Surah Al-Hadid 57:26-29 - Quran Translation Commentary

(57:26) And We did send Nuh and Ibrahim, and We appointed Prophethood and the Book to be among their seed. Yet, of them some are rightly guided, but most of them are defiantly disobedient.

(57:27) Then We sent, following in their footsteps⁵⁹ Our Messengers; and sent `Isa, son of Maryam, giving him Injil; and We placed in the hearts of those who followed him compassion and mercy;⁶⁰ and monasticism⁶¹ which they invented⁶² - We did not prescribe it upon them - except to seek Allah’s approval.⁶³ Thereafter they did not observe it as they should have observed.⁶⁴ So We gave those of them who believed their reward, but most of them are corrupt.⁶⁵

(57:28) O those who have believed,⁶⁶ fear Allah and believe in His Messenger. He will award you a two-fold portion of His mercy⁶⁷ and provide for you a Light whereby you can walk,⁶⁸ and forgive you; Allah is All-forgiving, All-merciful;

(57:29) that the people of the Book may know⁶⁹ that they have no power over anything of Allah’s grace and that all grace is in Allah’s hand. He bestows it upon whom He will;⁷⁰ and Allah is possessor of great grace.

Commentary

59. Actually the word “qaffa” lends the meaning of sending one after another (Alusi), in quick succession (Au.).

60. While some commentators have pointed out the difference between “ra’fah” and “rahmah” is that the former expresses greater intensity, Alusi says that “ra’fah” expresses that kindness which comes in between a man and a harm befalling him, while “rahmah” expresses that kindness which helps obtain what is good and beneficial.

61. Abu Sa`eed al-Khudri narrated that:

A man came to him and said, “Admonish me.” He said, “You have asked me what I had asked the Prophet earlier. He told me, ‘I admonish you to fear Allah. It is the head of everything. And upon you is Jihad for it is the monasticism of Islam. And upon you is Allah’s remembrance and recitation of the Qur’an for it is your (portion of) mercy in the heaven and a (means of) reminder for you on the earth.” (Ibn Kathir).

62. “Bid`ah” is a much abused term in our times. Alusi, and following him Thanwi, point out that the word has been used here in its linguistic sense (to start up a new practice, to innovate), and not in its technical sense. (When the Prophet said, “Every innovation is an error,” he was using the word in its technical sense: Mufti Shafi`). It may be noted that the specific bid`ah mentioned here has not been condemned, but rather the fact that it was not observed in the spirit it deserved has been criticized.

“Rahbaniyyah” itself, explains Shafi`, as defined by Islam (viz., observing celibacy, treating the lawful as unlawful and living in seclusion: Thanwi; not on a temporary basis, but as permanent and irreversible practice: Shafi`) stands prohibited in Islam – unless, once again, one has been left with no option between either severing all his relationships with the society, or abandoning faith. If someone faces a sure and definite threat to his faith, he may take to mountains and deserts without earning any censure, the way those of the Jews and Christians who were put to the ordeal did. They chose deserts and mountains but have not been censured by the Qur’an.

Alusi does well to quote Nawawi from his commentary on Muslim. We translate in brief:

“Scholars have said that innovation in religion (bid`ah) is of five kinds: mandatory, non-mandatory, forbidden, undesirable and acceptable. Of those that are mandatory, the arguments of the philosophers for refuting the atheists and innovators, is an example. The non-mandatory type is to author books, establish schools of study, set up border posts to (deter the enemy), etc. Of those that are acceptable are such as variety in food, etc. As for the forbidden and undesirable, they are quite well known. The hadith (which says, “every bid`ah is a misguidance”) is speaking of a particular type of bid`ah and is not generally applicable to all its kind. Our statement is strengthened by `Umar’s words concerning the taraawih he instituted: ‘A good bid`ah it is.’”

The topic deserves greater elaboration. But none of the commentators under this author’s scheme of study has attempted it. It is on such occasions that one misses Rashid Rida’s thoroughgoing investigations (Au.).

63. Ibn Jarir explains this passage in the following manner: “They invented a monasticism that We had not prescribed, although they did it hoping to attain Allah’s approval.” Zamakhshari is with him in this understanding.

64. That is, a few remained true to their undertaking and so earned their rewards, but most of them did not observe monasticism the way it should have been observed but rather, proved to be incorrigibly corrupt. (Based on Zamakhshari).

