S57. SURAH AL -HADEED

NAME: There is description of sending down ‘Hadeed’ (Iron) in ayah 25 which has given this name to the Surah.
TIME OF REVELATION: It is Medinite. There is, in ayah 10, a mention of the dignity of those who spend and strive in Allah’s way. It gives hint that this Surah might have been revealed in 5 or 6 H.E. before the conquest of Makkah.
CENTARAL THEME : People are invited to believe with sincerity which demands that one should spend one’s wealth for waging a war (Jihaad) in the path of Allah.
ORDER OF VERSES: Ayah 1 to 6 describe Allah’s holiness and His attributes. Ayah 7 to 11 call upon the faithful to believe sincerely and to fulfill the demands of his Faith. Ayah 12 to 15, while giving good tidings to the believers that they will own a light on the day of Resurrection, a picture is also presented to show how the hypocrites will be deprived of the said light and will be put to torment. Ayah 16 to 24 mention the demands of Faith. They also provide an inspiration to make Hareafter the aim of life and not the worldly things. Ayah 25 to 27 say that the use of force is necessary for establishment of Adl (equity and justice). They exhort to Faithful to wage Jihaad in the path of Allah and negate the monastic viewpoint of religion. Ayah 28 and 29 are the concluding ayah which give good tidings to the God-fearing and honest and sincere Momins (believers) that they will be rewarded with light and greeted with a grand Grace.

57. SURAH AL -HADEED Ayah:29

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

1. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorify (recite Tasbeeh) Allah 1 and HE is the Mighty,2 the Wise. 3

2. His is the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth.4 HE gives life and death and HE has power over all things.

3. HE is the First and the Last, the Obvious and the Hidden; 5 and HE has knowledge of all things.6

4. It is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days and then mounted the Throne.7 HE knows all that goes into the earth 8 and comes out of it 9 and all that descends from heaven and all that ascends to it.10 HE is with you wherever you are 11 and Allah sees whatever you do.

5. HIS is the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and all things are returned to Allah.12

6. It is HE who causes the night to pass into the day and the day into the night 13 and HE knows even the secrets of hearts. 14

1.‘Sabba-ha’ is the past tense of the verb. It means ‘he glorified’. In other Surahs it has come in the form of Muzare which denotes a common tense of the present and the future as ‘Yusabbihu’(is glorifying and will glorify). This is to bring home the truth that each and everything in the universe is busy glorifying its Lord continuously without any time limit. They describe Allah’s holiness both through mouth and through actions.
For further clarification please see Surah Bani Israil, Note: 58.

2. That is: His control and Sovereignty is over everything. Nothing is out of His power.

3. HE uses His power and authority with wisdom. Consequently this regularity of the universal system is a serious fact. It is neither devoid of aim nor there is any anarchy in His universal kingdom.

4. He is the controller of the cosmos. There is no partner in His kingdom. HE is ruling over His sultanate gracefully with a royal Grace.

5.The holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) has explained it thus:
‘‘You are the First. There is nothing prior to You. You are the Last (final). There is nothing after You. You Are obvious. Nothing is above You. You are hidden. Nothing is more concealed than You. (Muslim, Kitabuz Zikr)”
It means Allah is eternal and will remain eternal. The existence of everything is after His existence. Everything will end. The eternal existence is only for Him. Whatever remains extant remains so only at His Will. No one’s existence is more manifest then His. The entire universe shows His existence. HE is obvious everywhere. But HE is also so hidden that no one sees Him. Intellect cannot reach His origin. Therefore, we must regard enough or sufficient whatever understanding is provided by the Divine revelation about Him and His attributes. We should not indulge in questions which are totally beyond our comprehension.
Those who believe in ‘Wahadatul Vujood’ (a belief that - God may save us from it - the existence of God and His creation is the same) have stumbled here. They crossed the limits of human intellect and nature while pondering over Allah’s assumed personality. Consequently their belief became corrupt. They got only deviation. Man is safe only so long as he swims in water. But he invites trouble as soon as he tries to swim on land. The horse of brain does require a bridle.

6. Man cannot imagine God’s knowledge on the line of his (man’s) knowledge. Allah’s knowledge is a fathomless ocean. Compared to it, man’s knowledge is not worth even a small drop of water.

