Surah 61. As-Saf

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Verses [Section]: 1-9[1], 10-14 [2]

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Quran Text of Verse 10-14یٰۤاَیُّهَاOالَّذِیْنَ(you) whoاٰمَنُوْاbelieveهَلْShallاَدُلُّكُمْI guide youعَلٰیtoتِجَارَةٍa transactionتُنْجِیْكُمْ(that) will save youمِّنْfromعَذَابٍa punishmentاَلِیْمٍ painful تُؤْمِنُوْنَBelieveبِاللّٰهِin Allahوَ رَسُوْلِهٖand His Messengerوَ تُجَاهِدُوْنَand striveفِیْinسَبِیْلِ(the) wayاللّٰهِ(of) Allahبِاَمْوَالِكُمْwith your wealthوَ اَنْفُسِكُمْ ؕand your livesذٰلِكُمْThatخَیْرٌ(is) betterلَّكُمْfor youاِنْifكُنْتُمْyouتَعْلَمُوْنَۙknow یَغْفِرْHe will forgiveلَكُمْfor youذُنُوْبَكُمْyour sinsوَ یُدْخِلْكُمْand admit youجَنّٰتٍ(in) Gardensتَجْرِیْflowمِنْfromتَحْتِهَاunderneath itالْاَنْهٰرُthe riversوَ مَسٰكِنَand dwellingsطَیِّبَةًpleasantفِیْinجَنّٰتِGardensعَدْنٍ ؕ(of) EternityذٰلِكَThatالْفَوْزُ(is) the successالْعَظِیْمُۙthe great وَ اُخْرٰیAnd anotherتُحِبُّوْنَهَا ؕthat you loveنَصْرٌa helpمِّنَfromاللّٰهِAllahوَ فَتْحٌand a victoryقَرِیْبٌ ؕnear;وَ بَشِّرِand give glad tidingsالْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ (to) the believers یٰۤاَیُّهَاO youالَّذِیْنَwhoاٰمَنُوْاbelieveكُوْنُوْۤاBeاَنْصَارَhelpersاللّٰهِ(of) AllahكَمَاasقَالَsaidعِیْسَیIsaابْنُsonمَرْیَمَ(of) Maryamلِلْحَوَارِیّٖنَto the disciplesمَنْWhoاَنْصَارِیْۤ(are) my helpersاِلَیforاللّٰهِ ؕAllahقَالَSaidالْحَوَارِیُّوْنَthe disciplesنَحْنُWeاَنْصَارُ(are) the helpersاللّٰهِ(of) AllahفَاٰمَنَتْThen believedطَّآىِٕفَةٌa groupمِّنْۢofبَنِیْۤChildrenاِسْرَآءِیْلَ(of) Israelوَ كَفَرَتْand disbelievedطَّآىِٕفَةٌ ۚa groupفَاَیَّدْنَاSo We supportedالَّذِیْنَthose whoاٰمَنُوْاbelievedعَلٰیagainstعَدُوِّهِمْtheir enemyفَاَصْبَحُوْاand they becameظٰهِرِیْنَ۠dominant

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Translation of Verse 10-14

(61:10) Believers, shall I direct you to a commerce¹⁴ that will deliver you from a grievous chastisement?

(61:11) Have faith in Allah and His Messenger¹⁵ and strive in the Way of Allah with your possessions and your lives. That is better for you if you only knew.¹⁶

(61:12) He will forgive you your sins and will admit you to Gardens beneath which rivers flow. He will lodge you in excellent mansions in the Gardens of eternity. That is the supreme triumph.¹⁷

(61:13) He will also grant you the other favour that you desire: help from Allah and a victory that will come soon.¹⁸ Give glad tidings of this to the believers.

(61:14) Believers, become Allah's helpers, as Jesus, son of Mary, said to the disciples:¹⁹ “Who is my helper in (calling people) to Allah?” The disciples had responded by saying: “We are Allah's helpers.”²⁰ Then a section of the Children of Israel believed and a section rejected the call. Thereafter We aided the believers against their enemies, and they prevailed.²¹

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Commentary

14. A bargain is something in which a person employs his wealth, time, labor and talent in order to earn a profit. In the same sense the faith and jihad in the cause of Allah have been called a bargain, as if to say: If you exert all your powers and spend all your resources in the way of Allah, you will get the profits that are being mentioned in the following verses. This same theme has been expressed in Surah At-Taubah in another way. (See (E.N. 106 of Surah At-Taubah).

