Surah At-Tawbah 9:30-37 - Quran Translation Commentary

(9:30) The Jews said, ‘`Uzayr is the son of God;'⁵⁷ while the Christians say, ‘Jesus is the son of God.'⁵⁸ That is a (mere) utterance of their mouths. They imitate the words of those who disbelieved earlier.⁵⁹ May Allah destroy them.⁶⁰ How they are deluded!

(9:31) They took their rabbis and monks, and the Messiah the son of Mary, as lords besides Allah,⁶¹ while they were not commanded but that they should worship one God. There is no god besides He. Exalted is He, high above what they associate (with Him).

(9:32) They wish to extinguish Allah's Light with their mouths.⁶² But Allah refuses except to perfect His Light, though the unbelievers be averse (to it).

(9:33) He it is who sent His Messenger with Guidance and the religion of truth in order that He give it ascendancy over every other religions,⁶³ though the idolaters be averse (to it).

(9:34) Believers! Surely, many of the priests and monks⁶⁴ devour people's wealth by false means⁶⁵ and hinder from the way of Allah.⁶⁶ As for those who treasure up⁶⁷ gold and silver and do not expend in Allah's cause, give them glad tidings of a painful chastisement.⁶⁸

(9:35) The Day when it will be heated up on the Fire of Jahannum, then their foreheads, sides and backs stamped therewith.⁶⁹ ‘This is what you hoarded for yourselves. Taste then what you were hoarding.'⁷⁰

(9:36) Surely, the number of months with Allah are twelve months in the Book of Allah from the day He created the heavens and the earth,⁷¹ of which four are consecrated.⁷² This is the right religion, therefore, wrong not yourselves concerning them.⁷³ And fight the pagans together,⁷⁴ as they fight you together, and know that Allah is with the pious⁷⁵

(9:37) Verily, the transposing⁷⁶ (of a consecrated month) is an addition to unbelief by which the unbelievers are led away from the truth. They make it lawful one year and unlawful another year in order to agree with what Allah has forbidden and to make lawful for themselves what He has forbidden. Their evil deeds have been made pleasing to them. Allah does not guide an unbelieving folk.

Commentary

57. According to some commentators, it was in actual fact only a single individual Finhas who had said that `Uzayr is the son of God, (but it was attributed to all because they did not denounce him for saying that: Au.), although another opinion says that it was a group of Jews who had said that. Ibn `Abbas has said (in a report preserved in Ibn Is haq, Ibn Abi Hatim, Abu al Sheikh and Ibn Marduwayh: Manar) that once Sallam b. Muhkam, No`man b. Abi Awfa and Shas b. Qays went to see the Prophet. During the talk, they said, "How do you expect us to follow you when you do not think that `Uzayr was a son of God?" Allah revealed this verse. (Naqqash has said that no Jew is left now who believes that `Uzayr was a son of God: Qurtubi. But that’s not correct. See Shabbir’s note below: Au.). Ibn `Abbas has also said that once the Israelites became so rebellious that Allah withdrew the Tawrah from their breasts and they lost its hard copy along with the (holy) Chest (Tabut). Their enemies captured it as war spoils. (According to another report, it was the `Amaliqa [Amalekites] who overcome them, killed their scholars, destroyed the copies of the Tawrah, and took away the Chest which had the [oldest] written copy). `Uzayr had taken refuge in the mountains. He supplicated to Allah and the Tawrah was re inspired to him. But the Israelites remained skeptic of the Tawrah he was reciting, until they regained the Chest and compared the hard copy with `Uzayr's recitation. When they found the two matching they declared that he must be a son of God (Ibn Jarir, Razi).

Majid writes: "(The allusion by the term `Uzayr is to the) Ezra of the Bible, whose official title in the Jewish tradition is the ‘Scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord and His statutes for Israel,' (Friedlander, Jewish Religion, p. 125) and whose work constitutes a landmark in the history of Judaism. (JE. V. p. 321) Spinoza goes so far as to attribute the composition of the Pentateuch, not to Moses, but to Ezra, which view appears to have existed even in the time of the Apocrypha' (IX. p. 590). ‘He is said to have restored not only the law, which had been burnt, but also all the other Hebrew scriptures which had been destroyed, and seventy apocryphal works in addition' (EBr. IX, p. 14), ‘With the Return', i.e., since the era of Ezra ‘began the codification of the Torah and scriptures, the translation and exegesis, and the development of their intensive teaching. From now onwards Judaism can be spoken of as distinct from the religion of Israel.' (VJE. p. 339) ‘He succeeded in reviving with increased strength the old Jewish national religious ideal; and because he did so he is called the father of Judaism' (The Columbia Encyclopedia, p. 599). He was the first of the scribes or soferin. But who exactly were they? and what standing had they in the Jewish theology? Not only were they ‘the great authorities on the text of the Scriptures and on its interpretation' but it was they who first ‘fixed the norm of Jewish religious practice,' and they were considered competent to effect whatever changes they liked even in the Scriptures. In fact they did introduce ‘eighteen changes into the text of the Pentateuch, chiefly in order to soften expressions which were considered too harsh by a later age. They also modified some of the precepts of the Pentateuch in order to meet the spirit of the age and the needs of the times. These modifications are called in the Talmud dibre soferin, "the words of the Scribes," and were accepted as binding by later generations' (VJE, pp. 585 586). His traditionary tomb is on the bank of the Tigris, near its junction with the Euphrates (Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, p. 282 f.n.)."

