50. Razi writes: The word in the original (for what has been rendered as chieftains) is "naqib." Zajjaj has said that its origin is "naqab" which is used for a large hole. Hence when it is said that so and so is a "naqib" of his people, it means he is one who examines them closely - as one examines through a hole to know someone's secrets. "Manaqib" is another derivation, which means "virtues" because the virtues of a man do not become apparent without a close scrutiny. "Naqabah" is an animal disease: so called because it penetrates the body so well that an affected camel's flesh tastes like tar coal. Here, adds Razi, the word here is in the sense of one made in charge of the affairs of a group of people, (sort of ‘religious and moral mentors': Mawdudi), who were also responsible for their welfare.

Asad adds: "The noun naqib ... has also the meaning of "investigator" or "spy" inasmuch as it is derived from the verb naqaba, which signifies - among other things - "he scrutinized" or "investigated."

It has also been said that they were also responsible for promoting virtue and curbing vice among their respective tribesmen. It was in this sense that they were appointed chieftains (Shawkani). The chieftains were, thus, to help their people keep the compact they had made with Allah (Thanwi).

When Musa (asws) intended to launch an attack on the pagan populations of the holy land of Palestine, (the town was Jericho: Alusi) he sent these twelve chieftains, representatives of twelve tribes, as scouts to gather news about the enemy's strength. The allusion here is to their appointment as nuqaba' and the oath of secrecy taken from them on that occasion (Suddi: Ibn Jarir).

The twelve returned much impressed by the might of the Palestinians, then known as Canaanites, and, instead of confiding only in Musa as they were required to, they slipped the news to their wives, children and friends, who soon spread it among the Israelites. That led to a disheartening attitude among the Israelites and ultimately to the refusal to fight. As a consequence, they were denied entry into Palestine for forty years. See verses 20-27 below. (Au.)

Interestingly, it might be noted that when the Prophet took the first oath of allegiance in Islam, from the Ansar, during a night at ‘Aqabah, they were 12 in numbers too. Three of them were from Aws and nine from Khazraj. Usayd b. Hudayr, Sa`d b. Khayzumah and Rifa`ah b. al-Mundhir (some say it was Abu al-Haytham al-Tayhan) were from Aws while Abu As`ad b. Zurarah, Sa`d b. Rabi`, `Abdullah ibn Rawaha, Rafe` b. Malik b. al-`Ajalan, Bara' b. Ma`rur, `Ubadah b. Samit, Sa`d b. `Ubadah, `Abdullah ibn `Amr b. Hizam and Mundhir b. `Amr b. Hunaysh - may Allah be pleased with them - were from Khazraj. The Prophet made them the `Urafa so that they might represent Islam and take oath of obedience from their people on behalf of the Prophet (Ibn Kathir).

Qurtubi writes: Following Musa's example, peace be on him, the Prophet also chose twelve people to lead the seventy Ansari men and two women who had taken the oath of allegiance on the occasion of the second bay`ah at ‘Aqabah.

Ibn Kathir remarks: In fact, according to some traditions in the Sahihayn, the Prophet said: "People (i.e., Muslims) will continue to be until twelve khulafa' have appeared among them." Muslim's report adds: "All of them of the Quraysh." Now, it is not necessary that these khulafa' should follow each other consecutively. Rather, they might appear intermittently. The four Khulafa' al-Rashidun and `Umar ibn `Abdul `Aziz are definitely of them. Some of the `Abbasids might have also belonged to the group. The prophesied Mahdi is definitely included who will bear the same name as that of our Prophet and whose father will also bear the same as name as our Prophet's: Muhammad b. `Abdullah." Further, they are not the same as the twelve Imams of the Twelver Shi`ah. Their belief in this regard is fictitious. Indeed the Bible also predicts the appearance of Isma`il and the twelve great men of his progeny.

Ibn Kathir’s reference to the prediction of the Bible is perhaps to the following (Gen. ch. 17: 20):

And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed

him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him

exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make

him a great nation.

Thanwi adds that the appointment of khulafa' by the shuyukh is in principle of the same nature as the appointment of the twelve chieftains.

51. The words "I am with you," carry the senses both of awakening the desire to do things well, so that rewards may be earned (targhib), as well as a threat at doing things badly with which punishments might descend (tarhib) - Razi.

52. Faith in the Prophets had to be additionally stated (not as an after thought: Au.) because the Jews rejected many prophets. As if they are being told that the above deeds will be of no profit to them if they persist in believing in some prophets and disbelieving in others (Razi).

