Surah As-Saf 61:10-14 - Quran Translation Commentary

(61:11) You shall believe in Allah and His Messenger and fight in Allah’s cause with your wealth and your selves. That is best for you, only if you knew.

(61:12) He will forgive you your sins and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow, and into splendid mansions in Gardens of Eternity. That is the supreme triumph.

(61:13) And another (favor) that you love: help from Allah and a victory close (at hand);¹³ and, (therefore) give glad tidings to the believers.

(61:14) O those who have believed, be Allah’s helpers as said `Isa the son of Maryam to the disciples, ‘Who will be my helper unto Allah?’¹⁴ The disciples said, ‘We will be Allah’s helpers.’¹⁵ Then a party of the children of Israel believed, and a party disbelieved.¹⁶ So We helped those who believed against their enemies, so that they became dominant.¹⁷

Commentary

13. The allusion could either be to the conquest of Khayber, or Makkah, or even Rome and Persia (Mufti Shafi` and others).

14. The textual word “hawwari” has several meaings. The simplest being those who are the closest companions of a Prophet (Qurtubi).

For other explanation see ayah 52 of Surah Al-`Imran.

Majid quotes from the Gospels: “And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach.” (Mk. 3: 14). “After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.” (Lk. 10: 1)

15. Ibn Jarir comments: So were the Companions of the Prophet. And among them, twelve were the “hawwari” of this Ummah. Qatadah named them as: Abu Bkr, `Umar, `Uthman, `Ali, Hmaza, Ja`far, Abu Ubaydah, `Uthman b. Maz`un, `Abd al-Rahman b. `Awf, Sa`d b. Abi Waqqas, Talha b. `Ubaydullah and Zubayr b. al-`Awwam. They were all from the Quraysh (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi).

16. Asad notes: “I.e., some of them recognized him as a Prophet – and, therefore, as no more than a created human being – whereas others denied this truth in the course of time by regarding him as ‘the son of God’ – and, therefore, as ‘God incarnate’ – while still others rejected him and his message altogether. The fact that the earliest followers of Jesus Christ regarded him purely as human is evident from the many theological controversies which persisted during the first three or four centuries of the Christian era. Thus, some renowned theologians, like Theodotus of Byzantium, who lived towards the end of the second century, and his followers – among them Paul of Samosata, Bishop of Antioch in the year 260 – maintained that the ‘sonship of God’ mentioned in the then-existing texts of the Gospels was purely symbolic, denoting no more than that Jesus was a human being exalted by God. The original wide-spread teachings of Bishop Arius (280-326) centered in the concept of Jesus as a mortal man chosen by God for a specific task, and in the concept of God as absolutely One, unknowable, and separate from every created being; this doctrine, however, was ultimately condemned by the Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381), and gradually ceased to have any influence on the Christian masses.”

17. Qurtubi suggests that the prevalence was the prevalence of proofs and evidences, which became manifest when the 12 Apostles sent out by `Isa (asws) spread into adjoining lands propagating the new faith (which overcame the Jewish beliefs).

Quoting Ibn Is-haq, Qurtubi gives the following details concerning the mission of the disciples of Jesus Christ: He sent Peter and Paul to the Roman lands; Andrew and Matthew to Cannibals; Thomas to Babylon; Philips to Africa; John to Damacsus the town of the seven-sleeper; Jacob to Jerusalem; Ibn Talma to the Arab world; Simon to the Berbers; Yehuda and Bard to Alexandria. Allah aided them with points of right argument and they prevailed.

The report is also in the Tarikh Dimashq by Ibn `Asakir but with name variations (Au.).

Thus Allah gave the upper hand to believers in `Isa over the unbelievers in him (Zamakhshari).

