Surah Muhammad 47:20-28 - Quran Translation Commentary

(47:20) And said those who have believed, ‘Why is it not that a surah is sent down?’²⁸ But when a surah of decisive meaning was sent down,²⁹ and fighting mentioned therein, you saw those in whose heart is a sickness,³⁰ looking at you with a look of one who swoons of death;³¹ but more fitting for them (would have been)³² …

(47:21) Obedience and goodly word.³³ Thereafter, when the affair was resolved, then, had they been true to Allah, it would have been better for them.

(47:22) Then, is it expected of you, if you turned away,³⁴ that haply you would work corruption in the earth³⁵ and sever altogether your ties of kinship?³⁶

(47:23) They are the ones Allah has cursed and so He made them deaf and blinded their sights.

(47:24) What! Do they not ponder the Qur’an, or, are there on the hearts their locks?³⁷

(47:25) Verily, those who turned on their backs after the guidance had become clear to them, Satan enticed them and prolonged hopes for them.³⁸

(47:26) That is because they said to those who disliked what Allah revealed, ‘We shall obey you in some affairs (alone).’³⁹ Allah knows their secrets.⁴⁰

(47:27) So, how will it be when the angels receive (their souls), smiting on their faces and backs.⁴¹

(47:28) That because they followed what angers Allah and disliked His good pleasure. So He made their deeds collapse.⁴²

Commentary

28. It was the wish to defend themselves, their faith, their honor, their Prophet and their religion, and win their Lord’s good pleasure that led the true believers to seek Allah’s command to wage retaliatory jihad against their adversaries; but the weak ones among them sought peace, even if it was at the cost of humiliation at the hands of the enemies of Islam; their policies being no different from the policies of the leaders of the Muslim ummah today: surrender, so that you can live comfortably for a while more (Au.).

29. That is, a surah of clear, unambiguous meaning, which would declare obligatory fighting in Allah’s cause in explicit terms.

30. The allusion by heart’s sickness is to hypocrisy (Ibn Jarir).

31. That is, tired of persecutions, the believers wish that a surah could be sent down legalizing retaliation. But when a surah is actually sent down containing the command, it shakes those who carry the disease of hypocrisy in their hearts, who would all but faint off at the news, and physically appear as if the angel of death stands right before them, about to snatch away their souls (Au.).

32. The words in parenthesis and the translation here expresses the understanding of a section of commentators such as Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, and others, who thought that the ending words of verse 20 should be joined with the opening words of verse 21.

Ibn Jarir however thinks that the words “fa awla lahum” should be rendered as “then, destruction be for them” which is a second meaning also accepted by many as valid, such as, Zamakhshari and Qurtubi (the latter citing other examples).

33. Another meaning attributed to Ibn `Abbas, as in Qurtubi is that the words, “obedience and a goodly word” is an instruction from Allah to the hypocrites that they ought to be obeying and saying goodly words. Yet another possible meaning, as stated by Razi is: “It is better for them”, i.e., death is better for them. The complicated structure of the passage and its elliptic nature allows for other interpretations as well.

34. Another possible connotation is: “if you are given charge (of affairs)” – Ibn Jarir, Razi.

35. That is, will cause bloodshed in the land.

36. That is, it is not the fear of loss of life or property which discourages you from fighting. But rather, it is your unwillingness to fight for a cause, the cause of Islam that creates in you such a powerful dislike for war. Is it possible that if Islam recedes, you will revert to your pre-Islamic standards of morals and behavior, and then will fight fearlessly causing destruction in the land, and breaking ties of kinship? (Au.).

In Mawdudi’s words, “If at this time you shrink from supporting and defending Islam and refrain from fighting with your life and wealth for the cause of the great reformist revolution which the Holy Prophet Muhammad and his Companions are struggling to bring about, there will be no other consequence of this that you will return to the same type of ignorance in which you have been cutting each other’s throat since centuries, burying your children alive, and filling God’s earth with injustice and wickedness.”

Yusuf Ali touches upon another aspect: “They have become so impervious to facts and truths, because, without the courage to oppose Allah’s Cause openly, they secretly intrigue with Allah’s enemies, and say that they will follow them part of the way, and by remaining partly in the other camp, they will be far more useful as spies and half-hearted doubters than by going over altogether. If they think that this game will be successful, they are mistaken. All the inner secrets and motives of their hearts are known to Allah. Cf. lix. 11.

(In connection with the ties of kinship, texts describing its importance are numerous). One of them says,

Abu Hurayrah reports the Prophet that Allah created the creation. When He was done with it, kinship stood up and held the lower garment of the All-merciful. He said, “Stop that.” She said, “This is the place of one seeking Your refuge from severance of ties.” He replied, “Are you not satisfied that I should join him who joins you and sever him who severs you?” She said, “Yes, indeed.” And so it was. Then Abu Hurayrah said, “Read if you will, ‘that haply you would work corruption in the earth and sever altogether your ties of kinship’” (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi)

The above hadith is in Bukhari and Muslim, and one of the version says that the ayah was quoted by the Prophet himself. And Qurtubi explains that the hadith has to be understood in allegorical terms (Au.).

