27- SURAH AN-NAML ( THE ANT )

NAME : In the ayah No.18 a mention is made of Prophet Sulaiman’s (Solomon) passing through the An-Naml valley (Valley of Ants) and hearing the talk of ants. This allusion gives the Surah its name.

TIME OF REVELATION : It is a Meccan Surah and from the topics it is surmised that it might have been revealed after the Surah Ash- Shu’ara.

CENTRAL THEME : Denial of reality is the greatest obstruction in accepting Qur’an as the word of God and in giving up polytheism. Those who like to lead a luxurious life do not accept any advice from the counsels of Qur’an nor do they take any lesson from the chronicles of the prophets.

ORDER OF THE VERSES : Verses Nos. 1 to 6 contain a mention of the sun of guidance (Qur’an), which, rising from the horizon, is giving the glad tidings of eternal success to Muslims, but those who are imprisoned in the cocoon of this world do not want to listen to the talk of the world in which the recompense of the acts performed in this life will be paid.

In ayat Nos. 7 to 14 some part of the chronicle of Prophet Moosa is narrated, which shows what a grand prophet was sent to Firaun and his people by Allah, how they treated him in view of their pride for their power, and ultimately what was their end.

Ayat Nos. 15 to 44 narrated about the grand kingdom of Prophets Dawood (David) and Sulaiman (Solomon), and present this aspect of their character as to how they became Allah’s grateful slaves on getting such a great favour and blessings from Allah, and how Prophet Sulaiman made his power a means of propagating Islam, and as a result of which how the Queen of Sheba (Saba) embraced Islam.

In ayat Nos. 45 to 58 a part of the chronicles of Prophets Salih and Loot (Lot), which shows how their nations denied their message and thus caused corruption in the world and how they were punished.

In ayat Nos. 59 to 75 arguments for monotheism and points which would create a belief in the Hereafter have been presented.

Ayat Nos. 76 to 93 declared that Qur’an has opened the path of guidance and the signs of its authenticity will appear in future also.

27. SURAH AN-NAML (THE ANT) Verses (ayaat) 93

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

1.Ta Seen.¹ These are the verses of the Qur’an and clear² Book,

2. A guidance and glad tidings for the believers.,

3.Who establish salat, pay zakat, and firmly believe in the Hereafter.³

4. Verily for those who do not believe in the Hereafter” We have made their acts seem attractive to them,⁴ so they are straying.⁵

5. Such are those for whom is the worst of punishment,⁶ and in the Hereafter they will be the greatest losers.

6. And verily, you receive the Qur’an from the presence of one Wise,⁷ Knowing.

7. When Moosa told his household: “Surely, I have seen a fire; I will bring some news from there, or will bring to you a borrowed flame so that you may warm yourselves.”⁸

8.And when he came near a voice called out to Him: “Blessed is He who is in this fire and round about it! Immaculate is Allah, the Lord of the Worlds ! ⁹

9.”O Moosa : Verily, it is I, Allah, the Mighty, the Wise.

10. ”And cast down your staff: ” Then when he saw it writhing as if it were serpent, he turned his back and fled, and did not turn to look¹⁰ back. “O Moosa! Do not fear, verily, the messengers are never afraid in My presence.¹¹

1. These are separate alphabetical letters, and as stated earlier, they hint at the specific topics of the Surah.

‘Ta’ hints at ‘Tair’ (bird), whose mention made in the ayah No. 16 that their speech was taught to Prophet Sulaiman. ‘Seen’ hints at Sulaiman and also at Saba (Sheba), who are mentioned in the ayat Nos. 16 and 22, respectively.

2. That is: What is Qur’an, a clear and manifest book and these are its ayat. The message of Qur’an and its teachings are so plain and clear that whoever would listen to it or read it, would understand its purpose and meaning.

Non-Arabic knowing people can get this benefit from its translation, provided the translation is correct. As for its commentaries, their utility cannot be ignored or denied, but it is not proper to think that without the commentaries the Qur’an cannot be understood. Not a few non- Muslims merely read its translation and were blessed with the treasure of faith !

3. For explanation, please see Surah Baqarah Note.” Nos. 7 and 10.

4. When a man denies the Hereafter, then this world becomes his goal, as a result of which his acts go astray. But since his objective is the material world, then evil acts also seem attractive and beautiful to him. This is the reason why today in the name of fashion, originality and progress filthy morals and worst conduct are being exhibited. When the line of thinking is wrong, then the line of action will also be wrong, and the standard of likes and dislikes also gets wrong. This psychology is quite in accordance with Allah’s Law of Straying, therefore, it has been termed as: We have made their acts seem attractive to them.

5. As a result of the denial of the Hereafter, man is deprived of the right path, and also of the wealth of belief. Then wandering here and there is his fate. Look at humanity today, how it is wandering aimlessly. Someone is running towards communism, and some other towards nationalism. Some one is making the unity of religions as the basis of removal of differences and some other is making his culture as the basis of unity. Some one is trying to promote communalism, while the other one is trying to separate religion from politics. Some have no leisure from destructive activities while others are presenting the worst example of terrorism. In short after denying the Hereafter, there has remained no single axis of man’s activities.

6 . The nation or the community, to whom Allah’s messenger conveys His message direct, rejects it, then that nation or community is visited by such a terrific punishment from Allah that it is totally obliterated from the page of existence, but those who receive the message indirectly, and they do not accept the message and persist in their denial of the Hereafter, they receive their punishment in the world according to their desert. Today in the various corners of the world the occurrence of catastrophes and calamities are taking place with so much frequency and such abundance that never before such happenings were seen.

7. The topics of the Qur’an are a witness to the point that is not a human composition, but it is the word of the One and Only Allah, the Wisest and the All-Knowing, for in it are hidden treasures of matchless examples of wisdom and guidance.

8. For explanation, please see Surah Taha Note No.9.

9. The fire which was seen by Prophet Moosa was not the fire that burns, otherwise he would have taken some torch or flame from it. It was an extraordinary fire, under the garb of which the blissful personage of Allah had addressed him.

Around this fire there might have been angels, as appears from the mode of address, and whose presence was a means of blessing and auspiciousness.

Prophet Moosa was travelling. The night was dark and cold. The pathway was in darkness. In such circumstances a voice from the Unseen would easily disturb a person and in such conditions it was not easy to keep calm and undisturbed, and that is why the voice from the Unseen first reassured him that the voice was from that blissful Being who is the Lord of the Universe and in that sacred piece of land angels have descended, which is absolutely good. The whole environment has been made secure from Satan and his evil.

From this a reality has come to light that prophethood is not a thing that can be attained by one’s efforts, but that it is an honourable office which Allah bestows on any one whom He wills and when He wills. As prophet Moosa was blessed with prophethood in the state of unawareness, similarly Prophet Muhammad (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) was also blessed with Prophethood in the Cave of Hira in the state of unawareness. The sudden be stowing upon of the prophethood is the argument in favour of the authenticity of the prophets, for a man who makes a false claim of prophethood, he makes mental, academic and practical preparation for the same.

As for the question how Prophet Moosa recognised the voice from the Unseen to be that of God; then first of all a creature cannot be totally unable to recognise his creator’s voice. Whenever its Lord will call it, it would immediately recognise His voice. Secondly the inner sense of a prophet-a pure and clean soul-has a firm belief in his heart that it is the voice of my Lord, or that it is a revelation that has come down from Him.

Thirdly, at the time of the revelation of the God’s word the ambience is made so clean that Satanic promptings do not enter the mind and the heart feels fully satisfied. And fourthly the revelation on account of its topic and wordings, itself becomes a proof of its own authenticity.

And the wording of ‘Immaculate is Allah’ show that even though the voice is coming from inside the fire, but Allah’s being is free from it and he cannot be limited or confined to anything, or that He cannot be amalgamated or dissolved into anything. He is gracing the throne of. ‘Arsh’, and He is nearer to his slave than his jugular vein. Then he is also in the heaven and the earth, as mentioned in the Qur’an at another place:

“And Allah is in heavens and also on the earth.” -(An’-am-3)

And as the meaning of His being in the heaven and the earth is not His being dissolved in the skies and the earth, in the same way His saying to Moosa: ‘Blessed is He who is in this fire’ does not mean that He has a physical body which is inside this fire. His very attribute is that there is nothing like Him. Therefore, it is not correct to think of Him on the lines of the creatures, it would be plain straying. In the material world we observe that in the mirror a man’s image is seen, while the man is not inside the mirror. And today on the T.V. screen a man’s image or photo is seen, his voice is also heard, while he actually is not inside the T.V. When this is the case of the material world, then how can one deny God’s being matchless, bodyless and homeless:

10. This was on account of the human weakness. Seeing the snake writhing, he was frightened.

11. That is: When Allah selects someone for prophethood and calls him in His presence, there is no reason for him to be afraid. He remains secure and safe from every evil and trouble in His presence, therefore, the snake which was seen by Prophet Moosa will not cause any harm or trouble to him.

11.”Except him who has done wrong and afterwards has changed evil for good. Then verily I am Forgiving, Merciful.¹² ”

12. And Put your hand into your bosom, it will come out white but unhurt.¹³ (This is) among nine signs,¹⁴ (with which) you go to Firaun and his people. Verily they are wicked people.”¹⁵

13.But when Our open signs came to them, they said: “This is plain magic.”

