With kind permission: Islamic Foundation UK
Introduction to Tafheem | Glossary | Verbs
Tafsirs: Maarif | Dawat | Ishraq | Clear
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- Cro Magnon Man
1. The word 'Book', in this context, signifies this very surah, al-A'raf.
2. The Prophet (peace be on him) is directed to preach his Message without
fear and hesitation, and to disregard his opponents' response. Such opponents
may well be offended by his preaching of the Message, or may, hold it to ridicule,
or go about maliciously twisting it, or acting with greater hostility.All this
notwithstanding, the Message of Islam must be preached.
The Arabic word haraj (which we have translated as straitness), signifies an
intractable bush. (See Ibn Manzur. Lisan al 'Arab and Firuzabadi, al-qamus,
q.v. 'Harajah'.) 'Straitness or constriction in the breast' refers to the reluctance
of a person to go ahead in the face of opposition. The following Qur'anic verse
would seem to allude to this mental state of the Prophet (peace he on him):
'We do indeed know how your heart feels distressed at what they say'
(al-Hijr 15: 97). What painfully concerned the Prophet (peace be on him) was to find
out how he could direct a people, whose adamance and opposition to truth had
reached such high proportions, to the Right Way. The same state of mind is again
reflected in the Qur'anic verse: 'Perhaps you might feel inclined to part with
a portion of what has been revealed to you, and your heart feels straitened
lest they, say: "Why is a treasure not sent down unto him; or why does an angel
not come with him?" '
(Hud 11:12).
3. The main purpose of this surah is to jolt the people out of their heedlessness and to warn them of the dire consequences that will follow if they reject the call of the Prophet (peace be on him). Additionally , this surah also seeks to serve as a reminder to the belivers - a purpose which is achieved, incidentally, by the warning made to the unbelievers.
4. The central theme of the whole surah, and of the present discourse, is the guidance which man needs in order to live a wholesome life, the knowledge which he requires in order to understand the reality of the universe and his own being and the purpose of his existence; the principles which he needs to serve as the basis for morality and social life as well as culture and civilization. In this regard man should look to God alone and follow exclusively, the Guidance which He has communicated to mankind through His Messenger. To look to anyone other than God is dangerous for it has always spelled disaster in the past, and will always spell disaster in the future. In this verse the word awliya' (masters) refers to those whom one follows, regardless of whether one idolizes or curses them, and whether one acknowledges their patronship or strongly, denies it. For further explanation see Tafhim al-Qur'an,( al-Shurai 42, n.6).
5. People can learn a lesson from the tragic fate of those nations that spurned
God's Guidance. and instead followed the guidance of others; and they became
so degenerate that their very existence became an intolerable burden on the
earth. Eventually, God's scourge seized them. and the earth was cleansed of
their filthy existence.
The words uttered by, the evil-doers: 'We are indeed transgressors', emphasizes
two points, First, that it is pointless for one to realize and repent of one's
wrong-doing after the time for such repentance is past. Individuals and communities
who allow the term granted to them to be wasted in heedlesness and frivolity,
who turn a deaf car to those who invite them to the truth, have so often been
overtaken in the past by God's punishmet. Second, there are numerous instances
of individuals as well as communities which incontrovertibly prove that when
the wrong-doings of a nation exceed a certain limit, the term granted to it
expires and God's punishment suddenly overtakes it. And once a nation is subjected
to God's punishment, there is no escape from it. Since human history abounds
in such instances, there is no reason why people should persist in the same
iniquity, and repent only when the time for repentance has passed.
6. The words 'call to account' refers to the questioning people will be subjected
to on the Day of Judgement. For it is the reckoning on the Day, of Judgement
that really matters. Punishment dealt upon corrupt individuals and communities
in this world does not constitute their true punishment. Punishment in this
world is no more than what happens when a criminal, who has been strutting scot-free,
is suddenly arrested. The arrest constitutes no more than depriving the criminal
of the opportunity to perpetrate further crimes. The annals of history are filled
with instances where corrupt nations have been punished, proving that man has
not been granted absolute licence to go about doing whatever he pleases. Rather,
there is a Power above all that allows man to act freely but only to a certain
extent, no more. And when man exceeds those limits, that Power administers a
series of warnings in order that he might heed the warnings and give up his
wickedness. But when man fails totally to respond to such warnings, he is punished.
Anyone who considers the events of history, will conclude that the Lord of the
universe must have certainly appointed a Day of Judgement in order to hold the
wrong-doers to account for their actions and to punish them. That the Qur'an
refers to the recurrent punishment of wicked nations as an argument in support
of the establishment of the final judgement in the Hereafter is evidenced by
the fact that the present (verse- 6 )- opens with the word so'.
7. This shows that on the Day of Judgement Prophethood will be the main basis of reckoning. On the one hand, the Prophets will be questioned about the efforts they made to convey God's Message to mankind. On the other hand, the people to whom the Prophets were sent will be questioned about their response to the message. The Qur'an is not explicit about how judgements will be made with regard to individuals and communities who did not receive God's Message. It seems that God has left judgement - to borrow a contemporary judicial expression - reserved. However, with regard to individuals and communities who did receive God's Message through the Prophets, the Qur'an states explicitly, that they will have no justification whatsoever to put forward a defence of their disbelief and denial, of their transgression and disobedience. They are doomed to be east into Hell in utter helplessness and dejection.
8. This means that when the Balance is fixed on the Day of Judgement, 'truth' and weight will be identical. The more truth one has to one's credit, the more truth one has to one's credit, the more the weight in one's scale; and vice versa. One will be judged solely on the basis of this weight. In other words, no consideration other than truth will enter into the calculation. A life of falsehood, however long it lasted, and however full of worldly achievements, will carry no weight at all. Weighed in the Balance, the devotees of falsehood will discover that their life-long deeds do not even weigh so much as a birds feather. The same point has been expatiated upon in (al-Kahf 18:103-5) : 'Shall We tell you of those who are greatest losers in respect of their deeds? It is those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they kept believing that they were acquiring good by their deeds. they are those who deny the Signs of their Lord and the fact of their having to meet Him (in the Hereafter). So their works are in vain and we shall attach no weight to them on the Day of Judgement.'
9. For a full appreciation of this point it is necessary, to remember that
man's deeds will be classified into positive and negative categorics. The positive
category will consist of knowing the truth, believing in it, acting upon it,
and striving to make it prevail. It is such acts alone which will have weight
in the Hereafter. Conversely, whenever someone follows and goes after lusts
or blindly follows other humans or satans, his acts will be reckoned as 'negative'.
Such acts will not only be of no value at all, but will also have the effect
of reducing the total weight of one's positive acts.
Thus, a man's success in the Hereafter requires that his good acts outweigh
his evil ones to such an extent that even if his evil acts cause the effacement
of some of his good acts, he should still have enough left in his credit to
ensure his scale is inclined towards the positive. As for the man whose evil
acts outweigh his good acts, he will be like the bankrupt businessman who, even
after spending all his assets, remains under the burden of debt.
10. These verses should he read in conjunction with (al-Baqarah 2: 30-9). The
words in which the command to prostrate before Adam is mentioned may give rise
to the misapprehension that it was Adam as such who is the object of prostration.
This misapprehension should be removed by what has been said here. The text
makes it very clear that prostration before Adam was in his capacity, as the
representative of all mankind and not in his personal capacity.
The successive stages of man's creation mentioned in the present verse ('We
initiated your creation, then We gave you each a shape'), means that God first
planned the creation of man, made ready the necessary materials for it, and
then gave those materials a human form. Then, when man had assumed the status
of a living being, God asked the angels to prostrate before him. The Qur'an
says: And recall when your Lord said to the angels: 'I am about to create man
from clay. When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him
of My spirit then fall You down in prostration before him' (Sad 38: 71-2).
Mention has been made in these verses, though in a difterent way, of the same
three stages of creation: man's creation from clay; giving him a proportionate
human shape; and bringing Adam into existence by breathing into him God's spirit.
The following verses also have the same import:
And recall when your Lord said to the angels: 'I am about to create man, from
sounding clay moulded into shape from black mud. When I have fashioned him (in
due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall you all down in prostration
before him'
(al-Hijr 15: 28-9).
It is quite difficult for one to appreciate fully the details of the origin
of man's creation. We cannot fully grasp how man was created out of the elements
drawn from the earth; how he was given a form and a well-proportioned one at
that and how God's Spirit was breathed into him. It is quite obvious, though,
that the Qur'anic version of man's creation is sharply at odds with the theory,
of creation propounded by Darwin and his followers in our time. Darwinism explains
man's creation in terms of his evolution from a variety of non-human and sub-human
stages culminating in homo sapiens. It draws no clear demarcation line that
would mark the end of the non-human stage of evolution and the beginning of
the species called 'man'. Opposed to this is the Qur'anic version of man's creation
where man starts his career from the very beginning as an independent species,
having in his entire history no essential relationship at all with any non-human
species. Also, man is conceived as having been invested by God with full consciousness
and enlightenment from the very start of his life.
These are two different doctrines regarding the past of the human species. Both
these doctrines give rise to two variant conceptions about man. If one were
to adopt the Darwinian doctrine, man is conceived as essentially a species of
the animal genre. Acceptance of this doctrine leads man to derive the guiding
principles of his life, including moral principles, from the laws governing
animal life. Given the basic premises of such a doctrine, animal-like behaviour
is to be considered quite natural for man. The only, difference between man
and animal lies in the fact that animals act without the help of the tools and
instruments used by humans, and their behaviour is devoid of culture.
Were one to accept the other doctrine, man would be conceived as a totally,
distinct category. Man is no longer viewed simply as a talking or gregarious
animal. He is rather seen as God's Vicegerent on earth. What distinguishes man
from other animals, according to this doctrine, is not his capacity to speak
or his gregariousness but the moral responsibility and trust with which he has
been invested. Thus, one's whole perspective with regard to man and everything
relating to him is changed. Rather than looking downwards to species of being
lower than the human, man will turn his gaze upwards. It is claimed by some
that however dignified the Qur'anic doctrine might be from a moral and psychological
point of view, Darwinism should still be preferred on the basis of its being
scientifically established. However, the very claim that Darwinism has been
scientificaly established is itself questionable. Only those who have a very
superficial acquaintance with modern science can entertain the misconception
that the Darwinian theory of evolution has been scientifically, established.
Those who know better are fully, aware that despite the vast paraphernalia of
evidence in its support, it remains merely a hypothesis. The arguments marshalled
in support of this theory at best succeed in establishing it as a possibility,
but certainly not as an incontrovertible fact. Hence at the most what can he
said is that the evolution of the species is as much a possibility as its direct
creation.
11. Implicit in the Qur'anic expression (sagharin) is the idea of contentment with one's disgrace and indignity, for saghir is he who invites disgrace and indignity, upon himself. Now, Satan was a victim of vanity and pride, and for that very reason defied God's command to prostrate himself before Adam. Satan was therefore, guilty of self-inflicted degradation. False pride, baseless notions of glory, ill-founded illusions of greatness failed to confer any greatness upon him. They could only bring upon him disgrace and indignity. Satan could blame none but himself for this sordid end.
12. This was the challenge thrown down by Satan to God. What it meant is
that Satan would make use of the respite granted to him until the Last Day,
and he would do so in order to prove that nian did not deserve a position superior
to his and this had after all been bestowed upon him by God. So doing, he would
expose how ungrateful, thankless and disloyal a creature man is.
The respite asked for by Satan and granted to him by God includes not only the
time but also the opportunity to mislead Man and to prove his point by appealing
to man's weaknesses. The Qur'an makes a pointed statement about this in
(Banu Isra'il 17: 61-5). These verses make it clear that God had granted Satan the
opportunity to try to mislead Adam and his offspring At the same time it has
also been made quite clear that Satan was not granted the power to lead men
into error against their will. 'As for my servants', says the Qur'an, 'you shall
have no power over them' (Banu Isra'il 17: 65). Thus all that Satan can do is
to cause misunderstanding, to make people cherish false illusions, to make evil
and error seem atractive, and to invite people to evil ways by holding out to
them the promise of immense pleasure and material benefits. He would have no
power, however, to forcibly pull them to the Satanic way and to prevent them
from following the Right Way. Accordingly, the Qur'an makes it quite plain elsewhere
that on the Day of Judgement, Satan would address the men who had followed him
in the following words: 'I had no power over you except to call you; but you
listened to me: then reproach me not, but reproach your own selves'
(Ibrahim 14: 22).
As for Satan's allegation that God Himself caused him to fall into error see
(verse 16) it is an attempt on the part of Satan to transfer the blame which
fails squarely on him to God. Satan's grivance seems to be that God was responsible
for his deviation insofar as He hurt Satan's pride by asking him to prostrate
before Adam, and that it was this which led him to disobey God. It is thus clear
that Satan wanted to continue enjoying his vain arrogance and that he was incensed
that his weakness - arrogance - was seen through and brought to full light.
The underlying stupidity of the statement is too patently obvious to call for
any refutation, and hence God took no notice of it.
13. The narrative sheds light on the following significant points:
(i) Modesty and bashfulness are inherent in human nature. The primary manifestation
of this instinct is seen in the sense of shame that one feels when one is required
to expose the private parts of one's body in the presence of others. According
to the Qur'an, this bashfulness is not artificial, nor an outcome of advancement
in human culture and civilization. Nor is it something acquired as some misguided
thinkers contend. On the contrary, modesty has been an integral part of human
nature from the very beginning.
(ii) The very first stratagem adopted by Satan in his bid to lead man astray
from the Right Path consisted of undermining man's sense of modesty, to direct
him towards lewdness and make him sexually deviant. In other words, the sexual
instincts of man were taken by Satan as the most vulnerable aspect of human
nature. Accordingly, he sought to weaken man's natural instincts of modesty
and bashfulness. This devilish stratagem is still followed by the disciples
of Satan in our time. For them, progress is inconceivable without exposing woman
to the gaze of all and making her strip before others in one form or another.
(iii) Such is human nature that man scarcely responds to an unambiguous invitation
to evil. Those who seek to propagate evil are, therefore, forced to present
themselves as sincere well-wishers of humanity.
(iv) Man is naturally, drawn towards lofty ideals such as the attainment of
superhuman positions and the securing of immortality. Satan achieved his first
victory in his bid to mislead man by appealing to the latter's inherent desire
to attain immortality. Satan's most effective weapon is to promise man a more
elevated position than his present one, and then set him on a course that leads
instead to his degradation.
(v) Here the Qur'an refutes the fairly popular view that Satan first misled
Eve and later used her as an instrument to mislead Adam. (See Ibn Kathir's comments
on (verses 22-3 - Ed.) The Qur'anic version of the story is that Satan attempted
to mislead both Adam and Eve, and in fact both fell prey to his guile. At first
sight, this might seem of trivial significance. However, all those who are acquainted
with the impact of this version of Adam's fall on the moral, legal and social
degradation of women will appreciate the significance of this Qur'anic statement.
(vi) There is hardly any basis to assume that the forbidden tree had certain
inherent qualities which could result in the exposure of Adam and Eve's private
parts as soon as they had tasted its fruit. Instead of the forbidden tree possessing
any extraordinary qualities, it was rather man's disobedience to God which led
to his fall from his original state. Initially, Adam and Eve's private parts
had remained hidden on account of special arrangements made by God. Once they
disobeyed, they were deprived of that special Divine arrangement, and were left
to themselves to cover their nakedness if they so wished.
(vii) This was a way, of conveying to mankind for all time that whenever he
disobeys God, he will sooner or later be exposed; that man will enjoy God's
support and protection only so long as he remains obedient to Him. Once man
transgresses the bounds of his obedience, he will be deprived of God's care
and protection and left to his own self. This idea is also embodied in many
traditions from the Prophet (peace be on him). According to a tradition, the
Prophet (peace be on him) prayed:
'O God! I seek Your Mercy. Do not leave me to my own care even for the wink
of an eye!' (Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 5, P. 421 - Ed.)
(vii) Satan wanted to prove that man did not deserve, not even for a moment,
the superior status which had been granted to him by God. However, Satan failed
in the very first round of his efforts to discredit man. Granted, man did not
fully succeed in obeying God's command; rather, he fell prey to the machinations
of his arch-enemy, Satan, and deviated from the path of obedience. Nevertheless,
it is evident even in the course of this first encounter that man is a morally
superior being. This is clear from many a thing. First, whereas Satan laid claim
to superiority, man made no such claim rather a superior status was bestowed
upon him by God. Second, Satan disobeyed God out of sheer pride and arrogance.
But far from openly revolting against God out of his own prompting, man was
disobedient under Satan's evil influence. Third, when man disobeyed God, he
did so unwittingly, not realizing that he was committing a sin. 'Man was beguiled
into disobedience by Satan ,who appeared in the garb of man's well-wisher. It
was Satan who persuaded him to believe that in the fruit of the forbidden tree
lay his good, that his action would lead him to the heights of goodness, not
to the depths of evil. Fourth, when Satan was warned, rather than confessing
his mistake and repenting, he clung even more adamantly to disobedience. But
when man was told that he had sinned, he did not resort to continued transgression
as Satan did. As soon as man realized his mistake, he confessed his fault, returned
to the course of obedience and sought refuge in God's mercy.
This story draws a clear line between the way of Satan and the way that befits
man. Satan's way is characterized by rebellion against God, by arrogantly persisting
in that rebellion even after having been warned, and by trying to mislead the
righteously disposed towards sin and disobedience. As opposed to this, the way
that befits man is to resist the evil promptings of Satan and to be constantly
vigilant against Satanic machinations. But, if in spite of all these precautions,
a man does swerve from the course of obedience, he should turn, as soon as he
realizes his fault, to God in penitence and remorse and make amends.
This is the lesson that God conveys to man through this anecdote. The Qur'an
seeks to impress upon the opponents of the Prophet (peace be on him) that the
way, they are following is the way of Satan. To become indifferent to God's
Guidance, to take satans among men and jinn as their protectors and to persist
in disobedience despite repeated warnings, amounts to adopting a Satanic attitude.
It demonstrates that they have fallen prey to the snares of the arch-enemy and
have been totally overpowered by him. This attitude will lead to their total
undoing just as it led to Satan's undoing. Anyone who has even an iota of understanding
should heed and emulate the example of his foreparents - Adam and Eve - who
repented and made amends after their disobedience.
14. God's command that Adam and Eve 'go down' should not be misunderstood to mean that their departure from Paradise was by way of punishment. The Qur'an has made it clear many a time that God accepted Adam and Eve's repentance and pardoned them. Thus the order does not imply punishment. It rather signifies the fulfilment of the purpose for which man was created. (For elaboration see Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. 1, (al-Baqarh 2: nn. 48 and 53, pp. 63-4 and 66 - Ed.)
15. By referring to an important aspect of Adam and Eve's story, the attention
of the people of Arabia of those days was drawn to the evil influence of Satan
upon their lives. Under Satan's influence they had begun to see dress merely
as a shield of protection against the inclemencies of the weather and as a means
of adornment. The basic purpose of dress to cover the private parts of the body
- had receded into the background. People had no inhibition about the immodest
exposure of the private parts of their body in public. To publicly take a bath
absolutely naked, to attend to the call of nature on thoroughfares, were the
order of the day. To crown it all, in the course of Pilgrimage they used to
circumambulate around the Ka'bah in stark nakedness. Women even surpassed men
in immodesty. In their view, the performance of religious rites in complete
nudity was an act of religious merit.
Immodesty, however, was not an exclusive characteristic of the people of Arabia.
