With kind permission: Islamic Foundation UK
Introduction to Tafheem | Glossary | Verbs
Tafsirs: Maarif | Dawat | Ishraq | Clear
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- Cro Magnon Man
1. Remember that, although polytheists, the Arabs to whom these verses are addressed did acknowledge God as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, Who causes day to alternate with night, and Who has brought into existence the sun and the moon. None of them attributed any of these acts to either al-LAt, al-Hubal, al-'UzzA or any other deities. Why, then,'should they prostrate themselves before others beside the Creator? Why should they offer their prayers and supplicatiom to any but God? (See Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. I, (Surah 1, n.2), and (Surah 2, n.163) The actual word that has been used in the original text for 'darkness' is in the plural. The contrast with the singular 'light' is significant: whereas light is one, there can be innumerable degrees of darkness, which is the absence of light.
2. The elements composing the human organism are all, without exception, derived from the earth. Hence it is said that man has been created out of clay.
3. This alludes to the Hour of Judgement when human beings, regardless of the age in which they lived, will be broought back to life and summoned to render an account before their Lord.
4. The allusion is to the Migration (Hijrah) and the numerous victories destined to follow it in quick succession. When this allusion was made, the unbelievers could not have guessed what kind of news they would receive, and even the Muslims could not have imagined those developments. Infact, the Prophet himself (peace be on him) was not fully aware of the posibilities which lay in store.
5. The unbelievers were saying that if Muhammed (peace be on him) had indeed been endowed with prophethood, an angel should have been sent down from heaven to announce that he was the Messenger of God, and that that people would be punished if they did not follow his directives. It was atonishing to these ignorant objectors that the Creator of the heavens and the earth should appoint someone as His Messenger and then leave him without protection against the physical hurts and insults that were flung at him. They would have expected the envoy of a Sovereign as great as the Creator of the universe to be accomplied by at least some heavenly constable, if not a large retinue, to protect him!
6. The unbelievers' objection is refuted by this remark. it warns them that the time available for accepting the true faith and bringing about the required reform in their lives will last only as long as Ultimate Reality remains concealed from human perception by the wheel of the Unseen. Once that wheel is removed, there will be no more respite: the summons to God's rekoning will have come. This earthly life is a test of whether a man is able to recognize the Ultimate Reality - even though it lies hidden from his sence perception - by the correct excecise of his reason and intelect and of whether, having once recognized it, he is able to behave in conformity with that Reality by exercising control over his animal self and its lusts. This test necessarily requires that the Reality should remain concealed. Thereafter man will be confronted with the result of the test rather than by any further test. Until God has decided to bring the term of their test to a close, it is not possible to respond to such requests by sending angels to them in their true form. (See also Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. I, (Surah 2, n.228.)
7. This is the second point in response to the unbelievers' objection. One possible form in which the angel could have appeared is in its true, non-terrestrial form. It has already been pointed out that the time for this has not arrived. Alternatively, angels could have come down in human form. But this would have left the unbelievers facing the same difficulty as they faced with regard to whether the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) had been designated by God or not.
8. The archaeological remains and historical records of the ancient nations testify to how they met their tragic ends through turning away from truth and honesty and stubbornly persisting in their devotion to falsehood.
9. The subtlety of this expression should not go unnoticed. The unbelievers are asked to whom belongs whatever exists in either the heavens or on the earth. The inquirer then pauses to wait for the answer. Those questioned are themselves convinced that all belongs to God, yet while they dare not respond falsely, they are nevertheless not prepared to give the correct answer. Fearing that their response may be used as an argument against their polytheistic beliefs, they keep quiet. At this, the inquirer is told to answer the question himself and to say that all belongs to God.
10. This remark contains a subtle sarcasm. Far from providing sustenance to their followers, the beings whom the polytheists set up as deities beside the true God were dependent upon them for their sustenance. No Pharaoh can maintain the pomp and splendour connected with his godhead unless his subjects pay their tax dues and make him other offerings. No deity can attract worshippers unless some of its devotees make an idol, place it in some magnificent temple, and decorate it lavishly. All these counterfeit gods are totally dependent upon their own servants. It is the Lord of the Universe alone Who is the True God, Whose godhead rests solely upon His.own power; Who needs the help of no one, whereas no one can dispense with His.
11. God Himself witnesses that the Prophet (peace be on him) has been designated by Him and that what he communicated was by His command.
12. In order to bear witness to something, mere guesswork and imagination are not sufficient. What is required is knowledge on the basis of which a person can state something with full conviction. Hence. the question means: Did they really have knowledge of anyone other than God who could lay claim to man's worship and absolute service by dint of being the omnipotent sovereign, the one whose will prevailed throughout the universe?
13. The interlocutor is instructed to tell people that if they wanted to bear false witness and testify without knowledge, they could do so, but that he himself could not do something so unreasonable.
14. Those who have knowledge of the Scriptures know for sure that God is One alone and that no one shares His godhead with Him. It is true that one can spot one's own child even in the midst of a large crowd of children. The same can be said about those well-versed in the Scriptures. Even if the true concept of godhead were interspersed among numerous false beliefs and concepts about God, those well-versed in the scriptural lore would be able to recognize without doubt which doctrine was true.
15. This refers to those who asserted that there were also other beings which shared with God in His godhead, were possessed of divine attributes and powers, and rightly deserved to claim from man worship and absolute service. It is also a slander to claim that God has selected certain beings to be His chosen intimates and that lie has commanded - or is at least agreeable to the idea - that they should he considered to possess divine attributes, and that people should serve and revere them as they would serve and revere God, their Lord.
16. By 'signs of God' are meant the signs found within man's own being, as well as those scattered throughout the universe. They also include the signs which are manifest from the lives and achievements of the Prophets, as well as those embodied in the Scriptures. All these point towards one and the same truth - that in the entire realm of existence there is one God alone and that all else are merely His subjects. Who could be more unjust than one who, in utter disregard of all these signs, invests others than the One True God with attributes of godhead, considering them to merit the same rights as God. And does so merely on grounds of either conjecture, or speculation or out of blind adherence to the beliefs of his forefathers although there is not so much as a shred of evidence founded on true knowledge, observation or experience in support of such beliefs. Such a person subjects truth and reality to grave injustice. He also wrongs his own self and everything else in this universe with which he has to deal on the basis of this false assumption.
17. It is noteworthy that God attributes to Himself all that happens in the world as a result of the laws of nature. Since these laws were made by God Himself, the effects which result from their operation are also ultimately due to the will and permission of God. The refusal on the part of unbelievers to heed the call of the Truth even when it is clear and audible stems from their obstinacy, prejudice, mental rigidity and inertia. It is a law of nature that when a man is not prepared to rise above prejudice in his quest for the Truth, his heart closes to every truth which is opposed to his desires. We can describe this condition by saying that the heart of that person has become sealed and when God describes it He does so by saying that He had sealed the heart of the person concerned. The explanation of this Paradox is that whereas we describe merely an incident, God describes its ultimate cause.
18. Whenever ignorant people are called to the Truth they are liable to say that there is nothing novel about it, that it is merely a repetition of things that have come down from the past, as if in their view every truth must be new, and whatever is old must of necessity be false, although Truth has always been one and the same and will remain so. All those who have come forward to lead people in the light of God-given knowledge have been preaching one and the same Truth from time immemorial, and all those who will benefit from this valuable source of human knowledge in the future are bound to repeat the same old truths. Novelties can be invented only by those who, being bereft of the light of Divine guidance, are incapable of perceiving the eternal Truth, preferring to weave altogether new ideas out of their imagination and to put them forward as truth.
19. At that moment such a statement on their part would not be indicative of either any true change of heart or of any genuinely revised judgement based on serious reflection and reasoning. It would rather be the result of direct observation of reality at a time when even the staunchest unbeliever would find it impossible to deny it.
20. This does not mean that earthly life has nothing serious about it and
that it has been brought into being merely as a sport and pastime. What this
observation means is that, compared with the true and abiding life of the Hereafter,
earthly life seems, as it were, a sport, a transient pastime with which to amuse
oneself before turning to serious business.
Earthly life has been likened to a sport and pastime for another reason as well.
Since Ultimate Reality is hidden in this world, the superficially minded ones
who lack true perception encounter many a thing which causes them to fall a
prey to misconceptions. As a result of these misconceptions such persons indulge
in a variety of actions which are so blatantly opposed to reality that their
life seems to consist merely of sport and pastime. One who assumes the position
of a king in this world, for instance, is no different from the person who plays
the part of a king on the stage of a theatre. His head is bedecked with a crown
and he goes about commanding people as if he were a king, even though he has
no royal authority. He may later, if the director of the theatre wishes, be
either dismissed from his royal office, put into prison or even be sentenced
to death Plays of this kind go on all over the world. Saints and man-made deities
are deemend to respond to human supplications even though they do not have a
shred of authority to do so. Again, some people try to unravel the Unseen even
though to do so lies altogether beyond their reach. There are those who claim
to provide sustenance to others despite the fact that they are themselves dependent
on others for their own sustenance. There are still others who think that they
have the power either to bestow honour and dignity on human beings or to degrade
them, either to confer benefits or to harm them. Such people go about trumpeting
their own glory but their own foreheads bear the stamp of their humble bondage
to their Creator. By just one twist of fortune such people may fall of their
pededstrals and be trampled under the feet of those upon whom they have been
imposing their God-like authority.
All these people come to a sudeen end with death.As soon as man crosses the
boundaries of this world and steps into the Next, the reality will be fully
manifest, all the misconceptions that he has entertained will be peeled away,
and he will be shown the true worth of his belief and actions.
21. The fact is that before the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) began
to preach the message of God, all his people regarded him as truthful and trustworthy
and had full confidence in his veracity. Only after he had begun to preach the
message of God did they call him a liar. Even during this period none dared
to say that the Prophet (peace be on him) had ever been guilty of untruthfullness
in personal matters. Even his worst enemies never accused him of lying in any
worldly affairs. When they did accuse him of falsehood, they did so in respect
of his prophetic mission. Abu Jahl for instance, was one of his staunchest enemies.
According to a tradition from 'Ali, Abu Jahl once said to the Prophet (peace
be on him): 'We do not disbelieve you. We disbelieve your message.' On the occasion
of the Battle of Badr, Akhnas b. Shariq asked Abu Jahl, when they were alone,
to confide whether he considered Muhammad to be truthful or not. He replied:
' By God, Muhammad is a veracious person. He has never lied in all his life.
But if every honorable office-liwa' (standard-bearing in war), siqayah ( provision
of water to the pilgrims), hijabah (gaurdian ship of the ka'bah ) and nubuwah
( prophethood ) - were to fall to the share of the decendents of Qusayy, what
would be left for the rest of the Quraysh?' (Ibn Kathir,vol.3, pp.17-18-Ed.)
Here God consoled the Prophet(peace be on him) by telling him that by charging
him with falsehood the unbelievers were calling God untruthful. Since God has
endured this accusation with mild forbearance, leaving them free to persist
in their blasphemy, the Prophet ( peace be on him ) need not feel undue disquiet.
22. The point emphasized here is that no one has the power to change God's Law regarding the conflict between Truth and falsehood. Lovers of Truth must of necessity pass through trials and persecution so as to be gradually tempered. Their endurance, their honastyy of conviction, their readiness to sacrifice and to undertake all risk for their cause, the strength of their faith and the extent of their trust in God must be tested. They must pass through this phase of persecution to develop in thenselves those qualities which can be developed nowhere else but on earth. They are also required to defeat the forces of ignorance by virtue of their moral excellence and the nobility of their character. Only after they have established their moral superiority over their adversaries will God's help arrive. No one can secure that help before hand.