14. And they denied them because of their evil and arrogance, though their souls were satisfied of their truth.¹⁶ So see what was the end of the evil-doers:¹⁷

15.And verily We bestowed knowledge¹⁸ on Dawood and Sulaiman, and they said: “Praise¹⁹ be to Allah, who has exalted us above many of His believing slaves.”²⁰

16. And Sulaiman became Dawood’s heir.²¹ And he said: O people ! Verily, we have been taught the speech of birds,²² and have been given everything.²³ This surely is evident favour.²⁴

17. And to Sulaiman were marshalled his forces of jinn and men and birds, ²⁵ and set in battle array;²⁶

18.Till, when they reached the Valley of the Ants,²⁷ an ant called out: “O Ants! Enter your dwellings lest Sulaiman and his armies crush you unperceiving.”²⁸

19. So he smiled,²⁹ laughing at her speech, and said: “My Lord! Grant me guidance to be thankful for your favour by which you have blessed me and my parents, and to do good that shall be pleasing to you,³⁰ and include me by your mercy among your righteous slaves.”³¹

12. As for the fear that might have remained on account of some past fault, he has been reassured that now that he has adopted a virtuous line of action, he would not be questioned for that. This was a hint of forgiveness which was granted for the murder that was involuntarily committed by Prophet Moosa in the past, the detail of which has been narrated in the Surah Qasas.

13. This was the second miracle which was granted by Allah to Prophet Moosa. For explanation, please see Surah Taha Note No.23.

14. For the details of the nine signs please see Surah Bani Israil Note No.132

15. Firaun and his people have been called wicked or the evil-doing people, although Prophet Moosa had not yet conveyed to them Allah’s message. The reason is that they were not totally unaware of the prophetic teachings, because Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) had left deep impressions of his teachings in Egypt, and however corrupt Bani Israil might have been, they were after all Muslims (believers), and therefore, through them hints, teachings, guidance, in one way or the other, might have been reaching them. And this is a basic point that human nature knows open evils, and sins, e.g. oppression excesses, immorality, conceit, pride, and transgression against one’s Lord, etc. But Firaun and his community had suppressed the voice of their nature and adopted the attitude of tyranny and sinning, therefore, they deserved to be called wicked and evil-doing.

From this a point of principle becomes manifest that those who adopt the path of committing sin against the commands of Allah are bound to be called wicked and evil-doing, whether the message of Allah had been conveyed to them or not.

16. That is: They were convinced that the signs which Prophet Moosa was showing were miracles and that not magic and that in reality he was the Prophet of Allah. In spite of this conviction the thing that prevented them from accepting Islam were their pride and evil intention. Evil ideas keep a man from accepting truth and pride does not let him condescend to acknowledge the reality.

From this it also becomes clear that the main thing is accepting the faith by heart, and that no faith can be said to be reliable without the acceptance by heart.

17. The details of this end have been narrated in Surah Yunus, Surah Taha, and Surah Shu’ara.

18. Means a particular kind of knowledge which was necessary to run a magnificent and matchless kingdom according to law and justice and Islamic ideology. In the Bible it is stated:

“And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and largeness of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt. -(1 King 4: 29, 30)

19. In the foregoing the example of Firaun has been given which shows that when he got power he became proud and set to tyrannize people. On the other side there are the examples of Prophet Dawood and Prophet Sulaiman, who receiving power took it to be Allah’s favour and used it rightly and for the right purpose and lived as grateful slaves of Allah.

20. Exaltation from this standpoint that He made them His prophets, and because he blessed them with knowledge and wisdom, and on account of His granting them kingdom and His khilafat, and also granted them from His special favours such splendid powers that becomes their distinguishing features.

21. Here heir does not mean inheritor of the material wealth, but that of the knowledge of prophethood and the sacred office of the caliphate of Allah. If the heirship of the material wealth were meant, then the mention of only Prophet Sulaiman would not have been made, because Prophet Dawood had other children too. Besides, it is mentioned in a hadith that the property of a prophet is not inherited (see Surah Maryam Note No.8). And this context is also in support of our contention. In the Bible it is stated:-

“So Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom firmly established.”

22. So far as this point is concerned that the birds are sufficiently intelligent to express their dire needs in different notes of their sounds it is commonly observed, and we also know by experience that we can teach parrots to copy human voices and utter certain words of human speech. Similarly the birds of prey are trained to do the bidding of the hunter. Then the songs of the birds are definitely not without meaning. Yet to understand their speech is as difficult for us as it is difficult to understand the telegraphic message by any one who does not know the morse signals, by merely hearing the khut khut or tick tick of the machine. But Prophet Sulaiman was given by Allah the knowledge of the speech of the birds, which was in the nature of a miracle, which he used to utilise in his administration.

It may be noted that the speech of the birds was taught to Prophet Sulaiman, but his saying that We have been taught this speech is only a way of royal speech where the speaker (king) uses the plural number for himself.

23. That is: All the necessary equipment and paraphernalia in required for running a strong government.

24. That is: This unrivalled kingdom is such a favour of Allah as no one can fail to realise. Therefore, we must acknowledge it freely. It shows what a noble character Prophet Sulaiman had.

But see the trickery of the Jews that they alleged that he had attained this kingdom by the force of his magic, and he had committed an act of disbelief. See Surah Baqarah Verse No.102 and Note No.120.

25.The kingdom of Prophet Sulaiman was of a distinctive character. For him the armies of jinns and birds were also provided along with the army of men. The service he used to take from the jinns and the birds is narrated further, and something in this connection has been mentioned in Surah Anbiya (‘See Surah Anbiya, Note No.110).

Every Prophet has a distinctive grandeur, Allah had, made Prophet Sulaiman a prophet of majestic magnificence and royal splendour, so that the people of the world may know that when a prophet, with sublime grandeur, sits on a throne, he remembers Allah and when he stays in a palace, he spends his life in righteousness, therefore, those people who get power and wealth, they should not be intoxicated by the drugging effects of the material wealth, but should prove themselves to be worthy of their trust and responsibility.

26.That is: Those armies were kept ready with military discipline and order. They used to be arranged in battle array and according to their ranks, so that whatever task was required to be given to them could be done conveniently, e.g. the birds were used for communication, etc.

27. That is: When the armies of Prophet Sulaiman reached a valley where ants were in abundance.

28. Ants live in a collective way and in orderly manner. Long lines of ants and their working together are the open examples of their collective living. By their movements it is also learnt that one ant calls another ant and probably they talk among themselves. It is another matter that we are unable to hear their voices. But we should not consider animals on the same basis as humans; its clear example is a dog’s faculty of smelling, which is so strong that by just smelling the clothes of a person, it is able to recognise him.

Therefore, when the police brings the police dog to the spot where the crime was committed, it smells the criminals, things left behind him and by its smell reaches the criminal and helps in nabbing him. So if the ants talk among themselves in such low tones that we cannot hear them -there is nothing strange about it. Today we are able to see the tiniest imaginable things with the help of the microscope, things about whose existence we had not known earlier. If today such an instrument has not yet been invented by the help of which we are unable to hear the tiniest sounds, it is not reasonable for us to deny that sounds with such low tones exist, when the word of Allah informs us about it. In fact it is an argument in support of Qur’an being the word of Allah that it informs us about such mysteries as we were not able to know by other means. This is a great addition to human knowledge, therefore, there is no reason that by interpreting them unreasonably we should close for ourselves those gates of knowledge which are being thrown open for our benefit, and become guilty of changing the Qur’an. On reading such ayat, our prayer should be: “My Lord! Increase my knowledge.” (Taha-114).

As for the question: how the ants knew that this was Prophet Sulaiman’s army, passing through this valley, it is an inspirational matter. It is no wonder that Allah had put such an idea in the ant. The flocks of the birds which attacked the elephants of Abraha were inspired by Allah to do so in a similar fashion. (See Surah Al- Feel).

29. Prophet Sulaiman could hear and understand the conversation of the ant through the knowledge of the animal speech bestowed on him by God as a miracle for him. He might have been pleased on hearing that the reputation of his armies had reached even the ants. However its speech sounded so strange that he could not help laughing.

30. Even Prophet Sulaiman’s laughter was mixed with seriousness, therefore, feelings of gratefulness also stirred in his heart with the emotions of happiness. He prayed to God to make him grateful and righteous, i.e. I have been benefited from what favours You have bestowed on me, and I have received a part of favours that You had bestowed on my parents; now You grant me guidance to fulfill my responsibilities concerning these favours.

31. The ranks of the prophets are very high, and righteous conduct is like a foundation for the height of these ranks. Therefore prophets always pray for grant of guidance to be righteous, and since righteous people only are worthy of Paradise, they pray to be included among the righteous people.

On the one side is this prayer of Prophet Sulaiman, which is a reflection of his pure feelings and desires and a mirror of his piety and on the other side are those vulgar and senseless false stories which have been ascribed to him in the Bible.

20. And he inspected the bird and said: “Why is it that I do not see the Hoopoe? Or is he one of the absentees?³²

21. ”I will surely give him stern punishment,³³ or will surely slay him, if he does not come to me with a clear of reason.”³⁴

22. Then he was not long in coming, and he said: “I have found out a thing which you encompassed not and I come to you from (Saba) with sure tidings.³⁵

23. ”Verily, I found a woman ruling over them,³⁶ and she has been given everything,³⁷ and she has a magnificent throne.³⁸

24.”I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of Allah;³⁹ and Satan has made their acts seem attractive to them, and has debarred them from the right path, therefore, they are not rightly guided.”⁴⁰

25.Why do not they prostrate themselves before Allah,⁴¹ who brings forth the hidden in the heavens and the earth,⁴² and knows what you hide and you proclaim!⁴³

26.Allah ; there is no God but He, the Lord of the Grand Throne.⁴⁴

27. (Sulaiman) said: “We shall soon see whether you speak truth or you are of the liars.⁴⁵

28.”Go with this letter of mine and cast it down to them;⁴⁶ then turn away and see what is their reaction.”⁴⁷

29. She (the Queen of Sheba) said: O nobles! A gracious letter has been thrown to me,

30. ”Verily, it is from Sulaiman, and it is: ‘In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful;⁴⁸

32. When Prophet Sulaiman inspected his armies, he found Hoopoe missing. It is a bird like pigeon, and it is used in sending messages like the pigeon. It has a crest on its head, and is, therefore, called ‘Royal Bird’. But the Hoopoe about which Prophet Sulaiman was talking was a special bird which had special God-given gift and was very talented. The extraordinary service that he rendered distinguishes him from ordinary types of birds. Some people have interpreted that Hoopoe was the name of a person, but the actual text of the Qur’an denies it. Earlier it has been stated that for Prophet Sulaiman armies of men, jinns and birds were provided, and in this ayah his inspecting the army of the birds has been mentioned, and further on it is mentioned that if Hoopoe did not give a good excuse for his absence, he would be slaughtered.