Then there is one in Ahmad (and Ibn Majah, and Tirmidhi who trusted its authenticity):

On the authority of Abu Bakrah, the Prophet said, “There is no sin more deserving that its punishment should be hastened to its perpetrator in this world, in addition to what is stored for him in the Hereafter, than insurrection (against a Muslim authority) and severance of ties.” Another report is from Ahmad. It says,

“He who is pleased with increase in his term of life, and in his providence, may join the kin.”

(Yet another makes the point sharper). It is in Ahmad and says,

A man went up to the Prophet (saws) and said, “Apostle of Allah. I have close kin whom I join but they cut me apart. I forgive them, they do me injustice. I do good, they respond with evil. Should I then deal with them evenly?” He said, “No. In that event you all would have abandoned (the right behavior). But rather, show grace and keep doing them good, in which event you shall have a supporter from Allah the Exalted, so long as you are in that state.”

Bukhari has one that further expounds the subject at hand. It says,

The Prophet said, “He who reciprocates is not one who joins the kin. A joiner is one who, when cut asunder, joins the kinship.”

Another employs different words,

The Prophet said, “The tie of kinship will be placed on the Judgment-day with a curve like the curve of a spindle, speaking in eloquent language. It will bind him who bound it and cut asunder him who cut it asunder.”

(Haythami treated the report as quite close to being reliable: Sami).

Yet one more is also from Ahmad and Tirmidhi who declared it of Hasan Sahih status. It says:

“Those who show kindness will be shown kindness by the All-merciful. Show mercy to the peoples of the earth, you will be shown mercy by He of the heaven. And the womb (rahm) is derived from al-Rahman. It will join whosoever joined it and sever whosoever severed it.”

Finally, we have a hadith from Tabarani’s Al-Awsat, (as well as in Shi`ab al-Iman, which, although weak, is strengthened by others of more or less the same meaning: Au.). It says:

The Prophet said, “When words are displayed, but actions are absent, tongues differ, hearts are filled with rancor, and every kinsman cuts his kin, then at that point Allah will curse them, deafen them and blind their sights” (Ibn Kathir).

It is in keeping with the spirit of the above that when some women-prisoners were being sold away to one party, and their children to another, the Prophet prohibited that mothers and children be separately sold. He ordered them kept together.

37. In the world of literature, the word “qufl” (pl.: aqfal) is used for hardness of material and immaterial objects (Qurtubi).

It is reported that once the Prophet (saws) recited this verse ending with, “or, are there on the hearts their locks?” A young Yemeni boy sitting thereby remarked, “Of course there are locks on the hearts and it is Allah Himself, the Exalted who locks them or unlocks them.” The young man remained in `Umar’s memory until, when he assumed caliphate, he used him (for governmental services) – Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir.

38. Another possible meaning of the words “amla lahum” is, “He (i.e., Allah) gave them respite.” In other words, “Satan enticed them but Allah gave them respite” (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi); and, as explained by Ibn `Abbas, Dahhak and Suddi, the allusion is to hypocrites who backtracked from jihad (Qurtubi).

39. They meant to say that they could commit themselves only to such things (as which pleased them), even if it happened to be in the displeasure of the Prophet (Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

Asad clarifies: “Lit., ‘in some [or “parts of”] the matter’: i.e., ‘although we cannot agree with you [atheists] as regards your denial of God, or of resurrection, or of the fact of revelation as such, we do agree with you that Muhammad is an imposter and that the Qur’an is but his invention’ (Razi). By ‘those who turn their back [on the message] after guidance has been vouchsafed to them’ are meant, in the first instance, the hypocrites and half-hearted followers of Islam at the time of the Prophet who refused to fight in defence of the Faith; in a wider sense however, this definition applies to all people, at all times, who are impressed by the teaching of the Qur’an but nevertheless refuse to accept it as God-inspired and, therefore, morally binding.”

40. Allah (swt) mentioned “their secrets” because the above statement was made by them in secret, or kept the intention to themselves, guarding its secrecy (Qurtubi, reworded).

41. The relationship of deeds with punishments may be noted: The hypocrites “disliked what Allah has revealed,” which state (i.e., dislike) appears on their faces. Hence, the angels smite them on their faces. Thereafter, the hypocrites refused to obey saying, “We shall obey you in some affairs (alone),” which implies showing their backs. Hence the angels smite their backs (Razi).

42. “This has two meanings: (i) That Allah will render vain and fruitless all those works which they performed believing them as ‘good works’, and they will get no rewards whatever for them in the Hereafter, and, (ii) that all the devices that they are adopting to obstruct the way of Allah and His Messenger’s religion will prove ineffective and fruitless” (Mawdudi).