293. Majid comments: "I.e., Adam. The implication of which fact is, that all men belonging to one species, and that racial variations notwithstanding, there is no essential difference between man and man. If the modern world had only kept this elementary truth in mind, there would have been no occasion for it to lament that ‘the progress of civilization is threatened by the serious danger of racial conflict and the still more serious evil, the demoralization caused by inter racial and color prejudice' (EBr. VI, p. 571). The time must come when it will seem absurd that French and Germans, Americans and Japanese, French and English, can even have been divided by imaginary barriers no less absurd than the recollection that the people of Burgandy and Artoris, of Mecklangbourg and Hanover, of Wessex and Nothumberland were once taught to believe themselves natural enemies.' (Fyfe, The Illusion of National Character."

294. Qatadah has said: Allah brought out Hawwa' out of one of Adam's ribs (Ibn Jarir). It does not imply however, that Adam had one rib less. A hadith in Muslim says:

إِنَّ الْمَرْأَةَ خُلِقَتْ مِنْ ضِلَعٍ لَنْ تَسْتَقِيمَ لَكَ عَلَى طَرِيقَةٍ فَإِنِ اسْتَمْتَعْتَ بِهَا اسْتَمْتَعْتَ بِهَا وَبِهَا عِوَجٌ وَإِنْ ذَهَبْتَ تُقِيمُهَا كَسَرْتَهَا وَكَسْرُهَا طَلاَقُهَا

"Verily, woman has been created from the rib. She will never straighten up to your ways. Therefore, if you make use of her, you will have to do that while she remains in her bent state. But, if you undertake to straighten her up, you will break her up. And breaking her up is to divorce her" (Au.).

Thus the Qur'an rejects the theory of evolution. We shall have a few things to say about this theory later in this work, in sha Allah (Au.).

295. The words in parenthesis follow Hasan's interpretation as in Ibn Jarir and traced as trustworthy by Ibn Kathir. Qaffal also explains this passage along these lines (Razi).

296. Another reading is "maarrat" with its root in "miryah", i.e., initially she was in doubt if she was carrying or not, until she grew heavy (Zamakhshari, Qurtubi).

297. The textual "salehan" can only be interpreted as embodying all that is good and wholesome (Ibn Jarir).

298. Yusuf Ali writes: "The mystery of the physical birth of man, as it affects the father and the mother, only touches the imagination of the parents in the later stages when the child is yet unborn and yet life stirs within the body of the expectant mother. The coming of the new life is a solemn thing, and is fraught with much hope as well as much unknown risk to the mother herself. The parents in their anxiety turn to Allah. If this feeling of solemnity, hope, and looking towards Allah were maintained after birth, all would be well for the parents as well as for the rising generation. But the attitude changes, as the verses following show."

299. The interpretation, as reported in some older works, concerning Hawwa' being misled by Satan at the time of the first birth is completely unacceptable, since, no one with any common sense could be misled that way, far from Hawwa' (Razi).

Further, the ahadith quoted in this regard are untrustworthy (Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

Alusi vigorously defends the above opinion and states that Abu Muslim and al Amidi held the same view, viz., Allah started with the species and then came down to its members. In simpler words, Hawwa' is not the subject of this verse. Rashid Rida re narrates all the ahadith on the subject and demonstrates the weaknesses in their chains of narration.

Indeed, the use of plural form in "Exalted high is Allah, above what they associate," after attributing the previous acts to the two, is another indication that it is a switch from the specific in the early part of the passage, to the general, in its later part (Au.).

300. Asad comments: "Many of them (i.e., the parents) look up to the contributing factors of sound childbirth (like personal care during pregnancy, medical assistance, eugenics, etc.) as something independent of God, forgetting that all these contributing factors are like the birth of the child itself but an outcome of God's will and grace: a manifestation of what the Qur'an calls "the way of God" (sunnat Allah). Since this kind of mental association of "other" factors with God is not really intentional, it does not amount to the unforgivable sin of shirk ("the ascribing of divine qualities to powers other than God"); but it is close enough to it to warrant the subsequent discourse on shirk in the real meaning of the term."

301. Note the switch from the particle "ma" (which is) used for the non living to the "hum" (they) which is used for the living. This is following the logic of the idol worshippers who consider the non living as the living (Razi).