All these things prove that Hoopoe was a bird, and therefore to interpret that it was a man is totally false and meaningless.

33. Stern punishment might be the punishment of cutting its wings, so that it may not be able to fly again.

34. The literal meaning of the words ‘open argument’ used in the Qur’an means reasonable or good excuse.

35. ‘Saba’ or Sheba is the name of a community which lived in Yemen, near San’a, and whose capital was Maarib. The hoopoe found out some details about this community and gave its report to Prophet Sulaiman. It automatically proved that he was busy collecting important information for the state, and that is why it could not be present on time, before Prophet Sulaiman.

Prophet Sulaiman might not have been totally unaware of the community of Sheba, but it is likely that he would not have been aware of many details, as is clear from the statement of the Hoopoe. The bird reported what it actually saw there.

36. The Hoopoe was also amazed on finding a woman ruling over that community, but in modern times the standard bearers of democracy would be very much pleased that in those ancient days too a woman ruled over men.

37. That is : abundant equipment and provision.

38. It seems that the throne of the Queen of Sheba was made of gold and precious jewels, that is why the Hoopoe called it a magnificent throne.

39. The queen of Sheba and her people were sun-worshippers, and worshipping someone other than Allah was a nonsensical act even in the eyes of a bird. It has become clear that when Allah grants speech to a bird, it does not fail to condemn polytheism, yet man does not give up polytheism !

40. Here the statement of the Hoopoe came to an end. On this occasion it should be understood that the Hoopoe was not an ordinary bird, but it was a special bird, well trained by Prophet Sulaiman and Allah had bestowed on it human understanding as a miracle. That is why it was possible for it to survey the conditions of the country of Sheba and report about its condition to Prophet Sulaiman. It was a fantastic manifestation of Allah’s might, which shows that a hoopoe, with the understanding of a human, distinguishes between right-guidance and misguidance, and terms polytheism as a deceit of Satan and false, but man, inspite of having understanding and intelligence, acts like an unintelligent and brainless being.

41. These are Allah’s words on the statement of the hoopoe, as is clear from the context. Such an assumption is supported by the fact that here Muslims are commanded to prostrate themselves which corresponds to Allah’s command. The purpose is to draw the attention of those who follow the footsteps of the people of Sheba, as to why they do not make Allah their deity whose attributes are such and such.

It may be noted that in the text the word ‘Alla’ is used, which also means ‘why not’ as is mentioned in the Lissanul Arab, Vol.XV, page 434. We have taken this meaning from our translation.

42. The hidden things of the heavens can be rain, which is concealed in the clouds. Other similar examples are electricity and the light of the day. And science has discovered a lot of hidden things of the sky, e.g., heavenly bodies like Andromeda galaxy which is about 1,700,000 light years from earth. ( 1 light year = 9.46 trillion km.) at a distance of umpteen light years, Cosmic rays, etc.

As for the hidden things of earth, the obvious examples are the metals and the minerals. And in the modern times the earth has thrown out the black gold, gasoline, mineral oils and precious metals like platinum and uranium, etc.

43. That is: The God that knows and brings out the hidden things of the earth and the heavens, also knows the inside and outside of his creatures, the humans. Is not the god who has the knowledge of the unseen and having worthy of your worship and your prostrating yourselves before Him. Or are the sun and the idols of stone, who neither know anything nor can do any thing worthy of worship?

44. This is an ayat-i-sajda. The reciter and the hearer of this ayah should immediately offer a sajda, which is in reality an expression of the fact that they have made the Lord of the Grand Arsh as their deity and worthy of their worship.

On this occasion a sajda is quite appropriate, because in the chronicle of Prophet Sulaiman many such events have been narrated that if the control of the faith over the intellect is not firm, it would involve itself in the discussion of its possibility or otherwise. The Qur’an has tried to test the human intellect at certain places. Those Muslims who are truly faithful, their hearts go into a sajda before their Lord, and this attribute distinguishes them from the group of blind followers of intellectualism.

45.This reply of Prophet Sulaiman to the Hoopoe signifies that this bird had the ability to distinguish between the truth and the falsehood. And this was a manifestation of a miracle from Allah in favour of Prophet Sulaiman.

46. This shows that this hoopoe used to work as a carrier of messages for Prophet Sulaiman.

47. That is: After throwing down the letter, do not return immediately, wait for some time and watch for what is their reaction to the contents of the letter.

48. The Queen of Sheba considered that the letter deserved to be given due respect, the reason for that might have been that she received it, without the agency of an envoy, through a bird, and secondly it was from the famous and grand emperor, Prophet Sulaiman, of the magnificent kingdom of Syria and Palestine. And the biggest reason was the contents of the letter which proved that it was something out of the ordinary. Accordingly the letter began with the words, Bismillah... which are such auspicious words that with the help of this very key the gates of divine recognition open. And it was through the auspiciousness of this very kalimah that the path of truth was thrown open for the Queen of Sheba, as will be seen further on.

This Kalimah, emanating from the pen of Prophet Sulaiman is in fact the divine inspiration, which Qur’an has preserved in such a way that the Quran’s beginning starts with these words: Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. Then for every surah it is a compulsory crown, except for the Surah Taubah, which is a king without the crown, a sword without the scabbard.

A guidance is also received from the letter of Prophet Sulaiman that all dawah and missionary letters should begin with these auspicious words.

31.”Do not exalt yourselves above me, and come to me in all submission.”⁴⁹

32. She said: O Nobles ! Pronounce your counsel in my case, I do not make any decision except in your presence.”⁵⁰

33.They said: “We are possessors of strength⁵¹ and great prowess.⁵² It is for you to command,⁵³ so we will wait upon your pleasure.”⁵⁴

34. She said: “When kings enter a city, they ruin it and humiliate its nobles. These will do the same.⁵⁵

35.”And verily I will send to them a present and will see with what (answer) the envoys return.”⁵⁶

36. When he (the envoy) came to Sulaiman, he said: “What! Would you help me with wealth! But what Allah has given me is better than what He has given you. Nay it is you who exult in your present.⁵⁷

37. ”Go back to them. We will march against them with forces they cannot oppose, and drive them from their land humbled, and they will be degraded.”⁵⁸

38. Sulaiman said: “O Nobles ! which of you will bring me her throne before they come to me, submissive.”⁵⁹

39.(Ifreet) a very strong one among the jinns⁶⁰ said:” I will bring it to you before you rise from your seat, and surely I am strong and trustworthy.”⁶¹

40. Said he, who had the knowledge of the Book: “I will bring it to you before your gaze comes back to you.”⁶² And when he (Sulaiman) Saw it set before him,⁶³ he said: “This is a favour from my Lord with ⁶⁴which He would test me whether I am grateful or ungrateful. Whoever gives thanks, he does it for his own good, and whoever is ungrateful- then truly my Lord is Self- sufficient and Bountiful.”⁶⁵

49. On the one hand Prophet Moosa was directed to go to Firaun and to talk to him softly, and on the other hand the example of Prophet Sulaiman shows us that when he wrote to the Queen of Sheba he adopted a style of challenge in his dawah letter that she should not try to exalt herself above him and that she should present herself before him as a Muslim i.e. in submission. The reason for such a difference in the style of presentation is that Prophet Sulaiman was presenting his dawah as a king while Prophet Moosa had no political power.

It is thus learnt that a powerful Islamic state can present its dawah to another polytheist state in a challenging style. The countries that were conquered during the time of the righteous Caliphs were presented dawah as a challenge, that is either accept Islam, or pay Jaziyah and accept the subjugation of the Islamic state or let the sword decide the issue between the two states.

‘Come to me in all submission’ was a blunt message for embracing Islam, which is a proof of the fact that the goal of Prophet Sulaiman was neither grabbing land nor wanton exhibition of grandeur, but it was a great objective and that was the spread of Islam and its establishment and firmness on the state level.

It provides a guidance that an Islamic state should keep this objective before it and should use its resources for achieving this objective. Islam’s unalloyed theory is that in no country polytheism should be in ascendancy, for when the machinery of the government indulges in spreading polytheism, then the general public are misled easily and abundantly. For their good, to free them from the subjugation of polytheism or at least to bring them under the influence of the Islamic state is very necessary. For further explanation, please see Surah Taubah, Note No.57

50. It will not be correct to conclude from this that the government of Sheba was democratic, because kings also have been consulting their ministers or courtiers. Firaun also had consulted his nobles (Surah shu’ara -25). Therefore, the government of Sheba was a personal government.

51. Means military power.

52. That is: We are not afraid of fighting, but are ever ready for it.

53. The authority to take decision was that of the queen, which shows that it was a personal government.

54. That is: We have given our opinion, now it is for you to decide what action should be taken.

55. In the event of defeat resulting from a war against a king, the nation will face the danger of destruction and the citizens will be humiliated, therefore, it is better to avoid war. It shows that the Queen inspite of being a woman had more sense than a man. Although women are more emotional, therefore, unable to rule and take judicious decisions, but it is not a hard and fast rule that every woman would be like that. Sometimes we find that some women are more intelligent than most men. The understanding and the far-sightedness of the Queen of Sheba was better than that of her courtiers, and it was an exceptional case.