Although, the interpretation of son ship as offered by Asad does not sound too convincing, we might present what he writes: "... Ezra occupies a unique position in the esteem of all Jews, and has always been praised by them in the most extravagant terms. It was he who restored and codified the Torah after it had been lost during the Babylonian Exile, and `edited’ it in more or less the form which it has today; and thus ‘he promoted the establishment of an exclusive, legalistic type of religion that became dominant in the later Judaism’ (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1963, vol. IX, p. 15). Ever since then he has been venerated to such a degree that his verdicts on the Law of Moses have come to be regarded by the Talmudists as being practically equivalent to the Law itself: which, in Qur'anic ideology, amounts to a quasi divine law giver and the blasphemous attribution to him albeit metaphorically of the quality of ‘sonship’ in relation to God."

Contemporary Jewish works confirm what the classical Muslim commentators wrote. The Jewish author Max I. Dimont writes in his best seller "Jews, God and History" (p.69 70): "In the year 458 B.C., with the permission of the Persian king, Ezra headed the second mass exodus of 1,800 Jews from Babylonia to Jerusalem. Here Ezra joined hands with Nehemiah. The first move of the alliance between the priest and the aristocrat was a ban on intermarriage between Jews and non Jews, the first in Jewish history, and the first such ban on intermarriage in the world. This action did not sit well with many nations... It did not sit well with many Jews either, and the Book of Ruth is considered to have been written at this time as a protest against such discrimination. However, it must be stressed that this action was not motivated by a philosophy of superiority, or rejection of other people as inferior, but was strictly a defense against future religious dilution. The Chosen people should stay chosen...

"As a second measure toward forging a national religious and spiritual Jewish character, Ezra and Nehemiah decided not only to revise the Book of Deuteronomy but to add to it four other books of Moses. Under their directions, priests and scholars labored diligently to fuse the most important of the divergent of Mosaic documents, including the Deuteronomy of Josiah, into the five books of the Pentateuch, namely, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. All five books of Moses were now made divine.

"... Heralds were sent into every corner of the Persian Empire to spread the news that on the Jewish New Year's Day the Five books of Moses, written by Moses, would be read aloud to all the people."

We have another evidence from a French writer. Commenting on the Qur’anic charge that the Jews treated ‘Uzayr as a son of God, he writes (Maxim Rodinson, Mohammed, Pantheon Books, 1971, p. 238), “The Jews claimed that ‘Uzayr (Esdras, or Ezra) was the son of God, a status which the Christians attribute to Jesus.

“The first of these assertions begins to look less unjustified than it seems at first sight when we find, in a first-century Jewish ‘Apocrypha’ which later enjoyed great popularity, the fourth book of Esdras, the following words spoken to Esdras by an angel: ‘Thou shalt be taken up from [among] men, and henceforth thou shalt remain with my son … Let go from thee the cares of morality; cast from thee the burden of man” (Au.).

Shabbir writes that he was told by a trustworthy Muslim who had toured the Palestine region (early in the 20th century) that he had come across some Jews who held the belief of Uzayr's Divinity and were locally known as Uzayrites.

58. Majid comments: "`Children of God' and `Sons of God' are both Biblical phrases. In the former, the favourite phrase of St. John, `the idea of origin is most prominent'; while the latter, so frequently used by St. Paul, emphasises `rather the notion of relation and privilege' (DG. II, p. 215). The doctrine of Jesus being `a child of God' is distinct from his Sonship, though the two ideas later on coalesced into one. Both are equally blasphemous and derogatory to the dignity of God."

59. "Pagan mythologies and polytheistic theologies are full of the underlying notion of the fatherhood of God, man's generic relationship with Him, and community of nature between man and God. `The idea of divine Fatherhood had not failed to make its appearance in the Jewish scriptures, canonical and uncanonical, as it indeed appears in many religions.' (EBr. XIII, p. 21). There may be special reference to the great influence on the Christian theology of Greece which `supplied the philosophy of the Christian religion' and Rome of which `the stubborn local traditions survive in Catholic Europe to this day.' (UHW, IV, p. 2083)" Majid.

60. The literal translation of "qatalahum Allah" is close to the interpretation of Ibn `Abbas who said that every usage of this kind in the Qur'an means to curse. But, Qurtubi adds, the term expresses another meaning also, viz., wonder. This kind of usage has its precedence in poetry. Asma`i has said:

يا قاتل الله ليلى كيف تعجبني

واخبر الناس أني لا أباليها

May Allah kill Layla, how she amazes me

While people pass the word that I do not care for her.

