20 - SURAH TA HA

NAME: In letters occurring in the beginning have given the Surah its name.

TIME OF REVELAION : It was revealed in Makkah, before Umar (R) embraced Islam (probably in the sixth year of the declaration of the prophethood), for the event of Umar (R)’s conversion to Islam, as recorded by Ibn Ishaq, refers to the parchment given by Umar (R)’s sister to him on which this Surah Ta Ha was written, and when Umar (R) read the preliminary ayat, he cried out : what excellent and dignified words are these! (Seerat Ibn Hisham Vol. I, page (367)

CENTRAL THEME : To state the aims and objects of Revelation and prophethood, and to warn their rejectors.

ORDER OF THE VERSES : Ayat Nos. 1 to 8 relate the purpose of the revelation of the Qur’an and present the recognition of that Being by whose command this revelation has come down to mankind.

In ayat Nos. 9 to 98 the event of Prophet Moosa’s being blessed with the honour of prophethood has been narrated, and besides presenting his message the adverse end of his opponent.” is also narrated.

In Verses Nos. 99 to 112 a hint is given of the moral that can be drawn from the events of Moosa’s life and the events that will occur during the Day of Resurrection are narrated, so that the deniers of prophethood may get a warning.

In Verses Nos. 113 and 114 the narrative again turns towards the purpose of the revelation of the Qur’an.

AyatNos.115 to 123 relate the events of Prophet Adam’s life and this aspect of it has been highlighted that at the time of the advent of mankind on this earth it was sufficiently made clear that Allah will start the series of revelation and prophethood for the guidance of mankind, and that those people who would follow the divine guidance would be spared the misguidance of Satan and its resulting consequences.

In ayat Nos. 124 to 129 the consequences of not heeding the revelations of Allah are narrated.

In ayat Nos. 130 to 132, the Prophet (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) and through him the people of faith are directed to observe patience and perseverance and they are comforted that in the final analysis the happy end will be theirs.

In ayat Nos. 133 to 135 the objections of the opponents are answered.

20 - SURAH TA HA

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

1. Ta Ha.¹

2. We have not sent down the Qur’an to you that you should be distressed.

3. But only as a reminder to him who fears,²

4. A revelation from Him who created the earth and the lofty heavens,³

5. The Most Gracious One, firmly established on the Throne.⁴

6. To Him belongs what is in the heavens and on earth, and whatever is between them, and whatever is beneath the soil.⁵

7. If you speak aloud then verily what is secret and what is yet more hidden.⁶

8. Allah! There is no god but He. His are the most excellent names.⁷

9. And has the chronicle of Moosa reached you?⁸

10. When he saw a fire he said to his household: “Wait, verily I see a fire, perchance I may bring you a burning torch, or may find guidance at the fire.”⁹

11. So when he came near it, a voice called out : “O Moosa”!

12. “Verily I am your Lord,¹⁰ so take off your shoes. Verily you are in the sacred valley of Tuwa.¹¹

13. “And I have chosen you,¹² therefore, listen to what will be revealed.¹³

1.’Ta’ points to Tuwa, the valley which has been mentioned in the ayah No.12, where Allah had blessed Prophet Moosa with prophethood. ‘Ha’ refers to Haroon, who is mentioned in a number of places in this surah. For further explanation of the separate letters, please refer to Surah Baqarah Note No. 1, and Surah Yunus Note No.1

2. The circumstances in which these ayat were revealed were very trying for the people of faith. The deniers of the Qur’an had made their lives miserable. Perturbed by the hardships, one group of Muslims had migrated to Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Through these verses the Prophet and his companions were reassured that they need not be disturbed and that the Qur’an was not revealed to add to their miseries, but to remind mankind that the lesson which was written on the tablet of the human nature and which mankind had forgotten due to their negligence should be brought back to their notice and remembrance.

It is obvious that this reminding is only for the good and betterment of humanity, for mankind’s good lies in living in harmony with nature and not in rebelling against it. If the people of corrupt mentality create obstacles in the path of those who believe in the Qur’an, they should be patient, for the path of good fortune and blessing which Qur’an has opened for them cannot be blocked by their opponents in any way, and the forgotten lesson which the Qur’an is trying to teach will benefit every man whoever has the fear of God in his heart.

3. In these ayat a correct recognition of the Being who has sent it down through revelations is provided, so that people should know it unmistakably that these are the words of great honour and dignity, that have come as decree from a Being who is the greatest Master of all.

4. For explanation please see Surah A’raf Note No.83.

Here the mention of Allah’s name as Rahman (Most Gracious) indicates His attribute of grace and kindness, with which He presides over the destinies of His slaves.

5. That is : ‘The Master of the entire universe is Allah. There is nothing in the universe whose master is anybody other than Him. He is the Master COMMENTARY and all others are subjects and slaves. Where and how do the questions of any other’s being objects of worship arise ?

6. That is : You may speak softly or loudly, He knows it full well, even knows the most secret thoughts of men’s hearts without their uttering them.

7. For explanation please see Note No.278, Surah A’raf.

8. The chronicle of Prophet Moosa has been narrated, by Allah Himself in the subsequent ayat. Here the question whether the chronicle of Moosa has reached you or not is to create interest in the listeners.

9. This happened at the time when Prophet Moosa was returning with his wife and children to Egypt after spending some years in Madyan. It may be noted that Bani Israil were living in Egypt from the time of Prophet Yusuf, and Prophet Moosa was also born there, but in his youth he left it on a particular occasion and had gone to Madyan, where he stayed for quite some time.

While returning from Madyan, he was passing through the Sinai Desert, near the Mount Tur; the night was cold and the way was not clear; suddenly he saw a fire far off. He asked his family to wait there so that he might go and bring burning piece of wood, so that they might get some warmth and possibly he might get some guidance as to the right direction towards his destination.

10. When Prophet Moosa reached the fire, Allah called him: ‘ I am your Lord. One way of ‘wahi’ (revelation) is also like this that Allah may address His messenger directly, and it is a distinction of Prophet Moosa that he has the privilege of Allah directly addressing him, and the commencement of his prophethood began with a direct conversation with Allah, without the intermediacy of any angel.

It may be noted that Allah is absolutely free from dissolving into any material creature. Therefore, the fire which Prophet Moosa saw was neither God nor God had dissolved into that, but that it was a particular kind of light which attracted the attention of Prophet Moosa. He definitely heard the voice of God and His words, but He did not see Him. And Qur’an clarifies this point thus: later on when Prophet Moosa was given the Shariah, he requested Allah to appear before him. This request of Prophet Moosa was replied by Allah : “You will not be able to see Me.” (Surah A’raf - 143).

11. Tuwa is the name of a valley of the Mount Tur, that had become holy, but now it is not known by this name. This whole valley had been illuminated by that light which was of a special kind, and Allah was blessing Prophet Moosa with the privilege of conversing with Him. For this reason he was asked to observe special etiquette for being in His presence. He was accordingly asked to take out his shoes, as he was told, he was in the holy valley of Tuwa. Its being holy was on account of open and hidden reasons. Since Allah was expressing His grandeur in this valley, it was made fully secure from satan, and its environs were made blissful. This extraordinary holiness demanded that the standard of respect to be shown here should be very high, at the same time there should be no lessening of the respect which a prophet deserved. The taking off of the shoes was a manifestation of the psychological atmosphere of the moment. As for the doubt that arises: How is it that in the hadith, mention of permission of offering salat, wearing clean shoes, or shoes wiped off of dust, is found? The answer is that Islam has given this facility looking to the common need of the people, while the command which was given to Prophet Moosa was in special circumstances of respect and etiquette, for the Lord of the Worlds was Himself addressing him and he was listening, while such a circumstance is not found in the salat, which is prayer from a slave to his Master.

Allah’s words telling him that he was in the holy valley of Tuwa also held the advantage of providing him with the guidance relating to his whereabouts. It is obvious that after this it would have been easy for Prophet Moosa to find his way leading to his destination.

12. That is: for the high office of prophethood.

13. Prophet Moosa was traveling, when Allah called him, suddenly and blessed him with the high office of prophethood. It shows that prophet hood is a blissful gift from Allah, which he bestows on his selected slaves. This office is not attained by anybody by dint of his efforts and striving.

The purpose behind relating the event of Prophet Moosa being blessed with the prophethood and of the sending down of the revelation to him is to show that the grant of prophethood to Muhammad (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) is not a unique phenomenon, but that before him Allah had also blessed his other slaves with this exalted honour, and the prophethood of Moosa is a clear example of that “Verily I am Allah; there is no god but Me, so worship Me, and offer Salat for My remembrance. “Verily the Hour (of Doomsday) is coming; I will to keep it hidden that every soul may be rewarded for that which it strives. (Al-Quran)

14. “Verily I am Allah; there is no god but Me,¹⁴ so worship Me,¹⁵ and offer Salat for My remembrance.¹⁶

15. “Verily the Hour (of Doomsday) is coming;¹⁷ I will to keep it hidden ¹⁸ that every soul may be rewarded for that which it strives.¹⁹

16. “So let not those who do not believe in it and yield to their desires divert you there from, lest you perish.”²⁰

17. “And what is it in your right hand, O Moosa?”

18. He replied: “This is my staff whereon I lean, and with it I beat down the leaves for my flock, and in it there are also other uses for me.”²¹

19. He said: “Cast it down, O Moosa !”

20. So he threw it down, and thereupon it was a serpent scurrying.

21. He said: “Take it and do not fear. We will return it to its former state.²²

22. “And put your hand under your armpit, it will come out white, unharmed.²³ (It is) the second sign,

23. “So that we may show you (some of) Our greater signs.²⁴

24. “Go to Firaun, verily he has transgressed²⁵ (all bounds)”.

25. He prayed : O Lord ! Expand my breast.²⁶

26. “And ease my task for me”.²⁷

27. “And loose a knot (impediment) from my tongue. ²⁸

28. “That (people) may understand my speech,

14. The first instruction which Allah gave to Prophet Moosa after calling him is about tawheed (monotheism). This is the foundation on which the whole edifice of Islam is built, and It is this light that has sent out all the rays of guidance in the world.

15. The reality of worship is to pay extreme respect with undivided devotion and to express one’s humbleness. Such devotion and worship is deserved by one and only one Being, the Almighty Allah. It is the duty of a slave to worship his Master in the manner befitting a slave. And this is the first and foremost demand of the Divine Shariah.