15. When the believers are asked to believe, it automatically gives the meaning that they should become sincere Muslims: they should not rest content with oral profession of the faith but should be ready and willing to make every sacrifice in the cause of their faith.

16. That is, this bargain is far superior for them to every worldly bargain.

17. The real profits of the bargain that they will attain in the eternal lift of the Hereafter are:

(1) Immunity from the punishment of Allah.

(2) Forgiveness of sins.

(3) Entry into the Paradise the blessings of which are eternal and everlasting.

18. Although victory and success in the world is a great blessing of Allah, yet for the believer the thing of real importance is not this but the success of the Hereafter. That is why the gain of the worldly life has been mentioned as second and the result accruing in the Hereafter first.

19. For the companions of the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) the word disciples generally has been used in the Bible, but later the term apostle became prevalent for them among the Christians, and in the sense that they were God’s apostles, but in the sense that the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) used to send them to different parts of Palestine as his preachers. Among the Jews this word was already in use for those who were sent to collect subscriptions for the Temple. However, the Quranic term hawari is better than both the Christian terms. The essence of this word is hur, which means whiteness. The washer man is called hawari because he whitens clothes by washing them. A pure and un-adulterated thing is also called hawari. The flour from which bran has been sifted is known as huwwara. In this very meaning this word is used for a sincere friend and an unselfish supporter. Ibn Sayyidah says: Anyone who exaggerates in helping another is his hawari. (Lisan al-Arab).

20. This is the last place in the Holy Quran where those who exert themselves in calling the people to Allah’s religion and to cause it to become dominant over disbelief, have been called helpers of Allah. Before this, this very theme has been expressed in (Aal-Imran, Ayat 52); (Surah Al- Hajj, Ayat 40); (Surah Muhammad, Ayat 7); (Surah Al-Hadid, Ayat 25) and (Surah Al-Hashr, Ayat 8). And we have explained these verses in (E.N. 50 of Surah Aal-Imran); (E.N. 84 of Surah Al-Hajj); (E.N. 12 of Surah Muhammad); (E.N. 47 of Surah Al-Hadid). Moreover, in (E.N. 9 of Surah Muhammad) light has been also thrown on an aspect of this question. In spite of this some people seem to have the confusion that when Allah Almighty is All-Powerful, Self-Sufficient, and Independent of the help of all His creatures, how then can a man be a helper of Allah? To remove this confusion we shall further explain this point here.

In fact, these people have not been called helpers of Allah for the reason that Allah, Lord of the worlds, (God forbid) stood in need of any help from some of His creatures, but because in the sphere of life in which Allah Himself has granted man freedom of belief and disbelief, obedience and disobedience. He does not will to make the people His believers and obedient servants by means of His power and might. Instead, He adopts the method of admonition and instruction to show them the right way through His Prophets and Books. The one who accepts this admonition and instruction willingly is a Momin. The one who submits practically to His commands is a Muslim and devout Godworshiper. The one who adopts an attitude of Godconsciousness is a Muttaqi. The one who vies with others for good works is a Muhsin. And over and above this, the one who starts working for the reformation of the people by means of the same method of admonition and instruction and for establishing the system of Allah’s obedience instead of disbelief and wickedness, is declared by Allah as His own helper, as has been mentioned in clear words at several places in the verses cited above. If the object were to designate such people as helpers of Allah’s religion and not of Allah, the words would have been ansaru din-Allah and not ansar-Allah, yansuruna din-Allah and not yansurun- Allah, intansuruna din-Allah and not in-iansurun-Allah. When in order to convey and express a theme; Allah has adopted one and the same style at several places, successively, it proves conclusively that the actual object is to designate these people as helpers of Allah. But this helpfulness, God forbid, is not in the sense that these people fulfill some need of Allah for which He requires their help, but it is in the sense that these people participate in the cause which Allah wills to accomplish through His Prophets and His Books instead of His great power and might.

21. Those who disbelieved in Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) are the Jews, and those who believed in him are the Christians as well as the Muslims, and Allah granted both these domination over the disbelievers of Christ. This is meant to requires the Muslims that just as the believers of Christ have dominated over his disbelievers in the past, so will the believers of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) prevail over his disbelievers