56. The queen decided to send a delegation of envoys to King Sulaiman with valuable presents and to wait and see what is his response. It is possible that it may pave the way for friendly relations between the two countries.

57. The Queen of Sheba had sent valuable presents to Prophet Sulaiman with a view that if these presents are accepted by him, he would withdraw his demand of requiring them to embrace Islam, and might be satisfied with mere friendly relations with her country, while Prophet Sulaiman was in a position to terminate her polytheistic power and enforce his rule and free the country from the control of the polytheistic forces.

The people of Sheba were very much proud of their wealth and material power. That is why Prophet Sulaiman said that Allah has bestowed on him more favours than what He has bestowed on them and he is much more powerful than them, and that he did not need any wealth to be weaned away from his demand of giving up polytheism.

58. Prophet Sulaiman was not ready to tolerate a polytheistic kingdom, because in those days the public generally used to follow the same religion as that of their rulers. Therefore, in order to free a people from the wicked and evil power, it was necessary to use military force. Prophet Sulaiman was a king of great power, and he talked to them in accordance with his power which shook the kingdom of power of falsehood. This wrath of Prophet Sulaiman was not the product of his pride but on account of his zeal for terminating polytheism, and providing right guidance to people. From this it becomes clear that the Islamic state has a high ideal before it and it takes necessary steps to achieve that, ideal. Therefore, it is not correct to say that its wars are only for purposes of defence. If Islam had only allowed defensive war, then Prophet Sulaiman would not have shown his inclination to wage an offensive war against Sheba.

59. Reading between the lines, it is learnt that the delegation of envoys returned home and when it informed the Queen about the great king and the magnificence of his kingdom, the Queen decided to go to meet him personally. And when Prophet Sulaiman came to know of her coming, he arranged for her throne being brought to his palace before her arrival so that she might see a miracle being performed, which was a proof of his prophethood.

60. ‘Ifreet’ means a being having great power.

61. Jinns can fly from the earth to the sky, therefore, we cannot judge their speed according to the standard of human speed, and their strength on the strength of human beings. The powerful Jinn offered to bring the throne of the Queen of Sheba to his court and that he would not misuse his trust. But Prophet Sulaiman did not consider it proper that such a work should be entrusted to a jinn.

62. By the Book is meant the Divine Book, the Torah, because no other meaning can be taken for that, And by ‘who had the knowledge of the Book’ is meant one in the court of Prophet Sulaiman who was very well versed in the Torah and had an insight in its meaning; he understood that Prophet Sulaiman wanted the throne to be brought there by a miracle and for that he wanted to make a human its agent, and therefore, he offered his services for it. Since he knew that a miracle takes place with the command of Allah, and for its occurrence time and place have no meaning, he said that he would do the job ‘before your gaze comes back to you’. It meant that since the miracle was to be performed by Prophet Sulaiman, he as an agent for that miracle, was ready to perform that service.

Prophet Sulaiman could have performed this miracle without making a human its agent, but he granted this honour to a scholar of the Torah; in other words this was a great achievement of Prophet Sulaiman which came to be manifested with the command of Allah in the same manner in which other prophets had performed their miracles. The only difference is that he utilised the services of a great scholar of the Torah to get this miracle manifested.

Some commentators think that by ‘who had the knowledge of the Book’ is meant the person who knew the ‘Ism-i-Azam’ i.e. the great name of Allah. They say that such a person brought the throne in a jiffy, and then they indulged in the discussion as to what that great name of Allah is. In this way they made this great name to be a puzzle, although the great name of Allah is not a secret, but it is a very clear reality that it is the name’ Allah’, it is the ‘Ism-i-Zaat’- personal name, and in the Qur’an it is mentioned so many times that the question of searching for a name leaving aside this name does not arise. How can it be believed that Qur’an is without the great name, and the ‘Bismillah’, Surah Fatiha, Ayatul Kursi and Surah Ikhlas, in which the recognition of the Divine Being is given and because of that they have a special significance are without the great name. And how can this point be accepted that in the’ Azkar-i-Masnoonah’ (traditional remembrances) best words of the Lord’s praises and thanks are there but this great name is not there. The fact is that those who are indulging in ‘amaliyat’ (meditation to get the coveted thing) have taken the support of this great name. Allama Sayed Sulaiman Nadvi has very rightly stated that the concept of the great name is ignorance-based and non- Shariah concept. (Arzul Qur’an, Vol. I, page 270).

63.That is: The throne came there that very moment. Between Yemen and Baitul Maqdis there is a distance of about one and a half thousand miles, therefore, apparently it seems amazing that from such a long distance the throne of the Queen reaches the court of Prophet Sulaiman in a moment. But those who believe in Allah being the Absolutely Powerful do not find it amazing. When Allah wills some miracle to be performed by one of His prophets, then the physical or natural laws do not thwart or prevent it. Prophet Moosa’s staff used to turn into a snake the moment it thrown on the ground. For Prophet Salih the appearance of an extraordinary she-camel out of nowhere was very sudden, and Prophet Muhammad covered the long journey from Makkah to Baitul Maqdis in less than a night. Then in this physical world also some things are very fast, e.g. light travels in the form of electromagnetic waves at the rate of 300,000 km per second, and sound travels at a rate of 330 meters per second in air. If Allah can shows such stupendous occurrences, then is it difficult for Him to manifest a miracle, of transferring a throne to the court, from thousands of miles within a moment at the hands of His Prophet.

64. On the appearance of the throne in his court in the extraordinary way, Prophet Sulaiman did not say that it was his achievement, but termed it as a favour of Allah. It gives an idea as to how the kingship of Prophet Sulaiman was different from that of the other kings.

65. That is: My Lord is not in need of others’ thanks, He is most Gracious, therefore, whoever is ungrateful, he acts against his own self and interest.

41. He said: “Disguise Her throne for her so that we may see whether she is rightly guided or will be of those who are not rightly guided.”⁶⁶

42.So when she came, it was said to her :”Is your throne like this? She replied: “It looks as if it is the very one. And we were given the knowledge before this, and we were Muslims (surrendered to Allah).⁶⁷

43. And she was prevented (from surrendering to Allah) by what she worshipped beside Allah, for she came from an unbelieving nation.⁶⁸

44.She was asked to enter the palace; and when she saw it she thought it was a pool of water and bared her legs. Sulaiman said:“Verily, it is a palace, paved with glass.” Said she: “My Lord ! Verily, I have wronged myself, and I submit with Sulaiman to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.”⁶⁹

45.And verily We sent to Thamud⁷⁰ their brother, Salih, (with this message) Worship Allah; but they at once became two contending factions.⁷¹

46. He said: “O my people! Why do you hasten for evil before good? Why do you not ask pardon of Allah that you may receive mercy.”⁷²

47.They said: “We augur ill omen from you and those that are with you.” He said : “Your evil augury is with Allah. Nay, but you are a people that are being tested.”⁷³

48.And there was in the city a group of nine men who made mischief in the land and were not ready to reform.⁷⁴

49.They said (among themselves): “ Swear by Allah that we will verily launch a raid against him and his family by night, and surely afterwards we will tell his next of kin that we did not witness the destruction of his family. And verily we are truthful.”⁷⁵

66. The command to change the shape of the throne was given with a set purpose, to give a chance to the Queen to contemplate. If she recognises that inspite of the apparent disguise that the throne in reality is hers, then a question will arise in her mind as to how that throne came to be present there. Contemplating on this question, she will realise that it was the miracle of Prophet Sulaiman, which is a proof of his being a prophet. In this way she can be rightly guided. If she is unable to recognise her throne, then it would mean that she is not a thinking woman, and one who does not think cannot be rightly guided.

Here it is futile to discuss the point of Fiqh that how was it lawful for Prophet Sulaiman to bring the throne of the Queen to his court without her consent. This question does not arise because a miracle comes to be manifested with the command of Allah, and for this purpose He appropriates the properly of any slave He likes. For the she-camel of Prophet Salih a day was fixed for her to drink water from the well debarring all others to draw water from there on that day. In the same way Prophet Sulaiman was given the authority to get the throne of the Queen of Sheba and to change it as he desired, so that a miracle might be manifested, and this was done with a view to rightly guiding the Queen and not to obtaining the jewels and gold from the throne.

67. The Queen recognised her throne, but since its shape was changed she said that it looked as if it was the very one, and at the same time she admitted that she knew of the miraculous achievements of Prophet Sulaiman from before, and that she had embraced Islam and had already become a Muslim.

From this statement of the Queen it becomes clear that she and her companions acknowledged the truth of Islam on hearing the report of their delegation, but they had not openly declared their Islam before their nation, nor their mental preparedness to accept the faith had reached the proper level.

Prophet Sulaiman’s letter had asked them to embrace Islam and to go to him, therefore, the Queen might have taken the decision to undertake that journey on agreeing to embrace Islam.

68.That is: The Queen had acknowledged the truth of Islam, but she had not openly declared her acceptance of this faith, because she belonged to a polytheistic religion and was the head of an infidel nation. To embrace Islam leaving behind this religion was not easy for her, but when she came out of this atmosphere and was in the company of Prophet Sulaiman, she got the opportunity of responding to the call of her conscience.