16. That is: Salat is the best form of worship. Therefore, make complete and perfect arrangement for it, and such an establishment of salat is for remembering Allah. It is thus clear that the main purpose of salat is to remember Allah and to be attached to Him. When a slave remembers his Lord, then a relationship of slavery, (worship) is established with his Lord, and the entire success of man and the dependence of his real progress rests on his establishing a right relationship with his Lord and he may always strive to strengthen this relationship.

The word ‘Zikr’ (remembrance) used in this ayah means remembering in the heart (silently) and also remembering by uttering words by mouth. And establishing Salat for His remembrance does not mean by merely uttering particular words by mouth but by uttering these words and also remembering him sincerely in heart. This demands that while performing salat the slave should be attentive and should concentrate on his Lord and should praise Him with heartfelt devotion.

17. The basic instruction which were given to Prophet Moosa while blessing him with prophethood, the mention of the occurrence of the Doomsday and the law of reward and punishment was also made. But in the existing Torah, where the event of the grant of prophethood to Prophet Moosa is narrated, there is no mention of these instructions. (See Exodus, Chapters 3 and 4).

Not only this, in the entire Torah it will be difficult to find any mention of the law of reward and punishment for one’s acts, in the Hereafter. It gives an idea how the people of the Book had forgotten the whole system of recompense and how Qur’an brought it into focus.

18. “I will to keep it hidden” means that no person will be able to see it before its coming with his physical eyes nor can any person find out the actual date of its occurrence in advance, but it has not been kept so hidden that its signs will not be manifested, nor in such a way that its signs will not be evident. So the occurrence of the Doomsday is hidden, but the signs to show that it will occur will be appearing every now and then.

19. That is: The Day of Resurrection will occur so that every person should get the recompense for whatever acts he performs in the world, and it has been kept hidden so that every person should be made to pass through tests. In this life of trial, whatever he does he is rewarded or punished for his acts on the Day of Judgment.

20. Man is very quickly affected by his environment, and the environment of the world is conducive to denial of the Hereafter and of succumbing to desires. In every age the secret of human progress is considered to be free from being accountable to God and living freely. Then in this connection the pressure of the environment is very severe. If man is not wary of these wrong ideas and false ideologies, then the flood of the environment would wash him away. For this reason Prophet Moosa and, through him, his followers were directed to be wary of those who do not believe in the Hereafter and have become the slaves of their desires.

21. The question was not for eliciting information. for Allah knows everything. The question was asked so that Moosa might recognise his staff properly so that after its conversion into a snake he should be able to be convinced that it was his own staff.

It is not proper to think that Prophet Moosa gave a very lengthy answer to Allah’s query. The style in which the question was asked was such that Prophet Moosa realised that some clarification was needed in that regard, as to why was it kept. This clarification was with a view to creating complete conviction in his mind that the staff which had never till that moment performed any extraordinary task had then become a snake and was scurrying before his eyes. This is an open.

22. This miracle has been narrated in the Torah also :

The LORD said to him, ‘what is that in your hand ‘? He said, ‘A rod! and he said, ‘Cast it on the ground.’ So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses, fled from it but the LORD said to Moses, ‘Put out your hand and take it by tail-so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand. (Exodus 4 : 2 to 4)

23. This was the second miracle which was granted to Prophet Moosa. When he used to press his hand under his armpit and take out, it used to become shiny white. This whiteness was not like the whiteness of leucoderma, nor was it on account of any defect. If it were so the hand would not have returned to its original condition. This was a clear proof of its being a miracle.

In the Bible this miracle has been narrated, but it has been likened to leucoderma/leprosy (See Exodus 4 : 6). That is why Qur’an has clarified that the hand used to return to its original state without any harm or hurt or defect. It denies the narration of the Bible referred to herein, and manifests the authenticity of Qur’an, for a miracle is manifested to impress the beholders convincingly, so it could not have any defective aspect.

24. That is: These two are not the only signs, in future you will see greater signs. Accordingly later on quite a few signs were manifested through this staff. It was this very staff by hitting with which a path was created in the sea for the Bani Israil.

25. For Explanation, please see Surah Nazi’at Note No:13.

26. Prophet Moosa felt that the responsibility of a Divine Messenger was a great responsibility, and particularly it called for great courage to convey the message of to a tyrant king like Firaun (Pharaoh). Therefore, he prayed to Allah to grant him courage. Expansion of breast signified getting courage, reassurance and firmness.

27. That is: The task entrusted to me by You may be made easier for me to execute.

28. The knot in the tongue means impediments in the fluency of speech, it does not mean stammering. There is no proof of the presumption that there was a stammer in Prophet Moosa’s speech, and the story narrated in some of the commentaries that during his childhood when he was being brought up in Firaun’s family, Moosa had placed a piece of burning coal in his mouth, resulting in a stammer in his tongue. This story is found in the Israeli narratives and is not acceptable. In fact to make one’s message effective what is required is art of speech making. Prophet Moosa felt that he could not be impressively fluent while talking to Firaun, he prayed to Allah to remove the impediment of lack of fluency in speech.

THE TUWA VALLEY Probably it is the same velley where the Fire was seen by Prophet Moosa, and Allah had called him. It is situated in the Sinai Peninsula about seventy kilometers away from the Faran Oasis. Here is a church supposed to be built by Constantine, known by the name of St. Catherine, and there is a mosque built by Sultan Salim.

29. “And appoint for me a minister from my kinsmen,”²⁹

30. “Haroon, my brother,”³⁰

31. “Add to my strength through him”,

32. “And associate him in my task”.

33. “So that we may recite your praises (immaculateness) more and more”.

34. “And we may make mention of you much.³¹

35. “Surely You are Watchful over us.”

36. He said: “Your request is granted, O Moosa !³²

37. “And We had already shown you favour once more. ³³

38. “When We revealed to your mother³⁴ what was revealed.³⁵

39. “That is: put him in the box and cast it into the river, then the river should throw it on to the bank and he shall be taken up by an enemy of Mine and his.”³⁶ I lavished My love on you ³⁷ so that you might be reared under My watchful eye.³⁸

40. “When your sister was walking along³⁹ and saying :” ‘May I show you one who will nurse him ? ⁴⁰ Thus We restored you to your mother that her eyes might be cooled (comforted) and she might not grieve.⁴¹ And you killed a man⁴² and We delivered you from distress and tried you with several trials.⁴³ Then you stayed among the folk of Madyan for a number of years⁴⁴. Then you came here at the appropriate time, O Moosa !⁴⁵

41. “And I have chosen you for Myself (for a special task).⁴⁶

29. Minister, that is an assistant who should share his responsibilities and should be able to deputise for him.

30. Prophet Haroon was the elder brother of Prophet Moosa. As he was pious and was also distinguished in speech making and effective sermonising, he was very much suited to shoulder the responsibilities of the dawah work, therefore, he prayed to Allah to make him (Aaron)a prophet.

31. When Prophet Moosa was blessed with prophethood, a lot of deep realities and hidden meanings were made known to him. He realised that in the task of prophethood the thing which was important and which should be kept in view as a great cause (cause caliber) and that is reciting the praises of Allah’s greatness and remembering him more and more. The problem may be character building or dawah and propagation, or guidance or leadership - in all matters this worship should be performed as befits His grandeur and magnificence.

32. When prophethood was bestowed on Moosa, he felt its burden of responsibilities too heavy. His prayer emanating from the depth of his heart was heard by Allah and he was granted whatever he prayed for.

33. After answering his prayer, Allah mentioned the favours that He had bestowed on him before the grant of prophethood, so that it should be clear that he was under the special merciful watch of Allah from the time of his birth, and that He had been helping him at every step thereafter. Why will He not then help him after the grant of prophethood ? It was with a view to reassuring him that Prophet Moosa was informed that while Allah’s miraculous power was manifested while he was being brought up, then how is it that the Divine Might would not be manifested at the time of his undertaking this difficult mission!

34. This revelation was not in the form of merely sending an idea in her mind, for in Surah Qasas it is stated that Moosa’s mother was even informed that the infant would be returned to her, and that he was to be blessed with the prophethood. It is obvious that all this would have been communicated to her in the form of words, as such the revelation would have come to her in the form of a voice from the Unseen. Allah knows the secrets of His words.

Here the fact is worth noting that such a communication of divine words (revelation) is found in extremely rare and exceptional cases. The matter of communicating revelation to the mother of Prophet Moosa and Maryam (Mary) was a temporary and limited one, and it was an exceptional case. Furthermore, this revelation pertained to the birth of the prophets, Moosa and Eesa, and subsequently these revelations were confirmed by these prophets. Therefore, in these cases of revelation, there is no room for argument for the false claimant to prophethood.

35. That is: O Moosa, the thing which were revealed to your mother are being revealed to you and further on the things revealed are mentioned.

36. This chronicle had been narrated in Surah Qasas in detail. Here we will relate the background of this chronicle in brief. Bani Israil had shifted to Egypt from Palestine in the time of Prophet Yusuf. In a few centuries their population in Egypt increased manifold, and when Firaun came into power he sensed the danger of their population growing uncontrollably. Since Bani Israil were followers of Islam and the native Egyptians followed the polytheistic religion, Firaun and the ruling class were very much prejudiced against the Bani Israil and used to discriminate against them.

It went to such an extent that ultimately Firaun ordered the killing of the male issues of the Bani Israil immediately on their birth. When Prophet Moosa was born, his mother hid him. But how long could this fact be hidden. If the King’s men came to know of it, they would have definitely killed the child. Therefore, Allah arranged for his protection by His special grace in an extraordinary way. Moosa’s mother was asked, through a revelation, to place the child in a box and the box in the river, and the river was commanded to carry the box to the bank. Accordingly she acted on these directions, and the box reached the bank at a place where Firaun was present with his wife. He ordered the box to be brought to him. Thus he reached the man who was God’s enemy as well as his enemy. This was a manifestation of Allah’s miraculous might. After this the other miracles which came to be manifested are narrated further on.