61. `Adiyy b. Hatim reports:

أَتَيْتُ النَّبِىَّ -صلى الله عليه وسلم- وَفِى عُنُقِى صَلِيبٌ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ قَالَ فَسَمِعْتُهُ يَقُولُ (اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ) قَالَ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُمْ لَمْ يَكُونُوا يَعْبُدُونَهُمْ. قَالَ : أَجَلْ وَلَكِنْ يُحِلُّونَ لَهُمْ مَا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ فَيَسْتَحِلُّونَهُ وَيُحَرِّمُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ فَيُحَرِّمُونَهُ فَتِلْكَ عِبَادَتُهُمْ لَهُمْ.

"I went up to the Prophet. I had a cross hanging by my neck. When he saw me he said, ‘O `Adiyy. Throw that pagan mark away.' So I threw it away. The Prophet was reciting surah Bara'ah. When he reached, ‘They took their scholars and monks, and the Messiah the son of Mary, as lords besides Allah,' I protested, ‘We never worshiped them O Messenger of Allah.' He replied, ‘Is it not true that they declared the unlawful as lawful and lawful as unlawful and you followed them? ‘That was taking them lords besides Allah'" (Ibn Jarir). The narration is in Tirmidhi who thought that the report is of gharib status, i.e., weak (Qurtubi).

Ibn Kathir writes: The report is in Ahmad also wherein it ends in the following manner. The Prophet said,

يَا عَدِيُّ بْنَ حَاتِمٍ مَا أَفَرَّكَ أَنْ يُقَالَ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ فَهَلْ مِنْ إِلَهٍ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مَا أَفَرَّكَ أَنْ يُقَالَ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ فَهَلْ شَيْءٌ هُوَ أَكْبَرُ مِنْ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ قَالَ فَأَسْلَمْتُ فَرَأَيْتُ وَجْهَهُ اسْتَبْشَرَ وَقَالَ إِنَّ الْمَغْضُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ الْيَهُودُ وَالضَّالِّينَ النَّصَارَي

"`Adiyy! What makes you flee from saying, ‘there is no god but Allah? Is there any deity save Allah? What makes you flee from saying, ‘Allah is the greatest?’ Is there anything greater than Allah?” `Adiyy said, “So I embraced Islam, and his face brightened up. He said, "Jews are ‘the angered upon,' and the Christians are ‘those who lost the way'" (Ibn Kathir).

62. Yusuf Ali writes: "With their mouths: there is a two fold meaning: (1) the old fashioned open oil lamps were extinguished by blowing with the mouth; the Unbelievers would like to blow out Allah's Light as it is a cause of offence to them; (2) false teachers and preachers distort the Message of Allah by the false word of their mouths."

63. Although Abu Hurayrah has been reported to be of the view that this ascendancy will be finally and fully achieved with the second coming of `Isa (asws), the opinion of Ibn `Abbas is that the allusion is to the superiority that Islamic religion and Law enjoy over those of other religions (Ibn Jarir).

Imam Razi sees three possible explanations:

1. If what is meant by the ascendancy, is the ascendancy of Islam over the Arabian Peninsula, then, that was achieved.

2. If it is over the whole world that is meant, then, it will happen with the appearance of Mahdi and `Isa (asws).

3. If it is superiority of the Islamic religion over all others is meant, then that too has been achieved, except that this is a weak opinion, since that was achieved with the very first revelation.

Ibn Kathir adds: The Prophet has said,

إِنَّ رَبِّى زَوَى لِىَ الأَرْضَ فَرَأَيْتُ مَشَارِقَهَا وَمَغَارِبَهَا وَإِنَّ مُلْكَ أُمَّتِى سَيَبْلُغُ مَا زُوِىَ لِى مِنْهَا

"My Lord folded the earth for me and I saw its east and west and my followers’ rule will extend to was folded for me." (The hadith is in Muslim: Hussain b. Ibrahim).

Another report in Ahmad says that once in a certain neighborhood when the people had done their dawn Prayer, a young man got up and said,

إِنَّهُ سَيُفْتَحُ لَكُمْ مَشَارِقُ الْأَرْضِ وَمَغَارِبُهَا وَإِنَّ عُمَّالَهَا فِي النَّارِ إِلَّا مَنْ اتَّقَى اللَّهَ وَأَدَّى الْأَمَانَةَ

"I heard the Prophet say, ‘Allah will grant you victory over the east and the west of the lands, and that the (Muslim) state officials will be in Fire, but for those who feared Allah and stayed true to the trust.'"

Shu`ayb Arna’ut thought that the hadith is weak.

The Musnad of Ahmad also has a report coming through Tamim Dariyy. The Prophet said,

لَيَبْلُغَنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرُ مَا بَلَغَ اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ وَلَا يَتْرُكُ اللَّهُ بَيْتَ مَدَرٍ وَلَا وَبَرٍ إِلَّا أَدْخَلَهُ اللَّهُ هَذَا الدِّينَ بِعِزِّ عَزِيزٍ أَوْ بِذُلِّ ذَلِيلٍ عِزًّا يُعِزُّ اللَّهُ بِهِ الْإِسْلَامَ وَذُلًّا يُذِلُّ اللَّهُ بِهِ الْكُفْرَ

"This religion will ultimately reach the lands that are visited by the day and night. Allah will not leave out a house or tent but this religion would have entered it: by the honor of an honorable person, or by the humiliation of a disgraced person: an honor whereby Allah honors Islam and a disgrace whereby Allah disgraces disbelief.”