302. The Qur'an thus invites the people to appeal to their simple logic. But human folly knows no limits. There are hundreds of millions even in our times who are devoted to the worship of hand made idols. People of high governmental profiles beat up their chests before T.V. cameras to proudly claim the worship of idols. It is perhaps only crude iconoclastic measures something disapproved by Islam that would demonstrate to the ardent devotees the powerlessness of their idols, although, expectedly, not all. Ibn Kathir reports that two young lads Mu`adh ibn `Amr b. al Jamuh and Mu`adh ibn Jabal, had to resort to this coarse strategy to convince `Amr b. Jamuh of their worthlessness and his own senselessness. In the darkness of the nights, the two lads would defile a deity very dear to `Amr b. al Jamuh. Initially shocked to find his beloved god in that state, he would wash it, clean it, and perfume it. But, come the night, the two would repeat their performance in its darkness. Finally, he hung a sword by the deity cajoling it to defend itself. But, when they hung the carcass of a dog by its neck, and threw it down a pit, sword, carcass, and all, it was then that `Amr b. al Jamuh's woke up to his stupidity and embraced Islam (Au.).

Rashid Rida comments: How strange that people refused to believe in the Prophet on the grounds that, as the Qur'an has put it, (23: 33, 34):

مَا هَذَا إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُكُمْ يَأْكُلُ مِمَّا تَأْكُلُونَ مِنْهُ وَيَشْرَبُ مِمَّا تَشْرَبُونَ (33) وَلَئِنْ أَطَعْتُمْ بَشَرًا مِثْلَكُمْ إِنَّكُمْ إِذًا لَخَاسِرُونَ [المؤمنون : 33 ، 34]

"This (man) is nothing but a human being like you who eats of what you eat and drinks of what you drink. If you follow a human like yourselves, surely, you will be in a loss."

Yet, they had no problem in believing in lifeless idols.

303. Asad comments: "I.e., (they are) created beings subservient to God's will. This refers to saints, living or dead, as well as to inanimate objects of every description, including idols, fetishes and representational images physical or mental of saints or deified persons."

304. Hasan has said that the pagans used to threaten the Prophet that if he did not give up reviling their deities, the deities would take out revenge on him. This verse was sent in answer to that (Razi).

305. There have been several explanations to this passage, but the nearest to being right is that it is the Prophet who has been addressed. He is being told that ‘you will see them looking at you but in truth they do not see you, since they perceive not the several signs in your person' (Alusi).

Rashid Rida adds: (How could they be considered as seeing what they were seeing when) one of them had looked at the Prophet and remarked, "This is not the face of a liar," yet they rejected him?

306. It is reported that the Prophet reacted to the word "`afw" and asked Jibril as to what it stood for. Jibril replied:

أَنْ تُعْطِيَ مَنْ حَرَمَكَ، وَتَصِلَ مَنْ قَطَعَكَ، وَتَعْفُوَ عَمَّنْ ظَلَمَكَ

"That you should join (the relationship with) one who severs it off you, give him who denies you, and forgive him who oppresses you" (Ibn Jarir, Razi, Ibn Kathir, and others).

Zamakhshari, Alusi and others write: The textual word `afw has various implications. The foremost would imply that the Prophet should accept the people on their face value, as also their deeds whatever they can manage to come up with in good grace, rather than be inquisitive about their lives and manners, or too demanding on them, or reacting harshly to their errors.

The Prophet compressed the Islamic morals in a nut shell for Jabir b. Sulaym. Jabir said, "I mounted my camel and went to the Prophet's city. I enquired about him. They led me to the mosque. He was sitting there clad in a woolen striped cloak. I said, ‘Peace be upon you O Messenger of Allah.' He replied, ‘On you be peace.' I said, ‘We are of the deserts and are a harsh people. So teach me a few profitable words.' He said,

آدن " ثلاثا، فدنوت فقال: " أعد علي " فأعدت عليه فقال: (اتق الله ولا تحقرن من المعروف شيئا وأن تلقى أخاك بوجه منبسط وأن تفرغ من دلوك في إناء المستسقي وإن أمرؤ سبك بما لا يعلم منك فلا تسبه بما تعلم فيه فإن الله جاعل لك أجرا وعليه وزرا ولا تسبن شيئا مما خولك الله تعالى

‘Get closer.' He said that three times. Then he said, ‘Repeat the question.' So I repeated. He said, ‘Be conscious of Allah and do not belittle any good deed. Meet your brother with a cheerful countenance. Empty your bucket in that of someone seeking water. If a man finds fault in you for what is not in you, do not find fault in him for what is in him. Allah will reward you for it, while he will earn the punishment. And do not curse anything that Allah has bestowed on you.'" Jabir said, ‘By him in whose hands is my life, after that I did not find fault even with a camel' (Qurtubi).