23. The Prophet (peace be on him) saw that even though he had spent a long time admonishing his people, they did not seem inclined to heed his call. As a result he sometimes wished for the appearance of some extraordinary sign of God that would undermine the stubbornness of his people and lead them to accept his guidance. This verse embodies God's response to the Prophet's desire. He is told not to be impatient. He must persist in his striving and continue to work. in conformity with God's directive. Had it been God's purpose to work miracles, He would have done so. But God did not consider that to be either the appropriate method for bringing to a successful completion the required intellectual and moral revolution or for the evolution of a sound, healthy civilization. Well, then, if the Prophet (peace be on him) could not bear patiently with the attitude of stubbornness and rejection prevalent among his people, and if he thought it necessary to make them witness a tangible sign of God, let him muster all his strength and try to cleave the earth, or climb a ladder to the heaven and bring forth a miracle powerful enough to change the unbelief of the unbelievers into belief. He is told, however, that in this regard he should not expect God to fulfil his wish, for such things have no place in God's scheme.
24. Had it been required that all people should be driven to the Truth, there would have been no need to send Prophets, to reveal heavenly Books, to direct believers to engage in struggles against unbelievers, and to make the message of Truth pass through the necessary stages until fulfilment is reached. The result could have been achieved by a single sign of God's creative will. God, however, did not want things to happen that way. He preferred the Truth to be set before people with its supporting arguments so that by a proper exercise of their rational judgement, they should recognize it for what it was and thereafter freely choose to embrace it as their faith. By moulding their lives in conformity with this Truth such people should demonstrate their moral superiority over the devotees of falsehood. They should continually attract men of sound morals by the force of their arguments, by the loftiness of their ideals, by the excellence of their principles and by the purity of their lives. They should thus reach their goal - the establishment of the hegemony of the true faith - by the natural and gradual escalation of strife against falsehood. God will guide them in the performance of this task and will provide them with whatever help they merit during the various stages of their struggle. But if anyone wishes to evade this natural course and wants God to obliterate corrupt ideas and to spread healthy ones in their stead, to root out a corrupt civilization and put a healthy one in its place by exercising His omnipotent will, let him know that this will not come about. The reason is that such is contrary to the scheme according to which God has created man as a responsible being, bestowed upon him a degree of power which he may exercise, granted him the freedom to choose between obedience and disobedience to God, awarded him a certain term of life in order to demonstrate his worth, and determined that at an appointed hour He will judge him for either reward or punishment in the light of his deeds.
25. 'Those who hear' refers to those whose consciences are alive, who have not atrophied their intellect and reason, and who have not closed their hearts to the Truth out of irrational prejudice and menta! inflexibility. In contrast to such people are those who are characterized as 'dead' - who blindly follow the old familiar beaten tracks, and can never deviate from the ways they have inherited, even when these ways are plainly at variance with the Truth.
26. The word ayah here signifies a tangible miracle. The purpose of the verse is to point out that the reason for not showing a miraculous sign is not God's powerlessness. The true reason is something else which those people in their immaturity, have failed to comprehend.
27. If they are concerned with miraculous signs in order to determine whether or not the message of the Prophet (peace be on him) is indeed true, then, let them look around with open and attentive eyes. If they actually do so they will find the world full of such signs. Let them take any species of animal or bird they like. They can reflect upon the superbness of its organic structure. They will notice how its instinctive urges are in complete conformity with its natural requirements. They will also observe how wonderfully adequate are the arrangements for providing it with nourishment; how marvellously well-determined are the limits within which -it lives; how tremendously efficient is the system under which each living creature is protected, provided for, looked after and directed towards self-fulfilment; how strictly each one is fitted into the framework of the discipline devised for it, and how very smooth is the operation of the whole system of birth, procreation and death. Were one to reflect on this alone from among the innumerable signs of God, one would perceive fully how true the teaching of the Prophet (peace he on him) is concerning the unity and other attributes of God and how necessary it is to live a righteous life in conformity with the concept of God propounded by him. But their eyes were neither open to perceive the Truth nor their ears open to heed admonition. Instead, they remained ignorant, preferring to be entertained by the performance of wondrous feats.
28. God's act of misguiding a man consists in not enabling one who cherishes
his ignorance to observe the signs of God. The fact is that if a biased person
- one who has no real love of the Truth - were to observe the signs of God,
he might still fail to perceive it. Indeed, all those things which cause misconception
and confusion would probably continue to alienate him from it. God's act of
true guidance consists in enabling a seeker after the Truth to benefit from
the sources of true knowledge, so that he constantly discovers sign after sign,
leading him ultimately to the Truth.
A myriad of cases are encountered daily to illustrate this. We notice that a
great many people pass inattentively over the countless signs of God that are
scattered all over the world, and ignore even those signs which are manifest
in human beings as well as in animals. It is little wonder, then, that they
derive no lesson from all these signs. There are many who study zoology, botany,
biology, geology, astronomy, physiology, anatomy and other branches of natural
science. Others study history, archaeology and sociology. During the course
of such studies they come across many signs of God which, if they cared to look
at them in the correct perspective, might fill their hearts with faith. But
since they commence their study with a bias, and are actuated only by the desire
to acquire earthly advantages, they fail to discover the signs which could lead
them to the Truth. On the contrary, each of those very signs of God contributes
to pushing them towards atheism, materialism and naturalism. At the same time,
the world is not empty of those truly wise ones who view the universe with open
eyes. For them even the most ordinary phenomenon of the universe directs them
to God.
29. Attention is now drawn towards another sign - one observable even in the lives of those who deny the Truth. When either some great calamity befalls a man or when death starkly stares him in the face, it is only to God that he turns for refuge. On such occasions even the staunchest polytheists forget their false gods and cry out to the One True God, and even the most rabid atheists stretch out their hands in prayer to Him. This phenomenon is mentioned here in order to draw an instructive lesson. It shows that devotion to God and monotheism are ingrained in the human soul. No matter how overlaid this truth might be, some day it shakes off man's heedlessness and ignorance and manifests itself fully. It was the observation of this sign which had led 'Ikrimah, the son of Abu Jahl, to the true faith. For when Makka was conquered at the hands of the Prophet (peace be on him), 'Ikrimah fled to Jeddah and sailed from there towards Abyssinia. During the voyage the boat ran into a severe storm which threatened to capsize it. At first people began calling on their gods and goddesses. Later on, when the storm grew even worse and the passengers were sure that the boat would sink, they began to feel it was time to call on God alone, for He alone could save them. This opened the eyes of 'Ikrimah, whose heart cried out to him that if there was no effective helper for them in that situation, how could there he one elsewhere? He also recalled that this was precisely what the Prophet (peace be on him) had constantly told people, and that it was precisely because of this preaching that they had been engaged in unnecessary violent conflict with him. This was a turning-point in 'Ikrimah's life. He instantly made up his mind that if he survived the storm he would go straight to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) and place his hand in his, binding himself in allegiance. Thereafter he not only remained true to his word by becoming a Muslim, but spent the rest of his life struggling in the cause of Islam.
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31. Feeble-minded people have always entertained the foolish misconception that the more godly a man is, the more liberated he should be from the limitations of human nature. They expect a godly person to be able to work wonders. By a mere sign of his hand, whole mountains should be transmuted into gold. At his command, the earth should begin to throw up all its hidden treasures. He should have miraculous access to all relevant facts about people. He should be able to point out the locations of things which have been lost, and show how they can be retrieved. He should be able to predict whether or not a patient will survive his disease; whether a pregnant woman will deliver a boy or a girl. Moreover, he should be above all human disabilities and limitations. How can a genuinely godly person feel hunger or thirst? How can he be overcome by sleep? How can he have a wife and children? How can he engage in buying and selling to meet his material requirements? How can he be impelled by force of circumstances to resort to such mundane acts as making money? How can he feel the pinch of poverty and paucity of resources? False conceptions such as these dominated the minds of the contemporaries of the Prophet (peace be on him). When they heard of his claim, in order to test his veracity they asked him regarding things that lie beyond the ken of human perception and to work wonders, and blamed him when they saw him engaged in such acts as eating and drinking, and taking care of his wife and children, and walking about the bazaars like other ordinary human beings. It is misconceptions such as these that this verse seeks to remove.
32. The statement of a Prophet in such matters amounts to a testimony based on first-hand observation. For the truths which a Prophet propounds are those which he himself has observed and experienced and which have been brought within the range of his knowledge by means of revelation. On the contrary, those who are opposed to the truths propounded by the Prophets are blind since the notions they entertain are based either on guess-work and conjecture or on blind adherence to ideas hallowed by time. Thus the difference between a Prophet and his opponents is as that between a man who has sound vision and a man who is blind. Obviously the former is superior, by dint of this gift of knowledge from God rather than because he has access to hidden treasures, because of his knowledge of the unseen world, and because of his freedom from physical limitations.
33. Those who are too deeply immersed in the allurements of earthly life to think either of death or of their being brought to stand before God for His judgement can hardly benefit from such admonitions. Likewise, such admonitions can have no wholesome effect on those who cherish the illusion that because of their attachment to some holy personage who will intercede on their behalf, they will come to no harm in the Hereafter. The same applies to those who believe that someone has already obtained their redemption by expiating their sins. The Prophet (peace be on him) is therefore asked to disregard such persons and to attend to those who are conscious, those with no false illusions. Only these people are susceptible to admonitions and can be expected to reform themselves.
34. One of the objections raised by the chiefs and the affluent members of the Quraysh was that the Prophet (peace be on him) had gathered around him a host of slaves, clients (mawali) and others belonging to the lower strata of society. They used to scoff at the fact that men of such humble social standing as Bilal, 'Ammar. Suhayb and Khabbab had joined his ranks. They wondered if they happened to be the only chosen ones of the Quraysh in the sight of God! They not only poked fun at the financial distress of these people but also attacked them for any weakness of character they had before accepting Islam. They went about saying sarcastically that those who had been such and such in the past had now become part of the 'chosen' community.
35. That is, everyone is personally responsible for his deeds, whether good or bad. The Prophet (peace he on him) is told that he will neither have to explain to God the conduct of the converts nor will the latter be required to explain his conduct. They can neither usurp his good deeds, nor transfer their own misdeeds to his account. There is, therefore, no reason for the Prophet (peace be on him) to alienate those who approach him as seekers after Truth.
36. By enabling the poor and the indigent, the people who have a low station in society to precede others in believing, God has put those who wax proud of wealth and honour to a severe test.
37. Several of those who came to believe in the Prophet (peace be on him) had committed many serious sins before they embraced Islam. Even though their lives had altogether changed following their conversion, the opposition continued to play up the weaknesses and misdeeds of their past life. The Prophet (peace he on him) is asked to comfort such persons and to tell them that God does not punish those who sincerely repent their sins and mend their ways.
38. 'And thus' refers to the whole of the foregoing discussion, beginning with (verse 37): 'And they say: Why has no miraculous sign been sent down to him?' The purpose of this remark is to stress that the persistence of some people in their denial of the Truth and in their disbelief, in spite of a host of unmistakably clear signs and arguments, was sufficient to prove beyond doubt that they were merely a bunch of criminals. If they persisted in error and transgression it was neither through any lack of strong arguments in support of the Truth nor, conversely, because of strong arguments in support of falsehood. The reason was rather that they had delilibrately chosen to fall into error and transgression.
39. This alludes to God's punishment. The adversaries questioned why it was that they had openly rejected a Prophet sent by God, but had not been struck down by God's wrarth? They said that the fact of his appointment by God meant that anyone who either disbelieved or insulted him would, at once, be either plunged into the earth or struck by lightning. And yet, they pointed out, the Messenger of God and his followers faced new sufferings and humiliations whereas those who abused and persecuted him enjoyed prosperity.
40. The angels who keep watch and maintain a record of everything, i.e. all their movements, deeds and so on.
41. That God alone possesses all power and authority, and has full control over the things which cause either benefit or harm to men, and that He alone holds the reins of their destiny are facts to which there is ample testimony in man's own being. For instance, whenever man is faced with a really hard time, and when the resources upon which he normally fails back seem to fail him, he instinctively turns to God. In spite of such a clear sign, people set up partners to God without any shred of evidence that anyone other than God has any share in His power and authority.