7.This has been clarified in Surah Aaraaf, Note: 82-83.

8. For example seeds of grain, water and corpses, buried beneath the earth.

9. For instance a young shoot or sprout, springs of water, metals, precious stones and oil, gas etc.

10. This point has been explained in Surah Sabaa, Note: 5.

11. Wherever you are, Allah sees you, knows you and hears you, HE has full control over you and’ HE takes away your life. The thought of HIS being Omnipresent and Omniscient, in itself, is sufficient to make a man tremble with fear.

12. As HE is the Sovereign only His rules and orders are effective in this universe and since He is the Final place of Refuge, all matters return only to HIM.

13. This point has been clarified in Surah Aale Imran, Note 39

14. HE knows even the minutest and the extremely concealed things so much so that HE is aware of even the secrets in human hearts.

7. Have faith in Allah and His Messenger 15 and spend out of the wealth which HE has given in your control.16 Those from you who will have faith and will spend will get a great reward.

8. What has happened to you that you do not have faith in Allah when the Messenger is inviting you to have faith in your Lord and he has already taken your covenant if you are believers. 17

9. It is HE who send down to His slave clear ayah so that HE say take you out from darknesses and bring you in the light. Verily Allah is very Compassionate and Merciful to you.18

10. What has happened to you that you do not spend in the way of Allah when the inheritance of the heavens and the earth belongs only to Allah?19 Those who spent and fought before the victory are not on equal level. Their rank is higher than those who will spend and fight afterwards; though Allah has given a good promise to both,20 and Allah is aware of what you do.

11. Who is he who will lend to Allah a goodly loan so that HE may make it manifold for Him? And there is the best reward for him.21

12. The Day you will see the believing men and the believing women with their light advancing ahead of them and on their right side22 Today is the good tidings for you of the gardens beneath which flow rivers. You will dwell therein forever. This is the ground achievement.

15. This is addressed to the Muslims who have recited the Kalima (La Ilaha Il-lallah, Muhammadur- Rasoolullah : There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is HIS Messenger). It is being stated that only the reciting of the Kalima through lips is not enough. Believe in Allah and His Prophet from the bottom of your hearts honestly and sincerely. Only that Faith is reliable which accompanies the testimony by heart. There should not be even an iota of doubt or reluctance. There ought to be total certainty, about its being the Truth.

16. Means the wealth which HE has given to you as a trust and over which HE has granted you the power or choice of spending. By ‘spending’ is meant spending in the way of Allah, The commandment issued in this Surah is with a view to meet the needs of Jihaad so that Islam may gain victory in the struggle between disbelief and Islam.

17. This is an address to those Muslims who had accepted Islam formally but the Faith (Imaan) had not yet penetrated their hearts. They have been advised and questioned as to when the Prophet himself is inviting you personally to accept Faith why you are not responding to him honestly and sincerely? The Holy Prophet has already taken a promise from you; the promise of obeying Allah and His Messenger. When a man enters the circle of Islamic society by reciting the Kalima (La Ilaha……) he, in fact, takes an oath to obey Allah and His Messenger. Surah Maidah mentions:-
‘‘And remember Allah’s favour on you, and his covenant by which HE bound you when you said: ‘We have heard and we obeyed.” (Maaidah:7)
Therefore, if you are true in your claim, fulfill the demands of it (your Faith).

18. Allah does not wish that His slaves should wander in the darkness of ignorance and desires. Hence HE made a provision to bring them into light by revealing clear ayah, HE is very kind in favour of His slaves. Therefore, HE wants to protect them from a bad end. HE is Merciful and therefore, HE wants that they should become entitled to His Mercy.

19. The wealth granted to you is, finally to go in the possession of Allah. It is not going to be with you for ever. Then why do you not spend it with your own hands in the way of Allah so that it may fetch Divine Reward for you?

20. Victory means the conquest of Makkah. Conditions were very difficult and trying before the conquest of Makkah. It was then extremely essential to offer sacrifices of wealth and life for the victory of Islam. Only those people came forward to offer such sacrifices in those conditions who were both courageous and ambitious. Therefore, their rank too is higher in the sight of Allah compared to the people who will offer such sacrifices after the great victory of Islam the Conquest of Makkah-when the circumstances will not be so hard. Both of them cannot be equal in rank. But the sacrifices of both are appreciable and Allah has given a promise of a good reward to both of them.
These ayah provide a hint when things become very hard for Islam and it may become very dangerous to sacrifice wealth and life for its victory, those will rank higher who come forward to risk everything and that their position will be higher in the sight of Allah in comparison with those who will wage jihad and make sacrifices later in ordinary circumstances.