307. It is reported in Bukhari that once Salim b. `Abdullah ibn `Umar passed by a camping Syrian caravan. He heard the sounds of bell. He remarked that it was prohibited. They responded, "We know better than you. It is the large bells that are prohibited, not these little ones." Salim only said in reply: "Ignore the ignorant," and moved on (Ibn Kathir).

308. It is widely reported that when the Prophet was asked to forbear, he asked Jibril about the situation in which he gets angry (out of frustration). How should he act then? In response this verse was revealed.

309. Since Shaytan is invisible, there is no way to fight off his influence and avoid his presence save by seeking Allah's help (Au.).

Bukhari has a report which says that once two persons argued over something in the Prophet's presence. One of them got so angry that his face swelled up. The Prophet remarked that he knew words which, if the man could say, could cure him of his anger:

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

"I seek Allah's refuge from Shaytan the accursed." But the man was too angry for that. When someone went across and told him that, he retorted: "Am I mad?" (Ibn Kathir)

Qurtubi adds: None can be in refuge from a dog but with the help of its master. It is reported of one of the pious predecessors that he asked his disciple, ‘What will you do when confronted by a Satanic impulse?' He answered, ‘I will fight it off.' He asked, ‘If he returned (with another)?' He answered, ‘I will fight it off too.' He said, ‘That will prolong the affair. What do you do when you have to cross a valley grazed by goats but a dog prevents you?' He answered, ‘Well, I suppose I'll have to chase it away.' He said, ‘That will take long. Rather, seek the help of its master. That would do.'

That is, the best way of chasing Satan is to seek its Master's help, i.e., Allah's.

310. Razi warns: A resort to refuge without belief well-seated in the heart that Allah is the All hearing, the All knowing, may not fetch the desired result.

311. The Prophet (saws) has explained in a hadith of Muslim:

إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ يَأْتِيهِ الشَّيْطَانُ فَيَقُولُ مَنْ خَلَقَكَ فَيَقُولُ اللَّهُ فَيَقُولُ فَمَنْ خَلَقَ اللَّهَ فَإِذَا وَجَدَ ذَلِكَ أَحَدُكُمْ فَلْيَقْرَأْ آمَنْتُ بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ يُذْهِبُ عَنْهُ

"Satan comes to one of you and asks, ‘Who created you?’ He answers, ‘Allah.’ Then he asks, Who created Allah?” When that happens to one of you, let him recite, ‘I believe in Allah and His Messengers,’ for that will chase him away from you" (Qurtubi).

Qurtubi’s quote is different from ours, though of the same meaning. We have chosen the above from Ahmad because Shu`ayb Arna’ut declared it Sahih (Au.).

312. A good example of this was provided by Hasan b. `Ali b. Talib. `Isam b. Mustaliq says: "I entered Madinah and came across Hasan b. `Ali. I was impressed by his personality and carriage. That evoked envy in me because of the hatred I bore for his father. I asked, ‘Are you Hasan b. `Ali?' He replied, ‘Very much so.' I began to call him names and curse his father. He looked up at me, as if in pity. Then he said, ‘I seek Allah's refuge from Satan the accursed and I begin in the name of Allah, the Kind, the Merciful. "Take to forgiving, bid to what is (just and) right, and ignore the ignorant" ... reading out until ... "those who have gained piety, when a thought originating from Satan assaults them, they recall (Allah), and lo, they begin to perceive." Then he said, ‘Cool down man. Seek Allah's forgiveness for yourself and for me. If you need our help, we shall offer you help; if you seek a companion we shall provide you one; if you seek to know the way, we shall guide you to it.' Those words went down into my body spreading remorse. He added, ‘There is no blame on you man. May Allah forgive you. Verily, He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.' Then he asked, ‘Are you from Syria?' I said, ‘Yes.' He recited a piece of poetry and then added, ‘Welcome to you and may Allah lead you to a good resort and protect you. If you need anything just call us, you will find us responding in a manner better than what you thought if Allah will.'" `Isam says, ‘The earth became narrow for me despite its vastness. I wished it would swallow me. I escaped fast from him in a state that there was none in my heart dearer to me than he and his father' (Qurtubi).