42. God's punishment can strike in an instant. This is the warning to those who, supposing such punishment to he remote, were growing bolder in their hostility towards the Truth. They could be destroyed in a moment by a hurricane. Just a few earthquake trernors could raze villages and cities to the ground. Likewise, a few spark, of hostility could ultimately wreak such havoc among tribes. nations and countries that bloodshed and lawlessness plague them for years on end. Hence if they are spared punishments for a while that should not drug them to heedlessness and lead them to live in total disregard of distinctions between right and wrong. They should rather he grateful that God had given thern respite and by means of a number of signs He was making it possible for thern to recognize the Truth and foliow it.
43. A Prophet is neither required to compel People to see what they are not prepared to see nor to force into their hearts what they fail to comprehend. It is not a Prophet's task to chastise people for failing to see and comprehend the Truth. His task is merely to proclaim Truth as distinct from falsehood. If people fail thereafter to accept it, they will be overwhelmed by the very misfortunes against which that Prophet had warned.
44. In case the Muslims fail to remember this directive and mistakenly continue to remain in the company of those who were indulging in making fun of their faith, they should withdraw from such company as soon as they remember this directive.
45. Those who avoid disobedience to God will not be held responsible for the errors of those who disobey. This being the case, the former have no justification for taking it upon themselves to persuade the latter to obedience or to consider themselves obliged to answer all their questions, however absurd and flimsy, until the Truth is forced down their throats. Their duty is merely to admonish and place the Truth before those whom they find stumbling about in error. If there is no response to this call except remonstration and obstinate argument they are under no obligation to waste their time and energy on them. They should rather devote their time and energy to instructing and admonishing those who have an urge to seek out the Truth.
46. It has been asserted again and again in the Qur'an that God created the
heavens and the earth 'in truth'. This covers a wide range of meanings:
First, that the heavens and the earth have not been created just for the fun
of it. This existence is not a theatrical play. This world is not a child's
toy with which to amuse oneself as long as one wishes before crushing it to
bits and throwing it away. Creation is rather an act of great seriousness. A
great objective motivates it, and a wise purpose underlies it. Hence, after
the lapse of a certain stage it is necessary for the Creator to take full account
of the work that has been done and to use those results as the basis for the
next stage. This is stated at various places in the Qur'an in the following
manner:
Our Lord, You did not create this in vain (Surah Al 'Imran 3:191).
And We did not create the heavens and the earth and whatever lies in between
them playfully (Surah Al-Anbiya' 21:16).
And did you think that We created you out of play and that you will not be brought
back to Us? (Surah al-Mu'minun 23:115).
Second, it means that God has created this entire system of the universe on
solid foundations of truth. The whole of the universe is based on justice, wisdom
and truth. Hence, there is no scope in thesystem for falsehood to take root
and prosper. The phenomenon of the prosperity of falsehood which we observe,
is to be ascribed to the will of God, Who grants the followers of falsehood
the opportunity, if they so wish, to expend their efforts in promoting unrighteousness,
injustice and untruth. In the end, however, the earth wfll throw up all the
seeds of untruth that have been sown, and in the final reckoning every follower
of falsehood will see that the efforts he devoted to cultivating and watering
this pernicious tree have all gone to waste.
Third, it means that God has founded the universe on the basis of right, and
it is on the ground of being its Creator that He governs it. His command in
the universe is supreme since He alone has the right to govern it, the universe
being nothing but His creation. If anyone else's commands seem to be carried
out in this world, this should not cause any misunderstanding. For in reality
the will of no one prevails, and cannot prevail in the universe, for no one
has any right to enforce his will.
47. This does not mean that the present dominion is not His. The purpose of this statement is rather to stress that when the veil which keeps things covered during the present phase of existence is lifted and the Truth becomes fully manifest, it will become quite clear that all those who seemed or were considered to possess power and authority are absolutely powerless, and that the true dominion belongs to the One True God Who created the universe.
48. In what manner the Trumpet will be blown is difficult for us to grasp.What
we know through the Qur'an is that on the Day of Judgement the Trumpet will
be blown on God's command, whereupon all will die. Then after an indefinite
period of time - a period that is known to God alone - the second Trumpet will
be blown, whereupon all people of all epochs will be resurrected and will find
themselves on the Plane of the Congregation.
Thus, when the first Trumpet is blown the entire order of the universe will
be disrupted, while on the blowing of the second Trumpet a fresh order will
be established, in a new form and with a new set of laws governing it.
49. Ghayb signifies all that is hidden from, and is beyond the ken of man's knowledge. Shahadah, as opposed to ghayb, signifies that which is manifest and thus can be known to man.
50. The incident relating to Abraham (peace be on him) is adduced in order
to confirm and reinforce the view that just as Muhammad (peace he on him) and
his Companions - thanks to the guidance vouchsafed by God - had denounced polytheism
and had turned away from all false gods, bowing their heads in obedience to
the One True Lord of the universe, so had been done by Abraham in his time.
In the same way as ignorant people were then opposing the Prophet Muhammad (peace
be on him) and those who believed in him, Abraham, too, had been opposed in
his day by the people among whom he lived. Furthermore, the answer Abraham gave
to his people in the past can also be given by Muhammad (peace be on him) and
his followers, for he was on the same path as Noah, Abraham and the other Prophets
who had descended from Abraham. Those who had refused to follow the Prophet
(peace be on him) should therefore take note that they had deviated from the
way of the Prophets and were lost in error.
At this point it should also be noted that Abraham was generally acknowledged
by the Arabs to be their patriarch and their original religious leader. The
Quraysh, in particular, were proud of their devotion to Abraham, of being his
progeny and of being servants to the shrine built by him. Hence, the mention
of Abraham's doctrine of monotheism, of his denunciation of polytheism and his
remonstration with his polytheistic people, amounted to demolishing the very
basis on which the Quraysh had prided themselves. It also amounted to destroying
the confidence of the people of Arabia in their polytheistic religion. This
also proved to them that the Muslims stood in the shoes of Abraham himself,
whereas their own position was that of an ignorant nation which had remonstrated
with Abraham out of ignorance and folly.
51. The adversaries are told that they can observe God's signs in the phenomena of the universe, just as Abraham could. The difference is that they see nothing, as if they were blind, whereas Abraham saw with open eyes. The sun, moon and stars which rise and set before their eyes day after day and night after night witness them as misguided at their setting as at their rising. Yet the same signs were observed by the perceptive Abraham, and the physical phenomena helped him arrive at the Truth.
52. To obtain a full understanding of this section, as well as of those verses
which mention the dispute between Abraham and his people, it is necessary to
cast a glance at the religious and cultural condition of the latter. Thanks
to recent archaeological discoveries, not only has the, city where Abraham is
said to have been born been located, but a good deal of information is also
available about the condition of the people of that area during the Abrahamic
period. We reproduce below a summary of the conclusions which Sir Leonard Wooley
arrived at as a result of the researches embodied in his work, Abraham (London,
1935).
It is estimated that around 2100 B.C., which is now generally accepted by scholars
as the time of the advent of Abraham, the population of the city of Ur was at
least two hundred and fifty thousand, maybe even five hundred thousand. The
city was a large industrial and commercial metropolis. Merchandise was brought
to Ur from places as far away as Palmir and Nilgiri in one direction, and in
the other it had developed trade relations with Anatolia. The state, of which
this city was the capital, extended a little beyond the boundaries of modern
Iraq in the north, and exceeded its present borders further to the west. The
great majority of the population were traders and craftsmen. The inscriptions
of that period, which have been discovered in the course of archaeological research,
make it clear that those people had a purely materialistic outlook on life.
Their greatest concern was to earn the maximum amount of wealth and enjoy the
highest degree of comfort and luxury. Interest was rampant among them and their
devotion to money-making seemed all-absorbing. They looked at one another with
suspicion and often resorted to litigation. In their prayers to their gods,
too, they generally asked for longer life, prosperity and greater commercial
success, rather than for spiritual growth, God's pardon and reward in the Hereafter.
The population comprised three classes of people: (1) amelu, the priests, the
government and military officers; (2) mushkinu, the craftsmen and farmers; and
(3) the slaves.
The people of the first class mentioned, i.e. amelu, enjoyed special privileges.
In both criminaI and civil matters, their rights were greater than those of
the others, and their lives and property were deemed to be of higher value.
It was in such a city and in such a society that Abraham first saw the light
of day. Whatever information we possess with regard to him and his family through
the Talmud shows that he belonged to the amelu class and that his father was
the highest functionary of the state. See also Towards Understanding the Qur'an,
vol. 1, (Surah 2, n.290).
In the inscriptions of Ur there are references to about five thousand deities.
Each city had its own deity. Each city had a chief deity which it considered
its chief protector and, therefore, that deity was considered worthy of greater
reverence than all the others. 'The chief deity of Ur was Nannar (the moon god),
and it is for this reason that the city later became known as Kamarina. The
other major city was Larsa, which replaced Ur as the capital of the kingdom.
Its chief deity was Shamash (the sun god). Under these major deities there was
a myriad of minor deities which had generally been chosen from among the heavenly
bodies - stars and planets. People considered them responsible for granting
their innumerable minor prayers. Idols had been carved in the image of these
celestial and terrestrial gods and goddesses and were made objects of ritual
worship.
Qamar is the Arabic word for 'moon'- Ed.
The idol of Nannar had been placed in a magnificent building on the top of the
highest hill. Close to it was the temple of Nin-Gal, the wife of Nannar. The
temple of Nannar resembled a royal palace. Every night a female worshipper went
to its bedroom, adorned as a bride. A great number of women had been consecrated
in the name of this deity and their position was virtually that of religious
prostitutes. The woman who would sacrifice her virginity for the sake of her
'god' was held in great esteem. For a woman to give herself to some unrelated
person 'for the sake of God' was considered a means to salvation. Needless to
say, it was generally the priests who made most use of this institution. Nannar
was not merely a deity, but the biggest landlord, the biggest trader, the biggest
industrialist and the most powerful ruler. Many orchards, buildings and huge
estates had been consecrated to his temple. In addition to this, cereals, milk,
gold, cloth, etc., were brought as offerings to the temple by peasants, landlords
and merchants, and there was a large staff in the temple to receive the offerings.
Many a factory had been established on behalf of the temple. Large-scale trading
was also carried out on its behalf. All these activities were conducted by the
priests in the name of the deity. Moreover, the country's main court was also
located in the temple. The priests functioned as judges and their judgements
were equated with those of God. The authority of the royal family was derived
from Nannar. The concept was that Nannar was the true sovereign and that the
ruler of the country governed merely on his behalf. Because of this relationship,
the king himself was raised to the rank of a deity and was worshipped.
The founder of the dynasty which ruled over Ur at the time of Abraham was Ur-Nammu.
In 2300 B.C. he had established an extensive kingdom, stretching from Susa in
the east to Lebanon in the west. Hence the dynasty acquired the name 'Nammu',
which became Nimrud in Arabic. After the emigration of Abraham, both the ruling
dynasty and the nation of Ur were subjected to a succession of disasters. Firstly,
the Elamites sacked Ur and captured Nimrud along with the idols of Nannar. Later
on, an Elamite state was established in Larsa which governed Ur as well. Later
still, Babylon prospered under a dynasty of Arabian origin and both Larsa and
Ur came under its hegemony. These disasters shook the people of Ur's faith in
Nannar, for he had failed to protect them.
It is difficult to say much, with certainty, about the extent of the subsequent
impact of the teachings of Abraham on these people. The laws which were codified
by the Babylonian King Hammurabi in 1910 B.C. show the impress of the prophetic
influence, whether direct or indirect. An inscription of this code was discovered
in 1902 by a French archaeologist and its English translation by C. H. W. John
was published in 1903 under the title The Oldest Code of Law. Many articles
of this code, both fundamental principles and substantive laws, bear some resemblance
to the Mosaic Law.