21. By ‘good loan’ is meant that spending (infaq) which may be made from one’s lawful earning purely for the purpose of winning Allah’s pleasure, There may not be any element of show in it nor there may be anything to suggest a boast of favour or anything painful. Such infaq is expressly desired for jihad. Hence it has been demanded in an effectively appealing manner, It is Allah’s Graceful Mercy that HE terms this spending as a loan to Him which HE will repay in multiple in the HERE AFTER and for which HE will give a very big Reward.

22. This light will be that of Faith and righteousness. Hadith has termed Salaat as light:
(Salaat is light). (Muslim, Kitabut Taharat).
This light will enlighten the path to paradise for the Faithful on the day of Resurrection. This good fortune will be available to both the believing men and the believing women.

13. On that Day the hypocrite men and women will say to the believers: Wait a little so that we may benefit from your light 23 They will be told: Go back and seek light there.24 Then a wall will be set as a barrier between them.25 It will have a door. In its interior will be Mercy and out of it will be torment.26

14. They will call out to them: Were we not with you? They will reply: Yes, but you put yourselves in temptation.27 You kept on awaiting (a bad end for us)28 indulged in doubts29 and vain desires deceived you30 until Allah’s decree arrived 31 and the deceiver 32 kept you in deceit regarding Allah.

15. So today no ransom will be accepted from you 33 (hypocrites) nor from those who disbelieved.34 Your abode is Hell. It is your companion,35 and it is a very bad abode.

16. Is it not high time for the believers that their hearts may bow down before the remembrance of Allah and the truth sent down by Him!36 and they may not become like those who were given the Book, before this, then a long period of time passed over them where after their hearts hardened and many of them are evil-doers.

17. 37 Know that Allah enlivens the earth after its becoming dead.38 WE have made the signs clear for you that you may act with wisdom.

18. Verily, the alm-giving men and women and those who gave a goodly loan to Allah will be repaid be manyfold.39 And for them is the best reward.

23.’Munafiq’(hypocrite)means those people who had apparently embraced Islam and become Muslims but who were not sincere in their faith. Later on ayah 14 has clarified this point. As these people had entered the group of Muslims, they will follow the Muslims also on the day of Resurrection. But since their lives were devoid of faith and righteousness they will be kept deprived of the Divine light. Seeing themselves in darkness they will cry out to the Momins and ask them to wait for a while so that they too my benefit from their light. But they will not be heard.

24. The world which you have left behind was the place to earn light. Now if you are able to return, go back to that place and seek light. But this is not possible by any means. In the Hereafter the light will accompany only those who had brought the light of faith and good deeds from his or her earlier worldly life.

25. A wall will be raised as a barrier between the Faithful and the hypocrites. Thus both the groups will become separated to reach their respective destinations.

26. From the gate in this wall the Faithful will inter the paradise, which will be full of Allah’s Mercy. Thus this door will indeed be the gate way of mercy. And out of this door will be God’s wrath which will grip the hypocrites.

27. When the hypocrites will see that the Faithful are departing from them along with their light, they will ask them loudly as to why were they leaving them alone. They will ask them whether they were not with them in the world? The Faithful will reply: you were indeed with us in the Muslim society but you put yourselves to a big test by adopting a doublefaced policy. On the one hand you claimed to be Muslims and on the other you conspired with the disbelievers. It was this, worst kind of evil of being overtly Muslim and covertly kafir that had entangled you.

28. Waited for the moment when Muslims are so crushed that they may not be able to rise again.
“They wait for some misfortune to befall you (but the fact is that) misfortune has befallen them.” (Taubah:98)

29. You believed neither in the prophet hood of the prophet nor in the Hereafter. You always doubted these things.

30. You remained in a wishful thought that your policy was successful; that thereby your interests would be served best; and that if at all the Resurrection occurred you would be pardoned away along with the Muslims.

31. ‘Allah’s decree’ means death. You remained hypocrite till the time of your death.