69. To make her realise her intellectual error and ideological straying, Prophet Sulaiman had built a palace of glass, whose floor was of a clean and smooth glass: It presented an appearance of water. Therefore, for walking over it, the Queen bared her calves, so that her clothing might not get wet. Prophet Sulaiman informed her that it was a floor of glass. She was taken by surprise and her mind at once realised the fact that if a man does not think properly, he can be deceived by external appearances, while the reality is quite different. These manifestations in the universe, the sun and the moon, etc., are not gods, but God is the one whose light is illuminating the entire universe. When this reality dawned on her, she realised that she was believing in polytheism which was false, therefore, she admitted her error in the presence of her Lord.

Now Islam had reached the inner recesses of her heart, and therefore, she declared her Islam with full consciousness and full belief. Thus the policy of Prophet Sulaiman became the cause of her right guidance.

As for the question that King Sulaiman was a Prophet, and prophets do not lead a luxurious life, then how did he build a palace ? The answer is that all this was done in support of his mission and for Islam’s political advantage, and not for leading a luxurious life nor even for exhibiting his grandeur. Secondly Prophet Sulaiman was given extra-ordinary resources, even the services of jinns were made available to him. He utilised these resources in building a majestic Baitul Maqdis and constructing a magnificent palace, the burden for constructing these edifices did not fall on the poor people. These monumental edifices were not constructed by him at the cost of the rights and dues of the poor, but he utilised the immense treasures which Allah had granted him for the high purpose of meeting the noble demands of the religion. Thirdly a model of this aspect of character of a prophet comes to the fore that without giving up the high standard of God-fearing righteousness a grand kingdom can be ruled, and let nobody be under the wrong impression that none of the prophets was provided with the abundance of resources, and no prophet could present a model of an ideal ruler while at the same time maintaining his piety and righteousness.

Whether after embracing Islam the Queen returned to her country or not is not indicated in the Qur’an, for its purpose is not to relate history but to present a historical event in order to refute polytheism which clearly shows that when a lady even after becoming the queen of a rich country, ponders over God’s signs with an open mind, she comes to the right conclusion that polytheism is false and monotheism is right, and she embraces Islam with unstinted belief. And let nobody be under this impression that the message of prophets has influenced only the poor people, but it has also happened that persons in power were also influenced by their dawah and have readily embraced the faith. However, in the Bible it is stated that the queen returned to her country afterwards.

“So she turned and went back to her own land, with her servants.” (2 Chronicles 9:12) Anyway there is no mention of Prophet Sulaiman’s marriage with the Queen of Sheba in the Qur’an, nor in the hadith nor even in the Bible. And what seems likely is that she might have returned to her country, so that she might invite her people to embrace Islam, and Prophet Sulaiman might have given up his intention of a military action against Sheba when its kingdom had accepted his suzerainty.

Some people quote the event of the Queen of Sheba in support of the contention of a woman being the head of the state. Their argument is that Prophet Sulaiman let her continue as the ruler after her embracing Islam. First of all there is no Quranic verse to show that the queen returned to her country and continued to rule in support of their argument. Secondly Prophet Sulaiman had not made her the ruler. It was her people who had made her their ruler. Thirdly her nation was infidel and polytheistic, and after the queen’s having been rightly guided, she could be made the means of rightly guiding her people.

Therefore with a view to meeting this great need of dawah and reform, if a lady who had embraced Islam with full consciousness, is kept as a ruler, then it could only be an exceptional case. It would not be correct to take it to be a general rule of the Shariah. And the Shariah of Prophet Muhammad, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, is a complete and perfect Shariah, in which commands for observing Purdah have also been given, therefore, to follow all these commands and yet to act as the ruler of a state is neither practicable nor feasible.

70. For explanation, please see Surah A’raf Notes Nos. 115 to 126, and Surah Fajr Notes Nos. 12 and 13.

71. The message of Prophet Salih was that of pure monotheism, of worshipping only one God. This message on account of its reality was such that there could not be any dispute about its truth, but when he presented his dawah, his community was divided into two factions. One accepted the dawah and the other denied it. Thus there started a tension between the creeds of monotheism and polytheism and between faith and infidelity. Who is better than the prophets in presenting the dawah in a wise manner, but when they have struck a blow to polytheism and idolatry and have declared the only God as worthy of worship a storm of opposition was raised against them. But at the same time there also stood up a group of people who responded to their call. Although such a group used to be small in number but in respect of its attributes it used to be the cream of the contemporary society. And this is that positive result which is the main purpose of their dawah and by such people only the society of the Paradise will be formed.

In the modern times a large number of presenters of dawah are those who avoid striking an effective blow to the practice of polytheism and idolatry and is not prepared to invite any conflict and tussle which would ensue as a result of their presentation of dawah. For this reason their dawah work is not more effective and fruitful.

72. That is: In your haste you are denying the truth and are inviting your own adverse end. But if you ponder seriously the truth will be manifest to you and you will realise what sin you are committing. Then you can pray to Allah for His pardon and you can become deserving of His mercy.

73. After the presentation of Prophet Salih’s dawah, when divine calamities began falling on the people in order that they might wake up from their slumber and may pay heed to the call of the Prophet, they interpreted this testing of theirs as an ill omen brought about by Prophet Salih and his companions. To this Prophet Salih’s reply was that their fate was in the hands of Allah, and whatever was happening to them was as ordained by Allah and it was their test. To consider it the result of the displeasure of imagined gods and, goddesses and to presume callers to monotheism as bringers of all omen is to close one’s eyes from the reality.

74.That is: They were causing corruption and mischief in the society. They were evil influences and had no interest in any work of reform.

75.These mischievous and unsocial elements of the city plotted to carry out a raid during the night on Prophet Salih and his family, and after killing them they would tell the living next of kin of the deceased that they were not present at the site of the tragedy and thus would not be the victims of retribution.

It may be noted that in the tribal society the rule of taking revenge or retribution was very important. If any person was killed, then the legal heir of the murdered person used to ask for blood money or compensation for that killing or failing that the killer used to be killed. To avert this consequence, the plotters devised this scheme that all should jointly attempt the murders, and they would tell lies and thus would be spared the payment of the blood money.

The Arab Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, was also faced with such a problem. Various tribes of Makkah had plotted to kill him during the night in a united attempt and all the chiefs of the tribes would take part in it so that Bani Hashim should find it difficult to demand retribution. But Allah at the most opportune time guided him, so he left Makkah in secret and the scheme of the plotters failed.

50. And they devised a scheme, and we devised a scheme, and they did not perceive it.⁷⁶

51.Then see what was the nature of the consequence of their plotting. Verily, We destroyed them totally, together with all their people.⁷⁷

52. These are their dwellings, lying in ruins,⁷⁸ for they did wrong.⁷⁹ Surely in this there is a sign for the people who have knowledge.⁸⁰

53.And We delivered those who believed and were God-fearing⁸¹.

54. And Loot⁸² (whom We sent as messenger), when he said to his people: “Do you commit indecencies ⁸³even when you see.

55.”Do you go in lust⁸⁴ to men instead of to women? Nay, but you are an ignorant people.”⁸⁵

56. But the answer of his people was nothing but this: “Banish⁸⁶ the household of Loot from your city, (for) they are people who would keep clean!”⁸⁷

57. So we delivered him and his household, except his wife. We destined her to be of those who stayed behind.⁸⁸

58. And We rained on them a special kind of ⁸⁹ rain; so what an evil rain was that which fell on those who had been warned!

59. Say: ‘Praise be to Allah and Peace be upon His slaves whom He has chosen! ⁹⁰ (Ask them:) Is Allah best or that they ascribe as partners to Him ? ⁹¹

60. (Worthy of worship are they) or He who created the heavens and the earth, and sends down water from the sky? From this We caused to spring forth gardens of delight, whose trees were not possible for you to grow. Is there any other god with Allah?⁹² Nay, but these are the people who deviate (from Truth).

76. That is: Allah caused their plot to fail in such a way that before the time which they had fixed for putting their plan into practice they were seized in the grip of His punishment.

77. The explanation about the punishment which visited Thamud has been given in Surah Hood Notes Nos. 123 and 124.

78. That is: In the region of Hijr the ruins of their dwellings are still there as a lesson for the observers.

79. The polytheistic acts and the corrupt attitude of the tribe of Thamud has been termed as ‘zulm’ (wrong-doing).

It shows in what sense the word ‘zulm’ is used in Qur’an.

80.Those who do not like to remain ignorant but attain the knowledge of the real causes of the events and the circumstances by studying them, for such people in the chronicle of Thamud there is a great sign for a moral and a lesson.

81. When the decisive punishment came from Allah, which was a proof of the authenticity of the Prophet, then in its grip only the non-believers, polytheists and corrupt people were seized. The people, who had accepted the faith and had adopted the God-fearing attitude, were saved.

82. The chronicle of Prophet Loot (Lot) has been narrated in various surahs. e.g. Surah A’raf, Surah Hood, etc.

83.Such an indecent act which no person with common sense will term anything but evil and immoral. Then how are you indulging in this filthy and horrendous act knowingly and consciously?

84.They were suffering from the evil sickness of homosexuality. They had given up sex with women and were satisfying their lust by indulging in sex with males For further explanation, see Surah Hood, Note No. 129.

85. That is: You are imbecile to indulge in the act of open lunacy. The word ‘jahl’(ignorance) is sometimes used in opposition to knowledge and sometimes in opposition to intelligence. Here it is used in the latter sense.

86. They were not prepared to tolerate in their city a person who was their real well-wisher and was always trying to reform them. It gives an idea of their mischievous and corrupt mentality.

87.This was a taunt on Prophet Loot and his believing companion, who were insisting on them to live virtuously, and naturally.