Many nations indulged in it in the past, and many nations continue to indulge
in it even now. Hence the message embodied in these verses is not directed just
to the people of Arabia. It is rather directed to all men. Mankind, which is
the progeny of Adam, is warned against this particular aspect of Satanic influence
on their lives. When men show indifference to God's Guidance and turn away from
the Message of the Prophets, they virtually place themselves at the mercy of
Satan. For it is Satan who makes them abandon way's that are consistent with
true human nature and who leads them to immodesty in the same way he did with
Adam and Eve. Were man to reflect on this, it would become quite evident that
when he is deprived of the guidance of the Prophets, he cannot even appreciate,
let alone fulfil, the primary requirements of his true nature.
16. These verses bring into focus several important points.
First, that the need to cover oneself is not an artificial urge in man; rather
it is an important dictate of human nature. Unlike animals, God did not provide
man with the protective covering that He provided to animals. God rather endowed
man with the natural instincts of modesty and bashfulness. Moreover, the private
parts of the body are not only, related to sex, but also constitute 'sawat'
that is, something the exposure of which is felt to be shameful. Also, God did
not provide man with a natural covering in response to man's modesty and bashfulness,
but has inspired in him see (verse 26)the urge to cover himself. This is in
order that man might use his reason to understand the requirements of his nature,
use the resources made available by God, and provide himself a dress.
Second, man instinctively knows that the moral purpose behind the use of dress
takes precedence over the physical purpose. Hence the idea that man should resort
to dress in order to cover his private parts precedes the mention of dress as
a means of providing protection and adornment to the human body. In this connection
man is altogether different from animals, With regard to the latter, the natural
covering that has been granted serves to protect them from the inclemencies
of weather and also to beautify their bodies. However, that natural covering
is altogether unrelated to the purpose of concealing their sexual organs. The
exposure of those organs is not a matter of shame for them and hence their nature
is altogether devoid of the urge to cover them. However, as men fell prey to
Satanic influences, they developed a false and unhealthy notion about the function
of dress. They were led to believe that the function of dress for human beings
is no different from that for animals, viz., to protect them from the inclemencies
of weather and to make them look attractive. As for concealing the private parts
of the body, the importance of that function has been belittled. For men have
been misled into believing that their private parts are, in fact, like other
organs of their body. As in the case of animals, there is little need for human
beings to conceal their sex organs.
Third, the Qur'an emphasizes that it is not enough for the dress to cover the
private parts and to provide protection and adornment to the human body. Man's
dress ought to be the dress of piety. This means that a man's dress ought to
conceal his private parts. It should also render a man reasonably presentable
- the dress being neither too shabby and cheap nor overly expensive and extravagant
relative to his financial standing. Nor should dress smack of pride or hauteur,
or reflect that pathological mental state in which men prefer characteristically
feminine dresses and vice versa: or that the people belonging to one nation
mimic people of other nations so as to resemble them, thereby becoming a living
emblem of collective humiliation and abasement. The Qur'anic ideal can only
be achieved by those who truly believe in the Prophets and sincerely try to
follow God's Guidance. For as soon as man decides to reject God's Guidance,
Satan assumes his patronage and by one means or another manages to lead him
into error after error.
Fourth, the question of dress constitutes one of the numerous signs of God which
is visible virtually throughout the world. When the facts mentioned above are
carefully considered it will be quite clear as to why dress is an important
sign of God.
17. This refers to the pre-islamic Arabian practice of circumambulating around the Ka'bah in stark nakedness. The people of those day's thought that nakedness during circumambulation had been enjoined by God.
18. The simple and succinct Qur'anic statement that 'Allah never enjoins
any, indecency' (verse 29)stands as the overwhelming argument against many
false beliefs that were entertained by the people of Arabia. For a fuller appreciation
of this argument the following points should be kept in mind:
First, that the people of Arabia totally stripped themselves while performing
certain religious rites under the mistaken notion that it had been so enjoined.
But on the other hand they were agreed that nudity was a shameful thing so that
no Arab of any standing could ever approve of appearing naked in any respectable
assembly or market-place.
Second, notwithstanding their reservation about nudity, they strippeel themselves
totally while performing certain religious rites on the ground that religion
was from God. Hence there was nothing objectionable about performing a religious
act in a state of nakedness for God had so enjoined them regarding the performance
of that rite. Here the Qur'an confronts them with a clear question: How can
they believe that God could order them to do something which involves nakedness
and which they know to be inherently shameful? What is implied is that God could
not command them to commit indecency, and if their religion contained elements
of indecency then this is positive proof of its not being from God.
19. The verse seeks to suggest that God has nothing to do with their foolish
rituals. So far as the religion truly prescribed by Him is concerned, its fundamental
principles are the following:
( 1 ) That man should base his life on justice and righteousness.
(2) That man's worship should have the right orientation, i.e. that it should
he directed to God alone and should be free of every trace of devotion to others
than God, that man should reserve his absolute enthralment and bondage for the
One True God alone. All these should have only one direction - the One that
is truly worthy of worship.
(3) Man should invoke God alone to keep him rightly directed, to grant him help
and succour, to favour him with protection and security. This should be done
provided one's life is oriented to serving God. Invoking help from God would
be ludicrous if man's life is based on unbelief, polytheism, disobedience to
God, or serving a variety of gods other than the One True God. Such a prayer
would amount to asking God's help in strengthening one in one's rebellion against
Him.
(4) That man should have full conviction that in the same way as God caused
him to he born in the world, He will also restore him to life after death and
will make him stand before Himself so as to render an account of his life.
20. The word zina which occurs in this verse refers to full and proper dress.
While performing Prayer people are required not only to cover the private parts
of their body, but also to wear a dress that serves the two-fold purpose of
covering and giving one a decent appearance.
The directive to pray in a proper and decent dress is aimed at refuting the
misconception entertained by ignorant people down the ages that man should worship
God either in a nude or semi-naked state, or at least have a shabby and unkempt
appearance while worshipping. In this verse people are being told the opposite
of this. At the time of worship they should not only be free from all kinds
of nudity and indecency, but should also be in a decent dress.
21. God does not want to subject man to want and misery or starvation or to deprive him as such of the good things of this worldly life. On the contrary, it pleases Him that man should appear in good decent dress and enjoy the clean food provided for him by God. There is nothing sinful in that. As for sin, it consists in transgressing the bounds set by God. This transgression could be committed in both ways: by making the unlawful lawful, or by making the lawful unlawful.
22. Since it is God Himself Who has created all good and pure things for
man, it obviously could not have been His intent to make them unlawful. Now,
if there is any religion, or any ethical or social system which forbids those
things, or considers them an insurmountable barrier to man's spiritual growth,
it has an intellectual orientation which itself is evident proof of its not
having been prescribed by God.
This is an important argument which the Qur'an advances in refutation of false
creeds. An appreciation of this argument would help one understand the Qur'anic
line of argumentation as such.
23. All the clean and beautiful things created by God are meant, in principle, for the believers even in this world, for they are God's faithful subjects, and it is fidelity to God that makes one deserve enjoyment of the things which are God's. However, all men are under a test in this world. Hence even those who are disloyal to God have been granted respite to mend their ways and are, therefore, not denied His worldly bounties. In fact with a view to testing those disloyal to God these bounties are at times lavished upon them even more abundantly than on God's faithful servants. But the character of the Next Life will be totally different. For one's station there will be determined entirely by one's righteousness and justice. God's bounties in the Next Life, therefore, will be for the faithful alone. As for the unfaithful, those who were disloyal to God even though every fibre of their being was nourished by the sustenance provided by Him, they will have no share whatsoever of those bounties in the Next Life.
24. For an elaboration of hidden and overt indecencies see Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. 11,( al-An'am, 6: nn. 128 and 131, pp. 290-2).
25. The word ithm denotes negligence, dereliction of duty. Athimah signifies the she-camel which, though capable of running at a fast pace, deliberately moves slowly. The meaning of the word, therefore, carries the idea of sin. Viewed in the context of man, the word convey's the sense of man's deliberate neglect of his duty to God, his failure to pursue God's good pleasure despite his having the capacity to obey and follow Him.
26. To exceed the limits set by God and to enter an area which has been declared out of bounds for man constitute rebellion and transgression. According to this definition of baghy, the charge of rebellion will apply to all those who act according to their whims rather than in accordance with the directives of God. It is applicable to those who behave as though they are the true masters of God's Kingdom, claiming for themselves the prerogatives of God. It also applies to all those who usurp the rights of others.
27. The expression 'fixed term' used in the verse should not give rise to the misconception that the term of a nation expires on a definite day, month or year. What the statement really means is that God has laid down a minimum proportion between the good and evil deeds of a nation. As long as that nation is able to maintain that minimum proportion, its existence is tolerated in order that it might be able to show its performance. Once a nation crosses that minimum limit, it is denied any further respite. (For further explication of this point see (Nuh 71: 4-10 and 12.)
28. Reference to the continuous unremitting punishment of the unbelievers occurs invariably on occasions where the Qur'an narrates the coming down of Adam and Eve from Paradise. See (al-Baqarah 2: 38-9 ); (Ta Ha 20: 123-4.) What has been said here should be considered in relation to the fact that at the very start of man's earthly life he was informed of the evil results of unbelief. (See Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. 1, (AI 'Imran 3: n.69, pp.268-9 - Ed.)
29, All men, whether good or bad, have been granted a definite term in this world which they will spend and obtain their share of worldly happiness and misery.
30. As it is, each group of people is followed, even as it is preceded, by
others. A group which inherits an error of outlook and conduct from its predecessors
passes on the same, in turn, to future generations. In addition, whereas a group
owes its wrong-doing partly to the wrong-doing of its predecessors, it will
also be held responsible for leaving behind an evil legacy for the future generations.
The Qur'an, therefore, pronounces a double punishment on such a group: it will
incur punishment for its own misdeeds and also for leaving behind such a legacy
for the coming generations. A number of traditions elucidate this point. According
to one such tradition the Prophet (peace be on him) said: 'He who introduces
a misleading innovation which does not please God and His Messenger shall be
held guilty for the sins of all those who follow that innovation without lessening
in the least the burden [of sins] of those who followed the innovation,' (Cf.
Ibn Majah, Muqaddimat Bab Man Ahya Sunnah qad umitat, where the words are slightly
different - Ed.) According to another tradition, he said: 'The responsibility
for all the murders committed in the world is shared by the first son of Adam
[i.e. Cain] for he was the first to have innovated murder.' (See Bukhari, Kitab
al-Jana'iz, Bab Qawlih 'alay al-Salam Yu'addhab al-Mayyit bi Ba'd Buka'i ahlih
'alayh - Ed.)
We thus know that the individual or group responsible for introducing a wrong
idea or practice is not only responsible to the extent of those sins, but shares
the responsibility of the sins of all those who are influenced by him. As long
as the evil effects of that influence continue, their sins will be continually
added to his account. This also shows that a person is not only accountable
for the good or bad deeds that he commits. In fact he is also accountable for
the influence of those deeds on others.
This may be illustrated by considering the case of someone who indulges in unlawful
sex. All those whose bad examples, evil company, and inducements to evil caused
a man to indulge in such an act have a share in the sin that he committed. The
persons who influenced him in turn had been influenced by others. Were this
chain of influence traced back to its ultimate origin, the blame would be fixed
on the first person who demonstrated this unlawful way for satiating the sexual
urge.
This does not detract from the fact that anyone who indulged in fornication
is also accountable for the sin he committed. This is so because when he committed
a sin he did so because he failed to make proper use of his capacity to distinguish
between good and evil with which he had been endowed. He also did not pay due
heed to the voice of his conscience, and mobilize the power of self-control
given him. Nor did he benefit from the knowledge of good and evil transmitted
to him by pious men nor was he inspired by the noble examples of the God-fearing.
Nor did he learn any lesson from the evil consequences of sexual misconduct.
Instead, he totally succumbed to blind sexual lust which sought gratification
at all cost. This much relates to the responsibility of the person who indulged
in sexual misconduct.
But there is another dimension of that person's evil conduct - his propagation
of that same evil among others which ruined the lives of countless people belonging
to his own generation and to the generations that follow. It is also possible
that he might have been afflicted by some general disease which he then communicated
to his own generation and also to the generations that followed. His sexual
misconduct might also have given birth to illegitimate children, unjustly passing
on the burden of their upbringing to others, and making his offspring - without
any justification - co-sharers in the fortunes and even the inheritance of others.
The wrong that is thus perpetrated persists for many generations. Likewise,
it is also possible that the said criminal might, by his cunning, have led an
innocent girl to sexually corrupt behaviour. That in turn is likely to awaken
evil propensities in her which wreck the lives and homes of countless families,
even generations. Also, by setting an evil example for his children, relatives,
friends and the society at large a fornicator is likely to cast a bad influence
on people around him and infect others with moral corruption. The evil consequences
of such an act thus linger on for a long time. The moral corruption that ultimately,
engulfs the society owes its origin to the person who initially introduced an
evil. Justice, therefore, demands that such a culprit should also be held responsible
for the subsequent evils which may be traced back to his initial act of corruption.
The same holds true for good deeds. The reward for the heritage of goodness
left behind by our predecessors from the earliest times should inevitably go
to the credit of those men of the past who have continually transmitted that
heritage to posterity down to our own time. If our own generation takes good
care of that heritage, enriches it and passes it on to the coming generation,
it also deserves due reward for that. As long as our good acts leave a trace
of good influence on history and continue to cast a good influence on people,
mankind will reap the benefits of those acts.
This is the Qur'anic view of retribution. Every sensible person will agree that
such a dispensation alone can ensure perfect justice. Appreciation of this concept
should dispel the idea of those who believe that men can be fully rewarded or
punished for their deeds within the confines of this worldly life. Likewise,
such an appreciation should also dispel the views of those who believe that
the transmigration of souls alone can ensure full justice to all men. Such people
have blundered because they have neither grasped fully the nature and consequences
of human acts nor the nature and requirements of perfect justice. It is obvious
that the consequences of individuals' acts are not visible during their life-span
- say sixty or seventy years or so. Instead, human activities, both good and
evil, influence the lives of countless people belonging to countless generations.
One cannot, therefore, be brought to justice during one's own lifetime, since
only a small part of the consequences of those acts have yet come to the surface.
Moreover, the limited possibilities available in the present world are quite
inadequate for bringing people to justice. Just consider the hideous crime of
someone who pushes us to a world war. As things stand, the catastrophic consequences
of such a crime would affect the lives of billions of men through the ages.
Is there any punishment - physical, spiritual or material - which can be deemed
even remotely, proportionate to that crime? Likewise, no worldly reward, however
valuable, can adequately recompense for the noble services rendered by a philanthropist
which will benefit numerous people for thousands of years.
Having viewed the question from this angle. one readily, concludes that there
must necessarily be life in the Hereafter such that full justice can be meted
out to everyone. Here all human beings are brought together, their full records
are made available, and the reckoning is made by God Himself Whose knowledge
embraces literally everything. Additionally, men should be granted unlimited
spans of life, and infinite possibilities should be made available for receiving
compensation.
A little reflection on this will help us see how false the doctrine of the transmigration
of souls is. Those who subscribe to this doctrine fail to realize that eternal
life is needed to mete out recompense to people for the deeds they commit during
their relatively brief spans of life. If one were to believe in the unending
cycle of life and death it would become impossible to reward or punish anyone
for his actions, for each span of life would go on accumulating endlessly. The
arrears would never be cleared.
31. In addition to the above verse, the Qur'an elsewhere recounts the mutual incriminations of the dwellers of Hell. For example, it occurs in Sarah al-Saba' in the following words: 'Could you but see when the wrong-doers will be made to stand before their Lord, throwing back the word (of blame) on one another! Those who had been abased will say to the arrogant ones: "Had it not been for you, we should certainly have been believers!" The arrogant ones will say, to those who had been abased: "Was it we who kept you back from Guidance after it reached you? Nay, rather it was you yourselves who transgressed" ' (al-Saba' 34: 31-2). This means that since the misguided people themselves were not keen on receiving the right guidance, they fell victims even more to the forces of misguidance. Out of their own excessive worldliness they chose to follow their ungodly leaders. Granted that it was the forces of misguidance which had invented ideologies such as materialism, excessive worldliness, and nationalism. But when people were attracted to these false ideologies, they did so out of their own weaknesses. These forces of evil achieved success because what they offered was to the utmost liking of the people. Again, the people who were tempted to embrace counterfeit religious ideologies were themselves to blame for falling prey to them since there was an inner urge in them to accept such ideologies. Rather than submitting to the One True God and to rigorous moral discipline, they looked for deities that would help them to achieve their worldly purposes. Naturally, they invented deities of their own liking. They also desired the intercession of those who would let them grow in worldiness and godlessness, and yet who would also ensure their redemption in the Next World. As they preferred a religion that would not make their life a bit dry, permissive religious cults which did not object to any kind of self-indulgence were developed. This establishes clearly that the external forces of evil alone are not to blame. The people who succumb to evil and error equally share the blame. This neither condones the role of those who seek to mislead others, nor detracts from the responsibility of those who choose to be misled.
32. If there develops any rancour or ill-will among good people during the
course of their worldly lives, such rancour and will be removed in the Hereafter.
Their hearts will be purged of all hostile feelings and they will enter Paradise
as cordial friends. They will not feel envious towards those who had formerly
been opposed or hostile to them that they share with them the bounties of Paradise.
Significantly, 'Ali once recited this very verse and remarked: 'I wish that
I and 'Uthman and Talhah and al-Zubayr will be among those about whom God has
said: "And We shall take away all rancour from their hearts" '
(verse 43). (See
Qurtubi's comments on verse 43 - Ed.)
Reflection on the verse leads one to conclude that out of His mercy, God will
first purge the righteous of their blemishes. This will be done before admitting
them to Paradise. Thus they will enter Paradise in a state of untainted purity.
33. This refers to something of a fine and delicate character that will take
place in Paradise. Instead of boasting about their virtuous deeds which led
them to Paradise, the righteous will thank and praise God profusely and acknowledge
His grace and mercy without which they could never have entered Paradise. On
the other hand, God will not impress His bounty upon the righteous; He will
rather emphasize that Paradise is granted to them by way of compensation for
their righteous conduct, that it is the fruit of their hard labour; that it
is not like the crumbs of charity but a fair recompense for their striving.
The subtlety involved here is further brought into relief by the fact that the
above response will not be made by God. It will rather be just announced to
them.
What is said above about the Hereafter may be discerned in the attitude of the
righteous in the world itself. The wicked and arrogant ones take great pride
in their worldly attainments and ascribe them to their own efforts. They firmly,
believe that what they have achieved is the fruit of their labour. Swaved by
such notions, they continue to act even more haughtily. Conversely the righteous
look upon all the bounties which they receive as favours from God. Accordingly,
they thank and praise Him out of gratitude. The more they are lavished with
worldly favours, the more humble and generous they become. Moreover, they do
not suffer from the illusion that their righteousness will certainly earn them
their salvation. On the contrary, they consistently repent over their lapses
and earnestly turn to God in the hope that He will pardon them out of His grace
and mercy. They are always fearful of God's reckoning lest their evil deeds
are found to outweigh their good deeds. According to a tradition the Prophet
(peace he on him) said: 'Know well that none will he able to enter Paradise
by dint of his good deeds.' When asked if that would apply to him as well, the
Prophet (peace he on him) replied: 'Yes, in my case as well; unless God covers
me with His mercy and favour.' (Bukhari, Kitab al-Riqaq, 'Bab al-Qasd wa a Mudawamah
ala al-Amal' - Ed.)