313. Some commentators have explained this piece as: There is no let up from either side. Neither the devils let them escape, nor their followers abandon their company (Shawkani).

314. Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah, Suddi and others have said that unbelievers meant to say, why do you not choose one for yourself, and produce it all by yourself, if your God failed you (Ibn Jarir).

315. That is, I have not been sent to work up miracles. I have been commissioned to demonstrate to you that the message I am propounding is livable, practicable (Au.).

Majid writes: "That is the gist of prophethood in Islam. Prophets are only the faithful Messengers of God. No prophet is empowered to perform miracles on his own accord in order to please the infidels. It is only God who, in His infinite wisdom and power, can, and does sometimes, alter the working of His usual, ordinary, normal laws, and bring about what to the limited, finite, intelligence of men appears miraculous. He alone is the Author, equally of the ordinary, everyday events, of natural, extra ordinary, and ‘super' natural events, known in human language as miracles."

316. ‘Evidences,' or ‘evident arguments’ is perhaps the closest to how one can understand the textual word basa'ir (Au.).

317. `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud, Abu Hurayrah and others have reported that the Muslims used to speak out a few necessary words to each other during Prayers until this verse came down. According to Zuhri, it proscribed the recitation of the Qur'an while the Imam is engaged in recitation during congregational Prayer. Another report comes from Ibn Kurayz who says (referring to this verse) that once he objected to the conversation between `Ubayy b. `Umayr and `Ata ibn Abi Rubah pointing out that someone around there was addressing another group of people on a religious topic. The two looked at him, but continued with their conversation without a word to him. The third time he objected to them, they said the verse was primarily revealed for maintaining silence when the Imam recited the Qur'an in the congregational Prayers. This is also the opinion of Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah, Sa`id b. Jubayr, Ibn Musayyib and others. Ibn `Abbas has added that one is free to listen or not to listen to the Qur'anic recitation, if recited outside of the Prayers. Mujahid, Sa`id b. Jubayr and Hasan have extended the prohibition to the time Friday sermon is delivered (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

However, if a person asks another to recite the Qur'an for him, then it is obligatory on him to listen and remain silent (Au.).

Muslim has a report of Abu Musa al Ash`ari that the Prophet said:

إِنَّمَا جُعِلَ الإِمَامُ لِيُؤْتَمَّ بِهِ ، فَإِذَا كَبَّرَ فَكَبِّرُوا ، وَإِذَا قَرَأَ فَأَنْصِتُوا

"The Imam has been appointed to be obeyed. Therefore, when he says Allahu Akbar, you too say Allahu Akbar, and when he recites (the Qur'an) stay silent and listen carefully."

Others (Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Ahmad: Hussain b. Ibrahim) have also recorded this hadith as coming from Abu Hurayrah with Muslim declaring it Sahih although he himself did not report it.

Once Ibn Mas`ud led in Prayers. Some people began to recite behind him. After the Prayers Ibn Mas`ud said (in an irritated tone: Au.) that there ought to be no recitation behind the Imam, "rather, you should ponder over what is being recited."

In fact, according to a report in Ahmad, the Prophet himself disapproved that his followers should recite behind him. Zuhri has added that one might not recite even if he does not hear the Imam's recitation, being at a distance. This happens to be the rule prescribed by Imam Abu Hanifah, Ahmad b. Hanbal, Malik, and the older opinion of Imam Shafe`i who do not think that even al Fatiha need to be recited in jahri Prayers (Fajr, Maghrib and `Isha) - Ibn Kathir.

Alusi points out in defense of the above opinion that in fact there is a hadith in Hakim that tells us that the Prophet even disapproved of recitation of the Qur'an behind the Imam in Zuhr and `Asr Prayers saying, "Imam's recitation is the follower's recitation." Non recitation behind the Imam was the practice of `Umar, Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Ibn `Umar, Zayd b. Thabit and others. Sha`bi has said that he met 70 of those who participated in Badr campaign, who objected to the recitation behind the Imam.

318. "Morning and evening": i.e., at all times (Razi).

The Sahihayn have a report of Abu Musa al Ash`ari that in one of the campaigns the Companions would not go up a hill or climb down into a valley but chant glories of Allah loudly. The Prophet told them:

َيا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ ارْبَعُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِكُمْ ، إِنَّكُمْ لاَ تَدْعُونَ أَصَمَّ وَلاَ غَائِبًا ، إِنَّمَا تَدْعُونَ سَمِيعًا قَرِيبًا وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ وَالَّذِى تَدْعُونَهُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَى أَحَدِكُمْ مِنْ عُنُقِ رَاحِلَةِ أَحَدِكُمْ

"People. Show mercy to yourselves. You are not calling upon a deaf, or someone absent. The One you are calling upon is the Hearer, close (to you). He is with you. The One you are calling is closer to one of you than the neck of the beast he is riding" (Ibn Kathir).