88. For explanation, please see Surah Hood, Note No.117.

89. That is: The rain of stones. For further explanation, please see Surah Hood, Note. No.119.

90.The chronicles which have been narrated above culminate in Allah’s praise and prayers of Peace for the chosen slaves of Allah. In these events the attributes of Allah’s justice. wisdom and mercy are manifest, therefore, He is worthy of praises and encomiums, and His chosen slaves-the Prophetshave become worthy of our prayers, Peace upon them for fulfilling their responsibilities so efficiently. For them prayers of Peace only come out from the hearts of the believers. It is the reason why with the names of the Prophets the words. Alaihis Salam’ (Peace be upon them) are uttered or written.

91. The question is to the polytheists that the God who is ruling over His slaves with such wisdom is better or the idols of bricks and stones whom they have elevated to the rank of gods?

92. Quran’s argument on Allah’s existence and His oneness is natural, easily understandable and convincing. It does not talk the language of philosophy, nor does it raise theoretical discussions, for its addressee is the common man, not a particular section of humanity. It does so because the messages that are conveyed in the philosophical and theoretic style may impress the intellect, but they are not accepted by the heart. But the arguments of Qur’an, inspite of being simple, are so effective and forceful that they are accepted not only by the intellect but also by the heart and a state of faith and belief is created. Here also Qur’an argues on Allah’s being one and the only God in the same manner.

If man ponders with a clear mind over the existence of the heavens and the earth and over the provision and sustenance that he gets from them, on which his very life depends, his heart will at once cry out that all this has not come into existence by itself, but there is a Creator of all these things and this universe is a perfect system, whose various constituents co-ordinate with each other for fulfilling the purpose for which they were created. Accordingly, with the co-ordination between the heavens and the earth, water comes down as rain, which helps in producing food for mankind and animals. If the heavenly energies like the heat of the sun and the winds, etc. had not co-ordinate with the earth, there could not have been rain nor could the food be produced. These things which can be observed are ample proof of the fact that there is God of the universe and there is only one God. If there were no God, the universe would have been disorderly and purposeless. And if there were more than one God then there would not have been co-ordination among its constituents. These arguments for monotheism are simple, but they are so deep, strong, and absolute that they cut at the roots of godlessness and atheism, and also of the belief of more than one god. In short the existence of God and His oneness is not an imaginary thing, nor is it a philosophical concept, but a reality whose knowledge is received by man directly, provided he keeps his eyes open and does not mutilate his nature.

So far as the creation of the heavens and the earth is concerned, the Qur’an very clearly says that Allah has brought them and all the things between them into existence from non-existence. This was also the belief of the polytheists of Arabia. But the belief of the polytheists of India is very involved and extremely misleading. For example Rig Veda says that the sky and the earth came out of God’s self:

“Out of himself came the invisible world, out of himself came the sky and the earth.” -(The Spiritual Heritage of India by Swami Prabhavananda, P. 32, with reference to Rig veda x 121 : 1-2 ).

The English translation of Rig Veda has been published by the Veda Pratisthan, New Delhi. In its Foreword the translator has clarified that God alone is the creator of the world, but not in the sense that he has brought it into existence from non-existence but according to the Vedic philosophy, God, who is the Creator and matter or prakriti which is primordial, but co-exist eternally.

“The Vedic philosophy is a concept of co-existence of the two eternals, God the Creator and Primordial matter, Prakriti ; ” (Rig Veda Samhita, Vol.1.P.6).

What a lowly concept of God, that though He is accepted as a Creator but on the level of a creature. In other words God is not able to bring anything into existence from non-existence, when Qur’an invites mankind to believe in God as a Creator and an Absolutely Powerful and Supreme Being.

61. (Worthy of worship are they) or He who made the earth a fixed abode,⁹³ and placed the rivers in its folds, and set mountains upon it, and placed a barrier⁹⁴ between the two seas? Is there any other god with Allah? Nay, but most of them know not.⁹⁵

62. (Worthy of worship are they) or He who answers the oppressed one when he cries out to him and removes the evil,⁹⁶ and makes you rulers⁹⁷ of the earth? Is there any other god with Allah? Nay, but Little do they remember!⁹⁸

63. (Worthy of worship are they) or He who guides⁹⁹ you in the darknesses of the land and the sea, and who sends winds as harbingers of His mercy?¹⁰⁰ Is there any other god with Allah? High Exalted is Allah from all that they ascribe as partner to him ! ¹⁰¹

64. (Worthy of worship are they) or He who originates creation and, thereafter shall reproduce it and who gives you sustenance from the heaven and the earth ? Is there any other god with Allah? Say: “Bring proof, if you are truthful.”¹⁰²

65. Say (to them): “None in the heavens and the earth knows the Unseen except Allah ; ¹⁰³ and they know not when they will be raised.¹⁰⁴

66. Nay, but jumbled is their knowledge of the Hereafter. Nay, they are confused about it. Nay, they are blind about it.¹⁰⁵

67.And the unbelievers say: “When we and our forefathers are turned to dust, shall we be raised to life?

68.”We were promised this once before, and so were our forefathers. It is but a fable of the ancients.”¹⁰⁶

93. That is: He created the earth in such a way that it has become possible to inhabit man on it. If there were no air zone on the earth, it would have been impossible for man to live on he earth as it is: impossible on the moon. Similarly the earth has been placed at such a distance from the sun that if there were anything more and less than what it is, then there would not have been any life on the earth, as the planets which are very near or very far from the sun, there is no sign of life on them. But the earth is at such a suitable distance from the sun that it is fully capable of sustaining life on it. Has all this happened on its own, or was it the result of the creation and planning of an Absolute Mighty Being?

94. For explanation, please see Surah Al- Furqan, Note No. 71

95. That is: They are totally godless people, and they do not want that they should attain the correct recognition of God.

96. It is the experience of everybody that when he is in the throes of extreme pain he remembers God and then invokes him for relief. And it is God alone who relieves him of his suffering. This is the evidence of man’s innermost self that God alone is Reliever. But in spite of this internal evidence what a large number of people invokes beings other than God for relief in their suffering!

97. It is Allah only Who has made man controller of the affairs on the earth. It is man who is able to use everything on this earth for his own good and he rules over everything. If anybody claims that these powers have been bestowed on man by somebody else, then he should present proof for his claim, but the polytheists are also non-claimants that somebody else has given these powers to man. As for the atheists, they have no answer to this question as to from where man has got all these powers.

98. That is: All these favours from God are such as turn men towards God, but it is not often that people turn to God.

99. That is: he has fixed such signs that it is easy for man to find his path and he may be able to find in what direction he should proceed, e.g. mountains, rivers, which are the means of finding ways in the journeys on land, similarly there are stars which help in finding the direction while sailing by the sea.

100. Means the rains of mercy.

101. That is: Even the polytheists believe in Allah, but their Concept of God is very lowly. The Polytheists of Arabia were unable to form the right concept of Allah’s might and greatness, and the polytheists of India made god lower than even man.

102.That is: If you have any proof of the fact that there is any other being besides Allah Who creates anything for the first time, and also recreates it and then provides sustenance to the created one, then put up that proof. But those who believe in a number of gods, had neither any proof earlier, nor have they any proof now. The polytheists of Arabia said that this belief is being held from the times of their forefathers, and the polytheists of India present polytheism in a philosophical colour, but what they say is absurd talk and also self contradictory. On the one hand there is a claim for the unity of God :

“God alone is one.” -(Rig Veda Samhita-Introduction Vol.I.p.73), and on the other hand there is the belief about Trinity:

“Ours is a Holy Trinity, the family of three eternals, the Infinite Supreme Self (the father) (ii)the eternal Primal matter, the Prakriti (the Mother) and (iii) the numberless infinitesimal self (the sons).” Rig Veda Samhita -Introduction Vol. I page 16).

And there is also the concept of numberless gods: “There are as many Devas or spiritual Entities as there are qualities in the World.” -(Outlines of Vedanta P.131) Moreover, there is also a claim that the Higher God has given birth to other gods: “From a part of him was born the body of Universe and out of his body were born the gods, the earth and men.”

-(Spiritual Heritage of India, p.32)

As against all these involved and contradictory statements, Quran presents the facts of Allah’s oneness in such a reasonable manner that a man of clear mind cannot feel any complication or contradiction, and the heart and the mind accept the obvious truth.

103.That is: When none besides Allah has the knowledge of the Unseen and hidden things, then this belief about some one that he/she has the power to hear the invocation of his followers and relieves them from their distress is baseless and absolutely wrong, whether they are saints or pious people.

What a pity that inspite of this obvious explanation in the Qur’an a section of Muslims is under the wrong impression that there is nothing wrong in invoking these pious people who are buried in the graves for relieving them of their distress and suffering. They believe that these pious people know the condition of every one while they are in their graves, they hear when they are invoked, and help those who invoke them, although according to the clarification of the Qur’an none of these things are correct. They have neither the knowledge of the Unseen, nor are they gods that anybody may invoke them and they may hear the invocation, nor can they reach out to help anybody while in the world of Barzakh. A highly exaggerated concept has been established in respect of the Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, in respect of the knowledge of the Unseen and then discussions and debates are held on this point. If Qur’an is studied with a clear mind then all waywardness and misguidance will be vanished. For further explanation regarding the knowledge of the Unseen, please see Surah An’am Note No.8, and Surah A’raf Note No.291.

104. That is: Those who are buried in the graves have no knowledge as to when the Doomsday will occur, and when will they be raised. Similarly the jinns and the angels also do not know when the Doomsday will occur, then how have they become the knower of the Unseen that they may come to the rescue of their invokers?

