Tafheem ul Quran
Surah 3 Ali 'Imran, Ayat 110-120
كُنۡتُمۡ خَيۡرَ اُمَّةٍ اُخۡرِجَتۡ لِلنَّاسِ تَاۡمُرُوۡنَ بِالۡمَعۡرُوۡفِ وَتَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ الۡمُنۡكَرِ وَتُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ بِاللّٰهِؕ وَلَوۡ اٰمَنَ اَهۡلُ الۡكِتٰبِ لَڪَانَ خَيۡرًا لَّهُمۡؕ مِنۡهُمُ الۡمُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ وَاَكۡثَرُهُمُ الۡفٰسِقُوۡنَ
﴿3:110﴾
لَنۡ يَّضُرُّوۡكُمۡ اِلَّاۤ اَذًىؕ وَاِنۡ يُّقَاتِلُوۡكُمۡ يُوَلُّوۡكُمُ الۡاَدۡبَارَ ثُمَّ لَا يُنۡصَرُوۡنَ
﴿3:111﴾
ضُرِبَتۡ عَلَيۡهِمُ الذِّلَّةُ اَيۡنَ مَا ثُقِفُوۡۤا اِلَّا بِحَبۡلٍ مِّنَ اللّٰهِ وَحَبۡلٍ مِّنَ النَّاسِ وَبَآءُوۡ بِغَضَبٍ مِّنَ اللّٰهِ وَضُرِبَتۡ عَلَيۡهِمُ الۡمَسۡكَنَةُ ؕ ذٰ لِكَ بِاَنَّهُمۡ كَانُوۡا يَكۡفُرُوۡنَ بِاٰيٰتِ اللّٰهِ وَيَقۡتُلُوۡنَ الۡاَنۡۢبِيَآءَ بِغَيۡرِ حَقٍّؕ ذٰ لِكَ بِمَا عَصَوۡا وَّكَانُوۡا يَعۡتَدُوۡنَ
﴿3:112﴾
لَـيۡسُوۡا سَوَآءً ؕ مِنۡ اَهۡلِ الۡكِتٰبِ اُمَّةٌ قَآئِمَةٌ يَّتۡلُوۡنَ اٰيٰتِ اللّٰهِ اٰنَآءَ الَّيۡلِ وَ هُمۡ يَسۡجُدُوۡنَ
﴿3:113﴾
يُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ بِاللّٰهِ وَالۡيَوۡمِ الۡاٰخِرِ وَ يَاۡمُرُوۡنَ بِالۡمَعۡرُوۡفِ وَيَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ الۡمُنۡكَرِ وَيُسَارِعُوۡنَ فِىۡ الۡخَيۡرٰتِ ؕ وَاُولٰٓـئِكَ مِنَ الصّٰلِحِيۡنَ
﴿3:114﴾
وَمَا يَفۡعَلُوۡا مِنۡ خَيۡرٍ فَلَنۡ يُّكۡفَرُوۡهُ ؕ وَاللّٰهُ عَلِيۡمٌۢ بِالۡمُتَّقِيۡنَ
﴿3:115﴾
اِنَّ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡا لَنۡ تُغۡنِىَ عَنۡهُمۡ اَمۡوَالُهُمۡ وَلَاۤ اَوۡلَادُهُمۡ مِّنَ اللّٰهِ شَيۡـئًا ؕ وَاُولٰٓـئِكَ اَصۡحٰبُ النَّارِۚ هُمۡ فِيۡهَا خٰلِدُوۡنَ
﴿3:116﴾
مَثَلُ مَا يُنۡفِقُوۡنَ فِىۡ هٰذِهِ الۡحَيٰوةِ الدُّنۡيَا كَمَثَلِ رِيۡحٍ فِيۡهَا صِرٌّ اَصَابَتۡ حَرۡثَ قَوۡمٍ ظَلَمُوۡۤا اَنۡفُسَهُمۡ فَاَهۡلَكَتۡهُ ؕ وَمَا ظَلَمَهُمُ اللّٰهُ وَلٰـكِنۡ اَنۡفُسَهُمۡ يَظۡلِمُوۡنَ
﴿3:117﴾
يٰۤـاَيُّهَا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا لَا تَتَّخِذُوۡا بِطَانَةً مِّنۡ دُوۡنِكُمۡ لَا يَاۡلُوۡنَكُمۡ خَبَالًا ؕ وَدُّوۡا مَا عَنِتُّمۡۚ قَدۡ بَدَتِ الۡبَغۡضَآءُ مِنۡ اَفۡوَاهِهِمۡ ۖۚ وَمَا تُخۡفِىۡ صُدُوۡرُهُمۡ اَكۡبَرُؕ قَدۡ بَيَّنَّا لَـكُمُ الۡاٰيٰتِ اِنۡ كُنۡتُمۡ تَعۡقِلُوۡنَ
﴿3:118﴾
هٰۤاَنۡتُمۡ اُولَاۤءِ تُحِبُّوۡنَهُمۡ وَلَا يُحِبُّوۡنَكُمۡ وَتُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ بِالۡكِتٰبِ كُلِّهٖ ۚ وَاِذَا لَقُوۡكُمۡ قَالُوۡۤا اٰمَنَّا ۖۚ وَاِذَا خَلَوۡا عَضُّوۡا عَلَيۡكُمُ الۡاَنَامِلَ مِنَ الۡغَيۡظِؕ قُلۡ مُوۡتُوۡا بِغَيۡظِكُمۡؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عَلِيۡمٌ ۢ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُوۡرِ
﴿3:119﴾
اِنۡ تَمۡسَسۡكُمۡ حَسَنَةٌ تَسُؤۡهُمۡ وَاِنۡ تُصِبۡكُمۡ سَيِّئَةٌ يَّفۡرَحُوۡا بِهَا ۚ وَاِنۡ تَصۡبِرُوۡا وَتَتَّقُوۡا لَا يَضُرُّكُمۡ كَيۡدُهُمۡ شَيۡـئًا ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ بِمَا يَعۡمَلُوۡنَ مُحِيۡطٌ