32. Means satan who instigates people to indulge in disbelief and sins, thus fooling those who obey him.

33. If you possess an earth full of wealth and if you want to give it all as ransom for your salvation it will not be accepted. Had you spent some portion of the wealth which was given to you in the world, in Allah’s way it would have become a means of your relief today definitely. But now there is no way out.

34. No ransom will be accepted either from the open disbelievers.

35. Now if you have any companion at all, it is this Hell. Now see how it treats you!

36. This is an address to those believers whose hearts were devoid of ‘Khushoo’ (lowliness of heart).’Khushoo’ is a condition of heart which is created by the thought of Allah’s Might and of standing before Him to account for our deeds. It includes the felling of our lowliness, weakness and humbleness. This condition is the speciality of true belief. This ayah shakes those people whose claim to be faithful was merely verbal, whose hearts were not yet penetrated by Faith. They had observed the tug of war between Islam and disbelief for several years during which they had seen the oppression meted out to Muslims as well as observed the signs of the truthfulness of the holy prophet and of Islam. Yet their hearts did not melt. They do not become lowly and humble by the remembrance of Allah. Even after seeing the Truth in the form of the holy Quran their hearts do not develop a sense of responsibility toward Allah to make them humble!

37. When a long time passed since the revelation of the divine scripture on the people of the book and after the departure of God’s Messengers, their relation with the Book became weak. Consequently their hearts became hard due to the absence of humility. Then their lives became sinful. Here they are being admonished by pointing out these things to them. What is meant to be conveyed is that the holy Quran continues to descend and the holy prophet is living among you. Hence you should not act like the aforesaid People of the Book.
The current condition of modern day Muslims too, barring a few exceptions, is like that of the said People of the Book as described above. Fourteen centuries have passed since the departure of the holy Prophet (peace be upon him). During this long period their relation with Quran has weakened mostly because of their interest in ‘bidaat’ (innovations) and their trust in the false idea of ‘Vaastaa Vaseelah’ (intercession) which have made them entertain false hopes. Therefore, despite their lives being sinful they are full of hopes about their salvation. Admonition does not work upon them as their hearts have hardened due to constant sinning.

38. This is both an argument ill favour of resurrection after death (about which the hypocrites were doubtful) and also a hint toward the truth that Allah can enliven the dead hearts too. They can get guidance provided they think over Allah’s signs. One of the biggest signs is the life (becoming green) of the dead (dry) earth.

39. ‘Sadqah’ (spending) means common almsgiving to the needy.
‘Qarz-e- Hasan’ (Good loan) means the wealth spent to meet the needs of Jihad (war of Islam) wherein there is no iota of show etc. Since this was ill the form of a demand resulting from a necessity, it has been termed a loan. Allah has promised that it will be repaid manifold. Similarly Allah will bestow more to the givers of ‘Sadqah’ also.

19. And those who believed in Allah and His messenger are the truthful and the testifiers in the sight of their Lord.40 For them will be their reward as well as the light. And those who disbelieved and who falsified our ayaat are the people of Hell.

20. Know that the worldly life is but a play and a pastime, adornment, boasting among you, and a rivalry in respect of wealth and children.41 It is like rain the growth of the vegetation whereof pleases the disbelievers. Then it begins to bloom and you see that it has turned yellow. Then it becomes chaff.42 And in the Hereafter there is both a severe torment as well as forgiveness from Allah and HIS pleasure.43 And the life of the world is but a matter of deception.

21. Vie with one another for the forgiveness from your Lord and toward the Paradise which is as spacious as the heaven and the earth 44 prepared for those who 45 trust in Allah and His Messengers.46 This is the Grace of Allah. HE bestows it on whom so ever HE wishes. And Allah is most Gracious.