105. As is stated above, the people of Arabia were not totally unaware of the belief about the Hereafter. Whatever remains of the prophetic guidance that were left with them also included some peripheral knowledge of the Hereafter. But when some uninformed and polytheistic concepts were mixed with this smattering of knowledge the result was profound confusion, e.g. their concept that once man died and his body became dust, how could he be revived with his body, similarly their belief that when these deities are their interceders before God on their behalf, and when they worship them, why would they not help in their salvation. Thus when their knowledge became a conglomerate of confusion, they lost their belief of the Hereafter and became doubtful of its occurrence. This doubt subsequently turned into their denial as a result of their selfish desires, and they became so much blind that they could not see any sign which pointed to the occurrence of the Hereafter.

And so far as the polytheists of India are concerned, they also have a concept of sorts about the reward and punishment, which in its original source might be the result of some prophetic guidance and nature’s direction. But the concept of the multiple gods and the theory of reincarnation has complicated the belief about the Hereafter in such a way that now there is no more any concept of the Hereafter in their beliefs. The concept of the compensation for any act with them is that whoever performs an evil deed, his soul after death adopts varying forms: it can adopt the form of a man as also the form of an insect :

“Souls enter various forms of existence from man to worm.” -(Outlines of Hinduism, by T.M. Mahadevan P.63).

Then this round of births and re-births goes on till the soul attains the recognition of Brahma (God). And whoever performs good deeds, to the extent that his desires become dead, he is not reborn, he becomes a part of Brahma (God):

“But he in whom desire is stilled suffers no rebirth after death, having attained to the highest desiring only the self, he goes to no other world. Realising Brahman, he becomes Brahman.” - (Spiritual Heritage of India, p.68).

We seek Allah’s refuge from such a concept! How polytheistic is this concept of compensation for acts that a man of good deeds becomes part of God,’ as if God is an ocean in which rivers fall. Similarly the idea of a man of bad deeds being reborn off and on is only a baseless talk which has been given a philosophical form. This theory is contradictory to the teachings of the prophets and is also against reason and against reality. The agreed teachings of all the prophets is that for the compensation of the good and bad acts of men a day is fixed by Allah, i.e. the Day of Judgment, when He will raise all the dead with their bodies and everybody will have to account for his acts individually before God. Those who had accepted the true faith and had acted righteously will deserve everlasting rewards and those who had disbelieved and held polytheistic beliefs will be liable to get everlasting punishment for their false beliefs and rebellious attitudes, and they will be hurled into the Hellfire. The theory of re-incarnation is contradictory to the teachings of the prophets and no divine book supports this theory.

The concept of re-incarnation is against reason and it is a circle which has neither a beginning nor an end. Did man came into existence first or animal? If man came first, then in his first birth he would have been a man. And if man came into existence first, then what would he have been in his earlier or the first birth. Then nobody knows before this how many times he has been taking births, and as a punishment of what crime they have taken this birth. The theory of re-incarnation is against reality, for the beginning of mankind had started with a man and a woman. If this theory were correct, then these two persons would have taken birth again and again. But such an increase in the human population that it has reached billions and trillions mark repudiates this theory.

In short the theory of re-incarnation is a false and unreasonable theory. As against this the belief in the Hereafter is a reasonable one and is based on realism.

106. In this denial is hidden the admission that being raised on the Day of Resurrection is not a thing which they have heard for the first time through the lips of the Prophet, but it was a well known fact which was being conveyed from one generation to the next. And this is the proof of the fact that the effects of the teachings of the Prophets Ibrahim and Ismail about the belief of the Hereafter were still lingering in Bani Ismail.

69.Say: “Travel in the land and see what was the end of the guilty.”¹⁰⁷

70.(O Prophet!) Do not grieve for them, nor be distressed from their intrigues.¹⁰⁸

71. And they ask: “When will this promise (threat) be fulfilled, if you speak the truth?”¹⁰⁹

72. Say:”Possibly a part of what you would hasten is already close behind you.”¹¹⁰

73.In fact your Lord is full of bounty for mankind, but most of them do not give thanks.¹¹¹

74.And verily your Lord knows surely all that their bosoms hide and all that they proclaim.¹¹²

75. There is no secret in heaven or earth but is recorded in a clear book.¹¹³

76.Verily this Qur’an narrates to Bani Israil most of that concerning which they differ.¹¹⁴

77. And verily it is a guidance and a mercy for the believers.¹¹⁵

78. Verily your Lord will judge between them by His command.¹¹⁶ And He is the Mighty one and the All-Knowing.¹¹⁷

79. So ( O Prophet ! ) put your trust in Allah, verily, you are on the side of the manifest truth.

80. Verily you cannot make the dead hear,¹¹⁸ nor can you make the deaf hear the call when they flee turning their backs.

81.Nor can you guide the blind out of their error. You cannot make anyone to hear except those who believe Our revelations and who have submitted.¹¹⁹

107. The lives of those nations who had denied the belief in the Hereafter had become criminal. They had no fear in opposing the commands of Allah, and they had become totally free by breaking all the restrictions of morality. Some of the signs of the ruins of such nations are spread out in the world. Qur’an invites people to see these signs and take a lesson from them, and recommends that for this purpose journeys may be undertaken.

108. These are comforting words for the Prophet that if even inspite of all his efforts the idolaters are not ready to open their eyes and see the truth, he need not be sorry for them, nor should he grieve, and he also need not be disturbed by the schemes they were hatching; they would not be able to do any harm.

109. That is: When will occur this Doomsday about which you are threatening us.

110. Your view that if the Doomsday is ever to occur, why does it not occur now, shows your rashness or hasty reaction, as the Doomsday is a Day of punishment for the guilty, and that if there is some time for the Doomsday to occur, then that day is very close when in this world only they will meet their adverse consequences. It means that those nations which deny their prophets, to such nations the divine punishment visits in this very world. Accordingly only a few years later the battles of Badr and Hunain took place, and those who were not likely to accept the Faith were destroyed during the lifetime of the Prophet (S.A. W.). And as soon as they died, the punishment over their souls started in the world of Barzakh. Thus the punishment for which they were eager to be hastened, eventually seized them.

111.This is Allah’s great favour that He provides an opportunity to the people to mend and reform, inspite of their transgression. For this people should be thankful to Him, but they do not appreciate this favour and do not correct their attitude.

112. That is: Allah knows well the unnecessary discussions that they have introduced concerning the Day of Judgment, and also the prejudice, rancour and enmity which are its real motive force, and which they have hidden in their bosoms.

113. By the book is meant that world record in which is recorded every small thing of the universe, however secret it may be. It means that, Allah knows every thing, but with that He has also arranged that a universal record of the things are maintained, which shows that this universe is being run on a planned basis.

114. In early Meccan period, the Prophet had not to deal with the Bani Israil, but the chronicles of Prophets Moosa, Sulaiman, and other prophets, narrated in the Qur’an differ from the chronicles narrated in the Torah, etc, Similarly there are differences prominent in other things too. Here these doubts are being answered. Bani Israil did not preserve the Torah, but distorted its writings, added something of their own, etc. They tarnished the characters of the prophets in their tales, and with regard to beliefs also they tried to interpret the religious commands. etc., according to their wishes and became a prey to disputations and were divided into sects. They became adamant and harsh toward each other, and committed excesses. But Qur’an narrated the chronicles of the prophets in such clear terms and explained the beliefs and commands so clearly that there remained no room for doubts and misgivings. It was the staff of Prophet Moosa that swallowed the snakes of the false narratives.

115. “For explanation, please see Surah A’raf, Note No.308, and Surah Yunus Nos. 89 and 90.

116. That is: The judgment will be in the Court, after which there will be no chance for anyone to take any objection, and the judgment will be enforced at once.

117. He is overpowering, and supreme, therefore, His judgment will be definite and final, and none will be able to stop its enforcement, and He is All-Knowing, so there is no possibility of any error in His judgment.

118. That is: Those whose conscience is dead will not be impressed by your counsel and admonitions. Although this statement has been made metaphorically, but the words of the ayah that “you cannot make the dead hear” point to a very significant reality and that is the dead cannot hear. If it were possible for the dead to hear, then these wordings would not have been suitable. However, if Allah desires some dead people to hear, then it is altogether a different matter. Exceptional cases are possible, but the principled reality is that the dead cannot hear. As for addressing the dead at the time of going to the graveyard and praying for peace (greetings), it is an effective style in which the absent person is treated as present, so that the pilgrim or visitor may think that he has reached the world of the dead and is personally meeting them; and such a practice is helpful in reminding one of death and making one believe in the Hereafter. Accordingly the last sentence of the prayer while visiting a grave is:

“If Allah willing, we will be meeting you,” creates this very effect. The Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, had stated on the death of his child, Ibrahim :

“O Ibrahim ! We are sorrowful on your separation.” -(Bukhari -Kitabul Janaiz). In this the address is to a child who is dead, but actually it is a style of expressing sorrow, and the idea was to show the people how to express sorrow in a permitted manner, so that they may not adopt the method of breast-beating and loudly crying.

119.The benefit of your reciting the divine revelations is reaped only by those who are ready to accept the truth, and embrace the Faith on hearing the divine revelations and surrender themselves totally to Allah. Faith is related to heart’s feeling and affirmation by the mouth and Islam (submission) is related to practice, action. It means that they do not become Muslims on hollow belief, but they accept faith by heart (sincerely), affirm it by the mouth and adopt their practical attitude in accordance with that.

⁸².And when Our decree will be imposed on them, We will bring forth a beast of the earth that will speak to them, for mankind had no faith in Our revelations.¹²⁰

83. And the Day when We shall gather from every community a host of those who denied Our revelations, and they will be set in array;¹²¹

84.Till, when they come, He will say: “Did you deny My revelations when you could not compass¹²² them in knowledge, or what was it that you were doing?