53. Although when someone spends for the sake of Allah, he does not lend money to Him, the term (qard) has been used here because of a shared meaning viz., as it is binding that loans be returned, so it is binding on Allah that He bestow rewards for the acts of charity (Bayan).

54. It can be easily noticed that the Qur'an only portrays the rewards of the righteous believers contrasting them with the punishment of the hardened unbelievers. It does not state anything about the sinning believers: those who fall in between the two extremes. This is because, while on the one hand the matter is dealt with in the traditions of the Prophet, on the other, the fate of those who fall in between can be inferred from the fate of those who are at the two extremes (Bayan).

55. That is, whoever broke the compact (by disobeying Allah) will never find a way to truth and guidance (Ibn Kathir).

56. That is, distanced them from Our Grace and Mercy. Yusuf Ali writes: "... because of their breach of their Covenant, Allah withdrew His overflowing Grace from them. The withdrawal of Grace made their hearts grow hard in two ways: (1) they were no longer protected from the assaults of evil, and (2) they became impervious even to the message of forgiveness and mercy which is open to all of Allah's creations."

57. The word qasiyah (hardened) has its root in qaswa which is hardness. Hence for a fake coin they say Dirham qasiyy since pure gold and silver are soft but when adulterated they harden up. (Zamakhshari)

Majid quotes: "Cf. the OT: ‘They have refused to receive correction, they have made their faces harder than a rock, they have refused to return.' (Jen. 5: 3) ‘Yea! They have made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law.' (Ze. 7: 12)

Thanwi writes: The qasawah referred to here, is both the result of sins of the past, as well as the source and origin of sins thereafter.

58. Majid writes: "Look at the Jews' own estimate of the correctness of their Bible:- ‘We may infer with certainty that the ancient copies of the Torah contained no vowels or accents, and that these have come down to us by oral tradition. For the multiplication of copies, human copyists had to be employed. It is by no mans contrary to our faith in the Bible to assume that, as far as the human work of these copyists is concerned, it must have been subject to the fate of all human work, to error and imperfection. And, in fact, there are many copies of the Bible that abound in mistakes: there are passages in Scriptures that vary in the different manuscripts; hence numerous varioe le tiones met with in the critical editions of the Bible.' (Friedlander, The Jewish Religion, p. 53)"

59. Ibn Mas`ud has said sometimes a man forgets what he has learnt of the knowledge because of his sins. He recited this verse to substantiate his statement. (Zamakhshari)

Imam Shafe`i has said in a famous poetical quartet of his:

شكوت إلى وكيع سوء حفظى

فأرشـدنى إلى ترك المـعاصى

وأخبـرنى بأن العلـم نـور

ونـور الله لايهدى لعـاصى

I complained to Waki` of my forgetfulness

He counselled me to give up the ways of sinfulness

Knowledge is Light, he said

And Allah's Light is to the sinner not arrayed.

60. Such as their several efforts to get the Prophet assassinated, or their efforts at instigating the pagans to attack Madinah. (Au.)

Sayyid Qutb adds: "The address was then to the Prophet depicting for him an aspect of Jewish response to his call. Indeed this was their constant attitude towards the Prophet, not in Madinah alone, during his life time, but also after they had vacated the city. There never was any change in their attitude. And this has been their attitude towards the Muslims since then, until today, despite the fact that the Muslims alone gave them shelter in the face of persecutions launched against them (in Europe and elsewhere, by the Christians). But they - or most of them - remained the same, armed with treacheries, right from the Prophet's time until this day: plotting, scheming, and waiting for every chance to harm the Muslims."

61. The compact was to the effect that when the Final Prophet appears they would believe in him and support him. Majid writes: "Witness various references to him (the Last Prophet), the well-known and well-recognized "that Prophet" or "the Prophet" found even in the garbled text of the modern Gospels:- ‘And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? ... Art thou that prophet! And he answered, No. ... And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizes thou then, if thou b not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet.' (Jn. 1: 19-21, 25) ‘Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink ... Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, of a truth this is the Prophet.' (7: 37, 40) ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.' (14: 15, 16) ‘It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but I depart. I will send him unto you. And he is come, he will reprove the word of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement.' (16: 7,8)

62. The word Nasara has its origin in ansar, the word the followers of Christ had chosen to identify themselves with when they had answered to Jesus Christ's request for help, in words, "We are the helpers (ansar) of Allah." Ref. verse 52 of Al-`Imran (Zamakhshari, Razi, Alusi).

With the passage of time, adds Zamakhshari, the Ansarullah became Ansarus-Shaytan.

63. The word in the original has its root in "ighra'" which is to paste something so that it adheres strongly (Zamakhshari, Razi).