22. No Calamity descends upon the earth or upon you but it is recorded in a Book before WE bring it into being.47 It is quite easy for Allah.48

23. (You have been made aware of this truth) that you may not grieve over what you miss and may not behave boastfully over what HE may bestow on you.49 Allah does not Love any arrogant boaster. 50

40. In the sight of Allah only sincere and honest believers will reach the rank of the ‘truthful’ and the ‘testifier’. Those who were Muslims ill name only and who were hiding disbelief in their hearts will have no position in the Hereafter. This meaning of the ayah is being clarified by its last part wherein it is explicitly stated that the abode of the disbelievers is Hell. ‘Siddiq’ means totally true who always lives by truth and ‘Shaheed’ means witness, who testifies to the truth of Islam. Surah Baqarah says:
“Thus WE have made you ‘Ummate Vasat’ (a balanced community’) so that you may be witness to all the communities of the would. (Baqarah: 143).
In this way every faithful person who testifies to the truthfulness of the True Religion (Islam) is a ‘shaheed’. A Momin reaches the highest rank of ‘Shahaadat (Martyrdom)’ when he or she sacrifices his or her life ill the way of Allah.

41. This ayah shows us that the life of this world is of no value unless it is made a means for the success of the Hereafter. Those who make this worldly life their main aim make their lives merely plays and show business. They think that this world is a picnic place and engage themselves in recreations only.
‘Laib’ means a play which is just for pleasure. ‘Lahv’ means that which makes one unmindful of the real aim. All the engagements of this world which make man forget the Hereafter are ‘Lahv’ be they for enjoyment or for attainment of positions of power or for keeping people engrossed in world-worship.
‘Zeenat’ (adornment) means this world’s outward pomp and shining and attractions., the taste of which makes men commit sins and makes them slaves of passions and lust.
‘Tafakhur’ (boasting) means the activities through which man may make a show of his pride based on his race, position, wealth etc. An artist boast of his art, a poet of his famous works, a writer of his writings and a politician of his diplomacy etc. They do not realise that such pride is misplaced; that all abilities are God-given; that they are for trying him, and hence his capabilities should make him feel responsible and should not make him proud and boastful ‘Takathur’ (desire to overtake oneanother in a race for wealth and children) is that lust which makes man mad after money for achieving his worldly aims. In those days when abundance of children could make them a powerful band, men were marrying several women. But in modern times selfish man wants that he should have less and less children.
For further explanation of ‘Takathur’ please see Surah Takathur, Note: 1.

42. The pomp of the worldly life which maddens people is like the growth of agriculture which increases by rain. But this greenery is short-lived. It very soon turns into husk. Therefore, it is not wise on the part of man to be so much engrossed in the worldly wealth and pleasures that he may Ignore the consequences altogether.
This example is given elsewhere also. Please see Surah Kahaf, note: 63 for further clarification. It should be noted that valuelessness or insignificance of the worldly life is from that aspect whereby man prefers it to Hereafter and makes it the sole aim of his existence. The Quran condemns only this thing. It is mentioned in Surah Ibrahim: (Ayah:3):-
“Those who love the life of the world more than the Hereafter”.
And Ayat 16 of Surah Aalaa states:
“But you prefer the life of this world.”
In Surah Najm, Ayah 29 clarifies that the disbelievers make this worldly life their sole aim:
‘‘And whose only aim is the life of this world.”
But, contrary to this, those people who make this world’s life means of the success of the Hereafter and who live within the limits fixed by the Shariah, their lives are quite serious, not mere games, plays and pastimes.They come out successfully from this centre of examination.

43. Two kinds of consequences will come before all. One is severe punishment of Divine torment of Hell which will have to be suffered eternally by those who had made this world their aim of life and who had denied Hereafter. The another consequence will appear in the form of God’s forgiving and HIS pleasure. It will be the reward of those people who had realised that this world is a centre or hall of examination and who had made the success of Hereafter their aim of life. The manifestation of Allah’s pleasure is Paradise (Jannat) as has been mentioned in the following ayah.

44. That is: instead of racing with one another for achieving worldly wealth you should compete winning the pleasure of Allah and for getting Paradise, because the most important thing is to be saved from Allah’s wrath and to enter the Jannat.
By Jannat’s vastness is meant its spaciousness which will be like those of the heavens and the earth. Paradise will not be a limited area. Rather it will be a very big world wherein the people of paradise will move freely and easily and they will Allah’s Mercy everywhere which will give them much pleasure and happiness.

45. The Quran does not say that the Paradise will be prepared but it says that the Paradise is prepared which creates certainty of its existence.