37. That is: The child was blessed with a beautiful and lovely face, so that any beholder might be attracted towards it and be merciful. This arrangement was so effective that Firaun inspite of his stone-heartedness could not bring himself to kill this child. Who can destroy him whom God protects! In the Bible also this event is narrated thus :

“The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that was a goodly child, she hid him three months.” (Exodus 2: 2)

38. That is : In such dangerous conditions Allah arranged for Moosa being brought up safely.

39. When Moosa was placed in the box and the box was thrown into the river, his sister silently followed it to see what would befall the helpless child.

40. The box was picked up by some one from Firaun’s household, and taken to Firaun and his wife. Probably Firaun’s palace was on the bank of the river Nile and it is likely that some one from his household might have been near the bank. The Bible says that Firaun’s daughter was present there and she had taken the box -(Exodus 2 : 5).

When the child was taken to Firaun’s house, his wife was delighted to see him and she persuaded Firaun to keep the child for being nursed in the house. But the child could not be nursed by any other woman, which made her anxious: Moosa’s sister who was watching from a distance came near. When she saw that nursing women were being called, she suggested that the child could be nursed at a particular house. This was the house of her own mother, but she did not disclose this fact to Firaun’s household.

41. The suggestion of Moosa’s sister was accepted, and the child was entrusted to the nursing mother suggested by Moosa’s sister. Thus the child was restored to Moosa’s mother for nursing, and Allah’s promise that He would restore the child to her was fulfilled as a miracle.

42. This event has also been narrated in Surah Qasas. It took place when Moosa grew up. He saw two men fighting, and went to the help of the oppressed, who was an Israelite and the oppressor was a Copt. As Moosa intervened and gave a blow to the Copt, he at once fell and passed out. Moosa did not want to kill him, but the fault was committed by him unwittingly, for which he was sorry. When Firaun came to know of this, he ordered , Moosa to be arrested with a view to punishing him. When Moosa learnt this he left Egypt and went to Madyan. Thus Allah arranged for his deliverance.

43. The whole life of Prophet Moosa had been a life of trials and tribulations, and when he came out successful, Allah granted him a very high and exalted position. It is thus elicited that a man gets good training in his tests and trials, and passing through them he becomes capable of shouldering higher responsibilities.

44. Prophet Moosa left Egypt and went to the nearby country Madyan, where he spent a number of years. The details are given in Surah Qasas.

45. That is: The time set by Allah for granting him prophethood-Prophet Moosa reached the place at that very time.

46. Means the task of prophethood. So go both of you to him and say: ‘We are the messengers of your Lord. So let the Bani Israil go with us, and do not torment them. We have come to you with a sign from your Lord, and peace be on him who follows the guidance. (Al-Quran)

42. “Go, you and your brother, with My signs, and be not lax in remembrance of Me.⁴⁷

43. “Go Both of you to Firaun. Verily he has transgressed (the bounds).

44. “And speak to him with gentle words,⁴⁸ it is likely that he may take admonition or may fear.”⁴⁹

45. They said : ⁵⁰ “Our Lord! We fear that he may be excessive with us or transgress (the bounds).”⁵¹

46. He replied: “Fear not. Verily I am with you, I hear all and I see all.

47. “So go both of you to him and say: ‘We are the messengers of your Lord. So let the Bani Israil go with us,⁵² and do not torment them.⁵³ We have come to you with a sign from your Lord, and peace be on him who follows the guidance.⁵⁴

48. “And verily it is revealed to us that the punishment is for him who denies and turns away,”⁵⁵

49. He (Firaun) said: “Who is then the Lord of you two, O Moosa ? ⁵⁶

50. He said: “Our Lord is He who gave to everything existence, then rightly guided it.”⁵⁷

51. He asked: “What is the state of the generations of old ?”

52. He (Moosa) replied: “Its knowledge is with my Lord, recorded in the Book. He does not err, nor does he forget.⁵⁸

53. “Who⁵⁹ has made the earth a bed for you and made in it paths for you and has sent down water from the sky with which He has brought forth various kinds of vegetation.

47. That is : Remember me from your heart, and recite my praises with your mouth many times and speak about me among the people. Do not show any laxity in the performance of this duty.

48. Pharaoh (Firaun) was a very vain and aggressive person, but the divine direction to the divine messengers was to speak to him gently, so that the divine message might appear to him in an appealing form, and he may be induced to give a thought to the message. It is therefore learnt that the da’ee (missionary) should take care of the psychology of his addressees and adjust his manner of communication and speech accordingly.

49. Allah knew that Firaun would not accept the message, yet Prophet Moosa was directed not to overlook the possibility of his accepting it. That is : as a missionary he should perform his duty hoping that his addressee would possibly accept his advice and embrace the religion of Truth. If this point is not kept in mind, then the missionary cannot fulfill his responsibilities as it should be fulfilled, nor the person to whom the message is being given can be said to have received it convincingly.

It should also be realised that it is a basic and foremost point that the very thought of Allah’s greatness is likely to create fear and fright in one’s heart, and when this happens the heart becomes ready to accept the need for divine remembrance, admonition etc. (tazkirah). And in such a condition everything that is true appeals to him at once. Accordingly in Surah A’la it is stated: “The admonition (advice) will be accepted by one who fears (the Lord)” Therefore, when prophet Moosa is told about Firaun that he would either accept admonition or might fear, what was meant was that he should speak to Firaun gently hoping that he would accept admonition, and that even if this purpose is not achieved fully at once, then possibly fear of God might be created in his heart. In other words his viewpoint will be changed, and thereafter a change of heart and mind can also be expected.

50. Here Prophet Moosa was directed to go to Firaun, there Prophet Haroon (Aaron) was also directed by revelation to go to Firaun, on this occasion both expressed their fear about Firaun. Here the directions for both the prophets have been combined at one place.

51. Knowing Firaun’s character, it looks obvious that he would unleash tyranny on hearing of monotheism or he would transgress all bounds.

52. This ayah is explicitly clear in this matter that when Prophet Moosa was directed to present dawah to Firaun, he was also to ask him to allow the Bani Israil to go with him from Egypt. Since this demand was based on religious necessities, therefore, it was required to be made in the beginning. Detailed remarks on this issue have been given in Note No. 161 Surah A’raf. It should be kept in view.

53. It is learnt that if any’ taghuti’ (rebellious) government oppresses Muslims and subjects them to undue pressure, religion demands that it should be asked to desist from such acts, and it is not right to consider it against the interests of Dawah. The da’ee(missionary) must support the oppressed in all circumstances, whether others may form a good opinion about him or a bad.

54. This was a direction for following the divine guidance, and also an intimation of the fact that whoever follows right guidance, and lands his life in the light of that guidance, his end would be blissful.

55. This message could have been given to Firaun in the words that a Firaun, if you deny our message, you will be subjected to divine punishment. But Prophet Moosa is told to inform him: “It is revealed to us that the punishment is for him who denies and turns away.” This was a very wise style in which the end of every denier has been stated with generality, so that Firaun might not think it to be a personal attack on himself, but that he might consider it as a principle and try to reflect on it. At the same time it should also be made clear to him that this warning of punishment is the revelation from Allah and under His guidance.

56. That is: When Prophets Moosa and Haroon went to Firaun and conveyed to him the divine message, he asked these questions.

57. Firaun (Pharaoh) himself was the claimant that he was the exalted lord, but Prophet Moosa candidly told him that he believed that his Lord was the Creator of the universe. Secondly the creator after creating everything, he opened up for them the path of action to be followed that is suitable for them. Animals eat grass. They do not eat stones. Who has guided them in this respect ? The bee collects the nectar from the flowers at distant places and deposits the honey in the beehive. Under whose guidance does it perform this task ? It is obvious that this is an inborn characteristic which its Creator has given it. In this way the members of the vegetable and mineral worlds also perform their duties. Trees get their food from the earth and bear fruit”, and the river flows down the slope. By whose bidding all these things are happening? When everything follows the path of action laid down for it at the bidding of its Creator, then in reality the guide and the director of mankind is the same Creator, and His guidance only is the real guidance for the human life.

58. This question of Firaun as to what they have to say about the nation that had lived previously, whether all of them were misguided ? was merely to entangle them in irrelevant discussion. But Prophet Moosa tried to bring back the discussion to the central point of his message, monotheism, by stating a point of principle. He said that whatever might have been the condition of the past generations or nations, his Lord knew it, and He has recorded everyone’s acts, He does not commit any errors, that one’s acts would be written in another’s record, nor does He forget what certain people had done.

59. This is an additional statement from Allah on the reply of Prophet Moosa, so that the readers of Qur’an may have the aspects of monotheism more clear and more prominent. They said : “These two are magicians who intend to drive you out from your country by their magic, and do away with your best religion. “So muster all your trick and come in battle line Whoever is uppermost today will indeed be successful.” They said: “O Moosa ! Either you cast down, or let us be the first to cast down.”(Al-Quran)

54. “(Saying) ‘Eat you and feed your cattle. Verily in this there are signs for men of understanding.

55. “From the earth We have created you and to the earth We will return you, and from it We will bring you back (to life)”.⁶⁰

56. And We verily did show him all Our signs,⁶¹ but he belied and refused.

57. He said: “Have you come to drive us out from our land by your magic, O Moosa ?”⁶²

58. “So we will surely bring magic against you like this; so appoint a tryst between us and you,⁶³ which neither we nor you will fail to keep in an open flat ground.”⁶⁴

59. He said: “Your tryst will be the day of the festival, and let the people assemble when the sun has risen high.”⁶⁵

60. Then Firaun went, gathered all his tricks and, then came (to the appointed tryst).⁶⁶

61. Moosa said to them: “Woe to you! Invent no lie in respect of Allah, lest He destroy you by some punishment.” He who invents lies fails inevitably.⁶⁷

62. Then they debated among themselves and they kept their counsel secret.⁶⁸

63. They said ⁶⁹ : “These two are magicians who intend to drive you out from your country by their magic, and do away with your best religion.⁷⁰

64. “So muster all your trick and come in battle line⁷¹ Whoever is uppermost today will indeed be successful.”

65. They said: “O Moosa ! Either you cast down, or let us be the first to cast down.”

60. Man is created from dust and after death he will mix with dust. And on the Day of Resurrection he will be raised again from that very earth. A man may die anywhere, in the sea or in the air or in the space, his final judgment will be delivered on this earth only.

61. That is: All the signs that were necessary to confirm the authenticity of the prophethood of Prophets Moosa and Haroon and to manifest the truth.