64. While Suddi, Ibn Zayd, Mujahid and others have said that the allusion is to the hatred and enmity between the Jews and the Christians, some others have thought that the allusion is to the hatred among the various Christian sects who can be so often seen at each other's throats (Ibn Jarir).

Majid writes: "And the wordy acrimony has frequently given place to severe religious persecutions, and even massacres. In Dean Milman's admirable summing up of the Christian history, ‘Bloodshed, murder, treachery, assassinations, even during the public worship of God - these are the frightful means by which each party strives to maintain its opinions and to defeat its adversary.' (Quoted by Lecky, History of European Morals, II. p. 82 n.) ‘After having been persecuted by the pagans, the Christians persecuted each other over nonsensical follies. They killed, imprisoned or exiled each other over the word homoonsios or the sense of the word physis, nature, which the Nestorian school of Antioch understood differently from the Monophysite school of Alexandria (Dermingham, Life of Mahomet, p. 117).

With reference to the words: "... to last until the Day of Judgment," Majid quotes: ‘A prophecy which thirteen centuries have not falsified.' (ERE. X. p. 544) ‘There is an Abyssinian proverb which says that the Christians never agree except on one point, the birth of Christ.'

Asad comments: "I.e., their going astray from the genuine teachings of Jesus - and thus from the true faith in God - is the innermost cause of the enmity and hatred which has so often set the so-called Christian nations against one another and led to unceasing wars and mutual persecution."

65. The specific reference through this verse of general application was, as Ibn `Abbas has said, to the Jewish efforts to conceal the identity of Prophet Muhammad as stated in their Scriptures, and certain instructions of the Tawrah, such as punishment of stoning to death for adultery (Ibn Jarir, Razi, Ibn Kathir).

66. That is, the Prophet does not - out of good grace - expose all that he knows of what they conceal (Qurtubi, Thanwi and others).

67. The allusion by the "Light" is to our Prophet who illuminated the Truth (Ibn Jarir). That was the opinion of Qatadah and the preference of Zajjaj (Alusi).

68. The mention of Allah's approval (ridwan) before the rewards of Paradise has the implication that the reward of Paradise follows as a necessary corollary to the search for Allah's approval (Thanwi).

69. The words in the original "Subul al-Salam" draw the following commentary from Asad: "The word salam ... has no proper equivalent in the English language. It denotes inner peace, soundness and security from evil of any kid, both physical and spiritual, and the achievement of what, in Christian terminology, is described as "salvation": with the difference, however, that the Christian concept of salvation presupposes the existence of an a-priori state of sinfulness, which is justified in Christianity by the doctrine of "original sin", but is not justified in Islam, which does not subscribe to this doctrine. Consequently, the term "salvation" ... does not adequately convey the full meaning of salam. Its nearest equivalent in Western languages would be the German Heil or the French salut, both of which express the idea of spiritual peace and fulfillment without being necessarily (i.e., linguistically) connected with the Christian doctrine of salvation."

70. Commenting on the "Sawa' al-Sabil" of the original, Mawdudi writes that refusal to follow Allah's guidance has led mankind to swing from one extreme to another, unable to find the golden mean that will do full justice to his various potentialities and urges, to all his instincts and predispositions, and to all the multifarious claims of the body and soul. And, instead of accepting defeat, mankind has begun to claim victory for this very swinging from one extreme to another. He concludes: "In the modern times some philosophers have been so impressed by this constant swinging in human life, from one extreme to another, as to have mistakenly argued that the dialectical process is the natural course of human life. They conclude, therefore, that the only way for human life to progress is that a thesis should first wing it in on direction, and then an antithesis swing it in the opposite direction, after which there will emerge a synthesis which constitutes the course of human progress. These curved lie from one extreme to the other do not indicate the correct course of human progress. Rather they represent the tragic stumbling which again and again obstruct the true progress of human life. Every extreme thesis sets life on a certain course and continues to pull it in that direction for some time. When human life is thus thrown off its ‘right course' the result is that certain realities of life - which had not received their due - rise up in revolt, and this revolt often assumes the form of an antithesis. This revolt begins to pull life in the opposite direction. As the ‘right way' is approached the conflicting ideas - the thesis and antitheses - begin to effect some kind of mutual compromise, leading to the emergence of a synthesis. This synthesis comprises many elements conducive to the good of mankind. But since societies which do not submit to the guidance from the Prophet are deprived both of the signposts that might indicate the ‘right way' and faith to help to steady man's feet thereon this synthesis does not permit human life to maintain the golden mean. Its momentum is so powerful that it once more pushes life to the opposite extreme."