34. The people of A'raf (Heights) will be the people who are neither righteous enough to enter Paradise nor wicked enough to he cast into Hell. They will, therefore, dwell at a place situated between the two.
35. The trialogue between the People of Paradise, the People of the Fire.
and the People of the Heights gives some indication of the tremendous range
of human faculties in the Next World. These faculties would increase to such
an extent that the People of Paradise, the People of the Fire and the People
of the Heights will be able to see, hear and talk to one another. Other Qur'anic
statements about the Hereafter enable us to realize that the laws operating
in the Next World will be altogether different from those in the present. Notwithstanding
this, men's personalities will not undergo any such change.
Those who cannot perceive any thing beyond the present limited world and who
are incapable of imagining scales bigger than the ones relating to the present
world, make fun of the statements in the Qur'an and Hadith about life in the
Hereafter. This only betrays their poverty of understanding and imagination.
The fact, however, is that the possibilities for life are not as narrow and
limited as their minds.
36. The Qur'an has spelled out in some detail what constitutes the fundamental reality, explained the attitude that man ought to adopt, and laid down the fundarnentals of the way of life that he ought to follow. The tails laid down in the Book in this regard are based on sound knowledge rather than on conjecture and fancy.
37. The contents and teachings of the Book are perspicuous enough to show
one the right way. Moreover, the life-style of those who believe in this Book
also bears out, by the beneficial effects it produces on human life, how well
it guides man. The blessings of the Qur'an become evident if man first notes
the healthy changes that it brings about in his outlook, character and morals.
The above verse in fact alludes to the wonderful effect belief in the Qur'an
had on the lives of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be on him).
38. The position of the people in question is as follows. The difference between good and evil was first explained to them, and yet they turned a deaf ear to it. Then some people established a good example by following the right path notwithstanding the dominant trend towards error. The wholesome effect of righteous conduct became evident from the lives of such people, but it made no impression on the people concerned. Their persistence in error could only mean one thing: that they would only learn the lesson the hard way when they saw the painful effects of their error. Such people are like stupid patients who neither follow the directions of the physician, nor learn any lesson from their own observations of the many patients who have been cured of their diseases by following the directions of physicians. Thesc people will realize - if they realize at all - on their death-bed that their ways were foolish and fatal.
39. Such people will long to return to the world, pleading that they will believe in the truth which they had rejected since they have now witnessed it. They will also ensure that their attitude will be different from that which had been before. For a fuller discussion of this plea and the rejoinder to it see (al-An'am 6: 27-8); (Ibrahim 14: 44 and 45); (al-Sajdah 32: 12-13); (al-Fatir 35: 37); (al-Zumar 39: 56-9); and (al-Mu'min 40: 11-12).
40. The word 'day' in the above verse has been used either in the usual sense
of the twenty-four hour unit of time, or in a more general sense of 'period'
of time such as in the following verses of the Qur'an:
Verily a Day in the sight of your Lord is like a thousand years of your reckoning
(al-Hajj 22: 47).
The angels and the Spirit ascend unto Him on a Day the measure of which is fifty
thousand years
(al-Ma'arij 70: 4). For further explanation see
(Fussilat 41, nn. 12-15.)
41. It is quite difficult to appreciate fully the exact nature of the Qur'anic
statement: '(Allah) ascended the Throne.' One possibility is that after the
creation of the universe God focused His effulgence at a particular point in
His Kingdom which is known as the Throne, from where He showers the blessings
of life and power, and governs the whole universe.
It is possible that the word 'Throne' stands for dominion and authority and
that God's ascending the Throne signifies His actual taking over the reins of
the universe after having created it. Whatever the exact meaning of the expression
'(Allah) ascended the Throne', the main thrust of the verse is that God is not
just the creator of the universe, but is also its sovereign and ruler; that
after creating the universe He did not detach Himself from, nor become indifferent
to, His creation. On the contrary, He effectively rules over the universe as
a whole as well as every part of it. All power and sovereignty rest with Him.
Everything in the universe is fully in His grip and is subservient to His will.
Every atom is bound in obedience to Him. The fate of everything existent is
in His Hands. Thus the Qur'an undermines the very basis of the misconception
which leads man at times to polytheism, and at others to self-glorification
and so to rebellion against God. This is the natural corollary of considering
God divorced from the affairs of the universe. In such cases, there are two
possibilities. One, that beings other than God are considered to have the power
to make or mar man's destiny. Here, man is bound to turn to those beings in
devotion and subservience. The second possibility is for man to consider himself
as the master of his own destiny. Here, man considers himself independent of,
and indifferent to, any higher being.
It is significant that the words and figures of speech employed by the Qur'an
to denote the relationship between God and man are closely related to kingship,
dominion, and sovereignty. This is too conspicuous a fact to be missed by any
careful student of the Qur'an. It is strange, however, that it has led some
superficial critics and persons of biased outlook to conclude that the Qur'an
reflects the milieu in which man's outlook was dominated by monarchical concepts,
and that therefore its 'author', who in their view was the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be on him), presented God as a sovereign ruler, an absolute monarch.
Quite contrary to this is the fundamental truth which the Qur'an emphatically
affirms - God's sovereignty over the heavens and the earth. It negates, with
equal emphasis, that sovereignty belongs to anyone else. Such a doctrine demolishes
the very assumption on the basis of which the above erroneous conclusion was
derived. The Qur'anic concept of God's sovereignty is in sharp contrast to the
idea that creatures of God may lay claim to sovereignty and kingship. In contrast
to the weak, mortal kings of the world, God is eternal and all-powerfuL This
undermines the very basis of the misconceived criticism that Islam has a monarchical
basis since no hunian being can conform to the Islamic description of the sovereign.
All sovereignty vests in the One True God. Hence, all those who claim total
or partial sovereignty either for any person or group of people are merely cherishing
an illusion. It is evident, therefore, that it is totally inappropriate for
man, who is a part of the universe created and governed by God, to adopt any
other attitude than that of acknowledging God as the only object of worship
and as the only sovereign in a societal and political sense.
42. This is an elaboration of the idea propounded in the note immediately above explaining the meaning of God's ascension to the Throne. To reiterate, God is not merely the sole creator but also the only One Who commands and governs. He has not detached Himself from His creation, leaving it to the care of others who might rule over it as they please. Nor has He granted independence to His creation or any part of it so that they might function as they, wish. On the contrary, His grip over the entire universe is very firm. He rules over it according to His sovereign will. If we find alternation taking place between day and night, it is a result of God's command. God has full power both to hold that process in abeyance, or to alter the very system which causes the alternation. The heavenly bodies - the sun, the moon, and the stars - are all absolutely powerless. They are totally subservient to God's overpowering will, and have been yoked to function according to His command.
43. The word barakah signifies growth and increase. The notions of elevation and greatness as well as of permanence and stability are also an essential part of the word's meaning. Besides these the word inalienably carries nuances of goodness and beneficence. To say that God is full of barakah means that His goodness knows no bounds; that endless beneficence emanates from Him; that He is the Exalted One Whose loftiness knows no end; that His beneficence and loftiness are permanent, and thus they will never vanish or suffer decline. (For further elaboration see Tafhim al-Qaradn, (al-Furqan 25: nn. 1 and 19.)
44. The command not to make mischief in the earth means not to vitiate the
right order of life. What basically, constitutes 'mischief-making' is to surrender
oneself to one's lusts, to commit acts in subservience to other human beings
and to subscribe to base morals, social orders, civilizations, principles and
laws derived from sources other than God's Guidance. This is the essential mischief
from which innumerable evils issue and which the Qur'an seeks to eradicate.
The Qur'an also emphasizes that sound order is the original condition, and disorder
and mischief occurred later as accidents resulting from man's ignorance and
transgression. In other words, man's life on earth did not start with ignorance,
savagery, polytheistic beliefs, rebellion against God and moral disorder whereafter
reforms were gradually introduced. On the contrary, man's life began with good
order and was later corrupted because of man's perversity and folly. God sent
Prophets from time to time in order to eradicate the disorder that had set in
and to restore the original, good order. These Prophets constantly ehorted people
to refrain from disrupting the original order and creating mischief.
Thus the Qur'anic view on this question is altogether different from that of
the proponents of the false doctrine of evolution, who postulate that man has
gradually come out of darkness into light; that life has advanced in a unilinear
fashion, towards increasinly better conditions. The Qur'an rather postulates
that human life began in the full light of Divine Guidance, that the original
state of affairs was in accord with the Right Way prescribed by God. The blame
for corruption goes to man who, failing victim to Satan's allurements, veered
towards darkness and corrupted the right order of human life again and again.
As for God, He continually sent Prophets in order to summon men from darkness
to light, and to ask them to eschew evil and wickedness. (See Towards Understanding
the Qur'an, (al-Baqarah 2, n. 230, pp. 165-6 - Ed.)
45. This clearly shows what the expression 'mischief-making' in the verse
signifies. It consists of man's turning to others than God as his guardian,
patron and helper, and calling them to his aid and support. To bring about reform,
therefore, consists of man's turning exclusively to God as his guardian and
helper.
'Calling upon Allah with fear and longing' conveys the idea that man should
fear God alone, and to Him alone he should look for the fulfilment of his wishes.
While calling upon God man should realize that he is totally dependent on God's
favour and that he can attain success only if God helps and guides him to it.
Similarly, man should also bear in mind that once he is deprived of God's support,
he is doomed to utter failure and undoing.
46. It is necessary to grasp the subtle point made here in order to appreciate
the full purport of what is being said. The reference to rain and its advantages
is intended to bring into focus God's power, and to affirm life after death.
Moreover, it is also intended to draw attention in allegorical, albeit graphic,
terms to the blessings of prophethood, and how it helps men to distinguish between
good and evil, between pure and impure. The intimation of Divine Guidance through
the Prophets is compared to the movement of winds, the appearance of rain-laden
clouds, and the fall of life-sustaining raindrops. In the same way as rainfall
causes dead earth to be revived and makes the hidden treasures of life burst
forth from its womb, so the impact of the teachings of the Prophets also brings
dead humanity back to life, causing the hidden goodness in men to burst forth.
This allegory also hints at another important fact. In the same way that only
fertile soil profits from rainfall, so only men of a righteous nature can profit
from the blessings of prophethood. As for the wicked, they are like wasteland.
Rainfall can cause such a land to bring forth only thorny bushes and cacti.
Similarly, when the wicked come into contact with the teaching of the Prophets,
the hidden evils of their nature come into full play.
This allegory is followed by a well-sustained account with illustrations from
history showing that whenever the Prophets preach their Message, men Split into
two camps. The righteous receive the blessings of prophethood and flourish,
bringing forth the fruit of their goodness. As for the wicked, once the criterion
provided by the Prophets is applied their impurities are fully exposed. This
enables human society to purge itself of impurities in the same way as the goldsmith
purges precious metals of alloy.
47. This historical narrative opens with an account of the Prophet Noah and
his people. For the people of Noah were the first to drift away from the right
way of life which was followed by the Prophet Adarn and his descendants. God,
therefore, sent Noah to guide and reform them.
In light of the Qur'anic allusions and Biblical statements it seems certain
the people of Noah inhabited the land presently known as Iraq. This view is
also supported by inscriptions of pre-Biblical times discovered in the course
of archaeological excavations in Babylonia. Those inscriptions contain almost
the same account which is recounted in the Qur'an and the Torah. The locale
of the event is the vicinity of Mosul. Kurdish and Armenian traditions also
corroborate this account insofar as they mention that it was in this area that
Noah's Ark anchored. Some relies ascribed to Noah are still found in Jazirat
Ibn 'Urnar, situated to the north of Mosul and on the frontiers of Armenia in
the vicinity of the Ararat mountain mass. The inhabitants of Nakhichevan believe
to this day that their town was founded by Noah.
Traditions similar to the story of Noah are also found in classical Greek Egyptian,
Indian and Chinese literature. Moreover, stories of identical import have been
popular since time immemorial in Burma, Malaya, the East Indies, Australia,
New Guinea and various parts of Europe and America. This shows clearly that
the event took place at some point in the dim past when men lived together in
one region and it was after Noah's Flood that they dispersed to different parts
of the world. This is why traditions of all nations mention the Flood of the
early time. This is notwithstanding the fact that the actual event has increasingly
been shrouded in mystery, and the authentic elements of the event overlaid with
myth and legend.
48. It is evident from the above verse and from other Qur'anic descriptions of the people of Noah that they were neither ignorant of, nor denied the existence of God, nor were they opposed to the idea of worshipping Him. Their real malady was polytheism. They had associated others with God in His godhead, and considered them akin to God in their claim that human beings should worship them as well. This basic error gave rise to a number of evils among them. There had arisen among them a class of people representing the false gods they themselves had contrived. Gradually this class of people virtually monopolized all religious, economic and political authority. This class also introduced a hierarchical structure of society which led to immense corruption and injustice. The moral degeneration which this system promoted sapped the roots of mankind's higher characteristics. When corruption reached a high peak, God sent Noah to improve the state of affairs. For long, Noah strove with patience and wisdom to bring about reform. All his efforts, however, were thwarted by the clergy which craftily kept people under its powerful hold. Eventually Noah prayed to God not to spare even a single unbeliever on the face of the earth, for they would go about misguiding human beings, and their progeny would likewise be wicked and ungrateful. (For a detailed discussion see( Hud 11: 25-48), (al-Shu'ara' 26: 105-22) and (Nuh 71: 1-28.)
49. There were striking similarities between Muhammad and Noah (peace be
on them). The Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) received the same treatment
from his people as did Noah from his. The message that each of them sought to
preach was also the same. Likewise, the doubts and objections raised by the
people of Muhammad (peace be on him) with regard to his prophethood were the
same as those raised by Noah's people several thousand years ago. Again, what
Muhammad (peace be on him) said in response to the doubts and objections raised
against him were exactly the same as what Noah had said.
The Qur'anic narration of the stories of the Prophets makes it amply clear that
the attitude of the nations to whom the Prophets were sent had always been the
same as that of the Makkans towards the Message of Muhammad (peace be on him).
Apart from this, the accounts of the various Prophets and their people, display
the same striking resemblances. Likewise, the Prophet Muhammad's (peace be on
him) vindication of his teaching in response to the Makkans is identical with
similar attempts by other Prophets to vindicate their teachings. So doing, the
Qur'an seeks to emphasize that in the same way as the error and misguidance
of which men become victims have remained essentially the same throughout the
ages, the Message of God's Messengers has also been the same in all places and
at all times. Again, there is a striking resemblance in the ultimate fate of
all those peoples who reject the message of the Prophets and who persist in
their erroneous and evil ways. This too has also been the same, namely utter
destruction.
50. An uninitiated reader of the Qur'an may, mistakenly conceive that the
mission of each Prophet - to call his people to God - would have finished after
the few attempts they made in that connection. Some people might even entertain
a rather simplistic image of their mission. It might be thought that a Prophet
would have suddenly risen and proclaimed to his people that he had been designated
by God as a Prophet. This would have been followed by the raising of objections
to that claim. Subsequently, the Prophet concerned would have explained the
matter and might have removed their misgivings. The people would have stuck
to their position, would have rejected the Prophet's claim and called him a
liar. whereupon God must have visited that people with punishment.
The fact of the matter, however, is that the Qur'an has narrated in just a few
lines a story that was worked out over a long period of time. The brevity of
the Qur'anic description owes itself to the fact that the Qur'an is not interested
per se in story-telling; that its narration and purpose are didactic. Hence,
while recounting a historical event, the Qur'an mentions only those fragments
of the event which are relevant, ignoring those details which are irrelevant
to Qur'anic purposes. Again, at different places in the Qur'an the same event
is mentioned for a variety of reasons. On every occasion only those fragments
of the story which are relevant to a specific purpose are mentioned and the
rest are left out. An instance in point is the above narrative about Noah. In
narrating Noah's story the Qur'an aims to point out the consequences attendant
upon the rejection of the Prophet's Message. Since the total period spent on
conveying the Message does not have any direct relationship with that purpose,
the Qur'an altogether ignores it here. However, in passages where the Prophet
and the Companions have been asked to remain patient, the long duration of the
Prophet Noah's missionary, effort has been mentioned. This has been done precisely,
with a view to raising the morale of the believers and to prevent them from
feeling low because they did not see any, good results coming out of that struggle.
By mentioning how Noah strove patiently for such a long period of time and in
the face of discouraging circumstances is quite relevant in this context as
it helps to teach the lesson which is intended. That lesson is to persist in
serving the cause of the truth and to refuse to be daunted by the adversity
of the circumstances. See( al-'Ankabut 29: 14).
It would be appropriate to remove, at this stage, a doubt which might agitate
the minds of some people. For one frequently reads in the Qur'an accounts of
nations which rejected their Prophets and charged them with lying. One also
reads about the Prophets warning them of God's punishment, and then about its
sudden advent, scourging the nation and totally destroying it. This gives rise
to the question: Why do such catastrophic incidents not take place in our own
time? Nations still rise and fall, but the phenomenon of their rise and fall
is of a different nature. We do not see it happen that a nation is served with
a warning, and is then totally destroyed by a calamity such as an earthquake.
a flood, a storm, or a thunderbolt.
In order to understand this it should be remembered that a nation which has
directly received God's Message from a Prophet is treated by God in a different
manner from nations which have not witnessed a Prophet. For if a nation directly
witnesses a Prophet - an embodiment of righteousness - and receives God's Message
from his tongue, it has no valid excuse left for rejecting that Message. And
if it still rejects the Message, it indeed deserves to be summarily punished.
Other nations are to be placed in a different category since they received God's
Message indirectly. Hence, if the nations of the present time are not visited
by; the devastating punishments which struck the nations of the Prophets in
the past, one need not wonder since prophethood came to an end with the advent
of Muhammad (peace be on him). One should indeed have cause to wonder if one
saw the opposite happen - that is, if the nations of the present were visited
by punishments from God which had afflicted those nations that rejected their
Prophets face to face.
This does not mean, however, that God has ceased to inflict sevire punishments
on nations which turn away from God and are sunk in ideological and moral error.
The fact is that God's punishments still afflict different nations of the world.
These punishments are both minor and major. Minor punishments are aimed at warning
those nations, and the major ones are of a much more serious character and cause
considerable damage. However, in the absence of the Prophets who are wont to
draw attention to moral degeneration as the basic cause of these calamities,
the historians and thinkers of our time only scratch the surface and explain
these in terms of physical laws or historical causes. These sophisticated explanations
are of little help. On the contrary, nations so afflicted with heedlessness
and moral stupor are thereby further prevented from appreciating that God has
always warned evil-doing nations against following their evil ways, and that
when they wilfully disregard these warnings and adamantly stick to their erroneous
ways. He ultimately inflicts disastrous punishments upon them.
51. 'Ad, an ancient Arab people, were well-known throughout Arabia. They
were known for their proverbial glory and grandeur. And when they were destroyed,
their extinction also became proverbial. So much so that ttre word 'Ad has come
to be used for things ancient and the word 'adiyat for archaeological remains.
The land whose owner is unknown and which is lying fallow, from neglect is called
'adi al-ard.
The ancient Arabic poetry is replete with references to this people. Arab genealogists
consider the 'Ad as the foremost among the extinct tribes of Arabia. Once a
person of the Banel Dhuhl b. Shayban tribe, who was a resident of the 'Ad territory,
called on the Prophet (peace be on him). He related stories to the Prophet about
the people of 'Ad, stories handed down to the people of that region from generation
to generation. (See Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 3, p. 482 - Ed.)