85.And Our decree will be imposed on them¹²³ because they have done wrong, and they will not (be able to) speak.¹²⁴

86.Do they not see that We have made the night for them to rest in and the day to give them light? Surely there are signs in this for those who believe.¹²⁵

87. And the Day when the Trumpet will be blown, and all who are in heavens and earth will be seized with fear, except him whom Allah will be pleased ¹²⁶ (to exempt). And all will come to Him, humbled.¹²⁷

88. And you see the mountains, you think they are firm, (but) they will be flying like clouds:¹²⁸ the doing of Allah who has perfected all things.¹²⁹ Verily He is aware of what you do.¹³⁰

89. Whoever brings a good deed ¹³¹ will have better (recompense) them its worth; and such are safe from fear that Day.¹³²

90. And whoever comes with an evil deed.¹³³ such will be flung down on their faces in the Fire. Are you not being rewarded except for what you did?¹³⁴

91. (Say):’I have been commanded to worship the Lord of this City which He has Blade holy,¹³⁵ and to whom all things belong. And I have been commanded to be of Muslims.¹³⁶

120. ‘Dabbatul Ardh’, animal emerging out of the earth that will speak to the people. It will be a great sign of Allah, which will appear at a time when the Doomsday will be very near. When Our decree will be imposed on them means that when Allah will intend to show to the infidels the signs of punishment, and by infidels or disbelievers are meant all disbelievers and not only the disbelievers of the time of the revelation of Qur’an.

This is a great prophecy of Qur’an. Its mention has been made in the hadith also as a sign of the coming of the Doomsday. -(Sahih Muslim - Kitabul Fitan).

This will be a new animal which will come out of the earth, and its speciality will be that it will speak to the people, such talk which will show that not believing in Allah’s signs and His revelations was wrong. In other words this beast will appear as a sign of the Almighty’s might, that it would be the proof of the occurrence of the Doomsday and the authenticity of the prophethood of the Last Prophet. In this very surah the wonderful might of Allah has been mentioned in which the bird Hoopoe is mentioned to have spoken to prophet Sulaiman, but those who do not believe in Allah’s miraculous power, or do not at all believe in God himself, what will these people do when a beast will appear and speak to them at the time when the Day of Resurrection would be near, what will be their reaction? How will they interpret it?

It may be noted that Qur’an has spoken very briefly about the beast of the earth, and in the hadith also details are not given. Therefore, all the details as to in which country such an animal will appear, what will be its shape and form, etc., are hidden in the veil of future. In this connection it is not proper to conjecture and guess, and the narratives in which details of the beast of the earth are stated, they are weak, and contradictory statements have been made in them, therefore, it would not be correct to term them as the explanation of this ayah of the Qur’an. In one hadith of Tirmizi it is mentioned that with the beast of the earth there will appear the staff of Moosa and the ring of Sulaiman. With the staff it will illumine the face of the Momin and with the ring it will put a seal on the nose of the disbeliever. -(Tirmizi -Abwabut Tafseer, Surah Naml).

Although Tirmizi has termed this hadith as ‘Hasan’ (reliable), but one of its narrator is Aus bin Khalid, who has been called weak by various scholars of traditions. In Tahzibut-Tahzeeb, a book of Asmaur Rijal (a book of bio data of the narrators of hadith) it is written:

“Azdi says that he is weak and Ibn Qattan says that the condition of Aus is unreliable. He has narrated three traditions from Abu Hurairah, which are weak, and Ibn Habban has included him among the reliable narrators.”

-(Tahzibut Tahzeeb-Ibn Hajr-Vol. I, p.382).

Another of its narrator is Ali bin Zaid and he too is weak. Therefore, Imam Ahmed says that he is not at all worth considering. Jozjani says he is weak, and Nasai too has called him weak. Ibn Khuzaimah says that because of his weak memory I do not rely on the hadith narrated by him for arguing on their basis. (Ibid -Vol.7,P.322).

121.That is: On the Day of Judgment those groups of people from the followers of every prophet will be gathered, who had denied Allah’s signs and His revelations. They will be arrayed in rows as armies, and they will be divided in different divisions.

122. That is: On what basis you had denied My revelation. Do you know for certain as to whether there is no sign in the universe and in your own self which creates a belief in the existence of Allah, His unity, His might, His greatness, recompenses of the acts and certain belief in the Hereafter, and that the revelations from Allah which any messenger from Allah might have presented are not really Allah’s revelations. If you had not reached this conclusion after a research, and it is a fact that your denial was not the result of any research, then did you deny them without any research and without any knowledge?

Today the condition of the highly educated people is that being impressed by Darwin’s theory of Evolution and Marx’s dialectic materialism and this many other such theories they have become deniers of God. They are proving themselves to be ignorant in the name of being educated. if they had observed the signs in the universe and ‘would have pondered over the revelations from Allah which are before them in the form of Qur’an, then they could have attained the knowledge of truth, but their prejudice and pride have kept them away from truth.

123. That is: The decree of punishment would be imposed on them.

124. On the Day of Resurrection the guilty will have to pass through various stages. One stage will be when Allah will show them the wrong that they had done to themselves, and they will have no answer.

125. If these people had contemplated this fact that Allah had created night for their comfort and peace, and the day to enable them to be active and working, is it not an argument of His being the Lord of the universe, and does it no show that the life of man is not without purpose, and does not this observation remind that after death the morning of Day of Resurrection is surely to dawn.

126. When the Trumpet for Doomsday will be sounded for the first time, the entire universe will be so much terrified that not only the denizens of the earth but also those of the skies will be horror stricken. Only those persons will be spared this horror, whom Allah will be pleased to spare.

127. When the Trumpet will be sounded for the second time, all the people will assemble before Allah in the most humble way, nobody will dare show pride and arrogance. The pride of the haughtiest of men would have disappeared.

128. Today the mountains appear to be fixed and firm on the ground but on the Doomsday they will be flying in the air like clouds.

129. This will be a miraculous manifestation of Allah’s might, which has so firmly fixed everything in such strong laws that it has perforce to remain in its place or in its circle. For example, Allah has placed such a gravitational Force in the earth that everything is attracted towards it, and nothing goes out of the limits of the earth, except when some thing goes out of its force of Gravity under some other law of physics. But if the earth loses its Force of Gravity then the mountains could also float in the air losing their weight, as things lose their weight in the outer space.

130. Allah is aware of your acts. Therefore, when the Day of Resurrection will occur, He will give you appropriate recompense for your good or bad acts.

131. Means virtue or goodness of the belief and practice, that is: whoever will come with having done virtuous deeds.

132. When the Trumpet of the Doomsday will be sounded for the second time and all the people will be revived and gathered at one place, the righteous people will not be terrified inspite of the devastating effect of that day, because they will be hopeful of happy ending.

133. Means wickedness of belief and act.

134. That is: the recompense will depend on the act. As you sow, so shall you reap. They used to turn away from Allah’s revelations. In this way when they had turned towards punishment, they had deserved to be thrown into the Hellfire on their faces.

135. That is the city of Makkah, which was declared as Haram (holy) from the time of Prophet Ibrahim (Alaihis salam),and from this aspect of its being the centre of monotheism. Therefore, the point that Allah is the Lord of this city is a well known reality’ and He has commanded me to worship Him only.

136. That is: I should surrender myself to Allah only and should live as an obedient slave to Him.

92.’And to recite the Qur’an.¹³⁷ And whoever takes the right path, does the right thing for the good of his soul.’ And whoever goes astray, say (to him): ‘Verily, I am only a warner.’

93. And say: “Praise be to Allah.¹³⁸ He will show you His signs and you will recognise¹³⁹ them. And your Lord is not unaware of what you do.”

137. The command of reciting Qur’an is very important from the viewpoint of dawah. The Prophet (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) was not given the command only to admonish people and to convey the divine message, but he was also commanded to recite the Qur’an to people. It was because there is nothing more effective than Allah’s word to influence the people, and also because through Allah’s word His message is convincingly conveyed to His slaves. The point that the Qur’an is in Arabic and it cannot be presented to Non-Arabs does not prevent it from being presented to them. Accordingly the Prophet had written a letter to the Roman emperor, inviting him to embrace Islam, and in that letter he had quoted the ayat of the Qur’an and the Caeser had learnt their meaning through the interpreter.

In modern times facilities for translation and printing in every language are available, therefore, it is for consideration, why should it not be made a means of spreading dawah and understanding of faith? And why should arrangements for Quran’s translation on wider scale be not made?

135. The surah is ending on a note of praise for Allah, for that Being is really worthy of all praises that He has revealed such a magnificent Qur’an from which have ensued rivers of knowledge for the people.

It may be noted that in this Surah mention of knowledge has occurred a number of times, which has highlighted its various aspects.

In other words this is a distinguishing aspect of this surah.

139.It is a hint at the signs of the Doomsday that will appear in the world when the Doomsday would be close to occur. And seeing them its deniers will also realise that the Doomsday is about to occur as a real thing. Thus the truthfulness of the Prophet and the Qur’an will appear in this very world before the people of the world, e.g. emergence of the beast of the earth, letting loose of Gog and Magog (Al-Anbia-96).Similarly in the hadith also some signs of the Doomsday have been mentioned, e.g. return of Prophet Eesa (Jesus), and rising of the sun from the west (Bukhari Kitabur Riqaq). etc.

For further explanation, see Surah Al-An’am Note No.293. “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. From Muhammad, who is a slave of Allah and His messenger, this letter is addressed to Hercules, Head of Rome. Peace be on him who follows the right guidance. I invite you to accept Islam. If you will accept Islam, you will live peacefully, and Allah will reward you doubly, but if you would refuse, then the sin of Arissi(countrymen) will be on your head. O people of the Book! Come to a thing which is common between you and us, that is: we do not worship any being other than Allah, nor should we associate any other with Him, and none of us should make anyone else his lord, except Allah. If they do not agree, then say clearly: Be a witness that we are Muslims.”