Ibn Jarir (as also Qurtubi) presents a report on his own authority, which has been preserved in several hadith collections such as Nasa’i, Tabarani and Ibn Marduwayh. The authenticity of some versions has been doubted but Ibn Kathir thinks that certain versions hold a strong position. It says that after `Isa (asws), the rulers altered Torah and Injeel and gave the options to their populace to either accept the altered versions or face the sword. Those who did not acquiesce were murdered. A third or so of the populace begged to be allowed into deserts where they could live in seclusion, away from the civilized life, and in no way disturbing the peace of others. They were allowed to take such a step, and it is in this connection that Allah revealed, “and monasticism which they invented - We did not prescribe it upon them - except to seek Allah’s approval.” By the time the Prophet arrived, few of them had survived so that when the news of his advent spread, this one came down from a monastery, that one from his recluse, yet another from his retreat, to embrace Islam. It is in reference to them that Allah said, “O those who have believed, fear Allah and believe in His Messenger. He will award you a two-fold portion of His mercy and provide for you a Light whereby you can walk, and forgive you; Allah is All-forgiving, All-merciful.”

Abu Umamah al-Bahiliyy is reported to have applied this verse to this Ummah’s introduction of “tarawih” Prayers. He said, “Allah enjoined you to ‘siyam’ (fasts), but not ‘qiyam.’ It is something that you introduced. Now, (observe it in the manner of true observation: Qurtubi, and) do not forget that there were a people who introduced things in their religion that they were not commanded, but rather, did it on their own, and yet did not observe them in the spirit they should have been observed, so Allah reproached them for it saying, ‘and monasticism which they invented - We did not prescribe it upon them - except to seek Allah’s approval.’” (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi).

Ibn Kathir cites a few other cases of Allah’s favor upon those He wills. The Sahihayn, Ibn Hibban and Ahmad have the following (the version here is from Muslim):

“The poor immigrants went to the Prophet and said, ‘The wealthy attained high ranks and lasting bliss.’ He asked, ‘How is it?’ They said, ‘They Pray like we do, fast like we do, but they expend in charity while we cannot, and free slaves while we cannot.’ The Prophet told them, ‘Should I not teach you something whereby you will attain (to the same ranks) as those who went by, and overtake those who will come after you, and none will be equal to you except he who did like you do?’ They said, ‘Sure do it, Messenger of Allah.’ He said, ‘Chant out Allah’s glory, might, and praises after every Prayer thirty-three times each.’ Abu Saleh said, ‘(Later) the poor immigrants returned to the Prophet to say, ‘Our wealthy brothers came to know of what we were doing and have begun to do the same.’ He answered, ‘That is Allah’s mercy that He bestows upon whom He will.’”

Qurtubi mentions a hadith in reference to monasticism. It is in Ahmad. It seems one of the Companions passed by a cave attached to a small pond. The place won his approval for its distance from the towns, away from the humdrum of life. When he returned, he described it to the Prophet and sought his permission to spend the rest of his life there worshipping Allah without any disturbance. He said,

65. Majid quotes a Christian: “With the passing of the concubine, the nuns in the convents provided the ‘holy men’ with the means of satisfying their sexual cravings” (Scot, History of Prostitution, p. 112). “Asceticism gave to sex an extravagantly important position, and the unhappy twist which the cult of celibacy gave to European morals was the natural result. There grew up a new hypocrisy, such as the old world had not troubled to practice and at the same time the extravagant license of medieval literature, and the squalor and degradation which have since then surrounded and accompanied prostitution” (UHW, I, p. 381). The outstanding features of these monasteries were ‘that they absorbed lands which would have been more useful in the hands of private owners, that they withdrew men from a life of active usefulness, and too often made them lazy and worthless.” (IV. P. 2627) “The rich endowments granted by kings had brought with them, as was inevitable, the seeds of luxury and self-indulgence, and of the very popularity of the ‘religious’ life gave occasion to unreality of professing it.” (DCD. I. p. 191).

The Qur’anic remark that most of them were corrupt is not even the tip of the iceberg. History of monasticism is so full of corruption that none but the most die-hard Christian can have any respect for it. Mawdudi places a long note describing monasticism at its best, and it is far from pleasing. Although the account is familiar, we hesitate to reproduce any part of it because the author has not quoted the sources.