﴿3:120﴾
(3:110) You are now the best people brought forth for (the guidance and reform
of) mankind.88 You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong
and believe in Allah. Had the People of the Book89 believed it were
better for them. Some of them are believers but most of them are transgressors.
(3:111) They will not be able to harm you except for a little hurt, and if
they fight against you they will turn their backs (in flight), and then they
will not be succoured. (3:112) Wherever they were, they were covered with ignominy, except when
they were protected by either a covenant with Allah or a covenant with men.90
They are laden with the burden of Allah's wrath, and humiliation is stuck
upon them - and all this because they rejected the signs of Allah and slayed
the Prophets without right, and because they disobeyed and transgressed. (3:113) Yet all are not alike: among the People of the Book there are upright
people who recite the messages of Allah in the watches of the night and prostrate
themselves in worship. (3:114) They believe in Allah and in the Last Day and enjoin what is right
and forbid what is wrong, and hasten to excel each other in doing good. These
are among the righteous. (3:115) Whatever good they do shall not go unappreciated, and Allah fully
knows those who are pious. (3:116) As for those who denied the Truth, neither their possessions nor
their children will avail them against Allah. They are the people of the Fire,
and therein they shall abide. (3:117) The example of what they spend in the life of this world is like
that of a wind accompanied with frost which smites the harvest of a people who
wronged themselves, and lays it to waste.91 It is not Allah who wronged
them; rather it is they who wrong themselves. (3:118) Believers! Do not take for intimate friends those who are not of
your kind. They spare no effort to injure you.92 Indeed they love
all that distresses you. Their hatred is clearly manifest in what they say,
and what their breasts conceal is even greater. Now We have made Our messages
clear to you, if only you can understand (the danger of their intimacy). (3:119) Lo! It is you who love them but they do not love you even though
you believe in the whole of the (heavenly) Book.93 When they meet
you they say: 'We believe', but when they are by themselves they bite their
fingers in rage at you. Say: 'Perish in your rage.' Allah knows even what lies
hidden in their breasts. (3:120) If anything good happens to you they are grieved; if any misfortune
befalls you they rejoice at it. But if you remain steadfast and mindful of Allah
their designs will not cause you harm. Allah surely encompasses all that they
do.