46. Means the Paradise will be given only to the believers. Disbelievers will not get even a glimpse of it.

47. Some examples of earthly calamities are famines, floods, cyclones etc. Physical and bodily calamities include illnesses, physical and spiritual unhappiness and death.
This ayah has described a very important fact about fortune, fate and destiny. It is a fact that only that calamity befalls man which has already been prewritten, that is: exactly as per the Divine planning. Hence nobody should think that it has come suddenly and that it was possible for him to avoid it. A fellow who will have trust in destiny will not be afraid of the difficulties coming in the path of discharging his duties and fulfilling his responsibilities. He will also not hesitate to sacrifice his life in jihad.

48. To record all calamities in advance is not difficult for Allah. How will the ONE Whose hint brings down calamities find it difficult to write down His planned events in a Book?

49. That is; you have been made aware of the fact about the calamities so that you may not grieve over what befell you thinking that it could have been avoided and so that you may also not be proud over gaining a benefit imagining that it is the fruit of your own capability. Rather you should be patient over loss and thankful over gains because everything is from Allah. This trust in ONE GOD only creates courage in man and prepares him to fulfill his responsibilities.
It is natural for man to be sorrowful when a calamity befalls him. But if he does not weep and wail too much and does not complain against God and takes shelter in patience then he will not be punished just for being griefstricken.
Likewise it is also natural for him to feel happy when he gets some bounty. But it is condemnable if he becomes proud and boaster.

50. Its explanation has been given in notes 29 & 30 of Surah Luqman.

24. Who are stingy and who ask others to be stingy 51 Whosoever turns away (from this admonition should remember that) Allah is Self-sufficient and the Owner of Excellances.52

25. WE Sent Our Messengers with clear signs 53 and sent down with them the Book 54 and the balance 55 that people may observe equity 56 and sent down iron wherein is mighty fright and also advantages for mankind.57 All this so that Allah may know him who helps Him Unseen and His Messengers 58 Doubtlessly Allah is very strong and Almighty.59

26. We sent Nooh and Ibrahim as Messengers and placed the prophethood and the Book in their progeny.60 Then some of them adopted guidance and many became transgressors.61

27. Then WE sent other Messengers in their footsteps and thereafter sent Isa son of Mariyam and gave him the Gospel.62 and we put in the hearts of those who followed him compassion and mercy.63 And they invented the new system of monasticism themselves. WE did not prescribe it for them. But in seeking Allah’s pleasure they devised that new way, then they could not observe it as it ought to have been observed.64 So from among them WE rewarded those who had believed.65 But many of them are transgressors.66

28. O who believe! Fear Allah and believe in His Messenger.67 HE will grant you two Portions of His mercy.68 and will provide for you a Light where with walk and will forgive you. Allah is of forgiving most merciful.

51. Pride, vanity, self-exaltation makes man narrow-minded. Such people are unable to respect the rights of other nor can they get real sympathy from others. He goes on accumulating wealth so that he may brag and boast and make a show of his arrogance.

52. Only you will benefit by accepting this admonition. Allah does not require anything from you. You may thank Him or not. HE is the owner of all the best attributes and worthy of all. praise, by Himself.

53. The signs which could prove that they were Allah’s Messengers. They included the virtues in their lives and values in their teachings as well as the Divine miracles given to them by the Almighty.

54. The Divine Book which was a source of Guidance. The word book (in singular) is used as a species, meaning all Divine Books.

55. Balance means the Shariat (Islamic Code of Life) which creates equity and justice in man’s individual as well as collective (social) life, and which makes man’s practical life well balanced.
For further clarification please see Surah Rahman, note: 8.

56. To observe equity means adopting the ways of truth and justice and fairplay. Man should do so both in his own life as well as in his behaviour with others.
This ayat This ayat explains the importance of establishing justice in social life as it is one of the aims for which the prophets were sent. It also clarifies that Islam calls upon people to establish a just and equitable system of collective life which cannot be established without abiding by the Shariat laws. Regime, politics, economy, judiciary all must be bound by Allah’s Law of Justice. This makes both the collective aspect of Islam and its large and all encompassing view of religion, very clear.

57. ‘Sent down iron’ means created iron. It is similar to ‘We sent down the four-footed animals’ which means ‘created’ them. Creation is termed ‘descent’ so that man may feel in his heart that iron has been created at Allah’s Order and that he got this bounty by the Grace of God only.
‘Mighty fright’ (Baasun shadeed) means it contains that power which was necessary for war purposes. The sword, canon, the tank and other armaments are made of iron, which frighten the enemy and break their backs. Similarly this power can also be used to punish the guilty. Moreover, iron is also a thing of common usefulness as it is used on a large scale in various industries.