62. This was a false charge which Firaun levelled against Prophet Moosa, for he had not made any political plans for ousting the Firaun’s people from Egypt, but he himself wanted to leave Egypt with the Bani Israil, and he had demanded that no obstruction be caused in this scheme of his. Therefore, this charge of Firaun that Prophet Moosa had envisaged the ouster of Firaun and his people from Egypt was false, like the charge of necromancy against Prophet Moosa.

63.Prophet Moosa showed his miracle of conversion of his staff into a snake, but Firaun termed it as magic and threw challenge that he would also bring a similar magic against Prophet Moosa. He asked the two prophets to get ready for the competition and to fix a date for the same.

64. That is: The competition or the show down should be in an open ground so that everybody should be able to see it.

65. Prophet Moosa selected the Day of the festival so that more people should be able to come and witness the competition conveniently. This day might have been a day of the national festival.

The time ‘when the sun rises high’ was selected by Prophet Moosa so that the people might see his miracle in good light, and they should have no doubt in his staff transforming into a snake.

66. That is: After the dispersal of this meeting, Firaun busied himself in a conspiracy and tried to call magicians from every part of his country so that they should all unite and show their tricks, and from their efforts people should see that the conversion of Prophet Moosa’s staff into a snake was not divine miracle, but only a trick of magic from Moosa. Accordingly he gathered all his tricks and cunning crafts and came for the competition to the appointed ground with all his magicians on the appointed day.

67. That address of Prophet Moosa was directed towards the people of Firaun and his magicians, in which he warned them that to term Allah’s miracle as magic and His messenger as a magician is to impute falsehood to Allah, and whoever invents lies against Allah invites His wrath and punishment. Such people can achieve nothing but failure!

68. On hearing the timely warning of Prophet Moosa, the magicians were placed in a dilemma. They started consulting each other and wondered whether they should enter the competition or not.

69. The speakers might have been Firaun’s courtiers.

70. In this way the courtiers tried to provoke and prompt the magicians so that they should be incited to enter the fray with greater enthusiasm and vigour.

71. That is: There should be no differences among you. You should put up a united front against Moosa and Haroon.

66. He said: “Nay, you cast down”⁷² Then verily their cords and their staves, by their magic, appeared to him as if they were running. ⁷³

67. And Moosa felt some fear in his heart.⁷⁴

68. We said: “Fear not! Surely you are the higher one”.

69. “Cast down what (staff) is in your right hand! It will swallow what they have made.”⁷⁵ Verily what they have made is the trick of the magician,⁷⁶ and a magician cannot be successful whatever path he may choose.⁷⁷

70. Eventually the magician prostrated themselves,⁷⁸ crying: We believe in the Lord of Haroon and Moosa.⁷⁹

71. He (Firaun) said: “How dare you believe in him before I give consent ?⁸⁰ Surely he is your master who has taught you magic.⁸¹ I will cut off your hands and feet on alternate sides, and I will crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and you will know for certain whose punishment is more terrible and more lasting.”⁸²

72. They answered: “We cannot prefer you to the clear signs that have come to us, and to Him who has created us. So decree what you will decree, your decision will be for the life of this world only.⁸³

73. “We have put our faith in our Lord so that He may forgive us our sins and the witchcraft that you have forced us to practise.⁸⁴ Allah is best and most lasting.⁸⁵

74. “Whoever comes before his Lord guilty will be consigned to Hell, where he will neither die nor live.⁸⁶,⁸⁷

75. “And whoever comes before Him a true believer, having done good acts, will be exalted to high ranks;⁸⁸

72. Prophet Moosa preferred that the magicians should show their tricks first, and later on he would perform his miracle. Let the light of truth appear after the disappearance of the darkness of falsehood.

73. It is learnt that magic cannot change the reality of anything. It is only a deception of sight and a deception of thought. The strings and the sticks of the magicians had not really become snakes, but they merely looked like speedily creeping snakes. In the Surah A’raf, it is stated:

“And when they cast down (their ropes and sticks), they cast a spell on the people’s eyes.” (A’raf - 116).

And so far as Prophet Moosa is concerned, Qur’an says: it appeared to him that the magicians’ ropes and sticks were running. And that too when he knew beforehand that what the magicians would be presenting would be merely magic -(appearance)- and not the actual change of reality of things. And it was also for a very short time. For after a while their spell was broken. And this deception of the sight is only for a short time, after which it disappears. Therefore, it is not correct to think that Prophet Moosa, inspite of being prophet, was also affected or influenced by the magic. To be affected by the magic is one thing and to see the magic is another. Prophet Moosa had seen the magic, the reality of the magic. He was not at all affected or disturbed by the magic. His mental faculty was quite healthy and undisturbed. His noticing the rope and sticks as snakes is like somebody seeing a mirage considers it to be real water. It is obvious that this deception of sight is only for a short time and nobody would think it to be the result of the disturbance of the mental faculty.

74. Fear that the magic may not influence the people in such a way that they may not be able to distinguish between magic and miracle.

75. That is :It will eat up their magic. Accordingly wherever the snake of Prophet Moosa crept, it removed the spell of the magicians.

76. That is: It is the magician’s tricks and deception of sight. In reality their ropes and sticks had not become snakes.

77. Whatever tricks a magician may show or whatever spell he may work up, it cannot score a win against the divine miracle, nor can it achieve the real success. For the difference between magic and miracle, see Note No.169, Surah A’raf.

78. The result of this competition was that the spell of the magicians was broken, and Prophet Moosa’s staff became the manifestation of miracle by converting itself into a snake and swallowing of all the magicians’ snakes. Therefore, it became clear that whatever Prophet Moosa was presenting was not magic but a divine miracle, which is the proof of the fact that he was the messenger of Allah. Thus when the reality became manifest to the magicians, they spontaneously prostrated themselves. For further explanation, please see Note No.171, Surah A’raf.

79. Its explanation has been given in Notes Nos. 172 and 173, Surah A’raf.

80. This is the proof of the fact that Firaun’s claim of lordship was not of political supremacy but that of absolute supremacy, for he used to intervene in purely religious matters also. In his kingdom there was neither the freedom to propagate the religion of truth, nor any chance for any leadership to raise its head, nor could an individual of his kingdom put his faith in Allah’s religion on being prompted by his conscience.

81. When Firaun experienced defeat, he tried to veil his defeat by accusing Prophet Moosa of being the tutor of the magicians, and all of them had jointly conspired against him.

82. That is: On receiving this painful punishment you will realise whose -Allah’s or my punishment is more terrible. It gives an idea how much proud, tyrannical and rebellious was Firaun.

83. This was the strength of faith which bolstered up the courage of the magicians to stand up to Firaun. When faith influences a man’s heart, then man’s mind and way of thinking change and he becomes immensely courageous. What were these magicians, and what they became.

84.The magicians themselves did not want to compete with Allah’s messenger, but they were forced to do so by the king’s pressure.

85.That is: Firaun was alive but was mortal. However Allah is immortal and is forever. Therefore, He is the only Being on whom reliance can be placed and He is the only Being worthy of linking our hopes with.

86. This is Allah’s own statement, which is an addition to the statements of the magicians.

87.He will neither die, thus ending all his troubles, nor will he live that he may enjoy the fun of living. He will be in a state between the two which will be worse than we can imagine.

88. This association of good conduct and deeds with the faith clearly shows that this promise of paradise is only for those who will perform good deeds and acts after believing in Allah and His religion. It is a pity that Muslims have conveniently ignored this clear cut statement of the Qur’an, which has been repeated so often, and are relying on the hadith which in a general way states that those who merely believe in Allah and His messenger will be admitted to Paradise, for example in this hadith it is stated :

“Whoever said that there is no god but Allah entered the Paradise”. It is obvious that it cannot mean that a man may just utter by his mouth “La Ilaha Il-lallahu” and may subsequently do whatever he likes, he will have a place reserved for him in the Paradise. If the hadith is interpreted in the light of Qur’an, then there remains no chance of any misinterpretation. But the hadith has been separated from the obvious teachings of Qur’an and reliance is placed on its literal meaning, so that the benefits of the material world may also be enjoyed and the Paradise also may not be lost.

76. "Everlasting Gardens, underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. Such will be the reward for those who purify themselves.”⁸⁹

77. And We revealed to Moosa, saying: Set forth⁹⁰ with My slaves in the night and strike for them a dry path⁹¹ across the sea. Have not fear of being overtaken, nor of (being drowned in) the sea.⁹²

78. Then Firaun pursued them with his army; so the sea overwhelmed them as it covered them.⁹³

79. And Firaun misled his people, he did not guide them.⁹⁴

80. O Bani Israil ! We delivered you from your enemy, and gave a promise to you on the right side of the Mount Tur,⁹⁵ and sent down for you manna and salwa.⁹⁶

81. Eat of the clean things with which We have provided you and do not transgress, lest you should incur my wrath.’ He that incurs My wrath, is lost indeed.

82. ‘And verily I am Forgiving for him who repents and believes and performs good acts and thereafter follows the right path! ⁹⁷ ’

83. And O Moosa ! What has made you hasten from your people ?’⁹⁸

84. He replied: “They are following my footsteps. I hastened to you that you might be pleased.”⁹⁹

85. He (Allah) said: “Verily We have tried your people in your absence, and Samiri has misled them.”¹⁰⁰

86. Then Moosa returned to his people angry and sorrowful.¹⁰¹ He said: “O My people! Did not your Lord make you a gracious promise?¹⁰² Did the time (of my absence) seem too long to you,¹⁰³ or did you wish that the wrath of your Lord should come, upon you that you broke trust with me?”¹⁰⁴

89. By purity is meant purity from polytheism, denial and sinful living. The word ‘tazakka’ used in the text not only means to purify oneself but also to embellish oneself. Therefore this word signifies that one should train oneself in a righteous manner and also embellish oneself by virtuous deeds.

90.The long dawah efforts and striving of Prophet Moosa and his performing of the various miracles have been mentioned in different places in Qur’an. See Surah A’raf, ayat 130 to 135.

Here the last stage is being narrated. For explanation, please see Surah Yunus Notes, Nos.137 and 138.