Notes
88. This is the same declaration that was made earlier (see verse 2: 143
above). The Arabian Prophet (peace be on him) and his followers are informed
that they are being assigned the guidance and leadership of the world, a position
the Israelites had been relieved of because they had shown themselves unsuitable.
The Muslims were charged with this responsibility because of their competence.
They were the best people in terms of character and morals and had developed
in theory and in practice the qualities essential for truly righteous leadership,
namely the spirit and practical commitment to promoting good and suppressing
evil and the acknowledgement of the One True God as their Lord and Master. In
view of the task entrusted to them, they had to become conscious of their responsibilities
and avoid the mistakes committed by their predecessors see
(( (Surah 1, nn. 123 and 144 above))).
89. 'People of the Book' refers here to the Children of Israel.
90. If the Jews have ever enjoyed any measure of peace and security anywhere
in the world they owe it to the goodwill and benevolence of others rather than
to their own power and strength. At times Muslim governments granted them refuge
while at others non-Muslim powers extended protection. Similarly, if the Jews
ever emerged as a power it was due not to their intrinsic strength but to the
strength of others.
91. The term 'harvest' in this parable refers to this life which resembles
a field of cultivation the harvest of which one will reap in the World to Come.
The 'wind' refers to the superficial appearance of righteousness, for the sake
of which unbelievers spend their wealth on philanthropic and charitable causes.
The expression 'frost' indicates their lack of true faith and their failure
to follow the Divine Laws, as a result of which their entire life has gone astray.
By means of this parable God seeks to bring home to them that while wind is
useful for the growth of cultivation if that wind turns into frost it destroys
it. So it is with man's acts of charity: they can prove helpful to the growth
of the harvest one will reap in the Hereafter but are liable to be destructive
if mixed with unbelief. God is the Lord and Master of man as well as of all
that man owns, and the world in which he lives. If a man either does not recognize
the sovereignty of his Lord and unlawfully serves others or disobeys God's Laws
then his actions become crimes for which he deserves to be tried; his acts of
'charity' are but the acts of a servant who unlawfully helps himself to his
master's treasure and then spends it as he likes.
92. The Jews living on the outskirts of Madina had long enjoyed friendly
relations with the two tribes of Aws and Khazraj. In the first place this was
the result of relations between individuals. Later, they were bound by ties
of neighbourliness and allegiance as a result of tribal inter-relationship.
Even after the people of Aws and Khazraj embraced Islam, they maintained their
old ties with the Jews and continued to treat them with the same warmth and
cordiality. However, the hostility of the Jews towards the Arabian Prophet (peace
be on him) and towards his mission was far too intense to allow them to maintain
a cordial relationship with anyone who had joined the new movement. Outwardly,
the Jews maintained the same terms of friendship with the Ansar (Helpers) as
before but at heart they had become their sworn enemies. They made the best
use of this pretended friendship, and remained constantly on the look-out for
opportunities to create schisms and dissensions in the Muslim body-politic,
and to draw out the secrets of the Muslims and pass them on to their enemies.
Here God warns the Muslims to note this hypocrisy and take the necessary precaution.
93. It is strange that although the Muslims had reason to feel aggrieved
by the Jews it was the latter who felt aggrieved by the Muslims. Since the Muslims
believed in the Torah along with the Qur'an the Jews had no justifiable ground
for complaint. If anyone had cause to complain it was the Muslims for the Jews
did not believe in the Qur'an.