58. Iron which makes weapons for war has been crated by Almighty Allah and given to man so that HE may watch as to who utilizes it for the true aim of raising the Word of Allah and to support His holy messengers and prophets (peace be upon them all). In other words, the original purpose of its creation is Jihaad Fee Sabeelillaah (War in the way of Allah) which establishes a just system of life.

59. The aim of describing these Divine attributes is to make it clear that Allah does not need your help. If HE will HE can make His Deen supreme even through His Order of Creation. But HE has given you a chance so that you may gain His pleasure by using this power (of iron) in support of His Deen. This is real success.

60. In this line of prophets Nooh and Ibrahim are especially noteworthy. Both the Messengers and the Books were sent in their progeny. This ayah makes it clear that Prophets and Divine Books were sent in the progeny of only these two messengers (peace be upon them). Hood, Swaaleh, Ibrahim and Loot all were in the progeny of Nooh. Thereafter Ibrahim was gifted with this honour. There were two branches in his progeny: one was Bani Israil wherein a number of holy prophets were born who were given Books like Taurat, Zaboor and Injeel (Bible books). The other was Bani Ismail wherein arrived Muhammad Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam as the last prophet and on whom was revealed the Holy Quran) (the last divine book).
In view of these clarifications of the holy Quran all those gassings are proved false which are being made regarding the prophethood of several other persons who came after Ibrahim and who were not from his progeny.

61. It means very few people from the progeny of these two prophets accepted the Guidance; that most of them indulged in sins.
Today similar is the condition of the ummah of the holy prophet too. Few of them are leading a life of guidance and many of them are committing sins even though the light of the holy Quran is Dawatul Quran 655 S. 57 extant to guide them aright.

62. It means WE sent Isa (peace be upon him) finally and gave him Injeel (Bible) so that people may get guidance from it. It should be remembered that the said Injeel is now not extant in its original form. Some separate parts of it are found in the Four Anaajeel (Matthew, Luke, Mark and John).

63. ‘Raafah’ means softness of heart and ‘Rahman’ means to be kind. These two virtues were very obvious in the life of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him ). His kindness of being Masiah could create a feeling and wish to help and sympathies with the creation of God. These virtues influenced his followers also. Many of them too were kind and soft-hearted. These virtues were desired in their well known sense. But they became excessive and adopted monasticism. Consequently Jihaad became suspended.
Mercy and kindness is prohibited while enforcing the criminal laws of Islam:
“And let not pity for them withhold you from obedience to Allah.”(Noor:2)
And the use of iron (weaponry) is essential for establishing justice, likewise Jihad war too is absolutely essential to fight the forces of anti Islam. All these are harsh deeds. To avoid these responsibilities and to sit in the circle of kindness and pity is to deviate from the path of justice and equity. The Deen of Islam has, on the one hand, provided for the nourishment of natural feelings and instincts. On the other hand it has also kept in mind the demands of collective interests and the supremacy of Deen. Taking one aspect and leaving aside another creates a situation of ‘Ifraat’ (excessiveness) and ‘Tafreet’(dissipation).