Mawdudi is obviously alluding to the materialistic life. Mankind, for instance, has swung from the two extremes of capitalism and communism to what they refer to as the golden synthesis, socialism. Much of the workers' rights in the West, for instance, were granted to them after the successes of communism in Eastern Europe. That kind of achievement misleads many. Further, some people believe that even if the society misses the golden mean, individuals can always work out the golden mean for themselves. But that is true only in the material sense. In the overall sense, comprising various dimension of life: the social, moral, spiritual, etc., it remains out of reach. What has to be understood is that whatever man chooses as the mean path, is the extreme path. It might at best satisfy the aspirations of the body. It misses the satisfaction of the soul. It is guidance from above that leads to a mean path that guarantees satisfactions both of the aspirations of the body as well as of the soul. Without the guidance from above - not to the mean path, rather to faith in Allah, recognition of spiritual values, the methods of worship and devotion to Allah, etc., - there is no mean path in existence that can be realized (Au.).

71. Thanwi comments: In these words is the rejection of the concept of Unity of the Creator and the created.

"The original mistake committed by the Christians in declaring Jesus to be a combination of human and divine essences turned Jesus into a mystery for them, and the more the Christian scholars tried to solve this mystery by resorting to conjecture and rhetorical extravagance the more involved the whole matter became. Those who were more impressed by the humanity of Jesus stressed his being the son of God and considered him to be one of the three gods. Those who were more impressed by the divinity of Jesus considered him to be none other than God, stressing that he was the human incarnation of God, and worshipped him as God. Those who tried to strike a middle path spent all their efforts hammering out subtle verbal formulations of the Trinity that would allow people to consider the Messiah to be God and man at one and the same time, to affirm that God and the Messiah are independent and simultaneously constitute an inseparable whole." (Mawdudi)

Majid offers greater depth: "The reference here is mainly to certain less well-known varieties of Christianity such as Docetism, Monarchianism and Sabellianism, which rest on some such propositions as the following:- ‘That one and the same God is the Creator and Father of all things; and when it pleased Him, He appeared.' ‘When the Father had not been born, He yet was justly styled Father; and when it pleased Him to undergo generation, having been begotten, He himself became His own Son, not another's.' ‘Father and Son, so called, are one and the same substance, not an individual produced from different ones, but Himself for Himself.' (ERE. VII, p. 779) ... But hardly distinguishable from these ‘heresies' and equally bewildering to the Muslim mind is the accepted central doctrine of the orthodox Christianity: ‘Jesus is very God of very God, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was made Man.' His nature is ‘consubstantial' with God. ‘He is not inferior to the Father, nor posterior, not merely like unto Him, but identical in substance and in essence with Him. He is truly God, God of very God, consubstantial with the Father, as the Nicene Creed has it, having, or rather, being, the Godhead no less than the Father' (CD. p.252).

72. Maryam (asws) has also been included to impress that insofar as the two were creations of Allah, there was no difference between the two (Kashshaf).

Majid writes about Maryam, who is also adored and worshipped as a Divinity by a large number of Christians: "In the most widely distributed form of Christianity, the "virgin" mother of God plays an important part as a fourth deity; in the many Catholic countries she is practically taken to be much more powerful and influential than the three male persons of the celestial administration.' (Haeckel, Riddle of the Universe, p. 232). Even as early as the early 3rd century, the title of Mary as the ‘Mother of God' and as the ‘Queen of Heaven,' were demanded by more fanatical Christians who claimed Divine honours for the ideal and prototype of virginity.' (DB. III, pl 289). ‘Mariatology is probably more prevalent in the Church of Home than at any former time.' (p. 291) ... ‘According to the Roman Catholic Church, God, without ceasing to be God, in the characteristic phrase of St. Paul, "implied Himself" and was born in human form of Mary's womb and she became Virgin Mother, the Virgin Mother of God.' (Ptoserpie, The Council of Ephesus and the Divine Motherhood, p. 4).

73. That is, Allah creates in all manners: sometimes without a father and a mother, such as Adam, sometimes without a mother, such as Hawwa', and sometimes without a father, such as ‘Isa. Therefore, the Christians need not be over-perplexed by the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ to ascribe divinity to him (Zamakhshari, Razi).

74. Ibn `Abbas has said that once Nu`man b. Ada, Bahra b. `Amr and Shas b. `Adiyy visited the Prophet. He invited them to Islam and warned them of the consequences of rejection. They said: "Muhammad. Do not try to scare us. We are the children of God" (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

But S. Ibrahim says there is some weakness in the chain of narration of this report.

It is said that this belief has its basis in the words of Tawrah to the effect: "You are my first born son" (Ibn Kathir).