The above, however, offers some difficulty since we know that early in the history of Christianity, it was not the believers in `Isa as a Messenger of Allah who dominated after a struggle between them and those who claimed that he was a son of God, or God Himself. Nor were it the Christians (of whatever denomination) who gained the upper hand against the Jews, during the early Christian history. That happened only after Constantine, the Roman emperor had embraced Christianity in the fourth century. So, the question remains: who were it that were given the upper hand, and over whom? The following narrative quoted by Ibn Jarir also does not give a satisfactory answer:

Ibn `Abbas said that when Allah decided to raise `Isa ibn Maryam to the heavens, he assembled his 12 students in a house. His hair was dropping water droplets. He told them that one of them was going to betray his faith 12 times. Then he asked, “Which of you would volunteer that he should be transformed into my face. He will be killed and then he will be with me in Paradise.” A young man got up and said, “I.” Jesus told him to sit down and posed the same question. Again the young man got up as the volunteer. He told him to sit down. But when he got up a third time he agreed and said, “Alright, let it be you.” So the young man was transformed into his face and he himself was lifted out through a light hole to the heavens. The Jews came after him, caught hold of the young man and crucified him. After that the Christians became three factions: (i) A group said, “God was with us for as long as He wished. Now He is in the heavens. These were called as Jacobites. (ii) Another faction said, the son of God was with us as long as he willed. He has been raised unto the heavens. These were called Nestorians. (iii) A third group said, “He was a slave of Allah and a Messenger, and has now been raised to the heavens.” These were Muslims. But the other two sects oppressed the Muslims and slaughtered them. Thus Islam remained suppressed until Allah sent Prophet Muhammad. And Allah kept helping those who had believed in `Isa, Maryam’s son, until the Prophet came with whose advent they became the prevailers.

And, Ibn Kathir adds: The Ummah of Muhammad will remain prevalent until the last of them will fight along with `Isa against Dajjal.

The above was from Ibn Jarir which is also preserved by Nasa’i, in his Sunan al-Kubra (Ibn Kathir).

No hadith doctor seems to have passed a judgment about the authenticity of the above report (Au.).

The above interpretation however, remarks Alusi, does not agree with the apparent meaning viz., the believers in `Isa were given dominance over disbelievers in him.

Shawkani’s interpretation is: We allowed dominance to the believers in Muhammad over both the factions of the Jews: those who believed in `Isa, as well as those who disbelieved. This, Qurtubi and Shawkani note, was also the opinion of Ibn `Abbas, as in Ibn Abi Hatim. The two Muqatils also suggested this meaning (Razi).

But, treating the verse in the general and according it an overall perspective, Yusuf Ali has the last word on the topic. It might be kept in mind that when these lines were written the madness called “Israel” had not yet been created. And, it is not 60 years since the establishment of the Jewish state, but thinking Jews are saying, it cannot last long: “A portion of the Children of Israel - the one that really cared for Truth - believed in Jesus and followed his guidance. But the greater portion of them were hard hearted, and remained in their beaten track of formalism and false racial pride. The majority seemed at first to have the upper hand when they thought they had crucified Jesus and killed his Message. But they were soon brought to their senses. Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus in A.D. 70 and the Jews have been scattered ever since. ‘The Wandering Jew’ has become a bye-word in many literatures. On the other hand, those who followed Jesus permeated the Roman Empire, brought many new races within their circle, and through the Roman Empire, Christianity became the predominant religion of the world until the advent of Islam. So is it promised to the people of Islam: they must prevail if they adhere to the Truth. Badr (A.H. 2) was a landmark against Pagan Arabia; Qadisiya (A.H. 14) and Madain (A.H. 16) against the might of Persia: Yarmuk (A.H. 15) against the might of the Byzantine Empire in Christian Syria; and Heliopolis (A.H. 19) against the same Empire in Christian Egypt and Africa. These were symbols in external events. The moral and spiritual landmarks are less tangible, and more gradual, but none the less real. Mark how the arrogance and power of Priesthood have been quelled; how superstition and a belief in blind Fate have been checked; how the freedom of human individuals has been reconciled with the sanctity of marriage in the law of Divorce; how the civil position of women has been raised; how temperance and sobriety have been identified with religion; what impetus has been given to knowledge and experimental science; and how economic reconstruction has been pioneered by rational schemes for the expenditure and distribution of wealth.”