ومنبع الفوائد: رجاله موثقون) "The example of a scholar who preaches virtue to the people but does not practice himself is like that of a lamp which gives light to the people but burns itself out." Another hadith, which is in Musnad Ahmad (and whose another version is declared trustworthy by Haythami: Au.), says: عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ -صلى الله عليه وسلم- « مَرَرْتُ لَيْلَةَ أُسْرِىَ بِى عَلَى قَوْمٍ تُقْرَضُ شِفَاهُهُمْ بِمَقَارِيضَ مِنْ نَارٍ قَالَ قُلْتُ مَنْ هَؤُلاَءِ قَالُوا خُطَبَاءُ مِنْ أَهْلِ الدُّنْيَا كَانُوا يَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَيَنْسَوْنَ أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَتْلُونَ الْكِتَابَ أَفَلاَ يَعْقِلُونَ » مسند أحمد "During my Ascent to the Heavens (me`raj) I passed by some people whose lips were being sheared with scissors of fire. I asked (Jibril) who those people were. He said they were the preachers (khutaba') of your nation who enjoined the people to righteousness but forgot themselves. And they recited the Book, should they not have thought?" In a hadith recorded by Bukhari, Usama b. Zayd reports the Prophet (saws) as having said: يُجَاءُ بِالرَّجُلِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَيُلْقَى فِي النَّارِ فَتَنْدَلِقُ أَقْتَابُهُ فِي النَّارِ فَيَدُورُ كَمَا يَدُورُ الْحِمَارُ بِرَحَاهُ فَيَجْتَمِعُ أَهْلُ النَّارِ عَلَيْهِ فَيَقُولُونَ أَيْ فُلَانُ مَا شَأْنُكَ أَلَيْسَ كُنْتَ تَأْمُرُنَا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَانَا عَنْ الْمُنْكَرِ قَالَ كُنْتُ آمُرُكُمْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَلَا آتِيهِ وَأَنْهَاكُمْ عَنْ الْمُنْكَرِ وَآتِيهِ "A man will be brought forth on the Day of Reckoning and thrown into the Fire. (The impact) will bring out his intestines around which he will circle like a donkey in the mill. The people of the Fire will gather around him and ask: 'O so and so! What's your problem? Are you not the one who used to bid us unto righteousness and forbid us the vice?' He will reply: 'Yes! I bid you to righteousness but neglected it myself, and forbade you vice but committed it myself.'"

Dahhak relates of Ibn `Abbas that a man came to him and said that he wished to enjoin the people to righteousness and forbid the vices. Ibn `Abbas asked him if he had attained that status. The man said: "Hopefully, yes." Ibn `Abbas told him: "If you do not fear that three verses of the Qur'an will disgrace you, then go ahead." "What are they?" the man enquired. Ibn `Abbas said, "The first is (2: 44): أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنْسَوْنَ أَنْفُسَكُمْ 'Do you enjoin the people to righteousness and forget yourselves?'

Then he asked: "Are you through with this?" The man said, 'No.' Ibn `Abbas continued: "The second is (61: 2, 3): يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لا تَفْعَلُونَ كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَنْ تَقُولُوا مَا لا تَفْعَلُونَ 'Believers! Why do you enjoin that which you do not practice? It is most despising to Allah that you should enjoin that which you do not practice.'

Then Ibn `Abbas asked the man: "Are you through with this?" The man said, 'No.' Ibn `Abbas continued: "The third is the statement of Shu`ayb (asws) who said (11: 88): وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُخَالِفَكُمْ إِلَى مَا أَنْهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ إِنْ أُرِيدُ إِلا الإِصْلاحَ 'I do not wish to do what I forbid you. I only wish to reform.' Then Ibn `Abbas enquired: "Are you through with this?" When the man again confessed a no, Ibn `Abbas told him: "Then begin with yourself."

(Quotation from Ibn Kathir ends here).

Nevertheless, the emphasis is on the preacher to practice what he preaches. However, if he cannot, because of his weaknesses, let him not give up his preaching either, for it is possible that Allah will guide him to live by what he preaches. Qurtubi reports Sa`id b. Jubayr as having said that if one were to suspend preaching until he can live by it himself, preaching will grind to a halt."

Majid writes: Compare with this the Jewish dictum: "He who induces others to do a good deed, stands in the sight of heaven higher than the one that does the deed" (The Jewish Encyclopedia).

Sayyid Qutb comments: "The tragedy with the religious class when religion becomes a profession, a trade, and not a burning faith is that they begin to say with their mouths what is not there in their hearts; enjoin virtue upon others while they do not live by it themselves; urge others to righteousness but neglect it themselves; begin to play upon words; misinterpret clear cut texts following their whims and fancies and issue religious rulings that agree with the surface meaning of the text but are in contradiction with its spirit in order to satisfy the demands of those who possess power and money: all in the footsteps of the Jewish Rabbis.