Yet another report, also in Ahmad, narrates `Adiyy b. Hatim as saying, I visited the Prophet. He told me,

يَا عَدِيُّ بْنَ حَاتِمٍ أَسْلِمْ تَسْلَمْ ثَلَاثًا قَالَ قُلْتُ إِنِّي عَلَى دِينٍ قَالَ أَنَا أَعْلَمُ بِدِينِكَ مِنْكَ فَقُلْتُ أَنْتَ أَعْلَمُ بِدِينِي مِنِّي قَالَ نَعَمْ أَلَسْتَ مِنْ الرَّكُوسِيَّةِ وَأَنْتَ تَأْكُلُ مِرْبَاعَ قَوْمِكَ قُلْتُ بَلَى قَالَ فَإِنَّ هَذَا لَا يَحِلُّ لَكَ فِي دِينِكَ قَالَ فَلَمْ يَعْدُ أَنْ قَالَهَا فَتَوَاضَعْتُ لَهَا فَقَالَ أَمَا إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا الَّذِي يَمْنَعُكَ مِنْ الْإِسْلَامِ تَقُولُ إِنَّمَا اتَّبَعَهُ ضَعَفَةُ النَّاسِ وَمَنْ لَا قُوَّةَ لَهُ وَقَدْ رَمَتْهُمْ الْعَرَبُ أَتَعْرِفُ الْحِيرَةَ قُلْتُ لَمْ أَرَهَا وَقَدْ سَمِعْتُ بِهَا قَالَ فَوَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لَيُتِمَّنَّ اللَّهُ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ حَتَّى تَخْرُجَ الظَّعِينَةُ مِنْ الْحِيرَةِ حَتَّى تَطُوفَ بِالْبَيْتِ فِي غَيْرِجِوَارِ أَحَدٍ وَلَيَفْتَحَنَّ كُنُوزَ كِسْرَى بْنِ هُرْمُزَ قَالَ قُلْتُ كِسْرَى بْنُ هُرْمُزَ قَالَ نَعَمْ كِسْرَى بْنُ هُرْمُزَ وَلَيُبْذَلَنَّ الْمَالُ حَتَّى لَا يَقْبَلَهُ أَحَدٌ قَالَ عَدِيُّ بْنُ حَاتِمٍ فَهَذِهِ الظَّعِينَةُ تَخْرُجُ مِنْ الْحِيرَةِ فَتَطُوفُ بِالْبَيْتِ فِي غَيْرِ جِوَارٍ وَلَقَدْ كُنْتُ فِيمَنْ فَتَحَ كُنُوزَ كِسْرَى بْنِ هُرْمُزَ وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لَتَكُونَنَّ الثَّالِثَةُ لِأَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَدْ قَالَهَا

"‘O `Adiyy, enter the religion and enter security.' I said, `I'm already on a Religion.' He replied, ‘I know your religion better than you do.' I said, ‘Do you?' He said, ‘Yes, I do. Do you not follow a religion that is half Christian, half Sabian? Do you no charge your people one fourth of their produce (for religious services)?' I admitted, ‘That's true.' He said, ‘Well. That is not allowed in your religion, is it?' `Adiyy said, ‘With that I felt a bit subdued.' He added, ‘I know what prevents you from Islam. You say, “Weak sections of the society follow it: those who have no power and those whom the Arabs discarded.” Then he said, ‘Have you seen Hira?' I said, ‘Well, I have not. But I have heard about the place.' He said, ‘By Him in whose Hand is my life, this affair (Islam) will reach a stage when a camel riding (woman) will travel from Hira and circumambulate the Ka`ba without anyone in her company. And surely the treasures of Kisra b. Hurmuz will be captured.' I exclaimed, ‘Kisra b. Hurmuz?' He replied, ‘Sure. Kisra b. Hurmuz. And a time will come when wealth will be distributed and there will be no takers.' `Adiyy used to say, ‘I have seen a woman traveling alone all the way from Hira and circumambulating Ka`ba without anyone harming her. I was one of those who participated in the Persian battles to capture the treasures of Kisra b. Hurmuz. And, I am sure the third prophecy will also come true.'" (It came true during the time of `Umar b. `Abdul `Aziz: Au.). Yet, having said the above, we might add, says Ibn Kathir, that historical events will turn back the clock so that as a hadith of Muslim reports `A'isha’s words,

لاَ يَذْهَبُ اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ حَتَّى تُعْبَدَ اللاَّتُ وَالْعُزَّى. فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنْ كُنْتُ لأَظُنُّ حِينَ أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ (هُوَ الَّذِى أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَى وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ) أَنَّ ذَلِكَ تَامًّا قَالَ إِنَّهُ سَيَكُونُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ رِيحًا طَيِّبَةً فَتَوَفَّى كُلَّ مَنْ فِى قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ حَبَّةِ خَرْدَلٍ مِنْ إِيمَانٍ فَيَبْقَى مَنْ لاَ خَيْرَ فِيهِ فَيَرْجِعُونَ إِلَى دِينِ آبَائِهِمْ.