If the conclusions of these archaeological researchers are correct, it becomes
quite evident that polytheism did not consist merely of a set of religious beliefs
and polytheistic rites, it rather provided the foundation on which the entire
order of economic, cultural, political and social life rested. Likewise, the
monotheistic mission which was undertaken by Abraham was not merely directed
against the practice of idol-worship. It had far wider implications, so much
so that it affected the position of the royal family both as rulers and deities.
It also affected the social, economic and, political status and interests of
the priestly class, and the aristocracy in general, and in fact the entire fabric
of the social life of the kingdom. To accept the teaching of Abraham meant that
the entire edifice of the existing society should be pulled down and raised
anew on the basis of belief in the One God. Hence, as soon as Abraham launched
his mission, ordinary people as well as the privileged classes, ordinary devotees
as well as Nimrud. rose at once to oppose and suppress it.
53. Here some light is thrown on the mental experience through which Abraham
passed in the beginning and which led him to an understanding of the Truth before
prophethood was bestowed on him. This experience shows how a right-thinking
and sound-hearted man, who had opened his eyes in a purely polytheistic environment
and had received no instruction in monotheism, was ultimately led to discover
the Truth by careful observation of, and serious reflection on the phenomena
of the universe. The account of the conditions prevailing among the people of
Abraham shows that when he began to think seriously the scene was dominated
by the worship of the heavenly bodies - the moon, the sun and the stars. It
was natural, therefore, that when Abraham began his quest for the Truth, he
should have been faced with the question: Is it possible that any of these -
the sun, the moon and the stars - is God? He concentrated his reflection on
this central question and by observing that all the gods of his nation were
bound by a rigid law under which they moved about like slaves, he concluded
that those so-called gods were not possessed of even a shadow of the power of
the One True Lord, Who alone had created them all and had yoked them to serve
His will.
The Qur'anic passage describing Abraham's reactions on observing first a star,
then the moon, and finally the sun, has puzzled some readers because the words
seem to suggest that Abraham had never before witnessed these common phenomena.
This misconception has made the whole narration such a riddle for some scholars
that they could only solve it by inventing the strange anecdote that Abraham
was born and grew to maturity in a cave and was thus deprived of the opportunity
to observe the heavenly bodies. What is said, however, is so plain that one
need not fall back on any such incident in order to comprehend it. It is well
known, for instance, that when Newton saw an apple fall from a tree in his orchard
this incident instantly raised in his mind the question: Why do things always
fall to the ground? As a result of his reflection on this question he arrived
at his theory of gravity. On reading this incident one might wonder if Newton
had never before seen anything fall to the ground! Obviously, he must have seen
things fall. For what reason, then, should the failing of an apple cause in
his mind a reaction quite different irom those caused by hundreds of earlier
observations of similar things failing? The answer is that a reflecting mind
does not react uniformly to similar observations. A man may observe something
over and over again without this observation creating any stir in his mind,
but then there comes a moment when suddenly the same observation agitates his
mind and his mental faculty begins to work in a different direction. It may
also happen that while a man's mind is wrestling with a problem, he encounters
something which is otherwise quite ordinary but which suddenly seems to provide
the key. Something to this effect happened with Abraham. Certainly, he was as
familiar as anyone else with nightfall and the ensuing daybreak. The sun, the
moon and the stars had all risen before his eyes in the past and had then disappeared
from sight. But on one particular day his observation of a star was to stimulate
his thinking in a certain direction and to lead him in the end to perceive the
truth of God's Oneness. It is possible that Abraham's mind was already engrossed
in reflecting on whether, and if so to what extent, the beliefs which served
as the foundation of the entire life-system of his people embodied the Truth.
when he spotted a star which provided him with the initial key to the solution
of the problem. It is also possible that the observation of a particular star
first set him thinking about the problem.
Another question that arises is whether Abraham's statements about the star,
the moon and the sun show that he lapsed into polytheism temporarily. The answer
must be that, while a seeker after the Truth may pause on the way to his goal,
what really matters is his direction and the end-point of his journey rather
than the intermediary stages. These stages are inevitable for every seeker of
the Truth. A man stops at them to inquire and question rather than to pronounce
his final judgement. During these stages of the quest a man may seem to express
the opinion: 'That is so', but what he is really doing is asking himself the
question: 'Is it really so?' When serious investigation leads to a negative
answer, he proceeds further and continues the quest. Hence, it would be wrong
to think of such a seeker having temporarily fallen victim to polytheism and
unbelief whenever he paused at an intermediary stage for critical reflection.
54. The word used here is tadhakkur which conveys the sense that somebody who had been either heedless or negligent of something suddenly wakes up to its true meaning. The purpose of Abraham's statement was to recall them to their senses by reminding them that their true Lord was not uninformed about their deeds, for His knowledge encompasses everything.
55. This entire section shows that those people did not deny the existence
of God as the creator of the heavens and earth. Their real guilt was that they
associated others in His attributes and His rights over man. In the first place,
Abraham himself clearly states that they associated others with God as His partners.
In the second place, the way in which Abraham mentions God in addressing these
people is suitable only for a people who did not deny the existence of God.
We must, therefore, regard as incorrect the opinion of those Qur'anic commentators
who try to explain this verse on the assumption that the people of Abraham either
denied or were unaware of the existence of God, and considered their own deities
to be the exclusive possessors of godhead.
The expression 'and did not tarnish their faith with wrong-doing' led some Companions
to the misapprehension that perhaps this 'wrong-doing' signified 'disobedience'.
But the Prophet (peace be on him) has made it clear that this wrong-doing signifies
shirk (associating others with God in His divinity). The verse means, therefore,
that they alone are fully secure and rightly-guided who believe in God and do
not mix their faith with any polytheistic belief and practice.
It is interesting to learn that this incident, which is the starting-point of
Abraham's prophetic career, has found no place in the Bible. It is mentioned
only in the Talmud. The Talmudic version, however, is different from the Qur'anic
version in two ways. First, in the Talmudic version Abraham's quest for the
Truth begins with the sun and then proceeds by way of the stars to his discovery
of the One True God. Second. it states that Abraham not only held the sun to
be his Lord but even worshipped it, and that the same happened in connection
with the moon.
56. Had those people also ascribed partners to God like the people of Arabia, they would not have achieved the positions they had attained.Some might perhaps have earned places in the rogues' gallery of history as either ruthless conquerors or monuments to greed. But had they not shunned polytheism and adhered to their exclusive and unadulterated devotion to God, they would certainly neither have had the honour of becoming the source of light and guidance to others nor of assuming the leadership of the pious and the God-fearing.
57. Here the Prophets are mentioned as having been endowed with three things: first, the revealed guidance embodied in the Book; second, hukm, i.e. the correct understanding of the revealed guidance, the ability to apply its principles to the practical affairs of life, the God-given capacity to arrive at right opinions regarding human problems; and third, prophethood, the office by virtue of which they are enabled to lead human beings in the light of the guidance vouchsafed to them.
58. God does not care if the unbelievers and polytheists choose to reject the guidance which has come down from Him, for He had already raised a sizeable group of men of faith to truly appreciate its worth.
59. In the light of the foregoing discussion and commentary, it is quite
evident that this statement comes from the Jews. Since the Prophet (peace be
on him) had asserted that he was a Prophet and that a Book had been revealed
to him, the unbelieving Quraysh and other polytheists of Arabia naturally used
to approach the Jews and the Christians - who believed in the Prophets and in
the Scriptures - and tried to solicit a candid answer from them as to whether
God's words had indeed been revealed to Muhammad (peace be on him). Whatever
answer they gave was then disseminated on all sides by the active opponents
of the Prophet (peace be on him) in order to create revulsion against Islam.
This is the reason for mentioning, and then refuting, this statement by the
Jews, which had been used by the opposition as an argument against Islam.
One might wonder how a Jew, who believes in the Torah as a revealed Book of
God, could say that God had revealed nothing to anyone. At times blind obstinacy
and bigotry cause people to resort to arguments which strike at the roots of
their own belief. These people were bent upon denying the prophethood of Muhammad
(peace be on him), and this fanaticism had come to dominate them so much that
they went so far as to deny the very institution of prophethood.
To say that peopte have not formed any proper estimate of God means that they
have erred grossly in assessing His wisdom and power. Whoever says that God
did not reveal knowledge of Reality and the code for man's guidance has fallen
into one of two errors. Either he considers it impossible for man to become
the recipient of God's revelation, and this constitutes a gross misjudgement
of God's power, or he thinks that even though God has equipped man with intelligence
and with the power to act as he chooses, He has nevertheless made no arrangement
for his guidance, but has left him in this world altogether unguided and thus
conferred upon him the right to behave in any way he likes. This is obviously
a misjudgement of God's wisdom.
60. The revelation of the Torah to Moses (peace be on him) is adduced by way of evidence since the Jews, to whom this response is addressed, believed that it had been revealed. It is obvious that their recognition of the Torah as the Book revealed to Moses negated their standpoint that God had never revealed anything to any human being. Their belief in the Torah at least proved that revelation to man is possible, and had actually taken place.
61. The point argued above was that God's word can be, and in the past has
been, revealed to human beings. The next point is that the message of Muhammad
(peace be on him) is indeed the revealed word of God. In order to establish
this, four things are adduced as evidence: First, that this Book is overflowing
with God's grace and beneficence. In other words, it contains the best possible
principles for the well-being and salvation of mankind. It lays down the true
doctrines of belief. It urges man to righteous conduct and inspires him to moral
excellence. It contains guidance as to how one may live a life of purity. And
above all, it is free from any trace of the ignorance, egocentricity, narrow-mindedness,
iniquity, obscenity and other corruptions with which the Jews and the Christians
had overlaid their revealed Scriptures. Second, this Book does not propound
any guidance which is essentially divergent from that previously revealed; rather
it confirms and supports it. Third, the purpose of the revelation of this Book
is the same as that of the revelation of Scriptures in the past, viz., to shake
people out of their heedlessness and warn them of the evil consequences of their
corruption. Fourth, that the call of this Book did not attract those who merely
worshipped worldly advantages and were slaves of their animal desires. On the
contrary, it attracted those whose vision goes beyond the narrow limits of worldly
life. Moreover, the revolution wrought in the lives of people under the influence
of this Book has rendered them conspicuously distinct from others in respect
of piety and godliness.
A Book with such characteristics and with such a wholesome impact on human beings
can only be from God.
62. The one who causes the seed-grain to split open under the surface of the earth and then makes it grow and appear on the surface as a plant is no other than God.
63. To 'bring forth the living from the dead' means creating living beings out of dead matter. Likewise, 'to bring out the dead from the living' means to remove the lifeless elements from a living organism.
64. By 'signs' are meant all that support the proposition that there is only one God, that is, no one has either the attributes of God or any share in His authority or can rightfully claim any of the rights which belong exclusively to Him. But the ignorant cannot benefit from these signs, which are scattered all around, in order to arrive at an understanding of the Truth. Only those who observe the phenomena of the universe in a careful and systematic manner, and do so with a correct perspective, can truly benefit from these signs.
65. This means that God caused the human race to originate from one human being.
66. If one were to observe carefully the creation of the human species, its division into male and female, the proliferation of the human race by procreation, the passing of life through its several stages in the womb of the mother from conception to childbirth, one would perceive innumerable signs to help one grasp the truth mentioned above. But only those who make proper use of their intellect can be led by means of these signs to an understanding of Reality. Those who live like animals, who are concerned merely with the satisfaction of their lusts and desires, can perceive nothing significant in these phenomena.
67. Because of man's imaginativeness and superstitious disposition, he has often held other invisible beings to be associated with God in His governance of the universe and in making and marring man's destiny. For example, the deity of rain, and the deity of vegetation, the god of wealth and the god of health, and so on. Such beliefs are found among all the polytheistic nations of the world.
68. The ignorant Arabs considered angels to be the daughters of God. In the same way, other polytheistic nations wove a network of bloodrelationships with God, producing thereby a whole crop of gods and goddesses descended from the Creator.
