Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 3 Ali 'Imran, Ayat 144-148

وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ اِلَّا رَسُوۡلٌ  ۚ قَدۡ خَلَتۡ مِنۡ قَبۡلِهِ الرُّسُلُ​ؕ اَفَا۟ـئِنْ مَّاتَ اَوۡ قُتِلَ انْقَلَبۡتُمۡ عَلٰٓى اَعۡقَابِكُمۡ​ؕ وَمَنۡ يَّنۡقَلِبۡ عَلٰى عَقِبَيۡهِ فَلَنۡ يَّضُرَّ اللّٰهَ شَيۡـئًا​ ؕ وَسَيَجۡزِى اللّٰهُ الشّٰكِرِيۡنَ‏  ﴿3:144﴾ وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفۡسٍ اَنۡ تَمُوۡتَ اِلَّا بِاِذۡنِ اللّٰهِ كِتٰبًا مُّؤَجَّلًا ؕ وَ مَنۡ يُّرِدۡ ثَوَابَ الدُّنۡيَا نُؤۡتِهٖ مِنۡهَا ​ۚ وَمَنۡ يُّرِدۡ ثَوَابَ الۡاٰخِرَةِ نُؤۡتِهٖ مِنۡهَا ​ؕ وَسَنَجۡزِى الشّٰكِرِيۡنَ‏ ﴿3:145﴾ وَكَاَيِّنۡ مِّنۡ نَّبِىٍّ قٰتَلَ ۙ مَعَهٗ رِبِّيُّوۡنَ كَثِيۡرٌ ۚ فَمَا وَهَنُوۡا لِمَاۤ اَصَابَهُمۡ فِىۡ سَبِيۡلِ اللّٰهِ وَمَا ضَعُفُوۡا وَمَا اسۡتَكَانُوۡا ​ؕ وَاللّٰهُ يُحِبُّ الصّٰبِرِيۡنَ‏ ﴿3:146﴾ وَمَا كَانَ قَوۡلَهُمۡ اِلَّاۤ اَنۡ قَالُوۡا رَبَّنَا اغۡفِرۡ لَنَا ذُنُوۡبَنَا وَاِسۡرَافَنَا فِىۡۤ اَمۡرِنَا وَ ثَبِّتۡ اَقۡدَامَنَا وَانۡصُرۡنَا عَلَى الۡقَوۡمِ الۡكٰفِرِيۡنَ‏ ﴿3:147﴾ فَاٰتٰٮهُمُ اللّٰهُ ثَوَابَ الدُّنۡيَا وَحُسۡنَ ثَوَابِ الۡاٰخِرَةِ​ ؕ وَاللّٰهُ يُحِبُّ الۡمُحۡسِنِيۡنَ‏ ﴿3:148﴾

(3:144) Muhammad is no more than a Messenger, and Messengers have passed away before him. If, then, he were to die or be slain will you turn about on your heels?103 Whoever turns about on his heels can in no way harm Allah. As for the grateful ones, Allah will soon reward them. (3:145) It is not given to any soul to die except with the leave of Allah, and at an appointed time.104 And he who desires his reward in this world, We shall grant him the reward of this world; and he who desires the reward of the Other World,105 We shall grant him the reward of the Other World. And soon shall We reward the ones who are grateful.106 (3:146) Many were the Prophets on whose side a large number of God-devoted men fought: they neither lost heart for all they had to suffer in the way of Allah nor did they weaken nor did they abase themselves.107 Allah loves such steadfast ones. (3:147) And all they said was this: 'Our Lord! Forgive us our sins, and our excesses, and set our feet firm, and succour us against those who deny the Truth.' (3:148) Thereupon Allah granted them the reward of this world as well as a better reward of the World to Come. Allah loves those who do good.

Notes

103. When the rumour of the Prophet's martyrdom spread during the battle, it disheartened most of the Companions. The hypocrites who were in the Muslim camp began to advise the believers to approach 'Abd Allah b. Ubayy so that he might secure protection for them from Abu Sufyan. Some went so far as to say that had Muhammad really been the Messenger of God he would not have been put to death, and for that reason they counselled people to revert to their ancestral faith. It is in this context that the Muslims are now told that if their devotion to the truth is wholly bound up with the person of Muhammad (peace be on him), and if their submission to God is so lukewarm that his demise would cause them to plunge back into the disbelief they had cast off, then they should bear in mind the fact that Islam does not need them.

104. The purpose of this directive is to bring home to the Muslims that it would be futile for them to try to flee from death. No one can either die before or survive the moment determined for death by God. Hence one should not waste one's time thinking how to escape death. Instead, one should take stock of one's activities and see whether one's efforts have either been directed merely to one's well-being in this world or to well-being in the Hereafter.

105. The word thawab denotes recompense and reward. The 'reward of this world' signifies the totality of benefits and advantages which a man receives as a consequence of his actions and efforts within the confines of this world. The 'reward of the Other World' denotes the benefits that a man will receive in the lasting World to Come as the fruits of his actions and efforts. From the Islamic point of view, the crucial question bearing upon human morals is whether a man keeps his attention focused on the worldly results of his endeavours or on the results which will acrue to him in the Next World.

106. The 'ones who are grateful' are those who fully appreciate God's favour in making the true religion available to them, and thereby intimating to them knowledge of a realm that is infinitely vaster than this world. Such people appreciate that God has graciously informed them of the truth so that the consequences of human endeavour are not confined to the brief span of earthly life but cover a vast expanse, embracing both the present life and the much more important life of the Hereafter.

A grateful man is he who, having gained this breadth of outlook and having developed this long-range perception of the ultimate consequences of things, persists in acts of righteousness out of his faith in God and his confidence in God's assurance that they will bear fruit in the Hereafter. He does so even though he may sometimes find that, far from bearing fruit, righteousness leads to privation and suffering in this world. The ungrateful ones are those who persist in a narrow preoccupation with earthly matters. They are those who disregard the evil consequences of unrighteousness in the Hereafter, seizing everything which appears to yield benefits and advantages in this world, and who are not prepared to devote their time and energy to those acts of goodness which promise to bear fruit in the Hereafter and which are either unlikely to yield earthly advantages or are fraught with risks. Such people are ungrateful and lack appreciation of the valuable knowledge vouchsafed to them by God.

107. They did not surrender to the followers of falsehood merely because of their numerical inferiority and lack of resources.