40. Enjoining virtue and forbidding evil is an obligation that applies to all. But it is conditional to the ability of a person. Abu Sa`id al Khudri has reported the Prophet as having said:

مَنْ رَأَى مِنْكُمْ مُنْكَرًا فَلْيُغَيِّرْهُ بِيَدِهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِلِسَانِهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِقَلْبِهِ وَذَلِكَ أَضْعَفُ الإِيمَانِ

"Let him who sees an unseemly thing happen change it with (the force of) his hands. If he cannot, let him do it with his tongue. If he cannot, then let him condemn it in his heart. And this is the weakest (level) of faith" (Qurtubi).

Qurtubi writes: It is said that four things prevent tribulations from descending down upon a country. First, a just ruler; second, a rightly guided scholar; third, a people who enjoin virtue and forbid evil, and fourth, women who observe hijab.

41. The Jews have been indicted in this verse. In a hadith preserved by Ibn abi Hatim and reported by Ibn Jarir, the Prophet is reported by Abu `Ubaydah ibn al Jarrah as replying to him when he asked him about who will be the most severely punished person in the Hereafter:

"رجل قتل نبياً، أو من أمر بالمعروف ونهى عن المنكر" ثم قرأ رسول اللّه صلى اللّه عليه وسلم : {إن الذين يكفرون بآيات اللّه، ويقتلون النبيين بغير حق ويقتلون الذين يأمرون بالقسط من الناس، فبشرهم بعذاب أليم} الآية. ثم قال رسول اللّه صلى اللّه عليه وسلم : "يا أبا عبيدة قتلت بنو إسرائيل ثلاثة وأربعين نبياً من أول النهار في ساعة واحد، فقام مائة وسبعون رجلا من بني إسرائيل فأمروا من قتلهم بالمعروف ونهوهم عن المنكر فقتلوهم جميعاً من آخر النهار من ذلك اليوم، فهم الذين ذكر اللّه عزّ وجلّ" (رواه ابن أبي حاتم وابن جرير).

"He who killed a Prophet, or (killed) someone who enjoined good and forbade wrong." Then the Prophet recited this verse: "Surely those who deny Allah's Signs, slay the prophets without right, and slay such of the people as enjoin justice, give glad tidings to them of a painful chastisement." Then he added: "Abu `Ubaydah! Once, the Israelites slaughtered 43 prophets at the beginning of the day. In protest 112 of them stood up to enjoin good and forbid evil. By the evening, the Israelites had slaughtered them all" (Ibn Jarir, Zamakhshari, Qurtubi, Razi, Ibn Kathir, Shawkani).

Perhaps by prophets the allusion is to pious men. The Bible confirms the Prophet's statement about a multitude of prophets appearing at one time. It says in 1 Kings, ch.18, verses 3 4: (Now Obadi'ah revered the Lord greatly; and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadi'ah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and fed them with bread and water)" Au.

According to Ma`qal bin Abi Miskin, Qatadah, and Ibn Jurayj, the people who enjoined the Israelites justice were those who received inspiration from Allah (and not Revelation) which they conveyed to the people who in response murdered them (Ibn Jarir).

According to Ibn `Abbas, the verse refers to the murder of Yahya (John the Baptist) who was killed because he refused to endorse the marriage of the Israeli ruler of his time to his niece (Hakim has declared this report trustworthy: Shawkani).

Sayyid expounds: "Slaying of the Prophets and those who enjoined justice leads us to believe that the allusion here is to Jews. This has been their characteristic down the ages. However, this does not absolve the Christians completely. The pages of history are replete with the story of their cold blooded murder of tens of thousands of those who did not accept a particular version of Christianity forced upon them by the Roman imperialists. Among those who were thus done away with, were those who believed in the oneness of Allah and in the human nature of Jesus Christ. Obviously, this indictment also includes those of all times who will follow them in their footsteps and persecute the flag bearers of truth.