69. Even though this statement is from God, it is expressed through the mouth
of the Prophet (peace be on him). We observe that in the Qur'an the speaker
frequently changes - sometimes it is God Who is speaking, sometimes it is the
angel who carries the revelation, and sometimes a group of angels; on some occasions
it is the Prophet (peace be on him) who is speaking, while on others it is the
men of faith. Likewise, those addressed by the Qur'an also change - sometimes
it is the Prophet (peace be' on him); sometimes it is the men of faith; sometimes
it is the People of the Book; sometimes it is the unbelievers and the polytheists;
sometimes it is the Quraysh; sometimes it is the Arabs; and sometimes, mankind
as a whole. Regardless of these changes, however, the content of the message
always remains the same - it consists of God's guidance to mankind.
The statement 'I am not your keeper' signifies that the task of the Prophet
is confined to carrying the light of true guidance to others, it is then up
to them either to use it to perceive Reality for themselves or to keep their
eyes closed. The Prophet (peace he on him) is not asked to compel those who
deliberately kept their eyes shut to open them, forcing them to see what they
did not wish to see.
70. The same has been said earlier, viz. that genuine seekers after the Truth arrive at it even when it is couched in parables about such apparently trivial things as flies and gnats see (surah al-Baqarah 2:24). As for those who have been seized by a biased negativism, they are prone to ask, sarcastically: What have these trivial things to do with the Book of God? The same idea is expressed here in a slightly different form. The import of the statement is that the Book of God has become a touchstone, which helps mark off the true from the false. These include the sort of people who, once they have ceme to know the teachings of the Book of God, try in earnest to reflect on its substance and seek to benefit from the wisdom and admonition it contains. Another group reacts quite differently. When they hear or read the Book, their minds are not attracted by the substance of its message. Rather, their curiosity is aroused and they begin probing as to where this Prophet, who had no formal education, derived the teachings which the Book contains. And since a negative prejudice has already seized their hearts, they find it reasonable to conceive of any possibility except the possibility that the Qur'An is a revelation from God. Such people proclaim their opinion with such strong conviction that one might feel inclined to believe that they had indeed discovered the real 'source' of the Book by means of scientific investigation.
71. It is emphasized that the Prophet (peace be on him) is only required to preach the Truth and try to call people to embrace it. His responsibility ends at that for he is, after all, not their warden. His task is to present this guidance and spare no effort in elucidating the Truth. Anyone who still rejects it does so on his own responsibility. It is not part of the Prophet's task to compel anybody to follow the Truth, and he will not be held accountable for not having been able to bring an individual out of the fold of falsehood. Hence he should not overstrain his mind by his desire to make the blind see, or compel those bent on keeping their eyes shut, to observe. For, had it been an objective of God's universal plan not to allow anyone to remain devoted to falsehood, He need not have sent Prophets for that purpose. Could He not have turned all human beings, instantly, into devotees of the Truth by His mere will? Quite obviously God did not intend to do so. The entire basis of the Divine plan is that men should have free-will and be allowed to choose between the Truth and falsehood; that the Truth should be explained to them in order that they be tested with regard to their choice between truth and falsehood. The right attitude, therefore, is for them to follow the Straight Way which has been illuminated by the light bequeathed to them and to keep on calling others towards it. They should naturally value very highly all those who respond to the message of the Truth. Such persons should not be forsaken or neglected, however humble their station in the world. As for those who wilfully reject the message of God, one need not pursue them too far. They should rather be left alone to proceed towards their doom since they themselves wish so, and are insistent on doing so.
72. The Prophet (peace be on him) and his followers are admonished not to allow their proselytizing zeal to dominate them so that their polemics and controversial religious discussions either lead them to be offensive to the beliefs of non-Muslims or to abuse their religious leaders and deities. Far from bringing people closer to the Truth, such an attitude is likely to alienate them from it further.
73. Here we should bear in mind, as we have pointed out earlier, that God declares those things which take place as a result of the operation of the laws of nature to be His own acts, for it is He Who has rnade those laws. Whatever results from the operation of those laws, therefore, results from His command. Whenever God states that a certain act was His, the same might be described by humans as occurring in the natural course of things.
74. 'Sign' in this context signifies a tangible miracle which is so impressive that it leaves people with no alternative but to believe in the veracity of the Prophet (peace be on him) and the truth of his claim to have been appointed by God.
75. The Prophet (peace be on him) denies his ability to perform miracles.
That power lies with God alone. If God wants a miracle to take place, He has
the power; if He does not want miracles to take place, none will.
And so indeed does every Prophet of God - Ed.
76. These words are addressed to the Muslims. Driven by the restless yearning to see people embrace Islam - a yearning which they sometimes expressed in words - they wished some miracle to happen which might lead their erring brethren to the true faith. In response to this wish and longing they are told that their embracing the true faith does not depend upon their observing any miraculous sign.
77. This shows that they still suffer from the same mentality which had made them reject the call of the Prophet (peace be on him) at the outset. Their outlook has undergone no change. The same mental confusion, the same opacity of vision which had kept them from developing sound understanding and.a correct perspective still warps their understanding and clouds their vision.
78. The people under discussion are so perverse that they do not prefer to embrace the Truth in preference to falsehood by rightly exercising their choice and volition. The only way that is left for them to become lovers of the Truth is, therefore, that by His overpowering will God should render them truth-loving not by their choice and volition, but by metamorphizing their very nature. Such a course, however, goes against the wisdom which underlies the creation of man. Hence it is futile to expect God to intervene in the matter and to force those people to believe by the exercise of His will.
79. The Prophet (peace be on him) is told that he should not be unnerved even if the evil ones among both mankind and the jinn stood united against him and opposed him with all their might. For this was not the first time that such a thing had happened. Whenever a Prophet came and tried to lead people to the Truth, all the satanic forces joined hands to defeat his mission. 'Specious talk' signifies all the trickery and manoeuvring to which the enemy resorts, all his efforts aimed at sowing doubts about Islam and undermining people's faith in it, so as to arouse them against both the Prophet (peace be on him) and his message. Taken as a whole, these are characterized as 'delusion', for the weapons used in their crusade by the opponents of the Truth have the effect of deluding others as well as themselves, no matter how beneficial and successful those weapons may appear to be.
80. Furthermore, we should always bear in mind that, according to the Qur'an,
there is a tremendous difference between 'God's will' and 'God's good pleasure'.
The failure to differentiate between the two often gives rise to serious misconceptions.
If a certain thing takes place in accord with the universal will of God, and
thus by His sanction, that does not necessarily mean that God is pleased with
it. Nothing at all takes place in the world unless God permits it to take place,
unless He makes it a part of His scheme, and unless He makes it possible for
that event to take place by creating its necessary conditions. The act of stealing
on the part of a thief, the act of homicide on the part of a murderer, the wrong
and corruption of the wrong-doer and the corrupt, the unbelief of the unbeliever
and the polytheism of the polytheist - none of these are possible without the
will of God. Likewise, the faith of the believer and the piety of the pious
are inconceivable without the will of God. In short, both these require the
will of God. But whereas the things in the first category do not please Him,
those in the second do.
Even though the will of God is oriented to ultimate good, the course of the
realization of that good is paved with conflict between the forces of light
and darkness, of good and evil, of what is sound and pure on the one hand and
what is corrupt and defiled on the other. With larger interests in view, God
has endowed man with the disposition of obedience as well as of disobedience.
He has created in man Abrahamic and Mosaic as well as Nimrodic and Pharaonic
potentialities. Both the pure, unadulterated human nature and the satanic urges
are ingrained in man's being and have been provided with the opportunity to
work themselves out by coming into conflict with each other. He has granted
those species of His creatures who are possessed of authority (viz. man and
jinn) the freedom to choose between good and evil. Whosoever chooses to act
righteously has been given the power to do so, and the same is the case with
him who chooses to be evil. People of both categories are in a position to use
material resources within the framework of the broader considerations underlying
God's- governance of His universe. God will be pleased, however, only with those
who are working for good. God likes His creatures to exercise their freedom
of choice properly and commit themselves to good of their own volition.
Unlike the angels, who carry out God's commands without resistance from any
quarter, the task entrusted to men is to strive to establish the way of life
sanctioned by God in the face of opposition and hostility from evil-doers and
rebels against Him. In the framework of His universal will, God allows even
those who have chosen the path of rebellion to strive for the realization of
their goals, even as He grants the believers every opportunity to strive along
the path of obedience and service to God. Despite this granting of freedom and
choice to all there is no doubt that God is pleased with, and guides, directs,
supports and strengthens the believers alone because their overall direction
is to His liking. Nevertheless, they should not expect that by His supernatural
intervention God will either force those who are disinclined to believe into
believing or that He will forcibly remove the satanic forces - among both men
and jinn - who are resolved to spare neither their mental and physical energy
nor their material resources to impede the triumph of the Truth. Those determined
to strive in the cause of the Truth, and of virtue and righteousness are told
that they must prove their earnest devotion by waging a fierce struggle against
the devotees of falsehood. For had God wanted to use miracles to obliterate
falsehood and usher in the reign of the Truth, He would not have required human
beings to accomplish the task. He could have simply seen to it that no evil
one remained in the world, leaving no possibility for polytheism and unbelief
to exist.
81. The implied speaker in this sentence is the Prophet (peace be on him) and the words are addressed to the Muslims. The purpose of the sentence is to impress upon the Muslims that God has elucidated the relevant truths, and has also proclaimed that in their endeavour to make the Truth prevail they will have to follow the path of striving and struggle. The devotees of the Truth should, therefore, resort to those means which human beings normally employ for the successful achievement of their objectives rather than wait for any supernatural intervention that would enable them to achieve their mission without struggle and sacrifice. Moreover, since God Himself had chosen that human effort rather than supernatural intervention should lead to the prevalence of the Truth, who had the power to change this basic fact and bring about the victory of the Truth without any resort to human effort and sacrifice.
82. This is no mere concoction designed to explain away the current problems. All those versed in the Scriptures, and possessing true understanding of the mission of the Prophets (peace be on them all), will confirm that everything in the Qur'an is perfectly true and in fact constitutes that eternal truth which cannot suffer any change or modification.
83. One need not follow the way of life of the majority, for the majority tend to follow their conjectures and fancies rather than sound knowledge. Their beliefs, their ideas and concepts, their philosophies of life, the guiding principles of their conduct, their laws - all these are founded on conjecture. On the contrary, the way of life which pleases God, was revealed by Him and hence is based on true knowledge rather than conjecture. Instead of trying to discover the way of life of the majority, a seeker after truth should, therefore, persevere in the way prescribed by God, even if he finds himself to be a solitary traveller.
84. Many nations have imposed on themselves superfluous religious taboos, which include a variety of dietary restrictions. On the one hand, they have declared lawful many of the things which God has forbidden. On the other, there are many things which God has made lawful but which some people have forbidden to themselves. Some people have even gone so far as to consider eating animals slaughtered in the name of God as unlawful, while those slaughtered with no mention of God's name may be eaten. God repudiates this and urges the Muslims - if they really believe in Him and obey His injunctions - to smash the superstitious and prejudiced notions contrived by human beings in disregard of God's revealed guidance, and to recognize as unlawful all that God has declared to be unlawful, and as lawful all that God has declared to be lawful.
85. See (Surah al-Nahl 16:15). We may observe in passing that this allusion indirectly establishes that Surah al-Nahl was revealed before the present surah.
86. It has been reported in a tradition transmitted by 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas that the Jewish religious scholars used to prompt the ignorant people of Arabia to address many enquiries to the Prophet (peace be on him) so as to discredit him. One of the questions they taught them to ask was: 'Why is it that an animal killed by (the act of) God should be deemed prohibited, while one killed by us is considered lawful?'This is a common example of the warped mentality of the People of the Book. They strained their minds to contrive such questions so as to create doubts in people's minds and to provide them with intellectual weapons in their fight against the Truth.