"I heard the Prophet say, ‘Days and nights will not stop their rotation before Lat and `Uzza are once again worshipped.' I asked, ‘Messenger of Allah. When Allah revealed the verse, "He it is who sent His Messenger with Guidance and the religion of truth ..", I thought that was the end of it.' He replied, ‘That surely will be fulfilled. None the less, Allah will send a pleasant breeze thereafter which will take the life of every individual who has even the littlest of Faith in his heart. Only those will remain who have no good in them. They will return to the religion of their predecessors (before Islam).'"

With his usual brevity Yusuf Ali expresses a good amount of meaning in this short comment: "Every religion which commends itself widely to human beings and lasts through some space of time has a glimpse of Truth in it. But Islam being the perfect light of Truth is bound to prevail. As the greater Light, through its own strength, outshines all lesser lights, so will Islam outshine all else, in spite of the displeasure of those to whom light is an offence."

Majid adds clarity: "Note that it is the religion of Islam, as such, that is to outshine and outlive all other religions; and there is no necessary connection between the religious superiority of Islam and the political supremacy of the Muslim states."

64. According to Suddi, the reference by the word "ahbar" is to Jewish priestly class, and by the word "ruhban" to Christian priestly class (Ibn Jarir). Accordingly, Sufyan b. `Uyayna used to say, "Whoever of the scholars of this ummah became corrupt, will be found on the pattern of the Jews, and whoever of the Muslim masses got corrupt will be on the pattern of the Christians." And the Prophet has said,

لَتَتَّبِعُنَّ سَنَنَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ شِبْرًا بِشِبْرٍ وَذِرَاعًا بِذِرَاعٍ حَتَّى لَوْ دَخَلُوا فِى جُحْرِ ضَبٍّ لاَتَّبَعْتُمُوهُمْ. قُلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ آلْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى قَالَ فَمَنْ

"You will follow the ways of those that preceded you, hand-span by hand-span, foot by foot. So that, if they entered a lizard hole, you will follow them." We asked, "You mean Jews and Christians?" He replied, "Who else?" (Ibn Kathir).

The above text is from Bukhari, which varies slightly from Ibn Kathir’s text (Au.).

Zamakhshari writes that it is possible that the criticism is directed against Muslims, and the crime of those who do not pay the Zakah is compared in seriousness to the wealth devouring attitudes of the people of the Book.

65. The allusion is to the tilth, other taxes, and fee the Jewish and Christian religious scholars, priests and monks received from their masses for issuing religious decrees. This practice prevented them from embracing Islam although they were convinced of its truth (Ibn Kathir).

Majid quotes from the Biblical and Christian sources: "As regards the Jews: `The heads thereof judge for reward and the priests thereof teach for hire' (Mi. 3: 11).' `Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses (Mt. 23: 14)'... As regards the Christians: `The morality of the clergy was exposed to no ordinary temptation by their growing power and wealth; and specially by the right which the Church acquired under Constantine of holding landed property and inheriting it by bequest' (DCA. II. p. 1916)."

66. Imam Razi points out that if someone closely watched the deceptive behavior of those who profess to be highly religious among the Muslims, he would think that this verse was revealed in reference to them.

67. The textual term is "yaknizun" which means those who treasure or hoard up. Now what does a treasure constitute? That is, when can a hoarded amount be called a treasure?

Kanz

According to Ibn `Umar, any kind of wealth of which Zakah has not been paid is treasure (kanz), even if kept open and, conversely, any kind of wealth over which Zakah has been paid is not treasure even if it is buried deep in the earth. Ibn `Abbas, `Ikrimah and Suddi are with him in this opinion. (`Umar b. al Khattab and `Umar ibn `Abd al `Aziz were also of the same opinion: Ibn Kathir). In fact, Bukhari and Ibn Majah have a report of Ibn `Umar which says: "This was before the revelation of the Zakah verses. Now Zakah is the purifying agent. So, I do not care if I have a huge treasure of wealth over which I pay the Zakah and expend the rest seeking Allah's Good Pleasure" (Shawkani).

`Ali's opinion however is that any wealth above 4,000 Dirham is a treasure. (But this is a rare opinion: Ibn Kathir. `Ali was stating the preferable situation. Otherwise, there were many among the Companions who were rich. Nobody ever criticized them for their wealth. But, of course, everything has a limit: Zamakhshari).