"Further, it will do us good to find out whom the Qur'an is alluding to when it says "those who deny the signs of Allah." It is not only those who openly declare their word of unbelief; also included are those who do not believe in the oneness of Allah in the sense that they do not confine their acts of worship to Him alone. Furthermore, this also implies the unity of orientation in the collective life of the people, so far as their laws, values, criterion of judgment, and objectives (of life) are concerned."

42. Reports suggest that some Jews came to the Prophet and asked him about what was the religion that he followed. He said, "That of Ibrahim." They said, "But he was a Jew." He challenged them to bring the Scripture to substantiate their claim. They balked at that and Allah revealed this verse (Ibn Jarir, Zamakhshari, Qurtubi, Razi, Shawkani).

According to another report the case of a wealthy Jewish man and woman adulterers was brought to the Prophet in the hope that he would order lighter punishment. He judged that they be stoned to death. They refused on the grounds that no such commandment was prescribed by the Tawrah. The Prophet asked them to bring the Tawrah and read out the text to him. When they reached the portion ordering stoning of the adulterers, they placed their hand on the text and read out the rest. Abdullah ibn Salam (a former Jew and rabbi) exposed the deceit. Allah revealed this verse and the Prophet confirmed their stoning. (Zamakhshari, Razi)

Sayyid Qutb asks: "How then should those be judged who claim that they are Muslims while they deny the Shari`ah any role in their lives?! If such an attitude was not acceptable from those who were given ‘a part of the Book’ earlier, how can it be acceptable from those who have been given ‘whole of the Book’ in the sense that it is the complete and comprehensive revelation, viz., the Qur'an?!"

43. The great majority take the obvious meaning of mulk as kingdom or rule. Nevertheless, according to Mujahid, here mulk stands for messengership, meaning, Allah takes away messengereship from the descendants of one person and places it in the descendants of another (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi).

44. The words, "In Thy Hand is the Good," hint at the fact that all that there is in the world is good in its essence. Evil has no real existence. It has its existence only from a certain angle or perspective. A thing or event may be evil for a people, but not so for everyone. In fact, it may even be good for another set of people. Hence, Allah did not mention evil along with Good (Mufti Shafi` from Thanwi).

45. It is said that when the Prophet (saws) had overrun Makkah he predicted that his Companions would similarly overrun the Roman and Persian Empires. When the Jews and the hypocrites heard about it, they remarked: "How preposterous of Muhammad to claim Rome and Persia. They are more powerful and honored than to fall to Muhammad. Aren't Makkah and Madinah enough for him that he should now aspire to rule Rome and Persia?" Allah revealed this verse (Zamakhshari, Qurtubi, Alusi).

Another narration has it that, while digging the trench when Salman al Farasi and some of his compatriots struck a rock that they could not break, they complained to the Prophet. He struck it with a pick ax. The strike produced sparks and he said "Allahu Akbar." This happened thrice and ultimately the rock split. When he was asked to explain, he said that with the first spark he saw the palaces of Persia and was promised by Jibril that his followers would one day possess them. With the second spark he saw the palaces of Rome and was promised that they would also fall into the hands of his followers. The third spark lighted the palaces of the Himyar kings in Yemen and Jibril promised that those lands would also be subdued. When the Jews and hypocrites heard that they said: "Look at these people. They are digging a trench to save their skins from the Makkans but they dream of such things." Against this background, Allah revealed this verse (Zamakhshari, Razi, Alusi).

According to a hadith preserved by Ibn Abi Dunya and Tabarani, when Mu`adh ibn Jabal complained of debts the Prophet told him to recite this verse and then follow it up with:

اللَّهُمَّ مَالِكَ الْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَنْ تَشَاءُ، وَتَنْزِعُ الْمُلْكَ مِمَّنْ تَشَاءُ إِلَى قَوْلِهِ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ إِلَى الآخِرِ، رَحْمَنَ الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ وَرَحِيمَهُمَا، تُعْطَى مِنْهُمَا مَنْ تَشَاءُ، وتَمْنَعُ مِنْهُمَا مَنْ تَشَاءُ، اللَّهُمَّ أَغْنِنِي عَنِ الْفَقْرِ، وَاقْضِ عَنِّي الدَّيْنَ، وَتَوَفَّنِي فِي عِبَادِكَ وَجِهَادٍ فِي سَبِيلِكَ