According to the Qur'an the people of 'Ad lived mainly in the Ahqaf region which
is situated to the south-west of the Empty Quarter (al-Rub' al-Khali) and which
lies between Hijaz, Yemen and Yamamah. It was from there that the people of
'Ad spread to the western coast of Yemen and established their hegemony in Oman,
Hadramawt and Iraq. There is very little archaeological evidence about the 'Ad.
Only a few ruins in South Arabia are ascribed to them. At a place in Hadramawt
there is a grave which is considered to be that of the Prophet Hud. James R.
Wellested, a British naval officer, discovered an ancient inscription in 1837
in a place called Hisn al-Ghurab which contains a reference to the Prophet Hud.
The contents unmistakably bear out that it had been written by those who followed
the Shari'ah of Hud. (For details see Tafhim al-Qur'an,
(al-Al. Ahqaf 46, n. 25.)
52. The word ala' used in the above verse stands for bounties, wondrous works of nature, and praiseworthy qualities. The purpose of the verse is to impress upon man to gratefully, recognize the favours God has lavished upon him, bearing in mind that God also has the Power to take them away.
53. It is worth noting that the people of 'Ad neither disbelieved in God nor refused to worship Him. They did not, however, follow, the teachings of Hud who proclaimed God alone should he worshipped, and that none other may be associated in servitude to Him.
54. They looked to gods of rain and gods of wind, wealth, and health. But none of these enjoys godhead. There are many instances in our own time of people whose beliefs are no different from the ones mentioned above. There are people who are wont to call someone Mushkil Kusha, 'the remover of distress' or to call someone else Ganjbakhsh, 'the bestower of treasures'. But God's creatures cannot remove the distresses of other creatures like themselves, nor do they have any treasure that they might give away to others. Their titles are merely empty words, bereft of the qualities attributed to them. All argumentation aimed at justifying those titles amounts to a lot of sound and fury about nothing.
55. The Makkans could produce no sanction from Allah - Whom they themselves acknowledged as the Supreme God - that He had transferred to their false gods any of His power or authority. None has any authorization from God to remove distress from, or bestow treasures on, others. It is the Makkans themselves who arbitrarily chose to confer parts of God's power on those beings.
56. The Qur'an informs us that God brought about the total extermination
of the 'Ad, a fact borne out by both Arabian historical traditions and recent
archaeological discoveries. The 'Ad were so totally destroyed and their monuments
so completely effaced that the Arab historians refer to them as one of the umam
ba'idah (extinct peoples) of Arabia. The Arab tradition also affirms that the
only people belonging to the 'Ad who survived were the followers of the Prophet
Hud. These survivors are known as the Second 'Ad ('Ad Thaniyah). The Hisn al-Ghurib
inscriptions referred to earlier (n. 51) above are among the remaining monuments
of these people. One inscription, which is generally considered to date from
the eighteenth century B.C., as deciphered by the experts, contains the following
sentences:
We have lived for a long time in this fort in full glory, free of all want.
Our canals were always full to the brim with water . . . Our rulers were kings
who were far removed from evil ideas, who dealt sternly with mischief-makers
and governed us according to the Law of Hud. Their edicts were recorded in a
book. We believed in miracles and resurrection.
The above account fully corroborates the Qur'anic statement that it was only
the companions of Hud who survived and inherited the glory and prosperity of
the 'Ad.
57. The Thamud are another ancient Arab people, next only to the 'Ad in fame.
Legends relating to them were quite popular in pre-Islamic Arabia. In fact poetry
and orations of the pre-Islamic (Jahiliyah) period abound with references to
them. They are also mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions and in the Greek,
Alexandrian and Roman works of history and geography. Some descendants of the
Thamud survived to a little before the birth of Jesus. The Roman historians
mention that they entered into the Roman army and fought against the Nabateans,
their arch-enemy.
The Thamud lived in the north-western part of Arabia which is still called al-Hijr.
In the present time there is a station on the Hijaz railway, between Madina
and Tabuk. This is called Mada'in Salih, which was the capital town of Thamud
and was then known as al-Hijr, the rock-hewn city. This has survived to this
day and is spread over thousands of acres. It was once inhabited by no less
than half a million people. At the time of the revelation of the Qur'an Arab
trade caravans passed through the ruins of this city.
While the Prophet (peace be on him) was on his way, to Tabuk, he directed the
Muslims to look upon these monuments and urged them to learn the lessons which
sensible persons ought to learn from the ruins of a people that had been destroyed
because of their evil-doing. The Prophet (peace be on him) also pointed to the
well from which the she-camel of the Prophet Salih used to drink. He instructed
the Muslims to draw water from that well alone and to avoid all other wells.
The mountain pass through which that she-camel came to drink was also indicated
by the Prophet (peace be on him). The pass is still known as Fajj al-Naqah.
The Prophet (peace be on him) then gathered all the Muslims who had been directed
to look around that city of rocks, and addressed them. He drew their attention
to the tragic end of the Thamud, who by their evil ways had invited God's punishment
upon themselves. The Prophet (peace he on him) asked them to hastily move ahead
for the place was a grim reminder of God's severe punishment and he hence called
for reflection and repentance. (See waqidi, al-maghazi, vol. 3, pp. 1006-8.
See also the comments of Ibn Kathir on verses 73-8 - Ed.)
58. The context seems to indicate that the clear proof referred to in the
verse stands for the she-camel which is also spoken of as 'a Divine portent'.
In( al-Shu'ara' 26: 154-8) it is explicitly mentioned that the Thamud themselves
had asked the Prophet Salih to produce some sign which would support his claim
to be God's Messenger. Responding to it, Salih pointed to the she-camel.
This illustrates clearly that the appearance of the she-camel was a miracle.
Similar miracles had been performed earlier by other Prophets with a view to
fulfilling the demand of the unbelievers and thus of vindicating their claim
to prophethood. The miraculous appearance of the she-camel reinforces the fact
that Salih had presented it as a 'Divine portent' and warned his people of dire
consequences if they harmed it. He explained to them that the she-camel would
graze freely in their fields; that on alternate days she and other animals would
drink water from their well, They were also warned that if they harmed the she-camel
they would be immediatelv seized by a terrible chastisemen' from God.
Such statements could obviously only have been made about an animal which was
known to be of a miraculous nature. The Thamud observed the she-camel graze
freely in their fields and she and the other camels drank water on alternate
days from their well. The Thamud, though unhappy with the situation, endured
this for quite some time. Later, however, after prolonged deliberations, they
killed her. Such lengthy deliberations demonstrate that they were afraid to
kill the she-camel. It is clear that the object of their fear was none other
than the she-camel as they had no reason to be afraid of Salih, who had no power
to terrify them. Their sense of awe for the she-camel explains why they let
her graze freely on their land. The Qur'an, however, does not provide any detailed
information as to what the she-camel looked like or how she was born. The authentic
Hadith too provide no information about its miraculous birth. Hence, one need
not take too seriously the statements of some of the commentators on the Qur'an
about the mode of her birth. However, as far as the fact of her miraculous birth
is concerned, that is borne out bv the Qur'an itself.
59. The Thamud were highly skilful in rock-carving, and made huge mansions by carving the mountains, as we have mentioned earlier see (n. 57 )above. In this regard the works of the Thamud resemble the rock-carvings in the Ajanta and Ellora caves in India and several other places. A few buildings erected by the Thamud are still intact in Mada'in Salih and speak of their tremendous skills in civil engineering and architecture.
60. The Qur'an asks people to draw a lesson from the tragic end of the 'Ad. For just as God destroyed that wicked people and established Muslims in positions of power and influence previously occupied by them, He can also destroy the Muslims and replace them by Others if they should become wicked and mischievous. (For further elaboration see (n. 52 )above.
61. Although the she-camel was killed by an individual, as we learn also from surahs al-Qamar (54) and al-Sharns (91), the whole nation was held guilty since it stood at the killer's back. Every sin which is committed with the approval and support of a nation, is a national crime even if it has been committed by one person. In fact the Qur'an goes a step further and declares that a sin which is committed publicly in the midst of a gathering is considered to be the collective sin of the people who tolerate it.
62. Other Qur'anic expressions used for the calamity are 'rajifah' (earthquake) (al-Nazi'at 79: 6); 'sayah' (awesome cry) (Hud 11: 67); 'Sa'iqah' (thunderbolt) (al-Baqarah 2: 55); and 'taghiyah'' (roaring noise) (al-Haqqah 69: 5).
63. The land inhabited by the people of Lot, which lies between Iraq and
Palestine, is known as Trans-Jordan. According to the Bible, its capital town
was Sodom, which is situated either somewhere near the Dead Sea, or presently
lies submerged under it.. Apart from Sodom, according to the Talmud, there were
four other majour cities, and the land lying between these cities was dotted
with such greenery and orchards that the whole area looked like one big garden
enchanting any onlooker. However, the whole nation was destroyed and today wc
can find no trace of it. So much so that it is difficult to even locate the
main cities which they inhabited. If anything remains as a reminder of this
nation it is the Dead Sea which is also called the Sea of Lot. The Prophet Lot
who was a nephew of the Prophet Abraham, accompanied his uncle as he moved away
from Iraq. Lot sojourned to Syria, Palestincand Egypt forawhile and gained practical
experience of preaching his message. Later God bettowed prophethood upon him
and assigned to him the mission of reforming his misguided people. The people
of Sodom have been referred to as the people of Lot presumably because Lot may
have established matrimonial ties with those people.
One of the many accusations recorded gainst Lot in the Bible - and the Bible
has been tampered with extensively by the Jews - is that Lot migrated to Sodom
after an argument with Abraham (Genesis 13: 10-12).
The Qur'an refutes this baseless charge and affirms that Lot was designated
by God to work as His Messenger among his people.
The author refers to an argument between Abraham and Lot which he considers
to be a fabrication of Jews.The obvious basis of this is that such an argument
between the Prophets is inconceivable since it is unbecoming of them as Prophets.
The basis of this inference is a statement in Genesis 13:1-12.
It seems that there has been some confusion with regard to this inference. The
verses of Genesis in question make no reference to any strife between the two
Prophets. The strife to which it refers allegedly took place between the two
Prophets. In addition, when the two Prophets parted company it was on a pleasant
note for Abraham had suggested that since there was an abundance of land, Lot
should choose that part of the land he preffered so as to exclude all possibilities
of strife between their herdsmen. (See Genesis 13:1-5-Ed.)
64. The Qur'an refers elsewhere to the many evil deeds of the people of Lot.
Here the Qur'an confines itself to mentioning that most ignominious of crimes
which invited God's scourge upon them.
The hideous act of sodomy, for which the people of Lot earned notoriety, has
no doubt been committed by perverts in all times. The Greeks philosophers had
the distinction of glorifying it as a moral virtue. It was left, however, for
the modern West to vigorously propagate sodomy so much so that it was declared
legal by the legislatures of a few countries. All this has been done in the
face of the obvious fact that this form of sexual intercourse is patently unnatural.
God created distinctions between the sexes of all living beings for the purposes
of reproduction and perpetuation of the species. As far as the human species
is concerned, their creation into two sexes is related to another end as well:
that the two should come together in order to bring into existence the family
and establish human civilization. In view of this, not only were human beings
divided into two sexes, but each sex was made attractive to the other. The physical
structure and psychological make-up of each sex was shaped in keeping with the
purpose of forging bonds of mutual cordiality between the members of the two
sexes. The sexual act, which is intensely pleasurable is at once a factor leading
to the fulfilment of nature's purposes as underlined by the sexual division
of humankind as well as a reward for fulfilling these purposes.
Now, the crime of the person who commits sodomy in flagrant opposition to this
scheme of things, is not limited to that act alone. In fact he commits along
with it a number of other crimes. First, he wages war against his own nature,
against his inherent psychological predilection. This causes a major disorder
which leads to highly negative effects on the lives of both the parties involved
in that unnatural act - effects which are physical, psychological as well as
moral. Second, he acts dishonestly with nature since while he derives sexual
pleasure he fails to fulfil the societal obligation of which this pleasure is
a recompense. Third, such a person also acts dishonestly with human society.
For, although he avails himself of the advantages offered by various social
institutions, when he has an opportunity to act, he uses his abilities in a
manner which not only fails to serve that society but which positively harms
it. Apart from neglecting the abligations he owes to society, he renders himself
incapable of serving the human race and his own family. He also produces effeminacy
in at least one male and potentially pushes at least two females towards sexual
corruption and moral depravity.
65. It is evident from the present verse that the people of Lot Were not
only shameless and corrupt, but were also a people who had sunk in moral depravity
to such a degree that even the presence of a few righteous persons had become
intolerable to them. Their moral degradation left them with no patience for
anyone who sought to bring about any moral reform. Even the slightest element
of purity found in their society was too much for them, and they simply wished
to have their society purged of it.
When these people reached such a low point of wickedness and hostility to good,
God decreed that they be wiped out altogether. When the collective life of a
people becomes totally bereft of goodness and purity, it forfeits the right
to exist on earth. Their example is like that of a basket of fruit. As long
as some fruit remains firm, there is some justification to keep that basket.
But the basket has to be thrown away when the fruit becomes rotten.
66. As the Qur'an mentions elsewhere, Lot's wife supported her disbelieving
relatives to the last. Hence, when God directed Lot and his followers to migrate
from that corrupt land, He ordained that Lot's wife be left behind.
This seems to be an inference from( al- Tahrim 66: 10 - Ed).
67. The 'rainfall' in the verse does not refer to the descent of water from the sky. It refers rather to the volley of stones. The Qur'an itself mentions that their habitations were turned upside down and ruined. See (verse 85); also (Hud 11:82-3); (al-Hijr 15:74-E.)
68. In light of this verse and other references in the Qur'an, sodomy is
established as one of the deadliest sins; and that it incurred God's scourge
on those who indulged in it. We also know from the teachings of the Prophet
(peace be on him) that the Islamic state should purge society of this crime
and severely punish those guilty of it. There are several traditions from the
Prophet (peace be on him) which mention that very severe punishments were inflicted
on both partners of this act. According to one tradition, the Prophet (peace
be on him) ordered that both partners be put to death. (See Ibn Majah, Kitab
al-Hudud, 'Bab man 'amila 'Amal Qawm ut'- Ed.) In another tradition it has been
added that the culprits should be put to death whether they are married or un-married.
(Ibn Majah, Kitab al-Hudad - Ed.) In another tradition it has been said that
both parties should be stoned (to death). (Ibn Majah, Kitab al-Hudad, 'Bab man
'amila 'Amal Qawm Lut ' - Ed.) However, since no case of sodomy was reported
in the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be on him), the punishment did not acquire
a very clear and definitive shape. Among the Companions, 'Ali is of the view
that such sinners should be beheaded and instead of being buried should be cremated.
Abu Bakr also held the same view. However, 'Urnar and 'Uthman suggest that the
sinners be made to stand under the roof of a dilapidated building, which should
then be pulled down upon them. Ibn 'Abbas holds the view that those guilty of
such a sinful act should be thrown from the top of the tallest building of the
habitation and then pelted with stones. (See al-Fiqh 'ala al-Madhahib al-Arba'ah,
vol. 5, pp. 141-2 - Ed.) As for the jurists, Shafi pronounces the punishment
of death on both partners to sodomy irrespective of their marital status, and
of their role whether it be active or passive. According to Sha'bi, Zuhri, Malik
and Ahmad b. Hanbal, they should be stoned to death. Sa'id b. al-Musayyib, 'Ata',
Hasan Basri, Ibrahim Nakha'i, Sufyan Thawri and Awa'i believe that such sinners
deserve the same punishment as laid down for unlawful sexual-intercourse: that
unmarried ones should be lashed a hundred times and exiled, and that married
ones should be stoned to death. Abu Hanifah, however, does not recommend any
specific punishment. For him, the sinner should be awarded, depending on the
circumstances of each case, some deterrent punishment. According to one of the
reports, the same was the view of Shafi'i. (See Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni, vol.
8, pp. 187-8 - Ed.)
It should also be made clear that it is altogether unlawful for the husband
to perpetrate this act on his wife. The Prophet (peace be on him), according
to a tradition in Abu Da'ud, said: 'Cursed be he who commits this act with a
woman.' (Abu Da'ud, Kitab al-Nikah, 'Bab fi Jami ' al Nikah' - Ed.) In other
collections of Hadith such as Sunan of Ibn Majah and Musnad of Ahmad b. Hanbal.
we find the following saying of the Prophet (peace be on him): 'God will not
even look at him who commits this act of sodomy with his wife in her rectum.'
(Ibn Majah, Kitab al-Nikah', 'Bab al-Nahy'an Ityan al-Nisa' fi Adbarihinn',
Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 2, p. 344 - Ed.) Likewise the following saying
of the Prophet (peace be on him) is mentioned in Tirmidhi: 'He who makes sexual
intercourse with a menstruating woman, or indulges in sodomy with a woman. or
calls on a soothsayer, believing him to be true, denies the faith sent down
to Muhammad (peace be on him).' (Ibn Majah, Kitab al-Taharah, 'Bab al-Nahy 'an
ityan al-Ha'id'- Ed.)
69. The territory of Madyan (Midian) lay to the north-west of Hijaz and south
of Palestine on the coast of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, and part of
the territory stretched to the northern border of the Sinai Peninsula. The Midianites
and their towns were situated at the crossroads of the trade routes from Yemen
through Makka and Yanbu' to Syria along the Red Sea coast, and from Iraq to
Egypt. Midian was, therefore, quite well known to the Arabs. In fact it persisted
in their memory long after its destruction for the Arab trade caravans en route
to Syria and Egypt passed through territories which were full of the ruins of
their monuments.
Another point worth noting about the people of Midian is that they were reckoned
to be descendants of Midyan, a son of the Prophet Abraharn born of his third
wife, Qatura. According to a custom of the time, persons who attached themselves
to a notable family were gradually counted as members of that family, as the
descendants of that family's ancestor. It is for this reason that a large majority
of Arabs were called the descendants of Ismai'l. Likewise those who embraced
faith at the hands of Ya'qab's sons bore the general name 'the People of Israel'.
Now, since the inhabitants of Midian owed allegiance to Midyan, son of Abraham,
they were referred to as the descendants of Midyan and their territory was called
Midian.
In view of this it should not be thought that the Prophet Shu'ayb invited them,
for the first time, to follow Divine Guidance. At the time of the advent of
Shu'ayb their state was no different from that of the Israelites at the time
of the advent of Moses. They too were originally a Muslim people who had subsequently
moved far away from Islam. For six to seven centuries they lived amongst a people
who were steeped in polytheism and moral corruption, and this led to their contamination
with polytheism and moral corruption. Despite their deviation and corruption,
however, they claimed to be the followers of the true faith, and were proud
of their religious identification.
70. This shows that the people of Midian suffered from two major ailments - polytheism and dishonesty in business. Shu'ayb devoted his efforts to purging them of those evils.
71. The import of this statement has been explained earlier in (notes 44-5) above. In his exhortations to his people, Shu'ayb emphasized that they should not allow the order of life, established by the previous Prophets on the foundations of true faith and sound morals, to be corrupted by false beliefs and moral depravity.
72. This clearly shows that the people concerned claimed to be believers, as we have already pointed out. In fact, they were originally Muslims who had drifted away from Islam, who had become enmeshed in a range of evils. They not only professed to be believers, but took great pride in being so. See( n. 69) above - Ed. Shu'ayb made this fact the starting-point of his preaching. He told them that if they indeed were believers they should live up to that fact; they should consider their salvation to lie in practising goodness and virtue, honesty and integrity; and they should distinguish between good and evil on the basis of the standards followed by righteous people rather than of those who believed neither in God nor in the Hereafter.
