123. This parable has been cited to impress upon the idolworshipers that their deities are absolutely powerless, for even if they all collaborated to create an insignificant thing like a fly, they could not; nay, even if a fly snatched away anything from them they could not prevent it. This shows how weak they themselves are and how powerless are the idols they supplicate.
124. In continuation of the refutation of shirk, Allah has taken two kinds of the most revered of deities to show their real status, as if to say: The angels and the Prophets whom you have set up as deities are mere Messengers of Allah. Allah has chosen them to convey His messages to human beings and this does not make them God or partners in His Godhead.
125. The Quran employs this sentence to refute the creed of the mushriks in regard to intercession, as if to say: You imagine that angels, prophets, saints and the like can intercede with Allah on your behalf and therefore you worship them. You are absolutely wrong. For none of your deities knows what is good for you and what is not. Allah alone hears everything, sees everything and knows everything. Therefore He has not given the right of intercession and recommendation to anyone except when He Himself is pleased to give such permission.
126. This is to impress upon them that every affair and every matter, big or small, is presented before Allah for a decision. Therefore you should not invoke anyone else other than Allah, for all others are utterly helpless and powerless and cannot even fulfill their own desires and needs.
127. This is the right way of attaining the success, but even after adopting these ways of worship and performing good deeds one should not rest content or be proud that he would surely attain success because he is worshiping Allah and is doing good deeds. He should only expect that Allah will by His grace accept his services and bless him with the success.
Imam Shafai, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Abdullah bin Mubarak and Ishaq bin Rahawayah hold the view that this verse of Surah Al-Hajj requires a prostration. But Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Malik, Hasan Basri, Said bin al-Musayyab, Said bin Jubair, Ibrahim Nakhai and Sufyan Thauri dispute this. The arguments of the two sides are briefly as follows:
The former group of commentators base their opinion on the following:
(1) The verb in the verse is in the imperative mood.
(2) The tradition of Uqbah bin Amir which has been reported by Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Tirmizi, Ibn Marduyah and Baihaqi, says: I asked, O Messenger of Allah! Does the merit of Surah Al-Hajj consist in the fact that it contains two verses requiring prostration? He replied: Yes, the one who does not prostrate on these two verses, should not recite them.
(3) The tradition of Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah in which Amr bin Aas says that he was told by the Prophet (peace be upon him) that there were two verses requiring prostration in Surah Al-Hajj.
(4) Sayings of Umar, Ali, Uthman, Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas, Abul Darda, Abu Musa Ashari and Ammar bin Yasir to the effect that Surah AIHajj contains two prostrations.
The latter group of commentators argue as follows;
(1) The verse contains a command both for Sajdah (prostration) and for Ruku (bowing in prayer), which implies the whole Islamic Prayer according to the Quranic usage, and not prostration alone.
(2) The tradition reported by Uqbah bin Amir is unauthentic as it has weak links.
(3) The tradition of Amr bin Aas is also unreliable, because its reporters are not well known.
(4) As for the sayings of the companions, Ibn Abbas has clearly explained that prostration in respect of the first verse (in Surah Al-Hajj) is obligatory, whereas in regard to the second, it is only suggestive.
128. The Arabic word jihad is very comprehensive. It includes every kind of effort, exertion, conflict and war. Jihad for the cause of Allah means that it should be performed for His service and for His approval against those who prevent others from following His Way. The performance of jihad also requires that one should first of all fight against his own self in order to subdue it. For there can be no true jihad unless one fights against his evil self and subdues his desires and lusts to the obedience of Allah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) himself has emphasized the need for this jihad. Once when the warriors for the cause of Allah returned from jihad, he said: You have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad. They asked: What is that greater Jihad. The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: It is the jihad against his own desires and lusts.
Moreover, the battlefield for jihad is, in fact, the whole world, and Islam demands that one should exert his utmost against all the rebels of Allah and the wicked powers with all of his heart and mind and body and wealth.
129. The direct addressees of this were the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), for they were the first who had the honor to be chosen for this service; others have been addressed only indirectly being their followers. This thing has been mentioned in the Quran in other ways as well. For reference, see (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 143) and (Surah Aal-Imran, Ayat 110).
130. “(Allah) has not placed upon you in religion any hardship”. That is, the creed you have been given is very simple and straightforward and the laws and regulations you have to obey are practicable. You are free within its bounds to make as much progress as you can. This was to impress that the lives of the Muslims were free from all those useless and unnatural restrictions which had been imposed upon the former communities by their priests and law givers. The negative aspect of the same thing has been mentioned in (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 157): He enjoins them to follow virtue and forbids them from evil: He makes pure things lawful for them and impure things unlawful. He relieves them of their burdens and frees them from the shackles that bound them.
131. Though Islam may be called the religion of Prophets Noah, Moses, Jesus, etc. yet the Quran emphasizes over and over again that it is the religion of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon them all). Therefore, you should follow it. This is for three reasons.
(1) The first addressees of the Quran were the Arabs who were more familiar with Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) than with any other Prophet and acknowledged him to be a holy personage and their leader.
(2) Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) alone was the person whom the Jews, the Christians, the Muslims and the mushriks of Arabia and of the adjoining countries unanimously acknowledged as a great Prophet.
(3) When the Quran invites all these communities to follow the way of Abraham, it in fact, admonishes them that all their religions had been invented long after Prophet Abraham and, therefore, were not trustworthy because they contradicted many things taught by him. As for the mushriks of Arabia, they also acknowledged that idolworship among them had been started by Amr bin Luhayy, who was a leader of Bani Khuzaah, and had brought an idol, called Hubal, from Moab in about 600 B.C. So the religion to which Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) invited them was the same pure, un-adulterated religion which was taught by Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him).
For further details, see (E.Ns 134, 135 of Surah Al-Baqarah )and (E.Ns 58, 79 of Surah Aal-Imran) and (E.Ns 119, 120 of Surah An-Nahal).
132. Here the word “you” has not been addressed exclusively to those believers who lived at the time of the revelation of this verse, or those who believed after its revelation. It includes all those human beings, who, from the beginning of human history, believed in Tauhid, the Hereafter, Prophethood and the divine Books. They were not Jews, Christians, etc. but Muslims in the sense that they had surrendered themselves to Allah. Likewise the followers of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) are not Muhammadans but Muslims.
133. For explanation see( E. N. 144 of Surah Al-Baqarah).
134. “Hold fast to Allah”: Follow exclusively the guidance and the law of Allah: obey Him alone: fear Him and have all your hopes and expectations in Him: invoke Him alone for help: trust in Him and pray to Him for all your needs.