"O Allah, the Owner of the kingdom, You bestow the kingdom upon whom You will, and take the kingdom away from whom You will .. until the words .. without measure, O Compassionate of this world and the Hereafter, and O Merciful of both the worlds! You bestow upon whom You will, and withhold from whom You will. O Allah! Relieve me of poverty and relieve me of my debts; and deal me death in the company of Your slaves, and fighting in Your path." Allah will clear his debts even if they were to be as large as Mount Uhud (Qurtubi, Shawkani).

(The hadith text is from Tabarani: Au.).

46. That is, He lengthens the day in one season by taking away a part of the night and adding it to the day, and lengthens the night in another season by taking a part of the day to add it to the night (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

47. That is, He brings out the plant from its grain, the grain from its plant, the palm tree from its seed and the seed from the palm tree, the believer out of an unbeliever, an unbeliever out of a believer, the chicken from the egg, and the egg from the chicken (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

According to Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah and Suddi, by the "dead" the allusion is to the semen that originates from the "living" man and then from this "dead" matter a man who is "living" springs out (Ibn Jarir).

48. Ibn `Abbas has said that `Ubadah ibn Samit (who was an important figure of the Ansar: Au.) had 500 Jews as his supporters. On the occasion of a certain campaign he sought the permission of the Prophet to take them along as volunteers. Allah revealed this verse (Alusi).Allah (swt) also said elsewhere (5: 51):

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى أَوْلِيَاءَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّهُمْ مِنْكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْهُمْ َ [المائدة : 51]

"Believers! Do not take Jews and Christians as your friends. Some of them are friends of the others. Those of you who befriend them are of them."

Allah also said about the pagans, after He had spoken of friendship between believers, immigrants, the Helpers and the Arabs in general (8: 73),

وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ إِلَّا تَفْعَلُوهُ تَكُنْ فِتْنَةٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَفَسَادٌ كَبِيرٌ [الأنفال : 73

"Those who have disbelieved, some of them are friends of the others. If you do not do that (i.e. shun them) there will be tumult in the earth and corruption in great proportions" (Ibn Kathir).

Alusi explains: Some scholars are of the opinion that the impermissibility of taking unbelievers as friends includes seeking their help in war. But the great majority believes that their help may be taken in return for a small amount of war spoils. However, it has been clarified that it is conditional to seeking their help against the pagans and not against (Muslim: Au.) rebels. As for what is reported of the Prophet that at the time of Badr when a polytheist asked his permission to fight along with him, he refused, saying, "We do not seek the help of the polytheists," this is abrogated since later the Prophet himself accepted the help of the Jews of Qaynuqa` and that of Safwan b. Umayyah on the occasion of the Ta’if campaign. In conclusion it can be said that the help that some have declared unlawful is the one in which Muslims happen to be the weaker party (i.e. if the Muslims are weaker than the unbelievers whose help they are seeking, then it is disallowed), but if the Muslims remain the stronger party in the coalition, (and in control of the situation: Au.) then it is permissible. Further, in view of this some scholars have ruled that in the event of co operation, non Muslims should not be given sensitive positions.

Thanwi has some useful points. He says there are three kinds of relationships with the unbelievers: muwalat, (friendship based on mutual trust and love) mudarat, (courteous behavior), and mu'asat, (charitable behavior). Muwaalat (the friendship in which secrets are shared), is impermissible in all circumstances in view of (5: 51): "Believers! Do not take the Jews and Christians as your friends. Some of them are friends of the others. Those of you who befriend them, are of them," and (60: 1): "Believers! Do not take My enemies and your enemies as friends." Mudaarat is permissible in three circumstances: 1) To avoid a harm or injury; 2) in view of an advantage to the unbeliever, such as presentation of Islam to him, and 3) in the circumstances of the unbeliever being a guest. However, mudarat is not permissible if the objective is to gain material advantages of them. In fact, if it causes religious harm, it is strictly disallowed. The verse in question is in fact speaking of this type of mudarat though in the name of muwalat since in appearance it is muwalat. As for mu'asat, it is permissible toward the non violent unbeliever (al kafir al ghayr al harbi) but impermissible toward the violent unbeliever.