73. This phrase signifies substantively what is meant by the commonly used Islamic formula In-sha' Allah ('If Allah so wills'). Its meaning is evident from( al-Kahf 18: 23-4), in which the believers are directed not to make definitive statements about what they will do without making such actions contingent on God's will. This is understandable since a believer firmly believes in God's power and is ever conscious that his destiny is inalienably tied to God's will. It is impossible for such a person to make foolish statements about what he will do and what he will not do. He is bound to make it clear that he will accomplish what he intends only, if 'God so wills'.
74. One should not pass cursorily over this short sentence; instead one must
reflect upon it. What the leaders of Midian in effect told their people was
that Shu'ayb's exhortations to practise honesty and righteousness, and to strictly
adhere to moral values, would spell their disaster. They implied that they could
not succeed in the business carried on by the people of Midian if they were
totally honest and straightforward in their dealings. Were they to let trading
caravans pass by unmolested, they would lose all the advantages of being located
at the crossroads of the major trade routes and by their proximity to the civilized
and prosperous countries such as Egypt and Iraq. Also, if they were to become
peaceful and to cease their attacks upon the trade caravans, they would no longer
be held in awe by neighbouring countries.
Such attitudes have not, however, been confined to the tribal chiefs of Shu'ayb.
People who stray away from truth, honesty and righteousness, regardless of their
age and clime, have always found in honesty a means of great loss. People of
warped mentalities in every age have always believed that trade, politics, and
other worldly pursuits can never flourish unless they resort to dishonest and
immoral practices. The main objection against the Message of truth in all ages
has been that the pursuit of truth spells material doom.
75. The destruction of the people of Midian remained proverbial in Arabia
for a long time. As such the following lines in Psalms are significant:
Yea, they conspire with one accord;
against thee they make a covenant -
the tents of Edom and the Ish'maelites.
Moab and the Hagrites,
Gebal and Ammon and Am'alek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
Assyria also has joined them;
they are the strong arms of the children of Lot.
Do to them as thou didst to Mid'ian (Psalms 83: 5-9).
Note also the following statement in Isaiah:
A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your
people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return.
Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. For the Lord, the Lord
of hosts, will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth. Therefore,
thus says the Lord, the Lord of hosts: 'O my people, who dwell in Zion be not
afraid of the Assyrians when they smite you with their rod and lift up their
staff against you as the Egyptians did. For in a very little while my indignation
will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. And
the Lord of hosts will wield against them a scourge, as when he smote Mid'ian
at the rock of Oreb . . .' (Isaiah 10: 21-6).
76. The stories narrated here have a definite didactic purpose and were narrated
with a view to highlighting their relevance to the time of the Prophet (peace
be on him). In each of these stories one of the parties is a Prophet who in
respect of his teachings greatly resembles Muhammad (peace be on him), in summoning
his people to the right way, in admonishing them, in sincerely seeking their
welfare. At the other end of the scale in each narrative are the unbelieving
nations who greatly resembled the Quraysh in the time of the Prophet (peace
be on him) with regard to their disbelief and moral degeneration.
By recounting the tragic end of each of these unrighteous nations of the past,
the Quraysh are reminded of the moral purpose of these stories. Through the
stories they are told that if, because of their stubbornness they fail to follow
the Messenger of God during the term of respite granted to them, they will be
subjected to the same destruction which befell those past nations who persisted
in wrong-doing and error.
77. After narrating individually the stories of how various nations responded
to the Message of their Prophets, the Qur'an now spells out the general rule
which has been operative throughout the ages. First, before the appearance of
a Prophet in any nation, conditions that would conduce to the acceptance of
his Message were created. This was usually done by subjecting the nations concerned
to a variety of afflictions and punishments. They were made to suffer miseries
such as famine, epidemics, colossal losses in trade and business, defeat in
war. Such events usually have a healthy impact on people. They lead to a softening
in their hearts. They generate humility and modesty. They enable people to shake
off their pride and shatter their reliance on wealth and power and induce thern
to trust the One Who is all-powerful and fully controls their destiny. Above
all, such events incline people to heed the words of warning and to turn to
God in humility.
But if the people continue to refrain from embracing the truth they are subjected
to another kind of test - that of affluence. This last test signals the beginning
of their destruction. Rolling in abundant wealth and luxury, people are inclined
to forget the hard times they have experienced. Their foolish leaders also inculcate
in their minds an altogether preposterous concept of history. They explain the
rise and fall of nations and the alternation of prosperity and adversity among
human beings by reference to blind natural forces, and in total disregard of
moral values. Hence if a nation is seized by an affliction or scourge, such
people see no reason why it should be explained in terms of moral failure. They
are rather inclined to consider that a person's readiness to heed moral admonition
or to turn humbly towards God, is a sign of psychological infirmity.
This foolish mentality has been portrayed all too well by the Prophet (peace
be on him): 'A believer continually faces adversity until he comes out of it
purified of his sins. As for the hypocrite, his likeness in adversity is that
of a donkey who does not know why his master had tied him and why he later released
him.' (Cited by Ibn Kathir in his comments on the verse - Ed.) Hence, when a
people become so hard of heart that they neither turn to God in suffering, nor
thank Him for His bounties in prosperity, they are liable to be destroyed at
any moment.
It should be noted that the above rule which was applied to the nations of the
previous Prophets, was also applied in the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace
be on him). When this surah was revealed the Quraysh displayed exactly the same
characteristics and attitudes as those nations which had earlier been destroyed.
According to a tradition narrated by both 'Abd Allah b. Mas'ud and Abd Allah
b. 'Abbas, as the Quraysh grew in defiance to the Prophet's call, he prayed
to God that he might be assisted by inflicting famine on the Quraysh, as in
the days of the Prophet Joseph. Accordingly, God subjected the Quraysh to such
a severe famine that they took to subsisting on carcasses, the skins of animals,
bones, and wool. Unnerved by this the Quraysh, led by Abu Sufyan, implored the
Prophet (peace be on him) to pray to God on their behalf. But when the Prophets
prayer helped to improve the situation somewhat, the Quraysh reverted to their
arrogant and ignorant way's. (Bukhari, Kitab al-Taharah, Bab idha istashfa'a
al-Mushrikun bi al-Muslim' - Ed.) The wicked ones among them tried to dissuade
from God those who had derived some lesson from the famine. They argued that
famines take place in course of operation of natural laws, that they are merely
a recurrent physical phenomenon. They emphasized that the occurrence of famine
should not mislead people into believing in Muhammad (peace be on him). It was
during this time that the surah under discussion was revealed. The above verses
were thus quite relevant and it is against this backdrop that one appreciates
their full significance. (For details see
(Yunus 10: 21),
(al-Nahl 16: 112),
(al-Muminun 23: 75-6); and
(al-Dukhan 44: 9-16.)
78. The expression makr signifies a secret strategy of which the victim has no inkling until the decisive blow is struck. Until then, the victim is under the illusion that everything is in good order.
79. Every nation which rises in place of one that falls, can perceive the misdeeds which brought about the preceding nation's fall. Were such a people to make use of their reason, to appreciate the false ideas and misdeeds which led to the undoing of those who once strutted abroad in vainglory, they would have realized that the Supreme Being Who had once punished them for their misdeeds and deprived them of power and glory had not ceased to exist. Nor has that Supreme Being been deprived of the power to inflict a punishment on the people of the present times, a power with which He smote the nations of the past. Nor has God become bereft of the capacity to dislodge the wicked nations of today in the manner He did in the past.
80. Those people who derive no lesson from history, who thoughtlessly pass over the ruins of the past, remaining engrossed in heedlessness, are deprived by God of the capacity to think correctly and to pay due attention to the counsel of well-wishers. Such is the God-made law of nature that if someone closes his eyes, not even a single ray of sun-light will reach his sight. Similarly, if someone is bent upon closing his ears none can make him hear even a word.
81. The purpose behind the 'sealing of hearts' mentioned in the preceding verse is also explained in the present verse. It is clear from the two verses that the 'sealing of hearts' means that man's capacity to hear and understand the truth is seriously, impaired because of the operation of natural, psychological laws. Because of these laws, once a person turns away from the truth because of his irrational prejudices and the dominance of lust, he becomes enmeshed in his own obstinacy and adamance. With the passage of time this adamance is compounded to such an extent that despite all rational and empirical evidence in support of the truth, he continues to reject it.
82. The statement that 'We did not find most of them true to their covenants' signifies the general propensity of people not to honour their commitments. They are neither faithful to the primordial covenant which they made with God see (al-A'raf 7: 172) which is binding on every mortal as God's servant and creature, nor faithful to the collective covenant which is binding on every human being as a member of the human fraternity. Nor are men generally faithful to the commitments which they make to God in hours of distress or in moments when their moral instincts are awake and astir. Violation of any of these covenants has been termed fisq (transgression).
83. The stories narrated in the Qur'an bring home unmistakenly the point
that people who reject God's Message are not spared; rather they are destroyed.
In narrating at length the story of Moses, Pharaoh and the Israelites, the Qur'an
provides some important lessons for the unbelieving Quraysh, the Jews, and also
the believers.
The Quraysh are advised that the apparently large differences in the numerical
strength of the forces of truth and falsehood in the early phase of the Islamic
movement should not lead them to entertain any, kind of illusion. History, provides
ample testimony that the Message of truth has always had a very humble beginning.
That its proponent, initially, is in the hopelessly small minority of one; in
fact, one in the whole world. He then proceeds, despite his resource lessness,
to challenge the hegemony of falsehood, to declare war against it, despite the
fact that falsehood is backed by powerful states and empires. And ultimately
the truth triumphs. The Quraysh are also reminded that all conspiracies hatched
against the Prophets and all the means employed to suppress the Message of truth
are ultimately foiled. They are further told that God grants long terms of respite
to the evil-doing nations so that they might mend their ways and reform themselves.
But when they persistently disregard all warnings and learn no lesson from instructive
events, He smites them with an exemplary punishment.
Some further lessons are meant to be conveyed to those who believed in the Prophet
(peace be on him). First, that they should not feel disheartened by the paucity
of resources, nor be overawed by the impressive numerical strength, pomp and
grandeur of their enemies. Nor should they lose heart if they find that God's
help does not come at the expected hour. Second, that those who follow in the
footsteps of the Jews are bound, ultimately, to be seized by the same curse
which afflicted the Jews.
As for the Israelites, they are warned against the evil effects of clinging
to falsehood. Illustrations of this were provided by important events in their
own history. They are also asked to purge the Message of the earlier Prophets
of all accretions and distortions and to restore it to its original purity.
84. 'They dealt with Our signs unjustly' refers to their rejection of God's signs and to the fact that they dismissed them as sheer sorcery. If a person scoffs at a beautiful couplet, and dubs it as amateurish rhyming, this amounts to committing an offence against poetry itself. Likewise, to brand those extraordinary acts of God as sorcery and magic - even though magicians declared that those acts were beyond their ability - constitutes a serious offence not only against God's signs but also against common sense and truth.
85. 'Pharaoh' literally means 'the offspring of the sun-god'. The ancient
Egyptians called the sun 'Ra', worshipped it as their supreme deity', and Pharaoh
- Ra's physical manifestation and representative - was named after it. It was
for this reason that all Egyptian rulers claimed their authority on the basis
of their association with Ra, and every ruler who mounted the Egyptian throne
called himself Pharaoh, trying thereby to assure his people that he was their
supreme deity.
It may be noted that the Qur'anic narrative regarding Moses refers to two Pharaohs.
The first of these was one during whose reign Moses was born and in whose palace
he was brought up. The second Pharaoh to Whorn reference is made is the one
whom Moses invited to Islam and who was asked to liberate the Israelites. It
is this latter Pharaoh who was finally drowned. Modern scholarship is inclined
to the view that the first Pharaoh was Rameses 11 who ruled over Egypt from
1292 B.C. to 1225 B.C. while the second Pharaoh was Minpetah, his son, who had
become a co-sharer in his father's authority during the latter's lifetime and
who, after his death, became the fully-fledged ruler of Egypt. This, however,
is not fully established since Moses, according to the Egyptian calendar, died
in 1272 B.C. In any case these are merely historical conjectures. It is quite
difficult to establish a clear chronological framework owing to discrepancies
in the Egyptian, Israeli and Christian calendars.
86. Moses was sent to Pharaoh to invite him to two things; first, to surrender himself to God (i.e. Islam); and second, to release the Israelites - who were already Muslims - from his oppressive bondage. The Qur'an refers occasionally to both these objectives, and occasionally confines itself to mentioning either of the two.
87. Moses was granted these two miraculous signs in order to provide testimony
to his being a Messenger of God, the creator and sovereign of the universe.
As we have mentioned earlier, whenever the Prophets introduced themselves as
God's Message-bearers, people asked them to produce some miraculous sign, to
perform something supernatural. In response to those demands the Prophets produced
what the Qur'an terms as 'signs', and which are called 'miracles' by theologians.
Those who tend to play down the supernatural character of such signs or miracles,
and who try to explain them in terms of natural laws of causation, in fact attempt
to build a mid-way house between believing and disbelieving in the statements
of the Qur'an. Such an approach can hardly be considered reasonable. What it
does demonstrate, however, is how such people can be pulled in two opposite
directions. On the one hand, they are not inclined to believe in a Book which
abounds in narrations of a supernatural kind. On the other hand, being born
followers of their ancestral religion, they are not inclined to reject the Book
which carries supernatural narrations.
With regard to miracles, there are two basic questions that people should ask
themselves. Did God, after creating the universe and establishing a system of
natural causations therein, suspend Himself such that it is no longer possible
for Him to interfere in the workings of the universe? Or does He still hold
the reins to His realm in His owns Hands so that His command is enforced every
moment, and He does retain the power to alter the shape of things and the normal
course of events - either partially or fully, - as and when He wills?
It is impossible for those who respond in the affirmative to the first question
to accept the idea of miracles. For clearly miracles do not fit in with their
concept of God and the universe. Honesty demands that instead of indulging in
far-fetched explanations of Qur'anic statements on miracles, such people should
clearly declare that they do not believe in the Qur'an. For quite obviously
the Qur'an is explicit, even quite emphatic in affirming the former concept
of God.
As for those who, being convinced by Qur'anic arguments, respond in the affirmative
to the second question regarding God and the universe, for them there is no
difficulty in accepting miracles. Let us take the instance mentioned in verse
107, namely, that the rod of Moses turned into a serpent. Now, there are those
who believe that serpents can come into being only through one process - the
known biological process. Such people are bound to reject the statement that
Moses' rod changed into a serpent and later reverted to its original shape.
On the contrary, if you are fully convinced that it is God's command alone which
causes life to arise from lifeless matter, and that God has full power to confer
whichever kind of life He wills, the transformation of the rod into a serpent
and its subsequent reversion to its original state is no stranger than the transformation
of any other lifeless matter into a living entity. The fact that the latter
happens virtually every day whereas the former took place only a few times in
history is not enough to declare the first as incredibly, strange and the second
as 'natural'.
88. The above account raises the question as to how a destitute member of
the slave Israeli nation could pose such a serious threat to an emperor as mighty
as Pharaoh. This is especially so when one considers that Pharaoh was not only
an absolute ruler over territory which stretched in one direction from Syria
to Libya and in the other from the Mediterranean coast to Ethiopia, but was
even considered a deity deserving of worship,
One might also wonder how the transformation of Moses' rod into a serpent could
he considered an event of such magnitude as to give rise to the fear that Moses
would overthrow the entrenched empire and unseat the royal family as well as
the entire ruling class. It might further seem strange that the mere declaration
of prophethood and the demand to liberate the people of Israel caused such a
furore even though no other political question had been touched upon.
The answer here lies in the fact that Moses' claim to prophethood implied the
call to total change, obviously, including political change. For if a person
lays claim to be God's Messenger, it implies that people obey him unreservedly.
For God's Messengers are not sent to the world to obey other human beings and
live in subordination to them; they rather ask others to accept them as their
leaders and rulers. It is this which explains why Pharaoh and his coteric felt
threatened by an all-out revolution -political, economic and social - when Moses
came forth with his call.
There remains the question as to why the claim to prophethood was considered
such a potential threat when Moses enjoyed the support of none except his brother,
Aaron, and his claim was reinforced by only two miracles - those of the shining
hand and the rod which turned into a serpent. This can be explained by two things.
First, that Pharaoh and his courtiers knew very well about Moses. All were aware
of his extraordinary abilities and his inherent calibre as a leader of men.
Also, according to the traditions of the Talmud and Josephus - provided they
are authentic -Moses had also learnt the martial arts and other skills which
were available only exclusively to royalty and which were required in connection
with their political and military leadership. Moreover, he had proved his mettle
as a good general during the expedition to Ethiopia. Furthermore, during the
course of his eight years of life in Midian - rigorous years in the desert working
as a shepherd - he had purged himself of all his weaknesses because of his association
with the Pharaonic svstern. Hence. when the Pharaonic court was confronted by
a mature, serene and pious man who came forth with the claim of prophethood,
it was obviously impossible for them to give short shrift to his claim. Second,
the miracles of the rod and the shining hand overawed Pharaoh and his courtiers
to such an extent they were almost convinced that Moses did indeed enjoy the
support of some supernatural power. That they were unnerved by the very first
proof of his prophethood is borne out by the contradictions in their charges
against Moses. On the one hand they dubbed Moses a sorcerer, and on the other
hand they accused him of plotting to banish them from their own land. It is
clear that had they taken Moses for a mere sorcerer, they would not have expressed
fears of political upheaval. For sorcery has never brought about any political
change in the world.
89. The plan of Pharaoh's courtiers clearly suggests that they knew the difference between mere sorcery and a miracle. They were well aware that miracles are effective and have the capacity to bring about actual transformation whereas sorcery results merely in optic illusion. Hence, they dubbed Moses a sorcerer so as to refute his claim to prophethood. They claimed instead that the transformation of the rod into a serpent was not a miracle; that it was rather a magical performance which could be undertaken by any sorcerer. Therefore, they asked all the sorcerers of the land to come together and display how rods could be magically transformed into serpents. They believed that such a magical show would remove the awesome effect created by Moses' miracles on the people, or at least sow doubts in their minds about those miracles.
90. It would be a mistake to believe that the rod of Moses swallowed up the rods and ropes cast by the other sorcerers and which had looked like serpents. The Qur'anic statement means that the rod of Moses swallowed up the falsehood faked by them. This clearly shows that wherever Moses' rod moved, it destroyed the magical effect which had caused the transformation of their ropes and rods. One blow of Moses' rod caused every other rod to revert to a rod, and every rope to revert to a rope. (For further elaboration see Tafhim al-Qur'an, (Ta Ha 20, n. 42)
91. Thus God turned the tables on Pharaoh and his courtiers they arranged the magic show in the hope that it would convince the people that Moses was just a sorcerer, and thus make them sceptical about his claim to prophethood. But the actual outcome was quite the opposite. The sorcerers who had been assembled were defeated. Not only that, it was also unanimously acknowledged that the signs displayed by Moses in support of his claim were not feats of magic. Rather, his signs rather manifested the might of God, the Lord of the universe, and hence could not be overcome by magic.
92. Faced with utter failure Pharaoh finally resorted to branding the whole
magic tournament as a conspiracy concocted by Moses and his accomplice sorcerers.