87. To acknowledge the overlordship of God, yet to follow at the same time the orders and ways of those who have turned away from Him, amounts to associating others with God in His divinity. True belief in the unity of God consists in orienting one's entire life to the obedience and service of God. Those who believe that any other being besides God is to he acknowledged in principle as having an independent claim on man's unreserved obedience should know that such acknowledgement amounts to associating others with God in His divinity at the level of belief. On the other hand, if they actually do obey those who, in sheer disregard of God's guidance and injunctions, arrogate to themselves the right to declare according to their whims certain things to be lawful and others to be unlawful, and to bid and forbid people as they please, this amounts to associating others with God in His divinity at the level of action.
88. 'Death' signifies here the state of ignorance and lack of consciousness, whereas 'life' denotes the state of knowledge and true cognition, the state of awareness of Reality. He who cannot distinguish between right and wrong and does not know the Straight Way for human life, may be alive on the biological plane, but his essential humanity is not. He may be a living animal but is certainly not a living human being. A living human being is one who can distinguish right from wrong, good from evil, honesty from dishonesty.
89. The question is: 'How can they expect one who has been able to attain genuine consciousness of his true human nature and who, by virtue of his knowledge of the Truth, can clearly discern the Straight Way among the numerous crooked ways, to live like those who lack true consciousness and go on stumbling in the darkness of ignorance and folly?'
90. The law of God with regard to those to whom light is presented but who wilfully refuse to accept it, preferring to follow their crooked paths even after they have been invited to follow the Straight Way, is that in the course of time such people begin to cherish darkness, and to enjoy groping their way in the dark, stumbling and falling as they proceed. They tend to mistake cacti for orchids, thorns for roses. They find pleasure in every act of evil and corruption. They look forward to renewed experiences of corruption, hoping that where they were previously unsuccessful they will now find success.
91. This shows that they were unwilling to believe in the statement of the Prophets that an angel of God came to each of them and delivered the message of God. They would believe, they said, only if the angel approached them directly and intimated God's message to them.
92. 'To open someone's breast to Islam' means to make him feel fully convinced of the truth of Islam and to remove all his doubts, hesitations and reluctance.
93 The righteous will enjoy 'the Abode of Peace' since there he will be safe from every misfortune and evil.
94. The term finn here refers to the evil ones among the jinn.
95. This means that they had derived unfair benefit from one another and had served their selfish ends by mutual deception.
96. Even though God has the right to punish whoever He wishes and to forgive whoever He wishes, His punishing and forgiving will be neither arbitrary nor whimsical. It will rather be founded on absolute knowledge and wisdom. God will forgive those whom He knows not to be responsible for their guilt, and thus not liable to punishment according to His wisdom and justice.
97. Just as the wrong-doers had been accomplices in sin and evil during their earthly life, they would remain companions in the After-life as well and share its punishment.
98. The wrong-doers would confess that even though the Prophets had come, in succession, in order to inform them of the Truth, it was their own fault that they did not respond to their call.
99. They were deniers of, and disbelievers in, rather than ignorant of the Truth. They acknowledged tha! the Truth had been conveyed to them and that they had refused to accept it.
100. God does not want His creatures to have any valid reason to complain that He had left them ignorant of the Right Way, and then convicted them of error. God has forestalled any such grievance by sending Prophets and revealing Holy Books to warn both jinn and human beings. If people continue to falter in spite of God's arrangements for their guidance, they themselves are to blame for the punishment they will receive, and they have no justification for blaming their misfortune on God.
101. The Qur'anic statement: 'Your Lord is Self-Sufficient' signifies that
God is in need of nothing from anyone, that none of His interests will be jeopardized
by disobedience to Him, and that no benefit will accrue to Him from obedience.
Even if all human beings became disobedient, God's dominion will not shrink.
Nor will His dominion expand if everybody were to become obedient and serve
and worship Him as they ought to. God is dependent neither upon their show of
veneration nor upon their offerings. He lavishes His limitless treasures on
human beings and seeks nothing in return.
The other statement, namely that 'Your Lord is full of compassion', has been
made here to emphasize two things. First, that when God urges human beings to
follow the Right Way, and asks them not to do anything in conflict with Ultimate
Reality, He does not do so because their good behaviour benefits Him or their
misconduct harms Him. He does so because good conduct is beneficial to man himself,
as evil conduct is harmful to him. Hence it is out of sheer benevolence that
God urges man to develop righteous conduct, for it will raise him to great heights,
and He urges him to avoid evil conduct because it will lead to his own degradation.
Second, that God is not unduly stern in judging man. He gets no pleasure from
punishing people. He is not on the look-out for slight lapses for which to convict
and persecute people. God is highly compassionate towards all His creatures
and governs with utmost mercy and benevolence, and the same characterizes His
dealings with human beings as well. Hence, He constantly forgives the sins of
people. Many disobey, indulge in sins, commit crimes, disregard God's commands,
even though they are nourished by the sustenance He provides. God, nevertheless,
continually treats them with forbearance and forgives them. Again and again,
He grants them respite in order that they may take heed, understand things properly
and reform themselves. Had He been excessively stern, He could even have obliterated
them instantly and raised up another people. He could have put an end to humanity
and brought into being an altogether different species of creation.
102. This refers to the Resurrection, when human beings of every epoch will be raised anew and made to stand before God for final judgement.
103. If people prefer to ignore the Prophet's admonition and do not recant their misconduct, they are at liberty to follow their chosen path, but they should let the Prophet (peace be on him) follow his. The ultimate results of their conduct will, in due time, become evident to all - to the Prophet (peace be on him) as well as to his opponents.
104. There now follows an elucidation of the 'ignorance' which those people-insistently clung to, and which they were not prepared to forsake. They are also told about that major 'wrong' which, if not abandoned, will bar their way to salvation.
105. They themselves acknowledged that the earth belongs to God, and that
it is He Who causes the vegetation to grow. They also affirmed that God is the
creator of the animals which were yoked to their service. They believed, however,
that the grace of God for them was the outcome of the blessing and benediction
of the angels, jinn, heavenly stars, spirits of their pious ancestors and so
on, who cared for their well-being and were their patrons. They therefore used
to make a two-fold division of their harvest and livestock offerings. One part
was devoted to God in recognition of their gratitude to Him for having granted
them farms and animals, while the rest was devoted to the household gods of
either their family or tribes in order to ensure their continuing grace and
benediction.
First, God censures them for this iniquity and asks them - since all those animals
were created and had been granted to them by God alone - what justification
there is for making offerings to others. Is it not sheer ingratitude to ascribe
the acts of benevolence and grace of the true Benefactor to the intercession
of others, and to associate them with God in thanksgiving? Second, they are
censured indirectly for assigning quite an arbitrary share in their offerings
to God, as if they themselves were the law-maker who could ascribe shares to
God and others as they wished. To God alone belong all the bounties He has given
man, and only His Law should therefore determine what part of those bounties
should be offered to Him in thanksgiving and how the remaining should be spent.
Hence even if they spend something in the way of Allah, for the poor and the
deprived, but according to their own will, that does not deserve to be accepted
by Him.
106. This is subtle sarcasm at the trickery to which the polytheists resorted
while dividing the offerings between God and the partners whom they had set
up with Him. By one device and another they increased the share of the false
deities, which only showed that their heart lay with those sham partners of
God rather than with Him.
It is instructive to recall those tricks. If, while they were apportioning God's
share of cereals and fruits, anything belonging to His share fell out of its
place, it used to be added to the portion earmarked for the share of God's partners.
On the contrary, if any part of the, partners' share fell out or got mixed up
with the portion earmarked for God, they were most careful to return it to where
it belonged. Whenever they were criticized for this, they had a number of interesting
apologies to offer. They said, for instance, that being the Creator, God is
Self-Sufficient and hence He does not care if His portion is in some way reduced.
As for the 'partners', they were not after all self-sufficient and would therefore
take them to task for the slightest diminution in their share.
In order to grasp what lay at the root of these superstitions, it is essential
to know that the portion which these ignorant people earmarked for God was devoted
to helping the indigent, the poor, travellers, orphans and so on. On the other
hand, the portion earmarked for offerings to the partners' actually went either
directly to the coffers of the priestly class or was offered at the shrines
and thus ultimately reached the priests and caretakers of those shrines. Over
the course of centuries these selfish religious leaders had impressed upon those
simple-minded people that there was no harm in God's share being reduced, but
that of God's dear ones, far from being diminished, should be increased.
107. The word 'partners' is now used in a different sense. In this verse
the word 'partners' denotes those human beings and devils who had legitimized
infanticide and even represented it as a commendable act.
The reason for calling such people 'partners' is that just as God alone deserves
to be worshipped, so He alone has the right to make laws for His creatures and
to determine the limits of what is lawful and what is unlawful. Also, just as
consecrating acts of devotion to anyone other than God amounts to setting up
partners with Him, so to follow man-made laws in the belief that human beings
have the right to be their own law-makers amounts to acknowledging others as
partners of God. Both these acts amount to setting up partners with Him, irrespective
of whether or not man applies the word 'God' to those before whom he makes ritual
offerings, or to those whose laws he considers to be essentially right and binding
for men.
It is pertinent to recall that three forms of infanticide were practised among
the Arabs, and the Qur'an alludes to each:
(1) Girls were put to death either to forestall the intrusion of a son-in-law,
to prevent them from falling into the hands of enemies in the event of an outbreak
of tribal feuding or to stop them from becoming a source of disgrace for any
other reason.
(2) Both male and female children were killed if parents thought they would
not be able to support them and that they would thus become an unendurable burden.
(3) Children of both sexes were placed as sacrificial offerings on the altars
of the deities in order to gratify them.
108. The use of the word 'ruin' in this verse is significant. It denotes, in the first place, the moral ruination of a people. A man whose callousness and cruelty reach the point where he begins to kill his offspring with his own hands not only becomes bereft of the essence of humanity, but has sunk even lower than the animals. Moreover, this signifies the ruin of a people and of the human race. This is because infanticide necessarily leads to loss of population which is detrimental to the interests of mankind and also of each nation, since it prevents those who could have carried the legacy of a nation from either being born or puts an end to their lives after ,they are born. This rule also signifies the ultimate ruin, i.e. in the Hereafter. For indeed anyone who treats innocent children with such high-handedness, who cold-bloodedly slaughters the essence of his humanity, who acts so sordidly towards the human species as such, and even towards his own people, deserves severe punishment from God.
109. In the Jahiliyah, the Age of Ignorance, the Arabs both identified themselves with Abraham and Ishmael and were quite convinced that they were indeed followers of Abraham and Ishmael. They therefore considered their religion to be one that had been prescribed by God. The fact, however, was that over the course of centuries a number of innovations had overgrown the religion preached by Abraham and Ishmael. These innovations, which had been introduced by their religious leaders, the tribal chiefs and the elders of noted families, had become hallowed with the passage of time, and were considered an integral part of their original religion. No authentic traces of this original religion, however, existed in the Arab traditions, nor in written sources nor in historical records as such. Hence, when innovations made their inroads into their religious life, they failed to perceive both the innovations and the innovators. This rendered the entire religious tradition of the Arabs unauthentic in the sight of the people of Arabia themselves. They could not assert with conviction which elements were part of the original God-given religion, and which were mere innovations.
110. Had God not so willed, they could never have kept to their false ways. But God willed that everybody should be allowed to pursue his own choice. Hence, if people do not believe in spite of the Prophet's admonition, and persist in their false ways, they must be allowed to do as they please. One need not hound such people and pester them into accepting the Truth.
111. There was a practice among the people of Arabia whereby they used to consecrate certain animals and farms to certain shrines, and at offerings at certain altars. These consecrated offerings could not be used by everybody. An elaborate code laid down what kind of offering could be used by what kind of people. God not only judges such practices to be polytheistic, but also censures them as man-made innovations. God was the master of all that they had consecrated as offerings to the deities. He had neither encumbered human beings with the need to make any of those offerings and consecrations nor imposed those restrictions on what they might consume. These were the wilful inventions of headstrong and rebellious people who attributed to themselves the authority to make laws as they pleased.