64. ‘Rahbaniyat’ (monasticism) means the way of worship invented by the Christians to leave all worldly affairs/and to sit in a corner of seclusion. For this purpose they adopted celibacy and began to reside in mountains and caves and in monasteries. This was an excessive step in worship which prevented them from fulfilling their natural demands and also stalled religious duties, especially the duty of jihad, as it was their responsibility during the tug of war between Islam and paganism or kufr. They avoided their duties. Quran terms this way an ‘innovation’ and states clearly that Allah did not make this thing compulsory for them. But that they invented it themselves to attain HIS pleasure. Thus they put themselves in such a difficult situation which they could not endure. Though they had invented this way for pleasing God, innovation (Bidat) is after all an innovation (Bidat)even if it is done with a good intention. Quran condemns it also from another angle, and it is that they could not maintain it. They invented this way of renouncing pleasure in worldly things for the sake of inventing but they could not follow it. Obviously when one fights against nature, nature also confronts one. History tells us that those who detested and disliked the system of marriage indulged in sins and adultery. The mixing of men and women in monasteries turned those places into centers of evil. Similarly when they left earning livelihood in lawful manners they became lawbreakers and began to eat the unlawful (Haraam) things. There is a mention of this deviation of eating unlawful things by ‘Ahbaar’ and ‘Rahbaan’ (religious scholars of the people of the book and the monks) in ayah 34 of Surah Taubah. It says they eat the earning of people unlawfully and prevent them from Allah’s path.
The excessive idea of giving up the world and of ’tapasya’ is prevalent in the polytheists of India also. Those who adopted it were called Sadhus and Jogis. In their over-enthusiasm of rejecting adornment they went to such extent that they discarded even their clothes. Thereafter ‘Dev Dasees’ (temple girls) began to live in temples to serve them. As a result they indulged badly in stark shamelessness, adultery and devouring of unlawful things. This is utter world-worship under cover of discarding the world.
In Muslims also ‘khaanqaahiyat’ has made its way through ‘Tasawuf’ which included taking a corner, (goshaa nashini), meditation (Muraqaba), abstinence (Riyaazat) and self-denial (Nafs kushi)etc. Then when they invented ‘Tariqat , (Sufi-type devotion) it usurped the place of Shariat (Islamic Way). Thus religion became full of innovations almost defacing the Deen, even though Hadith had warned that every innovation (bidat) was ‘Mardood’ (rejected):
‘‘Anyone who brings in a new thing in religion (which is not in it) is mardood (a scoundrel).” (Bukhari, Kitabus Sulh)
‘‘And the worst things are those which have been innovated (in religion and every innovation is deviation.” (Muslim, kitaabul Jumah)
This hadith says that every innovation (bid’at) deviation (dalaalah). Yet a group of ulema, by bifurcating deviation into two kinds ‘Hasanah’ (good) and ‘sayyiah’ (bad), paved a way for many innovations. Consequently today many in the ummah indulge in innovations.

65. Those followers of Jesus who were having true Faith and who were sincere in their belief were amply rewarded in proportion to their good deeds. The Following phase clarifies that those who were rewarded were not sinners. Rather they were fulfilling the demands of their Faith.

66. That is: a large number of the followers of Isa (peace be upon him) are living in fisq (they commit sins and disobedience) a very big reason of which is not following the Faith sincerely and doing innovations in religion.
Today the condition of Muslims is also like that. Many among them are sinners. There are few who follow Faith sincerely.

67. This is an address to those people who had put Faith in Prophet Isa. They are being told that when you have believed in Jesus, believe in Muhammad (Sallal Lahu Alaihi wa Sallam) also, if at all you are true in your claim of being faithful. Then only your belief Will be regarded as trustworthy.

68. A part of Mercy on the basis of your earlier faith and another part due to the fact that you believed in the Prophet of Quran (Muhammad Peace be upon him) too. It is mentioned in ayah 53-54 of Surah Qasas that:
And when it (Quran) is recited to them, they say; “We believe in it, verily, it is the Truth from Our Lord. We submitted to Him before it came.” and
“These will be given their reward twice, because they are steadfast, and repel evil with good, and spend in charity from what WE have provided for them.”
Another Hadith clarifies that there are three kinds of people who will get double reward. One of them is:
‘‘There is a man from the People of the Book who believed in his Prophet and thereafter also in Muhammad (Sallal Lahu Alaihi wa Sallam)” (Bukhari & Muslim)

29. So that, Nay 69 the People of the Book may know that they have no power over the grace of Allah, and that the grace is in Allah’s hands alone and that HE grants it to whomsoever HE will.70 and Allah is the Possessor of mighty grace.

69. This ‘Laa’ (Nay) is to emphasize negation, just as we say ‘No, no.

70. What is meant by this ayah is that the People of the Book should understand that the fact that before this all prophets had come in Bani Israil does not mean that it is a monopoly of that race. The truth is that prophethood is a Grace from God and is entirely in His control. HE may bestow it on whomsoever HE will. Before this His wisdom demanded that prophets should be sent in Bani Israil and now it is His Will that a prophet be sent in Bani Ismail. No one has a right to take any objection to His Will. HE may grant the grand position of prophethood to whomsoever HE will and may reward any group of His choice with His Grace by sending a prophet therein.