Under threat of death and physical torture he asked the sorcerers to confess
that they had acted in collusion with Moses. This last move by Pharaoh was ineffectual.
For the sorcerers readily agreed to endure every torture, clearly proving thereby
that their decision to accept Moses' message reflected their sincere conviction
and that no conspiracy was involved. Pharaoh was hardly left with any choice.
He, therefore, gave up all pretence to follow truth and justice, and brazenly
resorted to persecution instead.
The tremendous and instantaneous change which took place in the characters of
the sorcerers is also of significance. The sorcerers had come all the way from
their homes with the purpose of vindicating their ancestral faith and receiving
pecuniary reward from Pharaoh for overcoming Moses. However, the moment true
faith illumined their hearts, they displayed such resoluteness of will and love
for the truth that they contemptuously turned down Pharaoh's offer, and demonstrated
their full readiness to endure even the worst punishments for the sake of the
truth that had dawned upon them.
93. There were two periods of persecution. The first was during the reign of Rameses 11 and took place before Moses' birth, whereas the second period of persecution started after Moses' assumption to the office of prophethood. Common to both periods is the killing of the male issue of Israelites while the female was spared. It was a calculated design to rob the Israelites of their identity and to bring about their forcible assimilation. An inscription discovered during the archaeological excavations of 1896 probably belongs to this period. According to this inscription, Pharaoh Minpetah rounds off the narration of his achievements and victories in these words: 'The Israel have been exterminated, and no seed of them is left.' For further explanation see (al-Mu'min 40: 25)
94. Pharaoh's courtiers obstinately persisted in branding Moses' signs as
sorcery although they knew well that sorcery had nothing in common with the
miraculous signs granted to Moses. Even a fool would not he ready to believe
that the country-wide famine and the consistent decrease in agricultural output
could have been caused by magic. It is for this reason that the Qur'an says:
But when Our signs, which should have opened their eyes, came to them they said:
'This is clear sorcery! And they rejected those signs out of iniquity and arrogance
even though they were inwardly convinced of it'
(al-Naml 27: 13-14).
95. This probably refers to the torrential rain accompanied by hailstorm. While we do not totally exclude the possibility of other kinds of storms, we are inclined to the view, that it probably signifies hailstorm since the Bible specifically mentions that. (See Exodus 9: 23-4 - Ed.)
96. The word used in the text - qummal - denotes lice, fleas, small locusts, mosquitoes, and weevil. This rather general term has been used in the Qur'an probably to suggest that while men were afflicted with lice and fleas, weevil destroyed the barns. (Cf. Exodus 7-12. See also Tafhim al-ur'an, (al-Zukhruf 43, n. 43.)
97. The Israelites were made the inheritors of Palestine. This has been interpreted by some commentators of the Qur'an to mean that the Israelites were made the rulers of Egypt as well. This view, however, is neither supported by, the Qur'an nor by any other historical and archaeological evidence. We have, therefore, serious reservations about the correctness of this opinion. (See Tafhim a]-Qur'an, (al-Kahf 18, n. 57), and (al-Shuara' 26, n. 45)
98. The point at which the Israelites probably crossed the Red Sea lies somewhere
between the present Suez and Ismailia. After that they headed towards the south
of the Sinai peninsula along the coastal route. The western and northern regions
of the Sinai peninsula were then included in the Egyptian empire. In the southern
part of the peninsula, in the area lying between the present towns of Tur and
Abu Zanimah, there were copper and turquoise mines. Since these were of immense
value to the Egyptians, a number of garrisons had been set up to ensure their
security'. One such garrison was located at a place known as Mafqah, which also
housed a big temple. The ruins of this temple can still be found in the south-western
part of the peninsula. In its vicinity there was an ancient temple, dedicated
to the moon-god of the Semites. Passing by these places the people of Israel,
who had been subservient to the Egyptians for a long time and were thus considerably
Egyptianized in their outlook, felt the desire to indulge in idol-worship.
The extent to which the Israelites had become degenerated as a result of their
slavery may be gauged by Joshua's last address to the Israelites delivered seventy
years after their exodus from Epypt:
Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness;
put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt,
and serve the Lord. And if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this
day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served in the region
beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as
for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24: 14-15).
This shows that even though the Israelites had been taught and trained by Moses
for forty Years and by Joshua for twenty-eight years, they had still been unable
to purge their minds of those influences which had warped their outlook and
mentality during their period of bondage under Pharaoh. These Muslims had begun
to look upon idol-worship as natural. Even after their exodus, the sight of
a temple would incline them to indulge in the idolatrous practices which they
had observed among their former masters.
99. After the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt which marks, on the one
hand, the end of the constraints of slavery and on the other, the beginning
of their life as an independent nation, Moses was summoned by God to Mount Sinai
in order that he might receive the Law for Israel. He was initially summoned
for a period of forty days so that he might single-mindedly devote himself to
worshipping, fasting, meditation and reflection and thus develop the ability
to receive the revelation which was to put a very heavy burden upon him.
In compliance with God's command, Moses left the Israelites at the place now
known as the Wadi al-Shaykh which lies between Nabi Salih and Mount Sinai. The
place where the Israelites had camped is presently called
Maydan al-Rahah. At one end of the valley is a hillock where, according to local
tradition, the Prophet Salih pitched his tent after his migration from the land
of Thamud. A mosque built as a monument to the Prophet Salih still adorns the
landscape. Mount Harun is located at the other end of the valley where, again,
according to local tradition, the Prophet Harun (Aaron) stayed after his exasperation
with the Israelites because of their cow-worship. The top of the towering Mount
Sinai, standing 7,359 feet high, is mostly enveloped by clouds. The cave to
which Moses retired for forty days to devote himself to worship and meditation
is situated at the top of the mountain, and still attracts many pilgrims. Close
to the cave are a mosque and a church. Moreover, a monastery built in the Justinian
period stands even today at the foot of the mountain. (See Tafhim al-Qur'an,
(al-Naml 27: nn. 9-10).
100. Although Aaron was senior to Moses in age by three years, he was placed under the direction of the Prophet Moses and was required to assist him in connection with his mission, As explained elsewhere in the Qur'an, Aaron was not assigned independent prophethood; he was rather appointed a Prophet by God in response to Moses' prayer that he be appointed as his assistant. See (Ta Ha 20: 29-31 - Ed.)
101. The Bible categorically mentions that the tablets were of stone. The act of writing on these tablets is attributed in both the Qur'an and the Bible, to God. Nonetheless, it is not possible to ascertain whether the actual act of writing was as performed by God exercising His power directly, or by God in the sense of His assignment of the task to some angel or to Moses (cf. Exodus 31: 18, 32: 15-16; and Deuteronomyi, 5: 6-22).
102 The Israelites were asked to hold fast to the Law to follow it in its plain meaning, a meaning which can he grasped by an ordinary man of sound heart and good intent with the help of his common sense. This stipulation was added in order to discourage the chicanery and hair-splitting to which lawyers resort in order to accommodate the crooked aims of the people. The warning was necessary to emphasize that holding fast to the Law was not to be equated with following the chicanery of the lawyers.
103. The Israelites were told that on their way they would come across the ruins of earlier nations who had refused to turn to God and who had persisted in their evil way's. Observing those ruins would he instructive insofar as they eloquently spoke of the tragic end that meets those who indulge in such iniquity .
104. It is God's law that evil-doers do not and cannot take any lesson from the otherwise instructive events which they observe. The arrogance mentioned here refers to man's delusion that he is on a higher plane than God's creatures and servants. It is this which prompts him to disregard God's command and to adopt an attitude which suggests that he neither considers himself God's servant, nor God his Lord. Such egotism has no basis in fact; it is sheer vanity. For as long as man live on God's earth, what can justify his living as a servant of anyone other than the Lord of the universe? It is for this reason that the Qur'an declares this arrogance to be 'without any right'.
105. That the acts of such persons are vain and fruitless is evident from the fact that the acceptance of man's acts by God is subject to two conditions. First, one's acts should conform to the Law laid down by God. Second, man should be prompted by the desire to achieve success in the Hereafter rather than merely in this world. If these conditions are not fulfilled, a person's acts will be of no consequence. He who performs an act in defiance of God's guidance, is guilty of rebellion and is undeserving of God's reward. He who acts only to obtain worldly success, is neither entitled to nor should expect any reward from God in the Hereafter. If someone uses another person's land contrary to his wish, what else can he expect from him than punishment? The same holds true for he who deliberately uses someone's land, knowing well that he is not entitled to any produce after the restoration of that land to its owner. There is no justification for him to expect any share of the produce of that land.
106. Here reference is made to the forty days which Moses spent on Mount Sinai in compliance with God's command when his people remained in the plain at the foot of the mountain called Maydan al-Rahah.
107. Their cow-worship was another manifestation of the Israelites' slavish attachment to the Egyptian traditions at the time of the Exodus. It is well-known that cow-worship was widespread in Egypt and it was during their stay there that the Israelites developed this strange infatuation. The Qur'an also refers to their inclination to cow-worship: 'Their hearts were overflowing with love for the calf because of their unbelief' (al-Baqarah 2: 93). What is more surprising about their turn to idolatry is that it took place just three months after their escape from Egypt. During that time they had witnessed the parting of the sea, the drowning of Pharaoh, and their own deliverance from what otherwise seemed inescapable slavery, to the Egyptians. They knew well that all those events had taken place owing to the unmistakable and direct interference of the all-powerful God. Yet they had the audacity to demand that their Prophet should make for them a false god that they might worship. Not only that, soon after Moses left them for Mount Sinai, they themselves contrived a false god. Disgusted with such conduct on the part of the Israelites, some Prophets have likened their people to a nymphomaniac who loves all save her husband and who is unfaithful to him even on their nuptial night.
108. The above Qur'anic verse absolves Aaron of the charge levelled against
him by the Jews. According to the Biblical version of the story of calf-worship,
however, it was Aaron who had made the golden calf for the people of Israel.
To quote:
When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people
gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, 'Up, make up gods who
shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the
land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' And Aaron said to them,
'Take off the rings of gold which are in the ears of your wives, your sons,
and your daughters, and bring them to me.' So all the people took off the rings
of gold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received
the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten
calf; and they said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out
of the land of Egypt.' When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and
Aaron made proclamation and said, 'Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.' And
they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings and brought peace
offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play (Exodus
32: 1--6).
The Qur'an, however, refutes the above account at many places and points out
that it was Samiri the rebel of God rather than Aaron the Prophet who committed
that heinous sin. For details see (Ta Ha 20: 90 ff.)
Strange though it may appear, the Israelites maligned the characters of those
very people whom they believed to be the Messengers of God. The accusations
they hurled at them included such heinous sins as polytheism, sorcery, fornication,
deceit and treachery. Needless to say, indulgence in any of these sins is disgraceful
for even an ordinary believer and decent human being, let alone Prophets. In
the light of the history of Israeli morals, however, it is quite understandable
why they maligned their own Prophets. In times of religious and moral degeneration
when both the clergy and laity were steeped in sin and immorality, they tried
to seek justification for their misdeeds. In order to sedate their own consciences
they ascribed the very sins of which they were guilty to their Prophets and
then their own inability to refrain from sins on the grounds that not even the
Prophets could refrain.
The same characteristic is evident in Hinduism. When the Hindus reached the
lowest point in their moral degeneration, they produced a literature which presents
a very perverted image of Hindu ideals. This literature portrayed their gods,
hermits and monks as crass sinners. In doing so, they suggested that since such
noble people could not refrain from indulging in grave sins, ordinary mortals
are inevitably bound to commit them. Moreover, a person's indulgence in immoral
acts should not make him remorseful for the same acts were committed earlier
by their monks and hermits.
109. Moses was summoned for the second time to Mount Sinai along with seventy chiefs of the nation in order that they might seek pardon for their calf-worship and renew their covenant with God. Reference to this event is not found in the Bible and Talmud. They simply mention that Moses was summoned to receive new tablets as replacements for the ones he had thrown down and broken. (Cf. Exodus 34.)
110. When a people are put to the test it is an occasion of crucial importance for it helps to distinguish the righteous from the wicked. Like a winnow, it separates out of the mass the useful from the useless. Hence in his wisdom God subjects people to tests. Those who successfully pass through them, owe their success to the support and guidance they receive from God. As for those who are unsuccessful, their failure is the result of their not receiving that support and guidance. This does not detract from the fact that men neither arbitrarily receive or are denied God's support and guidance. Both extending and withholding support and guidance follow a rule which is based on wisdom and justice. The fact, however, remains that man can succeed in the test to which he is put only if God supports and guides him.
111. It is false to assume that the general rule underlying God's governance of His realm is that of wrath which is occasionally tempered with mercy and benevolence. On the contrary, the general rule is that of mercy and benevolence and wrath is the exception which is aroused when man's transgression and rebellion exceed all reasonable limits.
112. The preceding verse concludes God's response to Moses' prayer. This
was the appropriate moment to invite the Israelites to follow the Message preached
by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him). The upshot of what is being said
here is that people can even now attain God's mercy exactly as they could in
the past. These conditions require that people should now follow the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be on him), since refusal to follow a Prophet after his advent
amounts to gross disobedience to God. Those who do not commit themselves to
follow the Prophet (peace be on him) cannot attain the essence of piety, no
matter how hard they try to make a pretence of it by observing the minor details
of religious rituals generally associated with piety.
Likewise, the Israelites had been told that paying Zakah was essential to win
God's mercy. However, payment of Zakah is meaningless unless one supports the
struggle to establish the hegemony of truth which was being carried on under
the leadership of the Prophet (peace be on him). For unless one spends money
to exalt the word of God, the very foundation of Zakah are lacking, even if
a person spends huge amounts in the way of charity. They were also reminded
that they had been told in the past that God's mercy was exclusively for those
who believed in His Revelation. Now those who rejected the Revelation received
by Muhammad (peace be on him) could never be considered believers in Revelation
no matter how zealously they claim to believe in the Torah.
Reference to the Prophet (peace be on him) in this verse as umimi is significant
as the Israelites branded all other nations as Gentiles (ummis). Steeped in
racial prejudice, they did not consider members of other nations as their equals,
let alone accept any person not belonging to them as a Prophet. The Qur'an also
states the Jewish belief that they would not be taken to ask for whatever they
might do to non-Jews. See (Al'Imran 3: 75). Employing the same term which they
themselves had used, the Qur'an tells them that their destiny was linked with
the ummi Prophet. By obeying him they would become deserving of God's mercy.
As for disobedience to the Prophet (peace be on him). it would continue to arouse
God's wrath which had been afflicted upon them for centuries.
113. Pointed and repeated reference to the coming of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) is made in the Bible. (See Deuteronomy 18: 19; Matthew 21: 33-46; John 1: 19-25; 14: 15-17, 25-30; 15: 25-26; 16: 7-15.)
114. The Prophet declares the pure things which they had forbidden as lawful, and the impure things which they had legitimized as unlawful.
115. The Israelites had fettered their lives by undue restrictions which had been placed on them by the legal hair-splitting of their jurists, the pietistic exaggerations of their spiritual leaders, the introduction of superstitions and self-contrived laws and regulations by, their masses. The Prophet, by relieving them of every unnecessary burden and releasing them from every unjustified restriction, in fact liberated their shackled lives.
116. This marks the resumption of the main theme of the discourse which had been interrupted by the parenthesis see (verses 157-8)calling people to affirm the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be on him).
117. The translators generally render the verse as the following:
Of the people of Moses there is a section who guide and do justice in the light
of truth. (Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali.)
They do so because, in their view, the present verse describes the moral and
intellectual state of the Israelites at the time when the Qur'an was revealed.
However, the context seems to indicate that the above account refers to the
state of the Israelites at the time of the Prophet Moses. Thus, the purpose
of the verse is to emphasize that even in the days of their calf-worship when
God rebuked them, all members of Israel were not corrupt; that a sizeable section
of them was righteous.
118. This refers to the organization of the people of Israel which has been mentioned in the Qur'an in (al-Ma'idah 5:12 )and also described, at length, in the Bible in Numbers. According to these sources, in compliance with God's command the Prophet Moses first conducted the census of the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai. He registered their twelve tribes, ten of whom were descendants of the Prophet Jacob, and the remaining two descendants of the Prophet Joseph, as separate and distinct tribes. He appointed a chief for each tribe and assigned to him the duty to maintain moral, religious, social and military discipline within each tribe and to enforce the Law. The Levites, who were descendants of the Prophets Moses and Aaron, however, were organized as a distinct group entrusted with the task of providing religious guidance to all tribes.
119. This organization was one of the numerous favours which God had bestowed
upon the Israelites. Mention is made of three other favours bestowed upon them.
First, an extraordinary arrangement for their water supply was made in the otherwise
arid Sinai peninsula. Second, the sky was covered with clouds such that they
were protected from the scorching heat of the sun. Third, a unique meal, consisting
of manna and quails was sent down on them. Had this Divine arrangement, catering
as it did for the millions of wandering Israelites' basic necessities of life,
not been made, they would certainly have perished.
On visiting that land even today it is difficult to visualize how such an arrangement
providing shelter, food and water for millions of people was made. The population
of this peninsula standseven today at a paltry, 55,000 people. (it may be noted
that this statement was made in the fifties of the present century. However,
the present population of the Sinai is 200,000 - Ed.) If a five or six hundred
thousand strong army, were to camp there today, it would be quite a task for
those at the helm to provide the necessary supplies for the army. Little wonder,
then, that many scholars who belive neither in the Scripture nor in miracles,
rule out the historical accuracy of the event. For them, the people of Israel
camped in an area lying south of Palestine and north of Arabia. In view of the
physical and economic geography of the Sinai peninsula, they consider it totally
incredible that such a large population could have stayed there for years. What
has made these scholars even more sceptical about the event is the fact that
the Israelites were not then in a position to procure supplies from either the
Egyptians or the 'Amaliqah' who inhabited respectively the eastern and northern
parts of the peninsula, since both groups were hostile to them. It is against
this background that one may appreciate the immense importance of the favours
God conferred on the Israelites. Likewise, it also gives one some idea of the
blatant ingratitude of the people of Israel since they consistently defied and
betrayed God even though they had witnessed a great many divine signs. (See
Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. 1,
(al-Baqarah 2: nn. 72-3 and 76, pp.
76-7 - Ed.)
120. This alludes to their constant defiance and rebellion in face of God' favours which eventually brought about their destruction.
121. For details see Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. 1, (al-Baqarah 2: nn. 74-5, pp. 76-7).
122. Most scholars identify this place with Eilat, Eilath or Eloth. (Cf.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, XV edition, 'Macropaedia', vol. 3, art. 'Elat' -Ed.)
The seaport called Elat which has been built by the present state of Israel
(which is close to the Jordanian seaport, Aqaba), stands on the same site. It
lies at the end of that long inlet of the Red Sea situated between the eastern
part of the Sinai peninsula and the western part of Arabia. It was a major trading
centre in the time of Israelite ascendancy. The Prophet Solomon took this city
as the chief port for his fleet in the Red Sea.
The event referred to in the above verse is not reported in Jewish Scriptures.
Nor do historical accounts shed any light on it. Nonetheless, it appears from
the way it has been mentioned in the above verse and in al-Baqarah that the
Jews of the early days of Islam were quite familiar with the event. (See Towards
Understanding the Qur'an, vol. 1,
(al-Baqarah 2: 65 and n.83, pp. 81-2 - Ed)).
This view is further corroborated by the fact that even the Madinan Jews who
spared no opportunity to criticize the Prophet (peace be on him) did not raise
any objection against this (Qur'anic account.