Majid quotes from the Bible: "Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first-born.' (Ex. 4: 22) ‘Ye are the children of Lord your God.' (Dt. 14: 1) ‘When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son, out of Egypt.' (Ho. 11: 1)

Asad adds: "Cf. Exodus iv, 22-23 ("Israel is my son"), Jeremiah xxxi, 9 ("I am a father to Israel"), and the many parallel expressions in the Gospels."

The Christians make similar claims. Majid quotes: ‘As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of god, even to them that believe on his name.' (Jn. 1: 12) ‘As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.' (Ro. 8: 14) ‘Children of God' is a title of the faithful in virtue of special adoption by God.' (Mcdonald's Concise Encyclopedia, p. 204). ‘Jesus teaches that this relation of sonship to God is connected with his own person, and to be enjoyed through Him.' (Hastings Dictionary of the Bible, II, p. 217)

75. Jewish and Christian literature is replete with the claims of a special status with God, it being immaterial how they treat His commandments. They remain His beloved under all circumstances, with their status conferring upon them no special responsibility, but every prerogative (Au.). Majid quotes from Jewish literature: "`Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.' (Le. 19: 2) ‘Ye are the children of the Lord your God ... For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord has chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.' (Dt. 14: 1-2) And the Jewish rabbis have said: ‘Beloved one Israel, for they are called "Sons of the Highest" ... Even if they are foolish, even if they transgress, even if they are full of blemishes, they are still called "Sons." (Quoted in Klausner's, Jesus of Nazareth, p. 377)."

Then, as to the Christians, Majid quotes the following: "`This sonship conferred on men depended not on human descent from Abraham, nor upon the sexual relations of their parents, nor could it be had for willing or wishing it, i.e., human effort. It was a free and supernatural gift from God, inward and spiritual, implanted by the Holy Ghost, and depended for its maintenance on union with Christ.' (Dumalew, Commentary on the Holy Bible, p. 775) ‘The specific condition of the "new man", in contrast to the "old", is that of sonship and installation into sonship after the likeness of Christ's ... God himself is the veritable Father of the Christian believer, the kindred fontal source of his new life ... Baptism is to him [St. John] the normal condition under which believers came to rank as "Children of God", in virtue of a manifest sealing by Holy Spirit power' (Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible, IV. pp. 218-219).

76. It is said that a sufi asked a faqih: "Where do you find in the Qur'an that a loved one will not punish the beloved." The faqih could not answer. The sufi quoted this verse: "The Jews and the Christians boast, ‘We are the Children of God and His beloved ones.' Ask them, ‘Why then does He punish you for your sins?'"

In fact, there is a tradition to this effect in Ahmad.

عن أَنَسٍ قَالَ كَانَ صَبِيٌّ عَلَى ظَهْرِ الطَّرِيقِ فَمَرَّ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَمَعَهُ نَاسٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِهِ فَلَمَّا رَأَتْ أُمُّ الصَّبِيِّ الْقَوْمَ خَشِيَتْ أَنْ يُوطَأَ ابْنُهَا فَسَعَتْ وَحَمَلَتْهُ وَقَالَتْ ابْنِي ابْنِي قَالَ فَقَالَ الْقَوْمُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا كَانَتْ هَذِهِ لِتُلْقِيَ ابْنَهَا فِي النَّارِ قَالَ فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَا والله َلَا يُلْقِي اللَّهُ حَبِيبَهُ فِي النَّارِ (شعيب): إسناده صحيح على شرط الشيخين .

It is said that a child came across a caravan being led by the Prophet. When his mother saw them she came running, crying, "My child! My child." She was afraid that they would trample him. She snatched him and hurried away. Upon this some of the Companions remarked: "Messenger of Allah! It is not expected of this woman that she will throw her child into fire." The Prophet replied: "No by Allah. He will not cast His beloved ones into the Fire" (Ibn Kathir, Shawkani).

77. The word in the original for break is "fatrah." It is that period between which there is no Prophet among a people; or, in other words, the interval between two Prophets.

The break, according to Salman al-Farsi's opinion in Bukhari, between our Prophet and Jesus Christ, lasted 600 years, during which no Prophet was commissioned. A hadith of the Sahihayn reports the Prophet as having said: "I am closest to ‘Isa. And prophets are of the same father. And, there was no Prophet between us." As for the three mentioned in Surah Yasin, they were messengers of ‘Isa sent to a town as his representatives. As regards Khalid b. Sinan, Shihab has said that he was sent before ‘Isa (asws). Further, the report in connection with Ibn Sinan's daughter meeting the Prophet, mentions her as his daughter only in the figurative sense and not real (Ruh, Bayan).