91. That is: Strike your staff on the sea water, it will part in the middle, making a dry path for you to pass. This was a divine miracle which was performed through the means of Prophet Moosa’s staff. If we presume that the sea water had parted by chance, then the path that would have been thus made would not have been dry. But the emergence of a dry path in the sea suddenly could have been possible through a miracle only. Therefore, the straight thing is to accept it as a miracle of Allah and there is no need to interpret the ayah in a haphazard way.

In Surah Shua’ra (Poets) this event has been narrated in ayah No.63 with further details.

92. That is : Firaun will chase you, but will not be able to overtake you, therefore, you may proceed without fear. There is also no danger of your drowning in the sea, because a path will be specially made for you in the sea.

93. Firaun reached the sea, chasing Prophet Moosa and his followers. He saw the dry path created by the parting of the sea. He also stepped into the dried sea with his army. When he reached the middle part of the sea, the water of the sea from both the sides came back rushing and the parted sea became one again. Firaun and his army were caught in the middle of the fathomless sea.

This was a great sign of Allah. Bani Israil were allowed by the sea to pass safely, but the people of Firaun were trapped inescapably.

94. That is :This claim of Firaun that he was showing the right path to the people proved to be false. Had he been showing the right path, then he and his community would not have met the fate which they did. There is a lesson in this event for those who do not accept the guidance which Allah sends with His messenger. Kings and leaders themselves are misguided and they misguide their people. The result is that they themselves drown and cause others to drown with them.

95. That is :Promised to bestow the blessings of the Shariah in the holy valley of Sinai (Tur).

‘Aiman’ (right) has been explained in Surah Maryam Note No.72.

96. For the explanation of Manna wa Salwa, please see Note No.76, Surah Baqarah.

97. This ayah explains that Allah had promised to grant salvation to those who would avoid kufr (denial of faith), polytheism and sin, who would believe in the message of Allah’s Messenger, who would perform virtuous acts and would stick to the path of guidance, that is Allah’s religion and Shariah till their last.

98. Prophet Moosa presented himself before the time fixed for him to go to Tur. Allah asked him the reason for this. Allah knew the real state of affairs, but He asked the question so that Prophet Moosa should know that on one side there was this zeal and enthusiasm that brought him before time for getting the shariah, and on the other side there was his community which had started following the path of polytheism, heedless of the commandments of Allah. Detail follows.

This question was probably asked after the appointed time, when the tablets were given to Prophet Moosa, as is clear from the ayat that follow in which it is stated that Prophet Moosa returned to his community in a state of rage when he learnt of their indulging in worshipping the calf.9 9. That is: Bani Israil are following me, and I have appeared before You earlier than the time fixed to seek your pleasure. Prophet Moosa had confidence that his community would follow his footsteps, therefore, he did not feel that there was anything wrong in appearing before Allah before time. But subsequent events showed that his absence proved costly for his community. In the beginning Allah had fixed a period of one month for Prophet Moosa’s presence on the Mount Tur, later on it was extended by ten days and thus it was for a total period of forty days. As it is Prophet Moosa reached Tur earlier than the appointed time. Therefore, when the period of one month had passed and Prophet Moosa did not return to his community, the mischief-makers got the opportunity to create mischief and misunderstanding in the community.

100. Samiri was a mischief-making hypocrite, who had intermingled with Bani Israil. He took the advantage of Prophet Moosa’s absence and misguided the community and prompted them to worship the calf. As for the research concerning this name, nothing can be said with certainty, and the attempt would be futile. It is possible that samiri might have been a tribe or a cow-worshipping community, and this man might have been a member of that community. That is why Qur’an has called him the Samiri (As-Samiri). Qur’an has specifically mentioned this name so that it should be clear as to who was the real culprit who presented the calf as worthy of worship-it was Samiri and not Prophet Haroon (Aaron) as mentioned in the Bible which is absolutely wrong and false.

It should be noted that the Samiri mentioned by the Qur’an has no relation with the kingdom of Samiriyah, for the kingdom of Samiriyah was a Jewish state which came into being much later, after the reign of Prophet Sulaiman (Solomon).

101. Angry because his community had begun indulging in polytheism, and sad because the valuable treasure of monotheism it had obtained, and for safeguarding and spreading which they had reached from Egypt into the valley of Mount Tur, was lost by them.

102. By gracious promise is meant the promise of giving the Shariah (the commandments) for which Prophet Moosa had gone to the Mount Tur.

103. That is : My absence was not for a long time. If the period of one month was extended by a few days more, even then this much absence was not too long to make you feel it and be the victim of mischief.

104. That is: The promise that you gave of following me has been broken by you.

Then he produced for them a calf, a body which gave forth lowing sound, and they said: “This is your god and the god of Moosa, but he has forgotten.” Did they not see that it returned them no word (answer), and that it could neither harm nor profit them ?”(Al-Quran)

87. They replied: “We did not break the trust with you of our own will, but we were laden with the burdens of ornaments of the community, so we threw them,¹⁰⁵ and thus Assamiri cast them (into the fire).”

88. Then he produced for them a calf, a body which gave forth lowing sound,¹⁰⁶ and they said: “This is your god and the god of Moosa, but he has forgotten.”¹⁰⁷

89. Did they not see that it returned them no word (answer), and that it could neither harm nor profit them ?”¹⁰⁸

90. And Haroon had told them beforehand : “O my people! You have been put to test by this mischief, your Lord is the Merciful, so follow me and obey my command.”¹⁰⁹

91. They had replied: “We shall continue to be its worshippers till Moosa returns.”¹¹⁰

92. He (Moosa) said: “O Haroon ! What held you back when you saw them going astray,

93. “That you did not follow me ? Have you then disobeyed my command ?”¹¹¹

94. He replied: “O my mother’s son! Do not seize my beard nor the hair of my head. I was afraid that you might say: ‘You have caused a division among the Bani Israil and did not wait for my word.”¹¹²

95. He (Moosa) said: “What is your case, O Samiri ?”¹¹³

96. He said: “I saw what they did not see, so I took a handful (of dust) from the footsteps of the messenger and then threw it away. Thus did my soul prompt me.”¹¹⁴

97. Moosa said: “Be gone! Now your lot in this life is to say: ‘Touch me not.’¹¹⁵ Nor will you escape the time that is fixed for you.¹¹⁶ Look at your god of which you have been a devoted worshipper, we will burn it and will scatter its ashes over the sea.”¹¹⁷

105. This is the statement of those chieftains of Bani Israil who had given them their ornaments for being kept in trust. These ornaments were of Bani Israil which they had brought from Egypt. But in the life of desert there was no opportunity for their women to don these ornaments nor their safe keeping was an easy task. Therefore, they had given their ornaments to a few trusted persons for safe custody. However this responsibility was such that they felt it to be burdensome, for them also safe-guarding them was not easy. In the meanwhile As-Samiri played a trick to entice the people to indulge in worshipping the calf. He misguided the people by saying that Moosa brought you to this desert and has abandoned you, and that if you want to seek the true Lord, give me your ornaments I will show you some wonderful miracles. The people were deceived by him and they demanded of their chieftains that they should hand over their ornaments to the Samiri. Since the chieftains themselves were finding the burdens of the ornaments unbearable, immediately relieved” themselves of the burdens and threw the ornaments, which As-Samiri collected and cast them into the fire and produced a calf of the molten ornaments.

It may be noted that the statement of the Bible that when Bani Israil left Egypt they had borrowed the ornaments from the Egyptians for temporary use, and they left Egypt with the borrowed ornaments deceiving the Egyptians, is not correct. (See Exodus 12 : 35, 36).

Relying, on this statement of the Bible some commentators have written that these were those borrowed ornaments which the Bani Israil threw and the Samiri produced from them a calf. But this opinion is not supported by Qur’an, for in Surah A’raf the ornaments are stated to belong to the community of Prophet Moosa:

“And Moosa’s people, after his departure (to Mount Tur) made, from their ornaments, a calf, which was merely (the image of) a body.” (.A’raf- 148).

It shows that these ornaments were of the people of Prophet Moosa’s community, and the matter regarding deceiving the Egyptians does not seem to be correct. Then how could Prophet Moosa have allowed it, and Egyptians were not fools to give their ornaments to the people whom they had subjected to all kinds of humiliation.

106. Samiri cast all the ornaments, probably of gold, into the fire and moulded the molten material into a calf; he displayed such an expertise in his craft that the metallic calf could produce a thin lowing sound. When a little air passed through it. Qur’an states that it was merely a lifeless body, in the image of a calf, and which could just produce a lowing sound.

107. The people were so much enamoured of this golden calf that they made it their god, and also claimed it was also the god of Moosa, who had forgotten it and had gone in search of another god.

108. That is: These mentally blind people did not see that this calf was producing only one kind of lowing sound, beyond that it was unable to answer any call given to it, nor had it the power to benefit anybody nor inflict any harm. Then how could it have acquired the attribute of godhood. The reality is that the god of the calf-worshippers could merely make a lowing sound, while the God of the believers in monotheism hears everything, sees everything, answers prayers and fulfills the needs of the people, and also provides right guidance.

109. Haroon was a prophet. How could he remain silent after witnessing this mischief! He warned his people that the existence of the calf was an out and out mischief, and that they have been subjected to a test whether they would remain faithful or would turn to polytheism and denial. Where was the question of their worshipping the calf, when their Lord was that Great Being who is called by the name, ‘Rahman’? Therefore, he asked them to accept him as His messenger and to follow him and act according to his command.

110. This was the audacity of Bani Israil that inspite of the timely warning of a prophet, they did not listen to him and replied to him in such a way that expressed their abject transgression.

111. Prophet Moosa questioned Prophet Haroon rather severely as to why did he not follow his advice when the people were going astray, that is, why he did not take any steps against such people. When Prophet Moosa was going to Mount Tur, he had directed Prophet Haroon:- “......and work for reform...” (A’raf- 142). In this direction, removal or Stoppage of evil practices is also included.