A third opinion is that anything that is beyond one's needs is treasure. It is reported that when the above verse came down the Companions got worried. `Umar (ra) told them that he will get their doubt cleared. He asked the Prophet, "What kind of wealth can we keep?" He replied,

لساناً ذاكراً وقلباً شاكراً وزوجة تعين أحدكم على دينه

"A tongue that remembers Allah much, a heart that is grateful, a believing woman who helps in religious affairs." (The hadith is in Ahmad, as also in different words in Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah. A similar report declared sahih on the conditions of Bukhari and Muslim by Hakim, has been recorded by Abu Hatim and Abu Da'ud. In that report the additional words of the Prophet are,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَمْ يَفْرِضِ الزَّكَاةَ إِلاَّ لِيُطَيِّبَ بِهَا وَإِنَّمَا فَرَضَ الْمَوَارِيثَ فِى أَمْوَالٍ تَبْقَى بَعْدَكُمْ

"Zakah has not been instituted but to purify the remaining wealth and Allah has instituted the laws of inheritance for what you leave behind you." Then he added,

أَلاَ أُخْبِرُكَ بِخَيْرِ مَا يَكْنِزُ الْمَرْءُ ، الْمَرْأَةُ الصَّالِحَةُ إِذَا نَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا سَرَّتْهُ ، وَإِذَا أَمَرَهَا أَطَاعَتْهُ ، وَإِذَا غَابَ عَنْهَا حَفِظَتْهُ.

"May I not tell you about the best of wealth? It is a woman who pleases you when you look at her, when you ask her to do something she does it, and when you are away from her, she guards [the property and her own honor]": Ibn Kathir).

It is also reported that once one of the people of the Platform died. They found a Dinar on him. The Prophet said, "That is one stamping (in the Fire)." Later, another died and they found 2 Dinar on him. The Prophet (saws) said, "That's two stampings" (Ibn Jarir, Razi, Alusi). One version of the hadith above has come through `Ali b. Abi Talib as in Ahmad (Ibn Kathir).

It is clear from the Zakah rules, adds Ibn Jarir, that whatever amount of wealth over which Zakah has been paid, cannot be the treasure of the above verse. When a man is asked to pay the Zakah, over say a mountain of gold, and he did it, then he is blameless and cannot be punished for keeping the rest. This is also supported by a hadith which tells us in clear terms as to who it is who will be stamped with their hoarded wealth on the Day of Judgment. The Prophet (saws) said,

مَا مِنْ صَاحِبِ كَنْزٍ لَا يُؤَدِّي حَقَّهُ إِلَّا جُعِلَ صَفَائِحَ يُحْمَى عَلَيْهَا فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ فَتُكْوَى بِهَا جَبْهَتُهُ وَجَنْبُهُ وَظَهْرُهُ حَتَّى يَحْكُمَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ بَيْنَ عِبَادِهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ ثُمَّ يُرَى سَبِيلَهُ إِمَّا إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ وَإِمَّا (إِلَى النَّارِ .. إلى آخر الجديث)

"Whoever did not pay Zakah over his wealth will have it turned to hot plates with which he will be stamped throughout the Day which will be 50,000 years long by your count. It is then that he will know what his destination is: whether Paradise or Hell .. to the end of the hadith. (In different words the hadith is in Muslim also: Ibn Kathir).

Abu Dharr however was of the opinion that any wealth over and above one's needs is treasure. It is said that Zayd b. Wahab passed by Abu Dharr who was living in Rabdha (some 20 km off Madinah." He asked him, "What brought you here?" Abu Dharr replied, "I was in Syria. But I and Mu`awiyyah disagreed over the verse concerning the treasure. I said it applies to every kind of wealth. Mu`awiyyah said it applied to the people of the Book. He complained to (the then Khalifah) `Uthman. He asked me to come back to Madinah. But when I arrived at Madinah people followed me like flies. I complained to `Uthman. He told me to go a little out of Madinah, but not too far. But I shall not give up saying what I had been saying (Ibn Jarir).

Alusi adds that some people had pointed out to Abu Dharr that if savings were disallowed in Islam, why did Allah institute the laws pertaining to inheritance!

Ibn Kathir adds: The above report of Tabari is in Bukhari also. And Abu Dharr's opinion is well known. He believed that any hoarding, small or big, deserved the warning the verse pronounces. He used to openly preach that opinion in Syria and crowds followed him until Mu`awiyyah felt that he might cause commotion and so wrote to `Uthman. Mu`awiyyah also tested Abu Dharr whether he practiced what he said. He sent him a thousand gold pieces. Abu Dharr promptly spent it in charity by the end of the day. Next day the man returned and said, "I made a mistake about the gold pieces I gave you yesterday. They were meant for someone else. So, do you think you can return the money?" Abu Dharr told him, "It is all gone. However, give me some time, until I get some money. When that happens I shall return you the money." Abu Dharr has also reported a hadith (collected by Bukhari: Hussain b. Ibrahim), which says that the Prophet told him,

مَا يَسُرُّنِي أَنَّ لِي أُحُدًا ذَهَبًا تَأْتِي عَلَيَّ ثَالِثَةٌ وَعِنْدِي مِنْهُ دِينَارٌ إِلَّا دِينَارٌ أَرْصُدُهُ لِدَيْنٍ عَلَيَّ

"It does not please me that I should have gold equal to Mount Uhud, three days pass by, and I am still left with any of it, except for maybe a Dinar to pay my debt."