123. 'Sabbath', which means Saturday, was declared for the Israelites as the holi day of the week. God declared the Sabbath as a sign of the perpetual covenant between God and Israel. (Exodus 31: 12-16.) The Israelites were required to strictly keep the Sabbath which meant that they may not engage in any worldly activity; they may not cook, nor make their slaves or cattle serve them. Those who violated these rules were to be put to death. The Israelites, however, publicly violated these rules. In the days of the Prophet Jeremiah (between 628 and 586 B.C.), the Israelites carried their merchandise through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day itself. Jeremiah, therefore, warned them that if they persisted in their flagrant violation of the Law, Jerusalem would be set on fire. (Jererniah 17: 21-7.) The same complaint is voiced in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (595-536 B.C.) who referred to their violation of the Sabbath rules as their major sin. (Ezekiel 20: 12-24.) In view of these Scriptural references it seems plausible that the event mentioned in the above Qur'anic verse is related to the same period.
124. Men are tested by God in a variety of ways. When a person or group of people begin to turn away from God and incline themselves towards disobedience, God provides abundant opportunities for them to disobey. This is done in order that the full potential for disobedience, which had remained hidden because of lack of such an opportunity, might come to the surface.
125. This shows that the people in that town were of three categories. One,
those who flagrantly violated God's commands. Two, those who were silent spectators
to such violations and discouraged those who admonished the criminals, pleading
that their efforts were fruitless. Three, those who, moved by their religious
commitment, actively enjoined good and forbade evil so that the evil-doers might
make amends. In so doing, they were prompted by, a sense of duty, to bring back
the evil-doers to the right path, and if the latter did not respond to their
call, they would at least be able to establish before their Lord that for their
part they had fulfilled their duty to admonish the evil-doers. So, when the
town was struck by God's punishment, only the people belonging to the last category
were spared for they had displayed God-consciousness and performed the duties
incumbent upon them. As for the people of the other two categories, they were
reckoned as transgressors and were punished in proportion to their crimes.
Some commentators on the Qur'an are of the opinion that whereas the Qur'an specifically,
describes the fate of the people belonging to the first and third categories,
it is silent about the treatment meted out to the people of the second category.
It cannot be said, therefore, with certainty, whether they were spared or punished.
It is reported that Ibn 'Abba's initially believed that God's punishment included
the second category as well. It is believed that later his disciple Ikramah
convinced him that only the people of the second category would be delivered
in the same manner as the people of the third category.
A closer study of the Qur'anic account, however, shows that Ibn 'Abba's earlier
viewpoint is sound. It is evident that the people of the town would inevitably
have been grouped into two categories on the eve of God's punishment: those
who were spared and those who were not. Since the Qur'an states that the people
of the third category, had been spared, it may be legitimately assumed that
the people belonging to both the first and the second categories were punished.
This view is also corroborated by the preceding verse:
Also recall when a party of them said: 'Why do you admonish a people whom Allah
is about to destroy or punish severely? They said: 'We admonish them in order
to he able to offer an excuse before your Lord, and in the hope that they will
guard against disobedience.' (Verse 164).
Thus it clearly emerges from the above discussion that all the people of the
place where evil deeds are publicly committed stand guilty, One cannot be absolved
merely on the basis that one had not committed any evil. One may be acquitted
only, in the event that one made every possible effort to bring about reform
and actively worked in the cause of the truth. This constitutes the divine law
pertaining to collective evil as is evident from the teachings of the Qur'an
and Hadith. The Qur'an says:
And guard against the mischief that will not only bring punishment to the wrong-doers
among you. Know well that Allah is severe in punishment (Al-Anfal 8: 15).
Explaining the above verse the Prophet (peace be on him) remarked: 'God does
not punish the generality of a people for the evil committed by a particular
section of that people until they observe others committing evil and do not
denounce it even though they are in a position to do so. And when they do that,
God punishes all, the evil-doers and the people in general.' (Ahmad b. Hanbal.
Musnad, vol. 4, p. 192 - Ed.)
Moreover. the verse in question seems to suggest that God's punishment afflicted
the town concerned in two stages. The first stage is referred to as 'grevious
chastisement', for in the next stage they were turned into apes. We may, therefore,
hold that people belonging to both the first and the second categories were
subjected to punishment. But the punishment of transforming the persistent evil-doers
into apes was confined only to the people of the second category. (God knows
best. If I am right that is from God. If I err, that is from me alone. God is
All-Forgiving, All-Merciful.)
126. For details see Towards Understanding the Q ur'an, vol. 1, (al-Baqarah 2: n. 83, pp. 81-2),
127. The Qur'anic expression 'ta'adhdhana' means almost the same 'he warned; he proclaimed'.
128. Since the 8th century B.C. the Israelites were warned consistently. This is borne out by the contents of the Books of the Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and their successors. Jesus too administered the same warning which is borne out by many of his orations in the New Testament, This was also later confirmed by the Qur'an. History bears out the veracity of the statement made both in the Qur'an and the earlier scriptures. For throughout history, since the time the Jews were warned, they have continually been subjected to abject persecution in one part of the world or another.
129. The Jews knowingly commit sins in the belief that being God's chosen people they will necessarily be pardoned and spared God's punishment. As a result of this misconception, they neither repent nor refrain from committing sins. How unfortunate the Jews are! They received the Scriptures which could have made them leaders of all mankind. But they were so petty-minded that they aspired to nothing higher than paltry worldly benefits. Thus even though they had the potential of becoming the upholders of justice and righteousness across the world they ended up merely as worshippers of this world.
130. The people of Israel know well that the Torah does not unconditionally assure them salvation. They have never been promised by God or any of His Prophets that they will attain deliverance no matter what they do. Therefore they have absolutely no right to ascribe to God something which He never told them. What makes their crime even worse is that their claim to unconditional salvation constitutes a sacrilege of their covenant with God whereby they pledged never to attribute any false statement to God.
131. The above verse has two renderings. It may be either translated as above or it may be rendered thus: 'For the righteous, only the home in the Hereafter is the best.' Going by the first rendering, the verse means that salvation is not the exclusive privilege of a particular person or a family. It is absolutely out of the question that one will attain deliverance even if one commits sins, simply on account of being a Jew. A little reflection will help one realize that only the righteous and God-fearing will be rewarded in the Hereafter. In the light of the second rendering, only the unrighteous prefer worldly, gains to reward in the Hereafter. As for the righteous, they are conscious of the importance of the Hereafter and hence forego worldly benefits for the sake of reward in the Next World.
132. The allusion here is to the event which took place when Moses proclaimed
God's Divine Law at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God; and they took their
stand at the foot of the mountain. And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because
the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke
of a kiln, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. (Exodus 19: 17-18.)
This awesome atmosphere was created by God at the time when He made the people
of Israel enter into a covenant with Him in order to impress upon them the gravity
of the event and the supreme importance of the covenant. It should not be mistakenly
assumed, however, that the people of Israel, who were reluctant to make the
covenant, were forced to enter into it. In fact they were all believers and
had gone to the Mount merely to make the covenant. The extraordinary conditions
which God created were such as to make the Israelites realize that making a
covenant with God was not an ordinary matter. They were rather made to feel
that they were entering into a covenant with none other than Almighty God and
that violating it could spell their disaster.
This concludes the discourse especially addressed to the Israelites. From here
on the discourse is directed to all mankind, and particularly to the people
whom the Prophet (peace be on him) addressed directly.
133. The preceding discourse concluded with the note that God made the Israelites enter into a covenant with their Lord. In the following passages all men are told that a covenant with God is not the exclusive privilege of Israel. In fact all human beings are bound in a covenant with God and a Day will come when they will be made to answer how well they were able to observe that covenant.
134. This event, according to several traditions, took place at the time
of the creation of Adam. Apart from the prostration of the angels before Adam
and the proclamation that man would be God's vicegerent on earth, all the future
progeny of Adam were gathered, and were endowed with both existence and consciousness
in order to bear witness to God's lordship. The best interpretation of this
event is found in a statement by, 'Ubayy b. Ka'b, who has probably given the
substance of what he had heard from the Prophet (peace be on him):
God gathered all human beings, divided them into different groups, granted them
human form and the faculty of speech, made them enter into a covenant, and then
making them witnesses against themselves He asked them: 'Am I not your Lord?'
They replied: 'Assuredly you are Our Lord.' Then God told them: 'I call upon
the sky and the earth and your own progenitor, Adam, to be witness against you
lest you should say on the Day of Judgement that you were ignorant of this.
Know well that no one other than Me deserves to he worshipped and no one other
than Me is your Lord. So do not ascribe any partner to Me. I shall send to you
My Messengers who will remind you of this covenant which you made with Me. I
shall send down to you My Books.' In reply all said: 'We witness that You are
Our Lord and our Deity. We have no lord or deity other than You.' (Ahmad b.
Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 5, p. 135 - Ed.)
This event has also been interpreted by some commentators in a purely allegorical
sense. They are of the opinion that the purpose of the Qur'an is merely to emphasize
that the acceptance of God's lordship is innate in human nature. However, this
was narrated in such a way as to suggest that the event did actually take place.
We do not subscribe to this allegorical interpretation of the primordial covenant
of man with God. For both the Qur'an and Hadith recount it not only as an actual
happening, but also affirm that the covenant would be adduced as an argument
against man on the Day of Judgement. There remains, therefore, no ground whatsoever
to interpret the event in terms of mere allegory.
In our own view the event did take place. God caused all human beings whom He
intended to create until the Last Day to come into existence. He endowed upon
them life, consciousness and the faculty of speech, and brought home to them
that there is no god or lord besides Him, and that Islam alone is the right
way to serve Him.
If someone considers calling all human beings together in one assembly impossible,
that shows, more than anything else the woeful paucity of his imagination. For
if someone accepts that God has the power to create countless human beings in
succession, there is no reason to suppose that He did not have the power to
create them all at some given moment prior to the creation of the universe,
or that He will be unable to resurrect them all at some given moment in the
future. Again, it stands to reason that at a time when God wanted to designate
man as His vicegerent on earth after endowing him with reason and understanding,
He took from him an oath of allegiance. All this is so reasonable that the actual
occurrence of the covenant should not cause any wonder. On the contrary, one
should wonder if the event did not take place.
135. The verse describes the purpose of the primordial covenant. The purpose
is to make every person responsible for his deeds so that if he rebels against
God he will be held fully accountable for that rebelfion. Because of the covenant,
no one will be able either to plead for acquittal on grounds of ignorance, or
blame his misdeeds on his ancestors. In other words, this primordial covenant
has been mentioned as the reason for the inherent awareness in every single
person that God is the only Lord and Deity. Thus, none can totally absolve himself
of his responsibility on the plea that he was altogether ignorant, or transfer
the blame for his error to the corrupt environment in which he was brought up.
Now, it can be argued that even if the covenant did take place, no human being
remembers its occurrence. No human being is aware that a long time ago, at the
time of creation, he had affirmed, in response to God's query, that God indeed
was his Lord. This being the case, it can be further argued that no charge can
be legitimately brought against man on the ground of a covenant with God which
he no longer remembers to have made. In response to this it can be said that
had the covenant been made fully in man's conscious memory, it would be meaningless
for God to put man to the test in this world. Hence, there can be no denying
that the covenant is not preserved in man's conscious memory. But it has doubtlessly
been preserved in man's sub-conscious mind. In this respect the primordial covenant
is no different from other pieces of knowledge in man's sub-conscious mind.
Whatever man has so far achieved in the way of culture and civilization can
be attributed to his latent potentialities. All external factors and internal
motivations simply account for helping the actualization of those potentialities.
Neither education nor training nor environmental factors can bring out anything
which is not potentially found in the human mind. Likewise, external factors
have no power to root out man's latent potentialities. External factors may,
at the most, cause a person to deflect from the course dictated by sound human
nature. However, man's sound nature is inclined to resist the pressure of external
forces and exert itself in order to find an outlet. As we have said earlier,
this is not peculiar to man's religious propensity alone, but is equally true
of all his mental potentialities. In this regard the following points are particularly
noteworthy:
(1) All man's potentialities exist in the sub-conscious mind and prove their
existence when they manifest themselves in the form of human action.
(2) The external manifestation of these potentialities requires external stimuli
such as instruction, upbringing. and attitudinal orientation. In other words,
our actions consist of the responses of our inherent potentialities to external
stimuli.
(3) Man's inner potentialities can be suppressed both by false urges within
him as well as external influences by trying to pervert and distort those latent
potentialities. The potentialities themselves, however, cannot he totally rooted
out.
The same holds true of man's intuitive knowledge regarding his position in the
universe and his relationship with his Creator. In this connection the following
points should be borne in mind:
(1) That man has always had such intuitive knowledue is evident from the fact
that this knowledge has surfaced throughout history in every period and in every
part of the world, and which no power has so far been able to extirpate.
(2) That this intuitive knowledge conforms to objective reality, is borne out
by, the fact that whenever this knowledge has influenced human life, it has
had beneficial results.
(3) That in order to manifest itself in his practical life, man's intuitive
knowledge has always required external stimuli. The stimuli have consisted of
the advent of the Prophets (peace be on them), the revelation of the Heavenly
Books, and the striving of those who have tried to follow them and invite others
to do the same. It is for this reason that the Qur'an has been desienated as
mudhakkir (the reminder): dhikr (remembrance); tadhkirah (admonition). and the
function of the Qur'an has been characterized as tadhkir(reminding). What this
suggests is that the Prophets, the Heavenly Books and those who invite people
to the truth do not seek to provide human beings with something new, something
which exists outside of them. Their task rather consists of bringing to the
surface and rejuvenating what is latent, though dormant, in man himself.
Throughout the ages man has always positively responded to this 'Reminder'.
This itself is testimony to the fact that it is embodied in a knowledge which
has always been recognized by; man's soul.
Forces arising from ignorance and obscurantism, lust and bigotry, and the erroneous
teachings and promptings of devils - human as well as jinn - have always attempted
to suppress, conceal, and distort the fact that the truth preached by the Prophets
is embedded in man's soul. These attempts gave rise to polytheism, atheism,
religious misdirection and moral corruption. Despite the combined efforts of
the forces of falsehood, however, this knowledge has always had an imprint on
the human heart. Hencel, whenever any effort was made to revive that knowledge,
it has proved successful.
Doubtlessly those who are bent on denying the truth can resort to a great deal
of sophistry in order to deny or at least create doubt and confusion about the
existence of this knowledge. However on the Day of Resurrection the Creator
will revive in man the memory of the first assembly when man made his covenant
with God and accepted Him as his Only Lord. On that occasion God will provide
evidence to the effect that the covenant always remained imprinted on man's
soul. He will also show how from time to time man tried to suppress his inner
voice which urged him to respond to the call of the covenant; how again and
again his heart pressed him to affirm the truth; how his intuition induced him
to denounce the errors of belief and practice; how the truth ingrained in his
soul tried to express itself and respond to those who called to it; and how
on each occasion he lulled his inner self to sleep because of his lust and bigotry.
However a Day will come when man will no longer be in a position to put forth
specious arguments to justify his false claims. That will be the Day when man
will have no option but to confess his error. It will then be impossible for
people to say that they were ignorant, or negligent. In the words of the Qur'an:
'...and they will bear witness against themselves that they had disbelieved'
(al-An'am 6: 130).
136. 'Signs' here refer to the imprints made by knowledge of the truth on the human heart which help towards cognition of the truth.
137. 'To return' here signifies giving up rebellion, and reverting to obedience to God.
138. The words of the text seem to indicate that the person mentioned must
indeed be a specific rather than an imaginary figure mentioned for the sake
of parable. It may, be borne in mind that God and His Messenger (peace be on
him) usually mention evil without specific references to any individual. This
is obviously in keeping with their dignity. Only examples of evil are mentioned
since those examples are meant for didactic purposes, and this is done without
smearing anyone's reputation.
Some commentators on the Qur'an, however, have applied the statement made here
to some persons who lived in the time of the Prophet (peace be on him) as well
as before him. Some of them mention the name of Bal'am b. Ba'ura', others that
of Umayyah b. Abi al-Salt, and still others that of Sayfi b. al-Rahib. (See
the comments of Qurtubi on (verses 175 and 176 - Ed.) Nonetheless, in the absence
of any authentic information about the identity of the persons under discussion,
we might as well consider the description made here to fit a certain type of
person.
139. Since the statement here embodies a very significant point, it needs
to be carefully examined. The person mentioned in the verse as the representative
of the evil type possessed knowledge of God's signs, and hence of the truth.
This should have helped him to give up an attitude which he knew to be wrong,
and to act in a manner which he knew to be right. Had he followed the truth
and acted righteously God would have enabled him to rise to higher levels of
humanity. He, however, overly occupied himself with the advantages, pleasures,
and embellishments of the worldly life. Instead of resisting worldly temptations,
he totally, succumbed to them so much so that he abandoned altogether his lofty
spiritual ambitions and became indifferent to the possibilities of intellectual
and moral growth. He even brazenly, violated all those limits which, according
to his knowledge. should have been observed. Hence when he deliberately turned
away from the truth merely because of his moral weakness, he was misled by Satan
who is ever ready to beguile and mislead man. Satan continually led him from
one act of depravity to another until he landed him in the company of those
who are totally under Satan's control and who have lost all capacity for rational
judgement.
This is followed by a statement in which God likens the person in question to
a dog. A dog's protruding tongue and the unceasing flow of saliva from his mouth
symbolize unquenchable greed and avarice. The reason for likening the human
character described above to a dog is because of his excessive worldliness.
It is known that in several languages of the world it is common to call people
overly devoted to worldliness as 'dogs of the world'. For what, after all, is
the characteristic of a dog? It is nothing else but greed and avarice. Just
look at the dog! As he moves around, he continuously sniffs the earth. Even
if a rock is hurled at him he runs at it in the hope that it might be a piece
of bone or bread. Before he discovers it to be a rock, he hastens to seize it
in his mouth. Even a person's indifference does not deter a dog from waiting
expectantly for food - panting for breath, his tongue spread out and drooping,
and a whole world from one perspective alone - that of his belly! Even if he
discovers a large carcass, he would not be content with his portion of it, but
would try to make it exclusively his and would not let any other dog even come
close. It seems that if any urge other than appetite tickles him, it is the
sexual urge. This metaphor of the dog, highlights the fate of the worldly man
who breaks loose from his faith and knowledge, who entrusts his reins to blind
lust and who ends up as one wholly devoted to gratifying his own appetite.
140. This does not mean that God has created some people for the specific
purpose of fuelling Hell. What it does mean is that even though God has bestowed
upon men faculties of observation, hearing and reasoning, some people do not
use them properly. Thus, because of their own failings, they end up in Hell.
The words employed to give expression to the idea are ones which reflect deep
grief and sorrow. This can perhaps be grasped by the occasional outbursts of
sorrow by human beings. If a mother is struck by the sudden death of her sons
in a war, she is prone to exclaim: 'I had brought up my sons that they might
serve as cannon fodder!' Her exclamatory, utterance does not mean that that
was the real purpose of the upbringing. What she intends to convey by such an
utterance is a strong condemnation of those criminals because of whom all her
painful efforts to bring up her sons have gone to waste.
141. Here the present discourse is nearing its end. Before concluding, people are warned in a style which combines admonition with censure against some basic wrongs. People are here being warrned particularly against denial combined with mockery which they, had adopted towards the teachings of the Prophet (peace be on him).