112. Prophet Haroon acted with forbearance, and explained the real state of affairs to Prophet Moosa. He saw that a large number of people had been influenced by the Samiri, and the love of the calf had seized them so badly that it was not possible to stop them from worshipping it without applying force, and those of the people of Bani Israil who would use force would be resisted by the worshippers of the calf and thus the community would fall a prey to internecine war. They would not even hesitate to kill a prophet (Haroon). And if this happened it would be a disastrous accident for the Bani Israil. When Prophet Moosa was to return only in a few days, waiting for him was the proper course. It was the farsightedness of Prophet Haroon that he postponed taking any final decision in the matter. There was no question of any hypocrisy or lack of courage on the part of Prophet Haroon. Nor such wrong ideas can be entertained concerning a prophet. Inspite of all this the rough handling of Prophet Haroon by Prophet Moosa was understandable, for the exceeding wrath was on account of his immense devotedness to his faith. On such occasions any lapse in the usual etiquette is excusable. Accordingly Allah did not take any exception to Prophet Moosa’s seizing Prophet Haroon’s beard nor for casting on the ground the tablets on which the Torah was inscribed. The fact is that the impassioned demonstration of Prophet Moosa’s wrath impressed the whole community immensely. When the mischief makers saw that they were pitted against a roused prophet, they did not have the courage to stand up against him, to support Samiri. In this way the wrath of Prophet Moosa won over his community, which cracked down on the worshippers of the calf like a lightning. Accordingly, as stated in the Bible, three thousand persons were killed on that day. They were the people who had worshipped the calf, and it was their punishment for turning apostateturning away from the religion of monotheism. On this occasion Note No.73 of Surah Baqarah and Notes Nos. 220 to 226 of Surah A’raf should be kept in view.

113. After subduing the community, Prophet Moosa called for Samiri and inquired of him what he did.

114. Samiri had no argument to justify his evil action. And since he was a hypocrite, he could not admit his sin openly, though he expressed his defeatist mentality somewhat reluctantly. He mentioned three points: first that he thought of a thing which others could not think, i.e. to collect the ornaments and to cast a golden calf out of that. How could this happen, he was unable to explain. Secondly as that idea was occupying his mind, he took little part in following the prophet, and whatever little part he had taken, he abandoned it later on. And the third thing which he said was that this task was made to look fair by his soul. In short Samiri did neither straightway admit to have committed a sin, nor did he repent for it, but when he saw that he was very badly trapped, he spoke in a roundabout way and admitted that it was the invention of his imagination and he was prompted to do so by his soul.

It may be mentioned that some commentators have given different interpretation to this verse: “So I took a handful of dust from the footsteps of the messenger and then threw it away.” And they explain that Samiri had seen the horse of Archangel Jibril (Gabriel) and picked the dust from underneath its hoofs; that it had the quality of infusing life in a body; that while moulding the calf Samiri mixed this dust with the mould; and it came out alive. Such an explanation of this verse is neither compatible with the statement of Qur’an nor is it proved by the hadith. How could they know that Samiri had seen Jibril and that he was riding a horse, and that the dust underneath its hoofs was life-giving, and that it was the miracle of this dust that put life inside the calf ? It is absolutely an invented story which the commentators have erringly accepted. This explanation of the verse is wrong due to various reasons :

(1) Here the word ‘Basurtu’ used in the text means seeing by the mind and not by the eyes, which is commonly used in English also, and in the reputed and authentic Arabic Dictionary ‘sihah Jauhari :- it is also stated to mean ‘came to know’ (Vol. II, page 591).

If the meaning of actual seeing of Jibril was to be conveyed, other words like ‘Ra-aitu’, ‘nazartu’ and ‘absartu’ could be used, and not “basurtu” which is very rarely used in this meaning. This was the determination of the correct meaning of the word according to the lexicon. Now consider this aspect of the problem: how could a mischief maker and hypocrite earn the blessing of witnessing Archangel Jibril ? What is the proof of Jibril riding a horse ? And how could Samiri know that the dust underneath the hoofs of Jibril’s horse could provide life to an inanimate object ? If he readily thought that this dust was life-giving, he could have used it to revive some human being or he himself could have become immortal by eating it. Then why did he not do so! In the Qur’an nowhere such an effect of the dust beneath the Jibril’s footsteps has been mentioned, nor is there a mention of there being life in the calf. On the contrary Qur’an very clearly states that it was merely a body (lifeless).The fact is that this story is a nonsensical story. Imam Razi in his Tafseer Kabir and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in his Tarjumanul Qur’an have rebutted such a presumption, but those who are habituated to talk nonsense in pursuit of their love for innovations have found it an opportunity to exercise their imagination and argued that:-“when the lifeless dust beneath the hoofs of Jibril’s horse could put life into gold, then the dust beneath the footsteps of the saints could revive the dead hearts of their followers.” -(Tafseer Nurul Irfan-page 508).

(2) In the ayah the word’ Ar -Rasool’ is used, and according to the context it can be Prophet Moosa only, for the matter pertained to following him. The mention of Jibril in the series of these verses, has not been made anywhere. Then how can he figure in this connection ? As for Samiri’s answer that instead of saying Moosa’s following he said the messenger’s following, it is so because he was replying in a roundabout manner, he wanted to avoid giving a direct reply.

(3) Taking a handful of dust from beneath the messenger’s footsteps does not mean actually taking the dust but idiomatically it means following him to a little extent, or taking a very little part in following him. Similarly “Nabaztuha” does not mean that I put the dust inside the calf, for “nabaza” in Arabic means to throw away or to cast with disrespect.

In Al- Mufarridat - Raghib - page 498, the meaning of ‘nabaza’ has been given as throwing away trash.

If Samiri had considered the dust beneath the footsteps of the messenger as blissful and life giving, how could he have used the word ‘nabaza’ (throwing away trash), which expressed the dust’s being of no value, he would have, otherwise, used the word’ Alqa’ i.e. he would have said: ‘ Alqaituha, (i. e. I threw that dust). Therefore, the word ‘nabaza , appropriately fits to mean giving up the following of the messenger and discarding his teachings considering it to be trash. In the Qur’an itself this word is used in the same meaning:

“...... A section of the people of the (earlier) Book threw away that (earlier) Book of Allah behind their backs, as if they knew nothing (about it).” -(Surah Baqarah -101).

It is obvious that here the meaning of the word ‘nabaza’ is throwing away the Book of Allah with disrespect, discarding it.

115. The words used here show that it was Allah’s punishment, which he was destined get and which Prophet Moosa had announced. He was cut off from the society and was left alone so that nobody should go near him. He was dirtied by the filth of polytheism, therefore, as a punishment he was declared to be totally filthy so that none should go near him and the nadir of his disgrace is that he himself declares about his being untouchable. The probability is that he might have been afflicted with a highly dangerous and frightening disease.

Those who had worshipped the calf were killed (Surah Baqarah ayah No.54, Note No.73), but Samiri was left alive to suffer the pangs of his obnoxious disease, to serve as a lesson to mankind.

116. Means that punishment which will be meted out in the Hereafter.

117. The calf was made out of the ornaments, which might have been of gold and silver. Prophet Moosa burnt it to ashes, which he threw into the sea. Thus Prophet Moosa revived the iconoclastic tradition of Prophet Ibrahim, and people could see that if the calf had been a god, it could not have been burnt to ashes, and its worshippers would not have been put to such a great shame and disgrace.

It has also shown that the calf was a lifeless body. If it were a living animal, it would have been slaughtered and then would have been thrown into flames.

We have also learnt it as a corollary that for destroying what is forbidden and for creating hatred for that, even gold and silver can be wasted and destroyed, for compared to the honour of faith the wastage of wealth is worthless. On that day people will follow the summoner, they will not be able to deviate from it; and all voices will be hushed before Rahman (Most Gracious), and you will not hear anything except a faint sound (of marching feet). (Al-Quran)

98. Your God is only Allah, besides whom there is no other god. He embraces all things in His knowledge.¹¹⁸

99. Thus We recount to you the history of past events, and We have given a Reminder (Qur’an) from Our Own ¹¹⁹ presence.

100. Those they turn away from it will bear a heavy burden on the Day of Resurrection.¹²⁰

101. They will bear it for ever ,¹²¹ an evil burden for them on the Day of Resurrection,

102. The Day when the Trumpet will be sounded.¹²² On that Day We will assemble all the guilty, their eyes becoming white (with terror).¹²³

103. They will be murmuring among themselves: “You have stayed away but ten (days).”

104. We know full well what they will say. At that time the best estimator among them will say: “You have stayed away but one day.”¹²⁴

105. They ask you about the mountains. Say: “My Lord will crush them into scattered dust,¹²⁵ ”

106. And leave it (the earth) as a level plain,

107. “Wherein you will see neither curve nor ruggedness”.¹²⁶

108. On that day people will follow the summoner, they will not be able to deviate from it;¹²⁷ and all voices will be hushed before Rahman (Most Gracious), and you will not hear anything except a faint sound (of marching feet).¹²⁸

109. On that Day none will be able to intercede for them except him that has received the sanction from Rahman (Most Gracious), and whose word is acceptable to Him.¹²⁹

118. This is another argument in favour of monotheism. Only He can be god whose knowledge is perfect and all pervasive. This attribute is of Allah alone, therefore, God is only He. But those who indulge in idolatry and polytheism, for them an ox is a god as well as a simpleton !

119. Qur’an has been termed here as a Reminder, because it is a Book which helps man to remember Allah. From wherever the slave may read it, the slave is absorbed in the remembrance of his Lord. It also reminds men of those things which are known to the human nature from before. It is also a reminder, because it is out and out good counsel.

120. To ignore Qur’an, considering it as a religious book is a great mistake, which is being committed by the nations of the world. The fact is that Qur’an is the decree of the Lord, God, and it has been sent down for the entire mankind and for every period of history, without reservation for any nation, country and time. Its addressee is each and every human being. Therefore, if every person to whom the Qur’an or its message has reached, turns away from it, he commits a sin, for rejecting the divine decree is adopting the rebellious line of action. And by acting as a rebel against God, a person carries a very heavy burden of sin on his/her head. But the realisation as to how heavy burden he is carrying on his head will come to man on the Day of Resurrection.

121. That is : They will be under the burden of sin permanently, and will receive punishment for it, for the sin of denial and polytheism is such that it sticks and does never separate.

122. This will be the siren for the Day of Resurrection, whose sound will. reach every nook and cranny of the world. When the first siren will be sounded all the creatures of the world will perish and the entire system of universe will be in a state of disarray. And when the second siren will be sounded, then all human beings that had been born from Adam till the Doomsday will rise alive from the earth with their physical bodies.

123. That is: On account of terror the colours of the eyes of the guilty persons will become white (blue), that is, they will become lusterless.