Commenting on the dhikr al lisani recommended by the verse, Razi writes: It should be understood that the body and soul have mutual relationship with each other. Whatever happens to the soul is reflected back on the body and whatever happens to the body is reflected back on the soul. When a man spells out Allah's name by his tongue in a way that he hears his own words, the effects reach the mind and heart, from where they are reflected back on to the soul. In turn, the irradiated soul reflects back its light on the body. Thus each strengthens the other, steering the man to the course of elevation, to greater and greater spiritual heights.

319. The allusion is not to physical nearness, rather to spiritual status (Razi).

320. This is the first Prostration verse of the Qur'an. The Prophet used to prostrate himself at the end of this verse (Au.).

"It is also on record that while delivering a sermon from the pulpit the Prophet (peace be on him) came down from the pulpit to offer prostration and resumed the sermon thereafter" (Mawdudi).

When in prostration one might say, as in a report of Ibn `Abbas in Ibn Majah:

اللَّهُمَّ اكْتُبْ لِى بِهَا عِنْدَكَ ذِكْرًا ، وَاجْعَلْ لِى بِهَا عِنْدَكَ ذُخْرًا ، وَأَعْظِمْ لِى بِهَا عِنْدَكَ أَجْرًا

"O Allah, write it down with You as words of remembrance, place it for me with You as a treasure, and enlarge for me its reward.”

Tirmidhi declared it Hasan, but Hakim treated it as Sahih (Au.).

Another report in Ahmad, Abu Da'ud and Tirmidhi, who graded it Sahih, narrates `A'isha as saying that in his night Prayers the Prophet always said the following words at the Prostration verses:

اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ سَجَدْتُ ، وَبِكَ آمَنْتُ ، وَلَكَ أَسْلَمْتُ سَجَدَ وَجْهِي لِلَّذِي خَلَقَهُ وَصَوَّرَهُ فَشَقَّ سَمْعَهُ وَبَصَرَهُ تَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ

"O Allah, I have prostrated for You. In You I have believed. My face prostrates itself unto Him Who created it and who split open its hearing and sight by His force and power. Exalted is Allah the best of creators" (Alusi).

According to the Hanafiyyah, one who did not intend to listen to the Qur'an, but hears the Prostration verse, has also to prostrate himself (Au.). Accordingly, Mufti Shafi` adds, it is not desirable to recite the Qur'an aloud in an assembly where the people are not listening, but obligatory for an individual to listen when someone starts to recite, or plays a tape recorder.

Fiqh Points

1. According to the Hanafiyyah, prostration at the prostration verse is obligatory (Au.).

2. There is no difference of opinion among the scholars that Qur'anic prostrations go with the same conditions as the prostrations within the Salah, viz., major and minor ablution, cleanliness of the clothes, the right intention, and orientation toward the Qiblah (Qurtubi).

3. Imam Shafe`i, Ahmad and Is haq have ruled that one might if he will raise his hands and say the takbir, as in Prayers.

4. There is no salam after the prostration (Qurtubi).

5. One might not prostrate oneself during the forbidden hours.

According to a hadith in Muslim and Ibn Majah, as reported by Abu Hurayrah, the Prophet said:

إِذَا قَرَأَ ابْنُ آدَمَ السَّجْدَةَ فَسَجَدَ اعْتَزَلَ الشَّيْطَانُ يَبْكِى يَقُولُ يَا وَيْلَهُ - وَفِى رِوَايَةِ أَبِى كُرَيْبٍ يَا وَيْلِى - أُمِرَ ابْنُ آدَمَ بِالسُّجُودِ فَسَجَدَ فَلَهُ الْجَنَّةُ وَأُمِرْتُ بِالسُّجُودِ فَأَبَيْتُ فَلِىَ النَّارُ

"When Adam’s son recites a Prostration verse and prostrates himself, Shaytan retreats weeping, saying, ‘Woe unto me. Adam's son was commanded to prostrate, he obeyed, and will get Paradise. I was also commanded to prostrate, but I refused, and for me is the Fire" (Qurtubi, Alusi).