142. The name of a thing reflects how it is conceptualized. Hence, inappropriate
concepts are reflected in inappropriate names, and vice versa. Moreover, the
attitude a man adopts towards different things is also based on the concepts
he entertains of those things. If a concept about a thing is erroneous, so will
be man's relationship with it. On the other hand. a right concept about a thing
will lead to establishing, the right relationship with it. In the same way,
as this applies to relationships with worldly objects, so it applies to relationships
with God. If a man is mistaken about God - be it about His person or attributes
- he will choose false words for God. And the falsity of concepts about God
affects man's whole ethical attitude. This is understandable since man's whole
ethical attitude is directly related to man's concept of God and God's relationship
with the universe and man. It is for this reason that the Qur'an asks man to
shun profanity in naming God. Only the most beautiful names befit God, and hence
man should invoke Him by them. Any profanity in this respect will lead to evil
consequences.
The 'most excellent names' used of God express His greatness and paramountcy,
holiness, purity, and the perfection and absoluteness of all His attributes.
The opposite trend has been termed ilhad in this verse. The word ilhad literally
means 'to veer away from the straight direction'. The word is used, for instance,
when an arrow misses the mark and strikes elsewhere. (See Raghib al-Isfahani,
al-Mufradat, q.v. ilhad - Ed.) The commitment of ilhad in naming God mentioned
in the verse consists of choosing names which are below His majestic dignity
and which are inconsistent with the reverence due to Him; names which ascribe
evil or defect to God, or reflect false notions about Him. Equally blasphemous
is the act of calling some creature by a name which befits God alone, The Qur'anic
exhortation in the above verse to 'shun those who distort God's names' implies
that if misguided people fail to see reason, the righteous should not engross
themselves in unnecessary argumentation with them. For such men will themselves
suffer dire consequences.
143. The word 'companion' here refers to the Prophet (peace be on him) who
was born, brought up, grew into youth, in short, spent his whole life including
his old age in their midst. Before the advent of his prophethood, Muhammad (peace
be on him) was known to all the Quraysh as good natured and of sound mind. However,
as he started calling people to accept the Message of God, they immediately
dubbed him insane. Now it is obvious that they were not attributing insanity
to him as regards his pre-prophetic life, for they had nothing evil to say about
that period of his life. The charge of insanity, therefore, was levelled against
the Message he began to preach when he was designated a Prophet.
The Qur'an, therefore, asks them to give serious thought to the teachings of
the Prophet (peace be on him) and to see if there is anything that is inconsistent
with sanity, or is meaningless and irrational. Had people reflected on the order
of the universe, or carefully considered even one single creation of God, they
would have been convinced of the truth of the teachings of the Prophet (peace
be on him). They would have realized that whatever he said to refute polytheism,
or to establish God's unity or the accountability of man in the Hereafter, or
about the necessity of man's surrender to God, was corroborated by the entire
order of the universe and every single atom of God's creation.
144. The unbelievers, feeble-minded as they are, fail to understand that no one knows when he will die. For death overtakes man totally unawares. This being the case, what will be the end of those who waste the time at their disposal until death overtakes them and fail to find the direction to their salvation?
145. The time of the advent of the Last Day is known to God alone Who knows the Unseen which, in fact, is not known even to the Prophet (peace be on him). Being human, he is not aware what the morrow has in store for him and his family. Had his knowledge encompassed everything - even things that lie beyond the ken of sense-perception and events that lie hidden in the future - he would have accumulated immense benefit and would have been able to avoid a great deal of loss owing to such foreknowledge. That being the case, it is sheer naivety to ask the Prophet about the actual time for the advent of the Last Day.
146. The present and succeeding (verses 190-8) seek to refute polytheism.
These verses are devoted to highlighting the implications of the postulate which
even the polytheists affirmed - that it is God Who originally created the human
species. They also acknowledge that every human being owes his existence to
God. God also holds absolute power over the entire process leading to man's
birth, right from the fertilization of the ovurn in the uterus to its onward
development in the form of a living being, then investing it with numerous faculties
and ensuring its birth as a sound, healthy baby. No one has the power to prevent
God, if He so willed, from causing a wornan to give birth to an animal or to
odd creature, or to a physically or mentally handicapped baby. This fact is
also equally acknowledged by monotheists and polytheists. It is for this reason
that in the final stage of pregnancy, people are inclined to turn to God and
pray for the birth of a sound and healthy baby.
It is, however, the very, height of man's ignorance and folly that after a sound
and healthy baby has been born as a result of God's will, man makes offerings
at the altars of false gods, goddesses, or saints. Occasionally the names given
to the child (e.g., 'abd al-Rasul, 'abd al-'Uzza, 'abd Shams, etc.) also indicate
that man feels grateful to others than God and regardsthe child as a gift either
of sorne Prophet, some noted Companion of the Prophet (peace be on him), or
some other noted personality such as his spiritual mentor rather than a gift
from God.
There has been some misunderstanding with regard to the point emphasized here.
This misunderstanding has been further reinforced by traditions of doubtful
authenticity. The Qur'an mentions that human being's are created from a single
person, and obviously here that person means Adam (peace be on him). Now this
reference to one person is soon followed by reference to his spouse, and that
both prayed to God for the birth of a sound and healthy baby. And when that
prayer was accepted, the couple are mentioned as having associated others with
God in the granting of His favour.
The misunderstanding consists in considering this couple, who fell prey to polytheism,
to be Adam and Eve. People resorted to unauthentic traditions to explain the
above verse and the story which thus gained acceptance was the following. It
was claimed that Eve suffered several mishaps since her offspring would die
after birth. Satan seized this opportunity to mislead her into naming her baby
Abd al-Harith (the slave of Satan). (See the comments of Ibn Kathir on verse
190. Cf. Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 5, p. 11 - Ed.) What is most shocking
is that some of these unsubstantiated traditions have been ascribed to the Prophet
(peace be on him). The fact, however, is that the above account does not have
even an iota of truth. Nor is it, in any way, corroborated by the Qur'an itself.
The only point brought home by the Qur'an is that it is God alone, to the total
exclusion of every one else, Who brought the first human couple into being.
And again it is God alone Who causes the birth of each baby born out of the
intercourse between a man and a woman. The Qur'an also points out that the of
this truth is innate in human nature which is evident from the fact that in
states of distress and crisis man turns prayerfully to God alone. Ironically,
however, after God blesses those prayers with acceptance, a number of people
associate others with God in His divinity. The fact is that the present verses
do not refer to any particular man and woman. The allusion is in fact to every
man and woman enmeshed in polytheism.
Here another point deserves attention. These verses condemn the Arabian polytheists
on account of the fact that when God granted them sound children in response
to their prayers they associated others with God in offering thanks. But what
is the situation of many Muslims of today who strongly believe in the unity
of God? Their situation seems even worse. It is not uncommon for them to ask
others than God to grant children. They, make vows during pregnancy to others
than God, and make offerings to others than God after child-birth. Yet they
are satisfied that they have a full guarantee of Paradise since they are believers
in the One True God whereas the Arabian polytheists would inevitably be consigned
to Hell. It is only the doctrinal errors of the pre-Islamic Arabian polytheists
which may be condemned. The doctrinal errors of Muslims are beyond all criticism
and censure.
147. As to the false gods set up by the polytheists, what is the extent of their power? Not only, do they not have the power to guide others, they do not even have the power to follow others or even to answer the call of their devotees.
148. Polytheistic religions seem to have three characteristics: (1) idols and images that are held as objects of worship; (2) some persons and spirits that are considered deities represented in the form of idols and images, etc.; and (3) certain beliefs which underlie their polytheistic rites. The Qur'an denounces all these. At this place, however, the attack is directed against the objects to which the polytheists directed their worship.
149. This is in response to the threats held out by the polytheists to the Prophet (peace he on him). They used to tell the Prophet (peace be on him) that if he did not give up opposing their deities and denouncing them, he would be overwhelmed by the wrath of those deities and court utter disaster.
150. Here some important directives are addressed to the Prophet (peace be
on him) regarding how he should preach the Message of Islam and how he should
guide and reform people. The object of these directives is not merely to instruct
the Prophet (peace be on him), but also to instruct all those who would shoulder
the same responsibility after the Prophet (peace be on him) was no longer amidst
them. The major directives are as follows:
(1) The most important qualities that must be cultivated by anyone who calls
others to the truth are tenderness, magnanimity, and forbearing. Such a person
should also have the capacity to tolerate the lapses of his companions and to
patiently endure the excesses of his opponents. He should also be able to keep
his cool in the face of grave provocation and gracefully connive at the offensive
behaviour of others. In facing the angry words, slander, persecution and mischief
of his opponents, he should exercise the utmost self-restraint. Harshness, severity,
bitterness. and vindictive provocativeness on his part are bound to undermine
his mission. The same point seems to have been made in a Hadith in which the
Prophet (peace be on him) says that he has been commanded by his Lord: '...to
say the just word whether I am angry, or pleased; to maintain ties with nim
who severs ties with me; and to give to him who denies me (my right); and to
forgive him who wrongs me.' (See the comments of Qurtubi in his Tafsir on the
verse - Ed.) The Prophet (peace be on him) also instructed all those whom he
deputized for preaching: 'Give good news rather than arouse revulsion: make
things easy rather than hard.' (Muslim, Kitab al-Ilm, Bab fi al-amr bi al-Taysir
wa Tark al-Ta'sir'- Ed.) This distinguishing feature of the Prophet's personality
has also been mentioned in the Qur'an.
It was thanks to Allah's mercy that you were gentle to them. Had you been rough,
hard-hearted, they would surely have scattered away, from you (AI 'Imran 3:159).
(2) The second key to the success in da'wah work is to stay away from excessive
theorizing and intellectual hair-splitting. One should rather call people in
clear and simple terms to those virtues which are recognized as such by the
generality of mankind and appeal to common sense. The great advantage of this
method is that the Message of Islam finds its way right to the hearts of people
at all levels of understanding. Those who then seek to oppose the Message are
soon exposed and end up antagonizing the common people. For when the common
people obserse on the one hand decent and righteous people being opposed for
the simple reason that they are inviting people to universally-known virtues,
and on the other hand observe those opponents resorting to all kinds of immoral
and inhuman means, they are bound to incline to support the standard bearers
of truth and righteousness. This process goes on until a point where the only
opponents left are those whose self-interest is inextricably linked with the
prevailing unrighteous system, or those's who have been totally blinded by their
bigoted adherence to ancestral tradition or by their irrational biases.
The wisdom underlying the Prophet's method accounts for his phenomenal success
and for the speedy spread of Islam in and around Arabia within a short span
of time. People flocked to Islam in vast numbers so much so that in some lands
eighty and ninety per cent of the population embraced Islam. In fact there are
even instances of a hundred per cent of the population embracing Islam.
(3) The interest of the Islamic mission requires, on the one hand, that righteousness
should be enjoined on those who have the propensity to become righteous. On
the other hand, it also requires that those who are overly insistent in their
adherence to falsehood, should be left alone, and that their acts of provocation
be ignored. Those who seek to spread Islam should confine their efforts to persuading
only those who are prepared to consider the Message of Islam in
reasonable manner. When someone becomes altogether unreasonable and quarrelsome,
and resorts to indecent methods of taunting and reviling Islam, Muslims should
simply refuse to become adversative. For all the time and effort devoted to
reforming such people will be totally wasted.
(4) The moment the proponent of the Islamic Message feels that he is being provoked
by the excesses, mischief, and uncalled-for objections and accusation, he should
realize that he is being influenced by Satan. In such a situation he should
immediately seek refuge with God, and restrain himself lest his impulsiveness
damage his cause. The cause of Islam can be served only by those who act cool-headedly.
Only those steps are appropriate which have been taken after due consideration
rather than under the influence of impulse and emotion. Satan, however, is ever
on the look-out for opportunities to sabotage the efforts made in the cause
of Islam. He, therefore, ensures that those who are working for the Islamic
cause are subjected to unjust and mischievous attacks from their opponents.
The purpose underlying this is to provoke the workers for the cause of Islam
to engage in the senseless and harmful task of mounting counter-attacks against
their opponents.
The appeal that Satan makes to those well-meaning, religious people is often
couched in religious phraseology and is backed up by religious argument. But
the fact is that those counter-attacks are undertaken merely under the impulse
of man's lower self. The last two verses, therefore, make it clear that those
who are God-fearing are always very sensitive to provocations under the impulse
of Satan, and as soon as they become aware of such a provocation, they promote
the best interests of the cause of truth rather than satisfy their vengeful
feelings. As for those who are driven by egotistical impulses, they succumb
to the promptings of Satan and are eventually set on an erroneous path. They
fall victim to Satan, act virtually as his puppet, and subsequently their degradation
knows no limit. They pay their opponents back in the same coin, tit for tat.
What has been said above also has another import. It seeks to remind the God-fearing
that their ways should be perceptibly different from the ways of those who do
not fear God. The God-fearing not only avoid evil, but the very idea of committing
it pricks their conscience and rankles their hearts. They have an instinctive
revulsion against evil, a revulsion similar to what a cleanliness-loving man
feels at the sight of a big stain or a splash of filth on his clothes. This
feeling causes the God-fearing to remove every stain of evil. Quite contrary
are those who have no fear of God, who have no desire to stay away from evil
and who are in harmony with the ways of Satan. Such people are always given
to evil thoughts and wrong-doing.
151. This question is a taunt rather than a simple query. What the utterance implies is that if the claim to prophethood is genuine, it should have been supported by some miracle. The next verse contains a fitting rejoinder to the taunt.
152. The Prophet (peace be on him) is being made to tell his opponents in clear terms that he has no power to get whatever he wants. Being God's Messenger, he is required to follow the directives of the One Who has sent him and has granted him the Qur'an which has the light of guidance. The major characteristic of this Book is that those who seek guidance from it do indeed find the right way. The moral excellence visible in the lives of those people who accept the Qur'an is testimony to the fact that they have been blessed with God's mercy.
153. The unbelievers are asked to shed their prejudice and to abandon their
deliberate indifference to the Qur'an. Whenever the Qur'an is recited to them,
they stuff their fingers into their ears and make a lot of noise lest they or
any others hear the Qur'an. They should better behave more maturely and make
an effort to grasp the teachings of the Qur'an. It is quite likely that their
study, of the Book would ultimately make them share with Muslims the blessings
of the Qur'an. This is an excellent, subtle and heart-winning approach which
simply cannot be over-praised. Those who are interested in learning the art
of effective preaching can benefit immensely by, pondering over this Qur'anic
verse.
The main purpose of the verse has also been explained. By implication, however,
the verse also enjoins people to be silent and to listen attentively to the
Qur'an when it is being recited. The verse also provides the basis of the rule
that when the leader (imam) is reciting verses of the Qur'an in Prayer, the
followers in the congregation should (refrain from reciting and) listen to the
recitation in silence. There is some disagreement among scholars on this issue.
Abu Hanifah and his disciples are of the view that the followers in the congregation
should remain silent, irrespective of whether the the imam is reciting the Qur'an
aloud or silently in his mind. On the other hand, Malik and Ahmad b. Hanbal
are of the opinion that the followers in the congregation should listen silently
only when the Qur'an is being recited aloud. According to Shafi'i, the followers
in the congrega tion should also recite the Qur'an regardless of whether the
imam is reciting the Qur'an aloud or silently'. His view is based on the Hadith
that Prayer without recitation of al-Fatihah is void. (See Ibn Rushd, Bidayat
al-Mujtahid, vol. 1, pp. 149-50; Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni, vol. 1, pp. 562-9 -
Ed.)
154. The command to remember the Lord signifies remembrance in Prayer as well as otherwise, be it verbally or in one's mind. Again the directive to remember God in the morning and in the evening refers to Prayer at those times as well as remembering God at all times. The purpose of so saying is to emphasis constant remembrance of God. This admonition - that man ought to remember God always - constitutes the conclusion of the discourse lest man becomes heedless of God. For every error and corruption stems from the fact that man tends to forget that God is his Lord and that in his own part he is merely, a servant of God who is being tested in the world; that he will be made to render, after his death, a full account to his Lord of all his deeds. All those who care to follow, righteousness would, therefore, be ill-advised not to let these basic facts slip out of their minds. Hence Prayer, remembrance of God and keeping ones attention ever focused on God are frequently stressed in the Qur'an.
155. It is Satan who behaves arrogantly and disdains to worship God, and such an attitude naturally brings about degradation and abasement. But an attitude marked by consistent surrender to God characterizes angels and leads people to spiritual elevation and proximity to God. Those interested in attaining this state should emulate the angels and refrain from following the ways of Satan.
156. To celebrate God's praise signifies that the angels acknowledge and constantly affirm that God is beyond any flaw, free from every defect, error and weakness; that He has no partner or peer; that none is like Him.
157. Whoever recites or hears this verse should fall in prostration so as
to emulate the practice of angels. In addition. prostration also proves that
one has no shred of pride, nor is one averse to the duty of being subservient
to God.
In all, there are fourteen verses in the Qur'an the recitation of which requires
one to prostrate. That one should prostrate on reading or hearing these verses
is, in principle, an incontrovertible point. There is, however, some disagreement
about it being obligatory (wajib). Abu Hanifah regards it as obligatory, while
other authorities consider it to be recommended (Ibn Qudamah, Al-Mughni, vol.
1. p. 663; Al-Jaziri, Kitab al-Fiqh 'ala al Madhahib al-arba'ah, vol. 1. p.
464 - Ed.) According to traditions, while reciting the Qur'an in large gatherings,
when the Prophet (peace be on him) came upon a verse the recitation of which
calls for prostration, he prostrated, and the whole gathering followed suit.
The traditions mention that sometimes some people did not have room to prostrate.
Such people prostrated on the backs of others. (See Bukhari, Abwab sujud al-Quran
'Bab Izdiham al-Nas Idh'a qara'a al-Imam al-Sajdah'- Ed.) It is reported in
connection with the conquest of Makka that in the course of the Qur'an-recitation,
as the Prophet (peace be on him) read such a verse, those standing fell into
prostration while those who were mounted on horses and camels performed prostration
in that very state. It is also on record that while delivering a sermon from
the pulpit the Prophet (peace be on him) came down from the pulpit to offer
prostration, and resumed his sermon thereafter. (Abu da'ud, Kitab al-Salah,
'Bab al-Sujud fi Sad' - Ed.)
It is generally, believed that the conditions for this kind of prostration are
exactly the same as required for offering Prayer - that one should be in a state
of ritual purity, that one should be facing the Ka'bah, and that the prostration
should be performed as in the state of Prayer. However, the traditions we have
been able to find in the relevant sections of the Hadith collection do not specifically
mention these conditions. It thus appears that one may perform prostration,
irrespective of whether one fulfils these conditions or not. This view is corroborated
by the practice of some of the early authorities. Bukhari, for instance, reports
about 'Abd Allah b. 'Urnar that he used to perform prostration even though he
would have required ablution if he wanted to perform Prayer. (See Bukhari, Abwab
Sujud al-Quran, 'Bab Sujud al-Muslimin ma' al-Mushrikin'- Ed.) Likewise, it
has been mentioned in Fath al-Bari about 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami that if he
was reciting the Qur'an while moving, and he recited a verse calling for prostration,
he would simply bow his head (rather than make full prostration). And he would
do that even when he was required to make ablution for Prayer, and regardless
of whether he was facing the Ka'bah or not.
In our view, therefore, while it is preferable to follow the general opinion
of the scholars on the question, it would not be blameworthy if someone deviates
from that opinion. The reason for this is that the general opinion of the scholars
on this question is not supported by well-established Sunnah, and there are
instances of deviation from it on the part of the early authorities.