124. After death, man’s soul remains in the world of Barzakh, till the Day of Resurrection. It is a world between this world and the world of Hereafter. A man might have spent a very very long period in this world, but on the Day of Resurrection he will feel that he has spent only a few days there, and among the deniers the person, who would be the best judge of the time spent will say that their stay was that of only one day. The experience of being unconscious of the passage of time is felt by us in the life of this world also. After sleeping for hours when we get up we feel that we had gone to sleep only a little while ago. When this is the condition of our sensitivities about the passage of time, then to consider Doomsday to be far away and to indulge in pleasure seeking and luxuries is folly and self-deception and nothing else.

125. For explanation see Surah Kahf, Note No. 66 and Surah Qari’a Note No.5.

126. That is: The shape of the earth will be completely changed. There will be no curves or juttings, nor will there be high and low spots. Manmade buildings would have been destroyed earlier, and the mountains would have been crushed to dust and scattered in the air. Trees and all vegetations and jungles would have disappeared. There will be such a geographical change, that there will be no trace of any country on the earth. Thus the earth will be turned into a plain and even maidan that innumerable people may gather before their Lord.

127. By summoner is meant the angel. Every person will stand at the place fixed for him, he/she will follow the angel obediently, having no power to resist, and will go to the place fixed.

128. This gathering of the people will be an endless ocean of the people, but there will be no disturbances and no noises. Nobody dare raise his voice. Voices of all would have been lowered before the Gracious Lord. At that time only the noises of steps will be heard.

129. For explanation, see Surah Baqarah Note No.412, and Surah Maryam Note No.111.

110. He knows what is before them, and what is behind them, while they cannot compass it in knowledge.¹³⁰

111. All faces will humble themselves before the Living and the Eternal. Those who will be burdened with sin¹³¹will be disappointed.

112. And those who have believed and performed good acts, will have no fear of any wrong-doing nor of injustice.

113. And thus you have sent it down as the Qur’an in Arabic¹³² and have explained therein with various kinds of warnings¹³³ so that people may fear Allah or it may be a reminder for them.¹³⁴

114. So Exalted is Allah, the True King.¹³⁵ And do not hasten with the Qur’an before its revelation is completed to you,¹³⁶ and say: “Lord ! Increase my knowledge.”¹³⁷

115. And verily We had,¹³⁸ before this, given an emphatic command ¹³⁹ to Adam but he forgot and We found in him no steadfastness.¹⁴⁰

116. And when We had said to the angels : “Prostrate yourselves before Adam,” they all prostrated themselves except Ibless, he refused. ¹⁴¹

117. Thereon We said: “O Adam! This is an enemy of yours and your wife’s. Let him not turn you out of the Paradise and you be distressed.

118. “Here you will not be hungry or be naked,

119. “You will not be thirsty, or will not suffer the sun’s heat.”¹⁴²

120. But Satan temptingly whispered ¹⁴³ to him, saying: “O Adam! May I show you the tree of immortality and the kingdom which will never decay.”¹⁴⁴

130. It means that who deserves for being spared the punishment of the Hereafter and who does not deserve it is known only to Allah, for He knows the past, the present and the future, of the seen and unseen, and He is aware of the intention and condition of each and every person. Therefore, general permission for intercession will not be given to anyone that he may intercede on behalf of anybody he may like, but this permission will be conditional with this condition that intercession should be on behalf of those about whom Allah will like intercession to be made.

131. By ‘zulm’ (wrong-doing or sin) is meant, as is clear from the following ayah, that attitude which is against faith and good conduct. Polytheism, denial and sinning are included in this.

132. This has been explained in Note No.3, Surah Yusuf.

133. Warnings by various means: by mentioning Allah’s penalizing attributes, by reminding about the chronicles of the past nations, warning by pointing to the whip of His punishment which cracks down over the transgressing individuals and nations in this world, by relating the hardships accompanying the dying moments of men and by announcing the threat of the Hell in the Hereafter.

134. That is: The purpose of the revelation of the Qur’an is that people should lead a life of piety and God-fearing. But if the people have forgotten it, then Qur’an should remind them of their forgotten lesson so that Allah’s argument be carried home to them.

135. The meaning of Allah’s being the True King is that the real ruler of the universe is Allah and only Allah. As for the worldly kings their authority is granted to them by Allah, therefore, they are kings only as a working measure, in name and they are not Dejure Kings to have their decrees being enforced in place of those of Allah.

136. These are the directions to the Prophet (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) that when the Qur’an be in the process of being revealed, he should not make haste to recite the verses, he should wait till the revelation is completed, that is, first he should carefully listen to the revealed words and when the revelation is complete, then only he should recite it. It gives an idea how enthusiastic he was about getting the revelation from God. It also shows that Qur’an is totally the pure revealed word of God and in its authorship there is absolutely no contribution by the Prophet.

137. By knowledge is meant the knowledge that is gained from the Divine revelation.

This knowledge is the right means of knowing the secrets of the universe and the realities of the Unseen as well as the likes and dislikes of God. Therefore, its superiority over the other sciences and knowledge of the world is obvious. The seeking of this knowledge is the right seeking, and the prayer for increase in this knowledge is the sign of appreciating its value. This knowledge is available to us in the form of Qur’an, and by reflecting on this, avenues of sciences and knowledge of various kinds open up for man. But from this solid knowledge only a few are deriving benefit. The world as a whole is unaware of it.138. Now some aspects of Prophet Adam are being presented. The purpose is to explain what is the real weakness of man, and how he is being deceived by Satan.

139. Emphatic command for not going near a particular tree. -(Surah Baqarah, ayah - 35).

140. That is: Adam had no strong determination or will power, and for this reason he committed this fault and was deceived by Satan, and since he forgot the command of God he ate the fruit of the tree which was forbidden.

It is, therefore, learnt that man’s basic weakness is forgetfulness and weakness of the will power or determination.

141. This has been explained in Surah Baqarah Note Nos. 47 and 48.

142. The Paradise where Adam and mother Hawwa (Eve) were kept had a characteristic that they did not feel hunger or thirst, inspite of this, provisions for eating and drinking were amply made, so that they might eat and drink to their hearts’ content. Similarly they were draped in such raiment’s that were to last for ever, and they could never feel that they were naked. This was a temporary Paradise in which Prophet Adam and Mother Hawwa (Eve) were kept. As regards the question as to where this Paradise was, the Qur’an has not mentioned anything about it, for the purpose in view did not need these details to be mentioned.

143. This has been explained in Surah A’raf Note. No.25.

144. Satan said various things to Adam to tempt him. Some time he said that he has been forbidden to eat that fruit so that he might not become an angel (Surah A’raf, ayah No.20), and sometime he said that if he ate the fruit of that tree, it would make him immortal and he would become the king of an everlasting kingdom.

121. So the two of them (Adam and Hawwa) ate its fruit, consequently their nakedness became apparent to them, and they began to cover themselves with the leaves of the Paradise.¹⁴⁵ Adam disobeyed his Lord ¹⁴⁶ and erred.¹⁴⁷

122. Then his Lord granted him mercy, accepted his repentance, and rightly guided him.¹⁴⁸

123. He said: “Go hence both of you, you are enemy of one another,¹⁴⁹ Then if there come to you guidance from Me, ¹⁵⁰ so whoever follows my guidance, he will not go astray nor will be distressed.¹⁵¹

124. “And whoever turns away from remembrance of Me, his will be a straitened life,¹⁵² and I will raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection.”¹⁵³

125. He will say: “My Lord! Why have you raised me up blind, while I have been a seer.”

126. He will answer: “Thus Our revelations reached you and you forgot them. Similarly you are forgotten this Day.”¹⁵⁴

127. And thus We reward the transgressor ¹⁵⁵ and who had denied the revelations of his Lord, and the punishment of the Hereafter is terrible and everlasting.

128. Did not this fact give them any guidance as to how many generations We destroyed before them, in whose dwellings they go about? ¹⁵⁶ Surely in this there are signs¹⁵⁷ for men of understanding.

145. For explanation, please see Surah A’raf Notes Nos. 26, 29 and 30.

146. Prophet Adam had committed disobedience, but this disobedience was not intentional, it was the result of forgetfulness, and it had no element of rebellion in it, which has been mentioned by the Qur’an itself. He was penalised for this forgetfulness because he did not try to take care to remember the emphatic command of God that a particular tree was out of bounds for him and his spouse. As regards the question: How could Adam be considered guilty of disobedience when he was a prophet, as a prophet is not supposed to commit any sinful act. Firstly this event took place before the grant of prophethood to Adam, secondly it took place in the temporary Paradise which was their abode and which was made for the very purpose of making such a test. Thirdly there is a different grades of sins. This sin was an unintentional error, which was the result of falling a prey to the Devil’s temptation.

147. In the text the word ‘Ghawa’ is used, which means straying, as well as deviating under the pressure of desires or on account of ignorance. Accordingly in Surah Qasas, ayah, No.18, the statement of Prophet Moosa has been narrated as ‘You are an obviously foolish man.’

Prophet Adam had not been guilty of any laxity in belief or he had not adopted a rebellious attitude, but this wrong step was taken by him under temptation from Satan, and this wrong step has been termed in the Qur’an as ‘ghawa’.

148. When the raiment of Paradise had come off from the body of Prophet Adam, he realised that he has defaulted, and for this he became sorry .Seeing him full of regrets and repentant, Allah accepted his repentance and showered His blessings on him. He was blessed by being guided to repent and Allah accepted it.

There is a lesson for everyone in this event, that if a sin is committed by man, and he feels sorry and offers repentance to his Lord, the Lord grants him mercy and answers his prayer and elevates him spiritually.

This ayah also makes it clear that Adam was prophet and it has been mentioned that by accepting his repentance he was rightly guided. By this right guidance is meant the path of faith and good and righteous conduct by treading on which Allah’s pleasure can be sought and lasting success can be achieved. Thus the first man that came on earth was a rightly guided person, and since this right guidance was received by him from Allah direct, he was a prophet.

149. Its explanation has been given in Surah A’raf Note No. 33.

150. For explanation, please see Surah Baqarah Note No.56.

151. By not coming to grief is meant not to be subjected to the punishment of Hell-fire. A similar statement is made in the Surah Baqarah :

“They will neither have fear, nor will they come to grief ”.