66. According to Dahhak, the address is to those of the people of the Book who embraced Islam (Ibn Jarir).

67. There will be others who will be doubly rewarded on the Day of Judgment. Says the Prophet in a hadith (preserved by Bukhari and others: Au.),

“There are three who will receive two fold rewards: (a) A man who owns a slave-girl. He educates her, and educates her well, he teaches her good manners, and teaches it well. Then he frees her, and then marries her. He shall have twice the reward. (b) A believer of the people of the Book, who was a believer earlier also, and then believed in the Prophet (of the time). He shall have twice the reward. (c) And a slave who renders Allah’s rights and is sincere to his owner as well.” (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

The above hadith ends on an interesting note. Sha`bi is one in the chain of narrators. He remarked as he narrated at Kufah,

“I give this (narration) to you at no cost. There was a time when a man had to travel to Madinah for (a narration) much less important than this one” (Au.).

Ibn Jarir and Ibn Kathir present another hadith in reference to two-fold rewards. (It is in Bukhari, Ibn Hibban, Ahmad and many other collections: Au.),

The Prophet said, “Your epoch among the epochs of those who went before you is (the time) between `Asr and Maghrib (prayers). And your example compared to those of Jews and Christians is like a man who hired some workers saying, ‘Who will work for me for half the day over a measure each?’ The Jews worked for half a day for a measure each. Then he asked, ‘Who will work for me from mid-day until the `Asr time for a measure each?’ The Christians worked from mid-day until the `Asr time for a measure each. Then he said, ‘Who will work for me from the `Asr time until Maghrib on two measures each?’ Lo, O Muslims. It is you will work between `Asr and Maghrib for two measures each. Undoubtedly, you shall have two-fold rewards. So the Jews and Christians became angry and said, ‘Should we work more and be paid less?’ Allah asked, ‘Did I deny anything of your right?’ The two said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘This is My grace, I bestow upon whom I will.’”

(For a better understanding of how the Fuqaha’ methodology works, it may be noted that the Hanafiyyah use this hadith – apart from others - to deduce that the time-gap between `Asr and Maghrib prayers should be shorter than the time gap between Zuhr and `Asr. They recommend therefore, that `Asr be done late: Au.).

However, there is another report in Bukhari which varies with the above to point to another historical reality. Ibn Kathir quotes it:

Abu Musa reports the Prophet as having said, “The example of the Muslims and Jews and Christians is like a man who hired a people to work for a day until the night, for a known wage. They worked until the mid-day, but said, ‘We have no need for the wage you had promised. Whatever we did was all waste.’ He told them, ‘Do not do that. Complete your work and take your wage in full.’ But they refused and abandoned the work. He hired two workers after them and said to them, ‘Complete this day of yours and you shall have your wages in full.’ They began to work but by the time it was `Asr-Prayer time, the two said, ‘Whatever we did for you was all waste. You may keep the reward you had promised us to yourself.’ He told the two, ‘Complete your work. What is left of the day is but little.’ The two refused. So he hired another set of people on condition that they will complete the work of the day. They worked for the rest of their day until the sun disappeared and completed the wages of the previous two parties. This is their example, and the example of what they took of this Light.”

Note that the employment of the word “two” that were hired to work between noon and `Asr time, throws the hint that the Jews were also allowed to work, and that Judaism remained valid, even after some of them formed a new sect called “Christianity” (Au.).

68. The Qur’an, the Criterion, and Allah’s guidance have been explained as being alluded to by the textual word “Nur.” But ‘the Qur’an’ is the preferable understanding, which is a source of Light for its holders (Ibn Jarir).

Alusi adds: The hidden meaning in “provide you with Light whereby you can walk” is best expressed in a saying that circulates among scholars: “Whoever lived by what he knows is led to greater learning.”

69. Not knowing the Arabic language well enough can lead to faulty understanding of the Qur’an. In this ayah, “li-‘alla” is equivalent of “li-kayla.” Ibn Jarir brings out a few other verses from the Qur’an in which “la” does not hold a negative meaning, but rather is used as a conjunction (lamu silah). For example,

“What prevented you that you should prostrate yourself when I ordered you?”

Or,

“And what will inform you that when it comes, they will believe?”

Or yet,

“It is impossible for the (people of) a town which We destroyed, that they should return.”

Qurtubi presents Farra’s position as agreeing with the above.

70. One way to understand the verse, and its connection with the passage, is that Allah detailed some happenings of the past in order to impress upon the Jews and Christians that Allah’s grace is not bound with them, but is vast and available to any qualifying individual or nation. Therefore, there should be no objection to Him raising the Final Prophet among the Arabs and revealing to him (Razi).