112. Traditions indicate that there were certain ritual offerings, and that on certain occasions animals were consecrated for sacrifice at which it was deemed unlawful to pronounce the name of God. It was also prohibited to ride such animals during the Pilgrimage, since at that time the pilgrim pronounced the name of God when he recited the formula: Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk. Every care was taken not to pronounce the name of God at the time of milking, mounting, slaughtering and eating of such animals.
113. Even though those rules had not been laid down by God, people followed them under the false impression that they had been prescribed by Him. They could not adduce any injunction from God in support of such a belief, and all that they could claim was that it was an integral part of their ancestors' way of life.
114. One of the provisions of this self-contrived religious code of the Arabs was that the flesh of the young, born of the animals consecrated as offerings to the deities, might be eaten by males but not by females. Persons of both sexes were allowed to eat its flesh if it had died either a natural death or was dead at birth.
115. It is put to them plainly that even though such practices had been introduced by their forefathers, religious guides and outstanding leaders, the fact remained that those practices were inherently unsound. That those practices had come down from their ancestors and venerated elders did not necessarily legitimize them. These callous people had introduced such inhuman customs as infanticide, and, without any justification whatsoever, had prohibited to the creatures of God food and drink which He had created. They had also introduced many innovations themselves, making them part of their religion and ascribing them to God. How could such people be considered either to have attained salvation or to be rightlyguided? Even though venerated by them as their ancestors, they were nevertheless misguided and were destined to see the evil consequences of their misdeeds.
116. Tle Arabic expression "Jannaatim Ma'rushaatin wa khairu ma'rushatin" signifies two kinds of gardens: first, those consisting of trellised plants and, second, those consisting of trees which stand on their own.
117. The word "Farasha" (which means 'to spread, to pave, to cover the ground, floor or path') has been used in the context of cattle either (1) because they are relatively short, and in moving about seem to be touching the ground, (2) because when they are slaughtered, they have to be laid on the ground, or (3) because their skins and hair are used for furnishing purposes.
118. It becomes clear from the context that God wants to emphasize three things. First, that the orchards, fields and cattle are all bounties of God. No one else has made any contribution to them and hence no one is entitled to any share in the thanks that man ought to give Him in return for these bounties. Second, since all those things are bounties of God, one ought to follow the laws of God alone while making use of them. No one else has the right to regulate their use. To acknowledge oneself bound by customs and practices laid down by others than God, and to make offerings out of a feeling of gratitude for beneficence to someone other than God constitute acts of rebellion and amount to following Satan. Third, as God has created all these things for the fulfilment of man's needs, they should not be unnecessarily suspended from use or be regarded as prohibited. All restrictions on the use of the means of sustenance and other bounties of God based on conjecture or superstition, are not to His liking at all.
119. That is, they should come forward with arguments based on sound, reliable knowledge, rather than with arguments which have no authority except that of ancestral tradition, conjecture or superstition.
120. Questions as to whether the male offspring is lawful and the female is unlawful are presented in some detail to show how unreasonable their superstitions are. That the male offspring of an animal should be considered lawful for eating while the female be prohibited, or vice versa; and that an animal should itself be considered lawful, but not its offspring, is so manifestly unreasonable that common sense simply refuses to accept it, and no intelligent man can ever conceive such absurdities to have been sanctioned by God. Just as the superstitions in vogue among the Arabs were absurd, as the Qur'an stresses, likewise many other nations of the world follow even now irrational dietary restrictions, and believe that food and drink become polluted merely by the touch of some other people.
121. See for this (Surah al-Baqarah 2: 173),
(Surah al-Md'idah 5: 3) and
(Surah al-Nahl 16: 115.) The slight difference between this verse and
(Surah al-Baqarah 2:173 )is that whereas the latter mentions 'blood' as prohibited, the present
verse qualifies it with 'outpoured', i.e. the blood which has flowed as a result
of either injuring or slaughtering an animal. This, in fact, constitutes an
elucidation of the former injunction rather than the revelation of a different
one. Likewise,( Surah al-Ma'idah 5: 3 )mentions the prohibition of certain other
categories - animals strangled or killed by blows, those which have died from
either falling or goring, and those devoured by a beast of prey, in addition
to the four classes mentioned here. This is not an independent, divergent injunction;
it is rather an explanation signifying that the animals thus killed fall into
the category of 'carrion'.
There is a group of Muslim jurists who believe that prohibition is confined
to these four classes of animal food, and that the eating of everything else
is lawful. This was also the view of 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas and 'A'ishah. Several
traditions, however, indicate that the Prophet (peace be on him) either told
people not to eat certain things or expressed his disapproval at their eating
them, for example, domesticated donkeys, beasts with canine teeth and birds
with claws. It is for this reason that the majority of jurists do not consider
prohibition confined to these four classes but extend it to several others.
These jurists disagree, however, on which of those things are unlawful and which
are lawful. Abu Hanifah, Malik and Shafi'i, for example, consider domesticated
donkeys to be unlawful. Others argue that the Prophet (peace be on him) forbade
them on a special occasion and because of a special reason. To cite another
example, the Hanafi jurists hold wild beasts, birds of prey and animals which
feed on carrion to be absolutely unlawful, whereas Milik and Awza'i hold birds
of prey to be lawful. Layth considers the cat to be lawful. In the same way,
Shafi'i considers prohibition to be confined only to those beasts which actually
attack man, such as lion, wolf, tiger and so on. In the opinion of another jurist,
'Ikrimah, both crow and badger are lawful. Likewise, whereas the Hanafi jurists
declare all crawling creatures to be prohibited, Ibn Abi Layla, Malik and Awza'i
hold the snake to be lawful.
Upon reflection of these divergent opinions and the arguments adduced in support
of them, it becomes clear that categorical prohibition embraces only those four
classes mentioned in the Qur'an. As for other types of animal food, regarding
which the jurists have expressed a negative view, they seem to carry varying
degrees of religious disapprobation. The things whose disapprobation is established
by statements of the Prophet (peace be on him) transmitted to us through sound
traditions, are relatively close to 'prohibition'. As for things regarding which
them is disagreement among jurists, their religious disapprobation becomes doubtful.
Temperamental dislike, however, is quite a different matter. The Law Of God
does not force anyone to eat everything which is not prohibited. At the same
time, the Law does not entitle anybody to exalt his personal likes and dislikes
into a criterion of what is lawful and unlawful. No one is justified in reproaching
others for consuming lawful things which offend his tastes.
122. This is discussed at three places in the Qur'an.
(Surah AI 'Imran 3:93 )
states: 'All food was lawful to the Children of Israel except what Israel made
unlawful to themselves before the revelation of the Torah. Tell them: "Bring
the Torah and recite any passage of it if you are truthful".'
(Surah al-Nisa' 4:160) mentions that because of the misdeeds of the Children of Israel: 'We forbade
them many clean things which had earlier been made lawful to them.' And now
the present verse says that because of the transgression of the Jews, God forbade
unto them 'all beasts with claws; and the fat of oxen and the sheep except the
fat which is either on their backs or their entrails or that which sticks to
the bones'. If these three verses are taken together, it becomes clear that
the differences between Islamic law and Jewish law with regard to what is lawful
and what is unlawful in animal foods stem from two considerations. First, that
several centuries before the revelation of the Torah, Isra'il (Jacob, peace
be on him) had given up the use of certain things, which his descendants also
abstained from consuming. The result was that Jewish jurists considered them
to be absolutely unlawful and recorded their prohibition in the Torah. They
included the camel, the hare and the rock-badger, the prohibition of which is
mentioned in the fragments of the Torah embodied in the Bible. (See Leviticus
ll: 4; Deuteronomy 14: 7) But the Our'an challenges the Jews to come forward
with the Torah itself and show where any of those things had been declared unlawful.
Their inability to do so shows that those interdictions must have been later
interpolations into the Torah.
Second, when the Jews rebelled against the Law revealed by God and set themselves
up as their own law-givers, they made several things unlawful for themselves,
and as a punishment God allowed them to remain a prey to that misunderstanding.
These include birds with claws such as the ostrich, seagull and water-hen, and
also the fat of oxen and sheep. In the Bible prohibitions of these kinds have
been interpolated among the injunctions of the Torah. (See Leviticus 3:17; 7:22-3;
ll:16-18; Deuteronomy 14:14-16.) But
(Surah al-Nisa' 4:160) shows that those things
had not been made unlawful by the Torah itself. They had rather been prohibited
after the time of Jesus, and history bears witness to the fact that the present
Jewish law was given a definitive formulation by the Jewish jurist, Yehudah,
towards the end of the second century of the Christian calendar.
It might be asked in view of what has been mentioned above, why the expression
'We forbade for them' is employed in
(Surah al-Nisa' 4:160) The answer is that
declaration through a Prophet or a heavenly Book is not God's only way of prohibiting.
Another way is to allow fraudulent law-makers and sham jurists to gain predominating
influence upon God's rebels. These in turn deprive them of many good, clean
things of life by making them believe that they are prohibited. The first kind
of prohibition is an act of His mercy, whereas the second kind is in the nature
of a curse and punishment from God.
123. If they could still give up their disobedience and return to the true service of God, they would find Him ready to embrace them with His mercy. But if they persisted, they should remember that no one could save them from His wrath.
124. Their apology for their crimes and misdeeds would be that which has always been advanced by criminals and wrong-doers - an apology based on the assumption of absolute determinism. They would plead that when they associated others with God in His divinity, or unwarrantedly regarded certain things as prohibited, they did so because those acts had been willed for them by God. Had He not so willed, they would not have been able to do what they did. Hence, since they were doing everything according to the will of God, everything was proper. If anyone was to blame, it was God and not they. They were under compulsion to do what they did, for the ability to do otherwise lay beyond their power.
125. This provides a complete refutation of their apology. In order to appreciate
it fully, careful analysis is required. In the first place they are told that
citing God's will to justify one's errors and misdeeds, and making it a pretext
for refusing to accept true guidance was the practice of the evil-doers before
them. But they should remember that this had led to their ruin and they themselves
were witnesses to the evil consequences of deviation from the Truth.
Furthermore, it is being clarified that the plea of the unbelievers that the
only reason for their error was that God had not willed that they be guided
to the Truth, is based on fancy and conjecture rather than on sound knowledge.
They refer to God's will without understanding the relationship between God's
will and man's action. They entertain the misconception that if a man commits
theft under the will of God, that does not mean that he will not be reckoned
a criminal. For the fact is that whichever path a man chooses, be it that of
gratitude or ungratitude to God of guidance or error, obedience or disobedience,
God will open that path for him, and thereafter God will permit and enable him
within the framework of His universal scheme, and to the extent that He deems
fit - to do whatever he chooses to do whether it is right or wrong.
If their forefathers had been enabled by God's will to associate others with
Him in His divinity and prohibit clean things, that did not mean that they were
not answerable for their misdeeds. On the contrary, everyone will be held responsible
for choosing false ways, for having a false intent, and for having striven for
false ends.
The crucial point is succinctly made at the end in the words: 'Then say to-
them, (As against your argument) Allah's is the conclusive argument. Surely,
had He willed, He would have guided you all to the Truth.' The argument which
they put forward, viz. 'If Allah had willed, neither we nor our forefathers
could have associated others with Allah in His divinity', does not embody the
whole truth. The whole truth is that 'had He willed, He would have guided you
all to the Truth'. In other words, they were not prepared to take the Straight
Way of their own choice and volition. As it was not God's intent to create them
with inherent right guidance like the angels, they would be allowed to persist
in the error they had chosen for themselves.