Imam Ahmad has another report of `Abdullah b. Samit I visited the Prophet. He told me, who says that he was with Abu Dharr when he received his allowance. His slave girl was with him. He began to pay off for various needs until he was left with seven. He told his slave girl to buy fish-scales with it. "I said," says ibn Samit, "You could have saved it for your needs." Abu Dharr replied,

إِنَّ خَلِيلِي عَهِدَ إِلَيَّ أَنْ أَيُّمَا ذَهَبٍ أَوْ فِضَّةٍ أُوكِيَ عَلَيْهِ فَهُوَ جَمْرٌ عَلَى صَاحِبِهِ حَتَّى يُفْرِغَهُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ

"My friend (meaning the Prophet) told me that any piece of gold or silver that is hoarded will be a piece of fire, until he spends it in the way of Allah the Mighty."

Imam Razi writes that although it is true that any wealth left after the payment of Zakah cannot be treated as "kanz," and that some of the Companions of the Prophet were extremely rich, there are several reasons why one should not go after wealth:

(1) When a man works hard to earn wealth, it is because it happens to be of carnal pleasure to him to be possessing it. So, every time he adds wealth, he adds carnal pleasure. It goes on without end. Therefore, it is better not to start the cycle.

(2) Earning wealth itself is hard but maintaining to be rich is harder. So, a man tires himself out, either for obtaining wealth, or for maintaining it, although he makes use of very little of it.

(3) Increase in wealth normally leads to rebellion against Allah's commands. Allah said (96: 6): "Man rebels because he sees himself self sufficient."

(4) Allah has declared Zakah as obligatory which results in decrease of wealth. Had an increase been of advantage, He would not have prescribed the Zakah.

Imam Razi also mentions that according to the school of Law he follows (Shafe`i), Zakah is due on jewelry that women wear. A single report from the Prophet against this has been declared weak by Abu `Isa Tirmidhi.

68. Yusuf Ali writes: "Misuse of wealth, property, and resources is frequently condemned, and in three ways: (1) do not acquire anything wrongfully or on false pretences; (2) do not hoard or bury or amass wealth for its own sake but use it freely for good, whether for yourself or for your neighbors; and (3) be particularly careful not to waste it for idle purposes, but only so that it may fructify for the good of the people."

Sufi commentator Thanwi adds: The threat in this verse is also applicable to the Shuyukh who accept gifts from their followers but fail to tell them the bitter truth (concerning their religious situation), out of the fear of losing their following.

69. It has been said that there is a relationship between the stamping on the foreheads, sides and backs and the attitude of the rich toward the poor in this world. When in their earthly lives they encountered a poor, they displayed lines of scorn on their "foreheads," when asked for help, they turned "sideways" and when persisted, showed their "backs" (based on Zamakhshari).

70. Ahnaf b. Qays says, "I traveled to Madinah. One day I found a group of Quraysh sitting together. A man turned up. He was coarse of countenance, coarse of gait, coarse of clothes. He stood over them and, after a while said, ‘Give glad tidings to the hoarders of stamping with the fire of Hell. It will be placed on the breast and it will emerge from his shoulder blades. It will be placed on the shoulder blades and will emerge from the breast.' I noticed," continues Ahnaf, "that the folks lowered their heads. Not one of them spoke a word. The man who had spoken those words turned back. I followed him. He sat down a little distance away. I told him, ‘I do not think they liked to hear what you told them.' He replied, ‘These people have no sense'" (Ibn Jarir). That was Abu Dharr (Au.).

However, and to repeat, there is general agreement that the warning in the verse is for those who do not pay the Zakah. A hadith reported by Thawban says,

مَنْ تَرَكَ كَنْزًا فَإِنَّهُ يُمَثَّلُ لَهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ شُجَاعًا أَقْرَعَ يَتْبَعُهُ لَهُ زَبِيبَتَانِ فَمَا زَالَ يَطْلُبُهُ يَقُولُ وَيْلَكَ مَا أَنْتَ قَالَ يَقُولُ أَنَا كَنْزُكَ الَّذِي تَرَكْتَ بَعْدَكَ قَالَ فَيُلْقِمُهُ يَدَهُ فَيَقْضَمُهَا ثُمَّ يُتْبِعُهُ بِسَائِرِ جَسَدِهِ

"Whoever left a treasure behind him will have it turned into an extremely poisonous snake. It will follow him on the Day of Judgment. He will say, ‘Woe unto you, what are you?' The snake will say, ‘I am the treasure you left behind.’ It will keep on following him until it will chew his hand and then proceed to the rest of the body" (Ibn Jarir).

The hadith is in the Sahihayn coming from Abu Hurayrah of varying textual contents (Au.).

71. Imam Razi writes: The decision that there would be twelve months in a year was written down in the Book of Allah, i.e., the Lawh al Mahfuz. A second opinion is that although the decision had been taken right at the beginning, the commandment came through the Qur'an later.