Muhammad Shafi` adds: A fourth level is that of mu`amalat or dealings such as in trade and commerce. This is allowed without any restriction so far as it does not hurt Islam and Muslims, such as selling arms to them which might be used against Muslims.

49. Accordingly, in situations where one is fearful of his life or a great injury, Islam allows dissimulation of faith. This is known as taqiyyah, and, according to Hasan al Basri, as reported by Imam Bukhari, the rule will stay in force until the Day of Judgment. This is based on another verse which says (16: 106):

مَنْ كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ إِيمَانِهِ إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإِيمَانِ [النحل : 106]

"Whoever disbelieved after having believed, except for him who was compelled, while his heart was satisfied with the faith (of Islam)..." But taqiyyah is to be employed in words alone and not in deeds (Ibn Kathir). However, some of the Salaf have disagreed and said that there is no taqiyyah after the power that Islam has gained (Shawkani).

Nevertheless, if one takes the tough line and bears the hardships, including death, which will be sure martyrdom, then, such a course is also approved; although both the options are available. It is reported that Musaylimah al Kadhdhab captured two Muslims. He asked one of them if he believed Muhammad was a Prophet. He replied: "Yes, yes, yes." Then he asked if he believed he (Musaylimah) was a prophet too. He replied: "Yes." Now, Musaylimah was of the opinion that he was the prophet of Yamamah and Muhammad a prophet of the Quraysh. So he let him go unharmed. Then he asked the other man whether he believed Muhammad was a Prophet. He said yes. But when he asked him whether he believed he (Musaylimah) was a prophet too, he said no. Musaylimah killed him. When the Prophet was reported he said: "As for him who said yes, well, he used the permission granted by Allah. As for him who said no, if he was sincere in his faith, then glad tidings to him" (Razi, Alusi, Rawa'e`).

The verse also implies, adds Alusi, that if one is not allowed to practice his religion openly and freely, hijrah becomes an obligation.

At this point he has written several pages in refutation of the taqiyyah of the Shi`ah who have made it an article of faith. He quotes profusely from their books.

Thanwi adds: You must know that the taqiyyah which is allowed by our scholars has nothing in common with the taqiyyah of the Shi`ah. They only share the term, for this taqiyyah is adopted (only temporarily and) in order to avoid a harm that is certain. Whereas the taqiyyah of the Shi`ah is a permanent feature of a person and is primarily employed to win material advantages. Secondly, it is allowed only where the circumstances are extremely compelling, but the Shi`ah approve of it even if the harm entailing is imaginary and minor.

However, the most important difference is that the taqiyyah of the Shi`ah is a necessary article of faith, without which a person is not a true believer. Out of hundreds, here is a quote from Al-Kafi the most respected source of religion among the Shi`ah:

عن ابْنُ أَبِي عُمَيْرٍ عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ سَالِمٍ عَنْ أَبِي عُمَرَ الْأَعْجَمِيِّ قَالَ قَالَ لِي أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع يَا أَبَا عُمَرَ إِنَّ تِسْعَةَ أَعْشَارِ الدِّينِ فِي التَّقِيَّةِ وَ لَا دِينَ لِمَنْ لَا تَقِيَّةَ لَهُ (الكافي 217 2 باب التقية ..... ص : 217)

Abu `Umar al-A`jami reported from Abu `Abdullah who said, “O Abu `Umar, nine-tenth of religion is in taqiyyah, and he has no religion who has no taqiyyah” (Au.).

50. The word in the original for "great distance" is amad which is employed for a distance in time or space that is not infinite but whose end is unknown (being at such a great distance), whereas abad is for the infinite (Alusi).