152. By straitened life is meant that narrowness of the heart and soul which causes spiritual suffocation. However much wealth and property a man may have, or however plentiful their means of pleasure seeking may be, but by deviating from the remembrance of Allah and not following His right guidance, the heart does not get peace nor the soul gets the desired tranquillity. Such a person is always found to be suffering from a psychological disease, and that is anxiety and restlessness.

Today, when the world has become too wide for its worshippers, the condition of many of these people is such that inspite of having earned tons of money and enjoyed every conceivable pleasure, they find the peace of mind and heart elusive. Anxiety is apparent from their faces and a number of them invite unnatural death, being fed up of this life. The reality is that man can find a life of peace, satisfaction and tranquillity only when he establishes a relationship of devotion with his Lord, remembers Him, and derives benefit from the Reminder (Qur’an) sent by Him.

153. For explanation, please see Surah Bani Israil, Note No.102.

154. You are being totally neglected. The sight of mercy will not be turned towards you.

155. That is: Who had transgressed the limits of slavery and obedience to God, and who had considered himself as independent.

156. Means the destroyed township of Thamud and Madyan, etc., which were situated on the highways and by which the caravans of the Arabs used to pass. (for further explanation, please see Surah Hijr, Note No.78).

157. Signs of the fact that the world is not a haphazardly created place, but that it is a place which is being administered in an orderly manner by the Most Astute Administrator with justice and fair play, and before His limitless power everybody else is helpless. He sends down messengers for the guidance of mankind and their dawah is truthful. The nation which opposes the Divine messenger receives due punishment in this world itself.

¹²⁹. Had it not been for the word¹⁵⁸ (of judgment) delivered before by your Lord, and a term ¹⁵⁹ which had been fixed, it (the punishment) would surely have overtaken them.

130. Therefore, bear¹⁶⁰with what they say, and ¹⁶¹ hallow your Lord with praise before sunrise and before sunset, and hallow Him in parts of the night and at the two ends of the day¹⁶², so that you may be pleased.¹⁶³

131. Do not strain your eyes towards that which We have given to some of the classes among them, of the splendour of the life of the world that We may try them. Your Lord’s Provision is better and lasting.¹⁶⁴

132. Enjoin salat (prayer) on your people, and be constant in its observance.¹⁶⁵ We ask you to provide no provision.¹⁶⁶ We provide you provision. And the good end is for piety (Taqwa).¹⁶⁷

133. And they say: “Why does he not bring any sign from his Lord ?” Has not the proof from the previous scriptures reached them?¹⁶⁸

134. Had We destroyed them before this, they would have said: “Lord ! Why sent you not to us a messenger, that we might have followed your revelation before we were humiliated ¹⁶⁹ and disgraced.”

135. Say: “Each one is waiting,¹⁷⁰ so you also wait. You will know who are the followers of the right path and who has been rightly guided.¹⁷¹

158. Means reprieve for performing good acts.

159. That is: Period of reprieve.

160. That is: Do not pay any heed to their senseless charges, and keep a patience and bear with their insulting and pain causing talks.

161. Praise Him, glorify Him with His praises, that is praise Him in prayers. It should be done in such a devoted way that only Allah’s Immaculateness and Greatness is uttered by the tongue and this act should become an act of pure worship.

The examples of words glorifying Allah are: Subhanallah (Allah is Immaculate), and La ilaha illallah (There is no god, but Allah). And the examples of the words of praises are: Alhamdulillah (Praises are for Allah), and Allahu Akbar (Allah is the greatest). And the words which contain both the aspects are: Subhana Rabbiyal Azeem (Immaculate is my Lord, who is Magnificent), Subhanallahi Wa Bi Hamdihi (Immaculate is Allah and I sing His praises).

In the Sahih Bukhari, the last hadith which Imam Bukhari has recorded is this :

“Abu Hurairah narrates that the Prophet (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) has stated that there are two statements which are very much liked by Rahman, light on the tongue but heavy in the balance, they are Subhanallahi Wa Bi hamdihi and Subhanallahil Azeem.” -(Bukhari Kitabut Tawheed).

It amply clarifies that uttering of these words by a sincere Momin is very much liked and approved of by Allah, and their being repeated many times daily is the most desired thing.

Here it will not be out of place to point out that in the matter of remembering Allah different groups of Muslims have different ways of thinking and practice. One group in the matter of Allah insists on” merely repeating words of prayer without creating the night religious consciousness. According to this group the quantity or the number of repetitions is more important than the accompanying religious consciousness or the feeling of devotion (quality). The second group has adopted special forms and registering strikes in connection with remembering Allah. And the third group, whose way of thinking is modern, happens to be short-sighted, therefore, it does not make any arrangements for it in any appreciable way. Compared to this excessive approaches, the method which was adopted by the Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, is the right one and who can understand better the purport of the Qur’an than the Prophet?

162. For this remembrance two timings have been particularly mentioned, and they are before the sunset and before the sunrise that is, the times of the Fajr and Asr prayers, they are very important for worship. Then there are directions for remembering Allah during some parts of the night and the day. The part of the day is that when the sun has risen a little, which is called ‘Zuha’ and ‘Ishraq’. The second part is that of Zuhr, and the third is that of Asr.

These directives for remembering Allah were given before the salat was made compulsory. The command for the five times daily salat is given in Surah Bani Israil, ayah No.78, which was revealed a few years later than the Surah Taha. This was a general command for remembrance of Allah like the general command of spending for Allah given in Makkah. When Zakat was made compulsory, the general command for spending for Allah was not cancelled, but spending for Allah was divided in two kinds: One compulsory spending, for which the terminology of Zakat was used, and the other voluntary (nafil) spending, for which the persuasive directive still holds. Similarly the command for remembrance of Allah which was given in the beginning, its observance was required in two ways: one in the form of five-times daily prayers, and second in the form of nafil salat and nafil (voluntary) remembrances. Accordingly in the hadith also remembrances after the salat are recommended.

163. That is: The fruits of this worship you will get in the form of self-satisfaction and pleasant tranquillity.

It is thus learnt that a man whose heart is sincerely occupied in remembering Allah and praising Him, achieves the much sought after spiritual satisfaction ; and heart-felt pleasure, and in the Hereafter he will be overjoyed by the blissful favours of Allah.

164. That is: Do not look at the wealth and worldly splendour of the world-worshippers with envy, for it is a means of their trial. Compared to this the provision which Allah has already promised to give you is far superior and better and lasting, and that provision is the provision in the Paradise.

165. It is the duty of every Muslim to perform the daily five-times prayers and should also persuade his family members to regularly offer the daily prayers. And the right method is to start the reform from one’s own house. In the matter of observance of prayers by his family members no duty-conscious person can be willfully negligent.

It is also learnt from this ayah that the command to observe salat had come much earlier than the command for making the daily fivetimes prayers compulsory.

166. A similar statement is made in the Surah Al-Dhariyat :

“I demand no livelihood of them. nor do I ask that they should feed Me.” -(Al-Dhariyat 57).

It means that by giving the command of performing salat for Him no benefit is derived by Allah, but this demand is to create a sense of fear of God and obedience for Him.

167. That is: By salat the quality of fear of God (righteousness) is created in men, and the success in the Hereafter is reserved only for those who develop this attribute in themselves.

It should be noted that righteousness or God’s fear does not mean that man should avoid committing evil acts only but that they should also obey the divine commands. that is it consists of both the negative and the positive aspects. Accordingly Allama Taimiyah writes :

“Who says that ‘Taqwa’ (God’s fear) is merely the name of giving up the evil acts— as explained by the predecessors and the followers— it is obeying the commands as well as giving up the forbidden things.” - (Majmu’ Fatawa Ibn Taimiyah, Vol. 20, page 132).

168. The polytheists of Makkah used to say that if this man is really a divine messenger, then why does he not produce a tangible miracle. In reply they are asked: Did not what is stated in the earlier Scriptures reach them, which means that the coming of this divine messenger is exactly according to the prophecies that have been made in the divine Scriptures, the Torah and the Injeel, and this evidence is a convincing argument to prove that he is the true prophet. After this argument there is no need to have any perceptible miracle.

It may be noted that at the time of the revelations of the Qur’an, in the copies of the Torah and the Injeel that were available at that time there were various prophecies about the coming of the Arabian Prophet, but subsequently the Jews and Christians removed a number of such statements so that the weakness of their stand in comparison to Qur’an might not become manifest, and they have also translated some of the statements in such a way that nobody should understand anything. However in the presently available translations of the Torah and the Injeel some prophecies can still be found, about which we have already indicated previously. For example in the Torah this prophecy can be found :

“I will raise them up a Prophet among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” - (Deuteronomy - 18: 18).

In this prophecy one thing that is said is that ‘I will raise a prophet from among the brethren of the Bani Israil.’ The brethren of Bani Israil are Bani Ismail, and Prophet Muhammad (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) was of the clan of Bani Ismail. There has been no other prophet from among the Bani Ismail. except this Prophet. The second thing that is said in the prophecy is ‘He will be like thee, i.e. like Moosa.’ Prophet Muhammad was a prophet like Prophet Moosa. Accordingly the Qur’an says : “We have sent forth to you a messenger to testify against you, just as We sent one to Firaun before you.’ -(Muzzammil-15).

And the third statement is: ‘I will put my words in his mouth, and he will speak unto them all that I shall command.’

This was the most distinguishing attribute of the Arabian Prophet. (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) Accordingly Allah’s words were uttered through his tongue and the Qur’an was considered as his miracle. In other words this miracle is exactly in accordance with the prophecy that is narrated in the Torah, and this is the proof of his being the true Prophet. It may be noted that before the coming of the Arabian Prophet, the people of the Book were waiting for the arrival of this messenger, in view of these prophecies and they used to discuss this matter often. (See Surah Baqarah, ayah No.89). Therefore, the people of Arabia cannot be unaware of this.

169. Humbled in their own eyes and disgraced in the eyes of others.

170. That is: everyone was waiting to see what would be the result of the dawah of the Messenger.

171. That is: Soon you will see as to whether the message of the Prophet was the means of good and betterment or not and whether Allah’s help was with, the Prophet or with you. And on the Day of Resurrection it will be quite clear to you that the Messenger and his followers were on the right path and they alone reached the destination of success.