72. It is reported in explanation of this verse that the Prophet (saws) gave a sermon in the Tashriq Days of the Farewell Hajj. He said,

إِنَّ الزَّمَانَ قَدِ اسْتَدَارَ كَهَيْئَتِهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ اللَّهُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ السَّنَةُ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ ثَلاَثَةٌ مُتَوَالِيَاتٌ ذُو الْقَعْدَةِ وَذُو الْحِجَّةِ وَالْمُحَرَّمُ وَرَجَبٌ شَهْرُ مُضَرَ الَّذِى بَيْنَ جُمَادَى وَشَعْبَانَ

"Time has taken a full circle to return to what it was when Allah created the heavens and the earth. Months are twelve, of which four are consecrated. Three are continuous: Dhu al Qa`idah, Dhu al Hijja and Muharram And (the fourth) is Rajab of Mudar (tribe) which comes between Jumada and Sha`ban" (Ibn Jarir).

The above hadith is in Bukhari in greater detail (Ibn Kathir).

73. What exactly does the "zulm" of the text imply? Ibn Is haq has said that the meaning is, "Do not treat its lawful as unlawful and unlawful as lawful" (Ibn Jarir).

Qatadah has said: Transgression in the consecrated months is a greater sin than in other months, though transgression is always a great sin. But Allah enhances significance as He will. For instance, Allah chose the best of angels and men to be His envoys, chose His own remembrance from all speech, of the earth He chose the mosques, of the months He chose Ramadan and the consecrated months, of the days He chose Friday, of the nights He chose the Night of Qadr. Therefore, treat those as important which Allah declared important (Ibn Jarir). Ibn `Abbas has made a similar statement (Ibn Kathir).

In fact, adds Ibn Kathir, according to Imam Shafe`i, blood wit will be enhanced for a murder committed in these consecrated months.

Mufti Shafi` adds: This verse shows that so far as the Shar`i obligations are concerned, they will go by the lunar calendar (which is "easily observable" and "more natural": Asad): such as Zakah, Fasts, Hajj, etc. However, following the solar calendar (which has "arbitrarily fixed months": Asad), for other purposes it is not unlawful. This is in light of the verse (10: 5) which said,

لِتَعْلَمُوا عَدَدَ السِّنِينَ وَالْحِسَابَ [يونس : 5]

"So that you might count (the years) and reckon (the time)," though not preferable.

74. What is the connection between this part of the verse, with its earlier parts? The answer is that although Allah has declared four months of the year to be sacrosanct, but, if you are attacked by the pagans, then you may retaliate and fight them all (Ibn Ashur).

The translation of "kaffatan" as "together all of you" is the understanding of Suddi as in Ibn Jarir and Ibn Kathir. But the understanding of Ibn `Abbas and Qatadah is, as also endorsed by Ibn Jarir, “fight them all.”

75. The scholars are divided over the issue of war in the consecrated months. Some say, the verse above is abrogated since the Prophet fought a few times in the holy months. See al Baqarah note 448.

76. As Ibn Jarir has explained, textually the word "nasi'" is employed both for increase as well as decrease, and hence transposing could be the nearest single word and the reference is to the practices of the pagan Arabs involving Quraysh, Banu Hawazin, Ghatafan, Banu Sulaym and Banu Kinanah. They shifted the months as they liked in order to declare the lawful of them as unlawful, and unlawful as lawful. Ibn `Abbas and others have explained that in the pagan days one of their leaders would announce that the approaching month of Safar, for instance, would be treated as consecrated and the people would treat it so. Another year he would declare Muharram as non consecrated and they would treat it so. They did that to make fighting lawful in those months. They also played with the months, renaming say Muharram as Dhu al Hijjah and playing up with pilgrimage to have it twice in a single year. In addition, they kept shortening the year or lengthening it by means of addition or deletion of months, until when the Prophet came for his Farewell Hajj, Dhu al Hijjah once again matched with the true and original Dhu al Hijjah. This explains his words, "Time has turned a full circle." One year earlier Abu Bakr had in fact made his pilgrimage in the month of Dhu al Qa`idah. Ibn Hajr offers an explanation similar to this in his Fath al-Bari (Manar).

Ibn Kathir disagrees with that part of the above report which says that Abu Bakr performed Hajj in Dhu al-Qa`idah. He argues that in this Surah itself the year in which he performed Hajj was referred to as “the Great Day of Hajj.” How could Allah do that, if the month itself was Dhu al Qa`idah and not Dhu al-Hijjah? To him, "nasi'" was nothing but interchanging of the months (and not shortening of the year: Au.).

But, Ibn Kathir's disagreement with the great majority over shortening of the years, does not seem to be well placed since interchanging of the months also entailed that the Hajj was performed in the wrong months. Nevertheless, he could be right in that Abu Bakr’s Hajj was performed in Dhu al-Hijjah and not Dhu al-Qa`idah.

As for “the Great Day of Hajj,” any day on which Hajj is performed, is the “Great Day of Hajj.” Error in moon-sighting does not render the performance of deeds with important days or nights (such as “Laylatu al-Qadr) as null and void (Au.).