126. A person who is conscious that he should testify only to that which he knows, can never testify that the taboos regarding food and other customs prevalent in their society had been enjoined by God. But if some people are brazen enough to feel no compunction in bearing false witness, then at least the believers should not become their partners in lying. The real purpose in asking them to testify honestly whether their customs and practices had in fact been sanctioned by God, is to stimulate those with some sense of honesty to reflect on the character of their customs and practices. Perhaps when they realize that there is no evidence of those prohibitions having been prescribed by God, some of them may decide to get rid of them.
127. The restrictions which had shackled their lives were not those imposed by God. The really worthwhile restrictions are those prescribed by God in order to regulate human life. These have always served as the essential basis of all God-given codes (cf. Exodus. chapter 20).
128. The first principle is that they should associate none with God in His
divinity: neither in His essence, nor in His attributes, nor in His powers and
authority, nor in the rights He has against His creatures.
To associate someone with God in His divinity is to declare that the former
shares the essence of God's divinity. Instances of associating others in God's
essence are the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the belief of the pagan Arabs
that angels are daughters of God, and the belief of other polytheists in the
divine character of their self-styled gods and goddesses and, in some cases,
of their royalty. Likewise, a person associates others in the attributes of
God when he considers someone other than God to be invested with those attributes
which belong exclusively to God. One becomes guilty of this kind of polytheism
if one believes somebody either to know all the mysteries of the Unseen or to
be all-seeing and all-hearing or to be free of all defects and weaknesses and
thus infallible. Again, a person associates others in the authority of God when
he recognizes someone to be possessed of authority which belongs to God alone
by virtue of His godhead; for example, the power to either benefit or harm people
in a supernatural manner, to fulfil the needs of people and rescue them from
distress. to protect and shield them, to hear their prayers, to make or mar
their fate. A person is guilty of the same when he recognizes someone as possessing
the rightful authority to determine what is lawful and what is unlawful, and
to make laws for the regulation of human life. Such authority belongs to God
alone, and recognizing anyone other than God as possessing it is tantamount
to associating others with God in His authority.
Moreover, to associate others with God in His divine rights means that one recognizes
someone beside God as legitimately deserving that which may he asked of man
by God alone, viz. bowing and prostrating, standing in awe and reverence with
folded hands, devotional greeting and kissing the earth, slaughtering animals
and making any other offerings in thanksgiving for his grace and benevolence
and in acknowledgement of his overlordship, vowing offerings in his name, calling
him to rescue one from one's affliction and misfortune, and all the other forms
of worship, adoration and reverence which are exclusively for God. In the same
way, no one has the-right to be loved to the exclusion of all other attachments,
or to be held in such awe that one always fears his wrath and dreads the violation
of his command, both openly and in secret. Likewise, it is God - and God alone
- Who has the right to be obeyed unconditionally, and Whose guidance should
be considered the only criterion of right and wrong. In the same way, man should
not commit himself to obey any authority which is either independent of obedience
to God or whose command lacks the sanction of God.
If someone accords any of these rights to anyone other than God, he is guilty
of associating others with God in His divinity. His guilt is the same whether
or not he calls such beings divine.
129. Accordingly, good treatment of one's parents includes showing them respect and reverence, obeying them, trying to keep them pleased, and serving them. The Qur'an always mentions this right of the parents immediately after mentioning the duty one owes to God alone. This makes it quite clear that the rights of parents have precedence over those of other human beings.
130. The word fawahish applies to all those acts whose abominable character is self-evident. In the Qur'an all extra-marital sexual relationships, sodomy, nudity, false accusations of unchastity, and taking as one's wife a woman who had been married to one's father, are specifically reckoned as 'shameful deeds' (fawahish). In Hadith, theft, taking intoxicating drinks and begging have been characterized as fawahish, as have many other brazenly indecent acts. Man is required to abstain from them both openly and in secret.
131. This means that human life, which has been declared inviolable by God,
can only be destroyed for just cause. As for what is meant by 'just cause',
we ought to remember that three cases are embodied in the Qur'an whereas two
additional cases have been stated by the Prophet (peace be on him). The cases
mentioned by the Qur'an are the following:
(1) That a man is convicted of deliberate homicide and thus the claim of retaliation
is established against him.
(2) That someone resists the establishment of the true faith so that fighting
against him might become necessary.
(3) That someone is guilty of spreading disorder in the Domain of Islam and
strives to overthrow the Islamic order of government.
The two cases mentioned in the Hadith are:
(1) That a person commits illegitimate sexual intercourse even after marriage.
(2) That a Muslim is guilty of apostasy and rebellion against the Muslim body-politic.
Except for these five reasons, slaying a human being is not permissible, regardless
of whether he is a believer, a protected non-Muslim (dhimmi) or an ordinary
unbeliever.
132. That is, one's handling of the property of orphans should be based on maximum selflessness, sincerity and well-wishing for the orphans; it should be of a kind which lends itself to no reproach, either from God or man.
133. Even though this is a full-fledged postulate of the law of God, it is mentioned here in order to stress that one who tries to remain fair and just to the utmost of his ability, in giving weight and measure and in his dealings with people, will be acquitted of responsibility for error. If any mistakes in weight or measure occur out of oversight, and thus involuntarily, he will not be punished.
134. 'Covenant of Allah' signifies, in the first place, the commitment to God, as well as to human beings, to which man binds himself in His name. It also signifies that covenant between man and God, as well as between one human being and another which automatically takes place the moment a person is born onto God's earth and into human society. The first two covenants mentioned are voluntary and deliberate whereas the last one is natural. The last one is no less binding than the first two, even though man does not make it of his own volition. For when man enjoys his own existence, makes use of his physical and mental energy, benefits from the means of sustenance and natural resources - in other words, when he benefits from the world created by God and avails himself of the opportunities provided for him by the operation of natural laws - he incurs certain obligations towards God. In the same way, when one derives nourishment and sustenance from the blood of one's mother while in her womb, when one opens one's eyes in a family which is supported by the toil of one's father, when one benefits from the various institutions of human society, one is placed in varying degrees of obligation towards those individuals and institutions. This covenant between man and God and between man and society is inscribed, not on a piece of paper, but on every fibre of man's being. Man has not entered into this covenant consciously and deliberately, yet the whole of his being owes itself to it. (Surah al-Baqarah 2:27) alludes to this covenant when it says that it is the transgressors 'who break the covenant of Allah after its firm binding, and cut asunder what Allah has commanded to be joined, and spread mischief on earth'. It is also mentioned in (Surah al-A'raf 7:172 )in the following words: 'And recall when your Lord took the children of Adam from their loins and made them testify as to themselves saying, "Am I not your Lord?" (to which) they answered, "Yes, we do bear witness thereto. "
135. It is an essential corollary of the natural covenant mentioned above
that man should follow the way prescribed by his Lord; any deflection from the
orders of God, or serving anyone other than Him, constitutes a primary breach
of that covenant. Once this breach has been committed every single article of
the covenant is likely to be violated one after the other. Moreover, it should
also be remembered that man cannot acquit himself of the highly delicate, extensive
and complex set of responsibilities entailed by this covenant unless he accepts
the guidance of God and tries to follow the way prescribed by Him.
Non-acceptance of God's guidance necessarily produces two grave and damaging
consequences. First, by following any other way, one is inevitably led away
from the true path and is thus deprived of the opportunity to approach God and
please Him. Second, as soon as man deviates from the Straight Way prescribed
by God, he encounters a whole labyrinth of highways and byways, causing the
entire human species to fall a prey to total bewilderment and perplexity, and
which shatters all dreams of a steady advance towards maturity and betterment.
The words 'follow not other paths for they will scatter you away from His path'
hint at this damage. See
(Surah al-Ma'idah 5, n. 35) above.
136. To believe in 'meeting with the Lord' signifies the conviction that
one is answerable to God, and which leads one to adopt responsible behaviour
in life.
The statement made here could mean two things. It might mean that the teachings
of the heavenly Book vouchsafed to Moses could itself create a sense of responsibility
among the Israelites. Alternatively, it might mean that when ordinary people
observe the wonderful way of life prescribed by God, and note the beneficial
effects of its merciful dispensation in the lives of righteous people, they
will come to realize that belief in the After-life is, in all respects, a better
basis for human life than its denial. In this way, their observation and study
might turn them from rejection to true faith.
137. The allusion is to the Jews and the Christians.
138. 'Signs of Allah' include the teachings embodied in the Qur'an. They are also manifest in the noble life of the Prophet (peace be on him), and the pure lives of those who believed in him. Tley also include the natural phenomena to which the Qur'an refers in support of its message.
139. That is, either tokens of the approach of the Day of Reckoning or God's scourge or any other sign that will uncover the Truth, after which there will be no reason left for testing man.
140. Those tokens will be so clear that after their appearance it will neither avail the unbeliever to repent of his unbelief nor the disobedient to forsake his disobedience. For faith and obedience have meaning and value only as long as the Truth remains hidden, as long as the tenure of life granted to people does not seem to have approached its end and the world with all its vanities continues to delude man that, as there may neither be God nor After-life, one should eat, drink and enjoy oneself as best one can.
141. This is addressed to the Prophet (peace be on him) and through him to all followers of the true faith. The import of this statement is that true faith has always consisted, and still consists, in recognizing the One True God as one's God and Lord; in associating none with God in His divinity - neither in respect of His essence, nor of His attributes, nor of His claims upon His creatures; in believing in the Hereafter and hence considering oneself answerable before God; and in living according to those principles and values which have been communicated by God to mankind through His Prophets and Books. This was the religion entrusted to man at the beginning of human life. The religions which emerged later stemmed from the perverted ingenuity of man, from his baser lusts, and from an exaggerated sense of devotion to venerable personalities. Such factors corrupted the original religion and overlaid it with harmful innovations. Hence, people modified and distorted the original beliefs by mixing them with products of their conjecture and philosophical thinking. More and more innovations were added to the original laws of the true religion. Putting aside the Law of God, men set themselves up as their own law-makers, indulged in hair-splitting elaborations, and exaggerated the importance of disagreements in minor legal problems. They showed excessive veneration for some Prophets of God and some standard-bearers of the true religion, and directed their rancour and hatred against the others. Thus there emerged innumerable religions and sects, the birth of each leading to the fragmentation of humanity into an ever-increasing number of mutually hostile groups. Anyone who decides to follow the true religion must therefore cut himself off from all factions and chart an independent course.
142. The 'Way of Abraham' is one further indication of the way of true religion which one is required to follow. This way could also have been designated as the way of Moses or of Jesus But since their names have become falsely associated with Judaism and Christianity respectively, it was necessary to call it the 'Way of Abraham'. Moreover, Abraham was acknowledged by both the Jews and the Christians as rightly-guided and both knew, of course, that he lived long before either Judaism or Christianity was born. In the same way, the polytheists of Arabia also considered Abraham to be rightly-guided. Despite their ignorance, they at least acknowledged that that righteous man, who had founded the Ka'bah, was a worshipper of God exclusively and no idolator.
143. 'The Arabic word nusuk used here signifies ritual sacrifice as well as the other forms of devotion and worship.
144. Since God is the Lord of the entire universe, how could anyone be His lord? Since the entire universe is yoked to obedience to God, man is an integral part of the universe, how can he reasonably, look for another lord in that area of his life in which he uses his own volition,ind judgement? Is it appropriate for him to move in diametrical opposition to the entire universe?
145. Every person is responsible for whatever he does; and no one is responsible for the deeds of others.
146. This statement embodies three important truths: First, that human beings as such are vicegerents of God on earth, so that God has entrusted them with many things and endowed them with the power to use them. Second, it is God Himself Who has created differences of rank among His vicegerents. The trust placed in some is more than that of others. Some men have been granted control of more resources than others. Some are more gifted in respect of their abilities. Likewise, some human beings have been placed under the trust of others. Third, all this is indeed designed to test man. The entire life. of man is in fact, a vast examination wherein man is being tested about the trust he has received from God: how sensitive he is to that trust, to what extent he lives up to it, and to what extent he proves to be competent with it. What position man will be able to attain in the Next Life depends on the result of this test.