"Indeed, inviting to righteousness while living against its very spirit in one's own affairs, is a sickness that does not affect the individual callers to Islam alone, inflicting them with doubts and pessimism. It can in fact adversely affect the "call" itself. It casts a spell of skepticism on the call in the hearts of the masses because they hear beautiful words, but witness ugly deeds. This throws them into confusion about what to believe: the words or the deeds? This effectively extinguishes the flame that faith kindles in their souls, and puts off the light that belief ignites in their hearts. Consequently, they lose confidence in the religious class itself and never find themselves inclined to believe in them whole heartedly.

"That message will remain sterile, lifeless and rigid however fiery, loud and ringing that does not come from a heart which believes in it itself. And a man does not truly believe in a thing until he can convert himself into a living model of that message: a real, and not abstract, embodiment of the spoken word. Then it is that people will believe in him and trust him even if the message is delivered without fire and thunder. The word then draws its power not from its rhetoric, rather, from its content. Its beauty comes not from its fire, but from its truth. Then it is that it converts lives of the people, for it has its origin in life.

"Admittedly, the conformity between the word and the deed, between faith and practice, is not an easy thing to achieve. It involves a lot of hard work, zeal and dedication. Above all, it requires building up of a right relationship with Allah, and striving in search of His help....and His guidance, for the traps of the world are many, its demands and exigencies are plenty. Unwittingly they tend to draw him away from what he carries in his heart as his beliefs, or to which he invites others. Man unaided by the Eternal Power is weak against them, whatever his powers and abilities, for the power of evil and rebellion is greater than his powers. They overcome him, again and again. And a moment of neglect can ruin his past, present and even the future. But when he aligns himself with the Eternal Power then he is strong stronger than every real or abstract reality. He is strong against his own weaknesses and indulgences, against his needs and exigencies, stronger than those powers that challenge and resist him."

115. Ibn Jarir reports Abu Darda (ra) as having said that one has not fully appreciated the truth if he does not despise the people for the sake of God and then turns to his own self and finds that he despises it even more.

Imam Razi reports the story of Yezid b. Harun who was a very pious person and an ascetic. Someone saw him in his dream after his death and asked him, "How did Allah treat you?" He said, "He pardoned me. When the angels of the grave (munkar wa nakir) asked me, 'Who is your Lord?' I replied, 'Are you not ashamed! I spent such and such a number of years inviting the people to Allah, and now you ask me, 'Who is your Lord?!'

116. That is, seek help in patience and Prayers to get rid of the love of this base world and to be able to keep the covenant that you have made with Allah (Ibn Jarir).

It was observed of Ibn `Abbas that he was informed of either his brother Kuthum’s death, or that of his daughter during a journey, he came down the mount, offered two rak`ah of prayers and came back reciting this verse (Qurtubi).

Sa`id b. Jubayr has defined sabr as: "To know and believe that whatever befalls is by the will of Allah, and to cherish hope that He will reward for it". `Umar b. al Khattab (ra) said: "Sabr is of two kinds. One, to bear an affliction gracefully. This of course is commendable. But what is better is the second kind of sabr. It is to refrain from all that is forbidden" (Ibn Kathir).

"The Arabic word sabr implies many shades of meaning which it is impossible to comprehend in one English word. It implies (1) patience in the sense of being thorough, not hasty; (2) patient perseverance, constancy, steadfastness, firmness of purpose; (3) systematic as opposed to spasmodic or chance action; (4) a cheerful attitude of resignation and understanding in sorrow, defeat, or suffering, as opposed to murmuring or rebellion, but saved from mere passivity or listlessness, by the element of constancy or steadfastness" (Yusuf Ali).

Hudhayfah b. al Yaman says, "The Prophet (saws) used to resort to salah in the face of every difficulty." `Ali (ra) said, "I observed the Prophet (saws) Praying in the night previous to the battle of Badr, while there was none among us who was awake. He remained in Prayers and supplications until the dawn."

117. The word in the original is zann. In Arabic, it has a dual meaning: both of belief as well as doubt. Obviously, here it is belief that is meant; as in another verse (69: 20): إِنِّي ظَنَنْتُ أَنِّي مُلاقٍ حِسَابِيَهْ 'I was sure I would encounter my reckoning.'

118. (This verse proves that) it is through constant remembrance of the fact of the return to God that one can achieve the state of khushu`. Further, it is khushu` which makes salah easier to be offered (Thanwi).